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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Who should replace Boris?

186 replies

sst1234 · 26/01/2022 21:50

If/when he goes. I know many would would prefer someone other than a Tory to do so but let’s be realistic. Out of the front runners in the cabinet, who would you want to replace him ant why?

OP posts:
VikingOnTheFridge · 27/01/2022 11:57

I had a particularly rancid period shit this morning that would do a better job of being PM than Boris.

Of the actual likely contenders, they're all useless. They're just hopefully not pathological liars. Those are the depths to which the Tories have sunk us.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 27/01/2022 11:58

However , I can tell you have zero knowledge of what is happening so I will let you get back to scrolling on your phone.

Ha ha - so sorry Foreign Secretary - didn't realise I was talking to an "expert" what a joke.

NotsoNeurotypical · 27/01/2022 12:01

None of them. I can't think of a single thing I would trust any of them to do, although Boris is the worst right now that's only because the spotlight is on him. A few of them vaguely look like competent politicians but only if you don't look too closely, and I have a feeling that their tailors are mostly to thank for that. They Do not hold up to scrutiny.

Newgirls · 27/01/2022 13:12

It’s fascinating that every time a potential new leader pops their head above the parapet (truss, sunak…) news stories appear saying how rich and corrupt they are. Someone really doesn’t like them…

Cherrybomb197 · 27/01/2022 13:13

Rishi

TeloMere · 27/01/2022 13:16

NotsoNeurotypical
None of them. I can't think of a single thing I would trust any of them to do, although Boris is the worst right now that's only because the spotlight is on him. A few of them vaguely look like competent politicians but only if you don't look too closely, and I have a feeling that their tailors are mostly to thank for that. They Do not hold up to scrutiny.

This is why we should stick with him for now. Better the devil you know.
He has been, and will continue to be, well scrutinised. By Dominic Cummings and the many other Boris haters

LuckyMeISeeGhosts · 27/01/2022 13:18

@daimbarsatemydogsbone

Yeah I mean - there are going to be LOADS of volunteers who want to lead us through the possibly of WW3. Don't be silly - we aren't "going to war" with Russia. Ukraine isn't in NATO, so we have no obligation. We'd be mad to engage in conventional warfare with Russia.
Hmm
ilovesooty · 27/01/2022 13:27

@billycat321

Dominic Raab, as deputy prime minister, would automatically and immediately succeed Boris
No he wouldn't.

He might be Acting Prime Minister until a successor was in place if Johnson left with immediate effect.

AncientofMuMu · 27/01/2022 13:36

Betty Boothroyd.

Realistically, I can't think of anyone.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 27/01/2022 13:38

@LuckyMeISeeGhosts Great response!

Holshicup · 27/01/2022 14:07

Yvette Cooper would be a breath of fresh air.

FatherBuzzCagney · 27/01/2022 14:29

I am sick of hearing about sodding parties and cake when we are possibly going to war with Russia - this is real people and we need to be worried.

The UK is not going to go to war with Russia. NATO is not going to war with Russia. The chance of this happening is as close to zero as anything in international relations ever is.

The reason why Ukraine has never been admitted to NATO despite years of asking is that NATO doesn't want to go to war with Russia.

In areas where Russia and NATO states have been on opposite sides of a conflict and have actually killed each others' regular or irregular forces (Syria and Nagorno Karabakh), both sides have talked it down precisely to avoid this. The idea that the UK is going to risk a war with the potential to escalate to a nuclear exchange over a non-allied state for...reasons...is nuts.

The current government are so desperate to protect the dear leader that they are willing to scare the shit out of people by falsely suggesting we're going to war. If I didn't already think they were bunch of sociopathic cunts, I would after this.

Lockedoorsopen · 27/01/2022 14:40

@FatherBuzzCagney

I am sick of hearing about sodding parties and cake when we are possibly going to war with Russia - this is real people and we need to be worried.

The UK is not going to go to war with Russia. NATO is not going to war with Russia. The chance of this happening is as close to zero as anything in international relations ever is.

