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  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,227
    edited October 2022

    Well that was a very odd and discomforting episode in British politics. I still can’t really make Truss out at all.

    I wonder what she'll decide to do with her future? She's only 47.

    We currently have three ex-PMs in the Commons, which must be the highest number for a while.
    Was there a period when Attlee, Churchill, and Eden were ex PMs who were still MPs.
    Attlee took a peerage in January 1956, so no.

    Edit - in 1923 you had Bonar Law, Lloyd George and Asquith.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,946
    edited October 2022
    Weird day for the children in these situations. I remember when Brown left and Jon Stewart doing a bit about making him do a televised walk of shame with his entire family.

    "No boys, daddy didn't lose his job and home, we're going camping. Forever"

    At least Truss's are old enough not to care overmuch (they may well be adults anyway)
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,719

    Streeting not exactly shining on Newsnight. Refusing to accept a general election risks market instability again.

    Nor answering why there wasn't a general election following Blair's transfer to Brown.

    Labour's "talent" is very thinly spread - and that will be exposed over the next two years.

    You need to rethink that one, because Markets would benefit from a General Election about economic direction in the same way the whole country would right now, it would bring everyone clarity.

    Can’t have a General Election because it will definitely cause market instability is not a great argument. Business of governing doesn’t switch off during election campaigns, whilst markets will benefit from UK having a General Election with economic direction over the coming five years front and centre of the debate. It wasn’t “knowledge” of something coming or any clarity which sparked the markets under Truss, more the avoidance of detail, not sharing an OBR, and the on the day surprises in the budget.

    Nor is it as straight forward as just give the dammed markets whatever they ask for to keep them happy, because going to war with the markets for the good of our nation is a definite argument in the debate right now, look at tonight’s Telegraph front page - Sunak must put the country before the markets.

    A general election is not being held right now for purely political reasons, not economic ones, you are struggling to be honest about that. The markets and business would actually benefit from debate, and the clarity of which argument won that debate.
    A general election is not being held right now because a Government with a nominal majority of c70 has a Prime Minister who could govern for a little over 2 more years without upsetting any constitutional apple carts.

    I get that opponents of the Tories want them to piss off, but that is not enough. If people still want them gone in two years, they will be gone. But they still have two years to demonstrate that they can deliver on a manifesto that was blown massively off course by Covid and war in Europe. Boris Johnson and then briefly Liz Truss have been found unable to deliver; Rishi Sunak still has ample time to demonstrate he is the man for the job. He could surprise on both the up and downside. But he has every right to take the full two years before offering himself to the judgment of the voters.

    Obviously, if his Party fractures and he loses that c70 seat majority, that is a different circumstance. If he cannot command the authority of the House, and nobody else can, we have an election. Otherwise, not until the clock runs out.
    I gave your reply a like because it was well put and a I agree with it.

    But then, you have given a completely different reason now than the stupid argument we can’t hold a GE because it risks market instability.
    The two arguments are not contradictory, though.
  • Well that was a very odd and discomforting episode in British politics. I still can’t really make Truss out at all.

    I wonder what she'll decide to do with her future? She's only 47.

    We currently have three ex-PMs in the Commons, which must be the highest number for a while.
    Return to the LD fold, her sabotage mission fully completed?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,227
    edited October 2022
    biggles said:

    Well that was a very odd and discomforting episode in British politics. I still can’t really make Truss out at all.

    I wonder what she'll decide to do with her future? She's only 47.

    We currently have three ex-PMs in the Commons, which must be the highest number for a while.
    I was thinking about that. Two former PMs happens a lot (not least because of the Heath sulk) but three might take us back to at least the thirties. Lloyd-George on the back benches and some turbulence. Was Ramsay MacDonald still an MP when Chamberlain replaced Baldwin?
    Yes, although he died six months after.

    Edit - however, I think Baldwin was only in the Commons for three days after retiring as PM.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,928

    I see the term 'globalist' being bandied about a lot. I get how it links in with a conspiracy 'shadow jewish government' vibe, but can anyone actually explain what it might mean beyond that? or are people just using words becuase they sound right?

    “Globalism” takes me back to the early 2000s G7 meetings and May Day protests.
  • mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,574
    ydoethur said:

    Scott_xP said:

    We currently have three ex-PMs in the Commons, which must be the highest number for a while.

    Well, one of them is not really in the Commons...
    Wilson, Callaghan, Heath, 79-83 would be the previous time we had three, I think.
    I had completely forgotten that Wilson stayed on to win his seat in 1979.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,946

    Well that was a very odd and discomforting episode in British politics. I still can’t really make Truss out at all.

    I wonder what she'll decide to do with her future? She's only 47.

    We currently have three ex-PMs in the Commons, which must be the highest number for a while.
    I suppose she could become a kind of political David Icke - a misunderstood messianic figure with a devoted following of oddballs.
    I prefer Erich von Daniken.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    The problem with Trussonomics is its adherants' belief that they and they alone can see that Britain has a productivity problem, and that "at least we tried" is a sufficient defence when it all falls apart.

    https://twitter.com/mattholehouse/status/1584839232337870850
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,755

    kle4 said:

    I do love polling sometimes. Just did a survey, which opened asking if I'd heard of various sporting bodies (FA, ECB etc), and didn't select the options about horses. It then asks something like 'Just to check, have you heard of the Jockey Club?', and I select no, and then it is asking about my attitudes to horseracing. I can almost feel the disappointment in the survey that I have heard nothing, know nothing, and care nothing about horse racing (and cannot suggest how it might grab my interest).

    Horses are nice enough animals, but I have never understood the fascination some people have with them. There is a whole subset of young women that seem to have a horse obsession bordering on mania!
    In horse riding, when you are fairly good, you develop a connection with the horse which is quite deep. You work together a unit.

    I was always fairly rubbish at riding, but when you get an understanding with a good horse, suddenly you can do stuff that you couldn’t kick an uncomprehending nag round in a million years.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677

    Roger said:

    Interestingly flicking through this thread there seems to be an air of optimism that there never was when Truss took over. It's obviously partly because Sunak is a more gracious and competent human being but i suspect it's also as IanB suggests the first real break from Johnson.

