Stop voting for fucking Tories

[Camroc2]

Earlier this year when I was in London I was told, iirc, I would have to wait 4 weeks for a GP appointment. Maybe because of the pandemic, but still...

Ah, the dead or cured trick !

[Insane_Homer]

BREAKING
Chancellor expected to scale back energy bills help
Nick Eardley
Chief political correspondent

A source has said it is expected that the government's energy price guarantee will be scaled back by the chancellor.

Universal support is due to last for two years – but the source suggested this was unlikely to remain the case.

The government is not commenting but we'll hear from Jeremy Hunt shortly.

[Insane_Homer]

[Tichtheid]

the GP thing made me think of the NHS dentist situation. I found a post I made on 30th of November last year, saying that my dentist had to return to Malaysia in order to try to renew his working visa.
He trained in Dundee and had had been working in Scotland and then England for a few years.

He was the only dentist that took NHS patients and the practice has not yet been able to replace him. I've had a look and there are no practices in this city (pop 290k) that are taking on new NHS clients - there are a few that say on the NHS website they will take on referrals, including a practice that I used to go to, but I know for a fact they stopped all NHS treatment because of the delay in them getting paid for the NHS work they did.

So in fact there is, in effect, no NHS dental provision anymore.

I can't help but feel this is deliberate and it's what they are trying to do to the wider NHS.

[tabascoboy]

What an omnishambles

Nearly all of Truss's flagship measures binned

The Truss programme for government is dead.

Nearly every element of her prospectus has just been shredded by her new chancellor.

"We will reverse almost all the tax measures" from the mini-budget, Jeremy Hunt said. What an extraordinary thing to hear.

Not only has the planned cut in the basic rate of income tax been binned, so has the plan originally from Rishi Sunak to cut it in 2024.

The prime minister, who promised to cut taxes by more than her rival over the summer, is now keeping them higher than he planned.

And even the flagship energy support package, the crutch upon which the prime minister has leant whenever asked a tricky question in the last few weeks, has shrivelled vastly.

It is now a six month package, not a two year one. What a day.

And it’s not even lunchtime.

[Biffer]

They're still 2 or 3 times the level they were a couple of years ago. Consumer prices is averaged over ten months I think. they'll come back down, which hopefully will mean the long term support required from all of our taxes / borrowing will be substantially less.

The whole way that electricity prices are set needs to be reviewed though - not sure setting them on gas price is still the correct way to do it. I'm particularly pissed off that in Scotland we do mainly renewables and nuclear, but our electricity is priced according to gas production. Oh, and we don't get any income from the massive amount of electricity we export to England every day

[Dinsdale Piranha]

Earlier this year when I was in London I was told, iirc, I would have to wait 4 weeks for a GP appointment. Maybe because of the pandemic, but still...

At least 2 weeks is pretty standard round my way. They also tell you not to come in if you are sick. Last time I needed to see the doc I had to postpone several times until I was well enough to attend

[SaintK]

What an omnishambles

Nearly all of Truss's flagship measures binned

The Truss programme for government is dead.

Nearly every element of her prospectus has just been shredded by her new chancellor.

"We will reverse almost all the tax measures" from the mini-budget, Jeremy Hunt said. What an extraordinary thing to hear.

Not only has the planned cut in the basic rate of income tax been binned, so has the plan originally from Rishi Sunak to cut it in 2024.

The prime minister, who promised to cut taxes by more than her rival over the summer, is now keeping them higher than he planned.

And even the flagship energy support package, the crutch upon which the prime minister has leant whenever asked a tricky question in the last few weeks, has shrivelled vastly.

It is now a six month package, not a two year one. What a day.

And it’s not even lunchtime.

No wonder she's in hiding this morning

[dpedin]

Well after Hunts statement it is clear that Truss is dead in the water. I am convinced she will not be around for PMQs on Wednesday - she will either have gone or else provide a sick note. I am also pretty convinced that she is in midst of some sort of breakdown/loss of confidence and is being protected from public view by No10 to avoid any further economic and political crisis. The only question is what happens next - a coup by either right or less right wing tories or a General election? I still have a gut feel that they will walk and leave Labour with this shitshow to sort out and try and regroup for 4-5 years time.

