Continuation General UK Politics III - Dumb and Dumber

[dudalb]

Originally Posted by Carrot Flower King

This, and your other comment, are very close to the truth: there is a strong strain of, especially, English exceptionalism, which overrides geography (ie where this archipelago actually is) and wants to do the same to history (ignoring inconvenient facts like the Empire was already screwed while Victoria was still alive and became progressively more so as the 20th century developed).

"Fog shuts down traffic in the English CHannel; The Continent cut off from Britian"
Supposed headline in the an English paper in the 1920's.

Well, the way things are going 'Britian" is just going be a geographical expression, with Scotland and Wales going their own way, Leaving England to itself,

[dudalb]

Originally Posted by The Don

The apocryphal headline "Fog in Channel - Europe cut off" neatly encapsulates this IMO.

Dammit, you beat me to it.

I also think "The Wogs Begin At Calais" is a good description.

And don't get me started on Ireland and and the British...

[Carrot Flower King]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b2154366.html

OK, we know that BlowJob is an ego maniacal narcissist with a massive sense of entitlement and no self-awareness, but what the actual **** is wrong with members of the Tory Party and other bits of our electorate? How can they still not see through the "Boris" schtick? How can they not have noticed that he is one idle ****** who did not actually do anything?

We are so screwed...

[The Don]

Originally Posted by Carrot Flower King

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b2154366.html

OK, we know that BlowJob is an ego maniacal narcissist with a massive sense of entitlement and no self-awareness, but what the actual **** is wrong with members of the Tory Party and other bits of our electorate? How can they still not see through the "Boris" schtick? How can they not have noticed that he is one idle ****** who did not actually do anything?

We are so screwed...

Shades of the GOP and President Trump yet again. Seems like the response to being hornswoggled by a grifter is to double down.

[KDLarsen]

Originally Posted by Carrot Flower King

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b2154366.html

OK, we know that BlowJob is an ego maniacal narcissist with a massive sense of entitlement and no self-awareness, but what the actual **** is wrong with members of the Tory Party and other bits of our electorate? How can they still not see through the "Boris" schtick? How can they not have noticed that he is one idle ****** who did not actually do anything?

We are so screwed...

Chalk it up to a sense of survival instinct. Much as Johnson tends to be loathed, he's also a proven election winner. And both Truss and Sunak will face one hell of a mountain during the next general election. Truss have had so many u-turns, she's starting to resemble a magic roundabout, and noone can take high-flying billionaire Sunak pretending to care about the cost-of-living crisis seriouly.

[Garrison]

Originally Posted by Carrot Flower King

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b2154366.html

OK, we know that BlowJob is an ego maniacal narcissist with a massive sense of entitlement and no self-awareness, but what the actual **** is wrong with members of the Tory Party and other bits of our electorate? How can they still not see through the "Boris" schtick? How can they not have noticed that he is one idle ****** who did not actually do anything?

We are so screwed...

You have to bear in mind you are talking about true Blue Tories to whom the Daily Mail is a serious newspaper reporting the facts. They did just fine under Boris and the people struggling with energy bills are just feckless, blowing their money on booze, vaping and streaming services(actually saw that being suggested in the comments of BBC article). Talk of the NHS being in trouble is just lies spread by Socialists at the BBC, and they have private medical insurance anyway. All those striking workers are just layabouts who should be grateful to have a job and sewage in the rivers? Well that's the fault of the foreign owners of the water companies, just don't ask how the foreigners got control in the first place.

[GlennB]

I shudder to think how the UK will cope with a hard winter. Speaking personally I have a 230v petrol generator, bought when we were living abroad during the Greek financial crisis and seriously worried about long power cuts. I'll be firing it up soon (I hope it still works) just to check on whether I have that bit of insurance. Yeah, the situation worries me this much

[Carrot Flower King]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...-nick-robinson

So, Thatcher-lite is too frit to be interviewed by Nick "Oh, no, I'm not really a Tory!" Robinson...

FFS! What has happened to openess and transparency or accountability?

