The United Kingdom and the Death of Boris Johnson as we know it.

[rallyboy]

They've gone full loopy today.

We had the meat tax that didn't exist, now they're fighting an imaginary campaign against councils telling you when you can shop...

Chuck in the fresh attacks on gays and those lazy disabled, the reglorification of Truss, Hunt being financially illiterate, plus Farage being their new hero and you wonder what will become of any old school Tories who have not walked yet - and this conference of thinly-veiled fascism is being held in a building funded by the EU.

Madchester.

[Gloucester Saint]

5 hours ago, Sheaf Saint said:

So Liz Truss wants to "Make Britain Grow Again".

Amazing, original slogan Liz. You must be so pleased with yourself for totally coming up with that on your own.

The only thing Liz Truss will be making grow is Allister Heath’s tadger in the DT. As for the civil servants, the only reason they have so many is a mix of Covid and Brexit. Latter of which was entirely a Tory creation. Easiest deal ever my arse, thick twats. So not even real cuts.

Edited 2 October, 2023 by Gloucester Saint

[badgerx16]

1 hour ago, rallyboy said:

.....and this conference of thinly-veiled fascism is being held in a building funded by the EU.

Madchester.

The conference is being held in what used to be the railway terminus for the London to Manchester line - we still await the official announcement of the cancellation of the Manchester link of HS2, the full length of which will start from London, ( or somewhere close ).

Could somebody put a call in to Alannis Morissette.

Edited 2 October, 2023 by badgerx16

[aintforever]

War in Europe, climate emergency, cost of living crisis, economy barely growing, the NHS is on it’s arse yet the Tories are still obsessed with Chicks with dicks…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-66994133

[Fan The Flames]

14 hours ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Kwarteng and Zahawi? 🙂

A twist on the classic Spitting Image 'and what about the vegetables?'

Truss will be pleased with the comparison.

[Turkish]

34 minutes ago, aintforever said:

War in Europe, climate emergency, cost of living crisis, economy barely growing, the NHS is on it’s arse yet the Tories are still obsessed with Chicks with dicks…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-66994133

it seems like you are as this is your go to "insult" for anyone who mentions it.

There are something like 3m new news articles released per day, yet you've chosen this one to prove it's not you that's obsessed with Chicks with dicks 🤣

Edited 3 October, 2023 by Turkish

[aintforever]

4 minutes ago, Turkish said:

it seems like you are as this is your go to "insult" for anyone who mentions it. Sound like the only one obsessed with "chicks with dicks" is you sunshine.

Sunshine!

You sound like a grumpy old man from the 1980s.

 

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, aintforever said:

Sunshine!

You sound like a grumpy old man from the 1980s.

 

Better than someone who spends the day trawling through 3 million news articles to find articles about transgenders to make out it's not them obsessed by it 

Edited 3 October, 2023 by Turkish

[Gloucester Saint]

30 minutes ago, aintforever said:

War in Europe, climate emergency, cost of living crisis, economy barely growing, the NHS is on it’s arse yet the Tories are still obsessed with Chicks with dicks…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-66994133

The problem Sunak and Hunt have as the two leading adults in government is that the Tory strategists are obsessed with the culture war stuff where Bannon visited the HoC and spoke with Rees Mogg et al. Hunt is resisting on the idiotic calls from Truss and her little group of fantasists for sweeping tax cuts because he’s had a proper cabinet career including a long time at the DoH. He knows all too well the social care and other issues we have and that rolling a dice crossing your fingers for six or bust won’t solve them via trickle down economics.

Truss and Sinclair really ought to emigrate to the US and work for one of the think-tanks GM reads. Take Simon Clarke with them as well, it’s hard enough living in Middlesbrough as it is. They will never accept the public desire for a Westernised health system so I don’t think this country is for them. 

Sunak has gotten stuck on HS2 extension though and it’s a dangerous issue for him.

