Snippets 6: the leadership race; SW1 Reality and Simulation - 'culture wars'; why HMT should be split up; Homer Simpson was right ‘democracy doesn’t work’; UKR...

A few snippets below on:

• Culture wars

• Why HMT has too much power, destroys value, and should be split up

• The leadership contest

• SW1 myths on ‘the centre’

• UKR

• Some random stuff

In 2019 the Vote Leave team had to choose between (A) get involved in the horror, stop Corbyn, stop a second referendum, get Brexit done, see what we can do to set Britain on a new path before Boris blows up, all of which involved saving the Tory Party from self-destruction, or (B) stay out, watch the Tory Party destroy itself, Corbyn PM, second referendum, blood in the streets.

Many of us who ran Vote Leave had very mixed emotions about ‘take over the Tories and turn them into something very different’ versus ‘replace the Tories if it can be done’. After much soul searching we chose (A).

Scene: summer 2019.

Foreign Office Spad #1:

After we get Brexit done somehow and smash Corbyn he’ll probably get rid of us all and sit around in chaos doing what officials and the Telegraph want, just like in the F.O. He might do as he’s told for a bit when he’s frightened, but…

Foreign Office Spad #2:

Yeah, and I’ve got a really bad feeling about this new girlfriend…

But maybe it’ll turn out that instead of the tradeoff — get Brexit done / save Tories — we end up with Brexit and the destruction of the Tories.

Perhaps in 2024 the Tory Party will be in 1997-mode or worse with PM Starmer and a Scottish referendum coming within a year.

Does one try to revive the carcass or plough it into the earth with salt, drown the old characters, and create something new and beautiful…?

I’ll probably do an AMA late next week on the Tory farce, details to follow…