Its a dicey game to play though, I mean all Sunak has to do is well; nothing. If he's not going to sack her for saying that homelessness is a lifestyle options, what will do it? She's going to have to become increasingly unhinged, and its a fine line between saying something outrageous enough, but not so outrageous that everyone thinks you're beyond the Pale and your career disappears to the back benches never to recover.
Plus, now everyone knows The Plan. It looks a bit stagey.
She’s going to have to become increasingly unhinged, and its a fine line between saying something outrageous enough,.......
Especially since if she wants to keep up the act for any length of time she will need to keep doubling down on the outrageous comments increasing the chance of pole vaulting over the line.
From that Guardian piece:
Former ministers and Tory insiders claim that the home secretary is deliberately making unauthorised statements on homelessness, demonstrations and multiculturalism to woo the party’s hard-right base.
Its obvious to anyone with anything between their ears that she's busking it, with zero consultation with number 10 or anyone else and tickling the tummies of the far right. She's literally making it up as she goes along as part of her ongoing leadership bid thats been going on for months. Next she'll likely return to another one of her unhinged hobbyhorses like pulling the UK out of the ECHR
I doubt he'll sack her though. He hasn't got the authority to do so as he knows that the fruitloops on the back benches and the loons who make up the membership absolutely love all the on-the-hoof bilge she's blurting out. The bottom line is that her position on homelessness, demonstrations, multiculturalism and many other things chimes perfectly with the thinking of what the Tory party has become - UKIP - and she knows it. Ultimately I don't think he disagrees with most of what she says. He just can't say so.
Its a dicey game to play though, I mean all Sunak has to do is well; nothing.
That is not a good option for Sunak. Every time Braverman makes an unauthorised highly incendiary public comment which Sunak and other ministers can't bring themselves to back, and she remains in her job, it makes Sunak look increasingly weak.
It's a win-win situation for Braverman. If she stays in her job it makes Sunak appear weak and her strong and assertive, if she is sacked it will make her appear a martyr for what her supporters will claim is the truth.
Both scenarios boost her bid to become Tory Leader. Or at least she will think so.
In reality I think that Braverman is causing significant damage to the Tory Party. Her Katie Hopkins-style evermore objectionable hate messages simply won't find traction with the majority of voters.
And those that are likely to be attracted to her hate messages won't necessarily be more likely to vote Tory, in fact the opposite is likely to be true.
Evidence from across Europe shows that when mainstream conservative parties start whipping up animosity towards immigrants and humane progressive policies, and it gains some traction, the main benefactors are far-right parties, it simply makes supporting them more acceptable. Plus of course it puts far-right policies centre stage.
Braverman is actually probably helping Reform UK, which is already in a position to inflict serious damage to the Tories in marginal seats.
it makes Sunak look increasingly weak.
That strategy only works if you think Sunak is currently strong, but everyone knows already that he couldn't be any weaker. I mean; no-one thinks he's the Tories first choice PM, no one thinks he's going to win the next election, they're all just hanging on 'til the last minute just in case something comes along, but they all know they're going to get their arses handed to them.
And they all know that Sunak is just going to waltz off back to America with his green card tucked in his pocket to join Clegg at Silicon Valley to live happily ever after amongst the other billionaires. All he has to do is hang on for a few months, and gravy for the rest of his life.
I don't think he gives a shit what Braverman says.
Ultimately I don’t think he disagrees with most of what she says. He just can’t say so.
Probably some of this too.
Absolutely bang on.
Being PM was just another thing on his tick list of thing that he feels he's entitled to. He's just there for the photo ops and the future opportunities it opens up for him. He'll get through the winter, say '**** it' call an election for May, lose it, then off he'll pop to Sunny California to join his other Tech Bro mates.
He'll leave Cruella and Kemi as the two bald blokes fighting over a comb to become leader of whatever remains of the UKIP/Tory party as it disappears off to the far right hinterland
everyone knows already that he couldn’t be any weaker.
So doing nothing about a loose cannonball who makes unauthorized comments is not a good option for Sunak, it is simply reinforces this weakness.
Its a dicey game to play though, I mean all Sunak has to do is well; nothing. If he’s not going to sack her for saying that homelessness is a lifestyle options, what will do it?
Thats a lot less controversial than u turning green policies, failing to overturn the ban on onshore wind, blocking councils from deciding their own speed limits etc. Casting aspersions about a relatively small, already marginalised and politically orphaned group of people is essentially noise compared to Sunak's new divide and conquer policies.
Nikki Aitkin, deputy chair of the Tory party, has just been interviewed on Five Live MPs panel
She was asked if she agreed with the Home Secretaries stance on homelessness being a lifestyle choice.
No she didn't
She was then asked if she agreed with the Home Secretaries stance on protests being 'hate marches'.