    Truss was seen as continuity Johnson. Sunak doesn't. It feels different. I think it'll take a while before we're able to compute what a malign influence Johnson was but my guess is the Conservative party are now going to turn on him big time.

    Sky were suggesting he is to be made an envoy to Ukraine but I have no idea if that is just lazy journalism
    That seems like a recipe for chaos because he'll say any mad shit without consulting anybody.

    There's also the slight issue of just creating a highly paid and completely pointless tax payer funded job just for internal tory party management purposes.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,376
    edited October 2022
    The Wikipedia editors never seem to learn how this process takes place. They seem to think Rishi is already PM.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,946
    edited October 2022
    BBC mentioning it isn't easy when doing the spotting cars from the sky thing. They know they don't need to do that?

    I know it is traditional now, but if they want to get with the times surely they should follow the passing of Prime Ministerial cars with a series of blurry crowdsourced shots from pedestrians waving their phones, or livestreamed to tiktok*.

    *I actually don't know if you can stream to tiktok or not. I'm 36 but feel 70 when it comes to social media.
  • glwglw Posts: 9,887
    Cookie said:

    glw said:

    And yet, according to some people I've seen on Twitter (yes, I know...) the government is doing *nothing* to avert the climate emergency.

    I'd be open to the argument that they've not done enough (although you have to also keep the economy running), but they've certainly not done 'nothing'.

    It drives me nuts when I hear claims like that, and all too often from politicians and campaigners who should know better. It is not just misleading it is simply lying. That the media lap this stuff up and rarely challenge such claims makes me even angrier.
    Yes, me too.
    What has been achieved over the last 30 years has been astonishing. Why won't we celebrate this?
    It doesn't fit the usual media/NGO narrative of everything is terrible and getting worse. Saying that the UK is moving away from fossil fuels to renewable sources at a steady pace, and that we have already reached milestones like renewables providing a majority of electricity at times isn't as exciting as someone saying "nothing has been done and we are doomed".

    I'll tell you something else that's noticeable, you see a lot of cars with green flashes on the number plates now. EVs have gone from being rare, to few but hard to spot, to something you can see in ever increasing numbers. I've no doubt I'll be hearing campaigners saying "nothing is being done" when a majority of cars I see on the road have the green plates.
  • I love the Mail's front page about 'Tory Fightback'. Didn't it fanatically sponsor all the balls-ups that the Tories now desperately need to fight back from?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,946
    Dura_Ace said:

    Roger said:

    Interestingly flicking through this thread there seems to be an air of optimism that there never was when Truss took over. It's obviously partly because Sunak is a more gracious and competent human being but i suspect it's also as IanB suggests the first real break from Johnson.

    Truss was seen as continuity Johnson. Sunak doesn't. It feels different. I think it'll take a while before we're able to compute what a malign influence Johnson was but my guess is the Conservative party are now going to turn on him big time.

    Sky were suggesting he is to be made an envoy to Ukraine but I have no idea if that is just lazy journalism
    That seems like a recipe for chaos because he'll say any mad shit without consulting anybody.

    There's also the slight issue of just creating a highly paid and completely pointless tax payer funded job just for internal tory party management purposes.
    Could be an unpaid role I suppose, but a) he wouldn't want it then, b) travel and security costs.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,227
    I'm trying to think if there were ever four ex-PMs in the Commons at once.

    I keep coming back with 'no' because before 1902 so many PMs were from the Lords or were elevated there during or immediately after their premierships.

    So I think three would be the record.

    I wondered if there were four in 1923 but Balfour had taken a peerage by then.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,928
    Dura_Ace said:

    Roger said:

    Interestingly flicking through this thread there seems to be an air of optimism that there never was when Truss took over. It's obviously partly because Sunak is a more gracious and competent human being but i suspect it's also as IanB suggests the first real break from Johnson.

    Truss was seen as continuity Johnson. Sunak doesn't. It feels different. I think it'll take a while before we're able to compute what a malign influence Johnson was but my guess is the Conservative party are now going to turn on him big time.

    Sky were suggesting he is to be made an envoy to Ukraine but I have no idea if that is just lazy journalism
    That seems like a recipe for chaos because he'll say any mad shit without consulting anybody.

    There's also the slight issue of just creating a highly paid and completely pointless tax payer funded job just for internal tory party management purposes.
    Those “envoy” jobs are usually unpaid. He will certainly want it to be, else he’ll be limited in his other work.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    Fun fact - each PM gets their own lectern…

    What do we think @RishiSunak will look like?


    https://twitter.com/darrenmccaffrey/status/1584813870639878144
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,257
    tlg86 said:

    Unsurprising, but there's a pretty vile piece in the Guardian:

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/25/rishi-sunak-britain-first-asian-prime-minister

    Alas, for Tory party members it was still preferable to elect a white woman than a brown man; just as well they won’t be able to vote on his appointment this time.

    The headline doesn’t really match the article . I take it as Sunak being PM might be a victory for ethnicity but not social mobility.

    Equally there are some valid points , do ethnic minorities have to work harder to prove their love of country , why do they feel the need to do this . On immigration why the need to be so mean spirited .

    If you put away your initial outrage at the headline and parts which might offend it does ask some uncomfortable questions .
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,163

    kle4 said:

    I do love polling sometimes. Just did a survey, which opened asking if I'd heard of various sporting bodies (FA, ECB etc), and didn't select the options about horses. It then asks something like 'Just to check, have you heard of the Jockey Club?', and I select no, and then it is asking about my attitudes to horseracing. I can almost feel the disappointment in the survey that I have heard nothing, know nothing, and care nothing about horse racing (and cannot suggest how it might grab my interest).

    Horses are nice enough animals, but I have never understood the fascination some people have with them. There is a whole subset of young women that seem to have a horse obsession bordering on mania!
    In horse riding, when you are fairly good, you develop a connection with the horse which is quite deep. You work together a unit.

