26 September 2019
Diary of a Corbynista
Johnson to the Tower
By Don Urquhart
19 September
Yesterday’s Peston had Rachel Riley as an interviewee and Gloria De Piero as a panellist. It drew from me the following tweet:
Cummings to Peston: Have on that Countdown girl who does the anti-Semitism smearing and that Blairite MP who is going before she is deselected. Good lad!
20 September
And you Johnson for Question Time put on some know nothing junior minister and tell her to talk about playing a straight bat and if under pressure use ad hominem attacks. Our guys like that.
Hence Victoria Atkins responding to Ash Sarkar:
And the way I frankly one of the ways I can best represent my constituents who voted very strongly to leave is not to take advice from a Corbynista who describes herself as a communist.
21 September
Ahead of the NEC vote on abolishing the role of Deputy Leader this tweet:
Removing Watson from the shadow cabinet where GE/Brexit plans will be discussed will make it more difficult for him to sabotage the Party. He will play the martyr card but it is the lesser of two evils.
22 September
At the Labour Party Conference much discussion of Brexit policy, but they should be preparing for Johnson’s reaction to having to ask the EU to defer Brexit. He might well call for a 2nd referendum as the best option for achieving Brexit. What will the Labour Party do if Johnson suggests Remain against Nodeal as the referendum options?
23 September
Thomas Cook collapsed overnight. The group employed 21,000 people in 16 countries, operated 105 aircraft and 200 own-brand hotels and resorts. Around 150,000 Britons will have to be repatriated by the Civil Aviation Authority. Bad news for many people but probably tolerable for the senior executives who have taken home £20 million in bonuses over the last 5 years. One suspects that their pension plans are sacrosanct come hell or high water.
24 September
Cummings to BBC:
Get Curtice and Kuenssberg on to rubbish Labour’s Brexit policy. The Today programme needs a Vox Pop in Bishop Auckland proving that Labour voters are confused by it.
Emily Maitlis has to have a panel of Polly Toynbee, some Times hack and a couple of disappointed Remainer MPs. What’s that? Kinnock? Ideal! Obviously they savage the policy.
25 September
Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that Johnson’s prorogation never happened and that he misled the Queen, what next? I think it is the wrong time for a Vote of No Confidence as Johnson could still manipulate events so that a nodeal Brexit occurs while people are fussing around trying to form a majority administration.
A grand use of SO24* would be ensuring that prorogation can only be undertaken when authorised by Parliament.
*Standing Order 24 of the House of Parliament; it allows a member 3 minutes to argue for an emergency debate regarding a “specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration” but only Monday-Thursday when Parliament is sitting. The Speaker rarely grants them but if granted the debate may last up to 3 hours.
