Current Affairs

[Onelife]

Truss has to go. It's a complete shambles. The Tories have reached a completely new level of incompetence. The only way they can can get any credibility back is to have a General Election.

Let Sir Keir Starmer have a go at being PM, he can't do any worse.

Starmer, Rayner, Dodds, Cooper, Lammy, Reeves, Ashworth, Miliband, Thornberry............... No thanks Bensham. I'd rather see Vieira and Zaha than that little lot!!!

For gawd sake Foxy…you’ve just put me off my lunch

[Kendhni]

Hi Ken...Having read your first paragraph, I can only presume you were one of those spoilt little brats who got everything they wanted at Christmas For most of us Brexiteers, we I believe, were under no illusion that Brexit would be delivering all the presents, wrapped and delivered in the time frame you are implying.

Two years is a very short time for a road map to be formed, especially when our EU friends are putting road blocks in place at every junction of our journey. Looking at our European counterparts it would appear that their wish list for a brighter Christmas has also had the runners taken off their sledge.

I wish, but had parents that did their best.
I don't think anybody was under any disillusion that this was a long haul, despite inconsistent messages from brexit leadership. Even the most incompetent project manager knows, you have to have a plan and the plan should provide rough dates for deliveries and what is expected to be in those deliveries. At the minute we have nothing

I would argue in the last 6 years (not 2) someone should have pulled together some sort of a plan ... but even 2 years should be plenty of time for a high level roadmap. I'm confused, are we or are we not in control? I thought brexit had happened. If so, the EU is not making the blockers, they are 100% of our own making.

Where I do agree with you is that we have allowed our political processes to be hijacked by political grim reapers, therefore our success of failure will be determined by their willingness to put the past behind them and move forward with a more positive attitude.

I look at it differently ... those living in the past are the ones still blaming remainers and everyone else for everything (they are still living in the bendy bananas myth) ... brexit has happened, and it is fair for us to now expect the government to deliver on its promises or at least tell us the 'when' and 'how' ... to move forward we need to hold the government accountable instead of sitting idly giving them a free-pass to achieve nothing while frittering away billions.

[Kendhni]

Truss has to go. It's a complete shambles. The Tories have reached a completely new level of incompetence. The only way they can can get any credibility back is to have a General Election.

Let Sir Keir Starmer have a go at being PM, he can't do any worse.

Truss has effectively gone, she is what is known as PMINO (Prime Minister in Name only) ... Hunt is in charge.
I really hope Truss hasn't picked out wallpaper and curtains yet.

In a recent poll of over 80,000 participants, 93% thought there should be a general election.
Sadly the voices of the 0.07% of the population that elected Truss are much more 'equal' in our democracy.
But that is our system.

[screwy]

There’s a very good reason why the PM is not in the house this afternoon.

Anyone who watched the last episode of SAS last night would have seen her interrogating the remaining candidates.

[Onelife]

I’ve been thinking, should Liz step aside who then takes over the reins? There seems to be a lot of noise saying Rishi should take over, but are they constitutional able to bypass the Deputy PM who might, amongst others also want to take on the roll? We could be facing for the first time in many years a situation where the party have to make a collective decision …or face another leadership contest…taking all this into consideration perhaps Liz may see out her term of office?

[Kendhni]

I think they are hoping the MPs will come to a collective decision about what to do. We have had to do without an effective PM for much of this year and during a time of multiple crises that is shameful. I suspect that the MPs will maybe be polled to see if a replacement can be agreed without consulting the wider Tory members. Mordaunt is handling herself well this afternoon (ooo errr missus).

[Kendhni]

There’s a very good reason why the PM is not in the house this afternoon.

Anyone who watched the last episode of SAS last night would have seen her interrogating the remaining candidates.

Visiting Charlie to resign?
I think she has a limited window in which she can resign with some dignity.
Wrong person at wrong time ... but in a different economical climate could have been the right person at the right time.

