Just watched the pathetic law-breaking buffoon bat away opposition questions with non-answers yet again. Time to retire PMQs?
It befuddles me that someone can get rebuked for saying Pinnochio but the PM (regardless of who they are) can stand there for half an hour not actually answering a question. Surely that is the greater crime. You wouldn't get away with those deflections infront of a select committee so you shouldn't get away with it in PMQ.
No, because the more people witness those exchanges, the less likely they are to vote for the lying cuπt. He'd love it to be scrapped, I'm sure!
The problem isn't the format, it's the Prime Minister. What's now obvious is that if you have a criminal in the top job, the laws and processes around them are nullified by a majority and a cabal who care for their own privileged skins ahead of anything else. The main change required is for the convict to be removed.
The whole Parliamentary system is reliant on the most powerful politicians displaying some integrity, which this lot have used to their advantage. PMQ's would be much better as a written and published correspondance, than the pantomime that they currently have.
One thing to mention though. Despite a large majority of baying tories, and despite a structure where a liar can lie constantly.... Starmer got completely under dePfeffels skin following up a very impressive showing yesterday.
I suspect Tory sympathisers will have, some probably knocking one out at the sound of Rees-Mogg’s 19th century drivels
And thats the fundamental problem - I am not sure he would have got away with it under Bercow - at least not to the same extent but in a select committee usually the chair has some grasp of the subject so when for example Nadine Dorres talks about C4 being reliant on public funding she is instantly correcteded and looks an even bigger fool than normal Here the PM can make a statement that everyone knows is false and the speaker who claims he isnt there to check facts lets it go but if an MP calls Johnson out he is the one that is in trouble, because it is assumed the Prime Minister is honourable The system falls apart when the PM has less morals than Al Capone - somehow the system needs to be changed to prevent that but when the only people with the power to change anything are the crooks in charge we are f*cked even when a motion is placed to refer the PM to the standards committe a 3 line whip is placed on the MPs to vote it down we need a new constitution to stop this - even if Johnson goes who is to say now that pandoras box has been opened his successor will be any better ( they probably will even if Tory but there is clearly nothing to stop them if they carry on the same way)
The "whip" system is the first thing that should be abolished. For me it should have zero place in any democratic system
It just needs three minor amendments: 1. Each question asked should be a direct question. Preambling to make political capital should be banned. 2. The question should be answered to the satisfaction of the speaker. If it isn't, he or she should be able to restate it until it is answered. They sit there as long as it takes for that to happen. 3. There should be an independent fact checker to verify the answers given, and any inaccuracies should be clarified or corrected before the end of the session.
Watched footage of Yvette Cooper as she launched a 4 minute condemnation on Pritti Patel’s Rwanda debacle earlier today. Quite impressive, Apparrently Patel almost broke her record of using the word absolutely in her speech (22 times) We need PMQT to try and keep hammering home to the general public how, incompetent and out of touch this horrible govt is
I must admit, since the last reshuffle, Labour have been much punchier with their questioning of the government and you're right about Cooper, it was a very good level of questioning, so good that the evil Patel had to resort to levels of word salad responses with a liberal sprinkling of abuse and bullying for good measure. There are glimpses of the media giving a fairer hearing and being more critical of Johnson. Not as much as a free media would do, but that there are wobbles in the centre right media, that says quite a lot at this time.
Do you reckon? Starmer is a complete pussycat thought he was as bad as Johnson. You've got on one hand the PM knowingly lying and the opposition not having the clout to put any real pressure on him to go. Far far too timid. They both need to resign. If the opposition parties want to put real pressure on, announce that they will not be present in the house or committee whilst he is leader, effectively halting British politics the pressure would be far too great for the Tories just to ignore and they'd soon go with the no confidence vote. As for PMQ's, they could and should be extremely important but I can't remember a single PM or politician in modern times answering the question they have been asked instead of ranting on about getting on with the job etc.
Yes, I do reckon. DePfeffel would love an empty bench opposite, it wouldn't phase him at all to face zero scrutiny. It would also mean that one of the main opportunities for the opposition leader to get air time would have gone. It's difficult enough cutting through with the majority of right wing media without purposefully becoming mute.
If the entire opposition refused to continue the democratic process, government wouldn't function. Something would have to give and I reckon that would be the PM being ousted.
Given so far DePfeffel has hidden in a fridge, illegally prorogued parliament involving the Queen, broken the law (multiple times but only proven by the police once so far), lied about Brexit custom protocols, plans to breach the Geneva convention, broken international law (in a specific and limited way), been repeatedly rebuked by statistics authority for misuse of statistics (commonly job numbers), has overruled standards and ethics advisers who have found him or his ministers guilty to some degree, accused the leader of the opposition of failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile, is still being investigated by the Met for his time as Mayor for misconduct in public office for giving his mistress business support she failed to qualify for, has claimed multiple holidays without disclosing them in the ministers register, had a tory peer footing his flat tart up to around £200k, lied about it, though did offer a perk to him for a meeting to be involved in the festival of Britain, is bullying the BBC from within, privatising channel 4, appointing tory stooges on any public body possible, is gerrymandering the electoral boundaries, constantly condemning judges for meddling in his rule breaking to the point one of his bills makes the government beyond the rule of law, changing mayoral election protocols in the hope of getting more tories elected and has repeatedly lied pretty much every time he's opened his mouth (this is not even close to being an exhaustive list by the way).... you think just not turning up in the commons is going to stop him?
The thing that boils my pish when I watch PMQs is then they cut away to the BBC studio and their sterile analysis in the interests of so-called balance which makes every session come over as a no-score draw. It's disgusting. Given Starmer consistently rips the criminal liar a new backside if PMQs was a football match Keane and Souness would be talking about a 6-0 hammering and the 'boy Johnson' not being fit to wear the shirt. But because it's politics the commentary is banal, insipid and lightweight. This in itself plays to the age old Tory narrative from page 1 of their play book of 'divide and rule'. Oh for someone like a modern day Brian Walden.
This. Parliament is built on standards of decency. The answer surely is to insist on decent politicians
Government doesn’t require any opposition to function. It’d just get on doing what it was going to do only faster and with even less scrutiny.