I honestly don’t know how those two can function in a government with children like Braverman, Badenoch, Grant Schapps/whoever he is this week, Jenryck, Coffey and any other pillocks escaping my memory. Gove counts as an adult although somewhat damaged. And in a party with Truss, Redwood, Lee Anderson owned by GB News, Rees-Mogg, Chope, Patel, Grayling, Keegan (her AC Delco story was full of holes), Halfron, and loads I’ve forgotten on the ERG side of fanatics.

 

[sadoldgit]

The number of outright lies is so depressing. What is even more depressing is that people still defend these people and vote for them. When you use your major conference to say that you know what a woman is you know they are scraping the bottom of the barrel (although it will appeal to the hard of thinking).

We also have the Tory candidate for London mayor, Susan Hall, trying to tell us that the Jewish community feel threatened by Sadiq Khan. Even when several high profile Jewish community leaders come out and say that is not true, she doubles down on her statement.

For those who pretend that this Tory Party isn’t lurching to the right, you only have to look at Patel and Farage (yes, the man wearing Union Jack socks at the Tory Conference) dancing together or listen to Patel bigging up GB News (which is not a news service, it is a campaigning mouthpiece for the far right).

If you want some idea of what has happened to the Conservative Party, perhaps read Rory Stewart’s new book.

When the Tories get kicked out at the next election, watch them turn even further right as the few moderates left will disappear.

Jenrick now saying we need to have more babies. Not so long ago we were told not to have babies if we couldn’t afford them. Isn’t the argument about the migrants that we can’t take so many because we are full up as a country? If childcare is already a problem for many how is going to have more babies going to work?

It almost as if they have completely run out of ideas and are just plucking stuff out of thin air to make it look like they haven’t.

Edited 3 October, 2023 by sadoldgit
Add text

[Fan The Flames]

 

[aintforever]

2 hours ago, Turkish said:

Better than someone who spends the day trawling through 3 million news articles 

Except it's on the BBC homepage you fuck-wit.

 

[Turkish]

12 minutes ago, aintforever said:

Except it's on the BBC homepage you fuck-wit.

 

I wouldn't know i dont spend my days looking for articles about "chicks with Dicks" pretending it's everyone else who's bothered by it.  

[whelk]

2 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

The problem Sunak and Hunt have as the two leading adults in government is that the Tory strategists are obsessed with the culture war stuff where Bannon visited the HoC and spoke with Rees Mogg et al. Hunt is resisting on the idiotic calls from Truss and her little group of fantasists for sweeping tax cuts because he’s had a proper cabinet career including a long time at the DoH. He knows all too well the social care and other issues we have and that rolling a dice crossing your fingers for six or bust won’t solve them via trickle down economics.

Truss and Sinclair really ought to emigrate to the US and work for one of the think-tanks GM reads. Take Simon Clarke with them as well, it’s hard enough living in Middlesbrough as it is. They will never accept the public desire for a Westernised health system so I don’t think this country is for them. 

Sunak has gotten stuck on HS2 extension though and it’s a dangerous issue for him.

I honestly don’t know how those two can function in a government with children like Braverman, Badenoch, Grant Schapps/whoever he is this week, Jenryck, Coffey and any other pillocks escaping my memory. Gove counts as an adult although somewhat damaged. And in a party with Truss, Redwood, Lee Anderson owned by GB News, Rees-Mogg, Chope, Patel, Grayling, Keegan (her AC Delco story was full of holes), Halfron, and loads I’ve forgotten on the ERG side of fanatics.

 

Gove is the voice of sanity amongst this rabble. Whilst culture wars work to a degree I have faith that British electorate is not as blinkered as the US. Tories aren’t working for anybody and going to be so fucked it will be funny. If their response to next years  rejection is to lurch to the right then that is them done for years. 

[Sheaf Saint]

2 hours ago, whelk said:

Gove is the voice of sanity amongst this rabble. 

When you find yourself typing that, you know things have got pretty bad.

[LGTL]

I can only think they're attempting to retrieve some of the 'reform' votes, so as not to be completely obliterated next year. They aren't a serious party at the moment. 

