It's almost as though we are in the middle of a General Election and the "big three" are from the current Opposition telling us how their party will be totally different to the party which is currently in power.
The star of the show was Krishnan Guru-Murthy. Perfectly balanced gave everyone an equal chance let the program flow and as a result we all found out what we needed to know. Rarely have I seen one of those run as smoothly or be as invigilated so well.
The other notable feature was that all six were sons and daughters of professionals with a degree of public service in their chosen profession. There was a time when a line up like that could only have been for leader of the Labour Party. Quite depressing that with those backgrounds all six seemed so devoutly Thatcherite.
The star of the show was Krishnan Guru-Murthy. Perfectly balanced gave everyone an equal chance let the program flow and as a result we all found out what we needed to know. Rarely have I seen one of those run as smoothly or be as invigilated so well.
The other notable feature was that all six were sons and daughters of professionals with a degree of public service in their chosen profession. There was a time when a line up like that could only have been for leader of the Labour Party. Quite depressing that with those backgrounds all six seemed so devoutly Thatcherite.
Aren't Truss's parents left-wing academics? Must be awful for them. I think I could support my children whatever they do, but if one of them became a right wing Tory MP it might test my parental affections to breaking point.
The star of the show was Krishnan Guru-Murthy. Perfectly balanced gave everyone an equal chance let the program flow and as a result we all found out what we needed to know. Rarely have I seen one of those run as smoothly or be as invigilated so well.
The other notable feature was that all six were sons and daughters of professionals with a degree of public service in their chosen profession. There was a time when a line up like that could only have been for leader of the Labour Party. Quite depressing that with those backgrounds all six seemed so devoutly Thatcherite.
Unfortunately some teenage rebels fall in with a bad crowd and never recover. For some it’s drugs and booze that damage them, for others it’s monetarist economic theory and Ayan Rand.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
- “Mordaunt and Truss surely are not going to be so poor again.”
Why not? Maybe yesterday was a fair and accurate display of their abilities? Not everyone thrives in that kind of format, even though they may have other skills.
It is just as likely that they are even poorer next time. Maybe what you just witnessed was Peak Truss and/or Peak Mordaunt?
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
- “Mordaunt and Truss surely are not going to be so poor again.”
Why not? Maybe yesterday was a fair and accurate display of their abilities? Not everyone thrives in that kind of format, even though they may have other skills.
It is just as likely that they are even poorer next time. Maybe what you just witnessed was Peak Truss and/or Peak Mordaunt?
Well, the test is whether either of them can learn from their mistakes and adapt.
It's almost as though we are in the middle of a General Election and the "big three" are from the current Opposition telling us how their party will be totally different to the party which is currently in power.
One of the oddest features is how they all disown the last 12 years of Conservative government. They are ashamed to be Tories. Quite right!
I also missed the debate, but am grateful for everyone’s efforts in the long thread of snark covering how it went. It gives a far better summary than the media reports, which are pretty bland.
Factoid courtesy of Freedland: Just before the election of 2010, the Tories could point to a grand total of one black and one Asian MP. Those two represented half the number of MPs from a visible ethnic minority that had represented the party since 1895.
Mr. Jonathan, possibly. But he had every chance to stand and would've had much support from the start, and chose not to.
A foolish mistake masquerading as misplaced modesty, Reminds me of Alan Johnson, who could have defeated Corbyn.
Quite frankly, this Tory contest might be better restarted without a new cast list. They are all a bit underwhelming. If the question is which of Mordaunt and Truss is placed to take on Sunak, something has gone a little wrong.
The star of the show was Krishnan Guru-Murthy. Perfectly balanced gave everyone an equal chance let the program flow and as a result we all found out what we needed to know. Rarely have I seen one of those run as smoothly or be as invigilated so well.
The other notable feature was that all six were sons and daughters of professionals with a degree of public service in their chosen profession. There was a time when a line up like that could only have been for leader of the Labour Party. Quite depressing that with those backgrounds all six seemed so devoutly Thatcherite.
Unfortunately some teenage rebels fall in with a bad crowd and never recover. For some it’s drugs and booze that damage them, for others it’s monetarist economic theory and Ayan Rand.
Yes, it's true. I have friends, she a Nurse, him a factory worker, who met via a Trotskyite splinter group in the Eightes, and the most far left people that I have ever personally known. Their only son is a Tory Boy as bad as the Harry Enfield character. They are pretty philosophic about it.
On the other hand, there is hope in the world when one sees the different reactions of parents and undergraduates to this speech:
The star of the show was Krishnan Guru-Murthy. Perfectly balanced gave everyone an equal chance let the program flow and as a result we all found out what we needed to know. Rarely have I seen one of those run as smoothly or be as invigilated so well.
The other notable feature was that all six were sons and daughters of professionals with a degree of public service in their chosen profession. There was a time when a line up like that could only have been for leader of the Labour Party. Quite depressing that with those backgrounds all six seemed so devoutly Thatcherite.
Unfortunately some teenage rebels fall in with a bad crowd and never recover. For some it’s drugs and booze that damage them, for others it’s monetarist economic theory and Ayan Rand.
Yes, it's true. I have friends, she a Nurse, him a factory worker, who met via a Trotskyite splinter group in the Eightes, and the most far left people that I have ever personally known. Their only son is a Tory Boy as bad as the Harry Enfield character. They are pretty philosophic about it.
On the other hand, there is hope in the world when one sees the different reactions of parents and undergraduates to this speech:
The star of the show was Krishnan Guru-Murthy. Perfectly balanced gave everyone an equal chance let the program flow and as a result we all found out what we needed to know. Rarely have I seen one of those run as smoothly or be as invigilated so well.
The other notable feature was that all six were sons and daughters of professionals with a degree of public service in their chosen profession. There was a time when a line up like that could only have been for leader of the Labour Party. Quite depressing that with those backgrounds all six seemed so devoutly Thatcherite.
Unfortunately some teenage rebels fall in with a bad crowd and never recover. For some it’s drugs and booze that damage them, for others it’s monetarist economic theory and Ayan Rand.
Too true, Jonathan.
My daughter was a treasure, straight As all through school, first class English degree from a top University, talented artist and then suddenly for no reason at all went completely off the rails and became a lawyer.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
I concur. He was much better than any of this lot.
- “Mordaunt and Truss surely are not going to be so poor again.”
Why not? Maybe yesterday was a fair and accurate display of their abilities? Not everyone thrives in that kind of format, even though they may have other skills.
