General British politics discussion thread

pixelburp · 25-10-2022 8:11pm

It's like Sunak is stacking the deck as a dare at this stage. Picking contentious types just to see how far he can push it.

Is it just that he sees the tea leaves, know it's Labours to lose and just went F It, just owned some proper Tory debasement?

Sam Russell · 25-10-2022 8:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119792904#Comment_119792904

The one I liked the best was the Minister who tried to start a ferry company with a pizza take-away company (well their Articles were copied from one) just formed a few weeks earlier with a few hundred pounds capital with no ferries of their own, from a port that had a jetty that could not cope with required, but the non-existent ferries, and needed massive amounts of dredging anyway - the port was originally the home of hovercraft. However, the company said they could get ships from an Arklow bulk carrier company - no ferries either. It then went from bad to worse when the channel tunnel company sued and was paid a good whack of compo before it went to court. All the work of failing Grayling.

Coming in second if the Brexit Secretary, just appointed Dep PM, who admitted to a commons Brexit committee that he had never read the Good Friday Agreement - central to the Brexit negotiations and all of 34 pages long.

All good 'Yes Minister' plot lines.

25-10-2022 8:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119792386#Comment_119792386

times radio political analysis has just wondered the same as me. Braverman cannot do what she wants in a 2 year time horizon. She WILL fail. And so Sunak can put that at the door of the ERG

apparently staff in the home office are not happy

Water John · 25-10-2022 9:01pm

The choices Sunak has made to put in Cabinet could give him a dead cat bounce and it would be deserved.

Sorry Larry

breezy1985 · 25-10-2022 9:39pm

Just when we thought it might get boring he picks that cabinet. There is definitely a scandal in one of them.

Strazdas · 25-10-2022 11:35pm

A lot of UK political commentators are a bit flummoxed. They thought from Sunak's speech this morning he was going to be progressive and forward thinking but then he goes and puts some headbangers into the cabinet. Braverman as Home Secretary is perplexing : she's much more extreme than Priti Patel.

pixelburp · 26-10-2022 6:51am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119793774#Comment_119793774

It is, however, entirely on brand for a man like Sunak who likes to affect the sensible, progressive statesman without actually having the clout or authenticity to back it up.

He's paper thin and utterly superficial; more fool the commentators for believing any spin from a single speech. At the end of the day, the headbangers still drive this bus - with Braverman lusting over her Rwandan flights it's gonna get ugly.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/24/coke-car-trouble-and-class-some-awkward-rishi-sunak-moments

Peregrinus · 26-10-2022 8:20am

Yup. Saying that you are going to run a government that exemplifies integrity, accountability and professionalism and then immediately appointing Suella Braverman as Home Secretary definitely sends some mixed signals.

Still, we should maybe wait and see. Sunak did need to avoid the Truss error of been seen to appoint only chums and toadies to Cabinet. To have any credibility as a PM who can provide effective leadership to the party he needs to include some loopers in his Cabinet, and who is loopier than Suella?

Plus, I think all factions in the party recognise that they are on their last chance as regards leadership heaves. If Sunak is dumped it's general election time, and if there's a general election in those circumstances it's sayonara, Tories, for at least 10 years. As a Cabinet minister Suella has to toe the government line or resign/be fired, and if she resigns/is fired she risks her and her faction being blamed for the consequences. So this may be a way of keeping her close so that she can be kept under control.

What we are waiting to see, I think, is how much Suella is given her head. Does the Rwanda scheme ever actually happen? Is Suella allowed to act so as to drive immigration down, as she wishes, or does immigration go up, as Sunak would prefer? It may be that the quid pro quo for her being appointed Home Secretary is that she accepts Downing Street's direction on how she discharges her functions. That, after all, is the basis on which Sunak was appointed Chancellor and, gee, it worked out quite well for him, so it's a pact Suella might make.

