A useful rule of thumb from Will Hutton

They recognise that Brexit is a project by the right for the right.

Well, no, it is a result of a majority voting for it in a referendum. If it is not delivered, that will be a betrayal of democracy and a clear indication that the political class despises ordinary people. That would be a recipe for people to feel that they are fully justified in taking matters into their own hands.

Execution Dock is too good for him. It should be overboard and chained to a cannon ball somewhere off New Providence.

Is tolerance now left-wing? Surely lefties are the least tolerant people ever

Slightly OT, but I’ve just been reading “New World Inc.” by John Butman & Simon Targett. It describes the efforts of Merchant Adventurers from the time of Edward VI through to James I which set in motion the rise of the US.

This particular section quotes from “Of Plymouth Plantation”, written in 1650 by William Bradford, one of the “Mayflower” Pilgrims, fully 2 centuries before Marx:

Although the Pilgrims survived, the colony was never particularly prosperous or profitable. What’s more, Bradford felt that the community had failed in its original purpose. The Pilgrims had planned a kind of socialist endeavor, where land would be communally owned and everyone would contribute their efforts to be shared among all. They had tried hard to make a go of this “common course”, as Bradford called it, hoping to prove the conceit, put forward by Plato and “other ancients”, that “the taking away of property” and “bringing in community into commonwealth” would “make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God”.

But instead, the plan had bred “confusion and discontent”: young, unmarried men did not want to labor, without recompense, for other men and their families; the stronger and fitter men felt they should get a greater share of the benefits; the “aged and graver” men felt disrespected by being “equalized” with everyone else; and women, who had been pressed into doing chores for the whole of the community, saw their lives as “a kind of slavery.”

By 1623, the experiment proved unworkable; the corn harvest was meager and they did not wish to “languish in misery” any longer. Bradford and his fellow leaders debated how they could improve the yield of their harvests. They settled on a program of private ownership and each family was assigned their own parcel of land. This approach “had good success, for it made all hands very industrious.”

Bradford did not lament what he called the “corruption” of his fellow settlers, by which he meant their desire to work for their own benefit, because “all men have this corruption in them.” He concluded that “God in His wisdom saw another course fitter for them.”

It continually surprises me that the socialist meme is still so strong. So along with all the 20thC failed experiments (and continuing), we have evidence from an earlier experiment. Even with the strong beliefs of the Pilgrims to make a socialist society, they still failed in the face of reality.

Gamecock, I think another language has a word for submission.

Ah, yes. The word is Islam…

I admire Tories such as Phillip Lee, Jo Johnson and Sam Gyimah who have resigned on this issue, and others such as Anna Soubry, Justine Greening, Sarah Wollaston, Ken Clarke and Dominic Grieve. I would be proud to stand and campaign alongside them – and also Nicola Sturgeon, Caroline Lucas and Vince Cable.

I’m really hoping all these people and their media cheerleaders decide to form their own party around the single issue of re-joining the EU. It’ll be so fun to watch them get roundly ignored for years, just as UKIP was.

“This case would best be made by Labour as the centre of a cross-party coalition: it has credibility as a fighter against poverty and abusive capitalism and an advocate for internationalism. But the case for tolerance and openness cannot be made from a tribal silo.”

In other words “Happy to have your votes on board with us. Just as long as you remember who are the senior partners and the decent people in the relationship… Welcome, You Tory Scum

Diogenes – they get confused easily on principles which is why they prize their opinions above all else. Opinions are so much more flexible and can be used in any situation at any time.

“Execution Dock”

Judge: Mr Hutton admits he “admires” Anna Soubry, Justine Greening, Sarah Wollaston, Ken Clarke, Dominic Grieve, Nicola Sturgeon, Caroline Lucas and Vince Cable. What is your verdict?

Jury: Guilty

Judge: Mr Hutton; I sentence you to death. Mr Ecks, at your convenience.

Pcar–I don’t hold hangings at my bog –its too small. There are plenty of public venues that would do.

A “reverse” honours ceremony at Buck House is one that springs nicely to mind. Bring your Top hat.

@MrEcks

Very witty. Merry Christmas 🙂

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@KJ

The law was only broken because the Electoral Commission was inept and approved spending they should not have.

imo UK Gov’t broke law by spending £9.3Million to back Remain; EU,IMF, BoE, OECD, UN, US Gov’t broke law by openly campaigning in a UK Plebiscite.

Scuttle home to Selmayr’s anus.

@KJ

OK. I’m a tad crothety – awful cold (first in 10+ years) and not sleeping well. Merry Christmas