[rallyboy]

10 minutes ago, LGTL said:

They aren't a serious party at the moment. 

Which is odd because they knew how to seriously party a couple of years ago, when Matt Hancock Limited was selling overpriced bodybags and shovels to care homes.

It's all gone a bit cartoon Nazi - invent arguments and enemies, meat taxes, benefit cheats, illegals, the return of Truss, seven bins, gay people coming over here and taking our hotel rooms, an imaginary war on motorists, fuck the climate, the boats, the boats! - chuck in a racist Mayoral candidate and let's see just how thick the voters are when confused by nonsense...

And if he cuts off HS2 at Birmingham, levelling up is dead.

 

[badgerx16]

Watching the Channel 4 docu-drama about Partygate, based on the Sue Grey report.

 

Fucking Hoorays more concerned with "Wine Time Friday" and karaoke than following their own rules.

Edited 3 October, 2023 by badgerx16

[sadoldgit]

Things are getting more bizarre today. Mrs Sunak is being used as the warm up act for her husband’s conference speech and in doing so references how his migrant parents came here and built a successful life. Isn’t that an example of multiculturalism working and of migrants being a good thing? Someone should have told Braverman before her speech.

[Fan The Flames]

46 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

Things are getting more bizarre today. Mrs Sunak is being used as the warm up act for her husband’s conference speech and in doing so references how his migrant parents came here and built a successful life. Isn’t that an example of multiculturalism working and of migrants being a good thing? Someone should have told Braverman before her speech.

The thing is it's a conference where different ideas are put forward, it's not meant to be co-ordinated. The more at odds with each other they are, the better.

Started listening to Sunak, but can't stand the little twat and his high pitched whinging voice. Is he really the best the tories have got.

[buctootim]

Multiculturalism is about maintaining peoples cultural and religious traditions within one society / country. It's not the same as immigration. The opposite of multiculturalism is assimilation or 'melting pot'   

[Weston Super Saint]

3 hours ago, sadoldgit said:

Things are getting more bizarre today. Mrs Sunak is being used as the warm up act for her husband’s conference speech and in doing so references how his migrant parents came here and built a successful life. Isn’t that an example of multiculturalism working and of migrants being a good thing? Someone should have told Braverman before her speech.

Surely even you understand the difference between legal and illegal migration.

[aintforever]

5 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Surely even you understand the difference between legal and illegal migration.

Didn't Mo Farah come here illegally?

[Weston Super Saint]

10 minutes ago, aintforever said:

Didn't Mo Farah come here illegally?

Yep. 

Although as a victim of modern day slavery, he received help and if his teacher hadn't been quite so ignorant of the rules, would have been able to obtain his visa without deception.

Not really sure what your point is though....

[sadoldgit]

52 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Surely even you understand the difference between legal and illegal migration.

Even you should understand that it is not illegal to seek asylum when migrants arrive. They only become “illegal” if they don’t seek asylum and disappear. Many of them have to cross the channel as there are so few “legal” routes open to them. Sunak also talked about Starmer’s alleged “legal” migration numbers which he poured scorn on. Show me the bit in his speech where he said he welcomes migrants (even though we need them). You know, like his parents.

3 hours ago, Fan The Flames said:

The thing is it's a conference where different ideas are put forward, it's not meant to be co-ordinated. The more at odds with each other they are, the better.

Started listening to Sunak, but can't stand the little twat and his high pitched whinging voice. Is he really the best the tories have got.

His voice irritates me too. He sounds like a effete vicar talking to an ever dwindling and disinterested congregation. Even Mad Liz managed to drum up more enthusiasm from her audience, although granted, they are all crazy as a box of frogs.

[Gloucester Saint]

4 hours ago, Fan The Flames said:

The thing is it's a conference where different ideas are put forward, it's not meant to be co-ordinated. The more at odds with each other they are, the better.

Started listening to Sunak, but can't stand the little twat and his high pitched whinging voice. Is he really the best the tories have got.