Will the Beeb stand up and empty chair her? They have time to put together likely answers to Robinson's questions from her existing speeches and interviews: they could do that instead. Or just leave the slot with a screen saying "Liz was frit, so no interview"?

Will they do any of that? Of course not: we'll just get a re-run of some bollocks like Strictly...

[The Don]

Meanwhile the Daily Telegraph seems determined to force people back into offices (do the Barclays have an extensive commercial property portfolio ?) because it's simply unaffordable to work from home.

Apparently Cornwall Insight have estimated that energy costs in January for those working from home will be £209 a month higher than for those who commute to work. They have then extrapolated this out to be £2,500 a year.

IMO this simplistic analysis is flawed because:

• For at least 6 months a year the costs of working from home are considerably lower because there will be little or no space heating requirements
• It fails to take into account the additional costs of commuting to work. I think most people would be hard-pressed to travel to work for £10 a day - especially once costs of lunches and beverages are factored in
• This is even moreso when more than one person works from home

[Darat]

Season ticket into London - not including underground for us is £3856.00 per year. That usually goes up in-line(ish) with RPI in January.

[wobs]

With the exception of today, I usually bike to work. As does Mrs Wobs (generally).

My sister also bikes to work. She currently works from home about 3 days per week, but plans to go back full time when the heating has to go on.

I appreciate most people are not like this.

[Darat]

Originally Posted by The Don

Meanwhile the Daily Telegraph seems determined to force people back into offices (do the Barclays have an extensive commercial property portfolio ?) because it's simply unaffordable to work from home.

Apparently Cornwall Insight have estimated that energy costs in January for those working from home will be £209 a month higher than for those who commute to work. They have then extrapolated this out to be £2,500 a year.

IMO this simplistic analysis is flawed because:

• For at least 6 months a year the costs of working from home are considerably lower because there will be little or no space heating requirements
• It fails to take into account the additional costs of commuting to work. I think most people would be hard-pressed to travel to work for £10 a day - especially once costs of lunches and beverages are factored in
• This is even moreso when more than one person works from home

Yeah because as everyone knows you have the heating on full blast every month of the year...

[The Don]

Originally Posted by Darat

Yeah because as everyone knows you have the heating on full blast every month of the year...

We have friends with AGAs, this may not be far from the truth in their case

[Filippo Lippi]

Originally Posted by The Don

do the Barclays have an extensive commercial property portfolio ?

I believe so, they also know they shift more papers to commuters

[GlennB]

Originally Posted by The Don

We have friends with AGAs, this may not be far from the truth in their case

AGAs , for cooking, are totally insane.

[P.J. Denyer]

Originally Posted by Filippo Lippi

I believe so, they also know they shift more papers to commuters

But on the bright side it's now "Barclay Brother"

[Filippo Lippi]

Given how they are presented in Private Eye, the children are equally vile

[Darat]

And now the chief social scrounger can't even be arsed to come down to London to do her job. She needs to retire if she can't do her job. (On the other hand who can blame her not making an effort for Truss.)

[Lothian]

Originally Posted by Darat

And now the chief social scrounger can't even be arsed to come down to London to do her job. She needs to retire if she can't do her job. (On the other hand who can blame her not making an effort for Truss.)

I trust the people if Scotland will line the route from Dyce to Balmoral with signs, eggs etc so that Boris, on his way to his last audience, with Lizzy understands fully the esteem he is held in.

[Carrot Flower King]

With any luck BlowJob and Trussed will get held up driving to Balmoral by some huge charity bike ride, like we were last time we drove through that part of the world.

Still, it meant we got to rubberneck a lot more than otherwise.

And, as ever, it just goes to show how readily our beloved "royal traditions" get thrown out as soon as it suits a royal...

[dudalb]

Liz Truss has promised no new taxes and no energy rationing if she is PM. Which means, of couse, she will probably end up doing both, some kind of energy rationing seems inevitable. But she will disguise it by calling it something else,of course.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by dudalb

Liz Truss has promised no new taxes and no energy rationing if she is PM. Which means, of couse, she will probably end up doing both, some kind of energy rationing seems inevitable. But she will disguise it by calling it something else,of course.

