What a blunder by the Prime Minister. 75% of people probably won't mind or even care. The 25% who really mind are the very people he had left as his voters.
Except on the latest Redfield poll those are no longer the core vote of Sunak's Tory Party.
The latest Redfield has the Tories polling highest with 45-54 year olds on 22% now post debate and Farage return, second highest with 35-44 year olds and with 65+ year olds the Tories are now third on 17% behind Farage's Reform on 19%.
Indeed with 55 year olds and over Reform and Labour now beat the Tories, yet with under 55s the Sunak Tories still lead Reform
The predictable consequence of the PM’s astonishing decision to leave the D-Day commemorations early is that in Zelenskyy’s moving video of his attendance, Britain - Ukraine’s most ardent ally - is represented by the leader of the opposition.
Does anyone think that Boris Johnson would have left early yesterday, and avoided the photo at the end with all the leaders including Zelensky?
Anyone?
Do you think he would have stayed for deeply respectful reasons, because he really wanted to honour the sacrifice or because he felt he needed to and wanted to hobnob with other leaders?
It seems Rishi is being slammed for disrespect rather than the opportunity to mix it with men in suits in a beach.
Will Sunak's apology bring Big_G back to the cause? I guess it will.
Good morning
I broke this story on here expressing my anger and dismay that Sunak would consider it appropriate to leave such an important event prematurely, and my anger and dismay has not abbatted this morning and if anything I am more angry that he has handed Farage such a gift at this critical moment in the campaign and he will feed on it just like Labour do with lettuce Truss
I was born 4 months before D day and throughout my life it has been an important moment and have visited the beaches and cemeteries in Northern France on several occasions and with my family teaching them of this historic moment
I missed conscription by a couple of years and have never wanted to serve in the armed forces, though my grandfather was a professional soldier in the Manchester Regiment and my Uncle lost an arm in the first world war in France
For me this affirms Sunak has no political antennae, is poorly advised, and is heading for a terrible defeat notwithstanding his apology this morning
I would just say to @HYUFD and @Casino_Royale your defense of Sunak demonstrates great loyalty but on this occasion it is misplaced
I have not changed my mind overnight and will likely vote Lib Dem but it is only 1 vote and the conservative will be roundly beaten by Labour here anyway
My fear is that Farage does win a seat and that we see a rise across the UK in his pro Trump, anti vax, anti net zero beliefs which seems to be echoing across Europe
I look forward to Friday 5th July and Starmer speech on Downing Street, and hope he copes with the responsibility but I am not convinced he or indeed any other politician has any idea of what is in store for us all going forward
I have no idea. At this stage I think the Tories should kidnap Rishi lock him in a box in the Outer Hebrides and get Cameron or someone to front the rest of the campaign. It can’t go on like this. It’s too grim.
An illness might be convenient. I hear that an abscess is a nasty thing with a convalescence period long enough to cover the rest of the campaign.
I spent a fair bit of time yesterday trying to get Tory aides to explain why Rishi Sunak was leaving D-Day early - they couldn’t. He has now apologised for flying back early to film a TV interview. Very difficult to understand how Tory camp could have made such a miscalculation
I like the suggestion that somebody offered on here. Biden wanted to have a word with the coming man, Starmer, and did not want Sunak to queer the pitch. So Sunak was asked by higher authority to keep clear. He is a lame duck PM.
That is the most rational explanation that I have heard.
Rational it may be, but 'rational' isn't guiding the Tories these days.
Who the hell is advising Number 10? Maggie would never have left D-Day early. Partly because she had too much political nous, but also Sir Bernard Ingham would have known it was a crass thing to do.
The Tories need to get rid of the bright young things and replace them with a bunch of late middle-aged curmudgeonly Yorkshire blokes... They'd know the score.
Will Sunak's apology bring Big_G back to the cause? I guess it will.
Sunak should not have apologised. He was at Southsea, he was at the D Day commemorations on the British beaches in Normandy.
All he has done now is give fuel to the opposition parties exploitation of the D Day memorials for their own political ends in one of the most disgraceful acts of political campaigning I have ever seen. Starmer, Davey and Farage should be ashamed of themselves
He shouldn't have needed to and your blind partisanship does you no favours
It was idiotic and indefensible and probably terminal for his chance to change the narrative
Starmer, Davey and Farage have nothing to be ashamed of, Sunak has
Permanent very low deposits guaranteed by government has other negatives above the risk of bad loans.
What percentage of council houses sold are still in the hands of owner occupiers, as opposed to private rental companies?
40% of right to buy homes are now rented out privately.
PB likes to ignore the vast shifts in housing tenure in the last 14 years, but ultimately it's the reason why the country has become more unequal and why the number of natural Conservative voters has fallen. There is no evidence that a mass private housebuilding programme would reverse the trend and increase ownership - all the new homes will simply be hoovered up by those who have accumulated large savings.
Think we will see a big increase in stamp duty rates for overseas buyers, possibly up to 10% surcharge (from 2%). Maybe the higher rate for additional properties goes from 3 to 5 as well.
Time these clowns had a lightbulb moment and realised it would be better to build social housing with public money rather than pay their chums bloated private rents.
What a blunder by the Prime Minister. 75% of people probably won't mind or even care. The 25% who really mind are the very people he had left as his voters.
Except on the latest Redfield poll those are no longer the core vote of Sunak's Tory Party.
The latest Redfield has the Tories polling highest with 45-54 year olds on 22% now post debate and Farage return, second highest with 35-44 year olds and with 65+ year olds the Tories are now third on 17% behind Reform on 19%.
Indeed with 55 year olds and over Reform and Labour now beat the Tories, yet with under 55s the Sunak Tories still lead Reform
Will Sunak's apology bring Big_G back to the cause? I guess it will.
Good morning
I broke this story on here expressing my anger and dismay that Sunak would consider it appropriate to leave such an important event prematurely, and my anger and dismay has not abbatted this morning and if anything I am more angry that he has handed Farage such a gift at this critical moment in the campaign and he will feed on it just like Labour do with lettuce Truss
I was born 4 months before D day and throughout my life it has been an important moment and have visited the beaches and cemeteries in Northern France on several occasions and with my family teaching them of this historic moment
I missed conscription by a couple of years and have never wanted to serve in the armed forces, though my grandfather was a professional soldier in the Manchester Regiment and my Uncle lost an arm in the first world war in France
For me this affirms Sunak has no political antennae, is poorly advised, and is heading for a terrible defeat notwithstanding his apology this morning
I would just say to @HYUFD and @Casino_Royale your defense of Sunak demonstrates great loyalty but on this occasion it is misplaced
I have not changed my mind overnight and will likely vote Lib Dem but it is only 1 vote and the conservative will be roundly beaten by Labour here anyway
My fear is that Farage does win a seat and that we see a rise across the UK in his pro Trump, anti vax, anti net zero beliefs which seems to be echoing across Europe
I look forward to Friday 5th July and Starmer speech on Downing Street, and hope he copes with the responsibility but I am not convinced he or indeed any other politician has any idea of what is in store for us all going forward
Ah so it’s ok to use solemn prose, purely associated with sacrifice in jolly gags to mock someone for not displaying enough respect for those that shall not grow old etc. Cool.
Sub 30% used to be basically impossible for Tory / Labour. By the day, people come back. Tories sub 20% can't be ruled out now.
