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Post by eastmidlandsright on May 10, 2023 9:40:57 GMT
It’s hard to predict what Bridgen’s purpose might be. He has managed to throw into turmoil all parts of his life during his time as an MP. He was a reasonably successful businessman but his relations with his former business, including with his brother, has appeared irreparably damaged and seemingly severed. His marriage fell apart. He’s been landed with substantial costs for the legal proceedings he’s been involved in. He was suspended from the house for breach of lobbying rules. He was a fairly wealthy man but these events must have made a hole in that. If he chose to fight the seat he’d be spending his own money on that. He’d have some personal support - unpleasant though his behaviour may be he was a pretty active local MP. Rationally he should stand down at the election and focus on rebuilding his reputation and fortune as far as he can. But his ego is large even by MP standards. Why assume he cares about rebuilding his reputation among people whose opinion he no longer cares for, or that he no longer has sufficient wealth to satisfy his material desires. Whatever you think of his opinions his crusade on vaccine harm seems to be an entirely principled one. He has had several opportunities to step away from it even after the consequences became clear yet he has not done so. For what it is worth I would suggest that those dismissing his concerns might end up being the ones looking foolish. Scientific evidence over the effectiveness and side effects of the vaccines is divided and it will probably be many years before final conclusions can be drawn.
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Post by andrewp on May 10, 2023 10:18:00 GMT
Of course he said that. The defector away from us must face a by election, but the defector to us shouldn’t because they are seeing the light, that all parties play is one of the most irritating of minor irritations in politics.
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Post by Davıd Boothroyd on May 10, 2023 10:55:29 GMT
Hope the Lib Dems are enjoying this.
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Post by timrollpickering on May 10, 2023 11:27:52 GMT
There's no monopoly on two-faced hypocrisy with the Lib Dems calling for a by-election because the MP has changed parties unlike when they accepted MPs in 2019 and before. www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-65543018
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Post by andrewp on May 10, 2023 11:29:45 GMT
Hope the Lib Dems are enjoying this. He’s sitting next to Caroline Lucas too. Another natural ally.
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Post by carlton43 on May 10, 2023 11:52:33 GMT
Hope the Lib Dems are enjoying this. He’s sitting next to Caroline Lucas too. Another natural ally. One wonders if these moves will all be sources of early and profound regret?
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Post by Forfarshire Conservative on May 10, 2023 12:01:06 GMT
He’s sitting next to Caroline Lucas too. Another natural ally. One wonders if these moves will all be sources of early and profound regret? To Reclaim, your now former party?, I would imagine so. Not only is there the fact that he has been found to have lied under oath, so hardly trustworthy, and been found guilty of breaching standards, but Bridgen has become a bit of a lunatic, and I don't say that lightly. Having skepticism of vaccination, asking questions etc. is fine, but comparing it to the Holocaust and accusing the US Government of releasing it is something else. Were I a Reclaimer, and primarily motivated by a strict sense of social conservatism and not rocking the boat, I'd be aghast to be frank.
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Post by matureleft on May 10, 2023 12:12:22 GMT
It’s hard to predict what Bridgen’s purpose might be. He has managed to throw into turmoil all parts of his life during his time as an MP. He was a reasonably successful businessman but his relations with his former business, including with his brother, has appeared irreparably damaged and seemingly severed. His marriage fell apart. He’s been landed with substantial costs for the legal proceedings he’s been involved in. He was suspended from the house for breach of lobbying rules. He was a fairly wealthy man but these events must have made a hole in that. If he chose to fight the seat he’d be spending his own money on that. He’d have some personal support - unpleasant though his behaviour may be he was a pretty active local MP. Rationally he should stand down at the election and focus on rebuilding his reputation and fortune as far as he can. But his ego is large even by MP standards. Why assume he cares about rebuilding his reputation among people whose opinion he no longer cares for, or that he no longer has sufficient wealth to satisfy his material desires. Whatever you think of his opinions his crusade on vaccine harm seems to be an entirely principled one. He has had several opportunities to step away from it even after the consequences became clear yet he has not done so. For what it is worth I would suggest that those dismissing his concerns might end up being the ones looking foolish. Scientific evidence over the effectiveness and side effects of the vaccines is divided and it will probably be many years before final conclusions can be drawn. Your first para. I didn't suggest that he was impoverished. I merely pointed out that the events of the last 10 years will have affected his circumstances. We know about a legal bill that was in the high hundreds of thousands and we know about his divorce. We know that his former company succeeded in removing him from his home. Perhaps he has other sources of income that have covered these but I think my remark was fair. If he had confined his remarks to questioning the efficacy of the vaccines then that would have been reasonable in some senses. That isn't what he did, hence his expulsion. You may believe that his language and the comparisons he made were "principled". I wouldn't. His use of language and extreme hyperbole is a personality feature.
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Post by Forfarshire Conservative on May 10, 2023 12:19:41 GMT
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Post by gwynthegriff on May 10, 2023 12:40:52 GMT
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Post by timrollpickering on May 10, 2023 12:41:40 GMT
Hope the Lib Dems are enjoying this. He’s sitting next to Caroline Lucas too. Another natural ally. I don't know who to feel more sorry for.
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Post by BossMan on May 10, 2023 12:52:45 GMT
*Personally I find this disucussions very interesting, but perhaps a separate thread should be set up. I like Geza Vermes' books such as "The Changing Face of Jesus".
Agreed. This is all very interesting for pagans like myself, but has bugger all to do with defections. Oh I don't know, setting up your own church so you can get a divorce is a pretty interesting defection.
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Post by rcronald on May 10, 2023 13:00:57 GMT
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Post by willpower3 on May 10, 2023 13:43:39 GMT
Hope the Lib Dems are enjoying this. The Lib Dems and Reclaim.
One of these two parties is full of cranks with fringe opinions, completely out of touch with reality.
The other party is Reclaim.
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Post by greenhert on May 10, 2023 14:19:16 GMT
Whilst his legal challenge has little if any chance of success, and his claims about COVID-19 vaccines are incorrect and not supported by any remotely reliable evidence, he does make some good points for what it is worth. Lockdowns overall did more harm than good, not only in Britain but elsewhere around the world, and they have needlessly destroyed businesses and ruined people's lives. Sweden and Finland never implemented lockdowns and they emerged just fine.
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The Bishop
Labour
Down With Factionalism!
Posts: 36,813
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Post by The Bishop on May 10, 2023 14:22:16 GMT
Maybe he should have sat next to Corbyn
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Sibboleth
Labour
'Sit on my finger, sing in my ear, O littleblood.'
Posts: 15,369
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Post by Sibboleth on May 10, 2023 14:59:06 GMT
Maybe he should have sat next to Corbyn That would have demonstrated a sense of humour, which is about the only thing that Bridgen has never been accused of.
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Post by rcronald on May 10, 2023 15:38:04 GMT
Maybe he should have sat next to Corbyn Piers is in the Commons?
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Post by Strontium Dog on May 10, 2023 17:14:48 GMT
There's no monopoly on two-faced hypocrisy with the Lib Dems calling for a by-election because the MP has changed parties unlike when they accepted MPs in 2019 and before. www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-65543018It's not hypocrisy though, is it. It's the fact he's joining a fringe (crank) party rather than a mainstream one that has led for the calls for a by-election.
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Post by finsobruce on May 10, 2023 18:40:22 GMT
Maybe he should have sat next to Corbyn Piers is in the Commons? have you ever seen them together?*
*recently.
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