UK General Discussion: Rishecession

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Nice title.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

RIP

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

You know, in the olden days the death of a monarch would automatically trigger a general election. The Conservatives have to be glad this isn't still the case.

When was the law changed on this?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

He says "mama" and "papa" in his speech.
Nice.
I liked it.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I see things are going swimmingly for the Conservatives.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1578480177499119616?s=20&t=vF8DUm5p8jv6...

Foreign florists? I see the Tory government is finally standing up to the true villains of this world - the Dutch!

I knew I couldn't trust the Dutch! They like tulips too much for their own good!

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

If Liz loses all these by-elections, would that bring a premature end to her time in power?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

What is the "Labour NUT map"?

There is this meme where NUT (always capitalized) means something like a party winning a huge, huge landslide.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

If Liz loses all these by-elections, would that bring a premature end to her time in power?

If Liz Truss loses 6-8 by-elections on one day (let’s be even-handed and say she holds onto Nadine Dorries’ seat) in a series of safe seats, she’ll be a proven election loser, and politically toxic. I can’t see how she’d be allowed to continue.

At that point, the voices in the party calling for the coronation of a new PM to minimise election losses and prepare the party for opposition would become far louder.

I wonder if this was intentional by Boris...

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

If Liz loses all these by-elections, would that bring a premature end to her time in power?

If Liz Truss loses 6-8 by-elections on one day (let’s be even-handed and say she holds onto Nadine Dorries’ seat) in a series of safe seats, she’ll be a proven election loser, and politically toxic. I can’t see how she’d be allowed to continue.

At that point, the voices in the party calling for the coronation of a new PM to minimise election losses and prepare the party for opposition would become far louder.

I wonder if this was intentional by Boris...

Wasn't he widely thought to be a Truss supporter, even if he never went public on his successor?

Though even then its quite possibly overridden by his "apres moi, le deluge" mentality.

It seems more likely than not that he would not sabotage her like this, but it's a possibility I'm open to.
But above all I'd feel he most likely did this as rewards for his supporters and all. Giving them a lifelong lordship...

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

What is the Blue Collar Conservatives?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Britain just can't get a break...

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Sometimes a picture captures a moment better than any live comment update

They say a picture can say a thousand words.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1582895159775137794

That’s insane. Can you really spring a confidence vote on someone retroactively like that?

Things like this are definitely going to help Truss get the support of MPs.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Bit off topic, but this explains everything.

https://twitter.com/trussliz/status/1042969714656509952?s=20&t=gBHJuFOZDHOu3...

The writers of Tory Time are really going all out to prevent an early cancellation of the show.

A British politician taking the time to support the Cleveland Browns is somehow not the strangest thing about Liz Truss. Somehow.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

BTW, I don't know it's be noted here yet, but the utter chaos of the fracking and/or confidence vote was started by Labor calling for a vote on extending the fracking ban.  The member of Labor who submitted the call--Ed Milliband. 

Payback is a Mutha.

never has the "coalition of chaos" refrain from 2015 looked more ironic.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

My dad texted me:

“Did you see that UK PM resigned? thats like William Henry Harrison!”

Did your dad read my mind?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

William Henry Harrison resigned?

He resigned from life

Yes.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1583209400671809537

I'm not sure it's a good idea to just wade in another country's internal politics like that...

If popularity in Ukraine was all-determinative, then Boris would serve as PM for at least as long as Thatcher.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Liz Truss sure likes talking about the Energy Freeze...

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://twitter.com/Number10cat
I highly suggest people check out this Twitter account. It's utterly golden.

https://twitter.com/Number10cat/status/1583916429124206592?cxt=HHwWgIDU_bXmmfsrA...
Couldn't help but laugh at this one, Lol.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Will there also be a Sunak government crisis?

I'm sure there will, but probably in 2023.

Sunak is, incidentally, the first Tory Prime Minister to represent a constituency outside Southern England since Home (who was parachuted into a Highlands seat when there were still safe Tory areas there), and the first from a constituency in Northern England since Balfour (whose seat was in Manchester).

That's how you know it was a long time ago. Tory PM with a seat in Manchester...

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://twitter.com/10downingstreet/status/1584966901792268289

How do we know this is true?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Forget leaking, that Cabinet is going to be daily oil spills one after another.

"The ship of state is the only one to leak from the top" - Yes, Minister

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

As a Scottish Leave voter - which will admittedly bias this post - I’ve always thought that the whole argument that “Scotland only voted No in 2014 because they were guaranteed to stay in the EU” has been ridiculously over-exaggerated. Yes, there was a sort of voter for whom EU membership was the be-all-and-end-all, but they represent a largely upper middle-class, very online and yes, privileged, section of Scottish society. I’d even go so far as to say that there’s been a significant re-writing of the history of the 2014 referendum - the suggestion that it was EU membership that won it for No didn’t really come about until 2016.

The reality was always far more complex - if Scots felt so strongly about the issue, the SNP wouldn’t have dropped 13% and lost 21 seats in the 2017 GE.  38% for Leave is of course a clear minority, but support across the country was fairly evenly spread both geographically and, surprisingly, across partisan support. I’ve even seen suggestions, though have never been able to find a reliable source, that close to 50% of SNP voters voted Leave. There’s also the inconvenient fact that Scottish turnout in 2016 was noticeably lower than anywhere except Northern Ireland (suggesting a lack enthusiasm for the issue), and it of course merits mention that every major Scottish politician (no, David Coburn wasn’t major) was in favour of Remain, and the lack of debate here certainly had an impact on the final result.

This is an interesting, understudied issue that deserves better than the “All Scots loved the EU so they will now vote for independence” line that always gets lazily bandied about.

Welcome to the forum.