Curiouser and curiouser. I awoke to the news that the there was a Fox and a Crabb both vying to be our next Prime Minister. It was also suggested that an Eagle was to challenge Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader. Lewis Carroll would have loved this. At the beginning of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland we are introduced to The Caucus Race. And lo, we have a real one of our own and we too are all swimming aimlessly in a pool of tears.
We were promised that Theresa May may stand, but when I left my house for my weekly shopping trip to town the only addition to the menagerie was the Gove, who is I suspect a sort of flightless bird which is endangered and prominent on the CITES red list.
Well we got back home and unpacked the car. Mother Theresa of Maidenhead had announced she was standing, declaring she was the one to heal the rifts in the party. So was somebody called Andrea Leadsom, possibly the least well known candidate in history since I withdrew my name.
Jeremy (some of my best friends are doctors) Hunt has announced that he wasn't standing, disappointing cartoonists and satirists everywhere. The weasel Farage announced on Radio 5 Live that David Cameron was a 'conman'. Hmm.
At 11.18 Nicky Morgan announced she would not be putting her name forward causing wailing and gnashing of teeth from teachers across the land, and then at about a quarter to twelve Boris Alexander Stanleyovich arrived to hold a press conference where he proceeded to waffle at length, as only he can, about what we can learn form the campaign; how the future is rosy and that we will be at the front of the queue (up yours Obama); and what a brilliant job he did as Mayor of London; before finally announcing that he would not be standing as a candidate for the leadership of his party. This news prompted an audible intake of breath from those present. Boris Alexander had been offered the poisoned chalice and had declined to drink. Woo hoo!
In other news Aaron Banks, multi-millionaire and all round good egg, is reported to be thinking about setting up a new party on the far right, but isn't keen on Nigel as its leader. I was thinking that as Farage is keen on the idea of completely cutting himself off from the rest of Europe which was made clear when he almost as rude to those who may control our future relationship, as it is possible to be without actually dropping his trousers and farting at them, why don't we offer him the chance to set up on Rockall. It's only small but it is part of the UK. There he can be as rude and obnoxious as he wants and nobody will care because nobody will be able to hear him. If he gets lonely he can also arrange training days for the EDL or BF who can take the opportunity to hone their survival skills, something they seem to think is important judging by their videos.
I haven't really touched on the left today, beyond a brief mention of Angie the Eagle. If she wanted to take up ski jumping she would have my full support, heel, I'd pay money to watch, but as a potential leader of the Labour Party. Nah. Her shortcomings have been rehearsed by those much better qualified than me. I direct you to this if you want a more reasoned argument.
http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/is-angela-eagle-more-electable-than.html
Today has seen many developments in the wasteland which is our political landscape. It remains to be seen what we can salvage from the wreckage.
Will we actually leave the EU? Well I don't know. David Cameron certainly didn't want to be the man responsible for invoking Article 50. Nor as it turns out did Boris Alexander Stanleyovich . In all probability it will by Mother Theresa versus The Gove in the final showdown. The Gove is a leaver who knows he is always right so he will have no compunction in starting the process of us leaving the EU (I assume, although this is a man who stated unequivocally on at least five occasions that he didn't want to be PM http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/30/michael-gove-denial-categorial-not-equipped-to-be-pm-candidate?CMP=fb_gu so who knows?) Mother Theresa has said that 'Leave means leave' a fairly obvious statement I'd have thought, but one that does seem to make her position abundantly clear. Neither seems keen on following Tam Dalyell's advice to ignore the results of the referendum because 'Parliament is sovereign... They should have some guts and less cowardice'.
If we do leave the EU what can we look forward to? A sustained period of total effing chaos I'd have thought. We will however also be presented with abundant opportunities for reform which I personally think have been shown to be long overdue. First we need to address electoral reform. The last referendum before this one in which the whole of the UK voted was in 2011 and was about whether to adopt a form of Proportional Representation for use in Parliamentary elections. The proposal was rejected, I voted against it because firstly I felt that AV, the system we were being offered was not rigorous enough and secondly because I had an instinctive dislike of coalitions and I thought that First Past The Post was the best way to avoid them. I still think AV is a half hearted approach to PR and would now support like the single transferable vote, especially if it was allied to compulsory voting. Incidentally I have started a petition to ask the government to consider he introduction of compulsory voting. If you share my feelings you can sign it here https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/156093/sponsors/ml301KTipwBMZhxq0D3N
We also need to reform the House of Lords. What price democracy when we have an 800 strong unelected upper house? I shall share my thoughts on this, and on things we might be able to improve when we are no longer bound by our membership of the EU when I return tomorrow. And if I sound like a happy leaver, I am not. I don't think our future economic stability is something which should have been recklessly gambled away on an idealogical pipe-dream, but I was never totally happy with the EU either and maybe we can take advantage of our leaving to create a better fairer way of doing things.
Love Tim xx
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