U.K. Politics: Boris Johnson referred to police (AGAIN) over potential Covid rule breaches

[heppolo]

^After that suspension, she may have a potential to join UKIP and even replace their leader.

[Wayne]

MP Anne Marie Morris suspended for racist remark

A Conservative MP has been suspended from the party after it emerged she used a racist expression during a public discussion about Brexit.

Anne Marie Morris, the MP for Newton Abbott, used the phrase at an event in London to describe the prospect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

She told the BBC: "The comment was totally unintentional. I apologise unreservedly for any offence caused."

The Conservative Party later confirmed she had had the whip withdrawn.

Announcing the suspension, Theresa May said she was "shocked" by the "completely unacceptable" language.

"I immediately asked the Chief Whip to suspend the party whip," she said in a statement. "Language like this has absolutely no place in politics or in today's society."

The BBC understands the prime minister and the Conservative Chief Whip, Gavin Williamson, were expected to meet to discuss the matter once Mrs May finished her Commons statement on last weekend's G20 summit earlier on Monday.

A Conservative spokesman said: "We are aware of these reports. This kind of language is completely unacceptable, and we are urgently investigating."

According to a recording published on the Huffington Post website, Ms Morris was discussing the impact of Brexit on the UK's financial services industry at an event organised by the Politeia think tank, which was attended by other Conservative MPs.

Suggesting that just 7% of financial services would be affected by Brexit, she reportedly said: "Now I am sure there will be many people who will challenge that but my response and my request is look at the detail - it isn't all doom and gloom."

She went on: "Now we get to the real nigger in the woodpile, which is in two years what happens if there is no deal."

The phrase originated in the American Deep South in the mid-19th Century and is thought to have referred to slaves having to conceal themselves as they sought to flee north and secure their freedom.

It was subsequently used in the 20th Century - including by a number of leading novelists - as a metaphor to describe a hidden fact or problem.

The Lib Dems had called on Theresa May to withdraw the whip from Ms Morris, who was first elected to Parliament in 2010 and was subsequently re-elected in 2015 and earlier this year.

Leader Tim Farron said he was "shocked" and called for her to be suspended from the parliamentary party.
"This disgusting comment belongs in the era of the Jim Crow laws and has no place in our Parliament," he said.

Labour's Andrew Gwynne urged Mrs May to "act immediately" in response to what he said was "outrageous and completely unacceptable" language.

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas said there was "no place for racism, full stop" in British politics and Ms Morris should have the whip removed.

Ms Morris was also criticised by Tory colleagues, one of whom, Heidi Allen, tweeted: "I'm afraid an apology is not good enough - we must show zero tolerance for racism. MPs must lead by example."

In 2008, Conservative peer and party spokesman Lord Dixon-Smith apologised for using the same phrase in the House of Lords, saying that it was not appropriate and that he had "left his brains behind". The peer was not dismissed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40555639

[Wayne]

Labour - i.e. Corbyn - tabled a vote on reviewing the public sector pay gap and making an amendment to the Queen's Speech. And they - he - were defeated as the House of Commons voted 329 to 309 against Corbyn's plan.

[flopho]

[youtube:1tbnbasz]wqz6H0Crbm8[/youtube:1tbnbasz]

[matthew_dixon]

Well, latest news today is that Vince Cable is standing for leader, and that following Jo Swinson (and Alistair Carmichael and Tom Brake), Layla Moran has ruled herself out.

Personally, I'd be very happy with Vince as leader and Jo as deputy, with Jo taking over in a couple of years when Vince finally decides it might be time to put his feet up (he's only 74 after all!)

[heppolo]

I want Lib Dems to get back on track again, Jo Swinson is an alright choice, I am only against sticking to the old guns like Vince Cable.

[matthew_dixon]

^It may sound controversial, but Lid Dems should pick Layla Moran over Jo Swinson or any other candidate for the leadership

Why, out of interest? She's only been an MP a matter of days - does she have the experience to lead a major political party?.

Identity politics and she's the most good-looking choice and the politics have now reached the childish level when pretty/charming/good-looking politicians can get away with a lot, others are just un-charismatic

Hmmm - by identity politics do you mean the fact she's Palestinian? Might help get some demographics and alienate others a bit. If you're talking looks helping win elections, I wouldn't put Layla Moran particularly above Jo Swinson. Interestingly a poll of Lib Dem members put out of the entire set of 11 candidates, Jo Swinson getting over 50% of the votes. If she chooses not to stand, then the others that got the most votes in the poll were (in order I believe) Vince Cable, Norman Lamb, Ed Davey and interestingly your girl Layla Moran - even though she's new and folks like Stephen Lloyd aren't.

[Wayne]

Why tf are people protesting for Theresa May's resignation? What do they want - another conservative PM we didn't vote for?

Lefties are calling for it - no one else.

I recognise her shortcomings and the improvements she needs to make but I also recognise that a change in PM now would be a disaster.

[heppolo]

Why tf are people protesting for Theresa May's resignation? What do they want - another conservative PM we didn't vote for?

People want BoJo.

[heppolo]

^It may sound controversial, but Lid Dems should pick Layla Moran over Jo Swinson or any other candidate for the leadership

Why, out of interest? She's only been an MP a matter of days - does she have the experience to lead a major political party?.