I am sure HFYUD told me last night I was absolutely wrong this was a story, nobody was highlighting other than the Mirror and only highlighting this party because it was good for "my party" (no idea who my party is)....then the Telegraph ran it at 1am.
Rishi has effectively detonated a nuclear bomb on the CON remaining chances of holding a reasonable number of seats
Unbelievably there is a real possibility of CON getting low double digit seats sub 50, may be at the bottom of that range, and only around 15% of the vote!
Ah so it’s ok to use solemn prose, purely associated with sacrifice in jolly gags to mock someone for not displaying enough respect for those that shall not grow old etc. Cool.
It is a well-attested tradition, perhaps because poets unlike PMs don't make decisions to send soldiers out to war.
Permanent very low deposits guaranteed by government has other negatives above the risk of bad loans.
What percentage of council houses sold are still in the hands of owner occupiers, as opposed to private rental companies?
40% of right to buy homes are now rented out privately.
PB likes to ignore the vast shifts in housing tenure in the last 14 years, but ultimately it's the reason why the country has become more unequal and why the number of natural Conservative voters has fallen. There is no evidence that a mass private housebuilding programme would reverse the trend and increase ownership - all the new homes will simply be hoovered up by those who have accumulated large savings.
That's not a surprising stat.
RTB homes are mostly in council estates and few people chose to live in a council estate if given a choice.
They are therefore more likely to be bought by BTR investors.
After a while it becomes a feedback loop - more privately rented houses with multiple occupants making the area steadily less desirable to live in and so steadily fewer people wanting to buy there.
The only way to fix that is to keep building more houses, so that they eventually depreciate to nothing, rather than being seen as a store of wealth. The reason so many houses have been bought by investors, is because property was about the only investment making a return for more than a decade.
Plus if you fund more local council house building from central government taxation, you maintain the stock of social housing for people who need it, while maintaining the wealth redistribution policy that RTB acts as, and allow RTB to funnel some of that new housing you're building into the private market. (Pay for this by taxing people like me more.)
From calling the GE at the wrong time in the pissing down rain to stupid National Service arrangements
Currently they have zero chance of denying Lab a Maj.
The only game changer available to him is something I have been predicting for years they might play.
I hope I am wrong and they don't do this but cornered rats and all that.
The announcement of a Referendum on the death penalty on certain types of horrible criminals if reelected would unfortunately be a game changer with huge swathes of the Population.
Let's hope Sunak puts Country before Party and has no truck with this policy.
What a blunder by the Prime Minister. 75% of people probably won't mind or even care. The 25% who really mind are the very people he had left as his voters.
Except on the latest Redfield poll those are no longer the core vote of Sunak's Tory Party.
The latest Redfield has the Tories polling highest with 45-54 year olds on 22% now post debate and Farage return, second highest with 35-44 year olds and with 65+ year olds the Tories are now third on 17% behind Reform on 19%.
Indeed with 55 year olds and over Reform and Labour now beat the Tories, yet with under 55s the Sunak Tories still lead Reform
But it's the 55+ who are more likely to vote in the election
It's weird to say this but it's perfectly possible that Reform will beat the Tories at this election..
Maybe, maybe not but the right can never win a general election in this country again without Reform AND Tory voters under FPTP voting for the same candidates
In general elections the young and middle aged are much more likely to vote than other elections though, see 2017
Permanent very low deposits guaranteed by government has other negatives above the risk of bad loans.
What percentage of council houses sold are still in the hands of owner occupiers, as opposed to private rental companies?
40% of right to buy homes are now rented out privately.
PB likes to ignore the vast shifts in housing tenure in the last 14 years, but ultimately it's the reason why the country has become more unequal and why the number of natural Conservative voters has fallen. There is no evidence that a mass private housebuilding programme would reverse the trend and increase ownership - all the new homes will simply be hoovered up by those who have accumulated large savings.
Think we will see a big increase in stamp duty rates for overseas buyers, possibly up to 10% surcharge (from 2%). Maybe the higher rate for additional properties goes from 3 to 5 as well.
Time these clowns had a lightbulb moment and realised it would be better to build social housing with public money rather than pay their chums bloated private rents.
They do - the usual issue is that only X% can be social housing because for the development to be "profitable" the rest needs to be sold on a commercial basis.
And then the game for the developer is to reduce that X% as much as possible due to increase in material costs.
I’m not so sure. Reform are taking more votes from Labour than from the Tories if the polls are right
I’ve said it on here many times. Britain will eventually get a populist right party and they will either be the Tories or more likely a replacement for the Tories
There are now suggestions from multiple Tory MPs that Sunak needs to travel back to France today to meet veterans and apologise in person
Lucky he has the private helicopter on standby...
I am guessing this is a joke about going back? Or is it? Whatever he does it is now too late.
I do partly agree with @HYUFD that maybe he should not have apologised though not for the reasons given. He 100% should have attended the iternational commemoration so HYUFD is wrong about that I think.
By apologising though he has propelled the story into THE story and it may now be fatal.
Comparison to the terrible Gordon Brown Gillian Duffy gaffe don't compare to Sunak's blunder. Appearing to insult the veterans is about the worse possible thing you could ever do in British politics.
There are some things that are inexplicable, such as the conduct of the Angeli dynasty in Byzantium. Sunak's approach here is just bizarre. He has the subtlety of Kevin Magnussen and the team spirit of Esteban Ocon, combined with the raw talent of Lance Stroll.
There are many reasons Sunak’s decision to leave early will damage him in this election - but two most glaring. He made defence & duty two cornerstones: ‘only Tories can keep you safe’ & ‘I did my duty during Covid’ In one decision PM has made both of those messages undeliverable
From calling the GE at the wrong time in the pissing down rain to stupid National Service arrangements
Currently they have zero chance of denying Lab a Maj.
The only game changer available to him is something I have been predicting for years they might play.
I hope I am wrong and they don't do this but cornered rats and all that.
The announcement of a Referendum on the death penalty on certain types of horrible criminals if reelected would unfortunately be a game changer with huge swathes of the Population.
Let's hope Sunak puts Country before Party and has no truck with this policy.
Really? I don't think it would sway many votes at all.
Does anyone think that Boris Johnson would have left early yesterday, and avoided the photo at the end with all the leaders including Zelensky?
Anyone?
Do you think he would have stayed for deeply respectful reasons, because he really wanted to honour the sacrifice or because he felt he needed to and wanted to hobnob with other leaders?
It seems Rishi is being slammed for disrespect rather than the opportunity to mix it with men in suits in a beach.
To be honest, a fair amount of both. Boris did understand his history, and would have understood the importance of the day, almost certainly the last time we’ll see WWII veterans at a public event. Boris would have shaken the hands of every last one of them, and stayed until the very end of the day.
Rishi has effectively detonated a nuclear bomb on the CON remaining chances of holding a reasonable number of seats
Unbelievably there is a real possibility of CON getting low double digit seats sub 50, may be at the bottom of that range, and only around 15% of the vote!
I'm on at 25/1 for Tories to get less than 49 seats. This was from a week or so ago. it is no 6.
What a blunder by the Prime Minister. 75% of people probably won't mind or even care. The 25% who really mind are the very people he had left as his voters.
Except on the latest Redfield poll those are no longer the core vote of Sunak's Tory Party.
