Stop voting for fucking Tories

[SaintK]

UK is fucked. Might only be called Britain soon. Or just England, Wales, Scotland, United Ireland.....

Glad I'm 50 and won't live too much longer.

Mate, unless you have any underlying health issues you've probably got another 30 years!
Reckon I've got another 10 to 15 at my age........unless we're all blown to smithereens in WW3!

[Hal Jordan]

We're a failed state, if we were an African country there'd be patronising references to banana republics and "the usual level of corruption you expect from this sort of place."

[tabascoboy]

Been a little while since we had a brainless idea from our glorious leaders, but here we are. So while we are at it why doesn't the PM go out and round up absentee MPs from debates and votes?




----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One in 20 adults run out of food as prices soar

One in 20 adults reported running out of food and being unable to afford more as prices soared, according to an official survey.

Single parents were particularly vulnerable, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey suggested, as more than a quarter found themselves in such a scenario.

Certain groups of people are hit harder by the rising cost of living.

The ONS said renters were most likely to be stretched by housing costs.
.
.
.
Overall, around a third (35%) of adults reported it was difficult to afford their rent or mortgage payments.

One in 20 said they had run out of food and had been unable to afford to buy more in the previous two weeks, the ONS survey suggested. That proportion increases to 28% of single parents.

Full story at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66199622

[_Os_]

UK is fucked.

Still has a lot going for it.

Geographic location is good. Europe is in demographic decline but is still the wealthiest part of the world, the decline only has to be relative as the rest of the world catches up to Europe. Going into absolute decline is a choice.
Strong international links because of the Empire, that OBR report has adjusted it's net migration forecast upward to 245k per year, and says that'll reduce the UK's debt by 30% of GDP over the next 50 years.
Strong university sector that competes with anywhere else.
Strong financial sector, I question if much of it is useful or does anything for the real economy, but it exists.
An extremely well developed capital city.

The politics of the UK is completely fucked though. Really obvious that those advantaged by the status quo are using their wealth to tilt the scales in favour of nothing changing. The problem with that, is continuing like this will make the UK a highly indebted nation that's poorer than it needed to be. A cold Argentina. The situation the UK is in now is the new normal unless someone comes up with a new workable vision/plan/strategy to replace Thatcherism, the OBR report is clear that the current path means 300% debt to GDP in 50 years. But anyone who tries to propose something new from the left gets shouted down by the media/called a communist, and ends up nowhere near power. On the right new ideas mean mad unworkable shit, Brexit being top of the stack and Truss turbo Thatcherism not far behind, they're always supported by vast amounts of the media, normally get elected then fuck everything more.

The only alternative is politicians like Blair and it seems Starmer, who promise to change not much, never mention Brexit (despite that OBR report singling out inflation as a terms of trade shock, it's costing more to import what the UK needs, whilst the UK's services exports have not increased), because mentioning Brexit may offend delicate people and end up in an actual debate of substance. They cannot ignore things aren't going well though, so also promise new money from nowhere (which means more debt). As that OBR report says this means the mistakes of the 1980s are continued and made worse (more interest linked debt, more foreign owned debt).

If the politics is so fucked that the current situation is bad but it's impossible to make any significant changes. Then whatever advantages and potential exists will be overshadowed by the politics being fucked.

[tabascoboy]

I assume there is some strongly local issue at play here, but this - while "only" a council result - isn't great for Labour, while the drop in the Tory vote is staggering ( nationally, please...)!

[Insane_Homer]

Screenshot_20230714-131450.png (805.99 KiB) Viewed 1401 times

[Sandstorm]

I assume there is some strongly local issue at play here, but this - while "only" a council result - isn't great for Labour, while the drop in the Tory vote is staggering ( nationally, please...)!

SE London throws up some weird voting patterns.

[GogLais]

Been a little while since we had a brainless idea from our glorious leaders, but here we are. So while we are at it why doesn't the PM go out and round up absentee MPs from debates and votes?




----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One in 20 adults run out of food as prices soar

One in 20 adults reported running out of food and being unable to afford more as prices soared, according to an official survey.

Single parents were particularly vulnerable, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey suggested, as more than a quarter found themselves in such a scenario.

Certain groups of people are hit harder by the rising cost of living.

