Liz Truss beats Rishi Sunak to become next UK prime minister

Thoughts, Brits?

[quote]The new prime minister-in-waiting Liz Truss says the campaign has showed "the depth and breadth of talent in the Conservative party."

For once, she's right

[quote]New Survation polling suggests Labour has a 10-point lead over the Tories - rising to *seventeen* points if Liz Truss is Tory leader up against Keir Starmer

There's talk now of a Christmas campaign to reinstate Boris, the Tories really are something else.

r1 If the rest of the world thought they were done laughing at us with Boris gone, just wait until Miss Pork Markets takes over.

Urgh.

Despair upon despair.

For non-Brit DLers, allow me to introduce you to our new PM. And just to say - no, this is not a parody. Not an intentional one anyway.

[quote]There's talk now of a Christmas campaign to reinstate Boris, the Tories really are something else.

Yes, in the same way there has been "talk" of a motion of no confidence in Keir Starmer so Jeremy Corbyn can stand and replace him.

NOT GONNA HAPPEN

Oh, my....

r3 I mean that's great and all. But the next general election isn't until 2025, and short of the entire Labour party getting caught in a grooming scandal there's no chance the Tories will shoot their foot off by calling for an early one so that's likely 3 years of the cheese merchant fucking stuff up in a country rapidly approaching the brink of disaster.

[quote]Most interesting part of the speech - Liz Truss says she will "deliver a great victory for the Conservative party in 2024." Rules out any early election

Bless, she thinks she'll still be leader in 2024.

I asked on the other thread - what's the likelihood of another Tory leadership contest before the next election?

Fake!!

Prime Minister Boris Johnson should be reinstalled by the queen elizabeth NOW!

[quote]Liz Truss says the campaign has showed "the depth and breadth of talent in the Conservative party."

Well, she's technically correct, which is the best kind of correct.

r10 This is true. But, if Labour keeps such a lead, it'll cause more in-fighting within the Tories, meaning paralysis, meaning that the damage they'd usually do to the country would be somewhat frozen. It's unfortunately the best we can hope for right now.

Plus we know Tories have no shame when it comes to stealing popular Labour policies, so there's that to hope for.

Racism, the white guy, who in this case is a girl, won.

She’s basically Boris Johnson in drag. I can only hope this will lead to a Labour win at the next election.

How old is she?

He had BDF. SHOULD HAVE WON!

The PM no-one wants. The Tory MPs wanted Rishi; the members really wanted Penny Mordaunt; the public, it looks like (even Tory voters) can't stand her. Good times!

The Conservatives should do away with members voting. They are electing the head of the Parliamentary party. It would be less destructive and produce better results if only the MPs voted. When did this change?

Brits don't want no curry muncher as PM!

r21 Hague introduced it in 1998

[quote] Well, shit.

What are you saying, OP?

Have you omitted a word or are you merely illiterate?

Shower of cunts.

She’s a stupid, fickle right-wing cunt who changes with the tide to protect herself at all costs. So, worst choice there obv.

You toss leaders like toilet paper. Why should anyone in the world bother paying attention to her? She’ll be gone in a fit of pique in like five minutes.

Shit timbale beats shit rissole to replace shit sandwich.

I'm trying to be less cynical about politics because it can be exhausting, so I'll wait and see what happens before writing Liz Truss off. My hopes aren't very high, though!

Didn’t she write Eats Shoots and Leaves?

81,000 old white people (mostly men) anointed this non-entity as the leader of a country of almost 69 million people.

And I thought the American political system was fucked up.

An above poster wrote the phrase “shower of cunts” and I’m pretty sure that should have been the title for Mary Rodger’s new memoir instead of Shy

I am now intrigued by her extramarital affair with another MP, Mark Field back in 2004-5. Her husband stayed with her, but Field's wife divorced him quickly thereafter.

The ex-Mrs. Field wasn't the forgiving type.

She seems to be a person of only average intelligence.

R30 - Britain is still, contrary to what the photos of big cities and television casting are promoting, remains nearly 80% white.

And, in point of fact, as it IS left to the party still in power to elect its leader, that leader ipso facto becomes, temporarily until a GE is held, leader of the country.

Given that all three female PMs have been Tories and her closest rival was a brown man of immigrant descent, it's interesting that the lefties keep talking about those old white men.

Were the electoral shoe on the other foot, as it likely will be after the next GE, none of you whingers would complain about the LPP electing a leader/PM in similar circumstances - that is to say, a party also with its own agenda without an election foisting its leader on 69 million people.

And, by the way, there are plenty of white men in the Labour party, and the front bench and Tory Cabinet of Johnson was the most diverse in British history.

Or did the ethnic status of Sunak, Kwarteng, Zahawi, Badenoch, Javid, et al. escape you?

They call her “worst pies in London”

The UK’s gone Liz!

comparatively

Rishi would obsess on domestic but he's a dumb pretty boy, and his bde is all bottom, just ask his wife.

Truss will obsess on international... which may benefit the UK, however, domestically, she'll defer to any twat that submits to her licking.

R34, I don't believe the members of any party should be selecting a PM.. In this situation it should be just the MPs, who have mandates. In opposition the parties can do what they like and the voters will then chose at a GE.

[quote]81,000 old white people (mostly men) anointed this non-entity as the leader of a country of almost 69 million people.

Who do you think elects the leader of the Labour Party, the First Minister of Scotland and the First Minister of Wales?

Had anyone been brave enough to stand against Nicola Sturgeon SNP members would have voted on who would be Scottish FM.

In the First Minister of Wales contest in 2018 Mark Drakeford won based on around 12,000 Labour members voting in a nation of 3 million.

We're actually living in a dystopia and we now have Truss to see us through. We're fucked

[quote] Plus we know Tories have no shame when it comes to stealing popular Labour policies, so there's that to hope for.

Assuming you mean that's a good thing which it usually is.

[quote] Rishi would obsess on domestic but he's a dumb pretty boy

Dumb maybe, but a pretty boy? He's fug!

Is Liz Truss "posh."? She looks like she has money.

I follow a lot if Brits on Twitter, and they've all said for months, that Liz is a fucking idiot. I definitely see it. She's kinda funny, but I bet she's also dangerously stupid too. Which isn't going to be good for a country already living through a cost of living crisis.

I've also heard she really enjoys doing photo shoots too. Some people say, she thinks she's Margaret Thatcher. I can see that too.

Huw Edwards was discussing Truss today and what kind of PM she'll be and the only 2 comparisons were Thatcher and Theresa May.

Like they're the only 2 possible.

No comparison with Brown who took over and had to deal with the banking crisis or John Major who had the ERM catastrophe. Or Callaghan who took over from Wilson and faced a winter of discontent.

Really quite lazy journalism to only ever compare women with women.

After the revelations about Rishi's US Green card, which doesn't even make sense from a tax perspective, was made public I knew Liz was going to be PM.

I believe he also still has that condo in Santa Monica California. And didn't he go to Berkeley for college?

He seems to really be enamored with California and its glitter and proximity to Hollywood. But than again, most Brits are. Hollywood and America generally. Throw NYC in there too.

R46 as a Green Card holder, Sunak was liable to pay US taxes in addition to UK taxes. He sure is generous with the taxman.

R44 No, she's probably middle middle class. She went to a comprehensive school. Her father was a maths professor; her mother a nurse and a teacher.

R48 which is what made him, especially, look like an idiot. Is that the sort of person you want running a country?

You're legally only allowed to hold a green card if you're genuinely planning on getting US citizenship as well, so if he was planning on becoming PM of the UK, he wasn't lawfully holding that green card either.

R49- That sounds Upper Middle Class.

Sunak is very short. I wonder if the same law applies in the UK as it does here: the shortass always loses.

R51 a Swedish colleague who has been married to a US citizen for 30 years and only lived briefly in the US a long time ago, still holds a Green Card which annoys the hell out of her for tax reasons.

[quote][R44] No, she's probably middle middle class. She went to a comprehensive school. Her father was a maths professor; her mother a nurse and a teacher.

Liz Truss's upbringing was very similar to Ed Miliband, a politician with equal amounts of charisma.

Thinking about the pairings there've been for PM/LOTO, I think Liz Truss and Keir Starmer are the first pairing where neither attended private school since 1994, when Johns Major and Smith were party leaders.

Since 1994 Tony Blair, David Cameron, Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson all went to fee paying schools.

She had an affair with this person.

He's NOT someone I would want to have an affair with.

does her pussy stink? enquiring minds want to know 🤔

She looks like a South Park character

R52 In the UK generally upper middle class means going to a fee-paying school. A comprehensive school is a state school. I recommend this book if you want to understand class in England better.

R55 He has a very British face.

The UK has its very own George W Bush now. Except, its Liz Truss.