The latest Redfield has the Tories polling highest with 45-54 year olds on 22% now post debate and Farage return, second highest with 35-44 year olds and with 65+ year olds the Tories are now third on 17% behind Reform on 19%.
Indeed with 55 year olds and over Reform and Labour now beat the Tories, yet with under 55s the Sunak Tories still lead Reform
From calling the GE at the wrong time in the pissing down rain to stupid National Service arrangements
Currently they have zero chance of denying Lab a Maj.
The only game changer available to him is something I have been predicting for years they might play.
I hope I am wrong and they don't do this but cornered rats and all that.
The announcement of a Referendum on the death penalty on certain types of horrible criminals if reelected would unfortunately be a game changer with huge swathes of the Population.
Let's hope Sunak puts Country before Party and has no truck with this policy.
I cannot afford my mortgage but what really matters to me is bringing back the death penalty?
Rishi has effectively detonated a nuclear bomb on the CON remaining chances of holding a reasonable number of seats
Unbelievably there is a real possibility of CON getting low double digit seats sub 50, may be at the bottom of that range, and only around 15% of the vote!
The Tories need to die. It’s that simple. Their pathetic warmed-over Blairism doesn’t cut it any more. They have no idea what to do next except make money for themselves and their friends
Their time has come. Let them die a peaceful death
Who the hell is advising Number 10? Maggie would never have left D-Day early. Partly because she had too much political nous, but also Sir Bernard Ingham would have known it was a crass thing to do.
The Tories need to get rid of the bright young things and replace them with a bunch of late middle-aged curmudgeonly Yorkshire blokes... They'd know the score.
They do need to call in a rescue team and get rid of the idiots running the show right now.
There is clearly nobody who thinks the Tories can win or even be largest party so it makes sense to run a campaign to save as many seats as possible, parachute in centrists so when the next leader is chosen it’s from the less fruitcakey wing, really push Labour on tax plans whilst not being exactly honest about the Tories own plans, because they will never have to be tested.
However they need to get people in who look at what he’s going to say, where he’s going and actually think - should you be doing this, what can go wrong. Some “no people” rather than “yes men”.
Strip everything back to taxes, immigration, and the odd culture war treat. Remember they can say what they like for dog whistles because they will never have to enact it. Just save seats. This is another election where it’s good to lose (yes I know nobody wants to lose and be out of power).
What a blunder by the Prime Minister. 75% of people probably won't mind or even care. The 25% who really mind are the very people he had left as his voters.
Except on the latest Redfield poll those are no longer the core vote of Sunak's Tory Party.
The latest Redfield has the Tories polling highest with 45-54 year olds on 22% now post debate and Farage return, second highest with 35-44 year olds and with 65+ year olds the Tories are now third on 17% behind Reform on 19%.
Indeed with 55 year olds and over Reform and Labour now beat the Tories, yet with under 55s the Sunak Tories still lead Reform
But it's the 55+ who are more likely to vote in the election
It's weird to say this but it's perfectly possible that Reform will beat the Tories at this election..
Are you suggesting this possibility by %vote or seats? %vote has a much higher chance than seats I'd have thought. Personally I'm tempted by 4-1 on Reform 0 seats and have laid Reform 7+ seats at ~4-1
On topic, and somewhat late to the party, I am not sure that there is much value in Biden at 2-1 at the moment. Trump remains the strong favourite for very good reasons.
He is ahead in all of the battle ground states, he is marginally ahead in the overall polling which he can afford to lose by at least 3%, his conviction has made virtually no difference to the polling, he will not face any more trials before November, it is getting increasingly difficult to see what is going to change this.
I wish this was not so but Biden is losing and running out of ammunition. Bewildering but true.
Will Sunak's apology bring Big_G back to the cause? I guess it will.
Sunak should not have apologised. He was at Southsea, he was at the D Day commemorations on the British beaches in Normandy.
All he has done now is give fuel to the opposition parties exploitation of the D Day memorials for their own political ends in one of the most disgraceful acts of political campaigning I have ever seen. Starmer, Davey and Farage should be ashamed of themselves
Rishi Sunak thinks he's the cleverest most important man in any room. His decision yesterday was made on that basis. He thought what he had to do was more important, he always thinks he is more important. Dripping not just in rain but also in privilege
He might think he’s the cleverest man in a room but I doubt very much he’s the sort who thinks he’s the most important - if he did then he would have been forcing himself to the front with the big leaders at D-Day - he seems more like a nerd who knows he’s clever but overcompensates with that to cover his insecurity about whether he has status, earned or unearned.
Ah so it’s ok to use solemn prose, purely associated with sacrifice in jolly gags to mock someone for not displaying enough respect for those that shall not grow old etc. Cool.
Isn't satire a pretty well-attested weapon, even and perhaps especially with war?
From calling the GE at the wrong time in the pissing down rain to stupid National Service arrangements
Currently they have zero chance of denying Lab a Maj.
The only game changer available to him is something I have been predicting for years they might play.
I hope I am wrong and they don't do this but cornered rats and all that.
The announcement of a Referendum on the death penalty on certain types of horrible criminals if reelected would unfortunately be a game changer with huge swathes of the Population.
Let's hope Sunak puts Country before Party and has no truck with this policy.
If Rishi offers it, Farage would match it instantly - so I don't see what it offers him...
Sub 30% used to be basically impossible for Tory / Labour. By the day, people come back. Tories sub 20% can't be ruled out now.
I am sure HFYUD told me last night I was absolutely wrong this was a story, nobody was highlighting other than the Mirror and only highlighting this party because it was good for "my party" (no idea who my party is)....then the Telegraph ran it at 1am.
Yep. You are one of the PB Neutrals and got it spot on. HYUFD can be incisive and insightful - but not this time.
What a blunder by the Prime Minister. 75% of people probably won't mind or even care. The 25% who really mind are the very people he had left as his voters.
Except on the latest Redfield poll those are no longer the core vote of Sunak's Tory Party.
The latest Redfield has the Tories polling highest with 45-54 year olds on 22% now post debate and Farage return, second highest with 35-44 year olds and with 65+ year olds the Tories are now third on 17% behind Reform on 19%.
Indeed with 55 year olds and over Reform and Labour now beat the Tories, yet with under 55s the Sunak Tories still lead Reform
But it's the 55+ who are more likely to vote in the election
It's weird to say this but it's perfectly possible that Reform will beat the Tories at this election..
Are you suggesting this possibility by %vote or seats? %vote has a much higher chance than seats I'd have thought. Personally I'm tempted by 4-1 on Reform 0 seats and have laid Reform 7+ seats at ~4-1
I don't expect Reform to win seats - but Reform are going to be picking up right wing votes from people disgusted at Rishi so Rishi probably added a % or 4 to Reforms total.
and I think the votes Reform picked up yesterday are people who will go into the booth and vote Reform out of disgust of Rishi's behaviour yesterday.
The D-Day fiasco has got to knock the Tory polling back a few % and below Reform, surely?
This campaign is beginning to make May's look not too bad.
We long since past being worse than May campaign. Sunak doesn't meet the public like May and crap policies. What did for May was the old death tax, but actually it a grown up attempt at trying to solve a real problem (that still hasn't been solved) vs Magic Grandpa promising free stuff to everybody.