    I was always fairly rubbish at riding, but when you get an understanding with a good horse, suddenly you can do stuff that you couldn’t kick an uncomprehending nag round in a million years.
    I obviously encountered the uncomprehending nag type of horse! :D They stank, they were stubborn and you smelt of horse for days afterwards. A couple of months "trial" was enough for me and I found small aircraft were more to my taste. The view was better too...
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,946
    Andy_JS said:

    The Wikipedia editors never seem to learn how this process takes place. They seem to think Rishi is already PM.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom

    They listed him as Prime Minister designate yesterday. Here they have jumped the gun by maybe half an hour.

    I did notice May was correct in her congrats to Rishi yesterday that Sunak was leader of the party, whilst Cameron congratulated him on 'becoming PM' rather than about to become PM.

    The rapid changes mean people mess up the formalities.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,928
    kle4 said:

    BBC mentioning it isn't easy when doing the spotting cars from the sky thing. They know they don't need to do that?

    I know it is traditional now, but if they want to get with the times surely they should follow the passing of Prime Ministerial cars with a series of blurry crowdsourced shots from pedestrians waving their phones, or livestreamed to tiktok*.

    *I actually don't know if you can stream to tiktok or not. I'm 36 but feel 70 when it comes to social media.

    Or they could, and bear with me on this, just have a camera on the entrance and otherwise accept we have all seen cars drive down the Mall before, saving the cost of a chopper.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,376
    kle4 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    The Wikipedia editors never seem to learn how this process takes place. They seem to think Rishi is already PM.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom

    They listed him as Prime Minister designate yesterday. Here they have jumped the gun by maybe half an hour.

    I did notice May was correct in her congrats to Rishi yesterday that Sunak was leader of the party, whilst Cameron congratulated him on 'becoming PM' rather than about to become PM.

    The rapid changes mean people mess up the formalities.
    They ought to know there's a short period where the office is vacant.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,631
    dixiedean said:

    Selebian said:

    Roger said:

    As I've seen elsewhere: Waking up this morning, we have a Christian King, a Hindu Prime Minister, a Jewish Home Secretary and a Muslim Mayor of London.

    You can disagree with personal politics, but that is a victory for a diverse, multicultural Britain - and we should be proud.


    https://twitter.com/Daniel_Sugarman/status/1584802272638562305

    Jewish Home Secretary?
    Shapps Jewish family according to Wikipedia.

    I'm generally surprised when someone is labelled Jewish and also wonder why we care. Only really relevant in the above statement if he's a follower of Judaism, I'd have thought.

    How about a Buddhist at Defence?
    Braverman?
    A Buddhist firmly on the backbenches would complete the set nicely.
    Crikey! I didn't know that either :open_mouth: I withdraw my request for a Buddhist at defence (unless we can find a non-nutty one, anyway)
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,928
    ydoethur said:

    I'm trying to think if there were ever four ex-PMs in the Commons at once.

    I keep coming back with 'no' because before 1902 so many PMs were from the Lords or were elevated there during or immediately after their premierships.

    So I think three would be the record.

    I wondered if there were four in 1923 but Balfour had taken a peerage by then.

    A new record to look forward to in December.
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146
    It'll make for strange archival viewing of the Queen's funeral to see Liz Truss there as PM, future humans will be left wondering 'who's that?'

    https://twitter.com/robdunsmore/status/1584843157128331266?s=46&t=Pwf5jPCZ4PXhN84gkKI1WA
  • kamskikamski Posts: 5,168

    kamski said:

    kle4 said:

    kle4 said:

    Just heard on GMS, the presenter saying that the PM will have to address the SNP, rising nationalism in Wales and in N Ireland too. Just a pity no one addressed the rise of British Nationalism because that’s why Britain is in the mess that it is today.

    https://twitter.com/hannah_gary/status/1584790781902356481?s=46&t=b7qMuVgYtDOibR9Z-4LSrA

    I thought the general accusation was the problem was due to English nationalism, since if British nationalism was rising, there would be less english/scottish/welsh/northern irish nationalism.
    English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh self-governance = good

    British Nationalism = bad

    Please learn the basics.
    I may not have been clear - my point was people often say Brexit was entirely down to the English, and so the Brexit rise is in fact about an english nationalism rise, not british, except superficially. Certainly there has not been a rise in a sense of british identity.
    British Nationalism increases in intensity as British identity declines. It is the death throes.

    Self confident identities feel no need to oppress others. Cf Russia, China, Castile.
    When was British Nationalism more self-confident?
    Possibly Blair's tenure when he felt confident enough to offer a minimal amount of devolution to the territories. Also though there was all that cool Brittania bollox I don't think he was quite so enthusiastic about wrapping himself in the Union flag as modern day UK pols.
    Hmmm. Was Blair a time when Britain did the least oppressing of others? Not sure. Also not sure that it was a time when British identity had more self-confidence than, say, the 19th century, when there seemed to be a quite a lot of oppressing of others going on.

    Just looking for evidence that "Self confident identities feel no need to oppress others"

    To me it looks like the first condition for a (national) "identity" to oppress others is the ability to do it (and get something out of it). Combined with a belief in its own superiority. I would have thought that on balance "self-confidence" would correlate positively with those things rather than the opposite.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,227
    edited October 2022
    Strange to think we had no former PMs at all in the Commons from 1992-97, 2001 to 2010 (as Blair resigned his seat the day he resigned as PM) and again from 2015 to 2016, and again 2016 to 2019 and now...
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146

    I love the Mail's front page about 'Tory Fightback'. Didn't it fanatically sponsor all the balls-ups that the Tories now desperately need to fight back from?

    cf their support for the Nazis
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,007
    A jaunty farewell from Liz then. You'd have thought it'd all gone swimmingly. I wonder whether she exists in a self-sustaining bubble of small state ideologues? A place where, regardless of happenings in the outside world, the certainties remain and all is calm and settled.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    Absolutely amazing to argue that the lesson of your shortest-ever term as prime minister is that everyone else is wrong.

    https://twitter.com/RobDotHutton/status/1584837353956335617
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479
    Andy_JS said:

    kle4 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    The Wikipedia editors never seem to learn how this process takes place. They seem to think Rishi is already PM.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom

    They listed him as Prime Minister designate yesterday. Here they have jumped the gun by maybe half an hour.

