Apparently they did.
I think Sunak has taken a big risk taking on Starmer on "law on order". The PM sounds totally out of his depth.
He'd be out of his depth in a car park puddle TBF.
Sunak will be very happy that the news is showing clips of Starmer calling him a jumped-up milk monitor. Doesn't reinforce the popular view of him at all! 😀
A supporter of the little fella is reported to have described him as...He's like a children's TV programme; the more you see of him, the less you like him.
Can't dispute that.
Even today's Times in giving fashion advice recommends not to look like Sunak. Oh dear.
Sunak " As I've been crystal clear" what does he mean? I mean he doesn't answer the questions, then tries to deflect the answer. Can we please have an election this party is turning our country into a joke...Well in fairness since Brex5h1t it was one anyway, it just now looks like a banana republic ;-(
JeZ
He's obviously not enjoying it and you can see he's under a lot of pressure.
Why doesn't he just **** off?
banana republic
It’s not even a republic.
Can we please have an election this party is turning our country into a joke…Well in fairness since Brex5h1t it was one anyway, it just now looks like a banana republic ;-(
Much as I want rid of the tories I'm always curious at comments like this. I don't really care what 'our' country 'looks like', all I'm bothered about is whether normal people can live their lives without worrying too much about money and getting healthcare and education for their kids etc. Even with all the problems the tories have caused life is still pretty good in this country and is very far from what you call a banana republic.
Even with all the problems the tories have caused life is still pretty good in this country and is very far from what you call a banana republic.
Yeah but the UK has been falling notably down the international rankings...
Yeah but the UK has been falling notably down the international rankings…
Perhaps but even the least corrupt countries still have lots of problems. I'd much prefer a corrupt govt which does stuff in the interests of everyone than a less corrupt govt which only acts in the interests of the rich. Then of course there's the corruption enshrined in the capitalist system which is legal. Is that better or worse than the corruption measured in your league table?
No matter how shit a UK government gets... someone will always come along and say "at least we can buy bread and water comes out the taps".
“at least we can buy bread and water comes out the taps”.
Yeah but the UK is not a banana republic nor close to being one. It is just hyperbole to claim it is.
The UK does not have a single foreign owned export which causes political instability and which in turn causes endless succession of military coups.
Whatever problems the UK has they are not caused by the United Fruit Company. In fact it should be emphasised just how wealthy the UK is. It certainly doesn't look like a banana republic.
Lots of things can be true at the same time.
The UK is the 5th/6th richest country by GDP - but where I live there are plenty of depressing shit-holes and wealthy bits side by side. Walk half a mile and it looks rough as hell. (I don't blame the people - they are products of their environment despite what capitalism tells you.)
It's all in the distribution of wealth and the lack of public investment. Two things that should be on the lips of any MP that wants to make a difference but sadly we have the likes of Wes Streeting opening his ferociously stupid gob to look forward to.
Doesn't seem much appetite to fix stuff because - hey the private sector will just do its thing apparently.
The UK is the 5th/6th richest country by GDP – but where I live there are plenty of depressing shit-holes and wealthy bits side by side.
This. Think many on here would be happier if we were higher up some OECD league table than solving the problems of depravity and poverty we see everywhere. Seems like the myth of trickle down wealth isn't dead yet, at least not on STW. 🙄
Relative to our peers we're a poor country with a number of rich people/companies in it that inflates the GDP.
Our wealth inequality is embarrassing. We're far too centralised with central government running too much which means that policies that should benefit localities aren't realised.
What local government were have is being starved of funding
Our education systems, heath systems, utilities infrastructure, road systems, and social housing have been horrendously under funded in the last 14 years.
For a developed nation we're a fkng embarrassment
Amusing little summary of yesterday's PMQs...
Even a satirist like John Crace is struggling to find the difference between real world and satire now.
For a developed nation we’re a fkng embarrassment
We're not a lot different to many other large developed nations. For tens of millions the US doesn't have a healthcare system and those that do use it are often bankrupted. Germany's railways are in chaos and economy in the toilet. The Netherlands didn't even have a govt for over a year, France has massive problems with poverty and racial hatred in its big cities, And Italy has elected a far right reactionary government. I'm not trying to defend the tories but things really aren't that much different here than in other countries. The problem we all share is an economic system which directs money away from the vast majority who need it into the pockets of a tiny few who don't. There's not a country in the western world which isn't suffering from that problem.
The Lanyard thing is nuts, its become a focus of attention, I cant decide if it actually works and some people genuinely get in behind it in the culture war or if its just the result of having someone so plainly unfit for office as McVey in government
TBH I'm not hugely invested in the whole rainbow and rainbow lanyard thing.*
But I now own two and am using them for my security pass at work. Pretty much because a vacuous, crooked culture warrior like McVey doesn't like them. Childish? Yes. Does it make me grin ever so slightly on the inside? Yes.
