To be glad we are finally getting an election

[frankentall]

Rishi due to tell us at 5pm what the date is - smart money on 4th July perhaps pressaging his inevitable departure for the USA.

They didn't leave a financial shitshow though.

To the people asking "why now?" - Rishi isn't stupid - he can see he's fucked and there's no real prospect of anything getting any better soon, from his point of view, the sooner he can fuck off and count his millions (plus pension and security for life paid for by us as well as lucrative speaking engagements, the memoirs etc etc), the better.

Why now? California Dreamin.

I agree.

He's now stayed long enough for the length of tenure not to be embarrassing. In 20 years time when he's doing whatever prestige gig, it'll be Rishi Sunak UK PM from 2022 to 2024. It doesn't make any difference to him if it says 2025 instead.

I agree … all Incan see is women not having safe spaces .. more strikes because he bows to unions, higher taxes
sheeesh .. I’m dreading it but I’m going to get the popcorn out for next 5 years … the honeymoon will come to an abrupt end and he will be under so much pressure to deliver 🤣 he will get the scrutiny that he so gleefully dished out to the Tories … I’m here for it 😁

You need a new crystal ball, yours has obviously developed a fault.

dont need one … it’s all there to see … they stand for unions, commies, woke
and they hate this country
so get the popcorn ready and a seat belt as it’s going to be a bumpy ride .. 😂

What about the infamous note on the desk saying there's no money!

It has been explained many, many, many, many, many times that the note was part of a tradition and that this was done by EVERY outgoing government to the incoming one since the 1930s. Do keep up 🙄.

The Tories have now also apologised for weaponising it politically, so you can stop too.

There’s a difference between a global financial crisis, as Gordon Brown experienced and the dumpster fire that was Liz Truss fucking the economy in a month as PM.

Blossomtoes - What do you think of Starmer's immediate steps for change plan?

I think our entire voting system is wrong and absolutely NOT a representation of what the population want.

We use the "first past the post" (FPTP) method where we vote for our local candidate and not the actual PM. This means minority parties struggle, as although they can a lot of votes, it's not enough to ever get one of the 650 seats in the house of commons.

Proportional Representation is an alternative, where each party gets seats allocated in proportion to the votes they receive.

Another alternative is a ranking method where you rank in order all the candidates. If there's no clear winner then the bottom candidate is removed and it's done again.

FPTP massively favours Labour and Conservatives who are both quite frankly crap, so perhaps we should be campaigning to get our voting method changed?

This is a fair viewpoint but he is also hedging his bets - the economy seems to be turning a corner, he is doing it before the better weather prompts more boat arrivals - he may well ride off into the sunset but this is a good political move I’d wager

Obviously, being a Labour voter, I think they’re a good start. Why me particularly?

Some key dates to note. Especially if you are going to be away from home on the 4th

Good political move is a bit strong! It's probably a good personal move for him, and they're fucked regardless so it doesn't really matter whether they hang on 6 months or not. So it's not a bad political move as such, with that in mind.

The losers here are those Tory MPs who'd like to keep the role, salary and benefits as long as possible I suppose. The ones who don't already have something lined up.

Because I see your name on political threads quite often, supporting Labour, and quite often things look good on paper but implementing them is entirely different.

David Laws (the MP who revealed the note) was a Lib Dem MP - it seems unlikely that the Conservatives would apologise on his behalf.

It might be tradition for ministers to leave a bottle of booze with a simple 'good luck' message - if it was routine to leave a humorous message then Liam Byrne's note would not have received so much publicity.

If Liam Byrne was only joking, why did Byrne's immediate boss admit only two months previously, that Labour's planned cuts in public spending would be "deeper and tougher" than Margaret Thatcher's in the 1980s?

And why did the IFS warn that Britain faced "two parliaments of pain" to repair the black hole in the state's finances?

Were they joking as well?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/mar/25/alistair-darling-cut-deeper-margaret-thatcher

@Clavinova - copied and pasted from the New Statesman, so that you don't need to use your two free articles to check:

(dated 26th July 2023)
It’s taken more than 13 years but David Laws has finally apologised to Liam Byrne for weaponising that infamous scrawled note jokily saying “I’m afraid there is no money”. The Lib Dem said sorry to his Labour predecessor at an 11 Downing Street bash for surviving Treasury chief secretaries. It was the first encounter between the pair since May 2010, when Laws broke convention by publicly exploiting the private message an outgoing minister traditionally leaves for an incomer when a government changes after an election. Byrne, still Labour’s MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, later wrote of how he “burnt with the shame” over the publication of the joke, which had been intended for Philip Hammond, a courteous and friendly Tory who was expected to be appointed chief secretary. Still, Laws was forced to quit after only 17 days over an expenses scandal, then lost his Yeovil seat in 2015.

And as a Lib Dem, Laws was part of the coalition, so he absolutely did weaponise the note against the opposition.

The note received unusual amounts of publicity because it was weaponised - if you can't see that, well...

The conservatives don't like working people, despite working people being the ones that made their donors rich.... I watched the conservative conference when liz Truss was in charge, that was a real eye opener. They all told us exactly what they thought. Apparently we should give the top 1% a massive tax break, because Britain would be nothing without them 😆 🤣 😂. That told me exactly who the conservatives were and what their priorities are. The top 1% probably pay less tax in percentage of income than most of us.

pointythings
copied and pasted from the New Statesman, so that you don't need to use your two free articles to check

I can see some of the article - from what I can read it doesn't back up your claim that the note was left 'by EVERY outgoing government to the incoming one since the 1930s' -

Leaving the Treasury after Labour’s victory in the 1964 election, the outgoing Tory chancellor Reginald Maudling wrote a note for his replacement, Jim Callaghan, or possibly (accounts vary) spoke to him in person: “Good luck, old cock, sorry to leave it in such a mess.” Callaghan thought he meant the office, not the economy; and while Labour did go on to win more seats at the next election, Maudling’s self-deprecating joke had very little to do with it.

Nearly half a century later, on the day Gordon Brown called the 2010 election, another team was preparing, in all likelihood, to leave the Treasury. With some sense that there was a tradition of ministers leaving advice for their successors, one, Liam Byrne, scribbled a one-sentence note for whoever that successor turned out to be: “Dear chief secretary, I’m afraid there is no money. Kind regards – and good luck! Liam.”

if it was routine to leave a humorous message then Liam Byrne's note would not have received so much publicity.

Nonetheless, the offending letter was quite clearly a joke – the same joke, in fact, as Maudling had made 46 years earlier. Maudling said “Sorry old cock to leave it in such a mess”. You know this Clav, you’ve been told numerous times by innumerable posters.

2022
Keir Starmer has vowed to reinstate the top tax band for people who are paid more than £150,000

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/25/keir-starmer-vows-to-reinstate-top-tax-band-for-earners-over-150k-labour

2023
Starmer indicates he will not raise income tax for top earners

https://www.independent.co.uk/business/starmer-indicates-he-will-not-raise-income-tax-for-top-earners-b2363320.html

BIossomtoes
Nonetheless, the offending letter was quite clearly a joke

Why did Alastair Darling and the IFS also admit there was no money left?
Why say planned cuts in public spending would be "deeper and tougher" than Margaret Thatcher's in the 1980s and warn of "two parliaments of pain"?

Is there some sort of black comedy award we're not aware of?

Jesus, are you going to be such hard work for the next six weeks?