Similarly, it's initially disappointing that Chris Heaton-Harris and Steve Baker have been kept on at the Northern Ireland Office. But it may turn out to be that they have been kept on in order to make it more difficult for the ERG to oppose a peace deal that Sunak hopes to make with the EU over the Protocol.

Tippman24 · 26-10-2022 8:37am

Maybe the PM is adhering to the line from the Godfather. "Keep your close but your enemies closer."

Christy42 · 26-10-2022 9:29am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119793774#Comment_119793774

Where is the confusion? He is a Tory and lied. He obviously made deals for Braverman's support and this is him paying out.

She didn't resign because of her security breach, she resigned because she knew Truss was dead and wouldn't further her career any more. I mean a security breach should be grounds for firing but it isn't like she has a moral compass.

Pete_Cavan · 26-10-2022 10:23am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119794022#Comment_119794022

I remember seeing the Coke interview on C4 News at the time and I don't think it was a gaff and actually thought it made him quite likeable. The thing about redirecting money from poor areas to wealthier areas should end a political career though.

ancapailldorcha · 26-10-2022 10:34am

There's a series of strategy games called Crusader Kings which I think are a little informative. Essentially, you control a single individual ruler from the middle ages. You can do whatever but if you expand your duchy, kingdom or empire it gets harder and harder to keep it together so you have to placate the various factions to prevent its disintegration.

Same here. Sunak has no interest in fixing the real structural issues of his party. Partly, this is due to his having no electoral legitimacy. Partly, this is due to his having very little in the way of tools to keep his MPs and ministers in line. If he can improve their standing in the polls beyond the expected bounce, he may be able to cement things but this sort of required crystallisation is unlikely IMO. Things have gone too far for that.

awec · 26-10-2022 11:22am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119794114#Comment_119794114

I was actually thinking the same. It's likely Sunak will keep Braverman on a tighter leash than Truss would have. And giving her something like Home does pull the rug out from under the Boris-ites who would otherwise suggest Sunak has abandoned the wing of the party that apparently won them their mandate.

I don't think Braverman would be in a position to refuse. This is, IMO, the peak of her career, politically she is a dud who has lucked out in the appointments she's been given. If she went back to the backbenches now she's going to stay there forever, because either Sunak does a good job without her, or Sunak does a terrible job and the Tories are gone for a decade.

ancapailldorcha · 26-10-2022 11:39am

By the way, if anyone wants a good primer on how the UK became such an economic basket case, you won't do better than this magisterial piece from MSN of all places:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/how-the-uk-became-one-of-the-poorest-countries-in-western-europe/ar-AA13luEL

It's from an American perspective which is refreshing, ie not the closed-minded stuff you see with a lot of UK-based analyses. It gives an overview of xenophobia, older voters insulated from economic shocks voting based on conservative culture war nonsense and apathy towards growth.

Well worth a read IMO.

PommieBast · 26-10-2022 11:39am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119794146#Comment_119794146

I was thinking something more like the tent quote from Lyndon Johnson..

Water John · 27-10-2022 2:51pm

The Suella controversy is not going away. The drip of more revelations, reported by another MP to the Chief Whip, then to Simon Case caused her resignation, nothing voluntary about it.

Brussels Sprout · 27-10-2022 5:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119800483#Comment_119800483

She rose very quickly for someone of her limited capabilities. I have no doubt that half the party would like to bring her down.

mazdamiatamx5 · 27-10-2022 5:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119794782#Comment_119794782

Worth reading for sure....what it's missing is a class-based leftist critique and assessement....

breezy1985 · 27-10-2022 6:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119801149#Comment_119801149

Chaos is a ladder.

ancapailldorcha · 27-10-2022 6:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119801324#Comment_119801324

I don't think it was anything to do with chaos. When Brexit prevailed in 2016, it set the stage for a takeover of the party by it's extreme fringe. Once Johnson purged it of moderates, the original Brexiters like Braverman had to be promoted. It helps that she presents a better face for its xenophobia than a white man would.