The reason why Ukraine has never been admitted to NATO despite years of asking is that NATO doesn't want to go to war with Russia.

In areas where Russia and NATO states have been on opposite sides of a conflict and have actually killed each others' regular or irregular forces (Syria and Nagorno Karabakh), both sides have talked it down precisely to avoid this. The idea that the UK is going to risk a war with the potential to escalate to a nuclear exchange over a non-allied state for...reasons...is nuts.

The current government are so desperate to protect the dear leader that they are willing to scare the shit out of people by falsely suggesting we're going to war. If I didn't already think they were bunch of sociopathic cunts, I would after this.

I take it you haven't read the latest thoughts from Nato? Maybe you should read up on it...
Whitegrenache · 27/01/2022 14:42

@ilovesooty

No member of the Cabinet is fit to lead the country. They're only there because they're Johnson nodding dogs.
100% agree but also include the other parties in that too.

There is no credible opposition

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 27/01/2022 14:48

Quite funny how a couple of us now have posted a few lines about why we think there won't be a war with Russia and rather than offer an opposing views the responses have been "you don't know waht your talking about" and Hmm.
Of course it's fine to utter a dismissive one-liner (or just a crappy emoj) if you like but it's not very enlightening and suggests arrogance and possibly ignorance.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 27/01/2022 14:49

There is no credible opposition
Not this crap again. Labour are a perfectly respectable opposition unless you're a Tory.

FatherBuzzCagney · 27/01/2022 16:42

I take it you haven't read the latest thoughts from Nato? Maybe you should read up on it...

Yes, I have. Have you?

NATO is concerned about the possibility of war in Ukraine between Russia and Ukraine. Nowhere has it said it is anticipating the expansion of that war to include NATO.

Even a more limited Russian invasion of Ukraine (some kind of show of force in Donbas, as opposed to the possibility of Russia attempting to invade Kyiv and depose Zelensky) isn't regarded as certain by people who actually know about this issue. Beyond that, there's a lot of scepticism among analysts, including Ukrainian analysts, about the prospect for a larger-scale war in Ukraine - i.e. outside the Eastern Ukraine area where there has been conflict and Russian involvement for nearly 8 years.

No-one credible thinks NATO is going to get pulled in to a war with Russia.

Lockedoorsopen · 27/01/2022 18:59

@FatherBuzzCagney

I take it you haven't read the latest thoughts from Nato? Maybe you should read up on it...

Yes, I have. Have you?

NATO is concerned about the possibility of war in Ukraine between Russia and Ukraine. Nowhere has it said it is anticipating the expansion of that war to include NATO.

Even a more limited Russian invasion of Ukraine (some kind of show of force in Donbas, as opposed to the possibility of Russia attempting to invade Kyiv and depose Zelensky) isn't regarded as certain by people who actually know about this issue. Beyond that, there's a lot of scepticism among analysts, including Ukrainian analysts, about the prospect for a larger-scale war in Ukraine - i.e. outside the Eastern Ukraine area where there has been conflict and Russian involvement for nearly 8 years.

No-one credible thinks NATO is going to get pulled in to a war with Russia.

Ah right....

It must be another NATO who said it was putting forces on standby and reinforcing Eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets, and could also send additional troops to its southeast flank.

Must also be another Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg who said on Monday NATO would take “all necessary measures”.

Must be another Denmark sending a frigate to the Baltic Sea and is set to deploy four F-16 fighter jets to Lithuania.

Must be another Spain who is sending ships to join NATO naval forces and is considering sending fighter jets to Bulgaria.

Must be another France who has expressed its readiness to send troops to Romania under NATO command.

Must be another Netherlands who sending two F-35 fighter aircraft to Bulgaria from April to support NATO’s air-policing activities in the region, and is putting a ship and land-based units on standby for NATO’s Response Force.

Must be another UK who have just sent 30 troops to train the Ukraine army and have been sending planes over the land all week

Yeah no one credible is going to get pulled in to a war with Russia ....

pawsbaws · 27/01/2022 19:24

Keir Starmer. It isn’t rocket science.

pawsbaws · 27/01/2022 19:25

@Cherrybomb197

Rishi
“Rishi?”

