He’s got smarts and well trained in debating but he’s also completely insulated from many of the economic policies he’s backing . 16,000 pound a month supposedly from overseas funds. A salary of million quid per year for ‘part-time’ work. He doesn’t have any clue about Ireland though …But that’s not specific to him.
I had a few requests to write some posts about the Philippines, but I decided discretion was the better part of valour.
Doesn’t that suggest he has a pretty good handle on how things work in reality, as opposed to the way politicians would like them to work?
He’s definitely a bit … odd, but I’d rather have someone who’s odd and smart running the show.
Anyway, being odd is quintessentially British. It’s what we’re famous for. And questionable dental hygiene, of course.
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I could listen to Mogg all day. I wish there was something like Fallout’s Pipboy with Mogg’s voice that I could carry around with me and use it to interact with things and other people. It would make my life so much better.
Work in reality ? One kind of limited reality , Eton, Oxford, City of London…Wasn’t it the city of London being so separate from the rest of the UK that has caused a lot of the resentment in the first place ?
Career
After graduating from the University of Oxford in 1991, Rees-Mogg worked for the Rothschild investment bank under Nils Taube before moving to Hong Kong in 1993[28] to join Lloyd George Management.[29][30] During his tenure in Hong Kong, he became a close friend with Governor Chris Pattenand was a regular at Government House. Three years later, he returned to London and was put in charge of some of the firm’s emerging markets funds and by 2003, was managing a newly established Lloyd George Emerging Markets Fund.[31] In 2007, Rees-Mogg left the company with a number of colleagues to set up their own fund management firm, Somerset Capital Management,[32] with the aid of hedge fund manager Crispin Odey.
That Eton-Oxford trip really sets you apart from even the middle-class. I was at Oxford at the same time as Rees-Mogg, but he moved in a totally different sphere. A higher place. Spent most of his time at the Oxford Union.
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Half of them know each other even before they set foot in college or the debating clubs. It was the same in the college I went to. I was mystified how they all knew each other until I realised half of this or that private school ended up in the same classes. My mate used to tell about these 'country estate parties ’ , I wouldn’t even know they had these things unless he told me. He just about had the accent and background to get invited.
It’s interesting he could get a job in a top private bank (Rothschilds no less) right out of college with just a degree in history.
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Freudian slip ? 
I won’t disagree that contacts count for a lot. Of course they do. However having a plum in your mouth isn’t enough to land you the plum jobs - at least not for any length of time. You do have to have a basic level of competence.
I went to a Public school populated by the sons of nobs, and virtually none of them were idiots. With very few exceptions they were smart, well-adjusted, and decent people. Were they “privileged”? Yes, of course they bloody were. Were they “out of touch”? Yes, in some ways. But ultimately they had to do things the hard way: getting their heads down and doing some work. Privilege gets you access to the shortcuts, and perhaps a pass into the restricted areas, but it doesn’t give you a free ride.
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thats how its always been though. people are just a bit more hopeless than usual now.
well theres your first mistake.
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There you have it, no renegotiating, preparing for a no deal scenario by the EU. Just how well is the UK prepared for a no deal scenario I wonder? No very well I imagine.
Deal. No Deal.
Perhaps that Noel Edmonds chap should’ve handled the negotiations.
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They must have some sort of strategy outlined for the worst-case scenario.
It seems to me they should have involved some military planners in this. They would have understood about Plan Bs, Cs, and Ds. As von Clausewitz might have said if he were alive today, diplomacy is simply war by other means. You can’t really blame the French, Germans, Belgians for using the leverage that they have.
Not at all. I actually think they have prepared far better and are prepared to go the no deal route.
The UK by not setting up a hard border, or pushing industries like aviation to deal with what happens when a no deal happens, signals the UK is not serious about a no deal or hard Brexit.
As soon as the UK says it wants to setup a hard border it has made a decision that it doesn’t want to be in the customs union and wants a hard brexit no deal. That’s a conundrum. All the polls say no deal is wanted by a minority of voters. Prior to the referendum and even last year and even some pols said it was going to be easy to get a deal , the German car manufacturers blah blah…completely misleading. In fact it is the northern Ireland border which is the key issue currently but that was constantly ignored in debates. This is not just a money thing like car manufacturers (although it does have financial impacts too) this is a huge fucking deal for a lot (but far from all) Irish people , North and South of the border. Therefore it becomes a …a major political issue . The DUP are running headstrong for a hard border and brexit which is counter to the vote in Northern Ireland.
I think the EU should still have a bit of leeway and so should the UK, this no deal situation seems to be no deal by chaotic default. The problem also comes back that most of the continent’s population don’t care too much one way or the other and the fact that it’s really the UK that STIILL has to determine categorically what it means by leaving the EU.
It looks like a repeat of the original Cameroon fiasco right now.
No.1 reason the UK should give up on Breexit ,.average guy and gal can’t afford another economic hit. Pound hitting new lows. Universal credit making poor poorer… its bad for incomes, it’s bad for jobs, it’s bad for investment, it’s bad for savings, it’s bad for govt revenue. Time to get practical instead of all that jingoistic nonsense. What’s the point of it all!
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Indeed. It’s always better to just do as you’re told, and then the pain will go away.
I’m waiting for some grey-faced politician to step off a plane at Heathrow and repeat those words, “I hold in my hand a piece of paper . …”
Britain must be an absolute laughingstock abroad right now. How bloody embarrassing it should come to this.
Second referendum. Might be a good choice.
A bit of competent leadership might be a good choice.
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