She gives me Dubya vibes.

Rish! says he will stand at the next election.

Hmm, somehow I foresee an unforeseen family event which changes that.

Oh and Priti has resigned before she could be sacked

How pleased are you that Liz Truss is the next PM

22% pleased 50% disappointed

Confidence in her cost of living policies?

19% confident 67% not confident

YouGov all adults

Three female Prime Ministers.

Yanks lose their shit when a woman tries to run for office.

Is she special needs?

The UK is a superpower, not a 7/11. Did anyone honestly think Sunak has a chance?

R63, Nancy Pelosi is akin to how PMs are chosen.

[quote] You're legally only allowed to hold a green card if you're genuinely planning on getting US citizenship as well

Wrong.

DL Brits, did this take an unusually long time? And yes, as an American, I know we dick around for a year and a half before finally fucking picking a president.

But I thought you guys wrapped this shit up in a hurry. Was this an unusually long process, picking a new prime minister after Boris stepped down?

R67

"Overseas applicants must declare an intention to eventually become US citizens if they are to be granted a green card. In addition, holders are required to pay US tax on their global income and also make a legal commitment to make the States their permanent home."

He wasn't committing to do that if he was seeking to become PM. Not a good look at all, to say the least.

R68 No. It only feels that way because Truss was fairly soon the obvious winner.

R68, the process actually followed the projected timeline…and a decision was technically made ahead of schedule. The only reason the race might’ve seemed drawn out is because there was no clear front runner until the final stretch. Sunak could’ve done the honorable thing and dropped out weeks ago, but he wanted one last opportunity to prove how little integrity he has.

R71 Sunak didn't drop out because all of the candidates had promised Graham Brady not to drop out. The 1922 committee wanted a proper debate and scrutiny of the candidates after what happened with regards to electing Theresa May prematurely.

She sounds like a Turd Sandwich.

r68 I know other posters have said otherwise - but yes, it took a ridiculously long time. It's been reported that a lot of Tory MPs are angry over how long it was allowed to go, basically because Graham Brady - who was in charge of the schedule - wanted a holiday.

That’s interesting, R73. I never got Trump vibes from her…

R73 What are you doing here? I thought you were busily planning a clash of tectonic plates in Santa Barbara?

R69, that’s simply not true. You copied and pasted that from an article. Go to the government web page. It’s not there. People have been on green cards for decades.

Even funnier is that it was the Americans who told Sunak that he should give up his green card before visiting the US in an official capacity as chancellor. That was when he gave up the card, in October 2021.

Sunak's own spokeswoman: "Upon his first trip to the US in a government capacity as chancellor, he discussed the appropriate course of action with the US authorities. "At that point it was considered best to return his green card, which he did immediately."

Johnson has one more disgusting belch left

[quote]Exclusive: Sources tell @jessicaelgot and I that Tory MP Christopher Chope is being nominated to join the privileges committee and probe into Partygate. Motion expected overnight will be one of the last acts of Boris Johnson administration. Needs approval of the Commons.

Chope being the one who stopped upskirting becoming a crime, and objected to the passing of the report on Paterson

Is it weird that Boris was an American citizen and Sunak had a Green Card?

R80 Not as weird because Bojo was born in the US so he was automatically one. He gave it up because of money.

The global elite collect passports.

R82 I am not a global elite and I have 3 passports. US, Brit and Swiss. If military service had been compulsory anywhere but in Switzerland, I would have been screwed.

One of her daughters is named Liberty, just like Meghan McCain's. Is this not considered abusive?

R75 Trump was a Giant Douche, Hillary was the Turd Sandwich.

R84 It means she's a libertarian. The Lib Dems are just too economically left wing for the poor dear.

And libertarians are the dumb turds of politics along with communists and fascists.

Her margin of victory over Sunak among the membership was way lower than was being predicted. She failed to get a majority of Tory MPs to back her. She's on very shaky ground..

With Patel (evil bully) , Raab (thick bully - and alleged sex pest), Gove (vindictive, scheming weasel) and Boris (still power-hungry narcissist) headed to the backbenches I predict the knives will start going in by Christmas.

Raab can get it. Oi fit Tory! Oi oi!

No, R89.

Just… no.

So who is she picking for her inner circle and ministers?

R63, that's not something I'd be bragging about, considering those three women. Their being women had nothing to do with anything. One was an absolute horror, and the latest one is a hack opportunist. Congratulations.

The British electoral system is weird. I agree - it’s like how Nancy Pelosi is elected - except it’s for President. Makes the electoral college look fair/democratic.

I'm with R89. I'd let Raab do things to me which are illegal in 69 countries. Yes, Daddy!

She bears a striking resemblance to Lauren Harries, transgender reality TV “star”and spectacular nutcase.

Right-wingers adore Thatcher but she had council homes. Not exactly to give away but for a LOT cheaper than the market price. Now the Tories don't have lots of council homes. Thatcher was fond of saying that at some point you run out of other people's money. What were those council homes at a big discount but other people's money? At some point the Tories run out of things to privatise, or patriotic things like Brexit, and then what?

R93 The electoral college gave you Trump so I'm not exactly convinced.

Unfortunately the mandate with a large majority from the last general election is still valid, so we are stuck with this bunch of spivs.

Agreed, r97--the electoral college is a joke. It can't be defended.

r96 And don't forget the squandering of North Sea oil revenue and the proceeds of privatisation

R99 Right - it unfairly and heavily benefits rural (and therefore Republican) areas. I get the principle that urban areas may have too much influence if it were purely based on numbers of voters but it's out of whack.

Annnd the Americans gave decided a thread about British politics is the perfect place for a discussion of their electoral system?

R100 I kind of love how even the Tories know it's futile to try to privatise the NHS. The US example has been very negative (they still spend more public money on healthcare than us despite supposedly having privatised healthcare).

[quote][R100] I kind of love how even the Tories know it's futile to try to privatise the NHS. The US example has been very negative (they still spend more public money on healthcare than us despite supposedly having privatised healthcare).

Every election Labour claim the Tories will privatise the NHS. The Tories have never promised to privatise the NHS, they never have privatised the NHS, Labour keep making the claim and the Tories keep winning elections.

What does that tell you?

This would be the American equivalent electing Marsha Blackburn the next President. Yes, that bad.

R104 The Tories want to. They genuinely want to and occasionally you get a Daily Telegraph article arguing for it. But it's hopeless and they've given up on it.

R105 Nope, Liz Truss believes in gay marriage, the right to an abortion, supports democracy, etc. It's not comparable.

Do not be stupid, R104. Centene, which is one of the main private healthcare providers in the US, is already running over 40 primary healthcare centres in the UK - over half a million Brits are already (or rather, unwittingly) being provided services by them. Guess who payd for this? The UK's taxpayer. This is a surreptitious takeover of the NHS, and it didn't became commonplace until 2013, when the Tories were already in power.

You cannot say that this privatisation isn't being slowly completed given the evidence presented by even nefarious, hypocritically pro-neoliberal The Guardian.

NHS, you in danger girl!

Guido Fawkes/Paul Staines doesn't sound happy that Liz Truss is reported to be installing price controls.

Of course he'll still keep stanning for her. I often wonder what his blog would look like if it were Labour doing exactly the same things that the Tories have been doing. It's not objective at all....

Rishi Sunak was put in his place by the British establishment. They pretty much let him know, it doesn't matter that he's willing to tear down his and other ethnic minority groups in the UK. But that he himself is still of Indian immigrant stock and is therefore a guest in "Great Britain."

So selling out to the racist white conservative establishment, will only get you but so far. Lesson learned for ole Sunak. I love that for him!

R110 Aw, did you miss out on calling this sexist? So you have to revert to calling it racist.

[quote]Rishi Sunak was put in his place by the British establishment. They pretty much let him know, it doesn't matter that he's willing to tear down his and other ethnic minority groups in the UK. But that he himself is still of Indian immigrant stock and is therefore a guest in "Great Britain."

Oh fuck off.

Liz Truss campaigned to be leader of the Tory party and won. Rishi Sunak campaigned to be Prime Minister and lost.

Tories will elect a non-white Prime Minister long before Labour elect a woman.

R110, that's why I always roll my eyes at Europe as a whole and the bullshit belief they're all so enlightened. An Obama could never happen there. I remember how he was greeted like a rockstar when he went, but they'd never actually vote for him.

And a lot of you DLers are fucking idiots for comparing their immigration situation with ours. We have specifically not had the problems they have had because when you're ambitious, smart and/or willing to work very hard, America is the land of opportunity. The immigrants here actually do far better because all doors aren't closed to them. Europe is still a very provincial, insular, prejudiced place. And if your response is "Trump" - the majority of voters rejected him TWICE.

