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"Let's Get Normal Again"!

Is it necessary for a British Prime Minister to be a UK citizen?
Because I seriously consider running for PM. I mean I'm certainly not worse than BoJo or Truss.

My simple program would get the UK out of its present disastrous crisis almost immediately:
1. Apologizing to Brussels, returning to the mothership as soon as legally possible. If not legally possible soon, do it illegally – but do it!

2. Making the UK part of the Eurozone.

3. Stopping the left-hand-driving madness, making normal right-hand driving mandatory. Cars with the steering wheel on the wrong side will have to be replaced by regular cars within 12 months ==> economy boost!

"Let's Get Normal Again" <== my Election Slogan.

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LeopoldBloom · M

People can barely figure out the Swindon roundabout now - imagine training everyone to drive it in the opposite direction.

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LeopoldBloom · M

@ElwoodBlues That is the world famous Swindon roundabout. If I'm ever there, I'm taking an Uber through it and making sure the driver is a local. I don't even think I'd want to try driving on the left.

damselfly · 100+, F

@ElwoodBlues theres a similar one in Coventry too

ElwoodBlues · M

@damselfly If you can post for us a name and/or highway intersection I will look for an image of it.

MartinII · 70-79, M

So far as I know, there is no requirement for the PM or MPs to be British citizens, though I may be wrong. I fear you might attract criticism if your lack of citizenship were discovered, but good luck to you on that score.

A much bigger problem would be your slogan, which would be mercilessly lampooned by the press and your opponents, and which might even lay you open to prosecution under the Trade Descriptions Act. None of your proposals, whatever their merits, is in any sense “normal” in a UK context. The UK was a member of the EU for less than 18 years, a very small part of its history. It has never been a member of the eurozone. And its drivers have never driven anywhere other than on the left. (Curious, incidentally, that the left-wing EU favours driving on the right, though admittedly with the steering wheel on the left.) Come to think of it, your programme might even, God forbid, lay you open to prosecution for committing a “hate crime”. (Under UK law there is no objective definition of a hate crime. If someone says they were a victim of a hate crime, they were a victim of a hate crime.) 😊😊

helenS · 36-40, F

@MartinII The colonists are different, as always. Arnold could not run for President because he's Austrian. At least he could become the Californian governator 💪

sarabee1995 · 26-30, F

[i]"Let's Get Normal Again"[/i]

This presumes of course that our British friends were once normal to begin with. 🤔

🤣

helenS · 36-40, F

@sarabee1995 Yes in a sense our British friends have never been "normal" – that's what makes them so lovable! ❤️

LizOwen · 41-45, F

@sarabee1995 Normality and Britain have never come close!

SW-User

It certainly places into question the parliamentary system, that is now overtaken by parties, that maybe made sense 100 years ago... Canada follows the same system, I wonder the uproar, even among quiet Canadians, two PMs in three months? The Conservative party of Britian now must be wondering when their time is done and how they regroup?

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MartinII · 70-79, M

@LizOwen Well there’s a lot in that historically. I’m not sure the Scots would be much help nowadays!

LizOwen · 41-45, F

@MartinII Can't blame them really, We're probably the worst possible neighbours. I can't imagine fighting a war without them on our side though.

ninalanyon · 61-69, T

@MartinII If we are going to break up the union then I think Wessex and Cornwall will also be queuing up to have their say.

seajays · 61-69, M

I agree that my country is in crisis,but i dont believe being a member of the eu would make things better,we all have an identity and we lost many when joining but thankfully we kept our pound,we kept out pint and our miles per hour,and we have used the left hand side since the 1700's ,that will never change ,we were in the EU around 18 to 20 years i beleve ,a very short time in our history...i would argue that the EU miss our money but dont miss us but thats my opinion and i totally respect yours :)

helenS · 36-40, F

@seajays Thank you – I certainly do not miss anybody's money but I miss your cultural impact. 🌷

supersnipe · 61-69, M

@seajays

we were in the EU around 18 to 20 years i beleve

47 years.

seajays · 61-69, M

@supersnipe European union from 1993 before that EEC from 1973

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

I don't think so. It's actually not necessary for you to be an elected MP either.

I say go for it 👍💖

I love your manifesto, but I don't think the driving thing will work. There is actually method in the madness . . much of our automative industry was taken over by the Japanese in the 1980s and 1990s and Japan is the only other major economy to drive on the left hand side (don't ask me why), so we are able to trade imports and exports more easily.

helenS · 36-40, F

@SunshineGirl I have to confirm that. I was in Japan several times (business related) and they are all wrong-way drivers.

meJess · F

Hmm

Point 1 is ok if the NAFTA area agrees that unelected officials from Canada and Mexico can decide US policy.