On a happier note the Sovereign Individual/Britannia Unchained/Tufton Street nutters should hopefully be gotten rid off as the Tory party will split and they align with the 'son of UKIP' version of the Tories. I would hope the more sensible tories, I say that with a modicum of irony, start taking over their party again.

[Lobby]

Earlier this year when I was in London I was told, iirc, I would have to wait 4 weeks for a GP appointment. Maybe because of the pandemic, but still...

At least 2 weeks is pretty standard round my way. They also tell you not to come in if you are sick. Last time I needed to see the doc I had to postpone several times until I was well enough to attend

The last time I tried to get a GP appointment, you could theoretically get a same day appointment for emergencies by ringing the surgery at 8:00 a.m., or you could book an appointment for at least 2 weeks later for routine matters. However, in the last 4 years I have never once been able to secure a same day appointment - each time I have tried, I have been told that all appointments have gone, and to try again the following day or ring NHS Direct. The last time I spoke to a GP was 2 years ago, and that was an appointment they arranged rather than me.

[fishfoodie]

I just don't see the endpoint ?

If he'd rolled back everything but the fuel supports, & announced an Energy Levy, then I could see them surviving awhile; but as it is, the Fuel support might as well be gone, & the MPs know that will result in them all losing their seats.

I don't know how they'll get enough of their own to vote for the shitshow.

Wednesday will be interesting, because even if she ducks PMQs, she can escape the 1922 Committee, & they'll want blood this week.

[Lobby]

I just don't see the endpoint ?

If he'd rolled back everything but the fuel supports, & announced an Energy Levy, then I could see them surviving awhile; but as it is, the Fuel support might as well be gone, & the MPs know that will result in them all losing their seats.

I don't know how they'll get enough of their own to vote for the shitshow.

Wednesday will be interesting, because even if she ducks PMQs, she can escape the 1922 Committee, & they'll want blood this week.

There were several rumours over the weekend that, after her dismal presser on Friday, the Tory big wigs were agreed that she couldn't be allowed to face another PMQs and would have to be gone by Wednesday.

[dpedin]

Earlier this year when I was in London I was told, iirc, I would have to wait 4 weeks for a GP appointment. Maybe because of the pandemic, but still...

At least 2 weeks is pretty standard round my way. They also tell you not to come in if you are sick. Last time I needed to see the doc I had to postpone several times until I was well enough to attend

The last time I tried to get a GP appointment, you could theoretically get a same day appointment for emergencies by ringing the surgery at 8:00 a.m., or you could book an appointment for at least 2 weeks later for routine matters. However, in the last 4 years I have never once been able to secure a same day appointment - each time I have tried, I have been told that all appointments have gone, and to try again the following day or ring NHS Direct. The last time I spoke to a GP was 2 years ago, and that was an appointment they arranged rather than me.

I'm a bit luckier than most in that my GP practice is excellent, probably because I am lucky enough to live in a nice part of Edinburgh. If I call them there is a triage process and if required I can get an emergency appointment within a few days or that day if required. However more often than not a telephone consultation is arranged for a few days after and this is often all that I require. Local pharmacy is also very good and provides helpful advice and medication for minor ailments and illnesses. All repeat prescriptions are done online and I get text from pharmacy usually within 48 hours to go and collect which is done via a 6 digit code and dispensed via a hole-in-the-wall machine 24/7.

The one time I had a real emergency a couple of years ago I called 111 with shortness of breath, dizziness, etc and spoke to call handler and then advanced practice nurse who despatched ambulance to me which arrived within 15 mins. I was blue lighted to A&E within 30mins and on bed in bay 5mins later. I was in bed in ward within 3 hours. I had suspected heart attack, covid or similar but it turned out to be a serious blood clot, probably caused by covid. All good now. I am aware however that response times have deteriorated since then!

Having said the above I have twice had a text from GP Practice advising me that due to staff absence they were operating an emergency only service for a couple of days.