I think we are now looking at worst ever in recent history. If it is revealed Sunak wasn't even going to attend and it was a comprise, I think it would be rock bottom.
Rishi has effectively detonated a nuclear bomb on the CON remaining chances of holding a reasonable number of seats
Unbelievably there is a real possibility of CON getting low double digit seats sub 50, may be at the bottom of that range, and only around 15% of the vote!
The Tories need to die. It’s that simple. Their pathetic warmed-over Blairism doesn’t cut it any more. They have no idea what to do next except make money for themselves and their friends
Their time has come. Let them die a peaceful death
I have been doing my best not to complete your last sentence
On topic, and somewhat late to the party, I am not sure that there is much value in Biden at 2-1 at the moment. Trump remains the strong favourite for very good reasons.
He is ahead in all of the battle ground states, he is marginally ahead in the overall polling which he can afford to lose by at least 3%, his conviction has made virtually no difference to the polling, he will not face any more trials before November, it is getting increasingly difficult to see what is going to change this.
I wish this was not so but Biden is losing and running out of ammunition. Bewildering but true.
Firstly, wrong on the post conviction polling.
The latest polls have it neck and neck, pre conviction Trump was ahead.
Second Biden has a huge advantage in that his convention is last, since 2000 the candidate whose convention is last, Gore 2000, Bush 2004, McCain 2008, Obama 2012 and Clinton 2016 has got the biggest convention bounce and all those candidates went into September ahead in the polls.
From calling the GE at the wrong time in the pissing down rain to stupid National Service arrangements
Currently they have zero chance of denying Lab a Maj.
The only game changer available to him is something I have been predicting for years they might play.
I hope I am wrong and they don't do this but cornered rats and all that.
The announcement of a Referendum on the death penalty on certain types of horrible criminals if reelected would unfortunately be a game changer with huge swathes of the Population.
Let's hope Sunak puts Country before Party and has no truck with this policy.
If Rishi offers it, Farage would match it instantly - so I don't see what it offers him...
More to the point, if it were such a game-changer Farage will be pushing it anyway.
(Checks: it's not in Reform's current 'working draft' policy document.)
I have no idea. At this stage I think the Tories should kidnap Rishi lock him in a box in the Outer Hebrides and get Cameron or someone to front the rest of the campaign. It can’t go on like this. It’s too grim.
An illness might be convenient. I hear that an abscess is a nasty thing with a convalescence period long enough to cover the rest of the campaign.
If he was ill, Party HQ could then deselect him and replace him with Douglas Ross.
On topic, and somewhat late to the party, I am not sure that there is much value in Biden at 2-1 at the moment. Trump remains the strong favourite for very good reasons.
He is ahead in all of the battle ground states, he is marginally ahead in the overall polling which he can afford to lose by at least 3%, his conviction has made virtually no difference to the polling, he will not face any more trials before November, it is getting increasingly difficult to see what is going to change this.
I wish this was not so but Biden is losing and running out of ammunition. Bewildering but true.
That depends where Trump is gaining votes.
A big swing to Trump in CA, NY, TX and FL gains him nothing.
Its perfectly possible that Trump wins the national popular vote but loses in the EC.
There are many reasons Sunak’s decision to leave early will damage him in this election - but two most glaring. He made defence & duty two cornerstones: ‘only Tories can keep you safe’ & ‘I did my duty during Covid’ In one decision PM has made both of those messages undeliverable
3 cornerstones
You miss - 'National Service - will instil people with respect' something that Rishi clearly lacks...
Will Sunak's apology bring Big_G back to the cause? I guess it will.
Sunak should not have apologised. He was at Southsea, he was at the D Day commemorations on the British beaches in Normandy.
All he has done now is give fuel to the opposition parties exploitation of the D Day memorials for their own political ends in one of the most disgraceful acts of political campaigning I have ever seen. Starmer, Davey and Farage should be ashamed of themselves
Rishi Sunak thinks he's the cleverest most important man in any room. His decision yesterday was made on that basis. He thought what he had to do was more important, he always thinks he is more important. Dripping not just in rain but also in privilege
He might think he’s the cleverest man in a room but I doubt very much he’s the sort who thinks he’s the most important - if he did then he would have been forcing himself to the front with the big leaders at D-Day - he seems more like a nerd who knows he’s clever but overcompensates with that to cover his insecurity about whether he has status, earned or unearned.
He's not clever.
Well we know he isn’t compared to you but he must be relatively clever to have got into the Universities and jobs he did. Out of interest were you at say, Cambridge then a scholarship to MIT? Guess it was better than Oxford then an MBA from Stanford on a Fulbright a scholarship - just trying to work out how you rate his cleverness compared to yours?
Will you be giving up your hugely dynamic successful career to share the benefit of your intelligence with the nation or just carp from the sidelines?
From calling the GE at the wrong time in the pissing down rain to stupid National Service arrangements
Currently they have zero chance of denying Lab a Maj.
The only game changer available to him is something I have been predicting for years they might play.
I hope I am wrong and they don't do this but cornered rats and all that.
The announcement of a Referendum on the death penalty on certain types of horrible criminals if reelected would unfortunately be a game changer with huge swathes of the Population.
Let's hope Sunak puts Country before Party and has no truck with this policy.
If Rishi offers it, Farage would match it instantly - so I don't see what it offers him...
More to the point, if it were such a game-changer Farage will be pushing it anyway.
(Checks: it's not in Reform's current 'working draft' policy document.)
Yep because I actually don't think it's a popular policy in the real world. It looks great but the miscarriages or so well known that people deep down it's best to leave things as they are..
Will Sunak's apology bring Big_G back to the cause? I guess it will.
Sunak should not have apologised. He was at Southsea, he was at the D Day commemorations on the British beaches in Normandy.
All he has done now is give fuel to the opposition parties exploitation of the D Day memorials for their own political ends in one of the most disgraceful acts of political campaigning I have ever seen. Starmer, Davey and Farage should be ashamed of themselves
Who the hell is advising Number 10? Maggie would never have left D-Day early. Partly because she had too much political nous, but also Sir Bernard Ingham would have known it was a crass thing to do.
The Tories need to get rid of the bright young things and replace them with a bunch of late middle-aged curmudgeonly Yorkshire blokes... They'd know the score.
They do need to call in a rescue team and get rid of the idiots running the show right now.
There is clearly nobody who thinks the Tories can win or even be largest party so it makes sense to run a campaign to save as many seats as possible, parachute in centrists so when the next leader is chosen it’s from the less fruitcakey wing, really push Labour on tax plans whilst not being exactly honest about the Tories own plans, because they will never have to be tested.
However they need to get people in who look at what he’s going to say, where he’s going and actually think - should you be doing this, what can go wrong. Some “no people” rather than “yes men”.
Strip everything back to taxes, immigration, and the odd culture war treat. Remember they can say what they like for dog whistles because they will never have to enact it. Just save seats. This is another election where it’s good to lose (yes I know nobody wants to lose and be out of power).
Sunak has done a Ratner, but turned the dial up to eleven.
Rishi has effectively detonated a nuclear bomb on the CON remaining chances of holding a reasonable number of seats
Unbelievably there is a real possibility of CON getting low double digit seats sub 50, may be at the bottom of that range, and only around 15% of the vote!