The ONS said renters were most likely to be stretched by housing costs.
.
.
.
Overall, around a third (35%) of adults reported it was difficult to afford their rent or mortgage payments.

One in 20 said they had run out of food and had been unable to afford to buy more in the previous two weeks, the ONS survey suggested. That proportion increases to 28% of single parents.

Full story at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66199622

The dregs of politics.

[Sandstorm]

UK is fucked.

Still has a lot going for it.

The situation the UK is in now is the new normal unless someone comes up with a new workable vision/plan/strategy to replace Thatcherism, the OBR report is clear that the current path means 300% debt to GDP in 50 years.

Ox, my solution is borrow (some more) and spend like crazy on national infrastructure projects. Roads, airports, power, ports, schools, hospitals, prisons, etc. Surely that's the only way to get the economy going again, create jobs and increase tax revenues to (slowly) pay down the debt over the next 20 years.
Am I mad?

[C69]

UK is fucked.

Still has a lot going for it.

The situation the UK is in now is the new normal unless someone comes up with a new workable vision/plan/strategy to replace Thatcherism, the OBR report is clear that the current path means 300% debt to GDP in 50 years.

Ox, my solution is borrow (some more) and spend like crazy on national infrastructure projects. Roads, airports, power, ports, schools, hospitals, prisons, etc. Surely that's the only way to get the economy going again, create jobs and increase tax revenues to (slowly) pay down the debt over the next 20 years.
Am I mad?

[tabascoboy]

Ox, my solution is borrow (some more) and spend like crazy on national infrastructure projects. Roads, airports, power, ports, schools, hospitals, prisons, etc. Surely that's the only way to get the economy going again, create jobs and increase tax revenues to (slowly) pay down the debt over the next 20 years.
Am I mad?

There's always EU funding - oh, wait...

I assume there is some strongly local issue at play here, but this - while "only" a council result - isn't great for Labour, while the drop in the Tory vote is staggering ( nationally, please...)!

SE London throws up some weird voting patterns.

East London, just had a look and not that you should really judge from Twitter, but plenty of suggestions about discontent with Labour's rightward move. Wonder if this is mainly metropolitan sentiment...

[_Os_]

UK is fucked.

Still has a lot going for it.

The situation the UK is in now is the new normal unless someone comes up with a new workable vision/plan/strategy to replace Thatcherism, the OBR report is clear that the current path means 300% debt to GDP in 50 years.

Ox, my solution is borrow (some more) and spend like crazy on national infrastructure projects. Roads, airports, power, ports, schools, hospitals, prisons, etc. Surely that's the only way to get the economy going again, create jobs and increase tax revenues to (slowly) pay down the debt over the next 20 years.
Am I mad?

No, that makes sense to me. The Brexit the UK ended up with is dumb as fuck, so trade barriers need to be removed in a new less shit deal. Some utilities also need to be re-nationalised, another no brainer move.

... Oh no we're now communists who want to borrow, re-join the EU, and nationalise. So that's us fucked then and we're never getting into power.

The answer that gets you elected goes something like this: "I will not borrow but find money by cutting services, it's good the only UK cities with underground metros are London/Newcastle/Glasgow if a city wasn't one of the three most important in the Victorian era then no new investment is needed, cut back HS2 to one line from Birmingham to outer London high speed rail isn't useful on a high population density island, I alone can make Brexit work by not changing it, everyone gets a pay rise, I promise new affordable houses and for the house prices of those who already own homes not to fall, and I promise to imprison all immigrants in concentration camps".

[sockwithaticket]

I do enjoy Mick Lynch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E05ORyN8jXE

As a railway user I think the issue of ticket office closures is flying under the radar a bit. It's incredibly anti-access. Those who require a fixed, clear point of contact and discounts that are currently not available on the machines or via web orders are generally the elderly and disabled who are more reliant on public transport than the rest of us. How is a blind person to use the railways when all they have access to is a ticket machine and maybe a roving member of staff whom they lack the ability to seek out or identify? Once again the rail bosses and government fail to recognise that the railways are a public service.

As Lynch says, it's also a smokescreen for general de-staffing. Anyone who has to travel during hours or to stations where there are few people present knows the value of having someone around who can help you in the event of anything from train cancellations to calling the police to deal with someone being a nuisance or danger.