Point 2 is ok if North America as a continent adopts the Peso, and Mexico sets the interest rates.

I agree to point 3, all the left hand drive cars have to switch to right hand drive, across all of Europe. That way Japanese, Australians and others will feel more comfortable visiting 😊.

helenS · 36-40, F

@meJess The Mexican Peso and the EUR are probably very different currencies!

meJess · F

@helenS true, according to a quick internet check the Peso is more stable 😊

Yulianna · 22-25, F

🇺🇦❤🇬🇧 excellent!

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Yulianna · 22-25, F

@helenS the world is my bedroom 🤭

(in full slut mode today!)

helenS · 36-40, F

@Yulianna I see 🤭

Yulianna · 22-25, F

@helenS 🤗 🌻

damselfly · 100+, F

🤣 You would have to take an oath of fealty to the monarch, to be PM. Also, pick which political party you want to lead and secure the necessary votes. And because the UK is a democracy, not a dictatorship, you wouldn't be able to alter which side of the road to drive on without the consent of the people - most of whom are happy with the way it is, because we're used to it.
But you couldn't possibly do worse than Bojo and Liz. It isn't humanly possible to out-awful them

SW-User

I'm not sure you'd get over half the population supporting a return to the EU. Britain doesn't fit in the EU, because - surprise surprise, - they don't want decisions for them made in Brussels. They want to make their own decision - you know, like a sovereign nation.

helenS · 36-40, F

@SW-User In my personal opinion, the British would be better off as passengers of our common mothership. They are free to return, and it's their own decision of course.

SW-User

@helenS Yes, I do know that's your opinion. I disagree, but we're each free to think otherwise. Keep in mind, most people don't think of the EU as the mothership, and wanted rather deliberately to leave and be free of it. I can give one example given to me by a British citizen of why.

Sidewinder · 36-40, M

NORMAL?!? I'm too eccentric to be normal.

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helenS · 36-40, F

@Sidewinder That's my favorite cat! Or maybe Fat Freddie's cat? I'm undecided...

Yulianna · 22-25, F

@Sidewinder the Cheshire Cat was the sanest character in the book...

Sidewinder · 36-40, M

@Yulianna If you say so. :)

SW-User

Switching to driving on the right would be drastic. I think it would be best phased in over a few years. First with new cars, then work back through the registration years.

ArtieKat · M

An article from 2014. Raises some very interesting questions!

Boris Johnson renewed his US passport in November 2012, the London Mayor's aides have confirmed. The news came as a surprise to some. In a column for the Spectator in 2006 he said he was renouncing his US citizenship after being barred from using his British passport to change planes in Texas. But it appears he didn't follow through.

There has been speculation Johnson might eventually succeed David Cameron as Tory leader. Having dual citizenship is no bar to becoming prime minister. The only requirements are to be able to command the confidence of the House of Commons and be invited by the Crown to form a government, says John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University. You don't even need to have British citizenship to be an MP. The rules say only that you have to be a citizen of the UK, the Republic of Ireland or the Commonwealth, and over 18. [My italics}

The US passport revelation leaves an intriguing question floating in the air. Could Johnson be prime minister and then US president? He was born in New York and is thus a "natural-born citizen", a constitutional requirement for any presidential candidate. He told David Letterman in 2012 that he could "technically speaking" be US president. In Johnson's 2006 Spectator piece he wrote: "When the going has got tough in England it has sometimes crossed my mind that I could yet activate the Schwarzenegger option and flee to the land of opportunity, perhaps beginning as a short-order chef in Miami before winding up as Colorado senator and, inevitably, president." Tongue was firmly in cheek. Or was it?

helenS · 36-40, F

@ArtieKat

You don't even need to have British citizenship to be an MP.

Very good! So I can run for PM in December, when that new guy (what was his name again?) resigns.
Do you have a deerstalker hat? You'll need one when I'm in charge.

ArtieKat · M

@helenS You missed

you have to be a citizen of the UK, the Republic of Ireland or the Commonwealth, and over 18.

Subtle difference

helenS · 36-40, F

@ArtieKat I might purchase a citizenship somewhere in the Commonwealth.

