Thursday, March 28, 2019
Brexit turns into an Eton-Wykehamist farce
I was tempted this morning just to post a GIF of somebody banging their head on a desk as my final comment on the Brexit farce currently running in the Westminster theatre known as the House of Commons.
Last night MPs voted on eight different solutions to how we might move forward on Brexit. It might well be that as the cliff edge approaches one of these options might squeak through, but if it is anything but May's deal or no deal, the chances of legislation being approved to implement it would be slim.
In chess terms we are now in zugzwang, whereby anything MPs do further weakens the position of the UK. Without exception, they are abrogating their responsibility to find a way through this mess, with all sides unwilling to compromise in the national interest.
And as if to underline how out-of-touch MPs are with the rest of the country, it seems that yesterday's debate boiled down to the products of various public schools throwing insults at each other across the chamber.
As the Independent reports, in a speech which would be met with bafflement on any high street across the country, Jacob Rees-Mogg resorted to mocking fellow Conservative MPs in the House of Commons over the public schools they went to.
This so-called leading Eurosceptic, who attended Eton College, said other MPs who went to school at Winchester College were "characteristically...highly intelligent but fundamentally wrong":
That prompted Mr Boles to interject to say he was "quite capable of distinguishing between my general confidence in the government...and their specific conduct on this particular issue." The former minister said he had repeatedly supported the government by voting for its Brexit deal, which Mr Rees-Mogg has twice voted against.
In response, Mr Rees-Mogg said Mr Boles' argument was "characteristically Wykehamist - highly intelligent but fundamentally wrong". The word "Wykehamist" is used to refer to someone who went to Winchester College.
Turning his guns on Sir Oliver, another alumnus of Eton College, Mr Rees-Mogg added: "I must confess I've sometimes thought my right honourable friend for West Dorset was more a Wykehamist than of my own school."
Is it any wonder that the public look upon this spectacle with disgust. I have been a politician all my life and even I am being turned off politics by these pointless manoeuvrings.
Last night MPs voted on eight different solutions to how we might move forward on Brexit. It might well be that as the cliff edge approaches one of these options might squeak through, but if it is anything but May's deal or no deal, the chances of legislation being approved to implement it would be slim.
In chess terms we are now in zugzwang, whereby anything MPs do further weakens the position of the UK. Without exception, they are abrogating their responsibility to find a way through this mess, with all sides unwilling to compromise in the national interest.
And as if to underline how out-of-touch MPs are with the rest of the country, it seems that yesterday's debate boiled down to the products of various public schools throwing insults at each other across the chamber.
As the Independent reports, in a speech which would be met with bafflement on any high street across the country, Jacob Rees-Mogg resorted to mocking fellow Conservative MPs in the House of Commons over the public schools they went to.
This so-called leading Eurosceptic, who attended Eton College, said other MPs who went to school at Winchester College were "characteristically...highly intelligent but fundamentally wrong":
That prompted Mr Boles to interject to say he was "quite capable of distinguishing between my general confidence in the government...and their specific conduct on this particular issue." The former minister said he had repeatedly supported the government by voting for its Brexit deal, which Mr Rees-Mogg has twice voted against.
In response, Mr Rees-Mogg said Mr Boles' argument was "characteristically Wykehamist - highly intelligent but fundamentally wrong". The word "Wykehamist" is used to refer to someone who went to Winchester College.
Turning his guns on Sir Oliver, another alumnus of Eton College, Mr Rees-Mogg added: "I must confess I've sometimes thought my right honourable friend for West Dorset was more a Wykehamist than of my own school."
Is it any wonder that the public look upon this spectacle with disgust. I have been a politician all my life and even I am being turned off politics by these pointless manoeuvrings.
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It would seem that this whole Brexit mess is all about them thar Tories having a public spat. Where is the countries future in that?
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