DEM not gonna CON dis NATION: Rolling UK politics in the short-lived post-Murdoch era

grats uk

Michael Gove remains a cockfarmer.

looking forward to footage of a bunch of crusty old Majors pulling down Cameron's statue at central office

From the I'm Rubber, You're Glue department, I give you Mrs Michael Gove:

@SarahVine Pathetic losers who can't see past their own interests.

someone should tell her that not everyone has shares in BAE systems

this is an excellent surprise but i'm loathe to believe it's going to drastically alter fealty to america

The implications could be significant if it adds pressure to put any / all military action before parliament in the future.

that has become a sort of convention by now anyway, a prime minister isn't likely to exercise the royal prerogative unless there is extreme urgency

So, he's gone "Sod it" and marched off back to his holiday..

http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1233435_10151862719880148_1229351955_n.jpg

we wont fight them, to the beaches

*skips three meals*

I know nobody takes any notice of them anymore, but what about the old Lib Dems? Have they got anything left at all now? About all they had left was the "We were the party that opposed the Iraq War from the start" routine, but now we can see, as soon they get into government, they're up there on the barricades rattling their sabres with the best of them. They should just crawl off and die.

iirc the old Lib Dems did vote against last night? i thought it was just the Tories in disguise who tried to prop up the Cameronator?

Nine of them, but all nonentities, apart from Sarah Teather and she cashed her chips in some time ago when it came to having a Career In the Liberal Democrats

i like the way you had to qualify that some LD MPs were nonentities

Nonentities without portfolio.

Some good news though, Paddy Ashdown has said he's depressed about the outcome of the vote, and Paddy Ashdown being depressed can only be a good thing.

see? there's an old school Lib Dem who was never afraid to bomb Johnny Foreigner if the role called for it

LibDems tend to be slavishly loyal even when they're physically repulsed by something, it's all part of this misguided collaborative politics thing that has seen them rubber stamp virtually every authoritarian Tory policy of the last three years.

tbh i'm more worried that this great nation may not have a place in the world. won't sleep tonight. where will we live?

Rowena Mason @rowenamason

Cameron told Ed Miliband "you are letting down America" when informed over phone on Weds Labour would not back Syria motion - Labour sources

Pretty sure they've got enough bombs of their own.

Jeremy Bowen @BowenBBC

Have been getting reaction to UK vote against military intervention. Regime people very pleased.

insight

Yeah, sure. Like, someone in front of the firing squad gets told "You know the fourth guy along? He's not going to shoot"

Crispin Blunt...

If that is a consequence of this vote, then I would be absolutely delighted that we really can relieve ourselves of some of this imperial pretension that a country of our size can seek to be involved in every conceivable conflict that's going on around the world.

George Osborne...

I think there will be a national soul-searching about our role in the world and whether Britain wants to play a big part in upholding the international system, be that big, open and trading nation that I like us to be, or whether we turn our back on that.

the Chancellor of an offshore banking haven for multinational corporations talking the language of 19th century mercantilism. don't know who's trying to fool who at this point.

hawks not even bothering to disguise that they're motivated by some bullshit archaic obsession with britain's post-empire standing in the world rather than the syrian people

and not just the risible fixation on reputational bigness but the delusion that being a menial accomplice to a superpower confers bigness upon them

the Richard Hammond of nations.

maybe he's onto something.

jesus that's a grim thought

i thought when underrated aero referred to ireland as the scrappy doo of nations or w/e it was a sting but i mean

What impact does this Syria vote have on Britain's status as a "big, open and trading nation" again?

'trading nation' is just a mantra

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/blood-money-uks-123bn-arms-sales-to-repressive-states-8711794.html

I don't really see why Obama, who's spent the better part of four years in various types of legislative gridlock, would bother to throw his toys out of the pram over this anyway.

i never got the impression it mattered that much to the US, the people i've heard making a big case for it have been Hague and then, apparently, Gove

'trading nation' being the vision for a uk untethered from 'sclerotic europe' so we can just exist on the high seas of global commerce like a nuclear armed singapore

Gove would just rope in Toby Young to co-ordinate his own air strikes on Syria, free of government intervention.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10276410/David-Camerons-No-10-isnt-a-patch-on-Tony-Blairs.html

I was in the Commons, drinking with some MPs, on the day that the vote for the Iraq war was passed. “Hear that noise John? It’s limbs being broken.” That was the job, and it was done. No one who was in the House this week witnessed so much as a Chinese burn being inflicted.
Thursday’s defeat happened fundamentally because the Opposition (in this case, Labour) voted against military action – as it did not do over Suez or the Falklands, and nor did the Tories over Iraq. But this wasn’t a betrayal by Miliband, as some claim. It wasn’t personal; it was just business.

What do you do when faced with a weak opponent? Personally, I crush them. And that’s what Ed did. What did Cameron expect? Either he underestimated Miliband, or he misunderstood politics. You know what they say about Hollywood – it’s show-business, not show-friends. It’s best to play politics by that rule, too. Politics is a contact sport. If you want to win, you have to play to win. Have a plan. Execute it violently.

Dude is literally grabbing his crotch while bragging about being part of the most formidable disaster manufacturing machine in British politics.

You know what they say about Hollywood – it’s show-business, not show-friends

wd love to discuss democracy with this guy

the Richard Hammond of nations

this is going to stay with me

Either he underestimated Miliband

And who can blame him?

any links to intelligent discussion about pros/cons of intervention? (ie. not

this: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2013/08/the-debate-over-intervention-in-syria.html?mobify=0 )

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/britain-sold-nerve-gas-chemicals-2242520

still got a role to play on the world stage.

Great trading nation dontchaknow

We supply baddies for Hollywood!

I wonder if one day we will have nations where chief exports could be something like 'straight men for buddy action movies'.