To be starting to really worry about Liz Truss

[Anothernamechangeplease]

OK, so I'm not a Tory. I hate Boris, and despise the rest of them. I don't hold or much hope of any of them actually doing anything to address the problems that we're currently facing, because I don't think any of them actually give a toss about ordinary people. Of the two candidates that are left in the Tory leadership contest, I would pick Rishi, because I think he has a more realistic understanding of the economic challenges, but obviously, I'm not a party member so I have no say in the matter.

Nevertheless, I have been relatively sanguine and the prospect of Liz Truss as leader, a) because I figured that things couldn't get much worse than the shit show that we have had under Boris, and b) because I am pretty sure that she will be utterly unelectable when it comes to the next general election, so worst case scenario would be that we have another couple of years of crappy Tory government, exacerbated by the cost of living crisis, and then we can be pretty confident of getting shot of them. So, pretty shit all in all, but survivable.

But listening to everything that she is saying she wants to do, to the economic forecasts, and to the analysis from both within and beyond the Tory party, I'm starting to get really very worried. All this talk of huge tax cuts and massive reductions in public spending...I fear that she is going to make the looming economic crisis infinitely worse at a time when we can least afford to risk it. Nearly all economists seem to agree that her plans are going to make things worse, not better.

We are already at breaking point. Public services are on their knees. Businesses are struggling to stay afloat. People both in work and out of work are struggling. The most vulnerable are already having to choose between bare essentials such as eating and heating. Inflation continues to soar, energy prices are going off the scale, interest rates are going up... and she is about to make it worse! We just don't have the resilience in the system to cope with this.

I am actually very worried about what is going to happen. This could be very bad indeed, and a lot of people are going to suffer. If we end up with austerity on steroids in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis, there will be massive civil unrest, surely?

I’d happily have a technocracy. Someone who understands healthcare provision in charge of Health. A foreign affairs expert at the Foreign Office. Rather than this bunch of chancers.
As it stands, I’ll have to vote for any party that promises some form of proportional representation and electoral reform. Because it’s not working currently.

Same here. Don’t think anything significant happened when he was PM did it?

My memories of John Major are 1) he wasn't Maggie Thatcher (big bonus points) 2) There was ongoing sleaze across the government 3) That minister feeding his daughter beef on TV claiming mad cow disease wasn't an issue (with hindsight this may have been ok) 4) John Major forcing his government to vote with him by making it a confidence vote.

But I'd still take him back.

Also on WW3, I don't think people are scared of it so much as if we start firing nuclear weapons at each other it will literally end the world, so there's very little worth risking that for

John Major cancelled the poll tax, brought us out of the ERM, took us to war in the Gulf and privatised the railways.

The first gulf war was unavoidable, Saddam Hussein continued to keep troops in Kuwait, despite the UN telling him to.
Not Majors fault really on that one.

Thatcher was hated by most people by the mid 80s, from the midlands upwards.

What I liked about Major was he was actually intelligent and what he said made sense. He just wasn’t really a leader.
But he understood economics and a lot of what he said about Brexit made sense.

I didn't say it was "fault" but all those things happened during his government when PP seemed to suggest it was uneventful.

I think, actually, he had the same problem as Starmer does currently. Very competent, but not flamboyant enough for people to realise what he's doing.

I remember John Major standing on his soap box to make speeches during the election.

And cone line

His cones hotline was genius and still hasn't been sorted out and THAT.IS.A.DISGRACE

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cones_Hotline

Truss seems to be intent on becoming a one woman riot machine, either way she is not fit to be a Prime Minister, but then who is? John Major, Gordon Brown?

Absolutely

Interesting how some phrases get traction. Had to smile when Sunak said we shouldn't do anything for a couple of years as we don't know enough about what will happen with energy prices but we'll pencil in a tax cut just before the election. Team Truss on R4 Javid? said we'll not know enough about inflation for 6? months so let's not do anything for 6 months.

New guidance for medics - in case of major injuries, we can't be certain the patient will survive so pencil in treatment for a year's time ...

tiger2691 · Yesterday 22:13
Dalint · 10/08/2022 22:01
I genuinely sense danger watching her. I can't describe it other than you're walking down a dark alley and you can hear footsteps behind you. It's that sort of primordial fear.
Absolutely

Weird, this is how l feel. Unsafe.

Liz Truss has some worrying views.I heard some of her views on LBC earlier.
Saying that the British workers should graft more and that Chinas productivity it much more.

She now wants our workforce to be more like China? Hardly a good example of a country I want to be like.
Her views really scare me.

She’s been awful to British workers. It’s insulting. Let’s hope the Red Wall feel
insulted too.

British workers outside of London to be more precise - she's from t'Leeds yer know and worth £8.5 million.

Again suspect the graft more is targeted to the prejudices of the membership electorate so expect mention of avocados and lattes next in relation to home ownership rates declining. The graft opinion doesn't seem to have an economic basis as economically, the UK is notoriously an outlier amongst developed economies with low investment low productivity and relatively high labour input to compensate. Government cuts to adult training and reluctance of the private sector and banks to invest in productive assets over housing and financial engineering are partly the reasons but won't play to the prejudices of the members. Funny to hear Truss-supporting Javid? dance on R4 defending her while simultaneously trying to avoid calling the NHS workforce lazy who need to graft harder.

Her views are mostly abhorrent
I am dreading her as our PM
Awful times ahead.

It's almost as if they know they will lose the next election and "bigly" and are in full-on looting mode and making sure their rich paymasters are well rewarded.

There's a Twitter thread from the Russian imprisoned dissident Alexey Navalny that implies the western sanctions are all smoke and mirrors and not that effective almost deliberately so. Money is money after all and the Conservatives are stuffed to the gunwhales with dodgy loot.

twitter.com/navalny/status/1559528130041319429

I’d go further than that @vera99. I don’t think they want to win the next election. Having created this absolute shitshow, they want to pass the mess on to someone else to clear up.

In my world, Johnson would be tried for corruption and doing at least a 10-year stretch at Her Majesty's Pleasure and I would chuck this mob into there as well.

@vera99 ten years is not long enough. Harold Shipman caused fewer deaths and less pain, and he would never have been released.

You're right life without parole + 24hr webcam on his cell so we can watch - Big Brother-style... and then I woke up and saw LT was our PM and was sick

www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/02/liz-truss-hosted-3k-lunch-for-us-envoy-over-civil-service-objections

She recently said that Sinn Féin want to split Northern Ireland from Britain. I mean she's not actually wrong about that .

Sinn Féin means Our Selves in English. Which is clear enough. But you don't have to be fluent in Irish to know this about them surely? Especially if you have a degree from Oxford University.

It is rather worrying. I don't think she's as dim as some people say. But it's as if she's not really interested in the tiresome details of politics.

That is so weird that 3 of us feel the same! I'm usually a bit 'out there'. She just scares the living daylights out of me!