[sockwithaticket]

It's worth reading the OBR's July 2023 report (it's long but still worth skimming through). The (Tory supporting multi billionaire owned) media is taking the UK into an unreality, a lot of the stories that dominate the news are inane and irrelevant bullshit: Royal family/Farage's bank account/Schofield/Edwards. It makes reading about reality in some dry document worthwhile.

In a serious country some of these facts would exist in the public debate, rather than weeks of playing "guess the paedo".

https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/Fiscal_ ... y_2023.pdf

Spoiler

Show

Page 3:
"The 2020s are turning out to be a very risky era for the public finances. In just three years,
they have been hit by the Covid pandemic in early 2020, the energy and cost-of-living crisis
from mid-2021, and the sudden interest rate rises in 2022, whose consequences continue
to unfold. This rapid succession of shocks has delivered the deepest recession in three
centuries, the sharpest rise in energy prices since the 1970s, and the steepest sustained rise
in borrowing costs since the 1990s. And they have pushed government borrowing to its
highest level since the mid-1940s, the stock of government debt to its highest level since the
early 1960s, and the cost of servicing that debt to its highest since the late 1980s. "

Page 16:
"The ageing of the population is projected to reduce the ratio of the working age to
retired population from four-to-one to three-to-one over the next 50 years, despite an
upward revision to assumed levels of net inward migration from 129,000 to 245,000
a year in steady state"

Page 99:
"Over the first 23 years of this century, public sector net debt in the UK has trebled as a
share of GDP from under 30 per cent in 2000 to around 100 per cent this year – a 62-year
high."

"In the UK and many other advanced economies, debt levels have reached generational
highs not only due to the upward pressures exerted by these shocks but also the challenges
governments have faced in trying to reduce debt following these shocks. Fiscal tailwinds
from a post-World War II baby boom, global economic integration, and easing of Cold
War tensions have switched to headwinds in the first part of this century. Public finances are
now under growing pressure from ageing populations, disappointing economic growth, a
warming planet, and rising geopolitical tensions."

Page 100:
"During the latter half of the 20th century, the UK also experienced periods of rising debt –
most notably during the early 1970s energy crisis, the early 1980s recession, and the early
1990s recession. Yet, these episodes were typically brief, intermittent, and reversed within a
few years. And so, overall and in most years, the history of the second half of the last
century was one of falling debt, with public sector net debt falling by an average of 4.2 per
cent of GDP a year between 1946 and 2000. This relatively consistent decline in post-war
public indebtedness was facilitated by a confluence of economic and fiscal tailwinds."

Page 104:
"Since the last time the UK government had a debt of 100 per cent of GDP, the share whose
value is directly linked to inflation has gone from zero to one-quarter, the highest share of
inflation-linked debt of any G7 country. ILGs were first issued in the UK in the early 1980s
and their share of total UK gilts increased from 16.4 per cent in 1990, to 23.2 per cent by
the start of the century, and then sharply to a peak of 31.2 per cent by 2008 (Chart 4.4). A
combination of high primary issuance (averaging 23 per cent of total gilt sales in the early
2000s), the increase in the principal owed due to inflation, and the relatively long maturity
of ILGs, caused their share of the overall stock of gilts to steadily increase. In 2018, the
Treasury estimated that continued issuance at these then-prevailing levels would eventually
mean that ILGs made up about 40 per cent of the stock.6 As this debt has been issued at
low real yields it helped to keep the UK’s real cost of servicing its public debt low. But when
inflation rises, as it has recently, the debt interest cost rises fast. "

Page 105:
"This level of inflation sensitivity in the Government’s debt stock is historically unprecedented,
as there were no ILGs in issuance when debt was last at 100 per cent of GDP in the early
1960s, and issuance had only just begun the last time annual RPI inflation was in double
digits (at 11.9 per cent) in 1981. The UK Government’s degree of debt indexation is also
unusual among advanced economies. As Chart 4.5 shows, the UK has over twice the
proportion of inflation-linked debt than the next largest inflation-linked issuer, being Italy at
12 per cent."