    I did notice May was correct in her congrats to Rishi yesterday that Sunak was leader of the party, whilst Cameron congratulated him on 'becoming PM' rather than about to become PM.

    The rapid changes mean people mess up the formalities.
    They ought to know there's a short period where the office is vacant.
    Does it really matter? It's only going to be 'wrong' for 30 minutes or so and everyone knows that he will be PM by lunchtime.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,946
    Andy_JS said:

    kle4 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    The Wikipedia editors never seem to learn how this process takes place. They seem to think Rishi is already PM.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom

    They listed him as Prime Minister designate yesterday. Here they have jumped the gun by maybe half an hour.

    I did notice May was correct in her congrats to Rishi yesterday that Sunak was leader of the party, whilst Cameron congratulated him on 'becoming PM' rather than about to become PM.

    The rapid changes mean people mess up the formalities.
    They ought to know there's a short period where the office is vacant.
    You could take up wikipedia editing?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,227
    biggles said:

    ydoethur said:

    I'm trying to think if there were ever four ex-PMs in the Commons at once.

    I keep coming back with 'no' because before 1902 so many PMs were from the Lords or were elevated there during or immediately after their premierships.

    So I think three would be the record.

    I wondered if there were four in 1923 but Balfour had taken a peerage by then.

    A new record to look forward to in December.
    Good to see there's somebody who's optimistic about Sunak"s chances...
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146
    ydoethur said:

    I'm trying to think if there were ever four ex-PMs in the Commons at once.

    I keep coming back with 'no' because before 1902 so many PMs were from the Lords or were elevated there during or immediately after their premierships.

    So I think three would be the record.

    I wondered if there were four in 1923 but Balfour had taken a peerage by then.

    May, Oaf, Truss. Who’s the fourth?
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,376
    edited October 2022
    kle4 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    kle4 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    The Wikipedia editors never seem to learn how this process takes place. They seem to think Rishi is already PM.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom

    They listed him as Prime Minister designate yesterday. Here they have jumped the gun by maybe half an hour.

    I did notice May was correct in her congrats to Rishi yesterday that Sunak was leader of the party, whilst Cameron congratulated him on 'becoming PM' rather than about to become PM.

    The rapid changes mean people mess up the formalities.
    They ought to know there's a short period where the office is vacant.
    You could take up wikipedia editing?
    I used to about 15 years ago. But this sort of page is "protected" which means only certain people can edit it. I can remember when all pages were available for anyone to edit, in the early days of the site.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,928
    ydoethur said:

    Strange to think we had no former PMs at all in the Commons from 1992-97, 2001 to 2010 (as Blair resigned his seat the day he resigned as PM) and again from 2015 to 2016, and again 2016 to 2019 and now...

    Aren’t you forgetting Heath until 2001?
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,376

    Andy_JS said:

    kle4 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    The Wikipedia editors never seem to learn how this process takes place. They seem to think Rishi is already PM.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom

    They listed him as Prime Minister designate yesterday. Here they have jumped the gun by maybe half an hour.

    I did notice May was correct in her congrats to Rishi yesterday that Sunak was leader of the party, whilst Cameron congratulated him on 'becoming PM' rather than about to become PM.

    The rapid changes mean people mess up the formalities.
    They ought to know there's a short period where the office is vacant.
    Does it really matter? It's only going to be 'wrong' for 30 minutes or so and everyone knows that he will be PM by lunchtime.
    It matters to pedants like me.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,402

    Well that was a very odd and discomforting episode in British politics. I still can’t really make Truss out at all.

    I wonder what she'll decide to do with her future? She's only 47.

    We currently have three ex-PMs in the Commons, which must be the highest number for a while.
    Was there a period when Attlee, Churchill, and Eden were ex PMs who were still MPs.
    No, Attlee went to the Lords in 1955, before Eden resigned in 1957.

  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,185
    edited October 2022

    Well that was a very odd and discomforting episode in British politics. I still can’t really make Truss out at all.

    I wonder what she'll decide to do with her future? She's only 47.

    We currently have three ex-PMs in the Commons, which must be the highest number for a while.
    Was there a period when Attlee, Churchill, and Eden were ex PMs who were still MPs.
    Looks like Eden resigned his Commons seat the day after he resigned as PM.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,227
    edited October 2022

    Absolutely amazing to argue that the lesson of your shortest-ever term as prime minister is that everyone else is wrong.

    https://twitter.com/RobDotHutton/status/1584837353956335617

    Although TBF I've known of plenty of people who get everything wrong all the way through while blaming others and had long careers at the top.

    Spielman, at OFSTED and OFQUAL.
    O'Connor, at the Student Loan Company.
    O'Donnell, at the Treasury and the Cabinet Office.
    Vladimir Putin, at...
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,034

    kle4 said:

    I do love polling sometimes. Just did a survey, which opened asking if I'd heard of various sporting bodies (FA, ECB etc), and didn't select the options about horses. It then asks something like 'Just to check, have you heard of the Jockey Club?', and I select no, and then it is asking about my attitudes to horseracing. I can almost feel the disappointment in the survey that I have heard nothing, know nothing, and care nothing about horse racing (and cannot suggest how it might grab my interest).

    Horses are nice enough animals, but I have never understood the fascination some people have with them. There is a whole subset of young women that seem to have a horse obsession bordering on mania!
    £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££
  • numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 6,805
    Huw Edwards has had quite a year.
    kinabalu said:

    A jaunty farewell from Liz then. You'd have thought it'd all gone swimmingly. I wonder whether she exists in a self-sustaining bubble of small state ideologues? A place where, regardless of happenings in the outside world, the certainties remain and all is calm and settled.