R111, you're an idiot if you don't know R110 is right about Europe. It's still an incredibly racist place. The kind of shit that goes on at sports stadiums alone over there is like nothing we've seen here.

R112, I agree. I believe Kemi Badenoch will have a great chance once she's better established. I think she'll have to take on Priti Patel, though. I can feel Priti's ambition burning through the screen whenever I see her on the television.

R113 Thank you!

Badenoch is a sociopath.

I'll give the Tories kudos for electing their third woman leader whereas Labour is still zero. That being said, how many more PMs are we going to get before the next election. The Tories just seem to circulate from one inept leader to another. She'll be a weak PM hate by most of her backbenchers.

I tend to favour Labour but even they are pretty shite these days. British politics is really depressing these days.

Being reported Truss will announce a bill freeze - but rather than pay for it via a windfall tax on energy companies, it'll be paid back via a long term levy on bills. Fuck me.

[quote]That being said, how many more PMs are we going to get before the next election. The Tories just seem to circulate from one inept leader to another.

Unless there’s an unpredictable disaster the next election will be a choice between Truss and Starmer as PM and it’s likely they will remain leasers of their parties in opposition as well.

Nicola Sturgeon is now 8 years as First Minister of Scotland. Her husband is under police investigation, the likelihood of independence is zero and her catalogue of failures is becoming more and more impossible to avoid.

Truss and Starmer will both outlast Sturgeon.

R110 Obama only happened because you were all so desperate for the new MLK. Have you forgetting the push-back and horrible racism that went on during his running and tenure? All that Muslim bullshit, too.

You thought Obama was going to be all about peace and love and yet he spent more on weapons than any other president. On the plus, the Obama family are a nice, well educated bunch. A perfect TV time family. Perfectly American. Perfectly fun.

Most Euro countries would have no problem electing a black man as white as Obama. Now let's see you elect an eloquent man as black as MLK. Now, he actually stood for something...but you shot him.

R120 Where do you think racism comes from? It comes from Europe.

So think about that!

We were all so desperate for the new MLK? Are you a complete fucking moron r120? Do you have the slightest idea what you are talking about, ever?

To instruct you, the extent possible, we voted for Obama because after eight years of warmonger bullshit and feed the rich nonsense we were finally willing to take a chance on the black man who promised stability and an end to idiotic neocon fantasies. That is why we got Obama. Also why we rejected McCain, who promised the exact same bullshit and nonsense.

R120 No, actually people compared Obama to JFK.

If you fuckers don't stop fucking around and make a rational decision, I'm going to install my petulant grandson, Harry, as Prime Minister.

They picked the chick, your maj, and another Liz. Gotta love that, right? Or not. Maggie was a pain in the ass, but Theresa was just kind of there, fucking around for a few years. Well, maybe this one will be good.

Wow, 90% of this thread was written by grumpy, unbalanced people.

I think she'll be worse than Johnson.

Mad Nad has resigned from the Cabinet.

R121 Haha. "Europe, the birthplace of racism. "

Do you think, at all?

Haha

Follow on from r128 - looks like the rumours of a peerage are true, so by-election in Mid-Beds, safe Tory seat. Be hilarious if Boris does actually go for it

I find it HILARIOUS that a clown like Johnson was prime minister.

Don't get me wrong, cheeto was worse by a mile.

But, the fact that the UK had Johnson made it less embarrassing, even if only by a very small amount.

R122 Didn't you just strengthen the point? America wanted less warmongering. Obama spoke of peace and then spent a shit-ton on arms.

Obama looked good but did he really change anything? You got to pretend America was less racist for all of five minutes.

Again, why is US politics being talked about in this thread?

R134 Because America is a super power that effects everything.

And the UK would be dead without America. The US is literally holding the world together.

America owns the world. The whole planet belongs to the US. 🇺🇸

I'd be fine if it's all about British politics. How do people think Liz Truss will change things, if at all?

Do price controls ever really work?

Does anyone remember the show The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard starring Jane Horrocks? At least in appearance Truss looks more like Mrs. Pritchard than Mrs. Thatcher.

[quote] Rishi Sunak was put in his place by the British establishment. They pretty much let him know, it doesn't matter that he's willing to tear down his and other ethnic minority groups in the UK. But that he himself is still of Indian immigrant stock and is therefore a guest in "Great Britain."

So selling out to the racist white conservative establishment, will only get you but so far. Lesson learned for ole Sunak. I love that for him!

Meanwhile, in the real world, by tomorrow night the British government will, for the first time ever, have no white men in the 4 Great Offices of State, with our third female PM at No. 10, Kwasi Kwarteng (of Ghanaian descent) as Chancellor, the dim James Cleverley (whose mother is from Sierra Leone) at the Foreign Office and Suella Braverman (of Indian descent) at the Home Office.

Sunak lost not because of his ethnicity, but because he wielded the knife against Boris, who is still overwhelmingly popular with those very party members who voted in this election. From the point of view of the party membership (who are much further rightwing than the rest of the UK electorate) Sunak has also spent the Covid years spraying public money around and incurring debt, while Truss did exactly what they wanted by reaching (generally terrible) trade deals to replace those we had as an EU member.

Sorry, the second paragraph above should be part of the quoted post.

Priti in pink.

r137 For the worse

Yes, I see a bit of Jane Horrocks too; and a bit of Blythe Danner.

I shouldn't judge by that one clip going all over the place, but damn she seems like such a dip. Is this totally unfair? Is this really her?

Okay, I know it's unfair, but is there a counterclip? Or is there some great moment where she really shone forth?

R145 As someone who has worked in politics, in the past, that speech reeks of some hack of a political advisor getting their clutches in her and coaching her very badly.

R145, she has had presentational issues throughout her public life. She comes across as rather cold and severe, and essentially as a fairly technocratic politician without much populist appeal and she previously tried to temper this by smiling more. The result of that was the video you posted, in which she tried (with some success) to appeal to the Tory Party membership by appearing passionate about “Buying British” rather than buying foreign products and by smiling in that totally robotic manner.

Given the ridicule she faced for this, she gave up the attempt to seem warm and passionate, and has instead opted to do a bad impression of Margaret Thatcher, by introducing pauses and lowering the pitch of her voice, for example.

Are we sure that's not Boris in drag?

Too thin to be Boris in drag. Boris is a porker.

Who gives a fuck if she's "warm and passionate". She needs to be competent and have good judgment to surround herself with other competent people. People just need to grow the fuck up.

Her job is not nanny. It is Prime Minister.

It';s depressing to think she may be the Queen's last PM.

I do not think HM has ever had more of a hack for a PM.

[quote] and has instead opted to do a bad impression of Margaret Thatcher, by introducing pauses and lowering the pitch of her voice, for example.

Thatcher herself, did the same thing. The Thatcher we all know from her time as PM was not the natural Thatcher. That was Thatcher after taking lessons in elocution and how to dress.

I may be wrong, but I think Truss may be a slight improvement on Johnson, since she is not openly financially corrupt and likely to be in the pocket of a former KGB agent. She just your typical rightwing, fuck-the-poor scumbag. Her cabinet is going to be an absolute horror show though.

We also have Johnson’s final honours list to endure, which I suspect is going to be a final “fuck you” to anyone who thinks integrity is important. It’s already clear that Nadine Dorries, possibly the most obtusely stupid, cravenly obsequious person ever to hold cabinet office, is headed to the Lords. She would have achieved high office in no other administration, but Johnson (who values personal loyalty above all else, despite failing to be faithful to any of his wives and mistresses) is going to reward her with a lifetime seat in the Upper House. What a cunt the man is.

Liz Truss sounds like a dominatrix name.

Is she heiress to the inventor of the truss fortune?

She'd better be able to curtsy DEEPLY tomorrow to me.

I want that knee to graze the parqueted floor!

R156 she should get Fergie to show her. For all her faults Sarah, Duchess of York has kept the traditional full curtsy alive whenever she is publicly in the vicinity of HM.

Do you seriously think they were going to elect a Hindu? What's next, a Muslim?

[quote] He seems to really be enamored with California and its glitter and proximity to Hollywood.

Yes, this is so true. California is quite close to Hollywood.

There's undoubtedly more pressure on female politicians than male ones - their looks, speech and mannerisms are analysed more than their men - so I don't blame them for working harder on their image.

Not that it seems to be in her nature, but Liz Truss would never get away with the sloppy tailoring of Jeremy Corbyn or the unkempt look of Boris Johnson. Neither could Theresa May or Margaret Thatcher.

Experienced female politicians tend to speak with lowered voices and without any theatrics to avoid accusations of being shrill or emotional. In effect, they try and emulate men, because it's a misogynistic world they're operating in.

This article from 2009 is good on how women are held to a different standard.

