The current mess across the pond

[jducoeur]

For those who are interested in developments in Britain (which is having arguably its most "interesting" week since WWII), I commend the Guardian's liveblog, which I've been following all week:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/series/politics-live-with-andrew-sparrow

What's been striking me today is that nobody seems to be clearly calling out quite how closely Boris is following Trump's playbook. Many folks pointed out that it was insane for him to remove 21 MPs from the Conservative Party, eliminating his already-thin majority, just before an election. But most of those MPs will probably (I suspect) stand down instead of running as independents or in another party, so there won't be incumbents fighting against the new Tories who will be nominated.

So basically, the Tory Party as it was known until last month is being purged, with anyone who doesn't like the new authoritarian approach driven out and replaced by yes-men who will follow the new, relatively fascist party line. Which sounds really familiar.

Of course, the Tories may lose the upcoming election (whenever it happens), and Boris will then look like a moron. But given that Corbyn is arguably even less popular than he is, and given current polling numbers, odds are the Tories will still come out on top...

Comments

[cvirtue]

"nobody seems to be clearly calling out quite how closely Boris is following Trump's playbook."

Probably part of the mindset that doesn't want to call Trump's breaks-with-reality "lies."
Also if the parallels are drawn by non-British sources, it would be insulting.