This Wretched Hive Of Scum And Villainy

[Zinneke]

I can see now why Coutinho is seen as continuity Sunak. Same The Apprentice candidate meets overprivileged high caste effortless superiority bitch vibes. Vacuous, careerist losers.

[CumbrianLefty]

A year ago, Coutinho confided in a journalist at conference about how much of the party was going down the rabbit holes of online conspiracy theory - and this made her sad and worried.

Now.....

[Torrain]

Very tetchy Sunak interview for Sky News. Lots of talking over the interviewer.

He suggested Nigel Farage could be readmitted to the Conservatives - he’s attending his first Conservative conference this year, since he left the party, in 1993. Which is perhaps the most “abandon swing voters, throw red meat to an imagined base” move possible.

The whole thing builds to this fairly unconvincing pronouncement:
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1709182436465062380

[JimJamUK]

Very tetchy Sunak interview for Sky News. Lots of talking over the interviewer.

He suggested Nigel Farage could be readmitted to the Conservatives - he’s attending his first Conservative conference this year, since he left the party, in 1993. Which is perhaps the most “abandon swing voters, throw red meat to an imagined base” move possible.

An underdiscussed point. Farage is just really unpopular, and polls have found him net negative even among Leave voters. The fact he got 1/3 of the vote on a very low turnout should not have been taken as a personal endorsement of him by the British people. Some of his ideas and focus could be a lot more electorally potent should they be framed correctly and delivered on by the government (so not what they’re currently doing).

[Oryxslayer]

Very tetchy Sunak interview for Sky News. Lots of talking over the interviewer.

He suggested Nigel Farage could be readmitted to the Conservatives - he’s attending his first Conservative conference this year, since he left the party, in 1993. Which is perhaps the most “abandon swing voters, throw red meat to an imagined base” move possible.

The whole thing builds to this fairly unconvincing pronouncement:
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1709182436465062380

An underdiscussed point. Farage is just really unpopular, and polls have found him net negative even among Leave voters. The fact he got 1/3 of the vote on a very low turnout should not have been taken as a personal endorsement of him by the British people. Some of his ideas and focus could be a lot more electorally potent should they be framed correctly and delivered on by the government (so not what they’re currently doing).

In this moment everyone should remember that Nigel failed to win a seat in parliament when he ran in 2015. This is despite the Thanet council simultaneously electing a UKIP majority and the voters there going on to support Leave in 2016 by a large margin.

[Pericles]

Very tetchy Sunak interview for Sky News. Lots of talking over the interviewer.

He suggested Nigel Farage could be readmitted to the Conservatives - he’s attending his first Conservative conference this year, since he left the party, in 1993. Which is perhaps the most “abandon swing voters, throw red meat to an imagined base” move possible.

The whole thing builds to this fairly unconvincing pronouncement:
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1709182436465062380

An underdiscussed point. Farage is just really unpopular, and polls have found him net negative even among Leave voters. The fact he got 1/3 of the vote on a very low turnout should not have been taken as a personal endorsement of him by the British people. Some of his ideas and focus could be a lot more electorally potent should they be framed correctly and delivered on by the government (so not what they’re currently doing).

I remember Dominic Cummings said Farage was a big vote-loser for Leave in the referendum, but I'm not sure if he provided any data on that.

[Oryxslayer]

https://twitter.com/AlexofBrown/status/1709223672521597303?t=uAEAXkBuvohH1dIj9Pl...

Please Lib Dems, launch a "kick the bum out" campaign against her

[Torrain]

Potentially some real parliamentary fireworks ahead:
https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1709321886985846808

[Pericles]

Please give us a repeat of this absolute classic from last year.
https://twitter.com/chrisshipitv/status/1582855807816720385

[Torrain]

Government minister Nus Ghani (herself the victim of religious discrimination), has been scathing about Susan Hall’s attacks on Sadiq Khan (and draws unfavourable comparisons with Zac Goldsmith’s campaign, which will raise some eyebrows). All with Steve Baker, of all MPs, nodding along in the background. I do wonder if we could be headed towards Hall being forced out, with someone like Paul Scully imposed instead at this point.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

hey tories how’s it goin?

https://twitter.com/Conservatives/status/1709207218027934071
yea


“Long-term decisions for a brighter future” is such a satirical sounding slogan for a party conference.

[CumbrianLefty]

Government minister Nus Ghani (herself the victim of religious discrimination), has been scathing about Susan Hall’s attacks on Sadiq Khan (and draws unfavourable comparisons with Zac Goldsmith’s campaign, which will raise some eyebrows). All with Steve Baker, of all MPs, nodding along in the background. I do wonder if we could be headed towards Hall being forced out, with someone like Paul Scully imposed instead at this point.

I doubt it, as long as polls continue to show her competitive at any rate.

One also shouldn't underestimate how many of them have now convinced themselves that going full fat Orbanist is going to prove to be that elusive election winner. All the polling that claims otherwise is itself just an ELITE WOKE ANTI-BRITISH CONSPIRACY, don't you know?

What this week has shown is how loads of Tories are totally high on their own fumes now.

[Torrain]

Sunak has barred journalists from both the Guardian and Telegraph from conference hall. Normal, normal stuff.

[CumbrianLefty]

I mean......what on earth has the Allisterheathograph done to upset him?

[Cassius]

It would be ideal if all journalists were barred from attending all political and government events. A step in the right direction.

[Torrain]

Step 1: Inherit a majority built on northern seats.
Step 2: Go to Manchester
Step 3: Announce you’re cancelling the flagship transport link to Manchester, while saving the link to London Euston
Step 4: ??
Step 5: Profit

[afleitch]

This was a speech in which the PM effectively said 'children are the problem.'

[Zinneke]

23 and high on your own supply you should add.

[afleitch]

The PM's potential contempt of court was quite something.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

That's the kind of joke you make privately, not in a very public speech.

[Torrain]

https://twitter.com/Jeremy_Hunt/status/1227259322540994560

[JimJamUK]

Government minister Nus Ghani (herself the victim of religious discrimination), has been scathing about Susan Hall’s attacks on Sadiq Khan (and draws unfavourable comparisons with Zac Goldsmith’s campaign, which will raise some eyebrows). All with Steve Baker, of all MPs, nodding along in the background. I do wonder if we could be headed towards Hall being forced out, with someone like Paul Scully imposed instead at this point.

IIRC Baker was quite ‘woke’ about Black Lives Matter, so he does have previous form (perhaps not entirely unrelated to representing a Labour trending constituency with a large ethnic minority population).

[YL]

Step 1: Inherit a majority built on northern seats.
Step 2: Go to Manchester
Step 3: Announce you’re cancelling the flagship transport link to Manchester, while saving the link to London Euston
Step 4: ??
Step 5: Profit

One of the few things mentioned in the "Network North" document which actually does involve Manchester is extending the Metrolink to Manchester Airport, which should be an easy commitment for even this government to achieve given that the line opened in 2014.  Did Sunak not notice those yellow things going in and out of the Airport station from his helicopter?

(And of course stuff like this reduces confidence in the rest of the document.)

[TheTide]

Oh dear.

https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1709642673827500083?s=20

[EastAnglianLefty]

Similarly, for Nottingham it mentions the possibility of extending the tram to Clifton South, which happened eight years ago.