EU referendum, brexit and the aftermath

Does Umunna’s change of party now mean that Streatham’s Lib Dem?

Interesting because of the stuff he'd said about the lib Dems in the past?

"You can't trust anything the Liberal Democrats say" ~ Chuka Umunna, 2017

"I'm delighted to join the Liberal Democrats" ~ Chuka Umunna, 2019

You said it, Chuka. You said it.

— Chuka Umunna's Flip Flops (@WarmongerHodges) June 13, 2019

I’m not defending Umunna here, but it says a lot about our political system that anyone who changes their views is castigated for it. Politics should be about compromises and changing views, not entrenching them and refusing to budge.

Yes. Streatham is now a Lib Dem seat.
In the 2010 elections Umunna won 42.8% for Labour followed by 35.8% for Lib Dems. That was before the Lib Dems suicide pact with Cameron, clearly Umunna sees this change of party as his best chance of surviving in Parliament.

Agreed. I'm not sure what criteria people are using to distinguish between "careerist" flip-flopping and changes made due to genuine principle. Obviously BoJo is the height of opportunism, but that's because there's a clear pattern. I'm not sure how people are calling it based on a limited number of actions during a clearly atypical period.

Yes - I don't know much about Umunna tbh, but was it an unreasonable move to leave the Labour party at the time he did, for the reasons he did? At the time I celebrated the move (of him and others) and thought it was reasonably principled and it appeared to make a difference to proceedings.

He seems like a Lib Dem anyway, so this doesn't seem like a wildly out of character or dreadful move anyway.
Cable was interviewed in the Guardian this week comparing the lack of preparedness the TIG had versus the SDP (especially around infrastructure, so that's obviously the story that's been set) - there wasn't the time for that though, TIG was a reaction to a single, rather urgent problem.

Totally agree - but that is just one of Umunna's many remarks on the Lib Dems, stemming right up to his time in Change UK. His talk of switching to another, safer, seat now, seems not to agree with ideas that he didn't need a by-election because his electorate were so supportive of him. I think if you quit your party, you should have a by-election asap.
Umunna himself may well be a very talented man - he certainly comes across well in interviews etc, and as an MP if you're not a bastard I can see that you would think you should join the Labour Party (you've got to be pretty fucked up to want to be a Tory MP). When he announced he was running to be Labour leader ages ago I thought he was shoe in.

I think if you quit your party, you should have a by-election asap.

I understand the principle, but I don't think it works in practice. If you leave your party because you genuinely believe that they're not serving your constituents well then you have to be absolutely bloody sure that the majority of your constituents will be brave enough to defy our 2 party system in order to re-elect you to actually fight their corner.

I know a couple of people who live in Chukka’s constituency, and are quite political, and they have no time for chukka. If he is a libdem, he is a very Orange book libdem - the type that Nick Clegg best represents, and in Labour he’s a bit to the right of Tony Blair. Basically the most centerist of centerist dads, which at the moment is about as useful as a chocolate teapot because appeasing the right wing has led us to a constitutional crisis. The right wing is out of ideas, and people like chukka who claim to be listening to business are just going to make it easier for tax cuts to fuck us all

The tax cut thing is interesting - looking at the one that Boris is proposing.

It's £6,000 in return for accepting that the public services will continue to degrade, and I'm struggling to see the value in that.

£6,000 is not nothing, don't get me wrong, but against (say) kidney failure it's buttons.

Cable was interviewed in the Guardian this week comparing the lack of preparedness the TIG had versus the SDP (especially around infrastructure, so that's obviously the story that's been set)

I was talking to someone around the time of the Euro elections who is involved in canvassing, etc who was saying that CUK had had a rude awakening when a lot of the stuff they took for granted in a big party was no longer there.

I'm struggling to see the value in that

It's £6,000 paid for by a reduction in services for other people.

Sounds like a win-win for your average tory.

100% this.

A vote for the tories is always a selfish one. This is just a win-win.

It's £6,000 paid for by a reduction in services for other people.

Yeah. Much as I like Rory Stewart he did say something that made me think exactly this. He said (as best I can remember) "What is good about being a Conservative is being able to combine a love of tradition and our institutions with the ability to make gritty, real-life decisions." My immediate reaction was " I bet they're not gritty for you though are they?"

"We pay 350 million per week to the EU, let's give it to tax cuts for income bands above 50K instead" :/

He seems like a Lib Dem anyway

Savage burn

Umunna is an empty suit and his only talent is being able to do a semi-plausible imitation of a human being. His only principle appears to be a conviction that he is leadership material, despite having never shown any outward sign that he is suitable for leadership in any way. I hope he gets savaged at the next election.

See also: Raab's "difficult decisions" https://www.lfgss.com/comments/14761973/

his only talent is being able to do a semi-plausible imitation of a human being.

Insert "so, better qualified than the any Tory leadership candidate" joke.

Johnson’s plan is the same as one May tried with. And failed. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/14/boris-johnson-pledges-to-drop-backstop-in-orderly-brexit-plan

Einstein’s quote on insanity seems very apt right now.

You know, there's not actually any evidence that Einstein said that.

People still keep saying it all the same.

As if the other side ever let a lack of evidence hold them back.