Karen Bradley, a true Tory.

realdanbreen

I'm shocked that a Tory minister who is beholden to the DUP to stay in her job would come out and say that British army killings in the north were not crimes. Come to think of it, it must be the only memorable thing she has said since getting the NI job.

gmisk

realdanbreen wrote: »

I'm shocked that a Tory minister who is beholden to the DUP to stay in her job would come out and say that British army killings in the north were not crimes. Come to think of it, it must be the only memorable thing she has said since getting the NI job.

That is really unfair, she has said lots of memorable things.


She also has no idea that nationalists tend to vote for nationalist candidates, and unionists the same in northern Ireland, she also admitted she was 'slightly scared' of the region....she is the northern Ireland secretary..... I doubt she will be in the job much longer, utterly clueless

realdanbreen

To be fair to Karen she is only displaying true tory colonial thinking. As their most famous and revered member, Winston Churchill said when up to 4 million Bengalis died of starvation when he diverted food aid away from them and towards british troops, 'It's their fault anyway for breeding like rabbits, I hate Indians they are a beastly people with a beastly religion'.

jmayo

I would be one of those lamenting the quality of Irish politicians, but the more we see and hear from our neighbours the more one thinks ours aren't really that bad.

Of course May is so screwed that she can't now afford to fire a minister even if they royally fook up as in Brady and Grayling.

Maybe May should move Grayling, the history graduate, to NI and Bradley, the tax manager, to transport.
It couldn't work out any worse, could it ?

Bradley like a lot of the conservatives recently are showing how little they know of Ireland and how dismissive they are towards the Irish.

The more I see and hear from them and a chunk of the British population the more I couldn't care about a hard Brexit.
They need a lesson in what their status is in the modern world and that their empire died a long time ago.

ancapailldorcha

I am going to leave this for now but if it's just going to be a Tory/Brit-bashing thread it will be locked.

Realdanbreen, do not start any more threads in this forum.

ancapailldorcha

Post deleted. Don't question mod warnings on thread please.

realdanbreen

Looks like there is widespread condemnation for Karen Bradley comments from the Taoiseach down.

jim o doom

jmayo wrote: »

I would be one of those lamenting the quality of Irish politicians, but the more we see and hear from our neighbours the more one thinks ours aren't really that bad.

Of course May is so screwed that she can't now afford to fire a minister even if they royally fook up as in Brady and Grayling.

Maybe May should move Grayling, the history graduate, to NI and Bradley, the tax manager, to transport.
It couldn't work out any worse, could it ?

Bradley like a lot of the conservatives recently are showing how little they know of Ireland and how dismissive they are towards the Irish.

The more I see and hear from them and a chunk of the British population the more I couldn't care about a hard Brexit.
They need a lesson in what their status is in the modern world and that their empire died a long time ago.

The problem with this outlook is that a hard Brexit will likely cause serious trouble in Ireland and not just at the border but also economically.

Nobody wants a hard Brexit, it's akin to the classic cutting off your own nose to spite your face.

Yes it will likely hurt those politicians you don't like, but also tons of people who didn't want it at all and tons of people who don't even live in the country. All that misery due to a dislike of some politicians.

TheValeyard

Tory thinking explains why Brexit is such a mess.

Rjd2

realdanbreen wrote: »

Looks like there is widespread condemnation for Karen Bradley comments from the Taoiseach down.

Its the job from hell she has tbf,,,but even still she seems deeply incompetent.

Keep a close eye on Karen, she is a May loyalist so her career will be ok, she could have the potential to be even more hopeless than Grayling. :eek:

FrancieBrady

The Ballymurphy families, who had been requesting a meeting with her since her appointment and never even got a reply, have turned down a request to meet her which came today. They have called on her to resign.

Her position is untenable really, and if she remains it would bolster my view that the British are actively trying to undermine the GFA.

