17 September 2020

Diary of a Corbynista

Whose Bad Faith

by Don Urquhart

8 September

Korea has started to close down schools just as we open them.

9 September

Johnson at the No. 10 podium again.  Relentless repetition of admonitions and aspirations including something called a moonshot.  It reminded me of a German colleague who told me the chances of him developing a usable global database were the equivalent of a Mondlandung.  That was 20 years ago and as far as I know he is still trying.

10 September

Johnson has tapped into White English nationalism.  The adherents do not care what happens in Ireland, North or South.  Scotland and Wales can do what they like.  Breaking international law?  The foreigners do it all the time.

We have the leader we deserve.

11 September

Our per capita standard of living will soon be severely reduced.  The government and media will attribute this to Coronavirus and the perfidious European Union. And with varying levels of subtlety the people struggling to feed their families will be encouraged to blame foreigners of all stripes, climate change activists and that old favourite of the gutter press (Mail, Sun, Telegraph, Express), the Muslims.

An Irish comic a few years ago said thank goodness for the Muslims.  We’re just the little riverdance folk now.

12 September

Newsnight gave Owen Jones a platform to push his new book, analysing the decline and fall of Jeremy Corbyn.  With Sir Keir Starmer not pulling up trees I was reminded of the King over the Water who recently told Huffpost he would consider returning to front line politics:

David Miliband, Again, Does Not Rule Out Return To British Politics

Ten years ago today I made this diary entry:

I watched a bit of the Labour leadership debate seeing David Miliband say that he had been to see Gillian Duffy and obtained her endorsement.  That for me finally seals his fate.  If they vote him in they get what they deserve.

Gillian Duffy shot to fame before the 2010 election by embarrassing Gordon Brown over immigration policy.

13 September

Johnson is intent on putting through parliament a bill which breaches international law.  Many of us on all sides of politics will ask ourselves how he can get away with it.

Well, for a start he will have the support of The Times, The Telegraph, the Mail, the Sun, The Express, and the BBC will be on the fence.  The media have made White English Nationalism (WEN) respectable.

Johnson’s base will see anything that puts the EU in its place as a fine thing and will have no truck with legal niceties.

14 September

At the start of his history of Britain in Europe Reluctant European Stephen Wall is in the Frick being glared at by Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell. The former represented the status quo, Papal Law and stood between Henry VIII and his lust for Anne Boleyn.  Cromwell knew which side his bread was buttered.

As I write, the debate on the UK Internal Market bill’s second reading is coming to a conclusion.  Everyone knows it breaks international law but Tory MPs know which side their bread is buttered and are churning out the scripts mandated by Dominic Cummings.

Henry VIII was an autocrat with the imprimatur of the Divine Right of Kings.  Our current Prime Minister’s childhood ambition was to be King of the World.  He has the Divine Right of an 80 seat majority of bovine lobby fodder.

God help us.

15 September

For anyone in any doubt as to who in the Brexit negotiations has acted in bad faith I commend Craig Murray’s blog.(follow link)