It is just as likely that they are even poorer next time. Maybe what you just witnessed was Peak Truss and/or Peak Mordaunt?
Well, the test is whether either of them can learn from their mistakes and adapt.
Yes, but in order to do so one needs a wise tutor. Thatcher had Airey Neave. Does Mordaunt have someone good in her team?
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
I concur. He was much better than any of this lot.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Essentially what is happening is that we’re now projecting the ‘blank canvas’ on to him instead of Mordaunt due to her shall we say underwhelming performance last night.
Maybe he would have been better, maybe he would have underwhelmed as she is doing.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
I concur. He was much better than any of this lot.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
I concur. He was much better than any of this lot.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Essentially what is happening is that we’re now projecting the ‘blank canvas’ on to him instead of Mordaunt due to her shall we say underwhelming performance last night.
Maybe he would have been better, maybe he would have underwhelmed as she is doing.
Wallace has a bigger hinterland. Remember, he served as an MSP 1999-2003 before moving to Westminster in 2005. He’s had a long time to experience different political environments and mature into the role.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
I concur. He was much better than any of this lot.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Essentially what is happening is that we’re now projecting the ‘blank canvas’ on to him instead of Mordaunt due to her shall we say underwhelming performance last night.
Maybe he would have been better, maybe he would have underwhelmed as she is doing.
Unlike Mordaunt, Wallace has led and done something. We can judge him by his actions, not just promises. His impact during the Ukraine war ranging from his paper to his media appearances suggest he is not an empty vessel like some others.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
I concur. He was much better than any of this lot.
On what possible evidence? He has never said or done anything except contradict himself over the kabul fiasco, and be bald.
Mr. Jonathan, possibly. But he had every chance to stand and would've had much support from the start, and chose not to.
Quite frankly, this Tory contest might be better restarted without a new cast list.
So it just takes longer?
The 1922 got the schedule wrong, this should have been done and dusted by now. They’ve somehow managed to come up with a really boring formula that maximises division in the party.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
I concur. He was much better than any of this lot.
On what possible evidence? He has never said or done anything except contradict himself over the kabul fiasco, and be bald.
He made The Oaf “furious”. Nice achievement.
“Downing Street was said to have been left “furious” by what was seen as an attempt to bounce Mr Johnson into announcing a major defence spending increase while at the Nato summit this week. ”
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
I concur. He was much better than any of this lot.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Essentially what is happening is that we’re now projecting the ‘blank canvas’ on to him instead of Mordaunt due to her shall we say underwhelming performance last night.
Maybe he would have been better, maybe he would have underwhelmed as she is doing.
Unlike Mordaunt, Wallace has led and done something. We can judge him by his actions, not just promises. His impact during the Ukraine war ranging from his paper to his media appearances suggest he is not an empty vessel like some others.
LOL @ the transparency of this manoeuvre.
Wallace is dull as ditchwater, and your problem remains that SKS would have been a clear 6th last night
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
I concur. He was much better than any of this lot.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Essentially what is happening is that we’re now projecting the ‘blank canvas’ on to him instead of Mordaunt due to her shall we say underwhelming performance last night.
Maybe he would have been better, maybe he would have underwhelmed as she is doing.
Unlike Mordaunt, Wallace has led and done something. We can judge him by his actions, not just promises. His impact during the Ukraine war ranging from his paper to his media appearances suggest he is not an empty vessel like some others.
LOL @ the transparency of this manoeuvre.
Wallace is dull as ditchwater, and your problem remains that SKS would have been a clear 6th last night
Eh? A manoeuvre? Do tell? Am I sleep playing 4D chess again?
Ps Please keep underestimating Starmer. Clearly not your cup of tea.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
I concur. He was much better than any of this lot.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Essentially what is happening is that we’re now projecting the ‘blank canvas’ on to him instead of Mordaunt due to her shall we say underwhelming performance last night.
Maybe he would have been better, maybe he would have underwhelmed as she is doing.
Unlike Mordaunt, Wallace has led and done something. We can judge him by his actions, not just promises. His impact during the Ukraine war ranging from his paper to his media appearances suggest he is not an empty vessel like some others.
LOL @ the transparency of this manoeuvre.
Wallace is dull as ditchwater, and your problem remains that SKS would have been a clear 6th last night
Dull as ditchwater would be a distinct improvement on the last 25 years of grossly incompetent governance.
PM Sunak, followed by PM Starmer, is just a continuation of of the dire Blair/Brown/Cameron/May/Oaf quarter century.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
If he was in the contest, you'd find plenty to criticise in him and still say Keir Starmer won the debate.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
It's not them she needs to appeal to. There are only about 50 of them and with the possible exception of Baker they're all thick as mince. It's the other 320-odd MPs she needs to appeal to and most of them will have looked at that performance and winced.
London on Monday seems to be the hot zone. 40C on BBC.
The BBC has succeeded in scaring the shit out of my elderly mother. She’s convinced she is in mortal danger on Monday, whereas the forecast for her village is a pleasant 15-19 degrees.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
If he was in the contest, you'd find plenty to criticise in him and still say Keir Starmer won the debate.
So what! There is plenty to criticise in Wallace, but he’s still got more potential than this lot and Starmer can beat any of them.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
I concur. He was much better than any of this lot.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Essentially what is happening is that we’re now projecting the ‘blank canvas’ on to him instead of Mordaunt due to her shall we say underwhelming performance last night.
Maybe he would have been better, maybe he would have underwhelmed as she is doing.
Unlike Mordaunt, Wallace has led and done something. We can judge him by his actions, not just promises. His impact during the Ukraine war ranging from his paper to his media appearances suggest he is not an empty vessel like some others.
LOL @ the transparency of this manoeuvre.
Wallace is dull as ditchwater, and your problem remains that SKS would have been a clear 6th last night
Eh? A manoeuvre? Do tell? Am I sleep playing 4D chess again?
Ps Please keep underestimating Starmer. Clearly not your cup of tea.
Bigging up a non contestant to avoid conceding the threat some of the actual ones pose to Labour not because they are any good but because sks is meh. And "not your cup of tea" implies a false claim that he has some sort of marmite thing going on whereas plodding incompetence has a pretty limited appeal.
It's almost as though we are in the middle of a General Election and the "big three" are from the current Opposition telling us how their party will be totally different to the party which is currently in power.
That's logical. Whichever of them eventually prevails would do well to attempt Johnson's approach of presenting their government as effectively a new one, by virtue of representing a clean break from what came before.
