General UK politics VIII - The Last Tory

[Gulliver Foyle]

Wait for the budget.

Labour cannot afford to make uncoated commitments, but it's clear that the vast majority (I'd say all) Labour MPs in and out of government want to end child poverty. Deploring the lack of this uncosted pledge from the King's Speech when it wouldn't get acted upon until the first budget or mini budget is nothing more than political grandstanding with no impact even if the amendment had passed.

I suspect that ending the cap on universal credit will turn out to be the most cost effective method, but the lack of a firm commitment at this time is not the same as a rejection.

And come the budget they'll "find" that the (totally unnecessary and counter-productive) tory imposed fiscal constraints will "stop" them from doing som

If Starmer wanted to drop the two child limit, he'd have announced it already. It's popular, it's cheap and it's easy to do.

 

[SteveAitch]

If the Conservative Party vanished tomorrow, other parties would rise to take its place (as an opposition not necessarily ideologically). In fact, I would say, in the absence of any other serious opposition) there is a non zero chance that Labour itself might split...

According to today's news, Jeremy Corbyn is working on that even as we speak.

 

[zooterkin]

And come the budget they'll "find" that the (totally unnecessary and counter-productive) tory imposed fiscal constraints will "stop" them from doing som

If Starmer wanted to drop the two child limit, he'd have announced it already. It's popular, it's cheap and it's easy to do.

If you think £3.4 billion per year is cheap, yes.

 

[catsmate]

Ihave no love for the Tory Party, but the number of people who eant it destoryed, leaving Labor the only major party and the UK a one party state is scary.

Please, it's the name of the party, not a word with regional variation, so please spell it correctly. It's Labour.

ETA: And your point is bollocks.

This.

 

[RolandRat]

If you think £3.4 billion per year is cheap, yes.

It's not expensive on national terms.

 

[zooterkin]

It's not expensive on national terms.

It depends what else they've committed to. I'm very happy to wait and see, and I think it's good that Starmer is starting off by maintaining discipline, and is not being bounced into decisions by the rank and file. The amendment would have had no effect on the benefits cap; there are plenty of inequalities that need to be addressed after 14 years of Tory misrule, but they cannot all be addressed at once. They need to be dealt with in a sustainable way, or else this will be another single term Labour government, and so some people will be disappointed that their particular priorities don't match those of the government.

 

[Wudang]

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...energy-keir-starmer-conservatives-ed-miliband
The link is to their "latest" streaming page so may expire.
Starmer said

They left us the worst inheritance since the second world war, and every day – every day – we’re finding more mess that they’ve left for us to clear up.

The rot of shortsightedness and self-service that has weakened the foundations of our country.

 

[GlennB]

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...energy-keir-starmer-conservatives-ed-miliband
The link is to their "latest" streaming page so may expire.Starmer said

Handy hint - each time stamp on their 'live' reporting is itself a link. If you use that then you'll always get the item even if it's scrolled off the bottom of the page when someone tries to read it.

 

[Wudang]

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...age-8500-after-being-ousted-from-clacton-seat

The original Reform candidate for Clacton who was kicked out by Farage has billed Farage for £8,500 for his election expenses including a website taken over by Farage.

The psychotherapist and charity worker – who alleges he was frozen out by Reform UK and that Farage went back on a deal that they shook on – says he is speaking out because he believes the MP cannot be trusted. He accused an “aggressive element” among some of those who supported Reform UK of creating a “fascistic” atmosphere in the constituency.
......
"I fear for the future of Reform unless it is democratised,” he said, in reference to the unusual structure of the party, which is registered as a company that is ultimately controlled by Farage rather than members.

 

[jimbob]

Finding Labour a bit dull? Fear not, the Tory fun factory is gearing up again
John Crace

The good news, though, is that the Conservative fun factory is back up and running. As in, fully dysfunctional. The even better news is that this time the fun comes with no personal jeopardy to the country. Because whatever the outcome, none of it really matters. The Tories are no longer – for the next few years at least – a danger to anyone. Except themselves. They are an irrelevance. They now exist purely as entertainment for entertainment’s sake. An amusing diversion for lovers of political theatre

 

[Mojo]

Tom Tugendhat’s Tory leadership campaign mocked for ‘Turd’ acronym

The Tory leadership hopeful briefly adopted the slogan “Together we can, Unite the party. Rebuild trust. Defeat Labour” when he launched his bid on Wednesday. A graphic breaking it down into four lines was visible on his campaign website.
Eagle-eyed social media users spotted that the first letter of each line spelled out the acronym Turd.
By Thursday morning, it had been changed to: “Together we can, Unite the party. Rebuild Trust. Win back the country.”

 

[Ethan Thane Athen]

Young I was a kind of instinctive Ken Clarke Tory and I’d like there to be a coherent and electable party representing that space. Having said that, and insofar as labels such as left and right are still meaningful, I find myself politically unattached nowadays: I’ve certainly drifted leftwards over the years, but at the same time the whole political debate has drifted rightwards because I’m in a space somewhere on the left of Labour and aligned with the LibDems. Which as a child of the 1970s seems very odd.

Blimey that's uncanny. Could have been written by me...

 

[jimbob]

Tom Tugendhat’s Tory leadership campaign mocked for ‘Turd’ acronym

As someone who used to live in his constituency, the River Medway at Tonbridge last winter would indeed have fitted with that first description

 

[Andy_Ross]

Lee Anderson posted

Political Stitch Up

Labour has decided to modernise the way Parliament works. They have decided that smaller parties like @reformparty_uk are not allowed to sit on the Select Committees and hold them to account.

He's telling lies of course.

Rules haven't changed, Select Committee members are chosen based on numbers of MPs that parties have in the House, just like they always have.

He's just pissed because he thinks Reform should be on all of them.

 

[Mashuna]

Lee Anderson posted

He's telling lies of course.

Rules haven't changed, Select Committee members are chosen based on numbers of MPs that parties have in the House, just like they always have.

He's just pissed because he thinks Reform should be on all of them.

He thinks it should be based on media coverage of the party, rather than seats won?

 

[malbui]

As someone who used to live in his constituency, the River Medway at Tonbridge last winter would indeed have fitted with that first description

As a kid I spent a few afternoons fishing in the Medway down at East Farleigh and Wateringbury. I’m hearing that nowadays you’re far more likely to pull a massive log out of the water than an actual fish.

 

[P.J. Denyer]

Lee Anderson posted

He's telling lies of course.

Rules haven't changed, Select Committee members are chosen based on numbers of MPs that parties have in the House, just like they always have.

He's just pissed because he thinks Reform should be on all of them.

No point putting Farage on committees, he has a history of not attending.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

If you think £3.4 billion per year is cheap, yes.

Compared to £1.2tn per year, it is. And given that the government are willing to spend vastly larger sums on items with no future returns, spending that kind of money for a massive future return very much is.

 

[Wudang]

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...d-to-reveal-20bn-shortfall-in-public-finances

Rachel Reeves is expected to reveal a £20bn hole in government spending for essential public services on Monday, paving the way for potential tax rises in the autumn budget.
..........
However, work is still being done on the audit and the final figure of £20bn could shift as officials examine the spending commitments of each department.

 

[jeremyp]

Lee Anderson posted

He's telling lies of course.

Rules haven't changed, Select Committee members are chosen based on numbers of MPs that parties have in the House, just like they always have.

He's just pissed because he thinks Reform should be on all of them.

Link:

https://x.com/LeeAndersonMP_/status/1816458011809865861