Spoke to a mate of mine who works in NHS and tells me one site has a 27% nursing vacancy rate and that of 4 theatres in a specific specialty only one was running due to lack of trained theatre staff. The workforce is the real problem for the NHS.

[fishfoodie]

I just don't see the endpoint ?

If he'd rolled back everything but the fuel supports, & announced an Energy Levy, then I could see them surviving awhile; but as it is, the Fuel support might as well be gone, & the MPs know that will result in them all losing their seats.

I don't know how they'll get enough of their own to vote for the shitshow.

Wednesday will be interesting, because even if she ducks PMQs, she can escape the 1922 Committee, & they'll want blood this week.

There were several rumours over the weekend that, after her dismal presser on Friday, the Tory big wigs were agreed that she couldn't be allowed to face another PMQs and would have to be gone by Wednesday.

And yet this was the candidate they elected; even when her limitations were obvious for all to see !

"Pork Markets" .... waits for rapturous applause ....

What are they going to do ?, anoint another one, & tell the British people; "Trust us !"

I see one of the wankers in the Torygraph saying that this is what happens when you kick out an elected PM, & so the only solution is to bring back the Bumblecunt

[Lobby]

I just don't see the endpoint ?

If he'd rgolled back everything but the fuel supports, & announced an Energy Levy, then I could see them surviving awhile; but as it is, the Fuel support might as well be gone, & the MPs know that will result in them all losing their seats.

I don't know how they'll get enough of their own to vote for the shitshow.

Wednesday will be interesting, because even if she ducks PMQs, she can escape the 1922 Committee, & they'll want blood this week.

There were several rumours over the weekend that, after her dismal presser on Friday, the Tory big wigs were agreed that she couldn't be allowed to face another PMQs and would have to be gone by Wednesday.

And yet this was the candidate they elected; even when her limitations were obvious for all to see !

"Pork Markets" .... waits for rapturous applause ....

What are they going to do ?, anoint another one, & tell the British people; "Trust us !"

I see one of the wankers in the Torygraph saying that this is what happens when you kick out an elected PM, & so the only solution is to bring back the Bumblecunt

Most of the MPs didn't want her. Only 14% voted for her in the 1st round, and she was consistently behind both Sunak and Mordaunt in the 1st four MP ballots. It was only gerrymandering by the Brexit loons that got her onto the final members vote ahead of Mordaunt.

She won the members' vote because most of them are idiots and/or racists.

[fishfoodie]

There were several rumours over the weekend that, after her dismal presser on Friday, the Tory big wigs were agreed that she couldn't be allowed to face another PMQs and would have to be gone by Wednesday.

And yet this was the candidate they elected; even when her limitations were obvious for all to see !

"Pork Markets" .... waits for rapturous applause ....

What are they going to do ?, anoint another one, & tell the British people; "Trust us !"

I see one of the wankers in the Torygraph saying that this is what happens when you kick out an elected PM, & so the only solution is to bring back the Bumblecunt

Most of the MPs didn't want her. Only 14% voted for her in the 1st round, and she was consistently behind both Sunak and Mordaunt in the 1st four MP ballots. It was only gerrymandering by the Brexit loons that got her onto the final members vote ahead of Mordaunt.

She won the members' vote because most of them are idiots and/or racists.

I doubt the majority of the British public give a fuck on the mechanism; they just see a Government chosen by the Tory Party; & been so inept, that people will now lose their homes, & Nations finances are fubar for the foreseeable future.

[Lobby]

And yet this was the candidate they elected; even when her limitations were obvious for all to see !

"Pork Markets" .... waits for rapturous applause ....

What are they going to do ?, anoint another one, & tell the British people; "Trust us !"

I see one of the wankers in the Torygraph saying that this is what happens when you kick out an elected PM, & so the only solution is to bring back the Bumblecunt

Most of the MPs didn't want her. Only 14% voted for her in the 1st round, and she was consistently behind both Sunak and Mordaunt in the 1st four MP ballots. It was only gerrymandering by the Brexit loons that got her onto the final members vote ahead of Mordaunt.

She won the members' vote because most of them are idiots and/or racists.