Why do people insist on using first names for these arseholes. They care nothing for you, unless you’re a millionaire.

EngTech · 27/01/2022 19:33

Keir Starmer as Labour would be able to get things sorted in the first 100 days 😳

If they don’t, watch the fall out and the associated finger pointing blame game which would blame the previous Government 😳

I still reckon Larry the Cat is the preferred option though 👍👍👍

PennyRoyal · 27/01/2022 19:51

The opposition have had the perfect time to get their ducks in a row, yet none of them have come up with any real credible alternative solutions to all the issues going on right now. Covid aside, there are many hugely important issues we face and nobody is talking any sense.

I despair of our politics and politicians right now. The future is somewhat bleak.

NiceShrubbery · 27/01/2022 19:58

Why do people insist on using first names for these arseholes.

It's a good thing imo. Titles and surnames have disappeared along with any trace of respect we might once have had for them.

They should be addressed exactly the same way as the next tw*t next to you in the pub.

repairshopfan · 27/01/2022 20:06

I hope it isn't Truss. She's devoid of emotion/dead pan in the same way MT was 😬.

I've met her a few times and disagree that it is a recently learned thing - it was there more than a decade ago.

Agree with KS, Yvette Cooper, Andy Burham.

FatherBuzzCagney · 27/01/2022 20:28

Yes, and the UK has sent NLAW antitank grenade launchers and Germany is sending a few thousand helmets. Neither of those things, nor any of the things you mentioned are anything to do with the UK fighting Russia.

Western European states and the US are sending support of various kinds to border NATO states as (a) a sign of solidarity and (b) as a signal to Russia of precisely where the boundaries of NATO and its Art. 5 commitments lie. It's about reassurance and signalling. It's not about fighting Russia.

Sending lethal aid, non-lethal aid, and trainers is about supporting Ukraine and showing disapproval to the Russian government. It's one of the few mechanisms available to NATO, other than sanctions - and much easier than really significant sanctions because things like cutting off SWIFT (widely discussed as one sanctions option) have significant economic costs for those NATO states that have substantial economic interaction with Russia (most notably, Germany). In comparison, sending some Stingers is cheap and straightforward. But again, it doesn't imply readiness to go to war - it's a substitute for it.

If anyone is telling you that the UK is going to war in or over Ukraine, they're bullshitting you.

Russia and NATO have both understood for the whole post-Soviet period that the boundaries of NATO are the boundaries of Russia's capacity for military intervention in Europe/the post-Soviet space because they're the boundaries of the collective security provision that would pull the US into a war.

That's why Russia has used military force and other instruments to make key post-Soviet states, particularly those with Black Sea coastline that Russia regards as so strategically important, impossible to admit to NATO. It's why it nudged the foolish Georgian president Saakashvili into initiating war in South Ossetia in 2008, giving Russia an excuse to send in its 'peacekeepers', and to maintain a military presence there and in Abkhazia ever since. It's one of the main reasons why it annexed Crimea and supported/instigated the Donbas conflict in 2014 in the aftermath of Euromaidan, when the Russian government was worried that a new anti-Russian government in Ukraine might be able to push harder for NATO accession (and also because it was worried it would lose the Black Sea Fleet base at Sevastopol).

If you think that indicated NATO's willingness to go to war in Ukraine, you've misunderstood them. He said very clearly that "we will take all necessary measures to defend and protect allies". Allies are members of NATO and are under the Art. 5 umbrella (which he made a point of mentioning). Ukraine is not an ally, it's a partner - a distinction you can see he's careful to make in his remarks. Partners do not have that same Art. 5 protection. He makes it clear that the increased NATO military presence in the Black Sea is for two purposes: monitoring and reassuring the region's NATO members. All this is as clear a diplomatic signal as you can get that NATO is not going to war in Ukraine - and, obviously, that's being done deliberately.