Proceedings of the Castle Aching Parish Council, 1905

[Nearholmer]

2 minutes ago, Regularity said:

Should the Monarch ask him about this minor, trifling issue, in the guise of Head of State?

I thought that quite early in the avalanche, so surely the thought must have occurred to her advisers, probably to her directly too.

[Compound2632]

1 minute ago, Regularity said:

I am not so sure about that. He may believe it to be the case, but if so, he is heading for an unpleasant shock.

 

No, I agree, he is probably the only person who believes that. It's part of his delusion.

 

2 minutes ago, Regularity said:

More interestingly, we are in uncharted constitutional territory here. When the Commons has sorted out who is going to get their support, then that person is invited by the Monarch to form a Government. Given the number of vacant positions within and outside the cabinet, is the Prime Minister actually capable of running the Government? Should the Monarch ask him about this minor, trifling issue, in the guise of Head of State? I ask this, as our monarch is solely ceremonial, as all actual government is done in the sovereign’s name under the “Crown Prerogative”, and we have no clearly defined system for dealing with our current situation, absent a vote of no confidence in the PM. (Which does not mean there has to be a GE, just that the Conservative Party needs to sort itself out PDQ and choose someone to act as PM, if not party leader.) 

Pro ten, the permanent nature of the Civil Service means that Johnson can preside (effecting decisions already made) over the country, but governing (making new decisions) is a separate matter.

 

If there is sufficient consensus, he can propose to HM that the Deputy PM be invited to form a government. In the very short term, the Deputy PM can stand in anyway if the PM is "incapacitated". The PM does not have to be the leader of their party.

 

Not that this prospect fills me with any enthusiasm.

[Edwardian]

I'm just waiting for the government of the British Virgin Islands to impose a period of direct rule over the UK to halt the chaos.

[teaky]

8 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

I'm just waiting for the government of the British Virgin Islands to impose a period of direct rule over the UK to halt the chaos.

Perhaps Rees-Mogg could have a word.  That's where he keeps his money after all, so he may have some influence.

[Regularity]

16 minutes ago, teaky said:

Ah, wait ...

Quite.

[teaky]

12 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

I thought that quite early in the avalanche, so surely the thought must have occurred to her advisers, probably to her directly too.

All 719 of them, you'd think.

 

I thought I'd check who the current members of the Privy Council are and was amazed to find there are so many.  The list includes some people who I thought were dead!  Plus there are several Scottish politicians who would like to see the union broken up which is an interesting conundrum for her madge.

[Edwardian]

Returning to Tartary ....

 

A lot could be said about this in historical terms. In the West, "Tartary" was a sort of catch all term for vast tracts of central Asia. It wasn't, therefore, employed very specifically or accurately. It is meet to recall here how Westerners also referred to the various indigenous peoples of what they dubbed the Americas as "Indians".  We weren't very good about far away places about which we knew nothing.

 

 

 

"Tartar" could, therefore, be used fairly indiscriminately for anyone from this vast region, and is generally applied to various Turkic peoples from the steppes of Central Asia. I mention this because the Tartars were used as muscle by the Mongol Golden Horde and left to control vast areas of near Asia/Eastern Europe, such as the former Kievan Rus lands swept away by the Mongol invasion of 1240 and which included both what later became Muscovy and the area of Ukraine. They also settled in the Crimean peninsular and controlled both it and the southern steppes of what is modern Ukraine (much as the army of the Russian Federation currently does).

 

The Crimean Tartars recognised the suzerainty of the Ottomans and, after the Russian Empire annexed the Crimea, it was the subject of various colonial projects until Stalin finally deported the remaining Crimean Tartars in 1946. 

 

Turning to the Great Tartaria Conspiracy Theory, this is something else again. Looking it up I discover that it started in 2016 in terms of the English-speaking internet - already a vintage year in the history of mass delusion - and that it started originally in Russia of all places. It is even more incredible than the notion of the world being run by a satanic cult of pizza-eating pedophiles, and that's really saying something, but the alleged air-brushing out of history of the Tartarian Empire appears to have tapped into the same massive paranoid inferiority complex and resentful victimhood that Putin draws on from his domestic audience.

 

Why so many of the global population seem to be in some mass-hysterical equivalent of the tertiary stage of syphilis, we may never know, but I'm finding it increasingly hard to come up with arguments to dissuade the aliens whose fleet lurks on the dark side of the Moon from eliminating Mankind as a kindness to Planet Earth.