Shutterbug · 56-60, M

helenS · 36-40, F

@Shutterbug Exactly!!! 👍

metaldog

I'd vote for you helen 😊

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metaldog

@helenS I will wear deerstalker and thigh high boots in London, it will be the new thing 🙃

helenS · 36-40, F

@metaldog Here's a nice story: a deerstalker maker, Sean M. Wright, made one for the late Los Angeles attorney Robert L. Kirste. Kirste asked him to make a deerstalker of black velvet for formal occasions. When Sean asked if he wanted white ribbon to tie the earflaps, he demurred. 'I don't want to stand out,' he explained 🤭

metaldog

@helenS LOL

BackyardShaman · 61-69, M

Yes!!!! Vote the sexy brunette in!! I’ll mail my vote from USA, Math rules!

helenS · 36-40, F

@BackyardShaman I count on you! 🌷

72andy · 51-55, M

Sadly I am not sure we would get it through parliament

Jeephikelove · 51-55, F

I like it! You have some excellent ideas! Go for it!! 😁

Uhohuhoh · 51-55, C

You had my vote until the car bit 😂

MrAverage1965 · 61-69, M

I understand the car bit but the cost go the economy would be huge. Changing all the traffic lights, repainting the lines at all the road junctions, even rebuilding some motorway sliproads.

helenS · 36-40, F

@MrAverage1965 That's why I said it will be a huge economy boost!

MrAverage1965 · 61-69, M

@helenS depending on who would be paying for it and where the money had been diverted from.

TheSirfurryanimalWales · 61-69, M

Yeah...please stand 😀

smileylovesgaming · 31-35, F

What is normal

1olderguy20 · 61-69, M

Truss resigned after 6 week. Will get $120,000 pension every year

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helenS · 36-40, F

@1olderguy20 Hey the job is even better than I expected! Another good reason to run!

1olderguy20 · 61-69, M

@helenS it was quotefd in us dollars

helenS · 36-40, F

@1olderguy20 USD is always a safe haven! They don't trust their own currency anymore 😏

Domking · 61-69, M

Once upon a time, they borrowed a Regent from some European royal stock

LizOwen · 41-45, F

@Domking And Churchill was half American, wasn't he? The royal family is part Greek, part German and part Scots. Very little English blood, if any.

Alfred22 ·

@LizOwen How did they get to be Royals anyway? Some watery tart throw her sword at the wrong guy (or gal)?

LizOwen · 41-45, F

@Alfred22 probably. The guy with the longest sword and least scruples.

KiwiBird · 36-40, F

Does that mean the Colonies will have to follow suit and drive on the Right as well. Canada excluded....already Americanised.

helenS · 36-40, F

@KiwiBird Yes of course! And the American colony will have to submit to taxation without representation.
Cheers! 🍷

Whodunnit · M

Three excellent reasons why the PM should definitely be a UK citizen.

OldBrit · 61-69, M

The actual requirement

Who can stand as an MP?
To stand as a candidate in a UK Parliamentary General Election you need to be at least 18 years old and:

a British citizen

a citizen of the Republic of Ireland

a citizen of a commonwealth country who does not require leave to enter or remain in the UK, or has indefinite leave to remain in the UK

Who is disqualified from standing as an MP?
Certain groups of people are not allowed to stand, these include:

members of the police forces

members of the armed forces

civil servants and judges

people who are subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order in England or Wales or a debt relief restrictions order

people who have been adjudged bankrupt in Northern Ireland

people who have had their estate sequestrated in Scotland

helenS · 36-40, F

@OldBrit Excuse me but that's sort of hilarious. A broke police officer from Northern Ireland cannot become a MP?
Likewise one could say that a person whose mother's middle name starts with an "A" cannot become an MP.

OldBrit · 61-69, M

@helenS that's straight off the government website. My friend who stood for election had to quit his civil service job to do so

Yulianna · 22-25, F

@OldBrit in my study of the British Constitution (and don't tell me there isn't one), the three groups who are disqualified from voting are lunatics, peers and prisoners.

lunatics are permitted to stand for Parliament but obviously can't vote for themselves.

Entwistle · 56-60, M

Boris Johnson was born in New York.

TheSirfurryanimalWales · 61-69, M

@Entwistle he should run for President

helenS · 36-40, F

@TheSirfurryanimalWales He and Donnie have the same hair dresser anyway.

revenant · F

I thought you were a UK citizen

helenS · 36-40, F

@revenant I'll apply for British citizenship if's that's necessary to become PM.

Morvoren · F

What’s on your manifesto?

Funlov · M

There’s never a normal

SW-User

@helenS sounds good to me! 😎

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helenS · 36-40, F

@Ferise1 ... or maybe I'd resign after 2 months, and then receive an annual $120,000 pension for the rest of my days? 😏
I know it's peanuts, but $10k a month isn't bad either.

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