UK General Discussion: Rishecession

[Torie]

Do any of you remember who Liz Truss is?

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/01/30/liz-truss-republican-party-00080280

[Pericles]

Do any of you remember who Liz Truss is?

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/01/30/liz-truss-republican-party-00080280

Articles like this remind us what absolute nutjobs the US Republican Party are.

[Torie]

Do any of you remember who Liz Truss is?

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/01/30/liz-truss-republican-party-00080280

Articles like this remind us what absolute nutjobs the US Republican Party are.

How about this one?

https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=537548.msg8962529#msg8962529

[Torrain]

Do any of you remember who Liz Truss is?

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/01/30/liz-truss-republican-party-00080280

I’ve had a sneaking suspicion for a while that Truss will bail on the UK and become a full-time libertarian grifter in the States, in the same manner as Douglas Carswell (former Tory-turned UKIP MP who now runs a tax-cut-advocating think tank in Mississippi).

While she’s talking about setting up a parliamentary caucus, the fact she seems to flattered by the attention (while back home she’s nothing more than a punchline), furthers my belief that she’s still on track for that fate.

[Torrain]

The Raab investigation seems to be rattling on behind the scenes.

Apparently the three permanent secretaries he worked with have all given testimony. Notably, the three men have each reportedly raised concerns about Raab’s behaviour in the past, either with the man himself, or with the Cabinet Office.

In both linked articles, numerous anonymous ministers say Raab is essentially done for. I get the sense that in earlier governments, a minister like him would be pressured to resign, and just say that he was “becoming a distraction”.

But because Raab served in the Johnson ministry, where resignation amid scandal seems to have been anathema, he just seems to lack the necessary reflex to admit that the game is up.

[TheTide]

https://twitter.com/_sn_n/status/1620483907341914112?s=20&t=Bhw52592ni-2DHoR...

[Torrain]

https://twitter.com/_sn_n/status/1620483907341914112

I for one welcome our new twink overlord

[afleitch]

https://twitter.com/_sn_n/status/1620483907341914112

I for one welcome our new twink overlord

He looks like someone being paid to say 'woke young people suck' on trash TV

[Torrain]

https://twitter.com/_sn_n/status/1620483907341914112

I for one welcome our new twink overlord

He looks like someone being paid to say 'woke young people suck' on trash TV

Yeah - he does have big GBNews correspondent energy. Probably because of the 2010s hair and Tory MP tailored suit combo.

[politicallefty]

He honestly does look like a gay British Conservative, but someone that tries to be provocative to get attention. A few years older and he'd have a nice position in Cabinet.

[CumbrianLefty]

Tory version of the Milibrothers, methinks.

[All Along The Watchtower]

What the hell happened to the Tories to make them so comically unserious?

Thatcher may have been evil, but she was deadly serious. It almost seems as if the UK Conservative Party looked across the pond at Tea Party/MAGA era Republicans and said to themselves, “we need more of that.”

Or is this simply the consequence of Cameron pandering to the Farage wing of the Tories, May relying on the DUP to “get Brexit done”, Johnson being PM (nuff’ said), and Truss going SubReaganomics Accelerationist on the British pound, all of which has made Sunak being effective at his job a very tall order indeed.

[warandwar]

Just out of curiosity I was reading about Respect Party and I'm wondering if they are still active and what are the factional politics like to the left of Labour since Corbyns departure in general?

RESPECT dissolved in the Corbyn years and several people associated with it tried to enter Labour (Salma Yaqoob most notably/successfully). Galloway set up a new party called the Workers Party, which he leads but is effectively a front for the insane Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist Leninist), it was under this brand that he ran in the Batley & Spen by-election.

Respect was a product of its time, a union between Islamists & Communists who were aligned in opposition to the war on terror, but they were never the most comfortable bed fellows for obvious reasons - aside from hating America & Israel they didn’t really have much in common.

Chris Williamson has joined up with TUSC, which is the descendant of Militant and (I believe?) still headed by former Militant MP Dave Nellist. I don’t think he’s expressed any interest in actually doing anything like stand for office etc.

In practise, there isn’t much of an organised movement to the left of Labour. People like Galloway & Williamson were always more interested in speaking to the converted than actually doing things - and are *probably* too tainted to ever come back to parliament - but stranger things have happened.

Those who are interested in actually doing things (say, Matt Zarb-Cousin) seem to be going (back) to the Greens - which may get interesting down the line since in many places the Greens (like the Lib Dem’s 1997-2010) run more as an opposition to established parties than as a particularly left wing one. But in my experience, most of those Corbynites who were involved at the local level have either quit politics or switched focus on less partisan campaigns. I doubt we’ll see something that even rises to RESPECT’s levels of support anytime soon.

Williamson joined the Socialist Labour Party, not SPEW d/b/a TUSC. he said it was because so many people told him what we need is a **socialist** labour party

[Coldstream]

Just out of curiosity I was reading about Respect Party and I'm wondering if they are still active and what are the factional politics like to the left of Labour since Corbyns departure in general?