Everyone is giving out that the Tory's don't know Irish history.
Fine, they have airbrushed Ireland being conquered/colonised/absorbed into the union out of their collective memory BUT Norther Ireland is not "Irish" (in the Free State sense).
Northern Ireland IS a part of the Union. They just don't actually give two f*cks about the Union unless it is England or has Scottish Oil. The troubles were not an "Irish" problem, they were a UK civil war. Ireland's hands are not clean with porous checks and more than a little collusion but it was an internal UK matter, for the main.
By, successive, British governments labelling Northern Ireland as an Irish issue they abdicated their responsibility to know/handle the situation. They have kept NI as a colonised state, under heel, as opposed to a member of their union.

Honestly how anyone, up there, can be loyal to London is honestly baffling to me, up to 2 years ago London would have happily shed NI if they could (and most still would) and show just how little they care based on their politicians knowledge and the public not knowing anything about a constituent member.

People can say the same about us not being able to point out all countries in the EU and their borders and, yeah, they have a bit of a point but to be fair there are a lot more countries, new-ish member from behind old Iron Curtain and EU is not a state like the UK

Call me Al

This is the type of soldier she was defending

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/03/the-case-for-prosecuting-bloody-sunday-soldier-f/

She's woefully ignorant of the responsibilities and hard progressive work undertaken by many who have worked for peace in the 6 counties.

partyguinness

Bradley's ignorance is nothing new.

Like Dominic Raab who said he didn't realise how important Dover/Calais was for trade.

It is just the fact they say it out load is the most peculiar aspect of it.

partyguinness

Deleted User wrote: »

Everyone is giving out that the Tory's don't know Irish history.
Fine, they have airbrushed Ireland being conquered/colonised/absorbed into the union out of their collective memory BUT Norther Ireland is not "Irish" (in the Free State sense).
Northern Ireland IS a part of the Union. They just don't actually give two f*cks about the Union unless it is England or has Scottish Oil. The troubles were not an "Irish" problem, they were a UK civil war. Ireland's hands are not clean with porous checks and more than a little collusion but it was an internal UK matter, for the main.
By, successive, British governments labelling Northern Ireland as an Irish issue they abdicated their responsibility to know/handle the situation. They have kept NI as a colonised state, under heel, as opposed to a member of their union.

Honestly how anyone, up there, can be loyal to London is honestly baffling to me, up to 2 years ago London would have happily shed NI if they could (and most still would) and show just how little they care based on their politicians knowledge and the public not knowing anything about a constituent member.

People can say the same about us not being able to point out all countries in the EU and their borders and, yeah, they have a bit of a point but to be fair there are a lot more countries, new-ish member from behind old Iron Curtain and EU is not a state like the UK

The Conservatives are on record (25-30 years) ago stating the (rest of the UK i.e. London) has no economic or otherwise interest in NI and it is a matter for the people of NI to decide. In other words they could not give a crap.

From memory I think it was Patrick Mayhew that said it. If I have time I will dig out the quote.

partyguinness

There you go:


9 November, 1990
Peter Brookes "no selfish strategic interest" speech.
Peter Brooke said Britain had no "selfish strategic or economic interest" in Northern Ireland and would accept unification, if the people wished it. "It is not the aspiration to a sovereign, united Ireland against which we set our face, but its violent expression." The speech had a huge impact on republican thinking and paved the way for the Downing Street Declaration.


Taken from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4072261.stm

ancapailldorcha

Post deleted. No more insults please.

Esel

partyguinness wrote: »

There you go:


9 November, 1990
Peter Brookes "no selfish strategic interest" speech.
Peter Brooke said Britain had no "selfish strategic or economic interest" in Northern Ireland and would accept unification, if the people wished it. "It is not the aspiration to a sovereign, united Ireland against which we set our face, but its violent expression." The speech had a huge impact on republican thinking and paved the way for the Downing Street Declaration.


Taken from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4072261.stm

The word 'selfish' is a crucial weasel word in this context.

They could still have these interests, just not selfish ones...

Charles Babbage

Esel wrote: »

The word 'selfish' is a crucial weasel word in this context.

They could still have these interests, just not selfish ones...

There is no evidence that the British government have any unselfish motives.