Big Dog is enjoying his last weeks. Who will be leader - Truss or Sunak Thread 13

[cakeorwine]

New thread as needed.

I wonder what new promises will come out this week?

People did vote for Boris Johnson in 2019 even though only a very small minority in his constituency actually did.
He was the ' face' of the conservatives at that time.

People vote for a party and their leader in a GE, local MPs are for local elections.

Here I am in Greece, trying to solve the cost of living crisis.

twitter.com/Parody_PM/status/1558726470465462272?t=fLdR0lZI1WRUs66FaVCg2g&s=19

Who will be expected to pick up that basket?

Who the Jeff wears a suit in Greece on holiday?

It is.

What I'm hoping is that the general public will wake up and realise why Patel won't attend commitees and why the DWP won't publish these reports and why other reports are being produced and not published.

Sometimes it really is what people don't say.

We need those reports to be leaked. The lack of scrutiny is a scandal in its own right, but with Parliament on holiday, who is keeping account?

It's his holiday clothes. Look at that infamous photo of him in the Italian airport, the morning after the night before.

"After returning from his previous holiday “full of energy”, he instructed officials to draw up a programme for his final dayss_ that would allow him to focus his attention on his priorities before he leaves office.
He is understood to be planning to make regular public interventions if he feels that his successor neglects the subjects he feels most strongly about. “He won’t be a Theresa May two speeches a year ex-PM,” a source said. “He will be popping up constantly to say ‘this is where you’re going wrong on Ukraine, on levelling up, on the NHS’.”
I'm sure Truss will be delighted to read that Johnson intends to guide from the backbenches.

I'm still trying to work out how Truss can ditch the NI increase AND fund the social care reforms - presumably she'll borrow to have to pay for it. If she sticks with their commitments at all.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62542541

Starmer has published energy strategy, looks good. Would protect bills and forecasted to create 4% drop in inflation. Really hoping the Tories listen to this. We need help like this.

That energy clearly didn't last long if he's fucked off on holiday again, and I'm prepared to bet he expended it primarily on shredding any awkward records and drawing up his resignation honours list.

Apart from pissing Truss off, he'll get nowhere sniping from the back benches when he is out of power and no longer in a position to dispense patronage and lucrative government contracts. He'll also struggle when he hasn't got a load of civil servants to do his research for him and to encapsulate all the main points of any given issue into one page (which has apparently been essential to date because he can't be bothered to concentrate any longer than that), so any cabinet minister worth their salt will be able to run rings around him. I suspect he won't bother to stand again at the next election, especially if he thinks there's any danger of losing his seat.

On first glance I like the look of the Labour energy plan. Primarily because it would provide a bit of certainty around bills. I have noted the criticism from the IFS however that it may not lead to a reduction in inflation and is expensive. But I don't think Truss has the financial leverage she has said she has and therefore she will have to increase borrowing (or cut more services). I'll wait to read more from Labour. We won't get any more detail from Truss I don't think.

I'm also interested in how both parties will tackle the additional heating costs for schools/public services.

As for Johnson I don't think he'll bother about details. Three word slogans will do. I imagine he'll be looking to retain the membership support that currently believes the party should have kept him on and all those voters that think he was booted out because of cake and msm.

So I predict he'll focus on populist ideas and wedge politics from the backbenches. I also think he'll utilise comment pieces in the Telegraph & Mail etc to reach people. Truss (if it is Truss) is coming in at a difficult time and it will be easy to stir up trouble with minimal risk to himself.

It's a good start but as you say it doesn't really address the costs faced by hospitals, schools, businesses or the issues beyond 2023. The same with the Lib Dems plan.

I am sure the Tories will use some of the ideas and pretend they came up with it in the first place

Is it not a feature of democracy? 😉

Since 1940, nine individuals have assumed the office of Prime Minister inbetween elections. Truss or Sunak will be the tenth.

Boris can say what he likes, but the fact shows otherwise.

"In short, Boris Johnson’s mandate never came from the 14 million votes that his party representatives won on December 12, 2019. It came from the elected MPs. And he has resigned because that support of free-thinking individual representatives has now been withdrawn."

• Chris Smith, Lecturer in History, Coventry University

Full article:

theconversation.com/boris-johnsons-claim-of-a-mandate-from-the-people-isnt-accurate-heres-how-prime-ministers-really-get-power-186615

Your first partially statement is correct. We just vote for parties if you read link above.

Your second is not in that we have no local MPs elected via local elections. We have constituency MPs elected by their constituencies to Parliament.

Local elections only elect councillors. Devolved elections only elect MSPs, MLAs and MSs, respectively. But none of these are "Local MPs".

On the contrary, people voted to "Get Brexit Done" and that's a long way from being done. 🤷‍♂️

Anyway, read link above.

Ok point taken The whole system sucks, especially when you live in a safe seat constituency, imo.

Adam Bienkov

Boris Johnson's spokesman says the PM will not have any engagements this week, despite Brandon Lewis suggesting he will work remotely.

Asked why he has taken two holidays in a row, rather than waiting until September, he replies that: "I don't have anything for you on that."

Asked about the presence of removal vans outside, Boris Johnson's spokesman declines to say whether the Prime Minister and Carrie plan to return to their Downing Street flat at all, after they get back from holiday.

Boris Johnson is able to take away from Downing Street anything he spent his own money on, his spokesman says.

Unclear if this includes gold wallpaper.

Good news, really. If Boris chooses to spend the next two years hurling brickbats from the pages of the Telegraph, the party will become even more split and will stand even less chance of winning the election.

#GetBackToWorkYouFatPonce trending on Twitter. I can't think who it's referring to.

He was on GMB this morning. I was impressed with what he said and how he spoke.

It opened up with the presenters accusing him of being slow and on holiday.

Ermmmmmm where are the party actually leading the country?

He pointed out he'd been working on this for a year. Brought it up in HoC for a year and even had started the windfall tax plan. Which the Tory's eventually went with a few months later.
That he asked his team to do a fully costed policy rather than an idea and he couldn't get it completed until they had the final figures.

"It opened up with the presenters accusing him of being slow and on holiday."

And the "Fat Ponce" who actually is the Prime Minister is on his second holiday in 2 weeks.

DM was attacking Starmer for wearing an expensive t-shirt on holiday

Maybe they'd prefer it if Starmer went for dumpster suit chic?

Well yes! I did find it quite odd!!!