RESPECT dissolved in the Corbyn years and several people associated with it tried to enter Labour (Salma Yaqoob most notably/successfully). Galloway set up a new party called the Workers Party, which he leads but is effectively a front for the insane Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist Leninist), it was under this brand that he ran in the Batley & Spen by-election.

Respect was a product of its time, a union between Islamists & Communists who were aligned in opposition to the war on terror, but they were never the most comfortable bed fellows for obvious reasons - aside from hating America & Israel they didn’t really have much in common.

Chris Williamson has joined up with TUSC, which is the descendant of Militant and (I believe?) still headed by former Militant MP Dave Nellist. I don’t think he’s expressed any interest in actually doing anything like stand for office etc.

In practise, there isn’t much of an organised movement to the left of Labour. People like Galloway & Williamson were always more interested in speaking to the converted than actually doing things - and are *probably* too tainted to ever come back to parliament - but stranger things have happened.

Those who are interested in actually doing things (say, Matt Zarb-Cousin) seem to be going (back) to the Greens - which may get interesting down the line since in many places the Greens (like the Lib Dem’s 1997-2010) run more as an opposition to established parties than as a particularly left wing one. But in my experience, most of those Corbynites who were involved at the local level have either quit politics or switched focus on less partisan campaigns. I doubt we’ll see something that even rises to RESPECT’s levels of support anytime soon.

Williamson joined the Socialist Labour Party, not SPEW d/b/a TUSC. he said it was because so many people told him what we need is a **socialist** labour party

According to the Socialist Party (main contingent of TUSC) he joined them https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/31633/12-11-2020/ex-mp-chris-williamson-joins-tusc/

[gerritcole]

Privatizing the nhs might be the masterstoke sunak needs, I read a McKinsey paper once that said the Brit’s could make a lot of money This way

[Torrain]

Privatizing the nhs might be the masterstoke sunak needs

[warandwar]

Just out of curiosity I was reading about Respect Party and I'm wondering if they are still active and what are the factional politics like to the left of Labour since Corbyns departure in general?

RESPECT dissolved in the Corbyn years and several people associated with it tried to enter Labour (Salma Yaqoob most notably/successfully). Galloway set up a new party called the Workers Party, which he leads but is effectively a front for the insane Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist Leninist), it was under this brand that he ran in the Batley & Spen by-election.

Respect was a product of its time, a union between Islamists & Communists who were aligned in opposition to the war on terror, but they were never the most comfortable bed fellows for obvious reasons - aside from hating America & Israel they didn’t really have much in common.

Chris Williamson has joined up with TUSC, which is the descendant of Militant and (I believe?) still headed by former Militant MP Dave Nellist. I don’t think he’s expressed any interest in actually doing anything like stand for office etc.

In practise, there isn’t much of an organised movement to the left of Labour. People like Galloway & Williamson were always more interested in speaking to the converted than actually doing things - and are *probably* too tainted to ever come back to parliament - but stranger things have happened.

Those who are interested in actually doing things (say, Matt Zarb-Cousin) seem to be going (back) to the Greens - which may get interesting down the line since in many places the Greens (like the Lib Dem’s 1997-2010) run more as an opposition to established parties than as a particularly left wing one. But in my experience, most of those Corbynites who were involved at the local level have either quit politics or switched focus on less partisan campaigns. I doubt we’ll see something that even rises to RESPECT’s levels of support anytime soon.

Williamson joined the Socialist Labour Party, not SPEW d/b/a TUSC. he said it was because so many people told him what we need is a **socialist** labour party

According to the Socialist Party (main contingent of TUSC) he joined them https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/31633/12-11-2020/ex-mp-chris-williamson-joins-tusc/

Check the date on that, he left and joined the SLP a few months back.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

How has the TUSC been able to remain organizationally alive despite having next to no electoral success ? Shouldn't their supply of activists exausht at some point.

[Biden 2024]

Happy Third Anniversary, Brexit!

I'm sure it worked out just fine. Especially now that London has "taken back control" and they're "funding [our] NHS instead". Promises made, promises kept.

It's not over 'til Brexit sings.

[warandwar]

How has the TUSC been able to remain organizationally alive despite having next to no electoral success ? Shouldn't their supply of activists exausht at some point.

Well they had the pretty steady financial support of the RMT until recently.
TUSC was basically non-existant during the Corbyn years, so they have had periods of lull. The SPEW still has a decent membership, with a small presence in a few unions. If you're a trained political activist, showing up to a meeting or two and doing some doorknocking isn't a particularly hard ask, and I don't think candidates do much more than that.

[Coldstream]

Just out of curiosity I was reading about Respect Party and I'm wondering if they are still active and what are the factional politics like to the left of Labour since Corbyns departure in general?

RESPECT dissolved in the Corbyn years and several people associated with it tried to enter Labour (Salma Yaqoob most notably/successfully). Galloway set up a new party called the Workers Party, which he leads but is effectively a front for the insane Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist Leninist), it was under this brand that he ran in the Batley & Spen by-election.