Quite, and the warm up was a two-up to Braverman and her Monday Club style speech yesterday. Braverman was going for the most rabid Sun/Mail readers yesterday, with a core of Tory members who are political refugees themselves from UKIP and the also defunct BNP. Sunak was aiming at the middle class more technocratic part of the membership, or what remains (no pun intended) of it, knowing the far right haven’t got anywhere else to go before the GE. The smoke-free item is appealing to the same group and floating voters, certainly not to the Lee Anderson/Braverman/Rees-Mogg group and Farage is a prolific smoker, so that may have been a two-up at him hanging around like a stale trail of cigarette smoke.

Post Sunak and Hunt, they really are going to be as unelectable as Labour were in the era of Militant Tendancy and nuclear disarmament. I don’t think Braverman will get the leader job, Tim Montgomerie is right, if Farage gets a safe-ish seat, he will sweep the members because he’s so similar to the rump that’s left from the 1m plus it used to be. But I think she’ll wreck them from the inside like Benn did with Labour without the realities of power (not that it really has much impact on her craziness) to vaguely ground her in reality. Farage himself has had to say about the Tories in the last 15 years, not much of it pleasant. He’s cozying up this week via the ERG but he could bite them again next week. The one nation section might be joining the Lib Dem’s (and will be welcomed).

Truss will be around but spending most of her time in various think-tanks with shady funding spouting garbage. The membership know she has shot her bolt with the public and no amount of tub-thumping by the Mail or Allisder Heath wanking into a sock would make an impact.

I can see 2-3 years of carnage in opposition until they are miles behind what will be a Labour-led administration fighting a rough legacy and a Kinnock/Cameron moderniser (but one with some backbone) will need to perform a repair job for a few years with a new pool of people with the odd old hand around eg Gove, Davis (if he’s not retired). 

 

Edited 4 October, 2023 by Gloucester Saint

[aintforever]

1 hour ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Yep. 

Although as a victim of modern day slavery, he received help and if his teacher hadn't been quite so ignorant of the rules, would have been able to obtain his visa without deception.

Not really sure what your point is though....

Wether immigrants are a success or not depends on the individual not how they got here.

[Weston Super Saint]

1 hour ago, aintforever said:

Wether immigrants are a success or not depends on the individual not how they got here.

Incorrect.

Victims of modern day slavery are always given asylum.

That has fuck all to do with the "individual" as I doubt any of them are "choosing" to be victims.

[Sheaf Saint]

So the Manchester leg of HS2 is finally scrapped then, to nobody's surprise.

Seems like a massive open goal for Starmer to reclaim those Red Wall seats at next year's GE. 

[revolution saint]

Genuine question but is the north really crying out for a high speed rail link to London? I heard Mr North himself, Andy Burnham, describing the decision to scrap the second phase in pretty apocalyptic terms; it would doom the North to second class economic citizens for the rest of the century. Stuff like that.
Now I’m not northern and I don’t use trains much either so I don’t know if he’s right but I’m a bit sceptical that HS2 would make that much difference economically speaking. Certainly there seems to be a decent case for improving the northern rail network in general as it appears that it’s pretty shoddy and doesn’t have the capacity it needs so kind of makes more sense to use the money there instead (huge caveat, if that actually happens).

Anyway, would be interested to hear views on scrapping HS2

 

[Turkish]

33 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

Genuine question but is the north really crying out for a high speed rail link to London? I heard Mr North himself, Andy Burnham, describing the decision to scrap the second phase in pretty apocalyptic terms; it would doom the North to second class economic citizens for the rest of the century. Stuff like that.
Now I’m not northern and I don’t use trains much either so I don’t know if he’s right but I’m a bit sceptical that HS2 would make that much difference economically speaking. Certainly there seems to be a decent case for improving the northern rail network in general as it appears that it’s pretty shoddy and doesn’t have the capacity it needs so kind of makes more sense to use the money there instead (huge caveat, if that actually happens).