Boris Johnson became mayor of London in 2008 after he was sacked from a shadow cabinet role by Michael Howard for lying about having cheated on his wife following Petronella Wyatt's revelations that they had an affair and she had 2 abortions.

Truss also appeared on the "MP sex scandal database" because she'd had an affair with Kwasi Kwarteng who will be appointed her Chancellor. I'm sure the same people outraged by that will have expressed the same outrage at Jeremy Corbyn appointing former extra martial fuck buddy Diane Abbott to his shadow cabinet.

[quote] Do you seriously think they were going to elect a Hindu? What's next, a Muslim?

Better a Muslim than a Jew!

A glorious day for down syndrome people.

Just goes to prove if you're white, you can to anything in the UK.

so 3 Prime Ministers in the span of 6 years? How do the Brits feel about that? I would think it doesn't look good for the Tories. It gives the impression they suck at leadership

R164 I think the number is four. One Labour, three Tory.

Cameron May Johnson Truss

The UK doesn't expect good politicians. The days of anything other than self-serving narcissists are well and truly gone. We're not naive about it. We've seen every disaster turned into massive profits for the boys (just like America.)

Honour, integrity, honesty, compassion, empathy...all signs of weakness.

[quote]so 3 Prime Ministers in the span of 6 years? How do the Brits feel about that? I would think it doesn't look good for the Tories. It gives the impression they suck at leadership

You mean 4 Prime Ministers in 6 years - Cameron, May, Johnson and Truss. 3 of those won elections. 3 of those won elections as leader, one took over when the other stepped down.

There was of course a 6 year period in the 1970s when the UK had 4 Prime Ministers - Heath, Wilson, Callaghan and Thatcher. 3 of those won elections as leader, one took over when the other stepped down.

[quote][R164] I think the number is four. One Labour, three Tory. Cameron May Johnson Truss

HOWLING!!!!!!!!

Literally HOWLING right now.

Which one of those did you think is Labour? LOL

[quote]The UK doesn't expect good politicians. The days of anything other than self-serving narcissists are well and truly gone. We're not naive about it. We've seen every disaster turned into massive profits for the boys (just like America.)

You have to look at the Tory successes and failures alongside the alternative that was offered. Ed Miliband was the weirdo who stabbed his brother in the back and then trashed the 13 year of Labour government he was part of saying it wasn't good enough and he would do it better. His changed the Labour leadership election led to Corbyn being elected, a Brexit supporting Putin sympathiser who had a second job hosting a TV show on Iranian tv.

You have to question why Labour elected a Brexiteer as leader when they knew Cameron was going to host a referendum on leaving the EU.

Labour are in a much better position now and I'd like to think that will help the government get its house in order.

R167 Sorry, for some stupid reason, when I typed Cameron, I was thinking of Gordon Brown.

[quote][R167] Sorry, for some stupid reason, when I typed Cameron, I was thinking of Gordon Brown.

Brown was PM between 2007 and 2010, Cameron became PM in 2010 when Labour left office.

[[167]] You have to question why Labour elected a Brexiteer as leader when they knew Cameron was going to host a referendum on leaving the EU.

That is an interesting point. What is your take on that?

[quote]That is an interesting point. What is your take on that?

When Corbyn stood for leader he'd been an MP for 32 years and achieved little to nothing, and was most famous for having voted with the Tories against the Labour government hundreds of times.

His voting record was there for everyone to see but the people paying £3 to join Labour and vote for him under Miliband's leadership changes didn't bother looking and just saw an old man talking about healing the world and making it a better place, for you and for me and the entire human race.

He argued that Blair/Brown's Labour Party and the Tories were one and the same and that he was the authentic voice of the left. HIs legacy is an 8 seat Tory majority and an an ushering in of the kind of antisemitism to the UK not seen since the 30s.

Rishi Sunak & his billionaire wife will likely take their huge bag of money and move to the US.

[quote] and an an ushering in of the kind of antisemitism to the UK not seen since the 30s Nazi Germany.

And the disease of Jew hatred continues to infect Labour, with Starmer's support.

Starmer is doing a lot, but needs to do more.

When the next election comes Corbyn won't be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate. I hope he stands as an independent so all the cranks can be expelled from Labour for offering their support for him.

Truss as PM also nullifies some of the attacks on Starmer for "enabling Corbyn". Starmer can argue he stayed in the shadow cabinet because he felt there was a responsibility to provide opposition and scrutiny of the government's Brexit plans. Truss stayed loyal to Johnson despite the constant resignations.

It was Labour's legion of bigots who reinstated Corbyn. Labour has enabled Corbyn's vicious Jew hatred for years. Starmer is simply the latest in a long line.

Rishi has said he intends to fight the next election for his constituency. He'll have been emboldened in that choice by his more than respectable losing margin. Polls show little confidence in the new PM. An implosion is far from impossible. Rishi is easily young and confident enough to bide his time for a second crack.

[quote] Just goes to prove if you're white, you can to anything in the UK.

Except spell properly.

Damn, how many affairs has she had???

R32 r55 r161

She is a raging narcissistic thundercunt in that way that plain women often are.

Absolutely cringe-inducing tweet from Johnny Mercer's wife

[quote]He asked her ‘why would you do this, who is going to be better at this role than me, which of your mates gets the job, you promised a meritocracy?’ PM - I can’t answer that Johnny. This system stinks & treats people appallingly. Best person I know sacked by an imbecile @trussliz

truss has shown good judgment in ditching Mercer.

[quote]"Best person I know"

Felicity should get out more...

This Tory infighting (they are normally very, very good at sticking together compared to Labour) highlights that they're rudderless and a bit fucked.

She already sounds tiresome.

Great Tweet by Felicity. Reveals that Truss is just dolling out the jobs to her clique - and apparently on the basis of who is best suited to create maximum chaos in each department - and creating enemies needlessly.

Just shows how politically tin-eared she is.

[quote]This Tory infighting (they are normally very, very good at sticking together compared to Labour)

When have the Tories ever been united since Thatcher?

Apart from a brief period under Cameron they've been at it like rats in a sack.

Woman sitting behind her is new deputy PM

[quote] Great Tweet by Felicity. Reveals that Truss is just dolling out the jobs to her clique - and apparently on the basis of who is best suited to create maximum chaos in each department - and creating enemies needlessly.

Do you know who Johnny Mercer is and his stance on historic prosecutions?

It is not in any way ‘a great tweet’

The Mail have completely lost the plot

And a white dove flew down to the new Prime Minister with an olive branch, and She knew the rains were abated from off the capital. And God spake unto Her, saying, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you, so together We can ride it out.

R190 If He was going to make a covenant with a Prime Minister and their seed, He's late. Boris just left.

So does she get that apple now r190? It's a whole damn thing with this bitch.

Kemi as Secretary of State - smartly get the foreign affairs experience she will want for when she becomes Prime Minister.

Kemi Badenoch MP @KemiBadenoch has been appointed Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade @TradeGovUK .

One of the jobs Truss made a hash of in her fall upwards.

This must infuriate the DL trolls who hate women. Ha ha ha you Incel straight and gay man

A British CNN anchor was covering this story last night from the point of view of Larry, Chief Mouser to 10 Downing Street. He pointed out that Larry had outlasted Cameron, May and Johnson and would no doubt outlast Truss and on and on and on.

R195, why are you bashing gay men over this? Despite the attempts by the TRAs and those who seek to put them before women, children and gay men, gay men generally have always supported gay women.

I am so happy that Kemi has a chance to show her skill and smarts in other areas.

☝🏼🙏❤️ Thank you 😊

Tracey Ullman will eviscerate her. Bwahaha. I can’t wait!

Kemi is the anti-woke politician.

I’m rooting for her

Everyone knows that PMs meet with Her Majesty weekly. But, secretly Larry, Chief Mouser to 10 Downing Street, meets with HM as well, so they can bitch about the imbeciles they keep sending them and how the PMs come and go yet they both endure.

The funny thing is that Larry is a terrible mouser. I don't think he's even killed one. He sleeps when they run around and lets them go without hurting them.

R203 He is really running the police and borders isn't he?

R188 It is a fucking great Tweet. Gone viral and already started to undermine Truss and her cabinet stuffed with ERG freaks and swivel-eyed lunatics.

Who are you, anyway? Andrew Pierce?

[quote] Do you know who Johnny Mercer is … ?

R188 He wrote songs for Frank Sinatra

R206 Excuse me...this is DL. He wrote songs for Judy Garland.

will she last as long as May or Johnson?

Poor Labour Party, only three labour leaders have won an election in the last 120 years. And still they put clowns up for the job.

I know NOTHING about the woman but she has a creepy resemblance to the ghastly, gaffe-prone, gullible Papist Mrs Blair.

