Scrutable

Fishnut wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 1:23 pm Yay! Coffey's gone too!

"I consider it is now the right time to step back from government," Coffey said in a letter to Sunak which was published by his office.

"I consider it is now the right time to leave the sinking ship", said Rat

At this rate, Sunak's going to have to raid the Lords again to fill his cabinet

philbo wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 1:41 pm

Fishnut wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 1:23 pm Yay! Coffey's gone too!

"I consider it is now the right time to step back from government," Coffey said in a letter to Sunak which was published by his office.

"I consider it is now the right time to leave the sinking ship", said Rat

At this rate, Sunak's going to have to raid the Lords again to fill his cabinet

I think you spelled “ennoble some people who might vaguely be described as allies so as to pack the Lords with ministers” wrong

FlammableFlower wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 12:27 pm

Grumble wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 12:05 pm The prospect that Tory infighting will not just continue but possibly get worse and we have another year of this left is so depressing

The country is essentially now a giant tanker, on fire, whilst a group of people fight for control, not realising no one is actually steering as they're so busy fighting.

If they weren’t meant to be in charge I might be enjoying it. Instead they are actively promoting the breakdown of society while in charge of it.

Cameron's back, now Foreign Secretary.

And the misnamed Cleverly is Home Secretary.

Are we still without a Health Secretary following Barclay's move?

Ah, missed it in everything going on. So it's Victoria Atkins.

FlammableFlower wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 4:03 pm Are we still without a Health Secretary following Barclay's move?

Victoria Aitkins.

monkey wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 4:08 pm

FlammableFlower wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 4:03 pm Are we still without a Health Secretary following Barclay's move?

Victoria Aitkins.

You ninja'd me!

Fishnut wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 1:23 pm Yay! Coffey's gone too!

Wouldn't it be wonderful if they got Feargal Sharkey in to run the Dep't of the Environment?: you , know, someone who cares about it.
I know it won't happen, but that thought gave me a warm glow.

A Tweet that Andrea Jenkyns has written to the 1922 committee. Is she a Suella follower?

Brightonian wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 3:16 pm Cameron's back, now Foreign Secretary.

Daily Thump has:

Rat joins sinking ship

Imrael wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 6:22 pm A Tweet that Andrea Jenkyns has written to the 1922 committee. Is she a Suella follower?

A former minister for edukashun, no less: OK, some find it difficult to write good, coherent English, but it's easy enough these days to run stuff through an AI or whatever.

She's not wrong about his utter lack of a mandate though...

Right... so she's put in a letter to the 1922 committee saying Sunak hasn't got a mandate, hoping to trigger the process by which he'll be removed to be replaced by a candidate elected by a minute fraction of the population, therefore not having a mandate to lead a government.

That's Tory Education ministers for you.

TopBadger wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 10:03 pm She's not wrong about his utter lack of a mandate though...

To be fair, no one opposed him, so it's not really his fault he didn't do the bare minimum of democracy that the Tories normally do to pick a leader.

Personally, I think losing to the worst Prime Minister ever just a month or so previous should have disqualified him.

Tessa K wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 10:10 am

Tessa K wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2023 6:15 pm The PM has expressed his confidence in Braverman. That's usually the kiss of death, isn't it?

Ahem...

To be fair, my response wasn't incorrect:

Martin_B wrote: Sat Nov 11, 2023 1:51 am I think it's expected in politics that if you express confidence in someone that they realise they need to pull their head in. I'm not sure if Braverman possesses that degree of rational thought.

FlammableFlower wrote: Mon Nov 13, 2023 10:45 pm Right... so she's put in a letter to the 1922 committee saying Sunak hasn't got a mandate, hoping to trigger the process by which he'll be removed to be replaced by a candidate elected by a minute fraction of the population, therefore not having a mandate to lead a government.

That's Tory Education ministers for you.

Doesnt seem to have much news traction, so I guess its not the opening shot of Suella's coup-de-partie.

Here in the Blue Wall I'm getting bombarded by leaflets from the Tory MP.

- Colour is green, not a hint of blue
- "Conservative" not mentioned anywhere in the text, only appears in the footnote
- 25% environmental concerns
- 12.5% supporting the war on motorists, boasting about the council's speed limit cuts and new speed cameras
- 12.5% pretending HS2 money will improve train services
- 25% national stuff like the 5 pledges
- remainder is waffle

I think the reshuffle will probably help the Tories in the remainy blue wall. Braverman was toxic. Cameron isn't respected but at least isn't to the right of the National Front. I suspect Sunak hopes this new approach will avoid devastating defeat in the general election, aiming for honorable defeat instead.

lpm wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 10:53 am Here in the Blue Wall I'm getting bombarded by leaflets from the Tory MP.

- Colour is green, not a hint of blue
- "Conservative" not mentioned anywhere in the text, only appears in the footnote
- 25% environmental concerns
- 12.5% supporting the war on motorists, boasting about the council's speed limit cuts and new speed cameras
- 12.5% pretending HS2 money will improve train services
- 25% national stuff like the 5 pledges
- remainder is waffle

I think the reshuffle will probably help the Tories in the remainy blue wall. Braverman was toxic. Cameron isn't respected but at least isn't to the right of the National Front. I suspect Sunak hopes this new approach will avoid devastating defeat in the general election, aiming for honorable defeat instead.

I live in a village trapped between the two large towns which will form the name of our new blue wall constituency next time around, so we got leaflets for both towns posted through ours. Shows our MP pointing at potholes and standing outside an ambulance station and feeding horses or whatever. We've not had any political leaflets for years.

I noted at the time to my wife that, although the colour was blue rather than green, he was very much focusing on local issues. Not the tiniest of hints that there was a government in Westminster, that he was in it and that they may have some policies worth mentioning. Instead it's all about trying to get a health centre opened and talking to the train company about the sh.t service.

He's clearly decided that a national government approach won't work, that he has to go local to save his seat. This is a bloke who won 60% of the vote last time around.

Is Braverman going to bring down Sunak?

temptar wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:05 pm Is Braverman going to bring down Sunak?

And which is going to be funnier? Trying and failing, or trying and succeeding?

dyqik wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:10 pm

temptar wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:05 pm Is Braverman going to bring down Sunak?

And which is going to be funnier? Trying and failing, or trying and succeeding?

No no, she's being very gracious about it all:

"In her letter, she told the prime minister he had "manifestly and repeatedly" failed to deliver on policy priorities.

"Either your distinctive style of government means you are incapable of doing so," she wrote.

"Or, as I must surely conclude now, you never had any intention of keeping your promises."

She added: "Someone needs to be honest: your plan is not working, we have endured record election defeats, your resets have failed and we are running out of time. You need to change course urgently.""

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67420331

No chance will she succeed. She's an idiot - by-election losses and bad polls can now be blamed on her for disunity. Sunak will be delighted to have a scapegoat at hand.

lpm wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:32 pm No chance will she succeed. She's an idiot - by-election losses and bad polls can now be blamed on her for disunity. Sunak will be delighted to have a scapegoat at hand.

What are the chances of some extremist Tories defecting to an even further right party? The GOP over here is looking like breaking up on the centrist side, but could the Tories break more on the right?

lpm wrote: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:32 pm No chance will she succeed. She's an idiot - by-election losses and bad polls can now be blamed on her for disunity. Sunak will be delighted to have a scapegoat at hand.

This is the party that once picked obvious idiot Liz Truss for leader and PM. No one seems like the sharpest tool in the box (but they are all tools).

I doubt it will happen too, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.