The Tories need to die. It’s that simple. Their pathetic warmed-over Blairism doesn’t cut it any more. They have no idea what to do next except make money for themselves and their friends
Their time has come. Let them die a peaceful death
Replaced by what? PM Farage in 5-10 years?
There are plenty of us like me who are also ideological Tories and would be even if they got 0 seats, we are not going to vote Reform, we are certainly not going to vote Labour or Green and nor are we going to vote LD nationally either.
The Farage premiership you so desperately want also cannot happen without Tories like me switching to vote for him. That would require a Tory and Reform merger as in Canada where a new Conservative Party was created ultimately as eventually happened under FPTP. If we went to PR of course the Tories could easily continue as a separate party on just 10-20% of the vote and indeed still win 60-120 seats with that
Sunak asking young people to do National Service or to volunteer one weekend a month and then couldn’t be arsed to spend a full day honouring veterans . This will be another take on events .
This latest own goal by him just feeds into other policy announcements .
If you’re on the left liberal wing and echoing that superb post by Big G North Wales we need to be worried about what’s to come.
So us liberal lefties are in the weird position of obviously wanting the Tories to lose but to not get pulverized and certainly we don’t want Farage winning in Clacton .
I’m sure the other parties will have their gaffes during the campaign and will have those very bad news days but Sunak really needs to get a grip .
So it turns out Rishi Sunak originally refused to go to the D-Day commemorations *at all* and only agreed to go for part of it, in a "compromise" with the French.
The D-Day fiasco has got to knock the Tory polling back a few % and below Reform, surely?
This campaign is beginning to make May's look not too bad.
Indeed. It does seem to be self-sabotaging itself. I am not sure it is Sunak - albeit he is the boss so should crack the whip. From day one it has been a bit of a shower.
The launch was laughable. No one looked at the weather forecast. And it seems did not know that they were not allowed to do it inside Number 10. You would have thought they could have lined up a local school or something.
Going home yesterday was symptomatic of the screw ups. Fancy leaving Starmer the opportunity to look prime ministerial during an election campaign. Are they idiots! The interview doesn’t screen until next week. If it was something for now there may be more sympathy, but all I sense is derision.
Rishi has effectively detonated a nuclear bomb on the CON remaining chances of holding a reasonable number of seats
Unbelievably there is a real possibility of CON getting low double digit seats sub 50, may be at the bottom of that range, and only around 15% of the vote!
The Tories need to die. It’s that simple. Their pathetic warmed-over Blairism doesn’t cut it any more. They have no idea what to do next except make money for themselves and their friends
Their time has come. Let them die a peaceful death
I have been doing my best not to complete your last sentence
Now now Big G. Enough thoughts of mortality. There’s life in you yet. Have a glass of vino
I’m not so sure. Reform are taking more votes from Labour than from the Tories if the polls are right
I’ve said it on here many times. Britain will eventually get a populist right party and they will either be the Tories or more likely a replacement for the Tories
There's definitely a cautionary 'be careful what you wish for' floating around, but fuck it: let's see the Tories skewered and deal with Reform after next month.
The D-Day fiasco has got to knock the Tory polling back a few % and below Reform, surely?
This campaign is beginning to make May's look not too bad.
Indeed. It does seem to be self-sabotaging itself. I am not sure it is Sunak - albeit he is the boss so should crack the whip. From day one it has been a bit of a shower.
The launch was laughable. No one looked at the weather forecast. And it seems did not know that they were not allowed to do it inside Number 10. You would have thought they could have lined up a local school or something.
Going home yesterday was symptomatic of the screw ups. Fancy leaving Starmer the opportunity to look prime ministerial during an election campaign. Are they idiots! The interview doesn’t screen until next week. If it was something for now there may be more sympathy, but all I sense is derision.
The being sent to the titanic you can definitely place the fault on your team, in those situations you are just been driven from place to place.
When you are at a massive WW2 commemorations, major world leaders and royalty are there, whatever your team tell you is up next you tell them to get stuffed, particularly if it is just an ITV interview (they will reschedule).
Sunak asking young people to do National Service or to volunteer one weekend a month and then couldn’t be arsed to spend a full day honouring veterans . This will be another take on events .
This latest own goal by him just feeds into other policy announcements .
If you’re on the left liberal wing and echoing that superb post by Big G North Wales we need to be worried about what’s to come.
So us liberal lefties are in the weird position of obviously wanting the Tories to lose but to not get pulverized and certainly we don’t want Farage winning in Clacton .
I’m sure the other parties will have their gaffes during the campaign and will have those very bad news days but Sunak really needs to get a grip .
What a vivid and shocking contrast: the sacrifice of all those brave men so that 80 years on the prime minister could cut short his visit to where they fell so that he could return to London to attack his opponent.
On such judgements we learn about character
I’m sure as they were running up that beach they were thinking “we’re doing this so everyone has to behave in a perfectly ordered way in the future and be forced into attending ceremonies”.
My grandfather wasn’t flying his plane bombing Normandy on D-Day for anything like this confected wank. He was doing it because it was his duty, his job, orders and ultimately he didn’t want the country and Europe to be run by fascists who did not tolerate people not doing what they are ordered to do.
It’s fucking tedious this whole “they didn’t sacrifice their lives for this” - they didn’t care about this sort of shit.
Huge truth in this. The generation that served - my father's generation - now nearly all dead, was the generation that we boomers knew. They brought up us, they were our teachers, neighbours and all that. They were more than glad we won, and knew that slavery awaited us if we lost, glad to get home, many would spend a bit of time on one day each in November remembering, and attending something local, wearing a red poppy. But only a small minority made a lifelong huge ceremonial thing of it. They were mostly unemphatic quiet small 'l' liberals.
Yes, this is right. My own grandad had a long and I would guess pretty traumatic war, fighting across North Africa, Iraq and up through Italy - he was at Montecassino.
He died when I was very young, so I didn’t get to know him well but I do know that while he kept an album of his time at war, he rarely spoke about it, returning to a quiet life first running a shop than working in a factory. A brave man who was also a champion amateur cyclist (and a vegetarian a long time before it was popular). I doubt he would be impressed by any of these opportunists.
Who the hell is advising Number 10? Maggie would never have left D-Day early. Partly because she had too much political nous, but also Sir Bernard Ingham would have known it was a crass thing to do.
The Tories need to get rid of the bright young things and replace them with a bunch of late middle-aged curmudgeonly Yorkshire blokes... They'd know the score.
They may be young but they're not bright.
Even worse they think they're cleverer than they are.
The Downing Street bubble has been a trail of disaster for years - the lockdown parties being only the most notable illustration.
There's a few PBers who might fit your job description of what is required instead.
I have no idea. At this stage I think the Tories should kidnap Rishi lock him in a box in the Outer Hebrides and get Cameron or someone to front the rest of the campaign. It can’t go on like this. It’s too grim.
An illness might be convenient. I hear that an abscess is a nasty thing with a convalescence period long enough to cover the rest of the campaign.
Speaking of which, do we know how TSE is? I hope he's on the mend soon.
So it turns out Rishi Sunak originally refused to go to the D-Day commemorations *at all* and only agreed to go for part of it, in a "compromise" with the French.
Rishi has effectively detonated a nuclear bomb on the CON remaining chances of holding a reasonable number of seats
Unbelievably there is a real possibility of CON getting low double digit seats sub 50, may be at the bottom of that range, and only around 15% of the vote!