Page 106:
"The UK Government’s high level of debt and the high share of ILGs meant that the high
inflation of the past two years has sharply increased both debt interest costs and the stock of
debt itself. Expenditure on central government debt interest (net of the APF) increased by
£89 billion (3.4 per cent of GDP) due to the impact of inflation on the interest costs from the
stock of ILGs across 2021-22 and 2022-23. This was more than half of total central
government interest costs in those years. And while the inflation-linked increase in the
principal value of ILGs does not generate an immediate cash outflow (since it is paid in the
future when the ILG in question is redeemed), it does cause an immediate increase in the
cash value of outstanding debt, and, to the extent that RPI inflation exceeds growth in
nominal GDP, an increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio too. With current Government plans
consistent with debt remaining high and the stock of ILGs also relatively flat, the
comparatively high sensitivity of interest costs to inflation will persist"

Page 109:
"Over the last two decades, the share of UK sovereign debt in the hands of private foreign
investors has doubled and is now the second highest in the G7. The UK Government has
historically benefitted from a broad and deep pool of domestic investors for its debt. These
principally took the form of institutional investors such as private pension funds and
insurance companies, for whom long-dated gilts were a good match for their own longdated,
sterling-denominated pension liabilities. These stable domestic institutional investors
kept the share of foreign private ownership in the UK the lowest in the G7 after the US and
Japan (Chart 4.7). However, foreign private ownership of UK debt rose significantly in the
early part of this century from around 13 per cent in 2004 to 25 per cent in 2022. With the
European Central Bank purchasing significant shares of German, French, and Italian
government debt in the meantime, this leaves the UK with the second-highest proportion of
its sovereign debt in foreign, non-official hands in the G7, behind France."

Page 110:
"As the stock of foreign holdings of UK debt has risen this century, so have questions about the
risks of increasing, relatively high, levels of these holdings. Foreign privately owned UK debt as a
proportion of total debt has almost doubled to 25 per cent since 2004 and is now well above the
advanced economy average of 18 per cent. "

Page 114:
"However, the rise in global inflation since the pandemic has delivered little net benefit to the
UK public finances relative to the inflation surprises of the past. This is partly because this
most recent inflation shock has been closer to a pure ‘terms of trade’ shock, in which the
rise in the prices of the things the UK imports and consumes (manufactured goods, energy,
and food) has far outstripped the rise in the prices of the things the UK produces and
exports (mainly services)."

"The gaps between the annual rates of increase in the GDP deflator and both RPI and CPI
were the largest on record (since 1949). Combined with the higher stock of ILGs (which
respond to RPI) and the short effective maturity on debt (which has meant interest rate rises
have fed through quickly), this has meant the fiscal benefit that the public finances have
derived from this latest round of inflation has been muted compared with the more
domestically driven inflation shocks of the past century. In fact, 2022 is one of only three
peacetime years since the early nineteenth century in which CPI inflation exceeded 9 per
cent and debt did not fall as a share of GDP."

Page 126:
"Overall, the increase in our net migration assumption from 129,000 to 245,000 per year has led to a 1.1 and 30 per
cent of GDP reduction in the primary deficit and net debt by 2072-73."

Page 127:
"By the end of our medium-term forecast period, we project debt
to reach about 100 per cent of GDP, after which it rises to over 300 per cent of GDP by
2072-73. If a government wanted instead to keep debt from rising above 100 per cent of
GDP over the long term, this would require a permanent increase in taxes and/or cut in
spending of 4.4 per cent of GDP in 2028-29. There is also an alternative, and arguably
more realistic, adjustment that estimates the staggered improvement in the primary balance
in each decade to reach this level of debt. We estimate this to be a 1.5 per cent of GDP
adjustment made to the primary balance every decade."

Thanks for digging out some of the lowlights, Os. I'll go back to 'joking' with my fellow millenials about suicide being the retirement plan.

[Tichtheid]

I do enjoy Mick Lynch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E05ORyN8jXE

As a railway user I think the issue of ticket office closures is flying under the radar a bit. It's incredibly anti-access. Those who require a fixed, clear point of contact and discounts that are currently not available on the machines or via web orders are generally the elderly and disabled who are more reliant on public transport than the rest of us. How is a blind person to use the railways when all they have access to is a ticket machine and maybe a roving member of staff whom they lack the ability to seek out or identify? Once again the rail bosses and government fail to recognise that the railways are a public service.

As Lynch says, it's also a smokescreen for general de-staffing. Anyone who has to travel during hours or to stations where there are few people present knows the value of having someone around who can help you in the event of anything from train cancellations to calling the police to deal with someone being a nuisance or danger.

