UK Politics Thread VIII—Can't Let EU Go

[Fartsniffage]

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/u6x54829XAo/maxresdefault.jpg

But... the younglings... they specifically didn't want this!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9wjGbbWsAAUCFN.jpg

[The Huskar Social Union]

But... the younglings... they specifically didn't want this!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9wjGbbWsAAUCFN.jpg

Boris Johnson launching an attack run on the Younglings colourised April 20th 2017

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

Looks like talks have been suspended until Wednesday. So no deal so far.

[Ifreann]

Unless the indefinite transition period never ends. Or ends with the UK returning to the EU.

So it's treason then?

"The Senate will decide your fate"
"We don't have a senate"
"I thought this was a bicameral legislature"
"It is, the upper house is the House of Lords"
"Fine, the House of Lords will decide your fate, then"
"I am the House of Lords!"

---

Looks like talks have been suspended until Wednesday. So no deal so far.

Oh good, three days of media coverage will surely improve matters.

[Fartsniffage]

[Oh good, three days of media coverage will surely improve matters.

Do you have a shed I can come and live in until this all blows over?

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

Looks like talks have been suspended until Wednesday. So no deal so far.

Oh good, three days of media coverage will surely improve matters.

They say it will all be over by Christmas.

[Oh good, three days of media coverage will surely improve matters.

Do you have a shed I can come and live in until this all blows over?

I was wondering why you wanted to live in a fish.

[Ifreann]

[Oh good, three days of media coverage will surely improve matters.

Do you have a shed I can come and live in until this all blows over?

Sorry, the shed blew over.

[Fartsniffage]

Do you have a shed I can come and live in until this all blows over?

Sorry, the shed blew over.

Typical shoddy Irish building...

[Ifreann]

Sorry, the shed blew over.

Typical shoddy Irish building...

Just be thankful we didn't build any of your buildings.

[Fartsniffage]

Typical shoddy Irish building...

Just be thankful we didn't build any of your buildings.

...or roads, or waterways...

[Senegalboy]

Oh good, three days of media coverage will surely improve matters.

They say it will all be over by Christmas.

That's what they said in 1914.

[The Archregimancy]

Further information to add to Huskar's post...

The party breakdown at Stormont is as follows:

Unionist parties 41 seats (DUP 28; UUP 10; TUV 1; Independent non-party Unionists 2)

Nationalist parties 39 seats (SF 27; SDLP 12)

'Other' non-community aligned 11 seats (Alliance 8; Green 2; PBP 1)

So the DUP is the single largest party, and the Unionist parties form the largest single bloc (parties in NI have to declare themselves 'Unionist', 'Nationalist', or 'Other'), but the DUP doesn't control the Stormont assembly; they only hold 31% of seats, with the broader Unionist bloc holding 46% of seats (rounding; actually 45.5%).

A Petition of Concern that causes any issue in front of Stormont to become a cross-community issue and thereby require a minimum level of support from both Unionist and Nationalist MLAs requires support from 30 MLAs. Both of the two largest parties fall short of that threshold in their own right.

A bare governing majority could be formed in a normal parliamentary system via the two largest parties in either community bloc forming a coalition with the Alliance Party; but Stormont isn't set up to work that way.

This sounds like Belgium levels of complicated.

Close, but not quite.

To reach Belgium levels of complicated, the majority Unionist and majority Nationalist areas would also have their own separate regional assemblies which could veto the decisions of the Stormont assembly, Belfast would have a third cross-community 'NI capital' regional assembly (also with veto power), and all of the assemblies would spend most of their time arguing over what to do with enclaves of one community located in the regions controlled by the other community.

[The Archregimancy]

So long as we're discussing complicated political systems, I suggest we replace our current method of selecting the Prime Minister with the system used to elect Venetian doges:

"The protocol was in ten rounds, the first nine of which produced an electoral college for the next round. The college for the first round was the entire electorate ... No two members of the same family were allowed in the same college. Each round was one of two different types. In the first type of round, the college for the next round was drawn by lot from the current electoral college. In the second type of round, the current college elected the next college, and [everyone] in the next college had to be approved by a certain minimum number of members of the current college." (Mowbray and Gollmann 2007)

In detailed practice...

