Big Dog - Going, going, not quite gone. Thread 14.

[Notonthestairs]

Will it be Continuity Truss or "Socialist" Sunak in charge?

Removing the bankers bonus cap, a brexit bonus.

Well this is the problem at the moment. Politicians aren't being asked any questions.

There is no public urgency to reverse the fracking ban or lift the limit on city bonuses.

Unless of course the urgency is internal politics rather than public politics.

Yeah, they’ve clearly revelled in the distraction of the Queens death.

I just have to keep some optimism that once normal service resumes there will be loud enough voices holding to account. These are big flashpoint subjects imho.

March

Writing in the Mail on Sunday in March, Kwarteng - a close ally of Truss and the new chancellor - dismissed suggestions that it could make a comeback.

And he rejected claims that producing shale gas in the UK would lead to smaller bills for British consumers.

The then business secretary said: “Those calling for [fracking’s] return misunderstand the situation we find ourselves in.

If we lifted the fracking moratorium, it would take up to a decade to extract sufficient volumes - and it would come at a high cost for communities and our precious countryside.

“No amount of shale gas from hundreds of wells dotted across rural England would be enough to lower the European price any time soon.

“And with the best will in the world, private companies are not going to sell the shale gas they produce to UK consumers below the market price. They are not charities, after all.”

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/kwasi-kwarteng-said-fracking-bad-for-communities-and-countryside_uk_6319827be4b082746bdbdc6d

Kwasi Kwarteng’s sacking of his most senior Treasury official will having a “chilling effect” on civil servants and marks a “problematic” shift towards ministers wanting advice that aligns with their own views, a former head of the civil service has warned.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/14/kwasi-kwarteng-sacking-tom-scholar-marks-shift-away-from-impartial-advice

That’s the article I read on another thread @DuncinToffee 🙂

Must be a coincidence...

8th September Lord Spencer(Tory donor) says get rid of the cap on bankers bonuses.

14th September Kwasi Kwarteng(Chancellor) jumps to it

twitter.com/Haggis_UK/status/1570350068590579714?t=ec5nB4UnBFgzcJdNTIE3Sg&s=19

A commentator on R4, IIRC, didn't think that scrapping the maximum on city bankers' bonuses would have any impact on reducing risky gambling by bankers as their bonuses are subject to being paid back if it's been found that they took unacceptable risks.

BUT, what a thing to do as a first move by the chancellor of the exchequer at this time. As pps have said it's like they're not even trying to pretend they care about 'ordinary' people. Big business before everything else.

Yes they have a belief that if the remove all these regulations people will invest in the U.K.

The risk is if they don't. But deregulation was part of the Brexit manifesto so I guess they aren't doing anything they didn't say they would.

I also heard that bankers may take more risks which is what happened to cause 2008 crash.

"Kwasi Kwarteng to deliver emergency mini-budget on 23 September"

Literally the same day MPs break up for the conference recess, so that pretty much guarantees near-zero scrutiny...

Literally the same day MPs break up for the conference recess, so that pretty much guarantees near-zero scrutiny...

they’ve either been blessed or made a pact with devil given how the timings of major distractions have worked out for them over the last few years.

Yeah it's always too convenient for them isn't it.

"A long-awaited report by the British Geological Survey (BGS) was promised to be published, but it has been held up owing to the Queen’s death. The report, seen by the Guardian, admits that forecasting fracking-induced earthquakes and their magnitude “remains a scientific challenge”.
It says there are still “significant existing knowledge gaps” and that problems remain with identifying potential new fracking sites that may be able to handle earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.0."

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/15/liz-truss-to-lift-fracking-ban-despite-little-progress-on-earthquake-risk?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other

So nothing appears to have changed regarding the safety aspects and they can not meet their manifesto pledge that
"it would only be resumed if “the science shows categorically that it can be done safely”.

Exploratory drilling could start next week!

It offered 159 licences, of which around half are in Yorkshire

www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/politics/huge-swathes-of-yorkshire-could-be-opened-up-to-fracking-under-government-plans-3843740

It’s almost as though Truss is bent on enacting policies that will guarantee Labour a landslide at the next election.
I remember very vividly in 1997 an acquaintance saying on Election Day - it was a particularly beautiful May evening, warm and bright with a little breeze - that he thought the Tories would scrape in. I disagreed, said the mood had changed and it would be a landslide for Labour. And so it came to be (polishes crystal ball, apologies to MysticBore™️).

I imagine they think people will have two years to forget and that there will be enough bad news flying around it won't matter.

Tory peer Zac Goldsmith sacked as an environment minister raising fears that animal welfare will be downgraded by government

www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/15/zac-goldsmith-loses-environment-job-amid-fears-of-animal-welfare-downgrade

Retail sales fall sharply as cost of living bites

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62923994

August's sales figures signalled the largest month-on-month drop since December 2021.

NEW Sterling reaching new 37 year lows against US$ below $1.14 (after something of a rally mid week) quite a lot of $ movement as inflation > expected and US Fed expected to raise rates more aggressively, but £ also fallen 5 euro cents vs € too in past month to 17 month low
twitter.com/faisalislam/status/1570694598980411395?t=VvMdWv6lF4OjBAzqHW01zQ&s=19

I really hope Cameron, May and Johnson and every single other Brexiteer are massively proud of themselves, as our currency crashes through the floor and a massive recession is about to hit us. Our massive energy crisis has been temporarily ‘solved’ by giving gazillions in public money to energy companies.
We’ve really ‘taken back control’ haven’t we….

You can't take back what you never had.....

No 10 confirms that Liz Truss will meet world leaders, incl US President Joe Biden, this weekend.

But they're not classed as formal bilaterals & we won't get usual read-out b/c the govt is still in mourning for the Queen.

Don't know if this applies to foreign press as well.

Liz’s first full week is going to be fun for her.

Liz will bore them to death telling them how awful her old state school was under a conservative government.

And she'll set up a stunning Trade Deal with each of them, special ones for us special people of Brexit Britain. Deregulated, deranged, and disgusting. Oxford comma there before Therese Coffey makes them illegal.