Forum Topic

Non-voter, non-citizen Conservatives Abroad vote for leader

Here's a thing."There are many Conservatives Abroad local groups all over the world. They are friendly, welcoming circles that do more than discuss politics. Many of our members see their local Conservatives Abroad group as a social network or extended family. Membership of Conservatives Abroad is open to all who live abroad and pledge support for the UK Conservative Party. You do not have to be a voter or a UK citizen.An individual's Conservative Party membership is always linked to a constituency Conservative Association. Anyone can apply to join any Conservative Association, regardless of where they live, and some choose to join more than one! By becoming a member of a Conservative Association, you also become a member of the Conservative Party.Membership of Conservatives Abroad is administered by the Cities of London & Westminster Conservative Association (CLWCA). By joining CLWCA as an overseas member, you become a member of the Conservative Party and of Conservatives Abroad. You are entitled to all the benefits of party membership, including participation in the Conservative Policy Forum, attendance at party conferences and a vote in the election of the party leader."https://www.conservativesabroad.org/get-involved"Membership of Conservatives Abroad is open to all who live abroad and pledge support for the UK Conservative Party. You do not have to be a voter or a UK citizen...................................You are entitled to all the benefits of party membership, including participation in the Conservative Policy Forum, attendance at party conferences and a vote in the election of the party leader."Awfully liberal of them.

David Ainsworth ● 1046d55 Comments

Ed, I assume I'm Michael X? I think the objection to a peerage being awarded to the peer with a Russian background but that Johnson had ignored a report from the security services which has never (to my knowledge) been made public.Sunak, to my knowledge, hasn't broken any UK laws with regard to his US Green Card. (I don't know how seriously the US would view his breaking that condition; they'd probably revoke the GC or refuse to renew it. I suppose they could also block entry into the US for other reasons but I suspect their main concern is people being resident in the US while being an agent of a foreign government which Sunak wasn't. To be honest I've no interest in defending him, just nationalising the situation, it's history now anyway.)I'd agree that other countries shouldn't covertly subvert others. I guess the can express an opinion - Obama spoke against Brexit, Trump for it. Did Steve Bannon try and subvert it, I think in the end it was decided Cambridge Analytic didn't? I think the jury's out on Russian tweet bots?Did anyone suggest citizenship is the same as sexual preference? For a start, I think my gay friends would say their sexual orientation isn't a preference, it's what they are. In practice most of us can't chose our citizenship or change it so there is a sort of overlap with regard to that attribute :-) I'd argue religion is important; I'd be wary of voting for anyone who is against contraception, abortion, gay marriage, etc or is a creationist - although there's probably other reasons I wouldn't vote for them.With regard to Brexit I think you'll find a significant number of Labour party members and voters believe Brexit is a disaster and would like to see it renegotiated or, subject to another vote, preferably scrapped. However, I know there a practical reasons with that so one has to take a pragmatic approach. Aside from NI and Dover border queues, there do seem to be some other areas where Brexit isn't working and is very damaging:https://news.sky.com/story/fears-of-new-bureaucracy-rules-and-costs-have-all-come-true-brexit-making-touring-europe-unviable-for-uk-artists-12667548https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/aug/06/british-farmers-face-paying-for-border-checkpoints-in-eu-after-brexit-halts-exports?CMP=share_btn_fb

Michael Ixer ● 1043d

Ed. So you don't think the reason companies spend so much on lobbying is because they hope to influence the thinking or policies of people in power?So the Uber CEO had dinner with Osborne in California because he wanted to discuss the best places to visit on his next trip to London? Yeah right!https://metro.co.uk/2022/07/12/georgeosborne-ex-chancellor-backed-uber-growth-after-secret-talks-16981705/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16596906812363&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fmetro.co.uk%2F2022%2F07%2F12%2Fgeorgeosborne-ex-chancellor-backed-uber-growth-after-secret-talks-16981705%2FAnd Alexander Lebedev likes to invite Boris to his parties 'cause he does a good standup comedy show?Have you ever worked with a good salesperson? They go for a longterm relationship not a quick sale, and try to influence the "customer" towards their way of thinking and their "product". In my opinion lobbying is much the same.Aside from big business like Uber, Microsoft, Google, etc (why do you think this government wants to water down your data privacy rights?*) governments - the US, Russia, UK, China, EU, etc are all at it in various ways.I don't think we're quite in the same area of Mr Brown's conspiracy groups here - we know, for example, the evidence is there that Russian, Chinese, Korean and Iranian agencies mount cyber attacks (Not Petya? The DNC Google email hack?) and western agencies do as well (Stuxnet?) but besides these obvious attacks there's surely a lot more subtle influencing being carried out by both sides :-)* of course, there are also lobbying groups such as the Open Rights Group attempting to protect our privacy rights and other freedoms.

Michael Ixer ● 1045d