I doubt the majority of the British public give a fuck on the mechanism; they just see a Government chosen by the Tory Party; & been so inept, that people will now lose their homes, & Nations finances are fubar for the foreseeable future.

I agree completely on this point. The Tories are fucked now, and have lost any claims they might previously have had for economic competence.

[salanya]

What I'm finding interesting and which doesn't seem to get discussed much, is that the PM and CEx seem to make all the calls without discussing with or even informing the cabinet.

Obviously leadership and taking charge is very important and something Liz is no good at, but good leaders also consult and built a consensus, even if only with a leadership group like the cabinet. That's how you built support and can hone policy if required.
At least with Boris you knew he was too lazy to think and decide on his own, and many others were involved.

Two people, however high up the leadership chain, shouldn't be able to implement the type of changes that tank the national economy - this should be a democratic government, not some soft version of dictatorship. As well as not having the skills for the job, this is why Liz has to go.

[weegie01]

Earlier this year when I was in London I was told, iirc, I would have to wait 4 weeks for a GP appointment. Maybe because of the pandemic, but still...

At least 2 weeks is pretty standard round my way. They also tell you not to come in if you are sick. Last time I needed to see the doc I had to postpone several times until I was well enough to attend

The last time I tried to get a GP appointment, you could theoretically get a same day appointment for emergencies by ringing the surgery at 8:00 a.m., or you could book an appointment for at least 2 weeks later for routine matters. However, in the last 4 years I have never once been able to secure a same day appointment - each time I have tried, I have been told that all appointments have gone, and to try again the following day or ring NHS Direct. The last time I spoke to a GP was 2 years ago, and that was an appointment they arranged rather than me.

Meanwhile, here in rural Perthshire, same day appointments are normal. There is still some triage over the phone at our surgery, but the nearby one never stopped face to face and / or house calls. Plus consultations are longer than they were in Edinburgh where we sometimes had to wait two or three days to be seen.

[Hal Jordan]

Well after Hunts statement it is clear that Truss is dead in the water. I am convinced she will not be around for PMQs on Wednesday - she will either have gone or else provide a sick note. I am also pretty convinced that she is in midst of some sort of breakdown/loss of confidence and is being protected from public view by No10 to avoid any further economic and political crisis. The only question is what happens next - a coup by either right or less right wing tories or a General election? I still have a gut feel that they will walk and leave Labour with this shitshow to sort out and try and regroup for 4-5 years time.

On a happier note the Sovereign Individual/Britannia Unchained/Tufton Street nutters should hopefully be gotten rid off as the Tory party will split and they align with the 'son of UKIP' version of the Tories. I would hope the more sensible tories, I say that with a modicum of irony, start taking over their party again.

Given the GOP's doubling down on Trumpy election deniers as candidates for every position they can fill, I would be surprised if the Tories don't go more Brexity and Tufton Street. The idea was pure, it was stabbed in the back by Remaniac civil servants, judges, the MSM, the markets, unfaithful MPs, liberals, Labour, the EU, lefty lawyers, the metropolitan elite and Methodists!

[SaintK]

Mad Nad still flogging that dead horse of hers!

[sturginho]

Well after Hunts statement it is clear that Truss is dead in the water. I am convinced she will not be around for PMQs on Wednesday - she will either have gone or else provide a sick note. I am also pretty convinced that she is in midst of some sort of breakdown/loss of confidence and is being protected from public view by No10 to avoid any further economic and political crisis. The only question is what happens next - a coup by either right or less right wing tories or a General election? I still have a gut feel that they will walk and leave Labour with this shitshow to sort out and try and regroup for 4-5 years time.

On a happier note the Sovereign Individual/Britannia Unchained/Tufton Street nutters should hopefully be gotten rid off as the Tory party will split and they align with the 'son of UKIP' version of the Tories. I would hope the more sensible tories, I say that with a modicum of irony, start taking over their party again.

Given the GOP's doubling down on Trumpy election deniers as candidates for every position they can fill, I would be surprised if the Tories don't go more Brexity and Tufton Street. The idea was pure, it was stabbed in the back by Remaniac civil servants, judges, the MSM, the markets, unfaithful MPs, liberals, Labour, the EU, lefty lawyers, the metropolitan elite and Methodists!