The Tories need to die. It’s that simple. Their pathetic warmed-over Blairism doesn’t cut it any more. They have no idea what to do next except make money for themselves and their friends
Their time has come. Let them die a peaceful death
I have been doing my best not to complete your last sentence
Now now Big G. Enough thoughts of mortality. There’s life in you yet. Have a glass of vino
Sunak asking young people to do National Service or to volunteer one weekend a month and then couldn’t be arsed to spend a full day honouring veterans . This will be another take on events .
This latest own goal by him just feeds into other policy announcements .
If you’re on the left liberal wing and echoing that superb post by Big G North Wales we need to be worried about what’s to come.
So us liberal lefties are in the weird position of obviously wanting the Tories to lose but to not get pulverized and certainly we don’t want Farage winning in Clacton .
I’m sure the other parties will have their gaffes during the campaign and will have those very bad news days but Sunak really needs to get a grip .
No. We really really really want Farage to win and we want him to beat the Tories to death and we want him to be leader of the opposition and then become prime minister
Look at the polls. He’s the most popular politician in the land. Sure he’s also hated. But the same was true of thatcher. Very popular with some disliked by many - she got things done and didn’t care
I have no idea. At this stage I think the Tories should kidnap Rishi lock him in a box in the Outer Hebrides and get Cameron or someone to front the rest of the campaign. It can’t go on like this. It’s too grim.
An illness might be convenient. I hear that an abscess is a nasty thing with a convalescence period long enough to cover the rest of the campaign.
Speaking of which, do we know how TSE is? I hope he's on the mend soon.
No nookie for him for several weeks apparently....
I used to love Fighting Talk on 5 Live. The Defend the Indefensible round. Glad to see that HY and CR are channeling that this morning.
We need the Tories to go full Gonzo to change the story. Bring back Hanging. Send the so-called disabled to the Work House (owned by Tory spivs of course). Do away with computers. Something.
So it turns out Rishi Sunak originally refused to go to the D-Day commemorations *at all* and only agreed to go for part of it, in a "compromise" with the French.
If Team Sunak have half a brain, they better get him swatting up on all things D-Day, because I can see the questions now about do you even know what happened at ...
The D-Day fiasco has got to knock the Tory polling back a few % and below Reform, surely?
This campaign is beginning to make May's look not too bad.
Indeed. It does seem to be self-sabotaging itself. I am not sure it is Sunak - albeit he is the boss so should crack the whip. From day one it has been a bit of a shower.
The launch was laughable. No one looked at the weather forecast. And it seems did not know that they were not allowed to do it inside Number 10. You would have thought they could have lined up a local school or something.
Going home yesterday was symptomatic of the screw ups. Fancy leaving Starmer the opportunity to look prime ministerial during an election campaign. Are they idiots! The interview doesn’t screen until next week. If it was something for now there may be more sympathy, but all I sense is derision.
The being sent to the titanic you can definitely place the fault on your team, in those situations you are just been driven from place to place.
When you are at a massive WW2 commemorations, major world leaders and royalty are there, whatever your team tell you is up next you tell them to get stuffed, particularly if it is just an ITV interview (they will reschedule).
Well quite. It’s not as if the PM jumps to ITV’s schedule, it’s very much the other way around. If the PM or his team told them the interview needs to be done at 3am, then everyone assembles at 3am.
Sunak asking young people to do National Service or to volunteer one weekend a month and then couldn’t be arsed to spend a full day honouring veterans . This will be another take on events .
This latest own goal by him just feeds into other policy announcements .
If you’re on the left liberal wing and echoing that superb post by Big G North Wales we need to be worried about what’s to come.
So us liberal lefties are in the weird position of obviously wanting the Tories to lose but to not get pulverized and certainly we don’t want Farage winning in Clacton .
I’m sure the other parties will have their gaffes during the campaign and will have those very bad news days but Sunak really needs to get a grip .
No. We really really really want Farage to win and we want him to beat the Tories to death and we want him to be leader of the opposition and then become prime minister
Look at the polls. He’s the most popular politician in the land. Sure he’s also hated. But the same was true of thatcher. Very popular with some disliked by many - she got things done and didn’t care
What, in is history, makes you think Farage would be a competent, or even good, PM?
I used to love Fighting Talk on 5 Live. The Defend the Indefensible round. Glad to see that HY and CR are channeling that this morning.
We need the Tories to go full Gonzo to change the story. Bring back Hanging. Send the so-called disabled to the Work House (owned by Tory spivs of course). Do away with computers. Something.
Sunak asking young people to do National Service or to volunteer one weekend a month and then couldn’t be arsed to spend a full day honouring veterans . This will be another take on events .
This latest own goal by him just feeds into other policy announcements .
If you’re on the left liberal wing and echoing that superb post by Big G North Wales we need to be worried about what’s to come.
So us liberal lefties are in the weird position of obviously wanting the Tories to lose but to not get pulverized and certainly we don’t want Farage winning in Clacton .
I’m sure the other parties will have their gaffes during the campaign and will have those very bad news days but Sunak really needs to get a grip .
No. We really really really want Farage to win and we want him to beat the Tories to death and we want him to be leader of the opposition and then become prime minister
Look at the polls. He’s the most popular politician in the land. Sure he’s also hated. But the same was true of thatcher. Very popular with some disliked by many - she got things done and didn’t care
Yes but whatever we can say of her she was not a poodle of the Russians.
I have no idea. At this stage I think the Tories should kidnap Rishi lock him in a box in the Outer Hebrides and get Cameron or someone to front the rest of the campaign. It can’t go on like this. It’s too grim.
An illness might be convenient. I hear that an abscess is a nasty thing with a convalescence period long enough to cover the rest of the campaign.
Speaking of which, do we know how TSE is? I hope he's on the mend soon.
I used to love Fighting Talk on 5 Live. The Defend the Indefensible round. Glad to see that HY and CR are channeling that this morning.
We need the Tories to go full Gonzo to change the story. Bring back Hanging. Send the so-called disabled to the Work House (owned by Tory spivs of course). Do away with computers. Something.
If I remember correctly, somebody once got in a lot of trouble because their defence was so out of line people took it seriously and got offended. Sunak clearly trying to same.
So it turns out Rishi Sunak originally refused to go to the D-Day commemorations *at all* and only agreed to go for part of it, in a "compromise" with the French.
Sunak asking young people to do National Service or to volunteer one weekend a month and then couldn’t be arsed to spend a full day honouring veterans . This will be another take on events .
This latest own goal by him just feeds into other policy announcements .
If you’re on the left liberal wing and echoing that superb post by Big G North Wales we need to be worried about what’s to come.
So us liberal lefties are in the weird position of obviously wanting the Tories to lose but to not get pulverized and certainly we don’t want Farage winning in Clacton .
I’m sure the other parties will have their gaffes during the campaign and will have those very bad news days but Sunak really needs to get a grip .
No. We really really really want Farage to win and we want him to beat the Tories to death and we want him to be leader of the opposition and then become prime minister
Look at the polls. He’s the most popular politician in the land. Sure he’s also hated. But the same was true of thatcher. Very popular with some disliked by many - she got things done and didn’t care
Farage is far too lazy and too uninterested in policy to be another Thatcher.
