The timetable has been announced. We'll know who is the new Labour leader in early April.
Long-bailey is the continuity Corbynist candidate. Nandy and Philips are the two women candidates who appear to be normal human beings. The (currently two) male candidates will find it difficult to win, as the general perception seems to be that it's time the party has its first female leader. Thornberry seems to be about as charming and diplomatic as Jabba the Hutt.
Next stage is for the (currently six) candidates to see if they can get enough support from MPs and trade unions to qualify for the next stage where the winner is chosen by a ballot of Labour party members.
That Harry and Meghan thing is the most interesting bit of royal news since ... well since Prince Andrew's notorious interview which wasn't that long ago.
Perhaps it's just what the article says, that they were feeling a lot of pressure. But my first & continuing thought is that they know some stuff going in Royals plc, and they are leaving a sinking ship before it's too late. Perhaps they're quitting before Granny can fire them the way she did with her own son.
The British royal family should be trimmed back somehow. Most other European royal families only have four members - the monarch and spouse and the crown prince or princess and spouse.
Harry and Meghan should pay their own way (including travel, security, and rent on that house in Windsor). They're both millionaires so they're not likely to starve.
Perhaps it's just what the article says, that they were feeling a lot of pressure. But my first & continuing thought is that they know some stuff going in Royals plc, and they are leaving a sinking ship before it's too late.
It's an interesting piece and makes me want to read more from Hirsch. But is it plausible in that one specific speculation: Is Merkle, endowed with all the resources she has to cope with racism in the US, likely to have found the British variety too much to endure? And if so, where will she and Harry go—back to Trump's white supremacists' paradise?
Labour leadership contest: five have made it through to the next stage:
Left to right: Emily Thornberry (aka Lady Nugee, aka Jabba), Jess Phillips, Rebecca Long-Bailey (most Corbynite, and most blatantly painted-on eyebrows), Sir Keir Starmer, Lisa Nandy.
Thornberry only made the cut in the final hours. Sir Keir got the most MP votes with Long-Bailey second. Sir Keir would be the clear favorite if he didn't have the disadvantage of being a man.
Now each candidate has to get the support of 5% of all constituency parties, or three "affiliates" (two of which have to be trade unions). Those that pass this stage will then be eligible for the final stage where Labour party members vote to select the winner.
The article's not just about that. It's also about Brexiteers' apparent need for a narrative of oppression. Money quote:
Quote:
The problem with a revolt against imaginary oppression is that you end up with imaginary freedom.
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"Her eyes in certain light were violet, and all her teeth were even. That's a rare, fair feature: even teeth. She smiled to excess, but she chewed with real distinction." - Eleanor of Aquitaine
To the audience here who's already probably informed: When Scotland had their referendum a few years back that was the Big Thing: "If you want to stay in the EU, you have to stay in the UK!" And so Scotland's more or less taken this development a rather personal insult.
Then there's the whole Ireland thing.
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Peering from the top of Mount Stupid
From what I've been readng, The Scotts may be planning a "Brexit" of their own.
Now that Westminster has successfully exited (for questionable definitions of "successfully" and "exit") from the unrepresentative tyranny of Brussels, they will spend the next 2 - 20 years explaining to Scotland that Scotland is better as part of the UK, and they can't unilaterally secede anyway.
Meanwhile the Conservatives seem a lot less concerned about Northern Ireland and (possibly but not certainly) aware that an actual land border with the EU is a difficult thing, and might just let it all go away.
Never gets old seeing an Irish tell a smug English to Go Try French Opera.
Mairead McGuinness cuts Nigel Farage's mic - "Sit down, put your flags away - you're leaving - & take them with you - goodbye" �� pic.twitter.com/XM1hztMelA
Re: Get Brexit Done
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: Not much.
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