In case you haven't already seen it, Ben Elton on the disaster that is privatisation of the railways

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/ben ... y-disaster

[C69]

Fortunately I have paid off my mortgage.

The Tories will be fighting the next General Election on culture wars issues - immigration, cancel culture, woke lefties, etc - so expect it to be even more dirty and messy than usual. The likes of 30p Anderson and Angry Man Gullis are who the Tories see as their secret weapons to engage with the masses ... feckin idiots!

I suspect that there will be a focus on Corbyn etc The Deputy PM tried it at PMQs yesterday.
They had better tread carefully with that one.
When people have massive mortgage and energy payments, can't see a doctor or a dentist.

Interestingly there is grumblings of massive NHS strikes in the new year as well as other sextors
This is even more likely if PRBs are ignored.

Tbh the govt is in a terrible position of their own making.
If they accept the PRBs purported increases of 6-6.5% then it will be perceived the Nurses with 5% were shafted.
If they don't accept the PRBs then there will be a summer and winter of continued strikes.


Obviously if they accept the PRB and say it must come from existing monies then it's gonna be somewhat problematic.
By problematic I mean fucking lunacy.

https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/ ... ent-130723

The Prime Minister must explain why more than a million NHS workers have got the lowest percentage pay rise amongst public sector workers this year.

Tweet this page
Share on Facebook
Strike image
Today (13 July), the UK government announced pay rises for millions of public sector workers for this financial year. For the majority of professionals it relates to – police officers, prison staff, teachers and doctors – the percentage pay rise is greater than 5%, which is what RCN members working for the NHS in England rejected but got implemented after other NHS unions accepted it.

Our members’ rejection of the 5% offer led to further strike action and a subsequent ballot to extend NHS nursing strikes in England, which saw more than 100,000 members vote in favour. However, due to draconian trade union laws, turnout in that ballot didn’t meet the required threshold for us to strike again.

Responding to the news today, RCN General Secretary & Chief Executive Pat Cullen said: “The Prime Minister will have to explain to over a million outraged NHS workers why they are getting the lowest pay rise in the public sector.

“Record numbers of nursing jobs in the NHS are unfilled and the government cannot expect to turn that around when it appears not to value them. Patients are paying the price.

“Inflation is not coming down in the way ministers told NHS staff and others it would be. For nursing staff, the pay rise they actually rejected is worth increasingly little and being eclipsed now by announcements for other professions. It is unfair and inadequate.

“This seems a highly cavalier approach by government when it knows over 100,000 nursing staff across the country voted to continue strike action only days ago. Today’s news will only add to that number.”

There is massive palpable anger over this on the wards across the NHS.
There will be more strikes next year and it's going to get very messy.

[sockwithaticket]

I do enjoy Mick Lynch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E05ORyN8jXE

As a railway user I think the issue of ticket office closures is flying under the radar a bit. It's incredibly anti-access. Those who require a fixed, clear point of contact and discounts that are currently not available on the machines or via web orders are generally the elderly and disabled who are more reliant on public transport than the rest of us. How is a blind person to use the railways when all they have access to is a ticket machine and maybe a roving member of staff whom they lack the ability to seek out or identify? Once again the rail bosses and government fail to recognise that the railways are a public service.

As Lynch says, it's also a smokescreen for general de-staffing. Anyone who has to travel during hours or to stations where there are few people present knows the value of having someone around who can help you in the event of anything from train cancellations to calling the police to deal with someone being a nuisance or danger.

In case you haven't already seen it, Ben Elton on the disaster that is privatisation of the railways

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/ben ... y-disaster

I'll have a gander at that later.

[Rhubarb & Custard]

The Prime Minister must explain why more than a million NHS workers have got the lowest percentage pay rise amongst public sector workers this year.

How low?

I was speaking to some staff at the Gambling Commission this week and they got 2%. Okay the GC isn't exactly public sector, it sits as something of a hybrid, but it's not a great rise in wages when it's already an industry lacking regulation (and then some) that's causing ever increasing amounts of harm

One does recall the various gambling firms are big donors to the Tory Party, which we should naturally all trust isn't a factor

[Biffer]

I hope nobody missed the high court pointing out how much of a useless fucking cunt Kwasi Kwarteng is. I mean, it's something we all know, but it's nice to have it in a court judgement, pointing out his childish misjudgement and inaccuracies in court document so you can't be accused of li el when you say he's a talentless, useless, arrogant piece of shit.