 

 

 

[Compound2632]

From what I now read, Johnson's prime motive in trying to remain PM a bit longer is that invitations have already been sent out for his delayed wedding party later this month at Chequers.

 

He might find it difficult to book an alternative venue at short notice at this time of year.

Edited July 7, 2022 by Compound2632

[Phil Parker]

11 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

From what I now read, Johnson's prime motive in trying to remain PM a bit longer is that invitations have already been sent out for his delayed wedding party later this month at Chequers.

 

He might find it difficult to book an alternative venue at short notice at this time of year.

 

Nah. They are busy trying to steam that horrible and expensive wallpaper off so they can take it with them.

[Compound2632]

Just now, Phil Parker said:

 

Nah. They are busy trying to steam that horrible and expensive wallpaper off so they can take it with them.

 

Well that would save the next incumbent considerable embarrassment.

[Nearholmer]

Carrie will have carry them rolls of wallpaper, because The World King will be clinging firmly to a broken doorpost with each hand (it would probably be wise of the maintenance team to saw some weak spots into the posts of the front door now, to avoid excessive force being needed on the part of the security team later).

[Hroth]

7 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Carrie will have carry them rolls of wallpaper, because The World King will be clinging firmly to a broken doorpost with each hand (it would probably be wise of the maintenance team to saw some weak spots into the posts of the front door now, to avoid excessive force being needed on the part of the security team later).

 

Maintenance might replace the current steel door with a UPVC one to make it easier for a snatch squad to evict Boris.  The remains could then be replaced by the proper one once he's gone...

[alastairq]

Does Larry use an armoured cat flap?

[Hroth]

4 minutes ago, alastairq said:

Does Larry use an armoured cat flap?

 

I think someone opens the door for him, then he strolls along to Number 11...

 

[Compound2632]

I see Steve Baker is already playing Fantasy Cabinet.

[Regularity]

The levels of self-delusion currently prevalent in what has been called the most successful party in western politics staggers belief.

 

The Guardian has an interesting take on all this - Boris was actually less popular than his predecessor, but he was simply vastly more popular than Jeremy Corbyn. Otherwise, he didn’t really get the mandate he thinks he had. (Leaving aside that the mandate he had actually came from the electoral college known as the House of Commons.)

[Compound2632]

14 minutes ago, Regularity said:

The Guardian has an interesting take on all this - Boris was actually less popular than his predecessor, but he was simply vastly more popular than Jeremy Corbyn. 

 

Or rather, the newspapers put the wind up the electorate with their take on Corbyn. 

[Regularity]

They were quoting approval ratings, not commenting on why, and simply pointing out that BoJo was deluding himself over his mandate: the article wasn’t about Corbyn.

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Regularity said:

They were quoting approval ratings, not commenting on why

 

Yes, I read the article. I was merely commenting on why!

[Regularity]

16 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Yes, I read the article. I was merely commenting on why!

Yes, but the article didn’t say that, and neither did I. Just wanted to be clear on that.

Also, I think Corbyn’s problem was that he was/is Corbyn: didn’t need the press to alienate himself with large swathes of the electorate.

[Dunsignalling]

1 hour ago, Regularity said:

Yes, but the article didn’t say that, and neither did I. Just wanted to be clear on that.

Also, I think Corbyn’s problem was that he was/is Corbyn: didn’t need the press to alienate himself with large swathes of the electorate.

I've always considered Corbin and Johnson equally repellent....

[monkeysarefun]

8 hours ago, Edwardian said:

but I'm finding it increasingly hard to come up with arguments to dissuade the aliens whose fleet lurks on the dark side of the Moon from eliminating Mankind as a kindness to Planet Earth.

 

Theres more of them than there are of you!

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

8 hours ago, Regularity said:

Otherwise, he didn’t really get the mandate he thinks he had

Lucky, otherwise he could have rarred up his deluded supporters and had them marching on  Westminster chanting Hang Mike Pence.

[Compound2632]

6 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

chanting Hang Mike Pence.

 

Surely the object of their ire would be the snake Gove?

[Regularity]

6 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Lucky, otherwise he could have rarred up his deluded supporters and had them marching on  Westminster chanting Hang Mike Pence.

In context, wouldn’t that have been Micheal Gove?