Yeah I don't see the lunatics surrendering control of the party they fought so hard to hijack

[Torquemada 1420]

I wrote this for a news circular on the Saturday after the Mini Budget:

Will Truss/Kwarteng resort to the mother of all humiliations and be forced into the biggest U turn since Gladstone’s adoption of Home Rule for Ireland? If so, Kwarteng’s career is over. Not even a “jobs for the boys” awaits him in the City after this. If not, don’t bet on Truss not becoming the shortest reigning PM in history, thus eclipsing Douglas-Home’s 366 days (he at least made it past one year in Downing Street).

Looks like we'll see all 3 come to pass.

[JM2K6]

[Camroc2]

What I'm finding interesting and which doesn't seem to get discussed much, is that the PM and CEx seem to make all the calls without discussing with or even informing the cabinet.

Obviously leadership and taking charge is very important and something Liz is no good at, but good leaders also consult and built a consensus, even if only with a leadership group like the cabinet. That's how you built support and can hone policy if required.
At least with Boris you knew he was too lazy to think and decide on his own, and many others were involved.

Two people, however high up the leadership chain, shouldn't be able to implement the type of changes that tank the national economy - this should be a democratic government, not some soft version of dictatorship. As well as not having the skills for the job, this is why Liz has to go.

Ex Irish Attorney General and Minister McDowell had a recent column in the IT covering this very point . An extract from the article :

As attorney general and as minister, I was constantly reminded of the extent to which the British system of government had been hollowed out and converted into a quasi-presidential system in which collective cabinet authority had completely atrophied. I remember surprising a UK attorney general by telling him that Irish cabinet meetings lasted a good number of hours, and individual memoranda and decisions were tabled, discussed as necessary, and collectively approved or rejected.

Cabinet meetings in Downing Street, by contrast, can last 30 minutes and much UK business is done on the basis of subcommittee meetings, circulated papers and the ratification of decisions made by non-ministerial kitchen cabinet meetings of advisers. I had the impression that many UK ministers found out what their government was doing after the fact and after the press was briefed by “Downing St sources”.

Coalition governments necessarily require a less presidential style of administration. The sad fact is that the UK has utterly degraded its internal systems of governmental checks and balances.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2022 ... -balances/

[Insane_Homer]

[JM2K6]

What I'm finding interesting and which doesn't seem to get discussed much, is that the PM and CEx seem to make all the calls without discussing with or even informing the cabinet.

Obviously leadership and taking charge is very important and something Liz is no good at, but good leaders also consult and built a consensus, even if only with a leadership group like the cabinet. That's how you built support and can hone policy if required.
At least with Boris you knew he was too lazy to think and decide on his own, and many others were involved.

Two people, however high up the leadership chain, shouldn't be able to implement the type of changes that tank the national economy - this should be a democratic government, not some soft version of dictatorship. As well as not having the skills for the job, this is why Liz has to go.

Ex Irish Attorney General and Minister McDowell had a recent column in the IT covering this very point . An extract from the article :

As attorney general and as minister, I was constantly reminded of the extent to which the British system of government had been hollowed out and converted into a quasi-presidential system in which collective cabinet authority had completely atrophied. I remember surprising a UK attorney general by telling him that Irish cabinet meetings lasted a good number of hours, and individual memoranda and decisions were tabled, discussed as necessary, and collectively approved or rejected.

Cabinet meetings in Downing Street, by contrast, can last 30 minutes and much UK business is done on the basis of subcommittee meetings, circulated papers and the ratification of decisions made by non-ministerial kitchen cabinet meetings of advisers. I had the impression that many UK ministers found out what their government was doing after the fact and after the press was briefed by “Downing St sources”.

Coalition governments necessarily require a less presidential style of administration. The sad fact is that the UK has utterly degraded its internal systems of governmental checks and balances.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2022 ... -balances/

Surprisingly, not many of us subscribe to the Irish Times...