[quote][R188] It is a fucking great Tweet. Gone viral and already started to undermine Truss and her cabinet stuffed with ERG freaks and swivel-eyed lunatics. Who are you, anyway? Andrew Pierce?

Johnny Mercer is a widely ridiculed MP and his wife is most famous for not being a prostitute as alleged in the Plymouth Herald comments section.

Mercer was also sacked by Theresa May, and reinstated by Boris Johnson because he's a Johnson toady.

Are you the type of person who retweets anything critical Dominic Cummings has to say about Boris Johnson or Liz Truss but ignores all the tweets where he shows himself to be a Putin appeaser? You are, aren't you?

God knows there's plenty to ridicule this government about, but have higher standards than Johnny Mercer's wife, please.

Wasn't Sunak a conservative too? What's the difference? Are you anti-conservative or just anti-strong female?

I just find it highly amusing that Truss is making such a hash of her first Cabinet. Making all the mistakes Johnson made - packing it with loyalists and making unnecessary enemies. She doesn't have the strength in the Parliamentary Party to pull it off.

I've never retweeted anything by the odious Cummings, tho I enjoyed the spectacle of him turning on his creature.

R113 and the rest of you clueless Americans - “Europe” is a continent, not a country.

Not sure jettisoning all the high-profile Asians is that good a look. There are more of them than there are black Britons and they are more likely to vote Tory (although overall most ethnic minorities vote Labour regardless, including Indians).

[quote] Not sure jettisoning … is that good a look

Yes. Because a dumb electorate judges politicians by their appearance.

God knows there’s enough to criticise Truss for but the claim she’s ditched ‘all’ the high profile Asians is just a lie isn’t it?

Fascinated why people feel the need to blatantly lie about things that haven’t happened when they’re easily disproved.

Patel resigned and was replaced by the even worse Braverman. Zahawi is still there and so is Sharma.

Sunak and Javid’s resignations were the catalyst for Johnson quitting and Truss has decided not to have them in her cabinet.

R217, you must stop being so reasonable by counteracting other posters' lies with facts and the truth. It upsets the trolls. 😉

[quote][R217], you must stop being so reasonable by counteracting other posters' lies with facts and the truth. It upsets the trolls. 😉

It's just exhausting seeing lie after lie after lie.

THERE ARE PLENTY OF THINGS TO ATTACK THE TORIES OVER - YOU DON'T NEED TO MAKE SHIT UP.

Political theater, what a farce. It's like Panto, but shittier.

[quote]It's like Panto, but shittier.

Plentiful chances for Labour at PMQs to point, laugh and roar, 'They're BEHIND you!', as all Truss's rejected big beasts glower and growl, desperate to show they're not neutered.

God help us all. Another cabinet of corruption and mediocrity at best, outright fascism at worst. I just hope we can survive until the next general election until we can finally get these cunts out.

R222, please explain why it's fascist.

The worst pantomime dame in politics is Emily Thornberry. All that huffing and puffing, eye rolling, sneering and gurning. She's on the BBC right now and care barely open her eyes.

There's a widely shared clip of Owen Jones asking Thornberry if she feels sorry for Theresa May and Thornberry replies that she does, because May looks dreadful. The irony coming from someone so porcine.

PMQs was quite refreshing. Keir Starmer asked questions and Liz Truss answered them. They set out their policies and principles quite clearly. and offer a clear choice.

More importantly what does this mean for the US midterms? Are we more or less deplorable than the UK appears to be? At least we voted in a different party when the country was circling the bowl.

[quote] The worst pantomime dame in politics is Emily Thornberry

I'm astounded the party's PR Department allows her on camera.

She is quite unappealing.

The shade.

No R223 you can Google it for yourself, I'm not doing your research for you, you lazy shit.

[quote] No [R223] you can Google it for yourself, I'm not doing your research for you, you lazy shit.

In other words he can't tell you how this cabinet is fascist, because it isn't. It is a conservative cabinet. But, I'm guessing like in the US, there are those on the left who think all Conservatives are fascist just as there are Tories who think Labour are all communists.

To be fair Re: R227's shade - it was a good line, and almost certainly set up between Truss's people and May. Starmer knew it was a zinger, and laughed genuinely.

Made a change from laughing scornfully at the previous PM's blustering Oxford Union would-be wit.

May's delivery is impeccable.

There are 7 ethnic minority people in Truss's cabinet including in the top jobs: Kwasi Kwarteng (Chancellor), James Cleverly (Foreign Sec), Suella Braverman (Home Sec), Nadhim Zahawi (Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster), Kemi Badenoch (Trade Sec), Alok Sharma (COP26 president), Ranil Jayawardena (Environment Sec).

No out gays or lesbians...although a little birdie told me that Chris Philp may not be a stranger to London's rentboy community...

R228, you stated an opinion. Why do you think they are fascists? No amount of googling will read your mind.

Whatever else you can say about Truss, this is *not* a racist cabinet. It's probably a higher % of ethnic minorities than there is in the general population and they have the three top jobs (Chancellor, Home and Foreign).

[quote] To be fair Re: [R227]'s shade - it was a good line, and almost certainly set up between Truss's people and May. Starmer knew it was a zinger, and laughed genuinely.

I had no idea until recent years that the North of England is looked down upon like the Southern US is. And that the North is the butt of all kinds of jokes.

I assume it is because it is more working class, maybe.

Better a slag than a wog.

Steve Baker made a junior minister in the NI Office.

It's hilarious watching some on the left try to convince themselves Truss was good at PMQs, given she gave Labour everything they wanted in terms of siding with her ex-employers at Shell over ordinary people.

And meanwhile, interest rates to rise to pay for the borrowing

[quote]And that the North is the butt of all kinds of jokes.

Truss's apt joke was that so many Labour leaders had or have North London connections. It was a jibe at purported insular North London trendy Labourites not overly experienced about life in, say, the North of England. What used to be called (lamely) 'Champagne Socialists.'

Jesus, those people really do age like shit. How the fuck is she only 47?

[quote]It's hilarious watching some on the left try to convince themselves Truss was good at PMQs, given she gave Labour everything they wanted in terms of siding with her ex-employers at Shell over ordinary people.

You seem a bit touched in the head.

"Good" means that she made her point clear. She answered the questions directly and laid out her approach to the fuel crisis with clarity.

Anyone who watched PMQs would know the difference between Tory and Labour policy. That is a good thing. No waffle, no bluster. That's good.

Thinking a clear communication strategy is good for voters doesn't mean you agree with it. I'm sure you know that but these days who knows.

[quote]Truss's apt joke was that so many Labour leaders had or have North London connections. It was a jibe at purported insular North London trendy Labourites not overly experienced about life in, say, the North of England. What used to be called (lamely) 'Champagne Socialists.'

GRAVY!

WHIPPETS!

CHIPPY TEA!

GINNELS!

r241 That's the best you can manage, eh? Given you're the same poster who claims the Tories don't want to privatise the NHS, I think we know who really is the one who's touched in the head. And likely untouched anywhere else.

[quote][R241] That's the best you can manage, eh? Given you're the same poster who claims the Tories don't want to privatise the NHS, I think we know who really is the one who's touched in the head. And likely untouched anywhere else.

Considering Labour keep claiming the Tories are going to privatise the NHS, and considering the Tories keep winning elections, surely if the Tories did want to privatise the NHS they'd just put it in their manifesto and just do it when elected?

[quote]GRAVY!

[quote]WHIPPETS!

[quote]CHIPPY TEA!

[quote]GINNELS!

And thus North London shudders, takes a sip of chilled Pinot Grigio, another slice of avocado toast, and asks Alexa to increase the volume of the Mahler symphony.

R245, you just described my Mother... in Surrey.

R244 They can't do that because they would lose the election. The NHS is sacrosanct when it comes to the electorate. But they want to and I guess it's a check on them to keep pointing that out.

[quote]And thus North London shudders, takes a sip of chilled Pinot Grigio, another slice of avocado toast, and asks Alexa to increase the volume of the Mahler symphony.

What Liz Truss got wrong today was when she said Keir Starmer didn't understand aspiration.

Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Keir Starmer have different backgrounds but they understand aspiration. Blair went over the top with his idea that 50% should go to university and his son is more clued up about education but they get the general principle that the government should provide help for those who want a leg up, but remaining where you are is also fine.

Miliband and Corbyn are part of a snobbish sect on the left who fetishize the working classes. There's a desire to save them from themselves, but also to reeducate themselves. The thought of people going to the bingo after a curry in Wetherspoons when they could be drinking nettle tea and watching a documentary about Palestinian basket weavers make them sad. The "white van" controversy showed exactly where Labour were at that moment in time. Ed Miliband feels proud when he sees a white van? PROUD???? Had he taken a sedative when he said that?

