Current Affairs

[Chalgrave4]

Look at her cabinet. Talk about jobs for your mates. Meanwhile any minister that opposed her has been sent to the back benches. All that experience wasted while new people take those roles. That's not in my opinion good leadership.

Not exactly Uniting the Party either

[Gill W]

Look at her cabinet. Talk about jobs for your mates. Meanwhile any minister that opposed her has been sent to the back benches. All that experience wasted while new people take those roles. That's not in my opinion good leadership.

Not exactly Uniting the Party either

I completely agree with both of you.

Existing in an echo chamber is not good, especially when the people populating the chamber are inexperienced and with little talent.

It would probably be helpful for her to build a few bridges, as the last thing we need is the continuation of the spectacle of Tory infighting.

[screwy]

Like him or not I though Keir Starmer quizzed Liz well.

Asking the same questions I reckon I could have done a good job too.!

If that’s all he had to offer he wouldn’t have been a brilliant Barrister.

[barney]

I consider myself a fair person and I’m going to give her every chance to muck up rather than just assuming that she will.
I find it a bit crass that some habitually criticise before the person has had a chance.
She may even surprise me and make a decent fist of it.

[towny44]

Like him or not I though Keir Starmer quizzed Liz well.

She also failed to point out to him that any windfall tax, would fall massively short of the cost of the intervention she plans and, since Shell and BP will already be paying a much higher level of corporation tax as a result of their profits, any further tax would probably deter them from making the large investments in North sea gas, fracking and renewables that her govt will be hoping to persuade them to undertake.
But I wouldn't expect any labour leader to understand such complicated economics.

[Onelife]

I see the BBC have started where they left off with their sensationalist journalism…I thought todays PMQ was a well-mannered affair but listening to this afternoons BBC report Liz Truss and Kier Starmer were reported to have ‘clashed’ …. it’s about time the BBC got back to reporting the new instead of trying to create it.

[Gill W]

I see the BBC have started where they left off with their sensationalist journalism…I thought todays PMQ was a well-mannered affair but listening to this afternoons BBC report Liz Truss and Kier Starmer were reported to have ‘clashed’ …. it’s about time the BBC got back to reporting the new instead of trying to create it.

It was quite a novel experience at PMQ. The PM actually answered a couple of the questions!

[Onelife]

I see the BBC have started where they left off with their sensationalist journalism…I thought todays PMQ was a well-mannered affair but listening to this afternoons BBC report Liz Truss and Kier Starmer were reported to have ‘clashed’ …. it’s about time the BBC got back to reporting the new instead of trying to create it.

It was quite a novel experience at PMQ. The PM actually answered a couple of the questions!

Yes’, it was quite refreshing to hear a PM who didn’t try and brush questions aside without giving a straight answer.

[anniec]

Look at her cabinet. Talk about jobs for your mates. Meanwhile any minister that opposed her has been sent to the back benches. All that experience wasted while new people take those roles. That's not in my opinion good leadership.

Not exactly Uniting the Party either

I completely agree with both of you.

Existing in an echo chamber is not good, especially when the people populating the chamber are inexperienced and with little talent.

It would probably be helpful for her to build a few bridges, as the last thing we need is the continuation of the spectacle of Tory infighting.

As do I. Exactly what happened last time, when Johnson removed everyone who hadn't backed him/Brexit and replaced them with lightweights. That ended well.

[oldbluefox]

So if you consider Boris' cabinet colleagues as lightweight why would Liz want to have them in her own cabinet? Maybe she agrees with you and saw them as lightweight so has gone for a change in her appointments. Just a thought........

[towny44]

So if you consider Boris' cabinet colleagues as lightweight why would Liz want to have them in her own cabinet? Maybe she agrees with you and saw them as lightweight so has gone for a change in her appointments. Just a thought........

Kwasi Kwarteng won University challenge when he was at Trinity College, and was Business Secretary in the last cabinet.

[oldbluefox]

There you go....... lightweight!!!

[david63]

An interesting observation.