[Camroc2]

What I'm finding interesting and which doesn't seem to get discussed much, is that the PM and CEx seem to make all the calls without discussing with or even informing the cabinet.

Obviously leadership and taking charge is very important and something Liz is no good at, but good leaders also consult and built a consensus, even if only with a leadership group like the cabinet. That's how you built support and can hone policy if required.
At least with Boris you knew he was too lazy to think and decide on his own, and many others were involved.

Two people, however high up the leadership chain, shouldn't be able to implement the type of changes that tank the national economy - this should be a democratic government, not some soft version of dictatorship. As well as not having the skills for the job, this is why Liz has to go.

Ex Irish Attorney General and Minister McDowell had a recent column in the IT covering this very point . An extract from the article :

As attorney general and as minister, I was constantly reminded of the extent to which the British system of government had been hollowed out and converted into a quasi-presidential system in which collective cabinet authority had completely atrophied. I remember surprising a UK attorney general by telling him that Irish cabinet meetings lasted a good number of hours, and individual memoranda and decisions were tabled, discussed as necessary, and collectively approved or rejected.

Cabinet meetings in Downing Street, by contrast, can last 30 minutes and much UK business is done on the basis of subcommittee meetings, circulated papers and the ratification of decisions made by non-ministerial kitchen cabinet meetings of advisers. I had the impression that many UK ministers found out what their government was doing after the fact and after the press was briefed by “Downing St sources”.

Coalition governments necessarily require a less presidential style of administration. The sad fact is that the UK has utterly degraded its internal systems of governmental checks and balances.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2022 ... -balances/

Surprisingly, not many of us subscribe to the Irish Times...

Your, and their loss :

Liz Truss government’s actions underline how the UK is run by an ‘elective dictatorship’
Kwarteng’s actions - without prior cabinet approval - simply could not happen in Ireland where the Constitution demands collective responsibility from government

Michael McDowell
Wed Oct 5 2022 - 05:51

The revelation that UK chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng committed Britain to a programme of unfunded tax cuts and unfunded borrowing without even discussing the abolition of the 45 per cent tax rate for highest earners with the cabinet had many Irish people scratching their heads.

Ireland has a written Constitution which radically differs from the non-constitutional agglomeration of conventions that some in the UK describe as “the British constitution”.

For one thing, the British cabinet system of government has been permitted to mutate and decay to the extent that the late Tory politician Lord Hailsham famously described the office of prime minister as an “elective dictatorship”.

In theory, the British cabinet is still a subcommittee of the entire privy council, a body including all present and former cabinet members, together with a select set of people including, by convention, the leaders of the opposition parties at Westminster. The entire privy council was once the monarch’s executive organ of government. But from the 17th century, a system of ministers appointed by the monarch developed on the basis that a leading politician was invited by the monarch to form an administration which would command the confidence of the House of Commons.

I had the impression that many UK ministers found out what their government was doing after the fact and after the press was briefed by ‘Downing St sources’

In the Republic by contrast, the “head of the Government or Prime Minister” or taoiseach is appointed by the president on the nomination of a majority in the Dáil. Members of the government are also appointed by the president on the taoiseach’s nomination but only with the prior approval of the Dáil. There is no question of a taoiseach being chosen by the president or being invited to form a government, or of members of government being appointed without the approval of the Dáil.

Even when Ireland was a Free State, its Constitution was exceptional among self-governing dominions in that the head of the government was nominated by the Dáil for appointment, rather than invited or chosen for appointment by the governor general.


While a taoiseach and a British prime minister can at any time advise the removal from office of any minister, unlike in Britain no replacement minister may be appointed without the prior approval of the Dáil.

Most importantly, the Irish Constitution provides that the government must “meet and act as a collective authority” and be “collectively responsible” for the departments of State overseen by its members. The government must also collectively prepare annual budgets and collectively present them to the Dáil for consideration. The government as a whole is collectively “responsible to Dáil Éireann”.

There is simply no possibility that the Dáil could approve an abolition of the top tax rate or authorise a splurge of unfunded borrowing without a prior decision to that effect by the members of the government, still less without discussion as happened in the UK this week.