No she didn't
She was then asked if she agreed with the Home Secretaries stance on anything at all
She came out with a load of blather, which basically said that no, she didn't
Ladies and gentlemen... the Tory party
No - but he can now claim to have been PM with all the kudos that brings. the election is lost anyway - the only thing to be settled is by how much. I think he would rather lose the election than be ousted
Edit - the tories have so lost touch with reality tho its hard for anyone else to guess what is going on.
it’s not an achievement which he is going to want under his belt.
Major is considered something of a Grandee of politics these days, and look at the defeat he suffered. Few years off-stage in sunny California, and all he has to do after that is not say anything idiotic, something that even he can manage, unlike the two PMs that came immediately before.
Ladies and gentlemen… the Tory party
Twas ever thus. The tory party seem to get away with having members with totally opposing, contradicting views, and people still vote for them. If you have a slight difference of opinion on a nuanced issue within the Labour party then you have to go. People have incredibly low expectations of the Tory party, and if the Tories fail to even reach that you just lower your expectations further and keep on voting.
the only thing to be settled is by how much
Well that's the whole point. It can't be dismissed as unimportant. How badly the Tories do will determine whether they disintegrate into post-election warring factions and how many general elections it will take them to be back in government.
If against the odds the Tories don't do so badly that it robs Labour of the ability to form a government with a comfortable majority then that will represent a huge achievement for Sunak.
What is certain is that the Tories will lose the next general election, what is less certain, although nevertheless very likely, is that Labour will have a working majority.
It is naive in my opinion to believe that Sunak doesn't care. Of course he cares how badly they lose, and he must dream every night that he will be able to at the last minute pull a rabbit out of the hat which will scupper a Labour's hope for a huge majority.
The delightful Mr Yaxley Lennon has crawled out from under his rock with a 'call to arms to defend the cenotaph' this weekend
This is what happens when you get the likes of Braverman whipping up sentiment on the basis of completely unfounded bullshit and lies. She's green-lighted this with her talk of 'Hate Marches'. They weren't 'Hate Marches' but I'm pretty sure the one now being planned by Britain First and the far right has every intention of being precisely that
It looks like she's deliberately inciting a violent confrontation to suit her own personal political agenda. I genuinely think she'd be delighted to see it all go off on the streets of London this weekend to help push her culture war narrative
Probably helped by him being a bit more sensible and grounded than the tory leaders (and most of the tory MPs these days) The torys have come a long way since Majors time
I think there has been a considerable amount of spin to put him up on a pedestal. Just like is happening with May and her laughable "service to the people ethos".
The torys have
comesunk a long way since Majors time
The delightful Mr Yaxley Lennon has crawled out from under his rock with a ‘call to arms to defend the cenotaph’ this weekend
The Daily Mail front page is right on it this morning as well.
Nobody:
Daily Mail: it would be terrible if there was a riot at the Cenotaph.
Thousands gave their lives so that idiots like this were free to be idiots like this.
It looks like she’s deliberately inciting a violent confrontation to suit her own personal political agenda. I genuinely think she’d be delighted to see it all go off on the streets of London this weekend to help push her culture war narrative
Yup, I very much agree, Braverman would be without a shadow of a doubt imo hugely satisfied if serious violence erupted on the streets of London.
I have been on a multitude of demonstrations in my lifetime and the two London PSC organised demos I have been on are noticeably quite different.
This is for several reasons including the low-level of visible police presence - generally I would expect the police to line the whole route of a major demo in Central London, in the case of the PSC demos I have only seen a very small number of police at the start and slightly more at the end. Obviously there are plenty more parked up in side roads.
They are also the friendliest demos I have ever been on with a real sense of solidarity between people of very different backgrounds, Muslims, Jews, gays, young, old. People smile at each other a lot.
I think that the police see these PSC demos as quite easy to police. Braverman is no doubt gutted by that. However thanks to her recent behaviour I am genuinely concerned that things might kick off this coming Saturday.
Actually, more like...
Braverman and PM: we must ban these hate marches!
March organisers: we aren't going near the Cenotaph
Met Police: we can't ban a march unless theres a threat of serious disorder
Yaxley Lennon/Daily Mail: we must protect the Cenotaph
Met Police: oh FFS!
I know it's been asked before but at what point does Cruella's vile rhetoric become a hate crime in itself, requiring the Met to act..?
I think there has been a considerable amount of spin to put him up on a pedestal.
Maybe, but spin doesn't work on me and I can comfortably say that Major is nowhere near the level that the tories are these days. He is still a tory so by default an uncaring ****er but there are different levels of tory.
at what point does Cruella’s vile rhetoric become a hate crime in itself
Yeah I have wondered that. Presumably she is careful enough to stay just inside the law, although I am frankly surprised that she has managed to.
Obviously the anti-hate laws need to be tightened up!
Maybe something for the next King's speech?
I see Sunak has chimed in because the Met can't/won't ban the march, that he will be 'holding the Met accountable' for any trouble
If you were being cynical you might think that theres an agenda at play here... to fuel violence on the street so that he and Cruella can use that to remove the right/responsibility of the police to make decisions on what protests can go ahead and award themselves those decision-making powers instead.
