Can Dave be a true Brit?

In a personal appeal from the steps of No 10 for the "Remain" campaign before the historic EU Referendum vote, David Cameron told us, "Brits don't quit". The next time he appeared on the steps of No 10 he announced that he was doing just that, quitting!  How very un-British. Intentional or not his action looks like an act of vindictiveness to make Brexit voters suffer for ignoring his appeal regardless of the consequences for the UK.

A communications man through and through, this time the PM came unstuck. His luck ran out but the very time his communications skills are most needed for our country rather than party, he has thrown in the towel adding to the difficulties of the EU after his claimed allegiance to the European cause. Definitely not his finest hour.

Another sour grapes loser, political opportunist Nicola Sturgeon can't wait to take advantage of the situation to split the UK. This tedious self assured minnow deserves another resounding rebuff for putting party dogma before unity.

Following the PM's resignation sadly the UK’s EU Commissioner Jonathan Hill alsoquit. Now the Labour party is in disarray but the one person who should go, Jeremy Corbyn, seems determined to stay regardless of the consequences. As Hilary Benn said, "he is a good decent man but he is not a leader".

The Brussels bureaucrats led by the grossly overpaid Jean-Claude Juncker are in their element, exhibiting the very traits that have angered many across Europe. In contrast German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the European Union has "no need to be particularly nasty in any way" in the negotiations with Britain about its exit from the bloc so people need to keep their heads and not act irresponsibly.

Dave says that he wishes people to remember him for gay marriage. How sad but given his utter failure on the European question perhaps it is not surprising.

One Tory MP who did not vote for gay marriage is Andrea Leadsom. A prominent advocate for Brexit with a formidable financial sector background. I expect we shall be hearing a lot more about this former Economic Secretary to the Treasury.

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Who are they?

Photograph: PA

I recognise the much leaner former Lord Chancellor, 'Charlie' Falconer (top right), ex-Anglican priest and gay activist Chris Bryant (3rd down) for banging on and on about gay people being the same as everyone else but deserving special privileges, and, to his left, Stephen Kinnock mainly for being Stephen Kinnock. The MP above Bryant looks familiar but I can not put a name to the face.

Years ago many of my contemporaries knew most if not all members of the Cabinet and their Shadow ministers. As an elderly friend often reminds me, that is when we had statesmen in government. That does not necessarily imply anything about their relative competence but one thing does. That is to know when their time is up.

Jeremy Corbyn is the surprise 'Leader' of the Labour party who is stuck in the past. He and his supporters see this as a breath of fresh air, a new kind of politics! Few had heard of him until an electoral wheeze backfired and horrified Labour MPs realised what they had done in broadening the field for the sake of appearances.

On Monday the Guardian reported: "Jeremy Corbyn is preparing himself for a leadership contest following a fresh wave of resignations, with 15 members of the shadow cabinet walking out and calling for him to step down from the helm of the party...A source close to Corbyn said the number of resignations was destabilising but ultimately irrelevant unless someone triggered a leadership election. 'In many ways, the shadow cabinet is now stronger. There is no shortage of good people who want to do these jobs. The only way to try to replace Jeremy is to stand against him in a democratic contest,' he said, adding that was now 'likely to happen'."

Areport this morning indicates that "more than 40 Labour MPs on Corbyn's front bench and in his shadow ministerial teamdanquot; have quit.

Ignoring all appeals from fellow MPs who have pointed to his lack of leadership skills and what they regard as his dismal performance or even 'sabotage' in the EU Remain campaign, Corbyn says he will stand again in a leadership election claiming support from the rank and arsip of the Labour Party. As he faces a No Confidence vote has he thought to ask himself, where were his 'loyal supporters' when he was supposed to be galvanising support for the Remain campaign?

Does it matter one jot if Momentum successfully retains Corbyn as leader if he does not command the confidence of the country? Of course not. Power often involves compromise. It was a hard lesson for Labour to learn but now apparently forgotten again. If they fluff it again they will have only themselves to blame.

Corbyn must make way for someone who is able to lead the Labour party as an effective Opposition and possibly into Government.

Update [28.06.2016]

Jeremy Corbyn has lost a confidence vote by 172 votes to 40 with 4 abstentions.

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Thirteen years

Original source: Getty Images

"New Archbishop takes over".Don't get excited.That was the Wales Online headline on 14 July 2003. Since then it has been all downhill for the Church in Wales (CinW):

"Dr Morgan has previously said he was heartened by the fact that the 2001 census showed most people in Wales said they believe in God. It's a question then of how to connect with those people, how do we actually connect with people who have a belief in God? One person can't change anything, but I look forward to being part of the Church in Wales' work in grappling with these kinds of issues, he said."

Dr Morgan was awarded a PhD from the University of Wales in 1986 for a thesis on "Anglican University Chaplains concepts of mission". My 22 February 2016 entry offers no hope in that direction. "Heartened" in 2001, in 2011: "The Church in Wales said Christianity is 'no longer the default setting' for many people but the picture is complex." Average CinW Sunday attendance had plummeted to 31,000 in the 2013 Membership and Finance figures.

Comrade Corbyn is sticking to power like the proverbial to a blanket. If he succeeds in bamboozling his supporters as the Archbishop of Wales has done for thirteen disastrous years the Labour party can look forward to similar decline and extinction. But there is a difference. Dr Morgan may not have been able to change anything as 'one person' but by accumulating a cadre of  like minded sycophants around him he has introduced so many changes with no thought for the consequences that many church members have simply walked with many more likely to follow when the first woman bishop is appointed and as queer theology is developed to force through same sex marriage.

While it is virtually impossible to get rid of a disastrous Archbishop the Labour party should have a better chance of surviving if Jeremy Corbyn took the advice of his fellow MPs. Unfortunately he is being driven by the Shadow Chancellor and others who insist that Corbyn stands firm as the chosen one of party members. They will not walk but neither do they command the 9 million votes cast for Labour at the 2015 election.

If the voters walk the Labour Party will be condemned to thirteen years of opposition or more, if they survive at all.

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Diane Abbott is missing

Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn  Source: Independent/PA

Diane Abbott, Shadow Home Secretary and former lover of party leader, Jeremy Corbyn has been conspicuous by her absence in the General Election campaign.

An Express report suggests: ?They have hidden Diane Abbott from the cameras, not only because her son was arrested after allegedly biting a police officer, but because she literally makes no sense at all when she speaks. And yet she is the shadow home secretary, who in a few days might find herself in charge of the country?S police forces and MI5, which she once said should be abolished."

According to the MailOnline, Abbott's privately-educated son, 28, was arrested after 'biting one police officer and spitting at another outside Foreign Office' where he used to work. He was bailed to appear back in front of magistrates in February by which time his mother could be Home Secretary.

There have been too many instances when Abbott's bungling have given the impression that she is simply not up to the job, examples here and here, but old loyalties may prevail.

Many voters would feel more comfortable if Diane Abbott were missing from the political stage permanently.

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