It might not work this time, but an incumbent party that is unpopular can only survive in power if the actions which have made it unpopular can be demonstrated to have yielded significant positive outcomes before the next election, or through complete reinvention. And the Tories aren't going to get very far by relying upon the former.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
If he was in the contest, you'd find plenty to criticise in him and still say Keir Starmer won the debate.
So what! There is plenty to criticise in Wallace, but he’s still got more potential than this lot and Starmer can beat any of them.
Depends what you mean by “beat”.
Starmer is not going to get Lab Maj, and is unlikely to even get Most Seats. On the other hand, he’ll probably be a PM. But without an agenda. Just being Not-a-Tory is not a programme for government.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
It's not them she needs to appeal to. There are only about 50 of them and with the possible exception of Baker they're all thick as mince. It's the other 320-odd MPs she needs to appeal to and most of them will have looked at that performance and winced.
Yes, Casino's reasoning is a bit odd there. The swing votes among the MPs are more about the likelihood of losing their seats than any ideological purity.
Though God knows what happens if she makes it to the membership vote.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
I concur. He was much better than any of this lot.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Essentially what is happening is that we’re now projecting the ‘blank canvas’ on to him instead of Mordaunt due to her shall we say underwhelming performance last night.
Maybe he would have been better, maybe he would have underwhelmed as she is doing.
Unlike Mordaunt, Wallace has led and done something. We can judge him by his actions, not just promises. His impact during the Ukraine war ranging from his paper to his media appearances suggest he is not an empty vessel like some others.
LOL @ the transparency of this manoeuvre.
Wallace is dull as ditchwater, and your problem remains that SKS would have been a clear 6th last night
Eh? A manoeuvre? Do tell? Am I sleep playing 4D chess again?
Ps Please keep underestimating Starmer. Clearly not your cup of tea.
Bigging up a non contestant to avoid conceding the threat some of the actual ones pose to Labour not because they are any good but because sks is meh. And "not your cup of tea" implies a false claim that he has some sort of marmite thing going on whereas plodding incompetence has a pretty limited appeal.
You’re crediting me with more guile and cunning than I possess, certainly at 7.25 on a Saturday morning, but I appreciate the compliment.
- “Mordaunt and Truss surely are not going to be so poor again.”
Why not? Maybe yesterday was a fair and accurate display of their abilities? Not everyone thrives in that kind of format, even though they may have other skills.
It is just as likely that they are even poorer next time. Maybe what you just witnessed was Peak Truss and/or Peak Mordaunt?
The two key issues for the public are trust and cost of living. Tom Tugendhat talked mostly about the first and Sunak the latter. That, combined with good delivery, is why they cut through.
Mordaunt mentioned Brexit a couple of times, and not much else - she was a little bit in the background. Kemi spoke about loyalty/integrity, care workers, her teeth and being an engineer - she was charismatic. I can't remember what Truss said - I was just grimacing the whole time she was talking, and even when not talking.
My advice to candidates next time: if you want to cut through to Joe Public: talk credibly about the cost of living crisis with confident and clear delivery.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
If he was in the contest, you'd find plenty to criticise in him and still say Keir Starmer won the debate.
So what! There is plenty to criticise in Wallace, but he’s still got more potential than this lot and Starmer can beat any of them.
London on Monday seems to be the hot zone. 40C on BBC.
Cambridge won't let the unwanted record go without a fight. Currently 41 on Monday, and 40 on Tuesday as well. That forecast has been getting steadily worse for days so it'll probably have crept up to 42 or 43 by the time we get to Sunday night. Grim.
Mr. Jonathan, possibly. But he had every chance to stand and would've had much support from the start, and chose not to.
A foolish mistake masquerading as misplaced modesty, Reminds me of Alan Johnson, who could have defeated Corbyn.
Quite frankly, this Tory contest might be better restarted without a new cast list. They are all a bit underwhelming. If the question is which of Mordaunt and Truss is placed to take on Sunak, something has gone a little wrong.
I greatly admire Alan Johnson for that. He had the self-awareness to know that he’d not make a very good PM, and unlike the other Johnson spared us the consequences that would have followed from his elevation.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
It's not them she needs to appeal to. There are only about 50 of them and with the possible exception of Baker they're all thick as mince. It's the other 320-odd MPs she needs to appeal to and most of them will have looked at that performance and winced.
Yes, Casino's reasoning is a bit odd there. The swing votes among the MPs are more about the likelihood of losing their seats than any ideological purity.
Though God knows what happens if she makes it to the membership vote.
Except that's totally wrong. There are well over 100 of them, currently split many ways, and all they care about is getting a clear candidate of the Right as PM who will give them jobs and deliver their agenda.
That's Truss.
They will go through whatever logical contortions they need to in order to convince themselves people will change their minds about her once she's in office.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
It wouldn't, it would definitely go to Badenoch.
Plenty of time for her to implode, but she is keeping her cool so far.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
If he was in the contest, you'd find plenty to criticise in him and still say Keir Starmer won the debate.
So what! There is plenty to criticise in Wallace, but he’s still got more potential than this lot and Starmer can beat any of them.
Lol
From someone backing the titan Truss this morning 🤪, I’ll take that as a another good sign.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
You are overreacting. Remember: Cameron had an awful first TV debate.
Now, I think Truss is genuinely a poor candidate for PM but don't expect it to shift the dial too much in MP voting on Monday.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I think you overestimate the influence of the ERG who as a group lack the power to get a candidate, even at this stage, close to the final line.
The problem for Truss is that she's as wooden as Sherwood Forest. In an earlier much more limited media age this would matter little. Today it is a critical flaw that she cannot escape
Another debate tomorrow. Yikes Liz Truss .... Timber !!!!!!!!!
Mr. Jonathan, possibly. But he had every chance to stand and would've had much support from the start, and chose not to.
A foolish mistake masquerading as misplaced modesty, Reminds me of Alan Johnson, who could have defeated Corbyn.
Quite frankly, this Tory contest might be better restarted without a new cast list. They are all a bit underwhelming. If the question is which of Mordaunt and Truss is placed to take on Sunak, something has gone a little wrong.
I greatly admire Alan Johnson for that. He had the self-awareness to know that he’d not make a very good PM, and unlike the other Johnson spared us the consequences that would have followed from his elevation.