    She actually gives the impression of being incredibly thick-skinned. I find it difficult to believe she’s not been affected by all this but I assume her plan for post premiership is now “I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn’t for those lousy markets” - ie if I’d had a chance it would all have gone right in the end. If she does possess that self confidence(/delusion) then I hope that sustains her. I don’t like the thought of someone being utterly broken by this mess.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,631

    Absolutely amazing to argue that the lesson of your shortest-ever term as prime minister is that everyone else is wrong.

    https://twitter.com/RobDotHutton/status/1584837353956335617

    I'm quite happy for the Corbyns and Trusses of this world to retire into obscurity happy in the knowledge their own heads that they 'won the argument'.
  • rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 8,235
    Pulpstar said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Rishi Sunak botched Covid response when chancellor, says health expert Devi Sridhar

    A leading public health expert has accused the multimillionaire Rishi Sunak of being out of touch with the challenges of daily life and plotting to “let Covid rip” during the pandemic. Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at Edinburgh University, said the incoming prime minister “handled Covid badly” from a public health perspective when he was chancellor. The academic, a member of Nicola Sturgeon’s Covid-19 advisory group, said Sunak lives “in a bubble of extreme wealth” making it “hard to relate the challenges of daily life including access to healthcare”." (£)

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-botched-covid-response-when-chancellor-says-health-expert-devi-sridhar-wzbkpbfbv

    I think actually Sunak's instincts were right about covid.
    The point about his wealth is irrelevant. But disagree - Sunak botched several things on COVID.

    He got it utterly wrong on eat out to help out (subsidizing COVID spread just before we had to go back into lockdown), he argued against the 2nd lockdown in September - mistakenly thinking it would harm the economy when of course the later longer lockdown was even worse, and (incredibly) he was apparently slow to give the budget for COVID vaccines: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/dame-kate-bingham-rishi-sunak-didnt-even-know-what-vaccine-taskforce/
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,227

    ydoethur said:

    I'm trying to think if there were ever four ex-PMs in the Commons at once.

    I keep coming back with 'no' because before 1902 so many PMs were from the Lords or were elevated there during or immediately after their premierships.

    So I think three would be the record.

    I wondered if there were four in 1923 but Balfour had taken a peerage by then.

    May, Oaf, Truss. Who’s the fourth?
    Nobody. I'm saying there are three, and that's a record.
  • ydoethur said:

    Strange to think we had no former PMs at all in the Commons from 1992-97, 2001 to 2010 (as Blair resigned his seat the day he resigned as PM) and again from 2015 to 2016, and again 2016 to 2019 and now...

    Heath was in the Commons until 2001.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216

    Andy_JS said:

    kle4 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    The Wikipedia editors never seem to learn how this process takes place. They seem to think Rishi is already PM.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom

    They listed him as Prime Minister designate yesterday. Here they have jumped the gun by maybe half an hour.

    I did notice May was correct in her congrats to Rishi yesterday that Sunak was leader of the party, whilst Cameron congratulated him on 'becoming PM' rather than about to become PM.

    The rapid changes mean people mess up the formalities.
    They ought to know there's a short period where the office is vacant.
    Does it really matter? It's only going to be 'wrong' for 30 minutes or so and everyone knows that he will be PM by lunchtime.
    You’re new to Pedantrybetting.com?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,946
    I know it has grand looking buildings on the main road, but I do love that Downing Street essentially looks like a tiny side street that were it not for the security out front you might walk past without a moment's thought. I hope they never upgrade the PM office and residence to a more gradly situated place.
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146
    Pulpstar said:

    kle4 said:

    I do love polling sometimes. Just did a survey, which opened asking if I'd heard of various sporting bodies (FA, ECB etc), and didn't select the options about horses. It then asks something like 'Just to check, have you heard of the Jockey Club?', and I select no, and then it is asking about my attitudes to horseracing. I can almost feel the disappointment in the survey that I have heard nothing, know nothing, and care nothing about horse racing (and cannot suggest how it might grab my interest).

    Horses are nice enough animals, but I have never understood the fascination some people have with them. There is a whole subset of young women that seem to have a horse obsession bordering on mania!
    £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££
    😄

    A tad misogynistic? Or simply world-weary realism?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,227
    biggles said:

    ydoethur said:

    Strange to think we had no former PMs at all in the Commons from 1992-97, 2001 to 2010 (as Blair resigned his seat the day he resigned as PM) and again from 2015 to 2016, and again 2016 to 2019 and now...

    Aren’t you forgetting Heath until 2001?
    Yes, I was. D'oh!
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,376
    Apologies for Ian Dunt's language.

    https://twitter.com/IanDunt/status/1584662176140173312
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,034
    edited October 2022

    Pulpstar said:

    kle4 said:

    I do love polling sometimes. Just did a survey, which opened asking if I'd heard of various sporting bodies (FA, ECB etc), and didn't select the options about horses. It then asks something like 'Just to check, have you heard of the Jockey Club?', and I select no, and then it is asking about my attitudes to horseracing. I can almost feel the disappointment in the survey that I have heard nothing, know nothing, and care nothing about horse racing (and cannot suggest how it might grab my interest).

    Horses are nice enough animals, but I have never understood the fascination some people have with them. There is a whole subset of young women that seem to have a horse obsession bordering on mania!
    £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££
    😄

    A tad misogynistic? Or simply world-weary realism?
    Personal experience. Vet out tommorow !
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,631
    kle4 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    The Wikipedia editors never seem to learn how this process takes place. They seem to think Rishi is already PM.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom

    They listed him as Prime Minister designate yesterday. Here they have jumped the gun by maybe half an hour.

    I did notice May was correct in her congrats to Rishi yesterday that Sunak was leader of the party, whilst Cameron congratulated him on 'becoming PM' rather than about to become PM.

    The rapid changes mean people mess up the formalities.
    Just need a few more quick changes of leader/PM and we should all get the hang of it :smile:
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    Ouch! Huw Edwards commenting on Liz Truss small removal van in Downing St!
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,385
    edited October 2022

    Ouch! Huw Edwards commenting on Liz Truss small removal van in Downing St!

    Edited on taste and decency grounds.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,227

    Well that was a very odd and discomforting episode in British politics. I still can’t really make Truss out at all.