The electorate "chose thirty of their own number [by lot]. The second [lot] was used to reduce the thirty to nine, and the nine would then vote for forty, each of whom was to receive at least seven nominations. The forty would then be reduced, again by lot, to twelve, whose task was to vote for twenty-five, of whom each this time required nine votes, The twenty-five were in turn reduced to another nine; the nine voted for forty-five, with a minimum of seven votes each, and from these the ballotino* picked out the names of eleven. The eleven now voted for forty-one - nine or more votes each - and it was these forty-one who were to elect the Doge." (Norwich 1989: 166)

[Chan Island]

So long as we're discussing complicated political systems, I suggest we replace our current method of selecting the Prime Minister with the system used to elect Venetian doges:

"The protocol was in ten rounds, the first nine of which produced an electoral college for the next round. The college for the first round was the entire electorate ... No two members of the same family were allowed in the same college. Each round was one of two different types. In the first type of round, the college for the next round was drawn by lot from the current electoral college. In the second type of round, the current college elected the next college, and [everyone] in the next college had to be approved by a certain minimum number of members of the current college." (Mowbray and Gollmann 2007)

In detailed practice...

The electorate "chose thirty of their own number [by lot]. The second [lot] was used to reduce the thirty to nine, and the nine would then vote for forty, each of whom was to receive at least seven nominations. The forty would then be reduced, again by lot, to twelve, whose task was to vote for twenty-five, of whom each this time required nine votes, The twenty-five were in turn reduced to another nine; the nine voted for forty-five, with a minimum of seven votes each, and from these the ballotino* picked out the names of eleven. The eleven now voted for forty-one - nine or more votes each - and it was these forty-one who were to elect the Doge." (Norwich 1989: 166)

Still better than first past the post.

[Salandriagado]

So long as we're discussing complicated political systems, I suggest we replace our current method of selecting the Prime Minister with the system used to elect Venetian doges:

"The protocol was in ten rounds, the first nine of which produced an electoral college for the next round. The college for the first round was the entire electorate ... No two members of the same family were allowed in the same college. Each round was one of two different types. In the first type of round, the college for the next round was drawn by lot from the current electoral college. In the second type of round, the current college elected the next college, and [everyone] in the next college had to be approved by a certain minimum number of members of the current college." (Mowbray and Gollmann 2007)

In detailed practice...

The electorate "chose thirty of their own number [by lot]. The second [lot] was used to reduce the thirty to nine, and the nine would then vote for forty, each of whom was to receive at least seven nominations. The forty would then be reduced, again by lot, to twelve, whose task was to vote for twenty-five, of whom each this time required nine votes, The twenty-five were in turn reduced to another nine; the nine voted for forty-five, with a minimum of seven votes each, and from these the ballotino* picked out the names of eleven. The eleven now voted for forty-one - nine or more votes each - and it was these forty-one who were to elect the Doge." (Norwich 1989: 166)

Can we also take their wonderful random selection method?

[Indo-Malaysia]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9wjGbbWsAAUCFN.jpg

Boris Johnson launching an attack run on the Younglings colourised April 20th 2017

Looks like EDL in that picture

[Juristonia]

This sounds like Belgium levels of complicated.

Close, but not quite.

To reach Belgium levels of complicated, the majority Unionist and majority Nationalist areas would also have their own separate regional assemblies which could veto the decisions of the Stormont assembly, Belfast would have a third cross-community 'NI capital' regional assembly (also with veto power), and all of the assemblies would spend most of their time arguing over what to do with enclaves of one community located in the regions controlled by the other community.

It's amazing we even let them be a country.

[Fartsniffage]

Close, but not quite.

To reach Belgium levels of complicated, the majority Unionist and majority Nationalist areas would also have their own separate regional assemblies which could veto the decisions of the Stormont assembly, Belfast would have a third cross-community 'NI capital' regional assembly (also with veto power), and all of the assemblies would spend most of their time arguing over what to do with enclaves of one community located in the regions controlled by the other community.

It's amazing we even let them be a country.

We need somewhere to have wars with Germany. We don't want to damage our own countries.....

[Proctopeo]

It's amazing we even let them be a country.

We need somewhere to have wars with Germany. We don't want to damage our own countries.....

Belgian Lives Matter!

[Fartsniffage]

We need somewhere to have wars with Germany. We don't want to damage our own countries.....

Belgian Lives Matter!

Fake news.

[Ifreann]

Belgian Lives Matter!

Fake news.

Fake country.

[Fartsniffage]

Fake news.

Fake country.

Fake waffles.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

A swastika shaped cookie cutter to make nazi biscuits

I also find it strange that the baby's face is pixelated, as if all babies don't look the same.

[The New California Republic]

A swastika shaped cookie cutter to make nazi biscuits

I also find it strange that the baby's face is pixelated, as if all babies don't look the same.

Is this the couple that were protesting their innocence, "we aren't Nazis!", to high heaven?

[Major-Tom]

Fake news.

Fake country.

"Belgium: As real as your girlfriend's orgasm."