[C69]

The Prime Minister must explain why more than a million NHS workers have got the lowest percentage pay rise amongst public sector workers this year.

How low?

I was speaking to some staff at the Gambling Commission this week and they got 2%. Okay the GC isn't exactly public sector, it sits as something of a hybrid, but it's not a great rise in wages when it's already an industry lacking regulation (and then some) that's causing ever increasing amounts of harm

One does recall the various gambling firms are big donors to the Tory Party, which we should naturally all trust isn't a factor

Not at all relevant in the context of the Pay Review Body announcements really.

[fishfoodie]

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Tories, Home Office, Massive IT Project, Incompetence, Massively over budget, Constantly moving delivery date, Impending disaster.

But no, keep giving money to Rwanda, & trying to foist cruise ships full of refugees on cities, without any support systems

'There has never been a realistic plan' for UK's £11B Emergency Services Network

Commercial and technical risks yet to be addressed by Home Office, spending watchdog says

UK politicians have slammed progress on the £11 billion Emergency Services Network (ESN) – the replacement blue-light mobile voice and data system – saying the government is far too optimistic about its progress and the challenges ahead.

Eight years into the delayed project – which has seen its budget swell by £6 billion – the Home Office risks repeating the mistakes it has already made, said Parliament's public spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The ESN is set to replace Airwave, the mobile comms systems used by the fire, police and ambulance services in the UK. Although reliable, Airwave is old and lacks data bandwidth. The Home Office started the program to deliver ESN in 2015, and hoped to begin using it in 2017, allowing Airwave to be replaced in December 2019. Under current plans, the ESN will not go live until 2026, and it may be as late as 2029.

According to a new PAC report, the Home Office still does not know when ESN will be ready and has little to show the taxpayer for its efforts despite having spent some £2 billion.

...

Police forces estimate that Airwave devices have cost them £125 million since 2018, and expect to spend another £25 million by 2026. Forces will be hit by further costs because current hardware will be obsolete in 2028 and may need replacing again before ESN is ready, the report said.

...

https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/14/ ... s_network/,

As an aside, The Register is a consistently excellent Tech site

[tabascoboy]

So the Tories now think that abolishing IHT will boost their flagging support. Stats show that the number who do pay IHT are actually very low - around 4% of estates each year. A significantly higher percentage fear though that they might have to pay it, so works need to be done to show that IHT abolition would only benefit a very small number of high value estates and decreasingly so as you move away from London & SE.

[tabascoboy]

Ben Wallace goooooooooooooooiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnggg

Ben Wallace to quit as defence secretary at next Cabinet reshuffle

Ben Wallace says he will resign as defence secretary at the next Cabinet reshuffle. He told the Sunday Times he would not stand at the next general election, but ruled out leaving "prematurely" and triggering a by-election.

Mr Wallace has served as defence secretary under three different PMs and played a high-profile role in the UK's response to the war in Ukraine.

Sources told the BBC they expect the next reshuffle in September.

Mr Wallace said he was standing down due to the toll the job had taken on his family and allies of his have said the decision was not a reflection on Rishi Sunak's leadership. His Wyre and Preston North constituency is set to disappear under upcoming boundary changes and he told the newspaper he would not seek a new one.

The announcement comes after days of speculation that he might leave government after four years in the role.

More at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66213245

[fishfoodie]

Shame really; he was one of the only Ministers with a grasp of his portfolio, & the backbone to stand up against the cretins.

Now the Head Boy will replace him with a dribbling moron, & the MOD will have the budget cuts that he vetoed, all so the Tories can deliver some kind of tax cuts, while maintaining the optics of not fucking the budgets for a generation

[C69]

He seemed to have the respect of those in his portfolio.
Unlike every other cunt of a minister

[petej]

Shame really; he was one of the only Ministers with a grasp of his portfolio, & the backbone to stand up against the cretins.

Now the Head Boy will replace him with a dribbling moron, & the MOD will have the budget cuts that he vetoed, all so the Tories can deliver some kind of tax cuts, while maintaining the optics of not fucking the budgets for a generation

Suspect he has had enough. They are left with only cretins in the party.

