Another opportunity missed?

Another opportunity missed? It seems that opposition parties still cannot agree on a possible caretaker prime minister in the event of Boris Johnson losing a confidence vote in parliament.

The failure to put aside party advantage is decisive. Constitutionally, it would be right for the Queen to ask the Leader of the Opposition if he could form a government. The Labour party received 41% of the vote in the general election. By all accounts, the SNP would support him.

It is easy enough to conjure alternative names out of a hat: Margaret Beckett, Ken Clarke. But these are desperate attempts to avoid Jeremy Corbyn entering No 10 Downing Street as Prime Minister.

Why should they want to do that? Isn't stopping a 'no-deal' Brexit more critical?

Jo Swinson, the LibDem leader, says it is because "he is unfit to govern." One wonders why she considers Jeremy Corbyn less able than Boris Johnson, or even herself.

No, it is for party advantage. What they desperately want to avoid is Jeremy Corbyn looking "Prime-ministerial". The trappings of office change perceptions. Who knows Corbyn may be seen to do an excellent job of the task in hand.

The most straightforward move to stop Boris, and probably the most persuasive, is to put Jeremy Corbyn in as caretaker prime minister. The failure to agree on that simply reflects the appallingly bad tactics of Remainers in parliament.

In the end, should we leave the EU without a deal, or with a bad last-ditch agreement cobbled together by Boris Johnson, Remain MPs would be as responsible for this calamity as Boris Johnson.

They have it in their grasp to stop Boris. Their failure to do so has more to do with party politics and manoeuvring for the general election than it does Brexit. They are putting party before country.

Comments

The lion and the wildebeest

Birds flock, fish school, bees swarm, but social being is more than simply sticking together. Social groups enable specialisation and a sharing of abilities, and enhances ability, learning and creating new tricks. The more a group works together, the more effective they become as a team. Chimpanzees learn from each other how to use stones to crack nuts, or sticks to get termites. All around us we see cooperation and learning in nature. Nature is inherently creative. Pulling together becomes a rallying cry during a crisis. We have heard it throughout the coronavirus pandemic. "We are all in this together", a mantra that encourages people to adopt a common strategy. In an era of 'self-interest' and 'survival of the fittest,' and 'selfish gene', we lose sight of the obvious conclusion from the evidence all around us. Sticking together is more often the better approach. This is valid for the lion as it is also for the wildebeest. We don't

No evidence for vaccine link with autism

Public health bodies are worried that an alarming drop in childhood vaccinations is leading to a resurgence of diseases in childhood that we had all but eradicated. Misinformation and scare stories about the harmful effects of vaccines abound on the internet and in social media. Where they are based on 'science', it is highly selective, and often reliance is placed on falsehoods. Conspiracy theories also abound - cover-ups, deception, lies. As a result, too many parents are shunning vaccinations for their children. So, what does the published, peer-reviewed literature tell us about vaccincations? Are they safe and effective, or are there long term harmful effects? A new report now provides some of the answers. New evidence published in the Cochrane Library today finds MMR, MMRV, and MMR+V vaccines are effective and that they are not associated with increased risk of autism. Measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (also known as chickenpox) are infectious diseases cau

Therapeutic animal stress

Interacting with animals is known to be therapeutic, particularly in reducing stress. But do we consider sufficiently the effects this may have on the animals involved? We might assume that because it is calming for us, then it must be so for the therapeutic animals, but is this so? New research suggests that it isn't always without stress for the animals involved. Positive human-animal interaction relates to changes in physiological variables both in humans and other animals, including a reduction of subjective psychological stress (fear, anxiety) and an increase of oxytocin levels in the brain. It also reduces the 'stress' hormone, cortisol. Indeed, these biological responses have measurable clinical benefits. Oxytocin has long been implicated in maternal bonding, sexual behaviour and social affiliation behaviours and in promoting a sense of well-being . So far, so good. We humans often turn to animals for stress relief, companionship, and even therapy. We kno

The Thin End

Search This Blog