    I wonder what she'll decide to do with her future? She's only 47.

    We currently have three ex-PMs in the Commons, which must be the highest number for a while.
    Was there a period when Attlee, Churchill, and Eden were ex PMs who were still MPs.
    Looks like Eden resigned his Commons seat the day after he resigned as PM.
    He went off on a round-the-world cruise about three weeks after resigning for health reasons and was warned he would never be well enough to return to work. So he quit in advance.
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    I'm trying to think if there were ever four ex-PMs in the Commons at once.

    I keep coming back with 'no' because before 1902 so many PMs were from the Lords or were elevated there during or immediately after their premierships.

    So I think three would be the record.

    I wondered if there were four in 1923 but Balfour had taken a peerage by then.

    May, Oaf, Truss. Who’s the fourth?
    Nobody. I'm saying there are three, and that's a record.
    Record incompetence. What an utter shower.

    Sunak cannot fail to look like a towering giant compared to those three.

    Famous last words…
  • YBarddCwscYBarddCwsc Posts: 7,172
    rkrkrk said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Rishi Sunak botched Covid response when chancellor, says health expert Devi Sridhar

    A leading public health expert has accused the multimillionaire Rishi Sunak of being out of touch with the challenges of daily life and plotting to “let Covid rip” during the pandemic. Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at Edinburgh University, said the incoming prime minister “handled Covid badly” from a public health perspective when he was chancellor. The academic, a member of Nicola Sturgeon’s Covid-19 advisory group, said Sunak lives “in a bubble of extreme wealth” making it “hard to relate the challenges of daily life including access to healthcare”." (£)

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-botched-covid-response-when-chancellor-says-health-expert-devi-sridhar-wzbkpbfbv

    I think actually Sunak's instincts were right about covid.
    The point about his wealth is irrelevant. But disagree - Sunak botched several things on COVID.

    He got it utterly wrong on eat out to help out (subsidizing COVID spread just before we had to go back into lockdown), he argued against the 2nd lockdown in September - mistakenly thinking it would harm the economy when of course the later longer lockdown was even worse, and (incredibly) he was apparently slow to give the budget for COVID vaccines: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/dame-kate-bingham-rishi-sunak-didnt-even-know-what-vaccine-taskforce/
    That is true -- did not Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford get things wrong about COVID too ?

    But, at least the Tories and the SNP are allowing a public inquiry into their actions.

    There is one country that is not getting a public inquiry into its Government's actions .... shamefully Llafur.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,946

    Andy_JS said:

    kle4 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    The Wikipedia editors never seem to learn how this process takes place. They seem to think Rishi is already PM.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom

    They listed him as Prime Minister designate yesterday. Here they have jumped the gun by maybe half an hour.

    I did notice May was correct in her congrats to Rishi yesterday that Sunak was leader of the party, whilst Cameron congratulated him on 'becoming PM' rather than about to become PM.

    The rapid changes mean people mess up the formalities.
    They ought to know there's a short period where the office is vacant.
    Does it really matter? It's only going to be 'wrong' for 30 minutes or so and everyone knows that he will be PM by lunchtime.
    Matters? No. But things should still be correct. The page is correct, for instance, that there is no fixed position for deputy, yet some people incorrectly make assumptions on the basis if the PM were to die in office the deputy would replace them.

    As of now, the page is currently correct and not showing Rishi - so there is an AndyJS amongst the editors.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,631
    Andy_JS said:

    kle4 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    The Wikipedia editors never seem to learn how this process takes place. They seem to think Rishi is already PM.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom

    They listed him as Prime Minister designate yesterday. Here they have jumped the gun by maybe half an hour.

    I did notice May was correct in her congrats to Rishi yesterday that Sunak was leader of the party, whilst Cameron congratulated him on 'becoming PM' rather than about to become PM.

    The rapid changes mean people mess up the formalities.
    They ought to know there's a short period where the office is vacant.
    The occupant over the last forty days or so was pretty vacant, to be fair.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,227

    Ouch! Huw Edwards commenting on Liz Truss small removal van in Downing St!

    Edited on taste and decency grounds.
    You said something about Radiohead?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,946
    edited October 2022
    Andy_JS said:
    Called it last night - Raab went big for Rishi early on, and has deputised for Boris, it's a no brainer to give him a big office.

    Edit: A no brainer politically that is, not on the basis he'd be good for it.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,376
    edited October 2022
    So Raab could be the 3rd home secretary in 6 days if the rumour on Ian Dunt's twitter page is correct. A bit rough on Grant Shapps if so.
  • mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,574

    Well that was a very odd and discomforting episode in British politics. I still can’t really make Truss out at all.

    I wonder what she'll decide to do with her future? She's only 47.

    We currently have three ex-PMs in the Commons, which must be the highest number for a while.
    Was there a period when Attlee, Churchill, and Eden were ex PMs who were still MPs.
    Looks like Eden resigned his Commons seat the day after he resigned as PM.
    Yes - Eden famously just collapsed and left.
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146
    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    kle4 said:

    I do love polling sometimes. Just did a survey, which opened asking if I'd heard of various sporting bodies (FA, ECB etc), and didn't select the options about horses. It then asks something like 'Just to check, have you heard of the Jockey Club?', and I select no, and then it is asking about my attitudes to horseracing. I can almost feel the disappointment in the survey that I have heard nothing, know nothing, and care nothing about horse racing (and cannot suggest how it might grab my interest).

    Horses are nice enough animals, but I have never understood the fascination some people have with them. There is a whole subset of young women that seem to have a horse obsession bordering on mania!
    £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££
    😄

    A tad misogynistic? Or simply world-weary realism?
    Personal experience. Vet out tommorow !
    Ha ha.

    Sister’s a vet, so I know where you’re coming from.