Anyway, would be interested to hear views on scrapping HS2

 

As someone who lives in the north I can confirm no one gives a fuck 

[CB Fry]

40 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

Genuine question but is the north really crying out for a high speed rail link to London? I heard Mr North himself, Andy Burnham, describing the decision to scrap the second phase in pretty apocalyptic terms; it would doom the North to second class economic citizens for the rest of the century. Stuff like that.
Now I’m not northern and I don’t use trains much either so I don’t know if he’s right but I’m a bit sceptical that HS2 would make that much difference economically speaking. Certainly there seems to be a decent case for improving the northern rail network in general as it appears that it’s pretty shoddy and doesn’t have the capacity it needs so kind of makes more sense to use the money there instead (huge caveat, if that actually happens).

Anyway, would be interested to hear views on scrapping HS2

 

The main benefit would have been capacity. If you have high speed rail dealing with London and long distance travel, it frees up more lines for inter-city/more local services.

It was never really about getting to London twenty minutes quicker or whatever it was.

Edited 4 October, 2023 by CB Fry

[revolution saint]

5 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

The main benefit would have been capacity. If you have high speed rail dealing with London and long distance travel, it frees up more lines for inter-city/more local services.

It was never really about getting to London twenty minutes quicker or whatever it was.

Ah ok, cheers. That makes sense although presumably the argument is that the money saved is now going to be spent directly on improving capacity on inter city and local services.

Generally I’m in favour of spending on infrastructure but never been that convinced about HS2.

[rallyboy]

HS2 looks like a badly botched project from day one, all big talk over the despatch box and no actual prep.

Casually budgeted by an idiot, followed by big overspend in Tory constituencies that led to favoured companies making hundreds of millions, which was a manifesto promise sold as a key pillar of levelling up - to cancel it now after vandalising the countryside and spending most of the initial budget is surrendering any tight seats in the north, and potentially some safe ones.

Add in Sunak's huge unfunded list of promises, his support for a racist mayoral candidate, madly pledging a train every three minutes to Sheffield, billions for everyone, Mordaunt's insane rambling plus Suella's invasion of Poland and they couldn't have got this week much more wrong. 

Their current media strategy is so ill-judged it's alienating vast swathes of voters, they look totally fucking clueless.

And as an inspired finale Rishi shouted, We need change! 

Oh.

[egg]

1 hour ago, Sheaf Saint said:

So the Manchester leg of HS2 is finally scrapped then, to nobody's surprise.

Seems like a massive open goal for Starmer to reclaim those Red Wall seats at next year's GE. 

Yep. It's a massive own goal politically, but the whole thing looked doomed from the off. 

A G7 country unable to finish building a train line because they can't manage the budget, or figure out how to fund it ain't a great look. 

[Turkish]

36 minutes ago, rallyboy said:

HS2 looks like a badly botched project from day one, all big talk over the despatch box and no actual prep.

Casually budgeted by an idiot, followed by big overspend in Tory constituencies that led to favoured companies making hundreds of millions, which was a manifesto promise sold as a key pillar of levelling up - to cancel it now after vandalising the countryside and spending most of the initial budget is surrendering any tight seats in the north, and potentially some safe ones.

Add in Sunak's huge unfunded list of promises, his support for a racist mayoral candidate, madly pledging a train every three minutes to Sheffield, billions for everyone, Mordaunt's insane rambling plus Suella's invasion of Poland and they couldn't have got this week much more wrong. 

Their current media strategy is so ill-judged it's alienating vast swathes of voters, they look totally fucking clueless.

And as an inspired finale Rishi shouted, We need change! 

Oh.

Yes we do but not the change he’s hoping for 

[Lord Duckhunter]

On 03/10/2023 at 15:48, sadoldgit said:

The number of outright lies is so depressing. What is even more depressing is that people still defend these people and vote for them. When you use your major conference to say that you know what a woman is you know they are scraping the bottom of the barrel (although it will appeal to the hard of thinking).