That’s fair and deserves respect, but the brutal truth is when you leave a vacuum something undesirable can fill it.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I think you overestimate the influence of the ERG who as a group lack the power to get a candidate, even at this stage, close to the final line.
The problem for Truss is that she's as wooden as Sherwood Forest. In an earlier much more limited media age this would matter little. Today it is a critical flaw that she cannot escape
Another debate tomorrow. Yikes Liz Truss .... Timber !!!!!!!!!
What this confirms is the power of televised debates. We really can't have anothe GE with party leaders keeping in the shadows.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
It's not them she needs to appeal to. There are only about 50 of them and with the possible exception of Baker they're all thick as mince. It's the other 320-odd MPs she needs to appeal to and most of them will have looked at that performance and winced.
Yes, Casino's reasoning is a bit odd there. The swing votes among the MPs are more about the likelihood of losing their seats than any ideological purity.
Though God knows what happens if she makes it to the membership vote.
Except that's totally wrong. There are well over 100 of them, currently split many ways, and all they care about is getting a clear candidate of the Right as PM who will give them jobs and deliver their agenda.
That's Truss.
They will go through whatever logical contortions they need to in order to convince themselves people will change their minds about her once she's in office.
Nonsense. There are not 100 of them. They like to claim they are more numerous than reality to try and leverage more influence than they have. Parliamentary records repeatedly put the numbers around 50 and even the Telegraph puts the numbers at around 60.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
If he was in the contest, you'd find plenty to criticise in him and still say Keir Starmer won the debate.
So what! There is plenty to criticise in Wallace, but he’s still got more potential than this lot and Starmer can beat any of them.
Lol
From someone backing the titan Truss this morning 🤪, I’ll take that as a another good sign.
You are a dipstick, aren't you?
I've topped up because the markets have overreacted, and she's now value, not because I rate her - look at my posts.
Far too many people on here make their betting judgements based on their own impressions of the candidate.
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
I have the growing feeling that the Tories are really missing Wallace. It would be a very different contest with him. I would expect him to be first and by some margin.
If he was in the contest, you'd find plenty to criticise in him and still say Keir Starmer won the debate.
So what! There is plenty to criticise in Wallace, but he’s still got more potential than this lot and Starmer can beat any of them.
Lol
From someone backing the titan Truss this morning 🤪, I’ll take that as a another good sign.
You are a dipstick, aren't you?
I've topped up because the markets have overreacted, and she's now value, not because I rate her - look at my posts.
Far too many people on here make their betting judgements based on their own impressions of the candidate.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
If nothing else, the saner members might look at the evidence on how the two candidates would poll among the public at large.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
You are overreacting. Remember: Cameron had an awful first TV debate.
Now, I think Truss is genuinely a poor candidate for PM but don't expect it to shift the dial too much in MP voting on Monday.
It wasn't just the debate. She has been an utter train crash from the off. Her being out of the country didn't help, then she launched after the first vote, then her launch was a joke, and finally in the debate she looked like she'd been doing a line of acid and kept getting muddled on basic economics.
Even Cameron's infamous first debate (which I assume you mean in the 2010 election, not his debate with David Davis in 2005) where all was not nearly as bad as that.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
You are overreacting. Remember: Cameron had an awful first TV debate.
Now, I think Truss is genuinely a poor candidate for PM but don't expect it to shift the dial too much in MP voting on Monday.
It wasn't just the debate. She has been an utter train crash from the off. Her being out of the country didn't help, then she launched after the first vote, then her launch was a joke, and finally in the debate she looked like she'd been doing a line of acid and kept getting muddled on basic economics.
Even Cameron's infamous first debate (which I assume you mean in the 2010 election, not his debate with David Davis in 2005) where all was not nearly as bad as that.
Err, exactly. Which is why evidence of her poor performance is no real guide as to her chances.
If they were she wouldn't have got 64 MPs so far, 3rd place in the table, and about to hoover up Braverman's.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
Yes, I think Sunak would beat Truss in the final, and be a touch ahead against Badenoch, probably lose to Mordaunt.
I don't quite get the hate for Sunak by the Tory right. He knows how bad the finances are, and that this isn't the time for tax cuts.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
Just wonder if some of them might decide that they need to switch to Badenoch?
Not enough to see her through.
We're probably heading for Rishi v. Mordaunt right now, and Mordaunt will win that because - as smooth as he is - all Rishi offers is steady as she goes.
London on Monday seems to be the hot zone. 40C on BBC.
Still up for grabs. Quite a few of the models topping out at 37 or 38. Still damn hot, but may not breach the record. In favour of record breaking is it only needs ones weather station to do it. Interesting and worrying times.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
You are overreacting. Remember: Cameron had an awful first TV debate.
Now, I think Truss is genuinely a poor candidate for PM but don't expect it to shift the dial too much in MP voting on Monday.
It wasn't just the debate. She has been an utter train crash from the off. Her being out of the country didn't help, then she launched after the first vote, then her launch was a joke, and finally in the debate she looked like she'd been doing a line of acid and kept getting muddled on basic economics.
Even Cameron's infamous first debate (which I assume you mean in the 2010 election, not his debate with David Davis in 2005) where all was not nearly as bad as that.
Err, exactly. Which is why evidence of her poor performance is no real guide as to her chances.
If they were she wouldn't have got 64 MPs so far, 3rd place in the table, and about to hoover up Braverman's.
I would say 'wanna bet?' But you already have, of course!
I will be surprised if she makes much further progress. She may pick up a few of Braverman's backers, but she will almost certainly lose a few to Badenoch after last night. She must have had a good half of the ERG already to get as far as she has and as I have noted they are much less influential than they like to pretend. Even if she got the lot of them (which is impossible given there is at least one other member of it still in the race) she's struggling to get past 80. That may not even get her to the final round of MPs.
But then, I'm often wrong. And they voted for a delusional, disorganised liar with a weird speaking manner and no clue whatsoever on anything last time.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
Yes, I think Sunak would beat Truss in the final, and be a touch ahead against Badenoch, probably lose to Mordaunt.
I don't quite get the hate for Sunak by the Tory right. He knows how bad the finances are, and that this isn't the time for tax cuts.
He raised NI. That's it, really.
Remember, there are two times when Tories believe you should cut taxes - when you can't afford it, and when you can.
Actually his record on NI does put me off him somewhat, because a genuinely fair and much more economically sensible response would have been to raise income tax.
But still better than the slash and burn of the others. I genuinely don't think they grasp the poor state of public finances or the powder keg of public service strain. And they clearly weren't listening when they were told last night.
