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?

‘So she's complaining about poor productivity, which hasn't improved under the past 12 years of Con governments.

Then she'd better get the government organised to invest in improved infrastructure: transport and broadband for a start. Reducing Brexit paperwork would also improve productivity. As would training and better education, including lifelong adult education. Better physical and mental health would help with productivity.

And giving watchdogs and regulators powers to force privately owned providers of essential human requirements ( heat, light and water for a start) to invest in repairs and improvements’.

this 100000%
Also not to mention the Tories under Thatcher put all the basics of life- heating, lighting, water, travel, under private ownership via their privatisation programmes which is precisely what makes them so irresponsible because they are private profit-making businesses.

It will be interesting to track what Gove will do next. Whilst I could often follow his reasoning I disagreed with him on pretty much everything (Kemi Badenoch as PM for starters). But I did listen before I shouted at the radio. They aren't many left worth listening to or arguing with.

I've read his piece in the Times and found myself broadly agreeing with this -

Central to unlocking potential and improving productivity is further reform of our education system. Our biggest challenge remains the attainment gap between rich and poor. We will prosper only if children in poor neighbourhoods have the opportunities the successful enjoy. A focus on the fate of students with A* at A-level, who are already on course for success, and a call for more grammar schools, when there is neither the money to build them nor the evidence they advance social mobility, should not be our priority.
Sense of doom definitely increasing.

So she's complaining about poor productivity, which hasn't improved under the past 12 years of Con governments

’hey, everyone. The last twelve years have been shit. Vote for more of the same!’

Even Brexit was a Tory fuck up - Cameron never expected to lose and got cocky by not setting perfectly normal caveats on voting percentages. 48/52 is NOT most of the country wanting something. What have they actually set out to do and achieved? I suppose getting the public to accept austerity for over a decade with no discernible gains is a pretty impressive achievement.

Yes the pretence that they haven't been in power for 12 years is wearing.

We are off to 'the coast' today and busy checking the Surfers Against Sewage website. So that's nice and normal.

We are off to 'the coast' today and busy checking the Surfers Against Sewage website. So that's nice and normal

satire is dead isn’t it?

Indeed.

The Times reporting likely Cabinet positions. Kwarteng as Chancellor.

"Suella Braverman is said to be a “done deal” as home secretary while James Cleverly is expected to become foreign secretary.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Old Etonian and arch loyalist to both Johnson and Truss, is being mooted for the role of levelling-up secretary, while Thérèse Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, is being considered as the chief whip. Kemi Badenoch, one of the standout performers of the leadership campaign, is a possible education secretary, though is also in the running to be culture secretary."
JRM as levelling up minister

Essentially all the right wingers currently in Cabinet plus a few more for good measure.

But this caught my eye...

The Truss team is also in talks about bringing in “economic brains” to Downing Street. “The call has gone out in think tank world,” one strategist said.
Wonder where those think tanks might be based and who funds them ...Tufton Street perchance?

@Notonthestairs well that’s a horrific line up.

I’d clung to a vague hope JRM would be out on his ridiculous arse without BJ.

Isn't it just.

I cannot believe Mogg would be suitable for levelling up. Why? His fortune is tied up in Somerset Capital Management and held in the Cayman Islands and Singapore, purely to avoid tax here.

This is the man who calls foodbanks "uplifting" and thought the victims of Grenfell lacked common sense for doing what the Fire Brigade told them to.
He is a loathsome creature who should not be in politics.

I would do anything to see him off.

Oh for the love of the Almighty, that list is horrific. Britannia Unchained in power ffs. How did we get here? Why are we supinely putting up with these leeches and how in hell can we get rid of them? Surely that bunch of grasping extortioners couldn't survive longer than 6 weeks in power?

The next cabinet is going to be terrifying. My consolation is that they’re inheriting the biggest shitshow of my lifetime and there’s likely to be as much shit thrown at them from their own back benches as from the opposition. Oh, and Labour’s 15 points ahead in the latest YouGov poll and I can only see that lead increasing.

I agree. 2 years is a long time when you're struggling which they will be.

I've just seen a clip of Liz Truss on GB News on Twitter. Alastair Stewart is interviewing her (I don't like him, he tweeted me and was really rude!)

Here it is... she is very cocky thinking she has it in the bag and can do what she wants.

www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/liz-truss-gb-news-hustings-v0ee00c0a?utm_content=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Main&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1660983277

If Rees Mogg is levelling up Secretary does that mean we all level up to his income?

Oh Marina, I love you!

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/19/liz-truss-lead-uk-sewage-leadership-marina-hyde

"For now, Truss maintains the remorselessly upbeat demeanour of a holiday rep who regards herself as the life and soul of the booze cruise, and whose lower back is tattooed with the Chinese symbols for “Only depressing people get depressed”. The overwhelming vibe you get from her campaign appearances is that she is going to make destitution fun for people. The logic puts me in mind of the Depression-era dancehall marathons epitomised in They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, where desperate competitors are given the opportunity to twirl, then lurch, then stagger their way out of poverty. Or to death – whichever comes sooner."

Read the whole article if you get a chance! I so remember the film They Shoot Horses, Don't They.

Is it really going to be Truss? Gove is saying he backs Sunak.
Can anyone make them have a GE? The Queen? Barrack Obama . Anyone? Help!!!!

It's all just grim grim grim

Yes I saw They Shoot Horses Don't They? at quite a young age. It left a very strong impression.

https://twitter.com/samfr/status/1561057342480793601?s=21&t=j8aO38ZxwxeS4R2qPI5z0A

"Quite telling, I think, that there isn't the slightest hint in the Sunday Times piece about how Team Truss will deal with the energy bill problem. If they knew what they were going to do I suspect we'd have got a hint."

^^ a bit worrying.

It’s pretty obvious she hasn’t got a plan. If I were her I’d be shitting myself right now.

She hasn’t got a fucking clue. If I was her I’d go for full time n National emergency, bring Labour and Lib Dem’s and greens in for their ideas and preside over a coalition.
I mean possibly while wearing a headscarf and riding about in a tank like Thatcher because we know Liz likes a photo op.
But seriously she’s patently incapable so I bloody hope she leans on other parties otherwise we are seriously fucked.

That’s way too sensible @DowningStreetParty. It would have been the sensible thing to do in March 2020 too. Tory arrogance at its worst.

We know what she's going to do. First couple of days in she's going to cut taxes big time, short term vote winner, followed by stupid people in cabinet positions and we're fucked
We need to panic

She probably won't be shitting herself at all though. That's the worry. She's obviously a figurehead for various wings in the party and will likely do as she's told. Boris Johnson never seems to have "shitted himself" over anything. So it probably seems like it's all going to be a doddle for her. I can't believe the health and wealth of the nation are on her agenda.

The Tories need to stop thinking about what's a vote winner. They're in office, have been for 12 years, have another 2 years to go. They need to come up with some policies and strategies for the country.

Donald Trump was constantly having election rallies after he won because he didn't have anything else.

This is the difference between populists and ideologues. Populists tend not have any ideas beyond winning power.

I agree she won't be shittng herself.

The whole thing is to get in as PM. There is no other plan. God help us

I've seen a pic of BJ having a blast in Greece on holiday. He makes me sick. Who would've known he was our PM.