Yes, or she will turn herself inside-out explaining that although taxes are higher, they're not new because a similar tax was once implemented in the 19th century and that there isn't energy rationing, merely rolling blackouts which are the fault of those horrible money-grabbing energy companies.

[jeremyp]

Originally Posted by KDLarsen

Chalk it up to a sense of survival instinct. Much as Johnson tends to be loathed, he's also a proven election winner. And both Truss and Sunak will face one hell of a mountain during the next general election. Truss have had so many u-turns, she's starting to resemble a magic roundabout, and noone can take high-flying billionaire Sunak pretending to care about the cost-of-living crisis seriouly.

John Major was a proven election winner. Edward Heath was a proven election winner. Harold Wilson was a proven election winner. They all went on to lose elections.

There isn't a hpe in hell that Boris could have won the next general election. Apart from the fact that the economy is tanking for various reasons (not all his fault), the lies and law breaking and the increasing obviousness of the fact that he is unfit for power would have been an absolute gift to the opposition. That's why the Tory MPs got rid of him. Not that it will help his successor. I expect a rout at the next election with the Tories going out of power for a decade.

[Ethan Thane Athen]

Originally Posted by jeremyp

John Major was a proven election winner. Edward Heath was a proven election winner. Harold Wilson was a proven election winner. They all went on to lose elections.

There isn't a hpe in hell that Boris could have won the next general election. Apart from the fact that the economy is tanking for various reasons (not all his fault), the lies and law breaking and the increasing obviousness of the fact that he is unfit for power would have been an absolute gift to the opposition. That's why the Tory MPs got rid of him. Not that it will help his successor. I expect a rout at the next election with the Tories going out of power for a decade.

I admire your optimism. I predict a hung Parliament due to the media (well newspapers mainly) pushing the lie that only the Tories can get us through these tough times and if Labour were in things would have been even worse.

Sadly the Tories have captured the thickie vote...and there are a lot of thickies.

[The Don]

The currency markets are judging the UK's economic future poorly.

Quote:

Worries over the prospects for the UK economy led the pound to slide 5% against the US dollar in August.

Sterling sank again on Thursday morning, dipping below $1.16 on the currency markets.

Analysts said the fall reflects the darkening outlook for the economy, with consumers and businesses facing rising prices and soaring energy bills.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62750606

So much for the Tories being trusted with the economy.

[GlennB]

Originally Posted by Ethan Thane Athen

I admire your optimism. I predict a hung Parliament due to the media (well newspapers mainly) pushing the lie that only the Tories can get us through these tough times and if Labour were in things would have been even worse.

Sadly the Tories have captured the thickie vote...and there are a lot of thickies.

Yeah, but sometimes they just have to turn on someone. Somebody needs blaming and they certainly can't blame Labour and the LibDems.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by GlennB

Yeah, but sometimes they just have to turn on someone. Somebody needs blaming and they certainly can't blame Labour and the LibDems.

Why not ?

[Lothian]

Originally Posted by GlennB

Yeah, but sometimes they just have to turn on someone. Somebody needs blaming and they certainly can't blame Labour and the LibDems.

I am sure many of them will vote Tory in order to stop Corbyn getting in.

[Carrot Flower King]

Originally Posted by GlennB

Yeah, but sometimes they just have to turn on someone. Somebody needs blaming and they certainly can't blame Labour and the LibDems.

Have you missed the stories and conversations recounted by various of us (a combination of ones from IRL and from various parts of the media) of real, actual folk, ones who are allowed to vote, blaming the Labour government for things done since the 2010 election? Or blaming a Labour local authority for things done by the Tories?

This isn't helped by none of the media challenging the Tory narrative that they "needed" to do austerity because of Labour. No mention of the global banking crisis, worsened here by de-regulation which Osborn and other Tories had insisted didn't go far enough. No, Brown and Darling stole all the money...We did have folk up here who opined that Gordon Brown was personally responsible for ruining good old Northern Rock.

I don't know what can be done about this level of misunderstanding. Nor about stuff like bods in Blyth who say, "Oh, I just like him [BlowJob] and think he's a bit of a laugh!" (Yes, that was from a BBC vox pop on PM a few months back.)