As attorney general and as minister, I was constantly reminded of the extent to which the British system of government had been hollowed out and converted into a quasi-presidential system in which collective cabinet authority had completely atrophied. I remember surprising a UK attorney general by telling him that Irish cabinet meetings lasted a good number of hours, and individual memoranda and decisions were tabled, discussed as necessary, and collectively approved or rejected.

Cabinet meetings in Downing Street, by contrast, can last 30 minutes and much UK business is done on the basis of subcommittee meetings, circulated papers and the ratification of decisions made by non-ministerial kitchen cabinet meetings of advisers. I had the impression that many UK ministers found out what their government was doing after the fact and after the press was briefed by “Downing St sources”.

Coalition governments necessarily require a less presidential style of administration. The sad fact is that the UK has utterly degraded its internal systems of governmental checks and balances.


All this has been developing in the UK for the last half century. Boris Johnson’s ill-fated spell in office marked the high point of prime ministerial autocracy. The antics of his adviser Dominic Cummings were the antithesis of collective cabinet accountability. While the brilliant TV series, The Thick of It, may on occasion have seemed more parody than reality, the all-powerful character of Malcolm Tucker, berating and removing ministers with equal aggression, had more than a chilling element of truth about it.

[ British minister apologises to Irish Government over Brexit negotiations ]

Would an Irish government behave in the way that Johnson, his Brexit negotiator David Frost, and the head of the hardline pro-Brext European Research group, Steve Baker, did towards the Ireland and the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol? There would have been cabinet discussion here at least. They would have been challenged.

The departure of Johnson, Truss’s embarrassments, Baker’s belated but welcome apology and Kwarteng’s humiliating U-turn may just mark the re-establishment in British politics of the norms that government must be collective, actions must have consequences, and facts always catch up with fantasists.

A written constitution has its merits.

[tabascoboy]

[tc27]

I was a 'reluctant remainer' in 2016 but the events of the last few days have confirmed that (at least in economic terms) sovereignty is increasingly meaningless in for nations that are not the US (because it has the dollar) or possibly China (which can squash any resentment its economic policies cause).

If gilt markets and FX traders can overturn a governments budget and I think within a few days over throw a government the advantage of being outside the regulatory sphere of the EU/EEA and having a completely sovereign Parliament seem increasingly slim (compared the the economic and personnel advantages). Whilst I think EU membership it too contentious for some decades yet I hope a re-entry into the single market is now more likely (all those brilliant think tanks will have to find another lab for their ideas).

[C69]

Could the Tories have done this shit show we were still in the EU.
What a fucking useless bunch of cnuts

[Torquemada 1420]

I was a 'reluctant remainer' in 2016 but the events of the last few days have confirmed that (at least in economic terms) sovereignty is increasingly meaningless in for nations that are not the US (because it has the dollar) or possibly China (which can squash any resentment its economic policies cause).

If gilt markets and FX traders can overturn a governments budget and I think within a few days over throw a government the advantage of being outside the regulatory sphere of the EU/EEA and having a completely sovereign Parliament seem increasingly slim (compared the the economic and personnel advantages). Whilst I think EU membership it too contentious for some decades yet I hope a re-entry into the single market is now more likely (all those brilliant think tanks will have to find another lab for their ideas).

Antoine Bouvet, rates strategist at ING.

This is all very positive for markets. It’s not just the numbers, but the fact he’s done away with the unapologetic tone and underlined that the government is listening to markets.

[Hal Jordan]

I see investment zones and the effective windfall tax on renewable energy have stayed on the agenda.

[Torquemada 1420]

I see investment zones and the effective windfall tax on renewable energy have stayed on the agenda.

As expected. It will now be a combo of grab as much as you can whilst operating a scorched earth policy to hand Labour the worst position possible.

