Noticeable that those backing Boris are a roll call of the daftest and worst of Tory MPs. Rees-Mogg, Dorries, Patel, Fabricant, Chope, Jenkyns, Bone, Morrissey (not that one, though he probably does), Cash, 30p Lee Anderson etc. Gawd help us.
Chris Bryant has been tweeting that SkyNews has been reporting (now dropped) on the end of the indolent De Pfeffel's 'holiday' like it was the return of the 'King Over the Water' - perhaps true as he was also a fat, lazy liar with both a limited grip on reality and little support...
Yes. Since 2016 the Tory parliamentary party has been like a funnel that is, at each stage of it's demise, only allowing worse and worse quality MPs through. Imagine what that cabinet would look like! As I said about Truss, if you put party above country, Labour must be hoping Johnson wins. The Tories will, imho, fracture even more under his second term.
Yup, he’s only really got lightweights supporting him. Those who know they won’t get a cabinet position in a Sunak government and/ or would partake in ritual suicide if Johnson asked them to.
Well Mordaunt did an excellent job of saying absolutely nothing on BBC this morning other than to suggest focussing on the country rather than the party was a decent idea. Focus is all well and good, but no matter how pin sharp something is, it won't change without doing something about it. Wishy washy Rishi, still hasn't committed, the man that backstabbed, then organised Mordaunt out of the running so well that we got Truss. And worst of all the right orrible member for Uxbridge is circling. Worse, Starmer continues to fail to be able to offer any answers either. We're ****ed
That's worst? Really? What answers is it reasonable for the opposition to provide at the moment? It's not a general election campaign. There's (currently) no votes up for grabs. Take for example energy bills. Labour proposed a 6 month cap on energy prices. The Tories and their client newspapers panned it. Then put in place a more generous scheme. Then finally ended up u-turning and using Labour's plan. And for the longer term Starmer has proposed a state owned company intervenes in the market to keep the other suppliers competitive. The idea has pros and cons but it's clearly an idea worthy of more consideration. This idea Labour has no answers is a Tory talking point and nothing more in my view.
Braverman has come out for Sunak too then. All fun and games and another loyalist compromised by the WEF or lizard people or whatever the latest Daily Mail / Telegraph commenter says. Will be interesting to see who the undecisive remaining Tory MP break for.
It’s such a weird and Boris-cultish thing when people say Sunak ‘backstabbed’. He did the responsible action that was the best action for the country, even if he probably did it predominantly for his own self interest. It is the rest of the party that should be ashamed for having no backbone and backstabbing their constituents. It’s funny that no one, including the Mail/ Telegraph etc, called it backstabbing when Boris and ERG pals undermined May for months and eventually forced her out. Rishi also very clearly explained what would happen if people voted for Truss. Once again we had an expert view verses a chancer preaching careless and unfounded optimism. The former view quite quickly won, and Rishi was entirely vindicated. And like UEA says, Starmer has given a range of ideas, despite none of this being a mess of his creation. I say this as someone who doesn't have a history of disliking the Tories, but how you don’t think he comes out of this better than the rest of them is beyond me. I’m happy for arguments against Starmer’s policies, as I don’t agree with all of them. But it is so frustrating when anyone votes for what is exciting, whilst ignoring basic competence.
You get me wrong. I want Starmer to deliver some practical answers so I can vote for Labour. It's time for them to pull their finger out. Dishing out money for energy bills regardless of people's need or ability to pay is not efficient, it needs targetting. I'm on a fixed rate for another year, with the contribution, meister manor's monthly energy bill is £6. That's not sensible is it? Whilst I shouldn't be penalised for making the right decision to fix for 2 years, I also shouldn't be rewarded when money is so tight. Maybe drop the tax on consumers instead? Spend more on subsidies for insulation and installation of solar panels. Make insulating rental properties attractive by offering tax breaks. Improves our efficiency, creates green energy jobs, it's far better that just chucking money at the problem. My issue with Labour is they can't get out of the opposition party mentality. The Tory's days are numbered thank god. My worry is Labour are not able to fix the Tory mess. Unless things change Binface gets my vote again.
