UK General Discussion:The Rt. Hon Alex Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, Populist Hero

[DaWN]

https://twitter.com/MoatsTV/status/1281619854995476480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwc...

Poor old Scotland. Even I don't hate the SNP that much to wish him on them.

WOW, the SNP is really doomed now!!

Well obviously I didn't mean it in a 'oh no here comes electoral juggernaut george galloway to end the snp once and for all' sense, I meant it in a 'oh no here comes a reprehensible annoying f!ck to be a horrible nuisance for everyone' sense.

[Corbyn is (no longer) the leader of the Labour Party]

https://twitter.com/MoatsTV/status/1281619854995476480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwc...

Poor old Scotland. Even I don't hate the SNP that much to wish him on them.

WOW, the SNP is really doomed now!!

Well obviously I didn't mean it in a 'oh no here comes electoral juggernaut george galloway to end the snp once and for all' sense, I meant it in a 'oh no here comes a reprehensible annoying f!ck to be a horrible nuisance for everyone' sense.

I was being sarcastic.

[Blair]

It's funny as during my political lifetime I've never know G*lloway as a scottish politican; this is full circle really.

To his credit & I can't believe I'm saying this but he was hilarous at getting under the skin of nationalists in 2014 in only the way that he can- he's a character which to sound cliche is really from a bygone age of British Politics.

[Silent Hunter]

Including the antisemitism?

[Cassius]

He got most of our clueless pundits (who understand BIG NUMBERS even less than most other stuff) to gush over him uncritically, though - so in that sense it was "mission accomplished".

True - another win for the Dishy Rishi for PM campaign.

How many "moderate Tories" have inspected the wallets of certain "liberal" commentators now?

I don’t think that’s the case so much for Sunak, I think it’s more that a lot of centrist and centre-right commentators are desperate to find just one cabinet minister who exudes an air of competence and authority at the moment. The problem with the ‘Dishy Rishi, master of finance’ spiel, as I’m sure you know, is that the most recent measures announced are essentially little more than window dressing. The £1k bonus over three months per employee whose job is kept won’t even cover a quarter of a monthly minimum wage salary. This restaurant voucher business is patronising pandering and runs slap bang into the objective of having restaurants maintain social distancing. The stamp duty cut is a transparent effort to juice up the old property price go brrr machine.

Sunak does frustrate me a little as he is very redolent of the kind of slick individuals I’ve come across a fair amount in my career over the last few years and I just know he will end up as Conservative leader at some point down the road.

[Silent Hunter]

The restaurant voucher scheme does also apply to takeaways, mind.

Sunak as Conservative leader and PM could be likely sooner than you might think; Johnson isn't exactly in full vigour at the moment after his Covid-19 episode.

Also, an Asian PM from the Conservatives would be... interesting. For one thing, I can imagine what Enoch Powell would feel if he heard about it in the afterlife.

[Zinneke]

https://twitter.com/MoatsTV/status/1281619854995476480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwc...

Poor old Scotland. Even I don't hate the SNP that much to wish him on them.

It's a shame. He obviously thinks he's run out of places to carpet bag. But I always thought Ulster was a final place he had lined up. His brand of politics is actually not that dissimilar to the region's either!

[cp]

Between him and JK Rowling, Scottish politics does seem especially cursed with despicable gadflies these days.

[CumbrianLefty]

Including the antisemitism?

Careful now, he can get quite litigious about such claims.......

[DaWN]

Including the antisemitism?

Careful now, he can get quite litigious about such claims.......

He doesn't strike me the type to be browsing Atlas looking for libellous claims tbf...

[CumbrianLefty]

Ahem, it wasn't a totally serious comment you know

(except that he *does* have a fondness for assistance from his "learned friends")

[Continential]

I wonder what party Galloway would be in NI?

[CumbrianLefty]

His ego would likely too big for either SF or the SDLP.

Some sort of People Before Profit style personal vehicle?

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

His ego would likely too big for either SF or the SDLP.

Some sort of People Before Profit style personal vehicle?

PBP for sure given their Trot wing.

I've thought Galloway's best bet since 2015 was to wait out the five years in which he would not be allowed to join Labour and then sign up and take advantage of his friendships with Corbyn and co. His grift has been pathetic and this window of opportunity has probably now gone given the direction of the Labour Party, but it's still his best bet given how dire his recent independent runs have been. The only other realistic pathway to a Galloway comeback that I see is Labour supporting another unpopular war abroad (with British troops on the ground).

[Corbyn is (no longer) the leader of the Labour Party]

His ego would likely too big for either SF or the SDLP.

Some sort of People Before Profit style personal vehicle?

PBP for sure given their Trot wing.

I've thought Galloway's best bet since 2015 was to wait out the five years in which he would not be allowed to join Labour and then sign up and take advantage of his friendships with Corbyn and co. His grift has been pathetic and this window of opportunity has probably now gone given the direction of the Labour Party, but it's still his best bet given how dire his recent independent runs have been. The only other realistic pathway to a Galloway comeback that I see is Labour supporting another unpopular war abroad (with British troops on the ground).