[Onelife]

I think they are hoping the MPs will come to a collective decision about what to do. We have had to do without an effective PM for much of this year and during a time of multiple crises that is shameful. I suspect that the MPs will maybe be polled to see if a replacement can be agreed without consulting the wider Tory members. Mordaunt is handling herself well this afternoon (ooo errr missus).

Oh dam! I’ve missed that…She’s my favourite you know

[Onelife]

There’s a very good reason why the PM is not in the house this afternoon.

Anyone who watched the last episode of SAS last night would have seen her interrogating the remaining candidates.

Visiting Charlie to resign?
I think she has a limited window in which she can resign with some dignity.
Wrong person at wrong time ... but in a different economical climate could have been the right person at the right time.

With hindsight I agree Ken.

[Kendhni]

Hunt has handled himself well today ... it was nice listening to a highly experienced MP speak.
It was also good to hear a comment that his budget (so far) has broad cross party agreement.

[Gill W]

I see Liz Truss made an appearance in the Commons.

She normally blinks when she’s under stress, for example when she’s asked a difficult question. She was just sitting there blinking furiously and looking completely out of it.

She must be under incredible strain - as a fellow human, I feel very concerned about her state of mind right now

[Onelife]

Re: Kens post..

He looks like the cat that’s got the cream…his short-term fix is necessary but I reserve judgment as to how he intends taking us into a high/higher growth economy. What we do know from his past is that this is going to hurt…if he’s got any sence he’ll support the lower paid workers and leave the pain for those who can afford cruises.

[Onelife]

I see Liz Truss made an appearance in the Commons.

She normally blinks when she’s under stress, for example when she’s asked a difficult question. She was just sitting there blinking furiously and looking completely out of it.

She must be under incredible strain - as a fellow human, I feel very concerned about her state of mind right now

I join you in those sentiments Gill...the way some reporters are hounding her (Chris Mason) but to name one is unworthy of the profession they represent.

[oldbluefox]

In Liz Truss' press conference the other day there were many questions they could have asked her but she was like a lamb to the slaughter. Considering the aggressive tone of those posing questions I didn't blame her for terminating the briefing after such a short time. I thought the purpose of reporters was to gather news. To my mind they overstep the mark.

[barney]

In Liz Truss' press conference the other day there were many questions they could have asked her but she was like a lamb to the slaughter. Considering the aggressive tone of those posing questions I didn't blame her for terminating the briefing after such a short time. I thought the purpose of reporters was to gather news. To my mind they overstep the mark.

The modern trend of reporting is nothing short of despicable.
The reporters are so aggressive.
Rigby of Sky is without doubt the worst.
Truss totally ignored her and I don’t blame her.

[Kendhni]

I see Liz Truss made an appearance in the Commons.

She normally blinks when she’s under stress, for example when she’s asked a difficult question. She was just sitting there blinking furiously and looking completely out of it.

She must be under incredible strain - as a fellow human, I feel very concerned about her state of mind right now

I join you in those sentiments Gill...the way some reporters are hounding her (Chris Mason) but to name one is unworthy of the profession they represent.

She was not in a good place in the HoC today

[barney]

The last week has shown really who is running the show.
Not the PM
Not the cabinet
Not the government
Not the Tory Party
Not even the politicians
It’s the money men.
They are totally unelected and lurk in dark corners, but there is no doubt who is in charge.

[Kendhni]

I totally missed Mordaunt's insult towards Truss yesterday. Mordaunt had been asked if Truss was 'cowering under her desk' and her reply was That the prime minister was 'not under a desk'. Mordaunt is an experienced politician and knows you do not repeat 'the insult' in the house ... was it deliberate or just a mistake from her?

[Onelife]

I totally missed Mordaunt's insult towards Truss yesterday. Mordaunt had been asked if Truss was 'cowering under her desk' and her reply was That the prime minister was 'not under a desk'. Mordaunt is an experienced politician and knows you do not repeat 'the insult' in the house ... was it deliberate or just a mistake from her?