And that's why a lot of people don't understand why Boris and Nigel Farage's PERSONALITIES are popular with them. There's no judgment there. Yes they're posh and privileged but they don't sneer at common people.

R245, I thought Truss's quip was funny (and I'm from North London, albeit the decidedly not NW part), but you're trying too hard with the Mahler.

One reason the NHS is shit, r247, is because it's "sacrosanct".

R236, she was referring to North London (in the national psyche, the epitome of middle-class lefty hipster trendy), not the North of England.

Boris Johnson was uber-North London until he separated from his second wife and moved to South London with his then mistress and now third wife.

Truss lives in South London, just around the corner from her new Chancellor.

Truss was referring to a certain part of North London ("Highbury and Islington", "Highgate"), not the many shitty bits. Regardless, North London is always superior to South London - always. Residents of South London like Truss are obsessed with sniping at North London because they know we're the real London.

R250 and yet the big problem privatisation advocates face is that the US example is even worse. Americans pay more aggregate for healthcare than the UK (and indeed *any* other country) and they don't even have better life expectancies and stuff like that. The government still has to pay for people who can't afford healthcare because it would be too controversial to deny them it. And so private companies just bleed money from everyone. If the US example were better than the UK's, you'd have a decent argument but it's not.

r244 Are you the same idiot as the one who, in the previous thread, said that you only say the Tories are privatising the NHS if they privatised the entire lot?

There have been large chunks of the NHS which have been privatised. Including the NHS supply chain, and we saw how well that worked during the pandemic.

R254 Good point. I recall Baroness Mone's mansion being raided by anti-fraud police over a £200m PPE deal. She got attention because of her political position - who knows what else went under the radar.

Here's a hot take: I don't believe that you can have true competition when it comes to something like health care. 1) businesses figure it's profitable to have sick people or to make people sick/dependent cf. the US's opioid crisis which was largely driven by pharma businesses selling it 2) it's too morally/ethically abhorrent to people on both the right (Christians, especially) and left to deny healthcare if the person can't pay. So how can there be real competition?

[quote][R244] Are you the same idiot as the one who, in the previous thread, said that you only say the Tories are privatising the NHS if they privatised the entire lot? There have been large chunks of the NHS which have been privatised. Including the NHS supply chain, and we saw how well that worked during the pandemic.

OMG the NHS supply chain has private sector involvement? One of the most wasteful and expensive systems in the history of the public sector? OMG!

Did you know that GP surgeries are also private businesses?

The rush for PPE and the private contracts with arseholes like Michelle Mone and other Tory donors was nothing to do with the privatisation of the NHS. There was a global rush for equipment and a lot turned out to be shite. The government should take legal action against all the people who were paid and produced unusable crap and reclaim the money.

The Tories are not going to privatise the NHS. With a tiny number of exceptions healthcare will remain free at the point of care, it will be provided in NHS hospitals by NHS employees. There will be commissioning from the private sector to reduce waiting lists, but even Labour are in favour of that.

You can lie in bed masturbating yourself into a frenzy, fantasising about marching alongside Jeremy Corbyn at a "Hands off our NHS rally" if it gets you hard, but it will remain a fantasy. Sorry hun.

Labour have suspended their former Chief Whip. Back in the 90s he was reported to have been holidaying with rent boys.

The focus on sleaze can only be good for Labour. Embarrassing for the party but it's a reminder that both the Tories and SNP protect sexual predators and cover up accusations.

R257 Hahaha, the point of constantly scaremongering is to make sure that it never happens. Sorry pal but it... actually works.

[quote][R257] Hahaha, the point of constantly scaremongering is to make sure that it never happens. Sorry pal but it... actually works.

Make your mind up - is the NHS being privatised by the Tories or isn't it?

Are patients going to have to start paying for care or not?

R260 They already have to pay for dental care, eye care. And it's been suggested (unsuccessfully) that people should pay a fee if they want to see their GP.

On that note, I think that dental privatisation illustrates failure because now a lot of people can't access affordable dental care. Dentists are increasingly not taking NHS patients.

They're privatising it by stealth - like boiling a frog. A bit here and a bit there, some charges for some treatments, a few more the next year. People don't really notice. In the meantime they gradually run down the core service so dissatisfaction goes up.

They may well keep a 'shell' of it being branded the 'NHS' but I think there'll be a rump of 'free' emergency service, with almost everything else being charged for, or dependent on some kind of insurance. Truss, Kwarteng, Patel all wrote some ideological tome in the early 2000s - forget what it was called - where they basically spell it out.

Same shit with Freeports - they'll use them to get rid of worker protections by stealth. Tories: basically nasty cunts ever since Thatcher.

r257 There wouldn't have been any need for a rush for PPE if the Tories hadn't scrapped the stockpile of materials for a pandemic which had been built up by Labour.

Also hilarious how you admit parts of the NHS are privatised, whilst also denying the NHS is being privatised. I guess that's the kind of self-denial one needs to exist as a Tory.

[quote]BREAKING: The fracking ban will be scrapped **tomorrow**. Planning requests for new drilling expected within weeks. Major change in UK energy rules. More in @Telegraph.

So much for her just saying that to appease Tory members

[quote]On that note, I think that dental privatisation illustrates failure because now a lot of people can't access affordable dental care. Dentists are increasingly not taking NHS patients.

Well, the British are famous for their jacked teeth.

[quote] the British are famous for their jacked teeth.

No, it's the Americans who are famous for their fake-looking teeth.

It's normal to pointy cuspids.

No, British teeth are jacked AF. They don't look like normal, healthy teeth.

Decline is a choice, I guess.

"@benrileysmith

One open question - Truss insisted throughout the campaign fracking only for communities that want it.

But… how do you prove that? A council approving planning permission? (Councillors are elected by constituents). Or something more concrete? A vote? Unclear."

R268 An Americano-centric viewpoint.

The colour of a tooth is no guide as to its 'healthiness'. Only a dentist can judge that.

Yeah, yellow and brown teeth look so nice and healthy.

In the US teeth are a big thing. If you have discolored/jagged teeth it can hurt you professionally. Americans get braces and other orthodontic work when they're teenagers.

R272 And yet you can have yellow/brown teeth and be a lot healthier than someone who has unnaturally white teeth but horrible gum disease. Enjoy your shallow misperceptions.

Yellow/brown teeth are disgusting to look at. In the US it's a detriment both socially and professionally.

Gum disease is easily treated in the US, if you go to a dentist he'll fix it for you.

It's so weird that Americans are obsessed with the stereotype of that British teeth are bad even though it's purely based on shallow looks.

I've been to Britain many times and their teeth aren't the greatest.

R278 We have our own culture and it's not based on looking perfect.

But your teeth are jacked AF though.

R280 No, they aren't. "British teeth are no worse than American teeth, says study"

Well r281 that's not true when you look at actual Brits.

R282 doesn't like evidence or science, just shallow looks.

Moving on... this is a great headline for Tories (sarcasm)

"Pound sinks as markets digest scale of Truss’s economic challenge"

"The pound has fallen to its weakest levels since 1985, reflecting the daunting scale of the economic challenge new prime minister Liz Truss faces as she prepares to unveil an emergency energy package."

r283 I guess you're not familiar with the US. British teeth on the whole are pretty gross to us.

R284 I am aware that you're obsessed with it but we don't care. Move on, go find another thread.

But r285 just admit you're wrong.

R286 No, not wrong. UK teeth is ironically healthier than American teeth according to studies. It's just the *looks* that you object to.

R265 I'm not surprised about the fracking. I know the environmentalists won't like it but it makes total economic/national security sense. This winter the UK and Europe are facing a major energy crisis because of Russia. If Britain can frack their way to producing not only enough for them but to also export to Europe, it will be good all around. And, Truss will be lauded as a hero.

It's a rare environmentalist that gives a shit about human beings. Most of them are financially very comfortable.

It's more that people living in the areas that fracking is projected to happen in are likely to not want it. Nothing to do with environmentalism (the Tories don't really care about that but they do care about voters).

r217 Zahawi is Iraqi not asian.

R291 Iraq is in Asia.

r292 Hi yes I know but he always seems to refer to himself as a British iraqi not british asian .So he obviously cherishes that as his identity and I see no reason not to respect that.

He is still ethnically Asian, and looks Asian too.

r294 To me he looks Arab but he is of kurdish origin but by british Asian most thing of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and chinese. A French person for example may primarily identify as French and wantcto be called that rather than called European. An Italian , spaniard or French or Irish person view themselves as distinct identities. Your point is fair but so is mine would be my take.