[tabascoboy]

Shame really; he was one of the only Ministers with a grasp of his portfolio, & the backbone to stand up against the cretins.

Now the Head Boy will replace him with a dribbling moron, & the MOD will have the budget cuts that he vetoed, all so the Tories can deliver some kind of tax cuts, while maintaining the optics of not fucking the budgets for a generation

Indeed, he seemed quite capable and competent enough to gain respect at home and abroad - obviously doesn't fit in with the rest of the Cabinet! Was clearly angling for the NATO job so maybe wanted to step down as an MP for a while. There don't appear to be any credible candidates in a reshuffle so will Head Boy bring in someone new? Tugendhat possibly...?

[Biffer]

Shame really; he was one of the only Ministers with a grasp of his portfolio, & the backbone to stand up against the cretins.

Now the Head Boy will replace him with a dribbling moron, & the MOD will have the budget cuts that he vetoed, all so the Tories can deliver some kind of tax cuts, while maintaining the optics of not fucking the budgets for a generation

Indeed, he seemed quite capable and competent enough to gain respect at home and abroad - obviously doesn't fit in with the rest of the Cabinet! Was clearly angling for the NATO job so maybe wanted to step down as an MP for a while. There don't appear to be any credible candidates in a reshuffle so will Head Boy bring in someone new? Tugendhat possibly...?

Jonny Mercer is polishing his buttons.

[Tichtheid]

Shame really; he was one of the only Ministers with a grasp of his portfolio, & the backbone to stand up against the cretins.

Now the Head Boy will replace him with a dribbling moron, & the MOD will have the budget cuts that he vetoed, all so the Tories can deliver some kind of tax cuts, while maintaining the optics of not fucking the budgets for a generation

Indeed, he seemed quite capable and competent enough to gain respect at home and abroad - obviously doesn't fit in with the rest of the Cabinet! Was clearly angling for the NATO job so maybe wanted to step down as an MP for a while. There don't appear to be any credible candidates in a reshuffle so will Head Boy bring in someone new? Tugendhat possibly...?

Jonny Mercer is polishing his buttons.

That's a euphemism I haven't heard before.

[tabascoboy]

[I like neeps]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66215122

Can't wait to see how Labour improve our public services. This "reform" sounds very exciting. I'm sure Labours reform without money will be much better than the Tories reform without money.

[Biffer]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66215122

Can't wait to see how Labour improve our public services. This "reform" sounds very exciting. I'm sure Labours reform without money will be much better than the Tories reform without money.

At this stage, we don’t know what ‘more’ actually means. The Tories will fuck around with budgets over the next year or so, and that’s the baseline you’ll work from.

[Insane_Homer]

Screenshot_20230716-155526.png (486.83 KiB) Viewed 1476 times

[Sandstorm]

[Insane_Homer]

https://blackislemedia.com/2023/03/27/t ... ation/?amp

Reported in the Times, fucking paywalled.

Tory MP Andrew Rosindell is under police investigation [since Jan 2020] for sexual offences and misconduct in public office. He has not set foot in parliament since being arrested and has been reselected as candidate for next GE.

His constituents do not know.

[fishfoodie]

https://blackislemedia.com/2023/03/27/t ... ation/?amp

Reported in the Times, fucking paywalled.

Tory MP Andrew Rosindell is under police investigation [since Jan 2020] for sexual offences and misconduct in public office. He has not set foot in parliament since being arrested and has been reselected as candidate for next GE.

His constituents do not know.

Three.Fucking.Years !

Defund the Met !

Now you can see why the Tories have made a concerted effort to destroy the Judicial system.

[Insane_Homer]

The Health Secretary is resorting to giving patients virtual reality tours of the promised 40 new hospitals as they haven’t actually been built.

Steve Barclay is putting on roadshows across the country to give the public the chance to put on headsets and pretend they’re getting treated in the new facilities.

[Jock42]

Don't read or post on political threads much these days but had to vent a little about this utter bellend. He can fuck right off the self serving toby

[I like neeps]

Quite funny. They need to quickly reframe this as Labour are actually quite sensibly reforming how much kids eat.

[robmatic]

I see the next very well thought through Tory plan for immigration is to absolutely whack up the visa fees, including the fee that they pretend is for NHS usage. I reckon it would now cost me and my wife the best part of £10k just for her visa applications if we wanted to return to the UK to settle.