Rishi has effectively detonated a nuclear bomb on the CON remaining chances of holding a reasonable number of seats
Unbelievably there is a real possibility of CON getting low double digit seats sub 50, may be at the bottom of that range, and only around 15% of the vote!
The Tories need to die. It’s that simple. Their pathetic warmed-over Blairism doesn’t cut it any more. They have no idea what to do next except make money for themselves and their friends
Their time has come. Let them die a peaceful death
Replaced by what? PM Farage in 5-10 years?
There are plenty of us like me who are also ideological Tories and would be even if they got 0 seats, we are not going to vote Reform, we are certainly not going to vote Labour or Green and nor are we going to vote LD nationally either.
The Farage premiership you so desperately want also cannot happen without Tories like me switching to vote for him. That would require a Tory and Reform merger as in Canada where a new Conservative Party was created ultimately as eventually happened under FPTP. If we went to PR of course the Tories could easily continue as a separate party on just 10-20% of the vote and indeed still win 60-120 seats with that
I want reform to become the bigger party so that they absorb your pathetic rabble of careerist c*nts. Btw in this critique I don’t include you - you always strike me as honourable and honest, a bit dogmatic but clear headed and loyal. However you are loyal to a fault. You are dutifully canvassing for a bus load of corrupt and greedy shits. Indeed worse than that - corrupt greedy INCOMPETENT shits
I used to love Fighting Talk on 5 Live. The Defend the Indefensible round. Glad to see that HY and CR are channeling that this morning.
We need the Tories to go full Gonzo to change the story. Bring back Hanging. Send the so-called disabled to the Work House (owned by Tory spivs of course). Do away with computers. Something.
No none of that wins back the hardcore Reform voter as Farage can always out populist you, raise the IHT threshold to £5 million and focus on LD voters who voted for Cameron in the bluewall and Labour voters who voted for Cameron in London now and some of the poshest Reform voters who were Tories before. Give Cameron a big role in the campaign (he was at all the D Day commemorations)
I have no idea. At this stage I think the Tories should kidnap Rishi lock him in a box in the Outer Hebrides and get Cameron or someone to front the rest of the campaign. It can’t go on like this. It’s too grim.
An illness might be convenient. I hear that an abscess is a nasty thing with a convalescence period long enough to cover the rest of the campaign.
Speaking of which, do we know how TSE is? I hope he's on the mend soon.
No nookie for him for several weeks apparently....
That's the sort of thing that can male you go off the, er, boil.
Does anyone think that Boris Johnson would have left early yesterday, and avoided the photo at the end with all the leaders including Zelensky?
Anyone?
Key point. Almost any other politician would have stayed to associate with the A list celebrities because they live for this stuff. It isn't a chore for them. Sunak is unusual.
Given Penny's August leadership campaign and her (laughably fake) image there must be a real question that she throws Rishi under the bus tonight rather than tarnishing her own patriotic positioning.
Sunak asking young people to do National Service or to volunteer one weekend a month and then couldn’t be arsed to spend a full day honouring veterans . This will be another take on events .
This latest own goal by him just feeds into other policy announcements .
If you’re on the left liberal wing and echoing that superb post by Big G North Wales we need to be worried about what’s to come.
So us liberal lefties are in the weird position of obviously wanting the Tories to lose but to not get pulverized and certainly we don’t want Farage winning in Clacton .
I’m sure the other parties will have their gaffes during the campaign and will have those very bad news days but Sunak really needs to get a grip .
No. We really really really want Farage to win and we want him to beat the Tories to death and we want him to be leader of the opposition and then become prime minister
Look at the polls. He’s the most popular politician in the land. Sure he’s also hated. But the same was true of thatcher. Very popular with some disliked by many - she got things done and didn’t care
One part of me wants them completely demolished . And the other thinks what would happen post that so I’m having an internal battle ! I’ve decided that I can cope with them losing and a good Labour majority and I’ll take that and be happy. My fear is if they get blown away what comes after will see the UK going down the USA route.
From calling the GE at the wrong time in the pissing down rain to stupid National Service arrangements
Currently they have zero chance of denying Lab a Maj.
The only game changer available to him is something I have been predicting for years they might play.
I hope I am wrong and they don't do this but cornered rats and all that.
The announcement of a Referendum on the death penalty on certain types of horrible criminals if reelected would unfortunately be a game changer with huge swathes of the Population.
Let's hope Sunak puts Country before Party and has no truck with this policy.
If Rishi offers it, Farage would match it instantly - so I don't see what it offers him...
More to the point, if it were such a game-changer Farage will be pushing it anyway.
(Checks: it's not in Reform's current 'working draft' policy document.)
And this gets to the heart of the issue; the strategic mistake of taking on a party further to the right who have no chance of gaining actual power. They can one-up anything the Cons say, consequence-free - thus creating a Dutch auction of nastiness that only serves to put off the 80% of the country who don’t like that stuff.
I used to love Fighting Talk on 5 Live. The Defend the Indefensible round. Glad to see that HY and CR are channeling that this morning.
We need the Tories to go full Gonzo to change the story. Bring back Hanging. Send the so-called disabled to the Work House (owned by Tory spivs of course). Do away with computers. Something.
Does anyone think that Boris Johnson would have left early yesterday, and avoided the photo at the end with all the leaders including Zelensky?
Anyone?
Do you think he would have stayed for deeply respectful reasons, because he really wanted to honour the sacrifice or because he felt he needed to and wanted to hobnob with other leaders?
It seems Rishi is being slammed for disrespect rather than the opportunity to mix it with men in suits in a beach.
To be honest, a fair amount of both. Boris did understand his history, and would have understood the importance of the day, almost certainly the last time we’ll see WWII veterans at a public event. Boris would have shaken the hands of every last one of them, and stayed until the very end of the day.
I think the important difference is that Johnson understood that events like this weren't a distraction from the job, they are the job. The PM is a front man.
One of Sunak's problems is that he's a backroom details-oriented kind of person (me too!) and so he sees this sort of event as time when he can't be doing what he thinks he ought to be doing.
Comments
The latest Redfield has the Tories polling highest with 45-54 year olds on 22% now post debate and Farage return, second highest with 35-44 year olds and with 65+ year olds the Tories are now third on 17% behind Farage's Reform on 19%.
Indeed with 55 year olds and over Reform and Labour now beat the Tories, yet with under 55s the Sunak Tories still lead Reform
https://x.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1798741638262731172/photo/1
It seems Rishi is being slammed for disrespect rather than the opportunity to mix it with men in suits in a beach.
"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the - sorry, there's the helicopter. Dave, you finish this"
https://x.com/andrewhunterm/status/1798982330960531966
Ben Ramanauskas
@BenRamanauskas
·
44m
The Labour Party claims to care about workers rights but Sir Keir Starmer's genie hasn't had a break in months.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-men-s-t20-world-cup-2024-1411166/namibia-vs-scotland-12th-match-group-b-1415712/points-table-standings
The Tories need to get rid of the bright young things and replace them with a bunch of late middle-aged curmudgeonly Yorkshire blokes... They'd know the score.
It was idiotic and indefensible and probably terminal for his chance to change the narrative
Starmer, Davey and Farage have nothing to be ashamed of, Sunak has
It's weird to say this but it's perfectly possible that Reform will beat the Tories at this election..
I am sure HFYUD told me last night I was absolutely wrong this was a story, nobody was highlighting other than the Mirror and only highlighting this party because it was good for "my party" (no idea who my party is)....then the Telegraph ran it at 1am.