We also have the Tory candidate for London mayor, Susan Hall, trying to tell us that the Jewish community feel threatened by Sadiq Khan. Even when several high profile Jewish community leaders come out and say that is not true, she doubles down on her statement.

For those who pretend that this Tory Party isn’t lurching to the right, you only have to look at Patel and Farage (yes, the man wearing Union Jack socks at the Tory Conference) dancing together or listen to Patel bigging up GB News (which is not a news service, it is a campaigning mouthpiece for the far right).

If you want some idea of what has happened to the Conservative Party, perhaps read Rory Stewart’s new book.

When the Tories get kicked out at the next election, watch them turn even further right as the few moderates left will disappear.

Jenrick now saying we need to have more babies. Not so long ago we were told not to have babies if we couldn’t afford them. Isn’t the argument about the migrants that we can’t take so many because we are full up as a country? If childcare is already a problem for many how is going to have more babies going to work?

It almost as if they have completely run out of ideas and are just plucking stuff out of thin air to make it look like they haven’t.

What a load of old pony 

[Tamesaint]

On 03/10/2023 at 23:30, badgerx16 said:

Watching the Channel 4 docu-drama about Partygate, based on the Sue Grey report.

 

Fucking Hoorays more concerned with "Wine Time Friday" and karaoke than following their own rules.

The entitled, corrupt cunts get even closer to the Trump ideology. 

What should the Government do with the extra revenue from scrapping HS2??? 

According to Jacob Rees Mogg they should scrap inheritance tax. It may only benefit 3% of the population but he, Sunak and presumably most Tory MPs would benefit. Who cares about "the little people"???

[Fan The Flames]

13 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Quite, and the warm up was a two-up to Braverman and her Monday Club style speech yesterday. Braverman was going for the most rabid Sun/Mail readers yesterday, with a core of Tory members who are political refugees themselves from UKIP and the also defunct BNP. Sunak was aiming at the middle class more technocratic part of the membership, or what remains (no pun intended) of it, knowing the far right haven’t got anywhere else to go before the GE. The smoke-free item is appealing to the same group and floating voters, certainly not to the Lee Anderson/Braverman/Rees-Mogg group and Farage is a prolific smoker, so that may have been a two-up at him hanging around like a stale trail of cigarette smoke.

Post Sunak and Hunt, they really are going to be as unelectable as Labour were in the era of Militant Tendancy and nuclear disarmament. I don’t think Braverman will get the leader job, Tim Montgomerie is right, if Farage gets a safe-ish seat, he will sweep the members because he’s so similar to the rump that’s left from the 1m plus it used to be. But I think she’ll wreck them from the inside like Benn did with Labour without the realities of power (not that it really has much impact on her craziness) to vaguely ground her in reality. Farage himself has had to say about the Tories in the last 15 years, not much of it pleasant. He’s cozying up this week via the ERG but he could bite them again next week. The one nation section might be joining the Lib Dem’s (and will be welcomed).

Truss will be around but spending most of her time in various think-tanks with shady funding spouting garbage. The membership know she has shot her bolt with the public and no amount of tub-thumping by the Mail or Allisder Heath wanking into a sock would make an impact.

I can see 2-3 years of carnage in opposition until they are miles behind what will be a Labour-led administration fighting a rough legacy and a Kinnock/Cameron moderniser (but one with some backbone) will need to perform a repair job for a few years with a new pool of people with the odd old hand around eg Gove, Davis (if he’s not retired). 

A very good summary.

[Fan The Flames]

10 hours ago, CB Fry said:

The main benefit would have been capacity. If you have high speed rail dealing with London and long distance travel, it frees up more lines for inter-city/more local services.

It was never really about getting to London twenty minutes quicker or whatever it was.

A guy from HS2 said yesterday that they failed to articulate the real benefits of HS2, that it was about capacity not time to London and that it was more about van drivers in Manchester than it was about businessmen in London.

They probably also made a strategic error of starting work on the London leg first.