I'm no Boris fan. The abino ape is my bloody MP. Maybe backstabber was harsh but Rishi's actions in manipulating leadership votes directly lead to us getting Truss. In fairness he screwed himself also . His plans to increase corporation rax when we desperately need growth were in my opinion wrong. With respect to Starmers ideas, I hope so. I hope he has the substance and detail to back them up, because he will get the opportunity unless things rapidly change.
This isn’t what you said, though. You said that Starmer fails to offer any answers whatsoever. He does offer answers; you just don’t agree with them. Which is fine, but to suggest that this is somehow worse than the car crash of the current Tory Party is surely taking it a bit far.
Still not convinced Boris is going to run. I’ve got visions of a ‘he had over 100 backers but eventually decided it wasn’t in the best interests of the party…’ line doing a lot of heavy lifting tomorrow.
Called it! Well done sir Thoughts are with Nadine at this sad time. So soon after a bad day for Bedfordshire
Thank **** for that. I wonder if he’ll do the speech circuit or hang around like an unflushed turd to emerge again when the Tories lose the next election. Now is probably a good time to go, as I doubt he’ll retain his seat.
Poor Zahawi. Doesn’t know if he’s coming or going. This went up on the Telegraph website minutes before Johnson made his announcement:
It is amusing to hear Tory MPs argue against a General Election on the basis that the nation can't afford the chaos and inaction it will cause when the country needs a stable government. This after they spent the last 4 months focused on their own internal issues. I would have more respect for them if they just admit that they know they will most likely be thrashed in a GE at the moment and many would lose their seats and that's why they don't want one.
Presuming that the Brexit boneheads don’t propel Mordaunt over the line, it will be very interesting to see the general direction Sunak is taking. Does he take an adversarial line towards the EU or will he try to close that 16% loss of trade? The Country needs the cash. Will he relax immigration controls, ditch the Rwanda policy? Will he bin headcases like Braverman and JRM? Will he end the culture war provocations? Will circumstances lead to a more pragmatic Government? If it does, it seems likely to greatly disappoint the Brexit mob. Already they are condemning Sunak as a ‘globalist’ (what was all that guff about ‘Global Britain’ then?) and as a ‘snake’ who dethroned their hero. As for their electoral chances, Sunak may be able to recover some of the Tory ground in the ‘Blue Wall’ but it is hard to see how he will keep support in the Red Wall if what is on offer is really a new austerity.
I agree. Overall Johnson would do better in the "red wall" but I suspect the national gap between the Tories and Labour will close dramatically on Sunak's crowning. The 30% core Tory voters will return to the fold in all likelihood.
I do hope that you're using this phrase in the sense of the little blocks of deodorant/antiseptic that occasionally get lined up in a multi-user urinal?
You are probably correct, but the poor economic situation means that decisions will be difficult, good news in short supply. In addition, don’t underestimate just how peed off the Brexity types are. There could be splits, a re-emergence of Faragism and sniping from the Boris loving papers. The polls indicate that a divided or chaotic Tory Party won’t be able to win an election. Sunak needs a lot of luck.
Heard some MP from Yeovil I think saying how he’s backing Mordaunt because she’ll unite the party and the country before refusing to comment on whether he’d back Sunak should he win the leadership.
Yes, there's a lot of chatter about the Reform Party from all the union jack logoed types on social media currently.
Confirmed Penny has withdrawn. Sunak will be the next PM. Which he should have been months ago, if we didn’t have such an undemocratic system. The best of a bad set of options. He is at least pragmatic. Thank goodness it didn’t go to the members. How ironic that this was the party arguing that the EU is undemocratic. My vote at the next election will go to the party which argues that the whole system needs a complete overhaul.
