Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Sheilbh]

How many Tory MPs are there, and how many candidates?

About 360 MPs.

I think these numbers are a little out of date but 10 candidates (plus Rehman Chishti who is a backbencher I've never heard of but has announced he's running):


Patel and, allegedly, Rees-Mogg are also considering a tilt. Patel is apparently telling people that only she can win a general election which is bold for the second most unpopular politician in the country (after Johnson)

[Zanza]

Can the Queen just abolish the office and return to direct rule?

[Josquius]

[/img]

Patel and, allegedly, Rees-Mogg are also considering a tilt. Patel is apparently telling people that only she can win a general election which is bold for the second most unpopular politician in the country (after Johnson)

Is it wrong to hope they do?

[Sheilbh]

Is it wrong to hope they do?

I think we'd all enjoy their campaign.

But the Tories tend to (although not always) choose the candidate they think will win the next election and they're pretty realist about it. I saw someone in public policy Tweeting about this yesterday saying that when he has a client from a Labour background he has to explain that Tories just really like winning (or, kindly, if you're not in power you can't do anything); while if he has a client from a Tory background he explains the history, ideologies and traditional bloodfeuds of the British left and that they really, really matter to the British left

Edit: Having said that - so far (and this is the MP round so it makes sense) it does feel like everyone is very much operating in their comfort zone which is never a healthy sign for a party.

[Barrister]

Can the Queen just abolish the office and return to direct rule?

I think they had a Civil War which kind of decided that issue...

[Sheilbh]

Meanwhile Johnson's stop-gap Northern Ireland Secretary apparently asked his civil servants if he needs a passport to go there

All I want from the next PM is someone who takes their job seriously in the Northern Ireland Office and someone who will build houses and infrastructure

[Josquius]

In case anyone doubted the British public are brain damaged.


https://mobile.twitter.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1546076784290152449

[Valmy]

Can the Queen just abolish the office and return to direct rule?

It is one of her many powers that she theoretically could but practically couldn't ever. Besides without parliament she can't raise taxes and would have to rely on fines and ship money.

[Sheilbh]

So apparently Rees-Mogg, Dorries and James Cleverley are endorsing Truss. They're all Johnson ultras so it feels like he thinks she's the stop Sunak candidate.

[Tonitrus]

Can the Queen just abolish the office and return to direct rule?

It is one of her many powers that she theoretically could but practically couldn't ever. Besides without parliament she can't raise taxes and would have to rely on fines and ship money.

And if it succeeded, that means Mad King Charles in a few/several years.   

[The Larch]

Using this thread a bit like the unofficial UK stuff one:

Sir Mo Farah reveals he was trafficked into the UK using another child's name
Olympic champion makes revelation in BBC documentary
'The real story is I was born in Somaliland as Hussein Abdi Kahin'

Sir Mo Farah has revealed that he was illegally trafficked into Britain under the name of another child as a nine-year-old and forced into domestic servitude.

The four-time Olympic champion had previously claimed he had left Somalia aged eight to join his father, after his parents made the agonising decision to send three of their six children to London for the chance of a better life.

However in a new documentary, The Real Mo Farah, to be broadcast by the BBC on Wednesday, the 39-year-old says that in fact he was trafficked to London by a stranger under an assumed name after escaping war in Somalia.

"Most people know me as Mo Farah, but it's not my name or it's not the reality," he says. "The real story is I was born in Somaliland, north of Somalia, as Hussein Abdi Kahin. Despite what I've said in the past, my parents never lived in the UK."

When he arrived in Britain Farah claimed he lived with a married couple who treated him badly. His PE teacher at school, Alan Watkinson, rescued him and also helped him to apply for British citizenship using his assumed name.

In the documentary, the athlete also admits that the name Mohamed Farah was stolen from another child and used to create a fake passport.

"When I was four my dad was killed in the civil war, you know as a family we were torn apart," he said. "I was separated from my mother, and I was brought into the UK illegally under the name of another child called Mohamed Farah."

Farah said he and his twin, Hassan, were sent by their mother to live with an uncle in neighbouring Djibouti for their own safety. Farah said he recalled a woman visiting the house several times to observe him. He was told that she would be taking him to Europe to live with relatives.

He was also informed that he would be renamed Mohamed. "As a kid, you never think beyond what you've been told," he says in the documentary.

However Farah says that when he arrived in the UK he faced a very different reality. "I had all the contact details for my relative and once we got to her house, the lady took it off me and right in front of me ripped them up and put it in the bin, and at that moment I knew I was in trouble," he said.

Farah said his children have motivated him to be truthful about his past. "Family means everything to me and, you know, as a parent, you always teach your kids to be honest, but I feel like I've always had that private thing where I could never be me and tell what's really happened," he said.

"I've been keeping it for so long, it's been difficult because you don't want to face it and often my kids ask questions, 'Dad, how come this?' And you've always got an answer for everything, but you haven't got an answer for that.

Farah's wife, Tania, said in the year leading up to their 2010 wedding she realised "there was lots of missing pieces to his story" but she eventually "wore him down with the questioning" and he told the truth.

In the documentary, Farah admits to being worried about his immigration status. However, the Home Office confirmed on Monday night that he would not face any repercussions. "No action whatsoever will be taken against Sir Mo and to suggest otherwise is wrong," a spokesperson said.

The documentary ends with Farah speaking to the real Mohamed Farah, whose identity he took entering the UK, before adding Farah will continue to go by the name he was given when he entered the UK.

[HVC]

So... when's Priti sending him to Nigeria?

[garbon]

So... when's Priti sending him to Nigeria?

Someone didn't read the article.

[Josquius]

It is wonderful double standards that they're being really nice with him but will still jump at the chance to fuck over less famous people in the same situation.

[HVC]

So... when's Priti sending him to Nigeria?

Someone didn't read the article.

Pfft, you believe that sentence? It's not like the conservatives never lie