I also note that Amazon kept freezing on Tuesday when you clicked on a rainbow lanyard - unprecedented demand, I think. 🤣
Keep your chins up, normal people, we will soon be rid of this bunch. Hopefully the electorate can actually get some social democracy out of Starmer.
*I try to be supportive of anyone (within reason, legality etc) who is getting a rough time of it for not being the norm.
Mcvey is now claiming she wasn't banning the lanyards, says the media have made it up, despite it being on the record what she said.
^^^
That's going to be a tricky one.
"Esther McVey Is A ****" lanyards are more difficult to find online.
🙂
If only she'd given her speech in front of a camera, we could check what she said...
“The lanyards we use to carry security passes shouldn’t be a random pick and mix. They should be a standard design reflecting that we are all members of the government delivering for the citizens of the UK. Working in the civil service is all about leaving your political views at the building entrance. Trying to introduce them by the back door via lanyards should not happen.”
Rishi must be baffled that upon appointing somebody with the towering intellect of Esther McVey to the not-even-remotely-laughable position of ‘Minister for Common Sense’ she then spends 12 months doing absolutely nothing, then starts spewing out the kind of bollocks that a Daily Mail editorial writer would consider a bit beneath them 🤷♂️
If only she’d given her speech in front of a camera, we could check what she said…
Which proves she is right.
She isnt banning lanyards but simply requiring everyone to wear the same design of unicorns dancing on sunlit uplands.
Its not the same thing at all.
This seems to summarise the attitude of most civil servants to this shower of a government. Basically "we're just hanging on and waiting for some grownups".
Esther McVey is exactly the type that meant Spitting Image wasn't as good this time. Hard to satirise someone that stupid. She's like a sober Nadine Dorries.
As reported on CS groups, it was the journalist who mentioned rainbow lanyards, not McVey. Though I'm getting one anyway.
More concerned that she regards the civil service as part of government. We are specifically separate, which is why we technically answer to the Crown.
This seems to summarise the attitude of most civil servants to this shower of a government. Basically “we’re just hanging on and waiting for some grownups”.
I can neither confirm nor deny....
Amazon has you covered on that... Buy some for your friends as well.
it was the journalist who mentioned rainbow lanyards
True. But it's like saying "everyone must be clean shaven"... and then denying that you said you want to stop people having stubble or beards.
Anything after October risks being an even bigger disaster - NHS winter problems kicking in, first disastrous storms/floods of the year,
I still think that they could time it to run along side the USA elections... to benefit from all the internet noise that will throw up. Expect lots of Tory politicians going big on anti-woke and the danger of the Left. Not the main Conservative Central Office campaign... lots of extra campaigns on the side riding along on the back of pro-Trump nonsense across social media.
I still reckon it'll be January, they've seen the polls, they know they're toast. They will be in full salt the earth and contracts for chums mode between now and then.
Get making some "Don't Vote Tory" Christmas cards then.
Its an insane idea
an election in Jan when everyone is feeling skint, weather is grim keeping the oldies away, xmas TV polluted with endless election crap and party political broadcasts, MPs, staff & canvassers all resentful of working over Xmas, NHS waiting lists & ambulance queues through the roof as beds are blocked by the annual flu crisis......
you'd have to be completely deluded and insulated from the realities of daily life with no sense of political acumen to think its a good idea.......
you’d have to be completely deluded and insulated from the realities of daily life with no sense of political acumen to think its a good idea…….
As mentioned above though. They know they're going to get their arses kicked. Why hasten that? A few more expenses to fiddle, a bit of crash and burn to really **** things up for an incoming Labour government to sort, a few more ministerial paychecks to cash and some time to sort out a lucrative career on the dinner speech or consultancy markets.
No rush at all. We've got months more culture war to get through yet. 🙁
Political acumen, did you say?
19(?) months ago Sunak was gifted the Tory leadership and Prime Minister role, without even a sham of an 'election' within the party membership, because the party knew it couldn't trust its own members after the Truss debacle. They pretty much gave him carte blanche within the party as they didn't see a credible alternative.
He inherits a Rwanda policy he thinks is 'batshit', a colossal waste of time and money.
Now, 19(?) months down the line, he is in an election year with Rwanda as one of (if not the) flagship policy.
Political acumen is not something Little Rishi is blessed with. He can't even do politics in his own party, let alone in the real world.
I think he's just burning as much as possible and letting his MPs go on a free-for-all siphoning off money into their own and their mates pockets for as long as possible.
They pretty much gave him carte blanche within the party as they didn’t see a credible alternative.
Now, 19(?) months down the line, he is in an election year with Rwanda as one of (if not the) flagship policy.
I dont think this is accurate. A significant minority of the tory mps were driven by it as well as a large part of the party membership. If he had abandoned it I suspect it would have been leadership election 999999 and then one of the more nutty MPs installed.
