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What I'm worried about is BoJo just not asking for the extension. He would be in contempt of Parliament but as we saw with TM that has absolutely no consequences. I feel like they should have attached a "...if the PM does not comply, he will be sent to prison for a year" or something to it.
Well ... previously, there were only non-binding motions. What is being passed now is an Act of Parliament approved in both Houses. I suppose it's entirely possible that when Cummings says “When are you fucking MPs going to realise we are leaving on October 31? We are going to purge you.”, he means that he intends to 'advise' the Prime Minister not to heed the Act:
Rebel fears that Cummings was behind the expulsions appeared to be confirmed by the report of a foul-mouthed tirade by him directed at one of the rebels, the former business secretary Greg Clark.
The Daily Mail claimed Cummings said: “When are you fucking MPs going to realise we are leaving on October 31? We are going to purge you.” No 10 has admitted that Cummings has had robust conversations with rebels, but denied he swore.
I'm afraid I still can't believe that, but we'll see. I don't know what, if any, the consequences would be, apart from a massive scandal and huge political turmoil, of course.
Previously, I thought Cummings' stick was only that he dishonourably and mean-mindedly sought to exploit 'loopholes' in laws, and since he's been a 10 Downing Street adviser, in the 'unwritten constitution', but now that Parliament has legislated (or is a short way away from securing Royal Assent) and presumably in this way has closed a loophole, perhaps there's something more sinister going on. Could he be the enemy within? Has Johnson been compromised? I mean, he's always been absurd to some extent, but his behaviour recently has been even more absurd than before. He's been utterly rubbish at everything, including that bizarre speech today, which apparently had been intended as the launch of his election campaign, and has appeared completely rattled and extremely nervous. All very strange and not comforting.
Oliver Schick-
It is interesting that his supposed strength - public speaking - is turning out to be terrible. When pressed on detail, he completely flounders, but even set-piece speeches have been awful. Add to that his pathetic interactions with the public. I think the pressure is definitely getting to him.
In a full general election campaign his handlers will have to restrict his appearances as they did (successfully) in the leadership campaign. Another reason for the opposition not to rush into an election is the longer he is this exposed the worse he will look - and is more likely to screw up somehow. Much the same with Rees-Mogg - his schtick works in soundbites (for that audience), but given a larger stage he's showing how truly awful he is.
villa-ru
What I'm worried about is BoJo just not asking for the extension. He would be in contempt of Parliament but as we saw with TM that has absolutely no consequences. I feel like they should have attached a "...if the PM does not comply, he will be sent to prison for a year" or something to it.