Breaking news: Liz Truss is the next PM

[ErmagerdtheQuern]

God help us all.

A new poll in the Mail shows 84% of Con voters want wind and solar to play a big part in our energy strategy, with 74% wanting investment in both increased.

The people saying no-one wants Net Zero have missed the public mood big time. Question is whether Truss is one of those people. Her hustings certainly made her sound like one.

A new poll in the Mail shows 84% of Con voters want wind and solar to play a big part in our energy strategy, with 74% wanting investment in both increased.

I think people want that till there's a development near them - near me tidal project been blocked, solar farm blocked and expanding off shore wind farm also been blocked in last 12 months.

I do think we need to develop renewables and also storage of that renewable energy - though also think we'll still need other options for many years - but what people say in a survey, what they allow to be built near them and who they actually vote for aren't always compatible.

@SleeplessInEngland interesting - the problem is the headbangers on the right see it as a totemic issue. Farage and Reform (the new UKIP) make it along with the channel dinghies their biggest issue. If they get 3-5 % across the board and cut into the already denuded potential conservative vote along with tactical voting taking place on mass to unseat the Tories then they are doomed to suffer a historic defeat.

www.reformparty.uk/this_is_just_the_beginning_of_the_net_zero_cost_mountain

Yes, the odds of the party uniting around Truss seem pretty remote.

So remote they’re out of sight. If we thought Johnson’s tenure was a shitshow this will surpass it by any metric.

Truss begins PMQs saying she's 'against' a windfall tax. Labour's found its open goal.

£140 billion excess profits untouched but she wants to borrow and have the British people pay it back for generations. Cringeworthy bring back Theresa May.

To be fair to Truss she also began saying she hopes the two parties can 'work together' on solving the country's problems. Emptry rhetoric that won't last long perhaps, but still better than Johnson's tribal chest-thumping.

Oh well, Tories on the side of capital and BIG tax dodging business now there's a surprise.

@carefullycourageous :
'Mrs Mercer is not responsible for the UK's standing internationally. The fact Truss has such low standing is a reflection on Truss alone.

I don't view it as childish as I don't see the opposite - biting your tongue? - as adult.

If Truss wants to convince the markets the UK 'has something', she could try being a bit less shit. It is not in anyone's interests to see the UK struggle but I had no say in electing Truss, she has been foisted onto us all by the Tory party. I am not going to bite my tongue and pretend all is dandy while they weaken the UK even further.'

No one has suggested that Mrs M is personally responsible for the UK's standing, merely that she shouldn't undermine it even further with a childish rant. She is, after all, married to a Tory politician. There is a huge difference between having a rant to her husband/ family/ friends and doing it publicly on social media. As I said already, there was no public rant when Johnson fired others for standing up to him and surrounding himself with an echo chamber, only when she was personally affected. That doesn't suggest principles. It suggests immaturity and resentment.
You and I are free to rant on MN or anywhere else. I'm not married to a politician who has just been sacked nor have I had any say in appointing Truss nor have I voted Tory. Probably you are in a similar position.

I agree with @vera99 that this Truss and this government will be a disaster and worse than Johnson. The trouble is what will we end up with? No good alternatives exist at present.

Truss falls into the old "Labour are just tax and spend" retorts, to backbench cheers.

Trouble is, polling shows most voters are happy to pay tax for adequate public services. The average british person is economically centre-left. The Conservatives are still only talking to their 30-35% vote share, and this time it may not be enough.

I'm pleasantly surprised I thought Starmer might have made mincemeat of her, we know had no chance with BJ but Truss didn't seem as quick thinking but so far she is holding her own. Easily.

Hedge funds and others must be licking their lips at shorting the UK in various ways. Pound now $1.14 heading to parity say some and talk of BoE raising interest rates to 3% before Xmas so our central bank and government will be on a collision course. Markets will hate such tension and uncertainty and vote accordingly.

www.ft.com/content/4bb51f0c-b6c2-4e2f-aac6-dec8c44af46f

So Truss doesn't want 'tax and spend' she wants 'borrow and spend'

What do all the Tories who think that the Tory Party is the party of fiscal responsibility think of that, I wonder?
How much debt can be taken on before it destabilises the entire economy especially as interest rates rise.

@vera99 these lot make May look admirable. At least she has some decency. I think she was trying to negotiate a more balance Brexit agreement with the EU which could have had some benefits but was shouted down by the right wing/ anti sceptics. They seem to give Boris full credit for 'getting Brexit done' when all he and Truss have done is alienate us further and repeatedly antagonise trading partners when we really need them.

Indeed. I expect the pound to slide further.
I hope Truss doesn't act to remove the BOE independence.

I've got sons of similar ages to Mr Mercer, they would be mortified if their wives or their mum did something like this. She might be right, I'm not keen on him myself, but he's a big boy and surely he can fight his own battles.

I find the whole Mrs Mercer Gets Sassy on Social Media thing childish and tiresome. Fighting your husband's work battles for him? Get a life. But it sums up what a state the Tories are in.

Starmer 'won', but that doesn't mean much. Truss played it safe, impressing no-one but not embarassing herself either. Given her reputation for being a terrible public speaker the party is probably breathing a sigh of relief right now.

Interesting that it was totally dominated by the economy, perhaps a sign the tories realise culture wars don't cut it in a cost of living crisis.

She got through it better than I expected. It's now about events dear 'boy' events....as Harold MacMillan famously said. So bloody dull though ....

Theresa May used to say the same but what she actually meant was 'I call the shots and you do what I tell you'. It'll be interesting to see if Liz Truss is the same.

In the interests of fairness and balance, I will say that I thought she did better than I expected.

However. Given that she hasn't actually announced anything yet, there wasn't much to latch on to. It will be interesting to see how she manages when she actually has to answer to her policies.

Yes, she was better than I expected too. The horribly misnamed Cleverly really annoyed me with his childish behaviour though, I hope he gets told to tone that down.

@SleeplessInEngland

polling shows most voters are happy to pay tax for adequate public services

No, they're happy for other people to pay more tax, not themselves!

Wrong. They’re prepared to pay more tax themselves.

Personally I think Labour would be better. I don't need anyone to be perfect, but the current Tory manifestation is really, really shit.

As for Mrs Mercer, I think she's a free agent and can do as she likes. I think she is free to say what she wants and you are free to judge her as you like. I just don't agree it is childish. It is an adult responding as many adults do.