Hello! Welcome back to Political i-Deology, you know the drill – you’re cool and busy and have better things to do with your time, I am, to my great regret, a cave troll who simply cares about politics too much, we meet every two weeks, etc. – so let’s just get on with it.
One thing that actually mattered
Remember a few columns ago when “prorogue” was the word you should know about? Well friends, partners, pals, sticking it in there at the time was a good shout because Parliament has now been prorogued.
In short: No10 decided to send MPs away from Parliament for longer than expected – they were already meant to be off for a chunk of September and October but not as long – which means that the Commons will only start sitting again towards the end of October. Critics claimed that the government did it in order to stop rebels from making sure Britain can’t leave the EU without a deal on October 31st, which the government denies, and [dramatic music] now the courts will get to decide.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry and a bunch of campaigners and lawyers took it all to court in Scotland AND the court ruled that the proroguing of Parliament had been unlawful as the government had misled the Queen (basically telling her they were proroguing Parliament for non-Brexit related reasons). At the time of writing, the case has been brought to the Supreme Court as the court in Edinburgh was operating under Scots Law, which is its own specific thing, and so we should find out in the next few days what will happen next. I’m not going to try and guess because let’s face it: who even knows what may happen next.
One good thing that happened
Well. WELL. We’re in a bit of a pickle here: How do you define “good”? Is it something that is unquestionable, that definitely has a positive effect on the world? Or can something be good because it brings you joy?
Because if it’s the latter then the best thing that happened in the past fortnight is that Boris Johnson lost his first six (6) votes in Parliament, hahahaha. He had six votes and he lost them all. Zero out of six. You love to see it.
ANYWAY, if it’s the former, I guess that the one objectively good thing that happened is that international students will now get a two-year visa after they finish their studies so that they can find work in the UK, up from four months (!) at the moment. So there you go. That’s genuinely good news.
One bad thing that happened
I mean again, it can be hard to define what “bad” is: If a “bad” thing has been uncovered, is it good news because we now have a better view of what the bad thing is, or is it just bad in general?
(I’m fine, btw, everything is fine!!!)
I was asking because the government finally released some Yellowhammer documents, which is a weird codename for the no-deal Brexit prep, and, huh, it’s not looking great. The docs are meant to outline what would happen in a middling no-deal scenario, so not even the worst possible outcome, and… yeah. Reduced availability and choice in food, decreased food supply for some fresh foods, “key ingredients” in shorter supply, the supply chain for meds will be “particularly vulnerable” to disruption in ports, potential rise in community tensions…
It’s all here if you want more, but as you can expect, it’s not a very fun or reassuring read.
One puzzling thing that happened
It tires my very soul to bring you news of this, but Boris Johnson compared himself to the Hulk, and then mere days later he went to Luxembourg and had a meeting with their PM Xavier Bettel and then he refused to do a press conference with him because there were protesters nearby and so Bettel gave a whole press conference, with the two podiums and everything, but with Boris Johnson just not there. It’s been nicknamed The Incredible Sulk. So that’s, as they say, very much that.
One person to watch
Cheating yet again, as the person to watch this time is actually five women. The Women’s Equality Party announced earlier this month that it has selected five survivors of sexual assault to stand at the next election against male MPs who’ve been accused of violence and/or harassment.
The Guardian profiled two of them – Jenn Selby and Serena Laidley – and the interview is well worth your time. Brilliant women, all of them.
One word/phrase worth knowing
“Oooordeeeeeer!”
Okay no but seriously – John Bercow announced in early September that he would be standing down at the end of October, after spending a decade as the Speaker of the House of Commons (which is actually the phrase we’re here to talk about).
Bercow always was a controversial and complex figure, but one thing people have been talking about a lot is the role he played in the whole Brexit mess: by allowing certain amendments to be added to bills or certain debates to be had, he undeniably played a huge role in how Brexit has been unfolding.
After all, the role of the Speaker is to maintain a certain degree of order (hehehe) in the Chamber, but also to keep an eye on the power balance between the government and Parliament, and how the two interact. Whoever becomes the next Speaker will also be instrumental in the Brexit battles yet to come, so expect to hear more about the candidates and what they’d want to do in the role very soon.