Identity politics and she's the most good-looking choice and the politics have now reached the childish level when pretty/charming/good-looking politicians can get away with a lot, others are just un-charismatic

[matthew_dixon]

^It may sound controversial, but Lid Dems should pick Layla Moran over Jo Swinson or any other candidate for the leadership

Why, out of interest? She's only been an MP a matter of days - does she have the experience to lead a major political party?

I'm really sorry to see Tim go - but I understand why he did. Simple fact is that deep down he is an evangelical Christian who believes that biblical teaching is that gay sex is a sin. To say that as the leader of a party that claims to be "liberal" would be political suicide. To say otherwise, as he did, was a blatant lie and a betrayal of his faith. The facts are simple - whilst he holds evangelical Christian views, those have not influenced the fact that he has voted for equal rights all the way through, whether or not he agrees they are morally right according to his religious viewpoint.

I'm a liberal myself - and a Christian as well. My own Christian views are from the liberal end of the church - so I don't share his view that gay sex is a sin. However, as a liberal - both in political and religious contexts - I feel it's fundamentally important that someone shouldn't be discriminated against because of their religious beliefs. Tim should have been judged on his political viewpoint, and on how he voted in parliament - but sadly the media, and the public, wanted to judge him on and for his faith.

Regarding a successor - for me once you've eliminated those that are too new (Wera Hobhouse, Christine Jardine, Layla Moran and Jamie Stone), too old (Vince Cable), just stepped down (Tim Farron) or too far north to be prepared to stand (Alistair Carmichael), you're left with five MPs. Ed Davey and Norman Lamb are nice enough guys but neither is someone I could see as a particularly charismatic leader. Tom Brake and Stephen Lloyd are really popular constituency MPs but whether they'd have national appeal I don't know. Jo Swinson is someone who was incredibly popular and frankly incredibly unlucky to be caught in the SNP surge. She lost her seat in 2015 when there was a huge swing against the Liberal Democrats nationally, and huge swing to the SNP in Scotland. However, she lost her seat whilst only losing 2.4% of the vote share and increasing her number of votes. The SNP won the seat by nicking most of the Labour votes - they couldn't make headway into her support at all really. If we're wanting a clean break from Tim Farron's views that "gay sex is a sin", who better than the equalities minister who brought in the legalisation of same-sex marriage? She was considered a rising star then, and now she's back, I think she is the right person to lead the party going forward.

[heppolo]

^It may sound controversial, but Lid Dems should pick Layla Moran over Jo Swinson or any other candidate for the leadership

[Wayne]

Lib Dems leader Tim Farron has resigned. The BBC writes...

Tim Farron has stepped down as leader of the Liberal Democrats after the general election.

In a statement, he said he was "torn between living as a faithful Christian and serving as a political leader".

He said he should have dealt "more wisely" with questions relating to his faith during the election campaign, including his views on gay sex.

He insisted he had taken the decision voluntarily and he retained the support of his party.

[heppolo]

^Ruth Davidson must be extremely happy about that DUP alliance herself

[Biebz]

https://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/874302566682767360

Mess

[Theodorerichert]

^I'm really learning a lot from this "scandal". I had no idea that running through a wheat field could incur such wrath. I have lived near hay fields and corn fields my entire life and it is considered quite acceptable to take a little stroll through them. Just so long as you don't trample down the corn stalks.

Does anyone know if it does more damage to walk in a wheat field than a hay field?

[Rihab]

Theresa better watch out!

DUP Politician Once Caught Rihanna Running Through His Wheat Field



I hope he snatches her like he did Rih!

Rih's career survived, but will Theresa's?

[samra]

Theresa better watch out!

DUP Politician Once Caught Rihanna Running Through His Wheat Field



I hope he snatches her like he did Rih!

[heppolo]

Two fine twitter parody accounts:
Mhairi Black Googles
Angry Salmond

[Wayne]

I read that the cost of a UK general election is up to £170 million - so if they do call another one, they're foolish.

[Rihab]

I have a feeling there'll be new elections before the end of the year.

[Wayne]

^ In theory, I guess so - the name itself stems from an incident in 1922 when a group of MPs [that would become known as the 1922 committee leveled a challenge at the sitting parliament that eventually resulted in the sitting party being voted out and the Conservatives taking over as government.

If the sentiment is strong, then they could stake a challenge for leadership - with the right candidate and enough party support, that could then lead to a leadership battle which could oust May.

However, I highly doubt that will happen - she'll take a beating and it'll be made clear to her that she needs to change her leadership style. However, the party will probably do what they always do - get on with it. Corbyn has little to no chance of the premiership this time around.

[Theodorerichert]

What is 1922 committee?

It's basically the entire number of Tory backbench MPs - they meet with each other each week and the PM is not allowed to attend but I think they then meet with the PM once each month to put forth their views. It's basically a link between the PM and her cabinet ministers and the rest of the party - the Chairman of the 1922 committee is considered to be one of the most influential positions in UK politics.

It'll be the toughest meeting she has this year, Brexit aside.

Do they have the power to replace her, if they wish?

[Wayne]

What is 1922 committee?

It's basically the entire number of Tory backbench MPs - they meet with each other each week and the PM is not allowed to attend but I think they then meet with the PM once each month to put forth their views. It's basically a link between the PM and her cabinet ministers and the rest of the party - the Chairman of the 1922 committee is considered to be one of the most influential positions in UK politics.

It'll be the toughest meeting she has this year, Brexit aside.

[hun]

What is 1922 committee?