[Fan The Flames]

The tories cheering and clapping like pricks when Sunak was listing the roads he's going spend money on was embarrassing. They really think roads and cars are now a symbol against wokery, after 13 years of failure their most cutting edge proposal is to improve roads that should have been improved years ago, not because it's the right thing to do, but because it will upset the yogurt munchers.

[Weston Super Saint]

15 hours ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Surely even you understand the difference between legal and illegal migration.

We'll put that down as a 'no' then 

14 hours ago, sadoldgit said:

They only become “illegal” if they don’t seek asylum and disappear. Many of them have to cross the channel as there are so few “legal” routes open to them.

I honestly thought this subject wasn't that hard to grasp, but it seems certain posters delight in proving me wrong time and time again.

[rallyboy]

Sunak promised billions to buy votes yesterday in funding for potholes, bypasses and new things that already exist.

If he meant any of it he could spend that money now on mental health services, prisons, school buildings, policing, hospitals, green energy, the home office, doctors etc.

Improving all those areas would win him the election, and rightly so.

But he won't, because he will never spend that money, it was just more fibs for the faithful and the easily-led.

[buctootim]

3 minutes ago, rallyboy said:

Sunak promised billions to buy votes yesterday in funding for potholes, bypasses and new things that already exist.

If he meant any of it he could spend that money now on mental health services, prisons, school buildings, policing, hospitals, green energy, the home office, doctors etc.

Improving all those areas would win him the election, and rightly so.

But he won't, because he will never spend that money, it was just more fibs for the faithful and the easily-led.

It’s an old politicians trick of making announcements about budgets which already exist and pretending that they are new things thry have created. It is marginally better than promising even more unfunded tax cuts or spending paid for by more borrowing. 

[Weston Super Saint]

11 hours ago, egg said:

Yep. It's a massive own goal politically, but the whole thing looked doomed from the off. 

A G7 country unable to finish building a train line because they can't manage the budget, or figure out how to fund it ain't a great look. 

Which means Starmer will announce it today as one of his key commitments to re-instate once they win the election, that would be a 'no-brainer' surely?

Alternatively, if Starmer doesn't announce it will be re-instated, doesn't that actually suggest Sunak has made a tough decision, but the right one?

 

[badgerx16]

I know politicians are famous for rehashing old promises and dressing them up as new ideas, but surely Rishi could have done better than this.....

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/government-pledges-extend-metrolink-line-27842632

"The Government has pledged to extend the Metrolink line to Manchester Airport - where it has already existed for almost nine years".

[badgerx16]

And what about the replacement for phase 2 of HS2, "Network North" ?

It includes a line between Plymouth and Tavistock, admittedly north of the Scilly Isles.......

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/651d64646a6955000d78b2e0/network-north-transforming-british-transport.pdf

Edited 5 October, 2023 by badgerx16

[sadoldgit]

2 hours ago, Fan The Flames said:

A guy from HS2 said yesterday that they failed to articulate the real benefits of HS2, that it was about capacity not time to London and that it was more about van drivers in Manchester than it was about businessmen in London.

They probably also made a strategic error of starting work on the London leg first.

Indeed. The point was made that if they had started in Manchester they wouldn’t now be cancelling the Birmingham to London section.

I remember when the plan was launched the focus was on the time shaved from travel to and from London but as we are hearing now, the benefits would have been widespread.

https://midlandsengine.org/news-events/true-benefits-of-hs2-revealed/
 

Sunak is desperate to find something to fight a campaign on. The non existent war against the motorists, supposed “wokery”, the supposed threat to us all from trans people, the supposed hurricane of migrants (are they now going to be trafficked across the Channel by huge wind machines?), smoking (is that really what we all worry about all day?).

He can’t fight on the major issues of the day because he and his Party are either responsible for them or have been mismanaging them for years.

A commentator said yesterday that he is desperately playing the “looking at the future” card because he knows that the opposition is going after him on the mishandling of the past. Why on earth would you trust the Tories with another 5 years (although some will 🙄) after the clusterfuck of the last 13 years? That is their best shot!