Dang it! Unfortunately that's not happening anytime soon, looks like we'll have another five years with Galloway out of parliament.

[Cassius]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/13/english-councils-poised-cuts-services-job-losses-loss-commercial-income

In other news many local councils are now ed. Obviously, much of this drive to acquire commercial property on the back of borrowing is due to cuts in central government grants over the last decade, but I imagine there have been some stupid acquisitions along the way. Fortunately all debt (at least for England and Wales, as far as I’m aware) is owed to a public entity (the PWLB) and not to banks/bondholders, as would be the case in the States, so hopefully some arrangements can be made there.

[Blair]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/13/english-councils-poised-cuts-services-job-losses-loss-commercial-income

In other news many local councils are now ed. Obviously, much of this drive to acquire commercial property on the back of borrowing is due to cuts in central government grants over the last decade, but I imagine there have been some stupid acquisitions along the way. Fortunately all debt (at least for England and Wales, as far as I’m aware) is owed to a public entity (the PWLB) and not to banks/bondholders, as would be the case in the States, so hopefully some arrangements can be made there.

Some people where warning about this pre-covid- I think the National Audit Office where warning a lot of councils where relying on assumed profits to present a much more rosy picture re finances.

I don't know if it's a huge difference but I always assumed there was a scale with this; some councils did it on a few sites where as the richer ones in the South-East went a bit crazy with it & started buying up vast sites for supermarkets in places like Wales- which in itself is a worrying trend re local space.

[Cassius]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/13/english-councils-poised-cuts-services-job-losses-loss-commercial-income

In other news many local councils are now ed. Obviously, much of this drive to acquire commercial property on the back of borrowing is due to cuts in central government grants over the last decade, but I imagine there have been some stupid acquisitions along the way. Fortunately all debt (at least for England and Wales, as far as I’m aware) is owed to a public entity (the PWLB) and not to banks/bondholders, as would be the case in the States, so hopefully some arrangements can be made there.

Some people where warning about this pre-covid- I think the National Audit Office where warning a lot of councils where relying on assumed profits to present a much more rosy picture re finances.

I don't know if it's a huge difference but I always assumed there was a scale with this; some councils did it on a few sites where as the richer ones in the South-East went a bit crazy with it & started buying up vast sites for supermarkets in places like Wales- which in itself is a worrying trend re local space.

Yeah I think there is a lot of variation across the board - as discussed in the article, some councils (Luton) are reliant upon one big investment (Luton airport) to help fund themselves, whereas others have, as you say, gone on a big spending spree (Spelthorne). I read somewhere that Spelthorne are confident they won’t have a problem because they have built up reserves (although how they’ve not been burning through those in the last three months I don’t know) - the issue will be whether or not those reserves last until things get back to normal with regards their cash generating assets, which could take a very long time.

[CumbrianLefty]

The governments ability to cynically palm things off onto local government, whilst not giving them the resources to manage this effectively, is reaching the end of the role I feel.

Large scale bailouts of certain councils are likely in the near future.

[Alcibiades]

The governments ability to cynically palm things off onto local government, whilst not giving them the resources to manage this effectively, is reaching the end of the role I feel.

Large scale bailouts of certain councils are likely in the near future.

I live in a Labour-run council, but a largely Tory area within it. People here complain about how local government is run, seemingly oblivious to the fact that this situation has been created by austerity.

[afleitch]

I'm a little bit concerned about the local clusters reporting, particularly as some outlets emphasise the 'high south asian' aspect. While it is true that some cultural factors are at play here, there's a lot of the demography of politics/poor health, extended families in one household that is perhaps too nuanced to get across. For now the potential instigators are fuming over face masks, but I worry going forward.

[Serenity Now]

Including the antisemitism?

Careful now, he can get quite litigious about such claims.......

He doesn't strike me the type to be browsing Atlas looking for libellous claims tbf...

Conversely, I think he's one of extremely few UK politicians who potentially might do just that.

[CumbrianLefty]

I'm a little bit concerned about the local clusters reporting, particularly as some outlets emphasise the 'high south asian' aspect. While it is true that some cultural factors are at play here, there's a lot of the demography of politics/poor health, extended families in one household that is perhaps too nuanced to get across. For now the potential instigators are fuming over face masks, but I worry going forward.

Yeah, intriguing how *this* was the final straw for some.

Not all the unavoidable excess deaths, scandalous circumstances in care homes or similar trivia.

[Blair]

Chris Grayling has lost his bid to become the next chair of the Intelligience and Security Committee.

He was offered this plum job in exchange for keeping quiet & was rightly seen as a lackey for No.10 on a committee which is usually extremely non-political & vital in overseeing MI5 & MI6 (there's a fascinating comparison in oversight of the CIA & MI6)

He lost to the Conservative MP Julian Lewis, who is himself a character. But he is at least qualified & independently minded.

This is notable because the Russia report is expected to come out & because No.10 spent the last 3 months trying to find suitable backbenchers to put on here who they could trust would vote for Grayling; a serious blow for the Whips Office & No.10

[Blair]

https://twitter.com/davidallengreen/status/1283451638607380481