Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. Country is split right down the middle. No way is 3.8% a mandate for exiting the EU. 70-30% I could have easily understood. Maybe even 60-40% at a push. But this is a day-to-day shift in opinions type percentage. If the electorate were polled right now I'd honestly expect them to provide the opposite result.
Like Hislop said, Remainers aren't just going to just walk away from what they believe in, just as UKIP would've kept banging the drum for exit, had the result been the opposite.
I agree with your first bit. She isn't going onto Socialist ground here. She is merely doing what Thatcher did and speaks about opportunity and closing gaps and looking after everyone. Something that New Labour messed up and Cameron continued. I think she will be tougher on loopholes and address people's concerns but getting rid of freedom of movement of Labour in itself gives her a massive headstart in terms of being able to get more "lazy brits" into work, or at least have a need to train them instead of leaving them to rot. She won't be a Lib Dem. Lib Dem and PLP are a pretty close match.
Don't get too excited. He may well still be the man behind the lady!!! Might get one of those meaningless roles to get him away from the top jobs (out of the public eye) for a while yet still be pulling the strings strategy-wise etc.
I would still not count on Brexit happening. I think it is 50/50. I think it is likely that after the panic is over, some people will take a look around and see the sky has not fallen. Britain as an economic power will be weakened. Quite likely there will be a recession. But so what? There are more important things than GDP, and people have survived them before. OTOH, there seem to be a whole lot of massively deluded people who think the world will come crawling on its knees when the mighty Britain roars. Truth is, no one very much wants your products. And to the extent they do, they will just buy the company out for cheap while the pound is weak. Both sides tried to sell the voters on a whole lot of lies. Hard to predict what will happen when people see the truth. Or even if they will see the truth considering how easily they were snowed in the first place.
Boris bloody Johnson? That's a joke, right? Actually, upon reflection, that's a stroke of genius. The world's in flames from Damascus to Dallas via Darfur. Best to just take the piss. And John Cleese hasn't been funny for donkeys years. So it had to be Boris.
I bet the civil servants at the F.O. are pleased. It'll feel like the Empire was never lost, pink gins and I'll help him out with the funny walk if he wants. Do we know if Hunt has survived?
Anyone seen Eagle's live reaction to Boris'new job? Brilliant. Sorry if posted earlier. http://www.theguardian.com/politics...s-johnsons-elevation-stuns-angela-eagle-video
I saw that just now. The reaction from a lot of people. It certainly is a strange appointment from a usually cautious woman. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?
There's something about Eagle that really irritates me, hopefully she resigns after losing in the Labour Leadership election. If by some miracle she does win, I think the Lib Dems will see a massive spike in membership and popularity.