A French person would still be European. Because France is in Europe. This is silly, honestly.

r296 But he would identify accurately as french and that is key . He has the choice to identify as british asian but chooses british Iraqi. There is great genetic and ethnic diversity in Iraq and he has chosen to regard himself as Iraqi. Ww don't know everything about his family background and he might have good reason for referring to himself as Iraqi rather than asian. For example a grandparent hot pregnant by an Arab. Its complicated potentially so I am just respecting what he says,at face value

An Italian ethnically is distinct from a French men even if both European.

R265, R268, R73 [quote] If you have discolored/jagged teeth it can hurt you professionally.

Ezekiel Kelly has excellent, bright teeth and has been successful in his endeavours.

Americans judge British people on their teeth.

British people judge American people on their teeth. No one wants to look like Simon Cowell or Rylan.

^ Rylan is freaky.

But he'd look perfectly normal in La-La-Land

Why are so many of you actually feeding the troll?

R253, why don't you compare the NHS to other publicly funded national health systems? This is the problem in the UK - that any attempt to reform the cumbersome, over-centralised, choiceless, inflexible, top-down NHS or even suggestion that its structure and format need improving is dismissed as "privatisation". Take a look at the publicly funded health systems in Europe. You will find many examples of how to run a national health system that are far superior to the UK's version.

The headlines would be very similar for Labour too, r283. There are pretty bad headlines all over Europe, the western world and many other parts of the world. They are somewhat worse for the UK because of Brexit - but we would have got Brexit under Labour too. Labour did nothing to stop it - Starmer actually made the situation worse, and is still making the Brexit situation worse and would do so in government too.

[quote] Why are so many of you actually feeding the troll?

1. Because American commentary is so silly.

2. Because we have exhausted the fatuous remarks we can make about Truss' appearance. In a week's time we can start commenting on her performance.

It wasn't commentary, it was trolling.

And your second point is just stupid. If you have nothing worthwhile to say, shut the fuck up.

[quote]The headlines would be very similar for Labour too, r283. There are pretty bad headlines all over Europe, the western world and many other parts of the world. They are somewhat worse for the UK because of Brexit - but we would have got Brexit under Labour too. Labour did nothing to stop it - Starmer actually made the situation worse, and is still making the Brexit situation worse and would do so in government too.

Liz Truss voted 3 times for Theresa May's Brexit deal.

Keir Starmer voted 3 times to oppose Theresa May's Brexit deal.

Neither will be reminding each other of that fact.

From John Rentoul in the Independent which I'll link to in the next post. The second paragraph is the most important one.

[quote]We can see clearly now: Labour MPs should have voted for May’s deal. We would have left the EU with the guarantee of staying in its customs union. May said it wouldn’t be needed, and if it was it would be a “temporary” customs union, until a long-term trade deal could be negotiated, but the point about the so-called backstop was that it was a fall-back position unless it was replaced by a deal that would have the same effect.

[quote]Labour MPs cannot say they didn’t know. It was pointed out at the time that May’s withdrawal agreement was what the Labour leadership said it wanted: it was in every respect what they said a Labour government would have negotiated. The only differences between Jeremy Corbyn and May were about the non-binding political declaration setting out the government’s aspirations for the long-term trade deal.

[quote]By using those manufactured differences as an excuse to vote against May’s deal, Labour MPs more or less ensured that Boris Johnson would become prime minister and thus paved the way for him to take Britain out of the EU on his terms.

[post redacted because independent.co.uk thinks that links to their ridiculous rag are a bad thing. Somebody might want to tell them how the internet works. Or not. We don't really care. They do suck though. Our advice is that you should not click on the link and whatever you do, don't read their truly terrible articles.]

R305 is the self-appointed Arbiter of Worthwhileness.

The public school types will be creaming themselves now there’s a bossy new Matron.

Massive fucking shit-show. "Look what you made me do!" (The Tory Party) You people are un-fucking-believable.

[quote]Massive fucking shit-show. "Look what you made me do!" (The Tory Party) You people are un-fucking-believable.

Is this in relation to the Brexit post?

Labour elected a pro Brexit leader in 2015, knowing there was going to be a EU referendum within a year or two.

After the UK voted to leave the EU Labour voted to trigger Article 50 without any prior debate or understanding of what kind of deal the Tories would negotiate.

Labour went into the 2017 election with a commitment to leave the EU and then n a hung parliament they repeatedly voted against Theresa May's deal that met all their requirements (including ending freedom of movement)

Labour's helped bring Theresa May down knowing Boris Johnson would become Prime Minister. Labour then voted for an early general election with the most batshit policy on a second referendum and suffered their worst defeat in 80 years.

I'm sure pro EU Labour voters hate being reminded of what they voted for, and the role Corbyn's Labour played in getting the UK to the shit show we're in now.

But there we are.

I have a clear conscience, I didn't vote to leave the EU or for a party that pledged to leave the EU and then voted against the only decent compromise available.

Well Liz's energy plan just got gazumped

R306, Keir Starmer voted for Boris Johnson's Brexit deal - that's much worse than voting for Theresa May's Brexit deal. He even imposed a three-line whip to force Labour MPs to vote for Boris Johnson's Brexit deal. If Starmer and Labour had voted for Theresa May's Brexit deal we would have had a much better Brexit deal. It's also unlikely that we would have had Boris Johnson, and then Liz Truss, as prime minister.

Labour's entire "remain" campaign was a complete disaster. Aside from Corbyn, who has been anti-EU all his life, Labour's "support" for the EU was stuck in the ridiculous condescending British superiority mentality of "the EU is flawed, we should stay inside and fix it".

Keir Starmer is 10% sexy and 90% muddle.

Well, it’s England so she’ll last about fifteen minutes. Then I’m rooting for Keir or Rishi to take it, though the English establishment might crap themselves into dehydration at the thought of England being run by a filthy colonial.

I'm fairly sure that Rishi is done. Look at how woefully Jeremy Hunt did when given a second crack at the leadership. Never mind, he has the new swimming pool that he's building on green land to look forward to.

R313 I think you're being a little unrealistic. If Labour had voted for any kind of Brexit I'm pretty sure that Remain voters, many of whom are Labour voters, would never have let them live that down. It would be forever lobbied at Labour and probably would have driven away many voters to the LDs or elsewhere. The electorate isn't particularly sophisticated.

Not to defend Liz Truss but what modern PM has taken office at such trying times? There is a war in Europe, causing an energy crisis, the economy is wobbly, the world is still recovering from a pandemic, her party is in disarray, and now she has to lead the government through what is truly the end of an era.

If she can successfully navigate the next six months, she will emerge a real force.

^ Fair point.

[quote] If she can successfully navigate the next six months, she will emerge a real force.

No, if she can successfully navigate the next six months, she will emerge rather crippled. Just like her predecessor.

Being a British PM is an impossible task in such racially-divided, Woke-obsessed nation as we are today.

Do you really feel that the majority of the UK is woke-obsessed? Or even racially divided?

Is it possible that the Tory government as being constituted can handle anyone trying to defeat them on that basis?

I almost find UK politics more interesting. I am sick of US politics.

[quote] Do you really feel that the majority of the UK is woke-obsessed? Or even racially divided?

The political parties are. Look at Truss' cabinet. Ask Starmer what woman is.

[quote] R313] I think you're being a little unrealistic. If Labour had voted for any kind of Brexit I'm pretty sure that Remain voters, many of whom are Labour voters, would never have let them live that down. It would be forever lobbied at Labour and probably would have driven away many voters to the LDs or elsewhere. The electorate isn't particularly sophisticated.

You’re arguing that Labour was right to reject the only decent option for leaving the EU because it was in the long term interests of the Labour Party to do so.

R317, are you actually admitting that you're unaware that Keir Starmer as Labour party leader forced his MPs to vote FOR Boris Johnson's Brexit deal? This is also when Boris Johnson had an 80-seat majority and had absolutely no need for Labour votes.

[quote]Keir Starmer to whip his MPs to support 'thin' Brexit deal

[quote]Labour leader has made ‘tough decision’ to back government despite shadow cabinet concerns

[quote]Keir Starmer will whip Labour MPs to support Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal when it comes to parliament next week, he has announced, in a move likely to provoke a rebellion by pro-EU backbenchers.

[quote]The Labour leader gave a press conference after the prime minister announced that negotiations had concluded, and said he had made the “tough decision” to back the agreement. “When this deal comes before parliament, Labour will accept it, and vote for it,” he said.

Starmer is milking this opportunity to make a "grand and dignified patriotic statement that captured the mood of the nation" in the Commons right now. It's almost as though this speech was written for him years ago and he's been practicing it for the past several months. He also managed to get in an exploitative party political comment about the lockdown in.

Now Bozo Johnson is giving the speech he'd probably been preparing in his head when the Queen passed away while he was still prime minister. He's now trying to coin the epithet "Elizabeth the Great".