They seem very, very irritated to discover that they don't have that power already, as like other things they seem to regard it as their right
Got to bloody laugh at Sunak making a point of holding anyone accountable.
Tories don't do irony do they?
he will be ‘holding the Met accountable’ for any trouble
To be fair the Met needs to get off their arses and arrest troublemakers.
But then Sunak would be the first to moan if his Home Secretary was interviewed under caution.
You might think as HS she would understand the absence of a legal definition of a 'hate march'. All protests seek some sort of change and we can be sure they all hate something. The Met, with all its limitations, must see the danger of it becoming the enforcer of the political whims of a boneheaded politician like her.
The delightful Mr Yaxley Lennon has crawled out from under his rock with a ‘call to arms to defend the cenotaph’ this weekend
This is what happens when you get the likes of Braverman whipping up sentiment on the basis of completely unfounded bullshit and lies. She’s green-lighted this with her talk of ‘Hate Marches’. They weren’t ‘Hate Marches’ but I’m pretty sure the one now being planned by Britain First and the far right has every intention of being precisely that
It looks like she’s deliberately inciting a violent confrontation to suit her own personal political agenda. I genuinely think she’d be delighted to see it all go off on the streets of London this weekend to help push her culture war narrative
100%!
The delightful Mr Yaxley Lennon has crawled out from under his rock with a ‘call to arms to defend the cenotaph’ this weekend
This is why a few of us have cancelled our plans to go, and have opted for a local one. I hope for everyone there; those paying there respects and those exercising their right to peaceful protest have a meaningful day without interference by that racist piece of human garbage.
'Patriots' like that **** don't, nor ever will represent or speak for our dead. Hope he gets ****ing leathered by an overzealous copper.
If I wasn't clear, I have a deep loathing for that solidified bin juice in human form.
Jonathan Pie nails it with his description of Braverman.
Caution - incredibly sweary!
"She doesn't just embolden the far-right with her spicy rhetoric, she [b]is[/b] the far-right."
Even by Pie's standards he is pretty pissed there. He's also spot on.
If they do try & ban the Palestinian march this Saturday, I'm sure as hell going to London to peacefully demonstrate my displeasure.
solidified bin juice in human form.
One of the finest non-sweary insults I've heard in a long time.
Looks like she’s now gone full Tommy Robinson and Braverman has now said the Met are ‘playing favourites’ with protests. The hardly subtle implication being that far right nutjobs should be given a light touch. She took the chance to have a pop at Black Lives Matter and other more liberal organisations while excusing the likes of Britain First
She really is a modern day Enoch Powell. She’s clearly instigating a massive kick off and deliberately fermenting civil unrest. She’s desperate for it to kick off this weekend.
The interview with the Times in which she said this would have had to be signed off with number 10, which means he either agrees with it or he’s such a shithouse that he won’t do anything to reign her in
How the **** is she still Home Secretary? She should never have been anywhere near an office like that in the first place, but after all this latest shit….
A British Home Secretary is deliberately undermining the police to bolster her leadership campaign. That’s insane!
https://twitter.com/yvettecoopermp/status/1722388423770542537?s=46&t=1lK7Dw1b6RqGJyvufO-trQ
Looks like she’s now gone full Tommy Robinson and Braverman has now said the Met are ‘playing favourites’ with protests. The hardly subtle implication being that far right nutjobs should be given a light touch.
Couldn’t believe what she's come out with now, literally putting the Met Police on a collision course with the government for no sane or justifiable reason.
She really is a modern day Enoch Powell.
I'm wondering if that's being harsh on Enoch - given their respective backgrounds, how the hell has she arrived at a similar position?
She’s clearly instigating a massive kick off and deliberately fermenting civil unrest. She’s desperate for it to kick off this weekend.
A few of us have said this, but at what point do her words and actions become a crime of incitement? Has this got the potential to be a Very British version of January 6th?
A British Home Secretary is deliberately undermining the police to bolster her leadership campaign. That’s dangerously insane!
FTFY
The Sun is joining in suggesting there are fewer poppy sellers due to fears of attacks from pro-Palestinian supporters.
Interesting that the i is reporting that she's gone too far for some Tory MPs, even they have a limit.
My best case scenario is that the Stop the War march is peaceful, Yaxley Lennon's boys get arrested, and the Press and Starmer spend next week skewering Braverman and Rishi for it.
and the Press and Starmer spend next week skewering Braverman and Rishi for it.
Unlikely. The press will still be on their side and Starmer doesn't want to rock any boats.
Posted this already but it's a shame to not make the most of my efforts.
I assume she's accepted the Tories will get eviscerated at the next GE so is positioning herself as the next leader once the Tories swing further to the right thinking that's what voters want (or because they have little choice now Labour is firmly centre-right under Starmer). Or she's just receiving back-handers from Israel.
It's just brazen shit stirring.
It's absolutely unbelievable that a Home Secretary would seek to undermine the police in the way Braverman has done.