    We are ice hockey parents, which is generally considered to be a money black hole, but on the upside, we skipped sailing, golf and equestrianism, which are also huuuge around here, and *horrific* bottomless pits.
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,163
    On a brighter note, WhatsApp is down. That will slow the Tory feuding :smiley:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-63383957
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,400
    ping said:

    Listening to Faisal Islam on the BBC’s newscast - he had this fascinating and (I think) disturbing nugget;

    “By all accounts (Sunak at the treasury during the pandemic) it was, not quite minority report, but like, big screens of all the policy options and all the other countries policy options… Germany had done this on their version of the furlough scheme, or France had done that, and he would want to make sure that he could say we’ve done the most in Europe … so you just had to look at what the G7 record was and then you could say, well, he’s going to go to 80%, because it’s higher than 77%”

    ~20mins in;

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0d98v2t

    That’s absurd policy making.

    That’s our bloody national debt that you’ve ramped up, just so you can gain some stupid imaginary brexit points.

    And now the country must pay for your idiocy, with higher mortgage rates, tax increases, and spending cuts?

    I don’t buy the fiscally dry, sound money persona he’s trying to portray. It was him spaffing cash up the wall that is the primary reason we’re now in one hell of a fiscal mess.

    Why should we suffer for his sins?

    I’m amazed that the otherwise sensible sound money PB tories are falling for his guff.

    You are absolutely spot on again, as usual Ping. I would definitely have you in TeamMoon when I’m in number 10.

    Alternatives such as Boris 2.0 makes Ready 4 Rishism seem more appetising than it really is. Sunak has won despite being an abysmal campaigner. His record as Chancellor was stupid and ruinous. He borrowed £375 billion throwing money at Covid and other things like levelling up in a splurge as though fiscal responsibility is a ‘political choice’. His own Pointless money-pits like Eat Out to Help Out only served to show that Sunak treated borrowed cash like confetti. Sunak sprayed £30bn of this confetti straight into hands of gangsters and fraudsters.

    The irony here, Sunak is so right by telling Truss she was so wrong? When Liz Truss told Rishi control over interest rates must be taken from the BoE who have failed the nation, it was Liz Truss who was right and Sunak wrong - Sunak’s thinking is this new orthodoxy that has failed us - an insane housing market, negative real interest rates, double digit inflation, taxes at a 70 year high, exponential spending on the worst health service in Europe, £2.4 trillion of debt and lower wages than we had in 2008. Sunak proved to be an instinctive borrower and waster.

    However, we must care for everyone’s mental health. I have spent a couple of weeks on ConHome mentoring them to think positively, So we should at least give the Tory’s a couple of days to be happy and positive, before explaining all the ways Sunak and his policy’s are shit and completely wrong for the moment? Winning the election yesterday and getting crowned today is a bit like someone’s wedding day isn’t it, so we should park reality and let them be happy for a couple of days at least.

    For balance I will add, Sunak policies will be very similar to Starmer’s government, but Sunak’s just a little bit drier, as is now needed than the pointless money pits and expensive borrowing of Starmer’s Labour, in my analysis today.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,185

    It'll make for strange archival viewing of the Queen's funeral to see Liz Truss there as PM, future humans will be left wondering 'who's that?'

    https://twitter.com/robdunsmore/status/1584843157128331266?s=46&t=Pwf5jPCZ4PXhN84gkKI1WA

    Might assume that she was brought in specially for the purpose?

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_mourning
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,227
    Andy_JS said:

    So Raab could be the 3rd home secretary in 6 days if the rumour on Ian Dunt's twitter page is correct.

    Called it...although I thought Gove might be the choice.
  • numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 6,805
    edited October 2022
    Audience seems to be lasting a while. Think Charles is probably more of a talker than QEII - who infamously liked to keep appointments brief.
  • On a brighter note, WhatsApp is down. That will slow the Tory feuding :smiley:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-63383957

    All the cool kids and Tories use Signal.
  • Off-topic: Dual Screen phones for work, yes or no? An old friend was waving his (Surface Duo) at me at the weekend. Looked interesting, can pick one up for a song, curious if anyone uses such a thing already and it offers tangible benefits over a single screen device?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,946
    edited October 2022

    Audience seems to be lasting a while. Think Charles is probably more of a talker than QEII - who infamously liked to keep appointments brief.

    It's still novel and interesting to him.

    Also, it may be the only petty display of power he can truly exercise - haha, they cannot leave until I dismiss them.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,227

    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    kle4 said:

    I do love polling sometimes. Just did a survey, which opened asking if I'd heard of various sporting bodies (FA, ECB etc), and didn't select the options about horses. It then asks something like 'Just to check, have you heard of the Jockey Club?', and I select no, and then it is asking about my attitudes to horseracing. I can almost feel the disappointment in the survey that I have heard nothing, know nothing, and care nothing about horse racing (and cannot suggest how it might grab my interest).

    Horses are nice enough animals, but I have never understood the fascination some people have with them. There is a whole subset of young women that seem to have a horse obsession bordering on mania!
    £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££
    😄

    A tad misogynistic? Or simply world-weary realism?
    Personal experience. Vet out tommorow !
    Ha ha.

    Sister’s a vet, so I know where you’re coming from.

    We are ice hockey parents, which is generally considered to be a money black hole, but on the upside, we skipped sailing, golf and equestrianism, which are also huuuge around here, and *horrific* bottomless pits.
    As John Swinney said...
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,376
    Larry the Cat is now officially running the country for about 20 minutes.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,227
    edited October 2022
    Andy_JS said:

    Larry the Cat is now officially running the country for about 20 minutes.

    Couldn't possibly do worse than Truss did.

    Edit - although Larry seems happy with the new arrangements.

    Rishi Sunak is becoming Prime Minister. His family is loaded so caviar and lobster on the menu for me from tomorrow.

    https://twitter.com/Number10cat/status/1584531605305298945
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,915
    As of 11am, Boris Johnson has still not congratulated his parliamentary colleague and Chancellor of two years.

    A tiny, petty man, obsessively tending to his fragile ego like a maniacal bonsai gardener.

    Churchillian, you say? At this point, even Eden is a stretch. ~AA
  • numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 6,805
    edited October 2022

    It'll make for strange archival viewing of the Queen's funeral to see Liz Truss there as PM, future humans will be left wondering 'who's that?'

    https://twitter.com/robdunsmore/status/1584843157128331266?s=46&t=Pwf5jPCZ4PXhN84gkKI1WA

    Might assume that she was brought in specially for the purpose?

