Thread 39 Sunak - Government by Gaslight

[DuncinToffee]

previous thread

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5016708-thread-38-sunak-soooo-square-one-is-an-option-then?page=40&reply=133647875

Anyone with pretensions to be next leader would surely rather wait till after the GE than go now

it’s weird that it makes BJ look cautious when he disappeared after the Brexit referendum that were still hearing of Tories priming themselves for leadership.

I don’t think we can discount pure pretension and misplaced self belief driving certain characters forward.

@Cornettoninja @JessS1990 you are both right, anything is possible in Tory. But normal people probably think twice before applying for a job where the description reads 'take on impossible task to lead massively unpopular political party, with hugely divided parliamentary party in the last six months before a GE of which ten weeks will be spent in recess during which the papers which usually support you will be reporting daily on the recurrent failure of one of your flagship policies'. The normal people part of that sentence obviously doesn't apply here

"I don’t think we can discount pure pretension and misplaced self belief driving certain characters forward."

Agreed. If you are the type to want to lead a political party (particularly this one, at this stage) then ego has to play a massive part.

If you aren't sure that you will retain your seat (eg Schapps & Mordaunt) then it must make sense to make your move before the election. Ideally after a trouncing on May 2nd.

And then hope that you get a bounce in the polls & can then steer them to loosing less than the worst predictions so you can hang on beyond the election.

Obviously by that point you'll be spending the majority of your time fending off competitors.

And of course this all requires you to have zero understanding of how fucking ridiculous your party looks to everyone else.

Shapps not Schapps!

I have some sort of tic where I keep calling him Schnapps!

"I have some sort of tic where I keep calling him Schnapps!"

Pour me a Jagerbomb then!

fitting in my view 🙈

V&A labelling Thatcher as 'villain' alongside Hitler is not right, says culture secretary https://www.itv.com/news/2024-03-19/v-and-a-labelling-thatcher-as-villain-is-not-right-says-culture-secretary?utmsource=NewsApp&utmm_medium=SocialShare

Culture Secretary not aware of the functions of satire shock 🙄

Thanks for highlighting Lucy Frazer . I now know what I am going to do on my day off. V&A here I come!

Does she not appreciate satire or the Streisand effect!

Culture Secretary has no idea about culture or context. Thought her job was about yoghurt.

Apparently they’re removing the Thatcher reference. Bet it goes back after the election!

I still always think of Schnapps. Chin-chin!

Surprised they got away with this at all.
Board of trustees appointed by the PM includes Ben Elliot - ex Chairman of the Conservative & honorary treasurer for the Centre for Policy Studies (Tufton Street) - as a trustee.
And Zewditu Gebreyohanes of Legatum, Policy Exchange and Restore Trust (Tufton Street).

I don’t imagine every piece of narrative in every exhibition is run by the board of trustees. They’d do nothing else.

Yes, I know you are right.
It's just not as if they dont have sway. Particularly as the majority of their funding comes from the Department of Culture. I wonder if the Conservatives would have been so aggrieved if Neil Kinnock or Tony Blair's spitting image puppet had been included.

I doubt it somehow. I also don’t think they understand how visceral and widespread the hatred of Thatcher was and still is. Possibly some of them are just too young for it to have registered.

That's why AI scares him.

Competition 👀🤪

His shadow also scares him.

As it has more backbone...

I have some sort of tic where I keep calling him Schnapps!

😂😂😂

Well they do like their drinks suitcases cabinets

It doesn't matter who is the spokesperson for the conservatives. They are dead in the water. The only thing that will happen if they have a leadership battle instead of a general election is that they will put more people off.

The longer they continue this farce, the worse it will be for them.

I have to agree.

So many times the country the shackled and disappointed me with their lack of political knowledge and believing all the propaganda.

I'll admit I've made mistakes at times myself.

But there's not really no chance right now anyone should trust and believe the Tory's (even the hard Tory supporters!) because everyday they do something worse or try and justify another mistake with a well worn soundbite.

Although - they seem to have dropped adding "reasonably" to at least 80% of their media appearances. Maybe even they are realising they aren't reasonable!

So it's a safe place as long as you don't oppose the Government?

I suppose this is a new definition of safe - a very specific one. Russia could be described as safe if you don't oppose the Government.

Hang on, the government put out guidelines about how to explain history? Talk about over reach. How about they just stay in their lane and try running the country for a change.

Is it 1984 yet?