Liz Truss - an unending void of horror and pain

[Bird on a Fire]

All reasons why the next Labour government need to implement PR... to keep the Tories out of government.

Obvious to pretty much everyone except the party leader, apparently.

[plodder]

It’s small comfort, but you may enjoy the sweet sweet taste of Tory tears in the comments to Daniel Hannan’s moronic article (claiming the markets reaction was due to a fear of Starmer)

https://conservativehome.com/2022/09/28 ... -tax-cuts/

[bjn]

I peaked at my savings and pension today. I am very very very unhappy. Before I did that I was just furious with this shower of fools, now I’m personally very worried.

[Gfamily]

https://twitter.com/tonybohan/status/15 ... 3867097088

[Sciolus]

Well, I'm beaten. I've no idea what happens next and how all these economic factors play out.

My only guess is that the BoE will slam up short term interest rates to 6% or 7% over the next three months, crash the housing market and consumer demand, and then wait for a sharp recession. Inflation will burn out because no-one can afford to spend. Then the BoE can axe interest rates again like the 2008 emergency measures, and hope to god the patient's heart starts beating again.

I have even less idea, but the bold bit: Surely current inflation is not due to consumer spending or anything else internal to the UK economy, it's due to the high cost of essential imported or globally-traded commodities. So surely reducing consumer demand won't help and will simply turn a recession into a depression?

[lpm]

That's what the Tory press wants us to believe.

It's not true. Inflation was worrying before the invasion. It's inherent in the return from Covid lockdowns and economic policy. It is due to excessive consumer demand exceeding available supply.

Obviously gas prices overlay a large amount on top. But the underlying inflation internal to the UK was pretty bad and is now terrible.

ETA: as an illustration, the Cost of Living thread on this forum was commenced a month before Putin invaded Ukraine. The root cause is not war.

[jdc]

I peaked at my savings and pension today. I am very very very unhappy. Before I did that I was just furious with this shower of fools, now I’m personally very worried.

Just looked at mine and I can see that the fund value is < contributions, which isn't ideal.

I'm comforting myself by looking at recovery times from previous Great Economic f.ck Ups and reminding myself that I had no chance of retiring in the next 20 years anyway.

[Woodchopper]

View from the US

Economists and political commentators worldwide have concluded that the government has a road map but doesn’t know how to drive.

“This is a government which is driven by ideology. It wants to cut taxes but is incoherent and basically doesn’t know what it’s doing,” Portes said. Citibank described the move as a “huge, unfunded gamble for the U.K. economy.”

That has led markets to factor in what some economists call a “moron risk premium” on their investments—the expectation of higher returns for being willing to hold the debts of a blundering government.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/09/28/li ... y-markets/

[lpm]

People always mistake articulacy for intelligence.

And the reverse, thinking inarticulate speakers are stupid.

So I have a lot of sympathy for Liz Truss in these radio interviews, with her constant pauses and stumbling sentences. It's entirely wrong for the twitterati types to mock her for it. Not being an Old Etonian smooth talker is a good thing.

Her lack of understanding and incompetence, on the other hand...

[bagpuss]

People always mistake articulacy for intelligence.

And the reverse, thinking inarticulate speakers are stupid.

So I have a lot of sympathy for Liz Truss in these radio interviews, with her constant pauses and stumbling sentences. It's entirely wrong for the twitterati types to mock her for it. Not being an Old Etonian smooth talker is a good thing.

Her lack of understanding and incompetence, on the other hand...

Very much this.

Also, local radio presenters are very much not as rubbish as some people seem to think they are. I saw some comment beforehand (wish I could remember where) about the fact that her first public "appearances" were going to be a series of soft local radio interviews. Soft is definitely not the word I'd use.

[bagpuss]

And on an entirely personal note, Tuesday was a really properly sh.t day to put a house on the market.

Bugger.

(And no, we can't wait to move, it's not us moving, mum's gone into a care home and we're selling her house as she doesn't need it any more and we're not near enough to keep an eye on it, so we need it gone)

[Little waster]

Take it away Lizzee Rascal with guest appearance by EPD's avatar.

[monkey]

Also, local radio presenters are very much not as rubbish as some people seem to think they are. I saw some comment beforehand (wish I could remember where) about the fact that her first public "appearances" were going to be a series of soft local radio interviews. Soft is definitely not the word I'd use.

Just seen this tweet from Paul Mason - clicky

It's OPERATION ROLLING PARTRIDGE!!! Liz Truss is going to hit BBC •local radio• stations this morning where a bunch of sleep-deprived non-expert presenters will throw her soft questions, while she dodges the heavy hitters.

Something like that?

(I wouldn't underestimate local radio either, but I'm not sure this is the best example of how good they are. Seems a bit shooting fish in a barrelish to me.)

[Gfamily]

Liz Truss has finally broken her long painful silence with a series of short painful silences.

[bagpuss]

Also, local radio presenters are very much not as rubbish as some people seem to think they are. I saw some comment beforehand (wish I could remember where) about the fact that her first public "appearances" were going to be a series of soft local radio interviews. Soft is definitely not the word I'd use.

Just seen this tweet from Paul Mason - clicky

It's OPERATION ROLLING PARTRIDGE!!! Liz Truss is going to hit BBC •local radio• stations this morning where a bunch of sleep-deprived non-expert presenters will throw her soft questions, while she dodges the heavy hitters.

Something like that?

(I wouldn't underestimate local radio either, but I'm not sure this is the best example of how good they are. Seems a bit shooting fish in a barrelish to me.)

I think that may have been it, yes. And true, it was rather shooting fish in a barrel, and not all were the best, but some of the interviewers were clearly on excellent form.

[El Pollo Diablo]

Latest Redfield Wilton poll gives Labour a 17-point lead. Also shows Labour beating the SNP in Scotland, which is surely nonsense.

[Woodchopper]

YouGov poll gives Labour a 33 point lead. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/youg ... -n90lqlgf7

Labour won’t win an election with that. But a victory is looking likely

[El Pollo Diablo]

Hook it straight to my f.cking veins

Lab.jpg (93.5 KiB) Viewed 671 times

[monkey]

YouGov poll gives Labour a 33 point lead. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/youg ... -n90lqlgf7

Labour won’t win an election with that. But a victory is looking likely

Pretty sure they would

[El Pollo Diablo]

Sticking the data tables into electoral calculus is great fun

https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcg ... y=2019base

[lpm]

I thought Truss would get quite a nice little honeymoon boost.

All that ritual of being anointed by the Queen, entering Number 10, getting cheered by Tory MPs. Then the glorious opportunity of leading the funeral stuff and being centre of international diplomacy with all the visiting heads of state. Plus the whole not-Boris thing.

A negative honeymoon is unprecedented in UK history or in other countries, surely.

[El Pollo Diablo]

Four polls released in the last hour or two:

Redfield-Wilton: Lab lead of 17 points
Deltapoll: Lab lead of 19 points
Survation: Lab lead of 21 points
YouGov: Lab lead of 33 points

[lpm]

Sticking the data tables into electoral calculus is great fun

https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcg ... y=2019base

That's clearly broken. It shows Labour winning, say, Winchester when of course the Tory vote would go to LibDems. The very low 7% national vote for LibDems would in reality hold up well in their usual target seats, even if it evaporated in all their irrelevant seats.

[El Pollo Diablo]

I agree, but clearly we're into model-breaking territory here

[El Pollo Diablo]

Tory conference starts on Sunday.












Lol.