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Emissary
 
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Post 06 Apr 2016, 7:41 am

Hello I'd like 10 extra large prime ministers, 6 large presidents, 4 former secretaries of state and 2 governors...oh, and throw in more than a handful of business tycoons please.

Does that complete your order?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1x99bOX7Yo
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Post 06 Apr 2016, 2:46 pm

Russia
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/panama-papers-money-hidden-offshore

Iceland
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35966412

China
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/world/asia/china-panama-papers.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

No end in sight...
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Post 09 Apr 2016, 11:28 am

The way I feel about this story is much the same as when the Snowden revelations came out. Objectively it's a very big story and I can understand that on an intellectual level, but it doesn't really excite me very much because it's only what I always assumed was happening all along.
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Post 09 Apr 2016, 1:26 pm

Well, it has provided proof where before there was only conjecture. It has obviously had an impact in Iceland. Putin and his cronies will bluster through and get away with the lies that it is all the US government, Iran and China have stamped on knowledge this is even a thing.

So it will vary.

Obviously, Sass, the question for us two is whether Cameron will have been damaged or even step down. I thought it would not have much effect, but he and his Number 10 people have handled it badly. He's vulnerable over the EU referendum, and I can see two ways that he brings forward his promise to leave the premiership before the 2020 election:

1) the EU referendum vote is a no, or is close. Cameron comes under massive pressure due to that, and this would be but one part of the post mortem.

2) fearing that the EU campaign is going badly, Tory grandees ask him to go now, so that someone else can try and rescue the anti-Brexit cause. Of course the deputy Tory leader is Osborne and he has his own recent problems, so this would be unlikely
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Post 09 Apr 2016, 5:03 pm

Cameron is toast anyway.

In truth what he did here is barely even newsworthy. He invested a few grand into a fund back in the late 90s and then sold his shares a few years later for a small profit, big deal. Were it not for the way that he's managed to antagonise almost all of the committed activists in his party over the EU referendum this story would have died already. The only reason it has any legs is that Cameron is now widely disliked within the Conservative Party, and the reason for that is the disgraceful way he's conducting the In campaign. It's hard to see him surviving no matter what the outcome of the referendum turns out to be. He's making too many enemies and expending too much political capital.
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Post 09 Apr 2016, 6:33 pm

"In Campaign"?
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Post 09 Apr 2016, 11:23 pm

JimHackerMP wrote:"In Campaign"?
The vote in June is whether to "Remain" in the EU, or to "Leave". "In" v "Out"

Cameron promised to hold a referendum, as many in his party want out. But he, and most of the Cabinet, support staying in.
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Post 11 Apr 2016, 4:10 pm

And so most of the Tories are for exiting? And Cameron isn't and therefore is incurring the wrath of some party members for doing so? (Do I have that right?)
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Post 12 Apr 2016, 2:09 am

JimHackerMP wrote:And so most of the Tories are for exiting? And Cameron isn't and therefore is incurring the wrath of some party members for doing so? (Do I have that right?)
Most of the Cabinet are for staying. And I think most MPs (although probably more out of loyalty than principle in some cases).

Members are more opposed to the EU, and so are those who vote Tory. A lot of the truly Anti-EU right are moving toward UKIP.

If he wins, but dirty (which seems likely) then he will carry the wrath of those who wanted out - he already has it anyway.

But if he loses, or it is close, and if the nature of it deepens rifts within the party, those who are pro-EU in the Party will not thank him.