The timing of the Partygate film was excellent but his defence of the indefensible will be that he is focussed on the future. I don’t think many will forget that he was also hit with a fine, though not in the thousands like many of us normal people. Nor will forget the ridiculous Eat Out To Help Out campaign that costs millions and helped spread the virus further or that he was a senior part of one of the most incompetent governments in history.

If Starmer can keep a lid on his party’s own internal divisions and present a stable and competent alternative he should be on for a landslide next year. We should also see a reemergence of the LibDems as a political force at the expense of some of these horrendous people in what have been safe Tory seats.

The Tories look set to implode as the incompetent but almost presentable right faction fight the crazy as a box of frogs far right faction for control of the party.

Given that Sunak’s pledge about bringing back integrity to his Party lasted about 30 seconds and that his colleagues have no problem using gutter tactics on a Trumpian level, it looks like it could be the dirtiest campaign on record this side of the Atlantic.

If Sunak had a shred of decency he would go to the country now so we have a year less of this suffering. Given that he was beaten by a colleague who didn’t last as long as a lettuce though he will cling on as long as possible in the vain hope that something will happen to help bail him out of a hopeless position.

[Tamesaint]

16 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Quite, and the warm up was a two-up to Braverman and her Monday Club style speech yesterday. Braverman was going for the most rabid Sun/Mail readers yesterday, with a core of Tory members who are political refugees themselves from UKIP and the also defunct BNP. Sunak was aiming at the middle class more technocratic part of the membership, or what remains (no pun intended) of it, knowing the far right haven’t got anywhere else to go before the GE. The smoke-free item is appealing to the same group and floating voters, certainly not to the Lee Anderson/Braverman/Rees-Mogg group and Farage is a prolific smoker, so that may have been a two-up at him hanging around like a stale trail of cigarette smoke.

Post Sunak and Hunt, they really are going to be as unelectable as Labour were in the era of Militant Tendancy and nuclear disarmament. I don’t think Braverman will get the leader job, Tim Montgomerie is right, if Farage gets a safe-ish seat, he will sweep the members because he’s so similar to the rump that’s left from the 1m plus it used to be. But I think she’ll wreck them from the inside like Benn did with Labour without the realities of power (not that it really has much impact on her craziness) to vaguely ground her in reality. Farage himself has had to say about the Tories in the last 15 years, not much of it pleasant. He’s cozying up this week via the ERG but he could bite them again next week. The one nation section might be joining the Lib Dem’s (and will be welcomed).

Truss will be around but spending most of her time in various think-tanks with shady funding spouting garbage. The membership know she has shot her bolt with the public and no amount of tub-thumping by the Mail or Allisder Heath wanking into a sock would make an impact.

I can see 2-3 years of carnage in opposition until they are miles behind what will be a Labour-led administration fighting a rough legacy and a Kinnock/Cameron moderniser (but one with some backbone) will need to perform a repair job for a few years with a new pool of people with the odd old hand around eg Gove, Davis (if he’s not retired). 

 

An excellent post.

I can't see Farage becoming Tory party leader. The members may love him and he would sow up the UKIP vote for the Tories. He is too lazy however to take on the responsibility. As leader or (God forbid) PM he wouldn't be able to have as many PFL's (Proper Fucking Lunches which go on all day). He wouldn't be able to dictate policy or to fall out with as many colleagues as he did when UKIP leader.

Above all there wouldn't be enough money in the job for him. Giving up his GB news outing , his  paid speaking engagements and his other money making scams would leave him out of pocket. 

He will continue to haunt the Conservatives .... and as long as he does so the Tories will suffer. 

 

 

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 hour ago, Tamesaint said:

He is too lazy however to take on the responsibility. 

 

 

You don’t half come out with some pony. Completely clueless. The one thing Nigel isn’t is lazy. If there was a remoaner capable of putting half the effort in he did to get out the EU, you may get another vote. You don’t become one of the most influential politicians of this century by being “lazy”.