[Insane_Homer]

[_Os_]

Camroc

The quasi-presidential system has been around since at least Blair. The UK media haven't helped, they portray any politics happening as factionalism and disunity, then start a debate over the strength of the government and the fall of the PM (this was their entire coverage of Blair/Brown, not any of the substance). The other way the UK media have contributed, is they don't care about or explain what the norms should be, the main way they've done this is by promoting the idea elections are about the leader and in the UK people elect a PM (parties have done this too, for example Tory members electing Truss as PM). The main way people now think of a UK election is as a presidential election. When the UK system is actually about electing individual members of parliament and the PM being who can command the confidence of a majority of those elected. When some rare parliamentary sovereignty happened during the Brexit process, it was interpreted by the UK media as chaos, the implication being a functioning parliament is a rubberstamp for the quasi-president.

This happens without the checks and balances through divisions of power that presidential systems have. There's just a quasi-president no one can really stop that easily before they do massive damage. They're closer to a dictator than a president.

The UK electoral system is supposed to give two large parties and large majorities to incumbents. This isn't always the case now because a lot of people vote as if it were a PR system (they don't care about "wasting their vote" by voting Greens or whoever, because they regard all votes as wasted and are happy for every vote to be protest vote), and in different regions of the UK the top parties aren't the same two parties anymore. There'll be 6+ parties and 4 of them large, in any Westminster parliament inside a FPTP system. So the UK's electoral system is broken too, and since 2010 has often given the downsides of FPTP (not representative of the vote, safe seats) with the downsides of PR (weak governments, and MP candidates selected by party HQ not the branches).

But there is the possibility for the quasi-president to combine with a functioning FPTP system and have close to total power. Johnson was extremely difficult to remove because of his majority, Truss then used that majority to ignore her cabinet entirely (the mini budget was made up by Truss and Kamikhazi, additions and changes were made without cabinet knowing). Because the UK's unwritten constitution is all about (often unenforceable) conventions, and parliamentary sovereignty has been weakened (through parties and whipping), a quasi-president would have to choose not the be that which isn't going to happen.

What that Irish Times article is describing is just the convention of the UK's unwritten constitution as it stands today, that's how it functions. If anyone wants something different they'll need some rules that are above parliament (outside a parliamentary super majority that allows those rules to be changed), or hope everyone that becomes PM doesn't want be a quasi-president. A lot of the stuff going wrong in the UK is about these questions, but the UK media attacks anyone proposing change that has any hope of implementing those changes and makes them unelectable (which is why Starmer avoids the topic, opposes PR and opposes SM/CU membership, anything else would mean the media making him unelectable).

[SaintK]

Her fingerprints all over it!!!

‘We were in a meeting to discuss the Budget,’ one aide told me, ‘and one of her advisers said, “I think there’s a problem with this. It’s going to look like our priority is tax cuts for the rich.”
‘And she just turned on him. She literally shouted him down.’ Now she must accept responsibility for her mistakes. Or her party must make her accept responsibility.

Now sources have claimed that the most contentious policy, the proposed cut in the top rate to 40p, was effectively forced on Mr Kwarteng after he suggested to Ms Truss that it should be delayed until next year to avoid ‘doing too much at once’.
The PM is understood to have said: ‘No – let’s go for it.’
When this newspaper asked Mr Kwarteng after the mini-budget whether Ms Truss had ‘bounced’ him into the cut, he paused before responding: ‘I think we were agreed on that.’

[fishfoodie]

What that Irish Times article is describing is just the convention of the UK's unwritten constitution as it stands today, that's how it functions. If anyone wants something different they'll need some rules that are above parliament (outside a parliamentary super majority that allows those rules to be changed), or hope everyone that becomes PM doesn't want be a quasi-president. A lot of the stuff going wrong in the UK is about these questions, but the UK media attacks anyone proposing change that has any hope of implementing those changes and makes them unelectable (which is why Starmer avoids the topic, opposes PR and opposes SM/CU membership, anything else would mean the media making him unelectable).

Nothing like handing over your Democracy to a bunch of Billionaire tax exiles, & Moscow stooges !

[The sun god]

I see that she is now in hiding !!!!..... Unbelievable .

[fishfoodie]

I see that she is now in hiding !!!!..... Unbelievable .

No, No; she's being Brave

I wonder what the urgent business is ?, new wallpaper, or is she packing her cases ?