Michael Gove slagging of Boris

JezWynd

professorben said:

Gove is ruthless, cold, calculated, intelligent, conniving, manipulative, and callous.
And as such I can't think of a better prospect out the conservatives to argue as better deal as we can out of the EU going forward.

As loathsome as he appears to be, he's the best bet to actually take us out of the EU. If any of the others get in I see an election in the not too distant future based around a stay in proposition.

ICBM

JezWynd said:

As loathsome as he appears to be, he's the best bet to actually take us out of the EU. If any of the others get in I see an election in the not too distant future based around a stay in proposition.

There won't be an election. The Fixed Term Parliaments Act means that either a vote of no confidence in the government must be passed, or a vote for an early election passed by at least two-thirds of the house.

I doubt even the first would be possible, since the government has a majority and it's not actually in the interests of the opposition to bring them down now anyway, even if there was a rebellion. Labour is too disunited to fight a General Election, the Lib Dems haven't recovered enough from the last one yet, and even the SNP can only realistically lose seats - and from their point of view worst of all, probably to the Tories who have now emerged as the effective opposition in Scotland.

So bizarrely they would all probably abstain even though they clearly and rightly have no confidence in the government.

Gove would be a disaster trying to take us out of the EU. He's ideologically driven but incapable of negotiating. See his performance with the teachers for proof.

I never thought I would say this since I've always thought May was a thinly-disguised fascist, but right now she looks like the only credible option.