Thread 28 Sunak : Lords, Ladies and Lame Ducks

[DuncinToffee]

Previous thread

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4835909-thread-27-sunak-the-ship-is-sinking-hold-your-nerve?page=1

The gall of any Conservative commenting on negatively on age/experience just days after they sent similarly aged individuals to the House of Lords for life.

Mather was voted for.

Mercer has turned into a bit of a bin fire. But maybe he was always this attention seeking & I didn't notice.

They always call the youngest member that. Like Harriet Harman is mother of the house.

Maybe Mercer should do his homework

Gladstone entered Parliament aged 22, Lord Salisbury was elected at 23, while Churchill, Balfour and Benn were only 25 when they first sat in the Commons. David Steel was 26; Roy Jenkins 27.

Just seen the turn out in Selby. Huge!

Now, Mr Johnson's spokesman has said "technical experts" had "successfully recovered all relevant messages from the device", meaning they could be given to the inquiry.

I thought it was Baroness Hallett who decides what is relevant?

https://twitter.com/edwinhayward/status/1682443910172364807?s=20

These are the facilities in the cabins of the Bibby Stockholm (configured as 222 single rooms, now cramming in 500 people).

• Bunk bed (2 adult male strangers)
• Desk and chair (one?)
• Wardrobe (shared?)
• Small TV

Newspapers and BBC radio news this morning are discussing how the Tories may lurch as a result of the by-elections to a less environmentally friendly position and emphasise boats more.

I am far from convinced that moving away from the centre ground is a good strategy for winning a general election - as Labour found under Jeremy Corbyn.

Divide and Rule.

Did he not see the results of the other by-elections?

It's not a very positive message for voters, is it?

Interesting analysis here

After the byelections, Starmer’s path to power is clear: revulsion at the Tories is essential – but not enough | Jonathan Freedland | The Guardian

No doubt different points of view in more Tory friendly papers telling Sunak what he should do now.

That's a great article
I was so annoyed with the bbc coverage on radio 4 yesterday - in an hour they had 2 pieces, one analysis of why Labour lost Uxbridge and whether they are failing in their approach. This included reading some absolute hogwash off Grant Shapps' twitter about Labours association with Just Stop Oil .Then an interview with Bridget Phillipson where they gave her a really hard time about Labour's education pledges and whether they were funded.

You would think Labour were in power and the plucky Conservatives were showing them up. It was disgraceful.

As an aside I just browsed Grant Shapps twitter feed and cannot believe what he is tweeting. Very populist. https://twitter.com/grantshapps

The comments on his letter are great though. I love the "maybe you can write a letter to your own arsehole" :D

According to the Express, Farage was recommended for a knighthood 5 times by Johnson

For services to brexit

WTAF 😯

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1793424/nigel-farage-knighthood-boris-johnson-blocked/amp

Hilarious article. Poor old Nige. Noone appreciates what he's done for our country. (I wonder if the source is Nadine Dorries or Nigel himself).

It's funny how anything the Express doesn't like is always 'shadowy' but when the government refuses openness and transparency that's all fiiiiine...

https://twitter.com/simonharris_mbd/status/1682319835739443201?s=19

It seems Grant Shapps is behind the ULEZ expansion.

Daily Mail is suggesting:

Cutting inheritance tax
Make most of Brexit
Target culture wars

It's going to be a divisive year.

The first meeting of Mr Shapps and his party’s newest MP will be interesting!

I suppose Farage in HoL would mean he couldn't run in an election.
Suspect it would also stop him from leading a political party.

But Johnson was only PM for a couple of years. He must have been trying every few months!

A knighthood wouldn’t put him in the Lords.

Of course!!
So it wasn't even a cunning strategy.

Times leader is 'Sunak aims to divide and rule' by focusing on trans rights, crime and migrants.

None of which will fix strikes/housing/education/the NHS/the economy.

Great. This is going to be a really nasty campaign.
I think he might be going down the But Corbyn path, like jgw said. Will appeal to hard right Tories but not the majority, and Starmer can look like the compassionate adult in the room. I hope.

I can only conclude the they’re confining their research to their own echo chamber. If they had any sense they’d be holding focus groups in Selby and Frome with some of the voters who kicked them in the teeth on Thursday. They have a very skewed view of what they think people care about.

But it's so telling that they can't campaign on their own record. It's been 13 years why don't they have any positive stories to tell us?

All they've got is railing against things - generally things they could actually have done something positive about. Being angry is their default.