London on Monday seems to be the hot zone. 40C on BBC.
Cambridge won't let the unwanted record go without a fight. Currently 41 on Monday, and 40 on Tuesday as well. That forecast has been getting steadily worse for days so it'll probably have crept up to 42 or 43 by the time we get to Sunday night. Grim.
London on Monday seems to be the hot zone. 40C on BBC.
Still up for grabs. Quite a few of the models topping out at 37 or 38. Still damn hot, but may not breach the record. In favour of record breaking is it only needs ones weather station to do it. Interesting and worrying times.
We had an email from our Permanent Secretary late yesterday afternoon saying "low forties". I suspect he is quite well informed, ie has had a briefing from the head of the Met Office
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Except there's the health worry with Badenoch - we don't want a PM with a serious health issue, so we just have to hope that she gets her chipped tooth treated in time...
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
Yes, I think Sunak would beat Truss in the final, and be a touch ahead against Badenoch, probably lose to Mordaunt.
I don't quite get the hate for Sunak by the Tory right. He knows how bad the finances are, and that this isn't the time for tax cuts.
He stabbed the Emperor in the back seems to be the issue. I think they see Sunak, correctly, as an Osborne protege, so don’t believe he would be either a culture warrior or a Brexit fundamentalist. Sunak represents what the Tories should be doing to have the best chance of winning the next election but, as we saw with Corbynism, zealots do not do the real world, they live in a self-contained bubble. If he does win, Sunak can expect a lot of Johnson-encouraged trouble on his hard right flank from the moment he takes over. He should expel them all. But if he does, the Tories lose 10% or so of their support to the UKIP/Reform revival such a move would lead to. All in all, it’s going to be one hell of a two years!!
London on Monday seems to be the hot zone. 40C on BBC.
Still up for grabs. Quite a few of the models topping out at 37 or 38. Still damn hot, but may not breach the record. In favour of record breaking is it only needs ones weather station to do it. Interesting and worrying times.
We had an email from our Permanent Secretary late yesterday afternoon saying "low forties". I suspect he is quite well informed, ie has had a briefing from the head of the Met Office
I’ve just scanned the outputs. Arpege suggests 35 to 37, U.K. could be 41. We will see. Whatever, it’ll still be bloody hot. All over by Tuesday night.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
It's not them she needs to appeal to. There are only about 50 of them and with the possible exception of Baker they're all thick as mince. It's the other 320-odd MPs she needs to appeal to and most of them will have looked at that performance and winced.
Exactly - barring a real surprise, it should simply be a question of which of the two leading women does least worst, and goes through against Sunak?
Their shared poor performance raises the chance that, despite the members' apparent reluctance, Sunak emerges victor at the end.
London on Monday seems to be the hot zone. 40C on BBC.
Still up for grabs. Quite a few of the models topping out at 37 or 38. Still damn hot, but may not breach the record. In favour of record breaking is it only needs ones weather station to do it. Interesting and worrying times.
Yes, I’m sure we’ll get through the next few days without the Armageddon some are forecasting. But the really concerning aspect of this is that it seems we’re now going to have to get used to temperatures in the high 30s or even more on a pretty much annual basis.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
Yes, I think Sunak would beat Truss in the final, and be a touch ahead against Badenoch, probably lose to Mordaunt.
I don't quite get the hate for Sunak by the Tory right. He knows how bad the finances are, and that this isn't the time for tax cuts.
He raised NI. That's it, really.
Remember, there are two times when Tories believe you should cut taxes - when you can't afford it, and when you can.
Actually his record on NI does put me off him somewhat, because a genuinely fair and much more economically sensible response would have been to raise income tax.
But still better than the slash and burn of the others. I genuinely don't think they grasp the poor state of public finances or the powder keg of public service strain. And they clearly weren't listening when they were told last night.
The "powder keg of public services" is a good phrase. Schools, Universities, NHS, Criminal Justice, Social Care, Councils, etc etc all look primed.
This lot are flicking matches at them, apart from Sunak
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
You are overreacting. Remember: Cameron had an awful first TV debate.
Now, I think Truss is genuinely a poor candidate for PM but don't expect it to shift the dial too much in MP voting on Monday.
It wasn't just the debate. She has been an utter train crash from the off. Her being out of the country didn't help, then she launched after the first vote, then her launch was a joke, and finally in the debate she looked like she'd been doing a line of acid and kept getting muddled on basic economics.
Even Cameron's infamous first debate (which I assume you mean in the 2010 election, not his debate with David Davis in 2005) where all was not nearly as bad as that.
Err, exactly. Which is why evidence of her poor performance is no real guide as to her chances.
If they were she wouldn't have got 64 MPs so far, 3rd place in the table, and about to hoover up Braverman's.
I see your logic, but surely the Tories would not be mad enough to pick Truss. Mordaunt, for all her lightweight fantasism and fibs, must be the better option for the anti-Sunak brigade. Truss takes Labour to potential 1997 territory.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
Yes, I think Sunak would beat Truss in the final, and be a touch ahead against Badenoch, probably lose to Mordaunt.
I don't quite get the hate for Sunak by the Tory right. He knows how bad the finances are, and that this isn't the time for tax cuts.
He raised NI. That's it, really.
Remember, there are two times when Tories believe you should cut taxes - when you can't afford it, and when you can.
Actually his record on NI does put me off him somewhat, because a genuinely fair and much more economically sensible response would have been to raise income tax.
But still better than the slash and burn of the others. I genuinely don't think they grasp the poor state of public finances or the powder keg of public service strain. And they clearly weren't listening when they were told last night.
The "powder keg of public services" is a good phrase. Schools, Universities, NHS, Criminal Justice, Social Care, Councils, etc etc all look primed.
This lot are flicking matches at them, apart from Sunak
Although what's really needed is somebody to take the fuse out.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
Yes, I think Sunak would beat Truss in the final, and be a touch ahead against Badenoch, probably lose to Mordaunt.
I don't quite get the hate for Sunak by the Tory right. He knows how bad the finances are, and that this isn't the time for tax cuts.
He raised NI. That's it, really.
Remember, there are two times when Tories believe you should cut taxes - when you can't afford it, and when you can.
Actually his record on NI does put me off him somewhat, because a genuinely fair and much more economically sensible response would have been to raise income tax.
But still better than the slash and burn of the others. I genuinely don't think they grasp the poor state of public finances or the powder keg of public service strain. And they clearly weren't listening when they were told last night.