Starmer much better than Truss, who yesterday sounded like she was giving a Powerpoint presentation to junior management

Stop focusing on the non-essentials and cosmetics, R327.

And quit being such a fucking snob. This is why Labor loses.

Starmer has been practicing his "Queen's death" speech for months, if not years, r327. He's had voice coaches, choreographers and a team of speechwriters working hard at it. But it still sounded completely fake and written not with the Queen in mind but to convince the "patriotic" Northern, Brexit-supporting, ex-Labour voters whom he needs to win back that he's a man of the people. He was also hoping that some of his lines would be picked out as summing up the mood of the nation, a la Blair's "people's princess" when Diana died, but Bozo seems to have beaten him to that, with his "Elizabeth the Great".

[quote]And quit being such a fucking snob. This is why Labor loses.

It's Labour with a U. Like Cunt.

R324 Yes, when there was no other feasible option. Boris had a huge majority so Brexit was going to happen no matter what so Labour decided to try throwing a bone to their Leave voters then. There was no way of stopping Brexit then. But before that, May didn't have a majority (slim coalition with the DUP) and there was a genuine hope that Brexit could be averted by a second referendum or by MPs choosing to not implement the result of the referendum. That's the difference I see.

r328 LOL sure, presentation means nothing in politics. Your second line just shows what a moron you are. And not even British.

r329 Just making shit up now, are you?

Funny how neither of you can claim my comments aren't true.

Anyone who thought that not voting for May's Brexit deal would somehow stop Brexit was a total moron, r331. It was completely obvious that not voting for May's deal - which is better than Boris's - would lead to a leadership challenge by Boris Johnson, which would have led to a Boris Johnson government.

It's disgusting that Starmer forced MPs who deeply opposed Brexit to vote for Bozo's shitty deal. It's shittier than May's deal, which we would have had if Labour had voted for it.

I'm not sure which "true" comments you're referring to r332, but Starmer's aim to promote himself as "capturing the mood of the nation" has completely flopped.

R333 Well I agree but that's not how ardent Remainers saw it at the time!

r334 Maybe if you keep saying it, some people will think it's true

R329 Good Lord, get out of the house, go for a walk, then you re-read what you wrote.

Lol r336, are you actually trying to claim that Starmer's speech "captured the mood of the nation"?

R337, I sat through Starmer's entire speech. Did you? At least r336 seems to think Starmer expressed the feelings of the whole nation.

r338 I didn't say that though, did I? You keep typing "capturing the mood of the nation" in quotes as though I said that, when in fact the only person in this thread to use that phrase (until this post) is yourself, as part of your weird little fantasy that he's been practicing this speech for months.

What I did say is that he was much better than Truss.

R339, Starmer's speech today was completely unlike any other speech he's ever given. No way he hadn't practiced it and no way it hadn't been written long in advance.

Like I said, keep saying it and maybe someone will believe you

As an American, you British may say I'm one to talk, but what is it with Liz Truss' accent? I've only first heard her talking about the Queen's death and she sounds very common, and almost like she has a speech impediment.

From Popbitch:

[quote]With Liz Truss, the UK now has its first self-admitted reader of Popbitch as prime minister. So seeing as we have her ear, a quick word of advice.

[quote]Since PMQs yesterday a few people with knowledge of the BDSM scene have been in touch to discuss your choice of jewellery. Perhaps you're unaware, but the necklace you're always seen wearing looks very similar to a "Ring Of O" – a well-known symbol among BDSM practitioners to denote someone who is a possessed submissive.

[quote]If that's your thing, by all means crack on with it. Absolutely fill your boots.

[quote]If not though, and you haven't been told to Google 'day collar' yet, maybe you should. (Just don't do it in the House Of Commons, unless you want to get Neil Parished...)

Yawn. That's the best they could come up with? Pretty pathetic. I wanna hear more about their constant hinting that she's been fucked by various people over a desk - who?!

I mean, Mark Field has to be one, but who else?

Kwasi - regularly pops it in round the back entrance of Number 10. Allegedly.

Someone on Twatter was hinting that she's currently getting rammed by Jake Berry, but haven't seen that corroborated anywhere else. Definitely has a thing for utter bastards.

[quote]May's delivery is impeccable.

She's truly gifted.

[quote]Sunak lost not because of his ethnicity, but because he wielded the knife against Boris, who is still overwhelmingly popular with those very party members who voted in this election. From the point of view of the party membership (who are much further rightwing than the rest of the UK electorate) Sunak has also spent the Covid years spraying public money around and incurring debt, while Truss did exactly what they wanted by reaching (generally terrible) trade deals to replace those we had as an EU member.

Do you think there's a way back or is he forever doomed like Michael Heseltine?

Unless they change the rules to remove the member's vote part, he's done

R342- I was once watching a Britcom from 1975 which depicted a middle class family- the characters were so well spoken. The people that pass for middle class today in the UK sound like Chimney Sweeps.

R351 Oh, you saw ONE middle class family. Let me guess, they were from the south of England.

Middel class in the UK is not the same as middle class in the US.

What is middle class in the UK?

[quote] I was once watching a Britcom from 1975 which depicted a middle class family- the characters were so well spoken. The people that pass for middle class today in the UK sound like Chimney Sweeps.

Middle class has always been divided in two groups: Those who want to be as posh as the upper class, and those who "didn't forget their roots" and are more aligned with the working class and its values.

Yes, sometimes called Upper Middle and Lower Middle. There's overlap in my own family between Lower Upper and Upper Middle, as a result of marriage. It's a clusterfuck of rules around schooling, accents and even the way you dress.

[quote]The people that pass for middle class today in the UK sound like Chimney Sweeps.

R351 = Jacob Rees-Mogg.

R352- Some of the people commenting below the video remarked on how POSH the characters on the sitcom sounded.

Imagine a New Yorker trying to criticise how other people speak

A sitcom is a comedy. I wouldn't be surprised if it was an exaggeration. Think Hyacinth Bouquet.

[quote]A sitcom is a comedy. I wouldn't be surprised if it was an exaggeration. Think Hyacinth Bouquet.

The point of Keeping Up Appearances is that Hyacinth Bucket is working class to her core - i.e. common - but is ashamed of her background and fakes being posh.

R361 Duh, my point. The comedy is making fun of her for it.

R352- And everyone else. I found the sitcom from the 1970's that depicts a middle class family that was well spoken. It called - And Mother Makes Three.

These middle class kids do sound VERY posh compared to what passes for middle class in the UK today. Julie Dawn Cole ( Veruka Salt) is in this scene from 1971 the same year Willie Wonka And The Chocolate Factory was released. It's no wonder she looks exactly like she looked in the movie.

R363 But why would you think that a sitcom is necessarily representative of reality?

[quote]compared to what passes for middle class in the UK today

So embarrassing when Americans try to act snobbishly

r364 He doesn't seem to understand that actors (and newsreaders, presenters, etc) were trained to talk like that until relatively recently

There have been many American sitcoms where the actors did not speak as the characters would have in real life.

What should I know about Penny Mordaunt, the Lord President of the Council? I've seen her on British tv and things before, but I do not know much about her. I found her odd black hairband thing off putting during the Accession Council.

R368, that she deliberately secured a Tiny Desk to make her King look foolish.

Did she get her idea from Tiny Desks?

[quote] I found her odd black hairband thing off putting

She did it because whenever Nigella Lawson leans over her dark tresses fall into the saucepan.

R369- Trumps tiny mouth pairs well with his tiny desk.

R368 Blame Hilary for that odd black hairband.

[quote] Well, shit.

So eloquent, OP! And what a vocabulary.

Are you American or Indian/

Liz is that short for Elizabeth?

[quote]First Westminster polling after the Truss price freeze announcement: 🌹LAB: 42% (=) 🌳CON: 35% (+6) 🔶LDM: 10% (-2) 🌱GRN: 3% (-1) via, @SavantaComRes • Changes w/22-24/07 Best PM: 🌹Starmer: 36% 🌳Truss: 33%

[quote]This is mostly Tory Don’t knows heading back to Truss during the honeymoon bounce - especially considering Comres’ last poll had them on just 29%. Yet to see if the 10% of 2019 Tory voters that have moved to Labour will actually move back.

[quote]Also a possibility of a rallying behind the flag effect for the Tories after the Queen’s death. Just one poll so just wait and see for the rest.

Decent-ish new leader bounce, but it not coming at the expense of Labour is going to cause some (more) muttering amongst the backbenchers

I liked Penny Mordaunt's look with the headband. It kind of reminded me of Juliet Mills in the 60s.

^ Mary!

R376 Penny Mordaunt's brother has been trapped by a professional 'agent provocateur'

Lizzo's coming to the US next week, you lucky people!

Hilarious

Is she going to crush King Charles' face by sitting on it, so William get to be king right away? Bless.