Respect was a product of its time, a union between Islamists & Communists who were aligned in opposition to the war on terror, but they were never the most comfortable bed fellows for obvious reasons - aside from hating America & Israel they didn’t really have much in common.

Chris Williamson has joined up with TUSC, which is the descendant of Militant and (I believe?) still headed by former Militant MP Dave Nellist. I don’t think he’s expressed any interest in actually doing anything like stand for office etc.

In practise, there isn’t much of an organised movement to the left of Labour. People like Galloway & Williamson were always more interested in speaking to the converted than actually doing things - and are *probably* too tainted to ever come back to parliament - but stranger things have happened.

Those who are interested in actually doing things (say, Matt Zarb-Cousin) seem to be going (back) to the Greens - which may get interesting down the line since in many places the Greens (like the Lib Dem’s 1997-2010) run more as an opposition to established parties than as a particularly left wing one. But in my experience, most of those Corbynites who were involved at the local level have either quit politics or switched focus on less partisan campaigns. I doubt we’ll see something that even rises to RESPECT’s levels of support anytime soon.

Williamson joined the Socialist Labour Party, not SPEW d/b/a TUSC. he said it was because so many people told him what we need is a **socialist** labour party

According to the Socialist Party (main contingent of TUSC) he joined them https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/31633/12-11-2020/ex-mp-chris-williamson-joins-tusc/

Check the date on that, he left and joined the SLP a few months back.

Can’t find anything online about this, aside from an article saying he met with Scargill. Can you share your source? Wikipedia still lists him as a TUSC member.

[CumbrianLefty]

Privatizing the nhs might be the masterstoke sunak needs, I read a McKinsey paper once that said the Brit’s could make a lot of money This way

You have my sympathies.

[oldtimer]

What the hell happened to the Tories to make them so comically unserious?

Thatcher may have been evil, but she was deadly serious. It almost seems as if the UK Conservative Party looked across the pond at Tea Party/MAGA era Republicans and said to themselves, “we need more of that.”

Or is this simply the consequence of Cameron pandering to the Farage wing of the Tories, May relying on the DUP to “get Brexit done”, Johnson being PM (nuff’ said), and Truss going SubReaganomics Accelerationist on the British pound, all of which has made Sunak being effective at his job a very tall order indeed.

It's a very long story that started with the merger of the Liberals with the Conservatives in the 1920's.

Basically ever since then the Liberal-Conservative MP's and the Conservative-Conservative MP's are always at war within the Conservative Party over it's control.

That periodically leads to it's self-destruction leaving Britain in ruins.

Remember: House of Cards was written by Thatcher's chief of staff based on real things he experienced, it's not exactly fiction.

[Torrain]

Interesting day of anniversaries today.

Firstly, it's Sunak's 100th day in office. He's decided to mark the occassion with a Piers Morgan interview, which might outweigh the Zahawi affair the most damning indictment of his political nous yet (only mostly joking).

And, perhaps more notably, it's the 100th birthday of the 1922 committee (which is named for the group of Tory MPs who forced the 1922 election, but didn't formally organise until 1923) - without whom, of course, the PM would not be in office to begin with.

[warandwar]

Just out of curiosity I was reading about Respect Party and I'm wondering if they are still active and what are the factional politics like to the left of Labour since Corbyns departure in general?

RESPECT dissolved in the Corbyn years and several people associated with it tried to enter Labour (Salma Yaqoob most notably/successfully). Galloway set up a new party called the Workers Party, which he leads but is effectively a front for the insane Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist Leninist), it was under this brand that he ran in the Batley & Spen by-election.

Respect was a product of its time, a union between Islamists & Communists who were aligned in opposition to the war on terror, but they were never the most comfortable bed fellows for obvious reasons - aside from hating America & Israel they didn’t really have much in common.

Chris Williamson has joined up with TUSC, which is the descendant of Militant and (I believe?) still headed by former Militant MP Dave Nellist. I don’t think he’s expressed any interest in actually doing anything like stand for office etc.

In practise, there isn’t much of an organised movement to the left of Labour. People like Galloway & Williamson were always more interested in speaking to the converted than actually doing things - and are *probably* too tainted to ever come back to parliament - but stranger things have happened.

Those who are interested in actually doing things (say, Matt Zarb-Cousin) seem to be going (back) to the Greens - which may get interesting down the line since in many places the Greens (like the Lib Dem’s 1997-2010) run more as an opposition to established parties than as a particularly left wing one. But in my experience, most of those Corbynites who were involved at the local level have either quit politics or switched focus on less partisan campaigns. I doubt we’ll see something that even rises to RESPECT’s levels of support anytime soon.

Williamson joined the Socialist Labour Party, not SPEW d/b/a TUSC. he said it was because so many people told him what we need is a **socialist** labour party

According to the Socialist Party (main contingent of TUSC) he joined them https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/31633/12-11-2020/ex-mp-chris-williamson-joins-tusc/

Check the date on that, he left and joined the SLP a few months back.

Can’t find anything online about this, aside from an article saying he met with Scargill. Can you share your source? Wikipedia still lists him as a TUSC member.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/it-time-back-new-party-elections