NI was the wrong, less honest way to raise taxes, but Rishi isn't alone in doing that (see governments of all colours since at least Thatcher.)
And his acknowledgement that the stuff voters want needs to be paid for is a start. Badenochh's claim that there are meaningful savings to be made by cutting policing of hate speech and whatnot is just another version of the Magic Money Tree; the Enchanted Savings Shrub or something.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Except there's the health worry with Badenoch - we don't want a PM with a serious health issue, so we just have to hope that she gets her chipped tooth treated in time...
Doesn't say much for her time in wealth management at Coutts that she hasn't got a few bob put aside to get her teeth fixed.
One reads that a major concern in the imminent Hadean horror is, yet again, the prospect of a wave of death in elderly care homes. Extraordinarily, a large number of care homes are *STILL* inflicting COVID lockdowns on their residents, which means that the poor old ducks are being imprisoned in their rooms, which typically do not have air conditioning. In short, thousands of frail old people are going to be locked in individual saunas for two days and left to sweat to death.
The Government stands accused, with considerable justification, of pampering the elderly at the expense of the young, but that only really applies so long as people remain reasonably well and active. Care home inmates (and I use that word deliberately) can be, and often are, treated worse than animals. If and when I get to the point that infirmity could catch up with me, I think I'd rather be shot than end up in one of those places.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
Yes, I think Sunak would beat Truss in the final, and be a touch ahead against Badenoch, probably lose to Mordaunt.
I don't quite get the hate for Sunak by the Tory right. He knows how bad the finances are, and that this isn't the time for tax cuts.
He raised NI. That's it, really.
Remember, there are two times when Tories believe you should cut taxes - when you can't afford it, and when you can.
Actually his record on NI does put me off him somewhat, because a genuinely fair and much more economically sensible response would have been to raise income tax.
But still better than the slash and burn of the others. I genuinely don't think they grasp the poor state of public finances or the powder keg of public service strain. And they clearly weren't listening when they were told last night.
The "powder keg of public services" is a good phrase. Schools, Universities, NHS, Criminal Justice, Social Care, Councils, etc etc all look primed.
This lot are flicking matches at them, apart from Sunak
Although what's really needed is somebody to take the fuse out.
Not that I see that from anyone at all.
It's one reason why I'm getting out.
Getting out does stop some of the misery, but in the end we are all depending on those public services.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
Yes, I think Sunak would beat Truss in the final, and be a touch ahead against Badenoch, probably lose to Mordaunt.
I don't quite get the hate for Sunak by the Tory right. He knows how bad the finances are, and that this isn't the time for tax cuts.
He raised NI. That's it, really.
Remember, there are two times when Tories believe you should cut taxes - when you can't afford it, and when you can.
Actually his record on NI does put me off him somewhat, because a genuinely fair and much more economically sensible response would have been to raise income tax.
But still better than the slash and burn of the others. I genuinely don't think they grasp the poor state of public finances or the powder keg of public service strain. And they clearly weren't listening when they were told last night.
The "powder keg of public services" is a good phrase. Schools, Universities, NHS, Criminal Justice, Social Care, Councils, etc etc all look primed.
This lot are flicking matches at them, apart from Sunak
Although what's really needed is somebody to take the fuse out.
Not that I see that from anyone at all.
It's one reason why I'm getting out.
Getting out does stop some of the misery, but in the end we are all depending on those public services.
Yes. Although once outside I will be freer to try and do something about it. While in, I'm very restricted in what I can say and do, as I imagine you are. It's one reason why actual experts are almost never consulted on public service issues.
BBC forecasts a max of 34 for Merseyside next week. Hot, but bearable. Not everyone lives in London despite the press opinion.
Didn't bother with the debate, but I gather Penny denies eating the jam tarts despite the jam plastered on her cheek. Only a minor point, but probably better to come clean despite the likely hysterical reaction from some of the trans brigade.
One reads that a major concern in the imminent Hadean horror is, yet again, the prospect of a wave of death in elderly care homes. Extraordinarily, a large number of care homes are *STILL* inflicting COVID lockdowns on their residents, which means that the poor old ducks are being imprisoned in their rooms, which typically do not have air conditioning. In short, thousands of trail old people are going to be locked in individual saunas for two days and left to sweat to death.
The Government stands accused, with considerable justification, of pampering the elderly at the expense of the young, but that only really applies so long as people remain reasonably well and active. Care home inmates (and I use that word deliberately) can be, and often are, treated worse than animals. If and when I get to the point that infirmity could catch up with me, I think I'd rather be shot than end up in one of those places.
My MiL spent her last 2 years in a care home, including long periods of lockdown for covid. Her home lost 6 residents to covid. Outbreaks cannot be trivialised in care homes.
Would she have had better quality of life without covid happening? Unquestionably so. She was however well looked after by caring staff and continued to enjoy life, at least until 2 months before her death last September. Very few want to go into a care home, but it is not life without enjoyment.
Mr. Jonathan, possibly. But he had every chance to stand and would've had much support from the start, and chose not to.
A foolish mistake masquerading as misplaced modesty, Reminds me of Alan Johnson, who could have defeated Corbyn.
Quite frankly, this Tory contest might be better restarted without a new cast list. They are all a bit underwhelming. If the question is which of Mordaunt and Truss is placed to take on Sunak, something has gone a little wrong.
I greatly admire Alan Johnson for that. He had the self-awareness to know that he’d not make a very good PM, and unlike the other Johnson spared us the consequences that would have followed from his elevation.
That’s fair and deserves respect, but the brutal truth is when you leave a vacuum something undesirable can fill it.
Yup, one lesson I have learned in life is not to underestimate how crap other people are. It is good to have a healthily modest assessment of one's own abilities, but everything is relative.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
I have had more of a nibble on Badenoch. I can see the right wingers shifting to her from Truss and her making third in the next ballot, then sqeezing past Mordaunt to get into the final two.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
Bluntly, now Truss has effectively self-immolated, I find it hard to see how Sunak's experience is not going to ultimately trump the rest of of them with either MPs or the members. Times are hard, and to parrot another Brown line, this isn't the time for a novice.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
Yes, I think Sunak would beat Truss in the final, and be a touch ahead against Badenoch, probably lose to Mordaunt.
I don't quite get the hate for Sunak by the Tory right. He knows how bad the finances are, and that this isn't the time for tax cuts.
He raised NI. That's it, really.
