Mailwatch(ed) Forum

We so need a thread for this theatrical nonsense, and its passage through Westminster. Er, possibly.

Meanwhile, as the bill struggles to scale the heights of a second reading, the performatively potty-mouthed Ian Dunt is live-tweeting. It's a thing of comedic beauty.

Here's Phil's take....

Doncaster is full apparently despite being able to snap up a two bedroom terrace for £60K. Seems Mr Fletcher has snapped ten bargains but yeh blame the foreigners

I think a number of potential rebels will have been told that if they rebel they will get very little support from Tory HQ at the next election. This threat will probably buy off enough rebels to get the bill through the house of commons but it will be a lot harder to get it through the Lords.

Barry Sheerman's ego escaped and interrupted Steven Kinnock's excellent contribution. What is it about these people?

So, they got it. ERG etc abstained, but are already making noise about amendments they want.

Woo fucking hoo.

Appropriately angry piece as it is sad from Ian Dunt.

Rwanda Vote: The death of One Nation Toryism
This wasn't about the fate of Rishi Sunak. It was about the soul of the Conservative party.

They are lost in a sadism fantasy land. They're like a drug user, reaching for an ever higher dose in order to find that original sense of blissed-out Brexit euphoria. Each time, they need something more extreme. And now here, we are, gone completely mad, a crack addict in the corner of a bedsit proclaiming themselves king.
But the real horror was not so much in what was said as in that which was not said. Not one Conservative MP today spoke out against the bill from a humane perspective. Not one. Those on the centre of the party equivocated. They said they were on the verge of feeling uncomfortable. They insisted that they'd definitely rebel if it went any further. But none of them had the bravery, or the principles, or the morality to say: this is indecent. https://iandunt.substack.com/p/rwanda-v ... one-nation

And here we are, at no surprise to absolutely anyone.

This vile shower of amoral venality delivers its valedictory message to the country which trusted them and placed hope in them, only to be robbed, raped, and lied to without pause for thought or breath. Cheers, and thank you for the billions. Suckers.

They are out of here. They are taking down with them a few destitute, bedraggled, and broken souls - anyone they can get their gnarled claws in to. Vermin is what vermin do.

This is degenerate. This is a stain on not just the country, but also on the system which allowed it to happen. The UK is simply not fit for purpose.

At this stage, they may as well tag on an amendment that declares 37p Lee to be the World's Greatest Sex Machine, as it wouldn't make the bill in question, nor the whole media circus surrounding it all, look any more credible or less ridiculous.

What happen then if this Bill is ultimately passed and becomes law, and civil servants act in breach of international law?

Could they be individually charged and then potentially be lifted when they are overseas? The gravity of any such situation could be exacerbated if, for example, one of these refugees suffers direct and consequential harm.

There is plenty of precedent which would suggest that a defence of "I was only following orders" or "well, it was the law of the land at the time" won't receive a sympathetic ear.

This is an artichoke of legal clusterfuckery, isn't it?

The Nuremberg Defence was comprehensively trashed in 1946 and subsequent.

The fact that the instructions are manifestly in breach of international law means that there can be no successful claim to have been following superior orders.

Good luck plotting an airspace solution from UK to Rwanda when other nations refuse access to your airspace...

Is there deceptive editing going on here? If not, well...

Genuine. She is that thick. Look at Yvette and Stephen - they're loving it.

A not particularly impressive rebuttal.

Why is it disrespectful to refer to a country’s government by its capital? Stop digging, Nellie.

Somebody suggested she could be vulnerable in the General Election as the face of shit in rivers. Would require a lot of LDs voting tactically, even if Coffey's vote share may not be that good.

Meanwhile, the Internet being what it is, people have added community notes pointing out that referring to a government by where it sits is by no means disrespectful, and while we're at it, here are lots of tweets and clips of Coffey referring to Brussels, Holyrood, Westminster, Washington, Stormont....

Also it was clear from her statement that she wasn't castigating Cooper for referring to the capital, but thought Kigali was a different country altogether. Probably between Bulungi and Wakanda.

Andy McDandy wrote: ↑Fri Jan 19, 2024 11:30 am
Also it was clear from her statement that she wasn't castigating Cooper for referring to the capital, but thought Kigali was a different country altogether. Probably between Bulungi and Wakanda.

Not unadjacent to Bongo Bongoland, I’d guess.

Abernathy wrote: ↑Fri Jan 19, 2024 1:32 pm

Andy McDandy wrote: ↑Fri Jan 19, 2024 11:30 am
Also it was clear from her statement that she wasn't castigating Cooper for referring to the capital, but thought Kigali was a different country altogether. Probably between Bulungi and Wakanda.

Not unadjacent to Bongo Bongoland, I’d guess.

Just north of the grassland pygmys of the Hillawi...