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_mourning
    In 500 years time there will be a curious custom during a change in the British monarch whereby a “Lord High Truss” is appointed to oversee the funeral and accession, who then leaves office seven weeks later. No-one is certain of the origins of this peculiar tradition, it having been lost to time.
  • Andy_JS said:

    Larry the Cat is now officially running the country for about 20 minutes.

    Nah, he’s getting Ready For Rishi.


  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,631
    edited October 2022

    Fun fact - each PM gets their own lectern…

    What do we think @RishiSunak will look like?


    https://twitter.com/darrenmccaffrey/status/1584813870639878144

    Cameron's - certain aesthetic, but lacks substance in the middle
    May's - straight and upstanding, but it doesn't look particularly strong or stable
    Johnson's - wide boy
    Truss's - Twisted, chaotic
    Sunak's - I think I'd use some scaffolding poles and go for 'rebuilding'
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,891
    Andy_JS said:

    Larry the Cat is now officially running the country for about 20 minutes.

    Wiki says vacant:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom

    ;)
  • mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,574
    Andy_JS said:

    The Wikipedia editors never seem to learn how this process takes place. They seem to think Rishi is already PM.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom

    I think they're on top of it. While anyone can edit, it currently says "and will be succeeded by the new party leader Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister, on 25 October 2022."

    And the incumbent is "vacant" (which was true before Liz Truss resigned hohodadjoke).
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216

    rkrkrk said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Rishi Sunak botched Covid response when chancellor, says health expert Devi Sridhar

    A leading public health expert has accused the multimillionaire Rishi Sunak of being out of touch with the challenges of daily life and plotting to “let Covid rip” during the pandemic. Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at Edinburgh University, said the incoming prime minister “handled Covid badly” from a public health perspective when he was chancellor. The academic, a member of Nicola Sturgeon’s Covid-19 advisory group, said Sunak lives “in a bubble of extreme wealth” making it “hard to relate the challenges of daily life including access to healthcare”." (£)

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-botched-covid-response-when-chancellor-says-health-expert-devi-sridhar-wzbkpbfbv

    I think actually Sunak's instincts were right about covid.
    The point about his wealth is irrelevant. But disagree - Sunak botched several things on COVID.

    He got it utterly wrong on eat out to help out (subsidizing COVID spread just before we had to go back into lockdown), he argued against the 2nd lockdown in September - mistakenly thinking it would harm the economy when of course the later longer lockdown was even worse, and (incredibly) he was apparently slow to give the budget for COVID vaccines: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/dame-kate-bingham-rishi-sunak-didnt-even-know-what-vaccine-taskforce/
    That is true -- did not Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford get things wrong about COVID too ?

    But, at least the Tories and the SNP are allowing a public inquiry into their actions.

    There is one country that is not getting a public inquiry into its Government's actions .... shamefully Llafur.
    The Scottish inquiry has collapsed - all the lawyers have quit and not yet been replaced.
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,163
    So who is watching this morning's partial eclipse?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,660

    Ouch! Huw Edwards commenting on Liz Truss small removal van in Downing St!

    Edited on taste and decency grounds.
    I hate to think what that comment was.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,227
    RobD said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Larry the Cat is now officially running the country for about 20 minutes.

    Wiki says vacant:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom

    ;)
    The previous PM was pretty fecking vacant anyway.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,204
    We're now without a PM - This is Larry's moment! :D
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,755

    Andy_JS said:

    Larry the Cat is now officially running the country for about 20 minutes.

    Nah, he’s getting Ready For Rishi.


    Isn’t that a tad Racialist?
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479
    Andy_JS said:

    So Raab could be the 3rd home secretary in 6 days if the rumour on Ian Dunt's twitter page is correct. A bit rough on Grant Shapps if so.

    Oh-oh

    Halloween V: The Revenge of Michael Myers Green
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,227

    Andy_JS said:

    Larry the Cat is now officially running the country for about 20 minutes.

    Nah, he’s getting Ready For Rishi.


    Isn’t that a tad Racialist?
    Also wrong as Sunak is a Hindu not a Sikh.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,660
    Pulpstar said:

    kle4 said:

    I do love polling sometimes. Just did a survey, which opened asking if I'd heard of various sporting bodies (FA, ECB etc), and didn't select the options about horses. It then asks something like 'Just to check, have you heard of the Jockey Club?', and I select no, and then it is asking about my attitudes to horseracing. I can almost feel the disappointment in the survey that I have heard nothing, know nothing, and care nothing about horse racing (and cannot suggest how it might grab my interest).

    Horses are nice enough animals, but I have never understood the fascination some people have with them. There is a whole subset of young women that seem to have a horse obsession bordering on mania!
    £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££
    Veblen Theorem of conspicuous consumption - have a pony-mad daughter.

    It's the proles who get the Vimes Theorem.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 22,824
    edited October 2022

    ydoethur said:

    I'm trying to think if there were ever four ex-PMs in the Commons at once.

    I keep coming back with 'no' because before 1902 so many PMs were from the Lords or were elevated there during or immediately after their premierships.

    So I think three would be the record.

    I wondered if there were four in 1923 but Balfour had taken a peerage by then.

    May, Oaf, Truss. Who’s the fourth?
    He said three.

    Four is next month :smiley:
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,376
    Is it really only 6 years since Cameron was PM?
  • ydoethur said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Larry the Cat is now officially running the country for about 20 minutes.

    Nah, he’s getting Ready For Rishi.


    Isn’t that a tad Racialist?
    Also wrong as Sunak is a Hindu not a Sikh.
    ydoethur said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Larry the Cat is now officially running the country for about 20 minutes.

    Nah, he’s getting Ready For Rishi.


    Isn’t that a tad Racialist?
    Also wrong as Sunak is a Hindu not a Sikh.
    He’s a cat, he doesn’t know the difference.
This discussion has been closed.