Remember, there are two times when Tories believe you should cut taxes - when you can't afford it, and when you can.
Actually his record on NI does put me off him somewhat, because a genuinely fair and much more economically sensible response would have been to raise income tax.
But still better than the slash and burn of the others. I genuinely don't think they grasp the poor state of public finances or the powder keg of public service strain. And they clearly weren't listening when they were told last night.
The "powder keg of public services" is a good phrase. Schools, Universities, NHS, Criminal Justice, Social Care, Councils, etc etc all look primed.
This lot are flicking matches at them, apart from Sunak
Although what's really needed is somebody to take the fuse out.
Not that I see that from anyone at all.
It's one reason why I'm getting out.
Getting out does stop some of the misery, but in the end we are all depending on those public services.
Yes. Although once outside I will be freer to try and do something about it. While in, I'm very restricted in what I can say and do, as I imagine you are. It's one reason why actual experts are almost never consulted on public service issues.
I am fairly free with my criticism of the NHS, and of private hospitals and my wider profession. I do not criticise my own Trust on here or Social Media not through fear (I am senior enough to shrug it off, or go if needed) but because I have confidence in the SMT at my Trust, and realise the constraints that they work under.
One reads that a major concern in the imminent Hadean horror is, yet again, the prospect of a wave of death in elderly care homes. Extraordinarily, a large number of care homes are *STILL* inflicting COVID lockdowns on their residents, which means that the poor old ducks are being imprisoned in their rooms, which typically do not have air conditioning. In short, thousands of trail old people are going to be locked in individual saunas for two days and left to sweat to death.
The Government stands accused, with considerable justification, of pampering the elderly at the expense of the young, but that only really applies so long as people remain reasonably well and active. Care home inmates (and I use that word deliberately) can be, and often are, treated worse than animals. If and when I get to the point that infirmity could catch up with me, I think I'd rather be shot than end up in one of those places.
My MiL spent her last 2 years in a care home, including long periods of lockdown for covid. Her home lost 6 residents to covid. Outbreaks cannot be trivialised in care homes.
Would she have had better quality of life without covid happening? Unquestionably so. She was however well looked after by caring staff and continued to enjoy life, at least until 2 months before her death last September. Very few want to go into a care home, but it is not life without enjoyment.
On covid more widely, this is an interesting perspective on covid from a chap permanently damaged bu it. He's not impressed by the idea that everyone over 60 should be left to die.
'I started researching the timeline: what had the people in power said just at the moment I got ill? On 3 February 2020, Boris Johnson gave a speech in Greenwich, south London, where he said: “We are starting to hear some bizarre autarkic rhetoric, when barriers are going up, and when there is a risk that new diseases such as coronavirus will trigger a panic and a desire for market segregation that go beyond what is medically rational.” Instead, he suggested, “humanity needs some government somewhere” to be the “supercharged champion of the right of the populations of the Earth to buy and sell freely among each other”.
This takes a bit of translating: the “autarkic rhetoric” was in fact people calling for a public health response to a new virus. “[S]ome government somewhere” was him appointing himself in that role as the “supercharged champion” of the free market – the free market that would defeat the virus rather than a public health policy.
This, then, was Johnson’s first reflex in the face of the pandemic. Every time I hear the phrase “he got the big calls right”, this speech echoes in my head.
By 3 March, he was boasting: “I was at a hospital the other night where I think a few there were actually coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody, you’ll be pleased to know, and I continue to shake hands.”'
Comments
The other notable feature was that all six were sons and daughters of professionals with a degree of public service in their chosen profession. There was a time when a line up like that could only have been for leader of the Labour Party. Quite depressing that with those backgrounds all six seemed so devoutly Thatcherite.
'Woke presenter' Krishnan Guru-Murthy criticised by Conservatives who said 'candidates can barely get a word in'
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/07/15/channel-4-accused-bias-tory-mps-leadership-debate/ (£££)
2.14 Penny Mordaunt 47%
3 Rishi Sunak 33%
6.4 Liz Truss 16%
34 Kemi Badenoch
60 Tom Tugendhat
270 Dominic Raab
Betfair to make the final two:-
1.13 Rishi Sunak 88%
1.38 Penny Mordaunt 72%
2.74 Liz Truss 36%
17 Kemi Badenoch 6%
32 Tom Tugendhat
The junior trade minister and former defence secretary has emerged this week as a frontrunner to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister, prompting frantic attempts from opponents, especially supporters of Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, to stall her momentum.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mordaunt-i-wont-join-this-battle-of-black-ops-3s20dstcw (£££)
Didn't watch the debate but Sunak's down to 3 having been 4.5-5 for a while, so that's a big shift, while Truss is out to 6 having been roughly equal with Sunak.
Badenoch out to 34 but she's bobbled between 20 and 38 for a little while, so perhaps significant, perhaps not.
Why not? Maybe yesterday was a fair and accurate display of their abilities? Not everyone thrives in that kind of format, even though they may have other skills.
It is just as likely that they are even poorer next time. Maybe what you just witnessed was Peak Truss and/or Peak Mordaunt?
It gives a far better summary than the media reports, which are pretty bland.
Quite frankly, this Tory contest might be better restarted without a new cast list. They are all a bit underwhelming. If the question is which of Mordaunt and Truss is placed to take on Sunak, something has gone a little wrong.
GOP lawmaker: Womb has ‘no specific purpose’ to a woman’s ‘life or well-being’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/abortion-women-womb-gop-montana-tschida/
On the other hand, there is hope in the world when one sees the different reactions of parents and undergraduates to this speech:
https://twitter.com/MrSplendiferous/status/1547863048798449664?t=ovbHFK5-NxXEcN8KS_lbtQ&s=19
https://youtu.be/zInyrDfR4us
My daughter was a treasure, straight As all through school, first class English degree from a top University, talented artist and then suddenly for no reason at all went completely off the rails and became a lawyer.
My son worked out alright though.
Essentially what is happening is that we’re now projecting the ‘blank canvas’ on to him instead of Mordaunt due to her shall we say underwhelming performance last night.
Maybe he would have been better, maybe he would have underwhelmed as she is doing.
“Downing Street was said to have been left “furious” by what was seen as an attempt to bounce Mr Johnson into announcing a major defence spending increase while at the Nato summit this week. ”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/06/28/boris-johnson-faces-cabinet-battle-defence-spending/
Wallace is dull as ditchwater, and your problem remains that SKS would have been a clear 6th last night
Ps Please keep underestimating Starmer. Clearly not your cup of tea.