[SteveAitch]

Originally Posted by Carrot Flower King

I don't know what can be done about this level of misunderstanding. Nor about stuff like bods in Blyth who say, "Oh, I just like him [BlowJob] and think he's a bit of a laugh!" (Yes, that was from a BBC vox pop on PM a few months back.)

Have I got News For You has a lot to answer for!

[GlennB]

Originally Posted by Carrot Flower King

Have you missed the stories and conversations recounted by various of us (a combination of ones from IRL and from various parts of the media) of real, actual folk, ones who are allowed to vote, blaming the Labour government for things done since the 2010 election? Or blaming a Labour local authority for things done by the Tories?

I haven't missed them, but they're the oustandingly stupid people and remarks that grab the attention. If there was an election looming I'd be looking to strike a few avatar bets here, but I can see things getting worse in general in the UK and the Tory fortunes dropping further. At the moment Ladbrokes have Con and Lab equal favourites to win the most seats at the next GE, but pundits are speaking freely about extensive ill health and even deaths this winter, the NHS is crumbling and inflation rampant, small businesses either closing or on the brink ...

[Nessie]

BJ has suggested dealing with the cost of living crisis by buying a new kettle, if you have an old inefficient kettle. The kettle making industry is delighted at that endorsement.

[sphenisc]

Originally Posted by GlennB

Yeah, but sometimes they just have to turn on someone. Somebody needs blaming and they certainly can't blame Labour and the LibDems.

No problem for Boris however..

Originally Posted by SKY News

He decried the "short termism" that he said led to no new nuclear power plants being built in the UK in nearly 30 years, while the likes of France had built four in the same timeframe.

And he criticised past leaders of both Labour and the Liberal Democrats - though not mentioning his own party's time in office - saying it had been "a chronic case of politicians not being able to see beyond the political cycle" and choosing to invest.

[P.J. Denyer]

Originally Posted by dudalb

Liz Truss has promised no new taxes and no energy rationing if she is PM. Which means, of couse, she will probably end up doing both, some kind of energy rationing seems inevitable. But she will disguise it by calling it something else,of course.

I think she has about as much comprehension of what she's saying as Orville the Duck.

[P.J. Denyer]

Originally Posted by GlennB

Yeah, but sometimes they just have to turn on someone. Somebody needs blaming and they certainly can't blame Labour and the LibDems.

Don't bet on it, much like our groceries now blaming the last Labour Government has no Use By Date under this government.

[GlennB]

I had a busy, enjoyable and very productive day today. Maybe the rush of endorphins explains my (temporary?) optimism that the Tories will get royally shafted at the next election.

[Carrot Flower King]

"He decried the "short termism" that he said led to no new nuclear power plants being built in the UK in nearly 30 years, while the likes of France had built four in the same timeframe.

And he criticised past leaders of both Labour and the Liberal Democrats - though not mentioning his own party's time in office - saying it had been "a chronic case of politicians not being able to see beyond the political cycle" and choosing to invest."

Well, BlowJob was a classics "scholar", so we can't expect him to either count or know about modern history, can we?

[P.J. Denyer]

Nothing like a lecture on short termism from a man who's plan to deal with this week's crisis is "Next Week's Crisis"

[Carrot Flower King]

Originally Posted by P.J. Denyer

Nothing like a lecture on short termism from a man who's plan to deal with this week's crisis is "Next Week's Crisis"

That is astoundingly generous: any evidence that he's ever thought as far ahead as next week, Saturdays excluded, of course.

[dudalb]

Originally Posted by The Don

Yes, or she will turn herself inside-out explaining that although taxes are higher, they're not new because a similar tax was once implemented in the 19th century and that there isn't energy rationing, merely rolling blackouts which are the fault of those horrible money-grabbing energy companies.

To be fair, i suspect any politician in that situation nowdays would do that.
I can't see anybody in UK politics who is capable or rallying people to sacrifice with a "I have Nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat".I think a Labor PM faced with having to do those things would try to disguise them.