During her campaign she made great store of the fact that she when to a state school (mainly as a dig at Sunak) but it turns out that two thirds of her cabinet went to private schools.

[Onelife]

My initial thought was that Liz Truss would be wise to make a strategic choice of cabinet ministers but on reflection it would appear that she has been well advised in sticking with those loyal to her. Let’s face it the disruptive factions within her party will want to keep their jobs so will have no choice but to bottle it until after the next election…squeak! squeak!

Watching PMQ yesterday I thought Theresa looked stunning.

[oldbluefox]

Great question from Theresa - stuck the knife into Sir Hindsight and then Liz twisted it. And to his credit Starmer did laugh. Angela Rayner looked as though she had swallowed a wasp.

[Onelife]

Great question from Theresa - stuck the knife into Sir Hindsight and then Liz twisted it. And to his credit Starmer did laugh. Angela Rayner looked as though she had swallowed a wasp.

Yes Foxy…her timing and delivery were superb...did you like her outfit?

[Onelife]

Great question from Theresa - stuck the knife into Sir Hindsight and then Liz twisted it. And to his credit Starmer did laugh. Angela Rayner looked as though she had swallowed a wasp.

I thought her wasp moment was more to do with Penny Morduant sitting opposite to her

[Mervyn and Trish]

Wasp is her normal look.

[screwy]

Didn’t know where to put this.

We’ve just come back from visiting our granddaughter and partner. Granddaughter gave birth to a baby boy on Tuesday, he’s perfect apart from being born a Kopite.!
Obviously gets his good looks from his Gt Grandad. ( me )

[Stephen]

Didn’t know where to put this.

We’ve just come back from visiting our granddaughter and partner. Granddaughter gave birth to a baby boy on Tuesday, he’s perfect apart from being born a Kopite.!
Obviously gets his good looks from his Gt Grandad. ( me )

The poor little s*d

Congratulations screwy, and mum and dad

[Kendhni]

My initial thought was that Liz Truss would be wise to make a strategic choice of cabinet ministers but on reflection it would appear that she has been well advised in sticking with those loyal to her. Let’s face it the disruptive factions within her party will want to keep their jobs so will have no choice but to bottle it until after the next election…squeak! squeak!

The tories were moving towards the right while Johnson was in charge, but it has certainly taken a significant step to the right under Truss. She has followed the Johnson line of surrounding herself with yes-men ... I am not sure that is a good idea because it gives no balance, but only time will tell. I like that she is focussing on medium and large enterprises rather than the continual handouts to smaller business ... that should help to grow the economy in the long term. On the other hand some of her statements look like she may be a bit of a backward Robin Hood ... robbing the poor to give to the rich. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJo3wwRCdhU

Her big problem is that she only has a couple of years to turn things around and worryingly, so far, her pans seem to be the continuation of the shaking of the tory magic money tree. Her biggest advantage is that the country is pretty much tracking the bottom of many KPI's at the minute so it should be easier than if it had have been tracking the middle or top.

Unlike Johnson, she has promised to publish a plan/strategy for the next few years ... it will be interesting to see what that contains. She has a lot of work to do to fix what she has inherited.

[Onelife]

Hi Ken, I’ve lost track of which politicians represent the values of Robin Hood or indeed the Sheriff of Nottingham theses days, if the truth be known most start off saying they will be Robin Hoods but end up looking like Sheriffs of Nottingham, indeed finding the right balance has been as elusive as a politician needing a food bank.

As you say, it’s a case of wait and see but I do feel in Liz Truss there is a Maid Marion hoping to do her best for the people.

[Stephen]

She certainly has had an easy inauguration. Gets offered the job one day, see’s the Queen to accept who then dies on her two day later.

[CaroleF]

It's certainly taken the pressure off her as regards the papers for a week or so. Mind you she's had added pressures I'm sure.

[david63]

Mind you she's had added pressures I'm sure.

Every time I see her at the moment she looks like a rabbit caught in the headlights!

And I do wish she would learn the correct protocol of curtsying rather than giving a nod of the head