PM Sunak, followed by PM Starmer, is just a continuation of of the dire Blair/Brown/Cameron/May/Oaf quarter century.
I think people overestimate how much the ERG care about one TV debate.
It might not work this time, but an incumbent party that is unpopular can only survive in power if the actions which have made it unpopular can be demonstrated to have yielded significant positive outcomes before the next election, or through complete reinvention. And the Tories aren't going to get very far by relying upon the former.
Starmer is not going to get Lab Maj, and is unlikely to even get Most Seats. On the other hand, he’ll probably be a PM. But without an agenda. Just being Not-a-Tory is not a programme for government.
The swing votes among the MPs are more about the likelihood of losing their seats than any ideological purity.
Though God knows what happens if she makes it to the membership vote.
With respect to tea, that’s an excellent idea.
Mordaunt mentioned Brexit a couple of times, and not much else - she was a little bit in the background. Kemi spoke about loyalty/integrity, care workers, her teeth and being an engineer - she was charismatic. I can't remember what Truss said - I was just grimacing the whole time she was talking, and even when not talking.
My advice to candidates next time: if you want to cut through to Joe Public: talk credibly about the cost of living crisis with confident and clear delivery.
Badenoch vs Sunak to the members could go either way.
That's Truss.
They will go through whatever logical contortions they need to in order to convince themselves people will change their minds about her once she's in office.
That might not apply if there were somebody senior available who has clean hands on the economic mess we're in. But there isn't. Badenoch and Tugendhat have never been in Cabinet, and Mordaunt only served there briefly. Putting any of the three of them in charge would be taking a giant and frankly unjustified risk. Like Johnson,or Corbyn - and look how they turned out.
Sunak isn't great, but he probably won't be catastrophic either. We have a fair idea as a country of what we would be getting. Certainty at the moment is pretty desirable and would in itself help with the economic situation by stabilising the pound.
Equally, the fact I've never thought of him as anything other than the obvious choice in this field, for good or ill, may be colouring my views.
Now, I think Truss is genuinely a poor candidate for PM but don't expect it to shift the dial too much in MP voting on Monday.
The problem for Truss is that she's as wooden as Sherwood Forest. In an earlier much more limited media age this would matter little. Today it is a critical flaw that she cannot escape
Another debate tomorrow. Yikes Liz Truss .... Timber !!!!!!!!!
And that includes Mordaunt.
I've topped up because the markets have overreacted, and she's now value, not because I rate her - look at my posts.
Far too many people on here make their betting judgements based on their own impressions of the candidate.
They tend to lose money.
Even Cameron's infamous first debate (which I assume you mean in the 2010 election, not his debate with David Davis in 2005) where all was not nearly as bad as that.
If they were she wouldn't have got 64 MPs so far, 3rd place in the table, and about to hoover up Braverman's.
I don't quite get the hate for Sunak by the Tory right. He knows how bad the finances are, and that this isn't the time for tax cuts.
We're probably heading for Rishi v. Mordaunt right now, and Mordaunt will win that because - as smooth as he is - all Rishi offers is steady as she goes.
Interesting and worrying times.
I will be surprised if she makes much further progress. She may pick up a few of Braverman's backers, but she will almost certainly lose a few to Badenoch after last night. She must have had a good half of the ERG already to get as far as she has and as I have noted they are much less influential than they like to pretend. Even if she got the lot of them (which is impossible given there is at least one other member of it still in the race) she's struggling to get past 80. That may not even get her to the final round of MPs.
But then, I'm often wrong. And they voted for a delusional, disorganised liar with a weird speaking manner and no clue whatsoever on anything last time.
Remember, there are two times when Tories believe you should cut taxes - when you can't afford it, and when you can.
Actually his record on NI does put me off him somewhat, because a genuinely fair and much more economically sensible response would have been to raise income tax.
But still better than the slash and burn of the others. I genuinely don't think they grasp the poor state of public finances or the powder keg of public service strain. And they clearly weren't listening when they were told last night.
We will see. Whatever, it’ll still be bloody hot. All over by Tuesday night.
Their shared poor performance raises the chance that, despite the members' apparent reluctance, Sunak emerges victor at the end.
This lot are flicking matches at them, apart from Sunak
Not that I see that from anyone at all.
It's one reason why I'm getting out.
And his acknowledgement that the stuff voters want needs to be paid for is a start. Badenochh's claim that there are meaningful savings to be made by cutting policing of hate speech and whatnot is just another version of the Magic Money Tree; the Enchanted Savings Shrub or something.
The Government stands accused, with considerable justification, of pampering the elderly at the expense of the young, but that only really applies so long as people remain reasonably well and active. Care home inmates (and I use that word deliberately) can be, and often are, treated worse than animals. If and when I get to the point that infirmity could catch up with me, I think I'd rather be shot than end up in one of those places.
Didn't bother with the debate, but I gather Penny denies eating the jam tarts despite the jam plastered on her cheek. Only a minor point, but probably better to come clean despite the likely hysterical reaction from some of the trans brigade.
They are both very excited by the prospect of Penny Mordaunt, PM.
Would she have had better quality of life without covid happening? Unquestionably so. She was however well looked after by caring staff and continued to enjoy life, at least until 2 months before her death last September. Very few want to go into a care home, but it is not life without enjoyment.
She was ok last night.
'I started researching the timeline: what had the people in power said just at the moment I got ill? On 3 February 2020, Boris Johnson gave a speech in Greenwich, south London, where he said: “We are starting to hear some bizarre autarkic rhetoric, when barriers are going up, and when there is a risk that new diseases such as coronavirus will trigger a panic and a desire for market segregation that go beyond what is medically rational.” Instead, he suggested, “humanity needs some government somewhere” to be the “supercharged champion of the right of the populations of the Earth to buy and sell freely among each other”.
This takes a bit of translating: the “autarkic rhetoric” was in fact people calling for a public health response to a new virus. “[S]ome government somewhere” was him appointing himself in that role as the “supercharged champion” of the free market – the free market that would defeat the virus rather than a public health policy.
This, then, was Johnson’s first reflex in the face of the pandemic. Every time I hear the phrase “he got the big calls right”, this speech echoes in my head.
By 3 March, he was boasting: “I was at a hospital the other night where I think a few there were actually coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody, you’ll be pleased to know, and I continue to shake hands.”'
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/16/covid-deaths-virus-200000-britain-trauma-loss