Thread 44 Sunak: Hung parliament and Rishful thinking.

[DuncinToffee]

prevoius thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5066068-thread-43-sunak-seriously-scapegoating?page=40&reply=135107360

Far too subtle for the Great British Public, I feel.

Quite. I assume the Tories took her into the seat as she had a local profile and since the incumbent mens rights activist was facing charges of sexual assault a woman probably seemed like a safer bet.

After her sterling performance of "not my Nigel" before he was convicted and being found guilty of trying to unduly influence the judge in his case whilst an MP, they must have wondered what they had done.

The whispering and lobbying against the victims in his case was nasty - Phillips is spot on, its a bad look for Labour, particularly when trying to regain credibility on women's issues.

If ME was so awful, why was she allowed to remain in and stand for the tories for so long?

Says much about Sunak that he didn't remove the whip.

I have no issue with her crossing the floor, it sent a clear message that Sunak is done, it reduced the majority, removed her from a safe tory seat at the next election and is pushing Sunak further into a corner.

As a chess move it's big, setting up the pieces for the future.

I think so too @L1ttledrummergirl. I do think they’re missing a trick in not restoring the whip to Dianne Abbott though. This has made it look a bit spiteful.

All NE has brought with her is Stop the Boats.

"I have no issue with her crossing the floor, it sent a clear message that Sunak is done, it reduced the majority, removed her from a safe tory seat at the next election and is pushing Sunak further into a corner."

This is pretty much where I am.
Nobody in the Conservatives sincerely believes that the Rwanda plan works - or that it offers value for money for the taxpayer.

Saw this thread from Sam Freedman yesterday and it's been on my mind ever since - you can't "suppress need" for services without it having consequences.

Here is part of the 🧵 -

A thread about one of the many public sector scandals going under the radar....

The DfE "safety valves" for special educational needs.

These were started in 2021 due to councils getting into deficit on school spending because demand for special needs support has risen so much.

There are now 38 councils with "safety valve" deals with the DfE (the euphamistic nature of the term is quite sinister).

It means they have to agree programmes of cuts to SEND support to get their deficit under control in return for additional financial support.

These cuts are driven by what it takes to get the deficit under control not need.

So in practice once councils sign up, and they have little choice, they have to suppress demand and provide less support.

We can see extensive demand suppression is going on (and not just in "safety valve" councils) because when parents take councils to tribunal they always win.

Success rate is now 98%. This is a sign of a system not working. Of course only parents with resources can do this.

But we can also see that for those children still requiring support for special needs the quality is deteroriating badly. Particularly in some councils with "safety valves".

This is from Bury's Ofsted yesterday. They were one of the first to join the programme.

Some councils have found it impossible to maintain a service and stick to their deficit reduction plan. So the DfE have suspended support. We learnt a few weeks ago they're withholding £18 million from five councils on "safety valves".

This is not remotely sustainably. Support for children who need special needs support has already deteriorated badly and will keep getting worse.

The system needs more money and substantial reform. It's yet another problem that will be left for the next government to sort.

As Adam notes here, the govt are currently excluding special needs debts from overall council debt but only until 2026. If included a dozen plus councils would go bankrupt so it also goes to the wider problem of local government funding.

x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1788117444499804204?s=46&t=Uw4lJNwxFZFnX0Xs3doHYg

Sorry that should be suppress demand not need!

Zahawi has announced he is standing down at the GE

I don't care why the Tories kept her, I don't vote for them.

I care what Labour are doing and find it piss poor that they are welcoming someone with a shocking track record both of engaging the casual racism ingrained in much of the migration rhetoric and victim blaming of women who were proven victims of sexual assault and trying to use her position as MP to influence the judge against them.

The fact that she is welcomed whilst the "independent" process investigating Dianne Abbott is still apparently trundling on, a year after she apologised for the comments under investigation is disgusting. Having listened to the useless Dodds trying to defend this on R4 this morning apparently the front bench don't understand the reasons either.

I have mixed feelings about NE. I think it is because I want the Labour party to better than that but then we get back to Labour being held to different standards.

NE is not standing as a Labour candidate which makes a difference for me.

I read this

The Elphicke defection tells voters tempted by, or actually voting for, Reform & the like that it’s OK to vote Labour.

How are Labour being held to different standards?

Its just standards of basic decency, particularly with respect to women and minorities. I found her equally objectionable on the other benches.

Some interesting views from residents of Dover here. None of which seem to admit they voted for her, strangely https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cprg329qp7go

I think everyone is forgetting she is stepping down. She saw a sinking ship and acted as a Tory would, saved her own skin. Rosie made a good point about which line is Labour's on small boats but again - Elphicke is stepping down, so it's quite clear.

Thank you for the new thread. They are moving so quickly lately!!
I just came on to say I am beyond pi@@ed with the NE situation. I am not sure how this will work for Labour.
I get the middle finger re Dan Poulter but that's been done now.
Some Tory MPs are using it to their advantage on Social media saying "I agree with NE..." then pulling out some of her previous comments about Labour.
It makes Labour look ridiculous and plays to the I don't know what Labour stand for crowd.
Definitely an own goal in my opinion. ☹️

Zahawi’s statement on standing down 🤣

I don't really know how to explain it @C8H10N4O2

Ideally, the Labour party would consist of decent people only, what decent means is ofcourse subjective. People like NE would have no place there. But that is not realistic. People like her are part of the Labour party and voters.

Like I said, mixed feelings.

Whoever wrote that for him must be living on a different planet. So grateful for the opportunity he was offered that he decided to dodge £4 million in taxes. Did Shakespeare say anything resembling “Put your money where your mouth is”?

Yes. He's really in love with his own story isn't he? Deluded fool.

I agree both inside Labour and amongst Labour voters there will be racism, sexism and classism - there will be in any large group of people.

However when the party makes a big public performance of welcoming someone who has publicly espoused those attitudes for expediency it sends a message - the message being that values are disposable when inconvenient.

The fact that those values embodied by NE are welcomed whilst a black working class woman who committed her life to Labour is left stuck in the wilderness (despite apologising for her comments) - it just sends a bad message about Starmer's leadership, how he is leading Labour and how the rules are applied differently depending on who you are.

That letter has to be a spoof surely?

I think what is happening with Diane Abbott is a different issue.

Labour has reinstated the whip to Kate Osamor

NE is going to divide opinions for sure

Diane Abbott apologised. NE hasn't.

I appreciate your explanations @DuncinToffee - still a bit uncomfortable with it all.

@L1ttledrummergirl it is on his own Twitter page so sadly genuine I think 🙄

A bit like this

x.com/Haggis_UK/status/1788453684872954331

It is a different issue but they missed a trick by not restoring the whip to Diane Abbott. It was so obvious that comparisons would be drawn.