Rishi has effectively detonated a nuclear bomb on the CON remaining chances of holding a reasonable number of seats
Unbelievably there is a real possibility of CON getting low double digit seats sub 50, may be at the bottom of that range, and only around 15% of the vote!
From calling the GE at the wrong time in the pissing down rain to stupid National Service arrangements
Currently they have zero chance of denying Lab a Maj.
The only game changer available to him is something I have been predicting for years they might play.
I hope I am wrong and they don't do this but cornered rats and all that.
The announcement of a Referendum on the death penalty on certain types of horrible criminals if reelected would unfortunately be a game changer with huge swathes of the Population.
Let's hope Sunak puts Country before Party and has no truck with this policy.
One leaked email could end this
In general elections the young and middle aged are much more likely to vote than other elections though, see 2017
And then the game for the developer is to reduce that X% as much as possible due to increase in material costs.
I’ve said it on here many times. Britain will eventually get a populist right party and they will either be the Tories or more likely a replacement for the Tories
I do partly agree with @HYUFD that maybe he should not have apologised though not for the reasons given. He 100% should have attended the iternational commemoration so HYUFD is wrong about that I think.
By apologising though he has propelled the story into THE story and it may now be fatal.
Comparison to the terrible Gordon Brown Gillian Duffy gaffe don't compare to Sunak's blunder. Appearing to insult the veterans is about the worse possible thing you could ever do in British politics.
There are some things that are inexplicable, such as the conduct of the Angeli dynasty in Byzantium. Sunak's approach here is just bizarre. He has the subtlety of Kevin Magnussen and the team spirit of Esteban Ocon, combined with the raw talent of Lance Stroll.
There are many reasons Sunak’s decision to leave early will damage him in this election - but two most glaring. He made defence & duty two cornerstones: ‘only Tories can keep you safe’ & ‘I did my duty during Covid’ In one decision PM has made both of those messages undeliverable
Riiiiiiight
Their time has come. Let them die a peaceful death
There is clearly nobody who thinks the Tories can win or even be largest party so it makes sense to run a campaign to save as many seats as possible, parachute in centrists so when the next leader is chosen it’s from the less fruitcakey wing, really push Labour on tax plans whilst not being exactly honest about the Tories own plans, because they will never have to be tested.
However they need to get people in who look at what he’s going to say, where he’s going and actually think - should you be doing this, what can go wrong. Some “no people” rather than “yes men”.
Strip everything back to taxes, immigration, and the odd culture war treat. Remember they can say what they like for dog whistles because they will never have to enact it. Just save seats. This is another election where it’s good to lose (yes I know nobody wants to lose and be out of power).
Public execution and heads on spikes is the minimum requirement
%vote has a much higher chance than seats I'd have thought.
Personally I'm tempted by 4-1 on Reform 0 seats and have laid Reform 7+ seats at ~4-1
He is ahead in all of the battle ground states, he is marginally ahead in the overall polling which he can afford to lose by at least 3%, his conviction has made virtually no difference to the polling, he will not face any more trials before November, it is getting increasingly difficult to see what is going to change this.
I wish this was not so but Biden is losing and running out of ammunition. Bewildering but true.
Think of The Wipers Times.
This campaign is beginning to make May's look not too bad.
and I think the votes Reform picked up yesterday are people who will go into the booth and vote Reform out of disgust of Rishi's behaviour yesterday.
I think we are now looking at worst ever in recent history. If it is revealed Sunak wasn't even going to attend and it was a comprise, I think it would be rock bottom.
The latest polls have it neck and neck, pre conviction Trump was ahead.
Second Biden has a huge advantage in that his convention is last, since 2000 the candidate whose convention is last, Gore 2000, Bush 2004, McCain 2008, Obama 2012 and Clinton 2016 has got the biggest convention bounce and all those candidates went into September ahead in the polls.
(Checks: it's not in Reform's current 'working draft' policy document.)
A big swing to Trump in CA, NY, TX and FL gains him nothing.
Its perfectly possible that Trump wins the national popular vote but loses in the EC.
You miss - 'National Service - will instil people with respect' something that Rishi clearly lacks...
It's over.
Will you be giving up your hugely dynamic successful career to share the benefit of your intelligence with the nation or just carp from the sidelines?
I am so angry that he has hurt so many and probably lost even more of his colleagues seats
When I broke the story last night I anticipated this would happen today because it was so obvious
The shit is only flying in one direction.
There are plenty of us like me who are also ideological Tories and would be even if they got 0 seats, we are not going to vote Reform, we are certainly not going to vote Labour or Green and nor are we going to vote LD nationally either.
The Farage premiership you so desperately want also cannot happen without Tories like me switching to vote for him. That would require a Tory and Reform merger as in Canada where a new Conservative Party was created ultimately as eventually happened under FPTP. If we went to PR of course the Tories could easily continue as a separate party on just 10-20% of the vote and indeed still win 60-120 seats with that
But doing war commemorations isn't optional or negotiable.
This latest own goal by him just feeds into other policy announcements .
If you’re on the left liberal wing and echoing that superb post by Big G North Wales we need to be worried about what’s to come.
So us liberal lefties are in the weird position of obviously wanting the Tories to lose but to not get pulverized and certainly we don’t want Farage winning in Clacton .
I’m sure the other parties will have their gaffes during the campaign and will have those very bad news days but Sunak really needs to get a grip .
So it turns out Rishi Sunak originally refused to go to the D-Day commemorations *at all* and only agreed to go for part of it, in a "compromise" with the French.
https://x.com/AdamBienkov/status/1798981053807558736
The launch was laughable. No one looked at the weather forecast. And it seems did not know that they were not allowed to do it inside Number 10. You would have thought they could have lined up a local school or something.
Going home yesterday was symptomatic of the screw ups. Fancy leaving Starmer the opportunity to look prime ministerial during an election campaign. Are they idiots! The interview doesn’t screen until next week. If it was something for now there may be more sympathy, but all I sense is derision.
When you are at a massive WW2 commemorations, major world leaders and royalty are there, whatever your team tell you is up next you tell them to get stuffed, particularly if it is just an ITV interview (they will reschedule).
He died when I was very young, so I didn’t get to know him well but I do know that while he kept an album of his time at war, he rarely spoke about it, returning to a quiet life first running a shop than working in a factory. A brave man who was also a champion amateur cyclist (and a vegetarian a long time before it was popular). I doubt he would be impressed by any of these opportunists.
Even worse they think they're cleverer than they are.
The Downing Street bubble has been a trail of disaster for years - the lockdown parties being only the most notable illustration.
There's a few PBers who might fit your job description of what is required instead.
Look at the polls. He’s the most popular politician in the land. Sure he’s also hated. But the same was true of thatcher. Very popular with some disliked by many - she got things done and didn’t care
We need the Tories to go full Gonzo to change the story. Bring back Hanging. Send the so-called disabled to the Work House (owned by Tory spivs of course). Do away with computers. Something.
You will be welcome on board HMS New Right
What did he think would be a better way of spending his time ?
He actually came over pretty well in the coverage.
One of Sunak's problems is that he's a backroom details-oriented kind of person (me too!) and so he sees this sort of event as time when he can't be doing what he thinks he ought to be doing.