I think her rebuttal was in the tone of “just grow up” we are supposed to be representatives of our country.

[Onelife]

The last week has shown really who is running the show.
Not the PM
Not the cabinet
Not the government
Not the Tory Party
Not even the politicians
It’s the money men.
They are totally unelected and lurk in dark corners, but there is no doubt who is in charge.

Political history has certainly shown that the powerful (money men) influence the direction of politics.

"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority",

Lord Acton

[david63]

Looks as we will be having a General Election sooner than we think as Liz Truss said last night that she will be leading the Conservative Party in the defeat election - and it appears that she may only have a short "shelf life"

[Bensham33]

Someone said on the wireless this morning that Liz Truss was less popular than Corbyn was at his least popular.

That is very un popular.

[Kendhni]

Looks as we will be having a General Election sooner than we think as Liz Truss said last night that she will be leading the Conservative Party in the defeat election - and it appears that she may only have a short "shelf life"

I think the emphasis is on the word 'will' as in "she will lead them in the next election... if asked".
She must know that she has blown it big time and needs to move aside now ... if the tories are to have any chance in the next election they need to stop lurching to the right and install a centrist leader with centrist policies ... I think that would be the only way they can beat labour by pushing them back to the left.

Everything she stood for to get elected to the post of PM has now gone.

[towny44]

Cameron kept his word in carrying out the referendum. Where he broke it was that he said he'd stay on and implement the result whichever way it went. Instead he rode off into the sunset and left Theresa May and the Boris to pick up the pieces. If he'd stayed maybe we wouldn't have suffered the waves of instability we've had since.

There was no way Cameron could have stayed on ... we saw the abuse May took, because she had not been a brexiteer ... and that lady did more to deliver brexit than anyone else in this country.

Many of those 'waves' were down to the brexit camps failure to bring remainers on the journey with them. The onus is on those who want change to convince the others. On my part I only ever had three simple questions:
- what are the verifiable tangible benefits of brexit ... still to be answered
- how will the success or failure of brexit be measured ... still to be answered**
- how much is brexit going to cost ... sadly we can only guess because the government is keeping that data close to its chest (current estimates that I have seen put it at somewhere between £500bn and £800bn and growing)

** Rees-Mogg was asked this question quite recently (in his role as Brexit minister) and his response was something along the lines that keeping such information would not be helpful ... and this was the person in charge??? An admission of incompetence and planning to fail if there ever was one.

I didn't rate his campaign at all. Very much Project Fear.

While I agree, it has proved a lot more accurate than the 'brexit contract with the people' which, so far, has failed to fully deliver on a single one of its promises ... on the other hand many points labelled as project fear have, unfortunately, come true.

I think he should have stayed on and gone back to the EU to say "I'm sorry I misjudged it. Have you got anything else to offer that might persuade them to change their minds if I give them the chance".

While that would have been nice, he had had his opportunity and got quite a few concessions from the EU ... however even before his plane landed back in the UK our media was spinning it as a failure (those concessions he did get never really got a fair hearing ... would it have made a difference? possibly not, by that point Farage was in control).

The EU are famous for referendum re-runs. They didn't want us to go and I think there were more concessions to be had if they thought we might rethink.

First sentence is an equivocation ... otherwise you could equally argue that it took over 30 votes in the HoC and 8 in the HoL before we got the right answer. They may not have wanted us to go, but equally they made no attempt to stop us (every blocker was of our own making) whereas they had offered concessions to other countries (resulting in referendum reruns). Both May and Johnson were in continuous negotiations with the EU and if there had been any other concessions to be had they would have got them.

All 3 of your Brexit questions refer to the cash benefits of Brexit, those of us who just wanted to be free of the EU straight jacket were quite prepared to accept the probable financial losses of Brexit, so for us your questions are pointless.

[barney]

Cameron kept his word in carrying out the referendum. Where he broke it was that he said he'd stay on and implement the result whichever way it went. Instead he rode off into the sunset and left Theresa May and the Boris to pick up the pieces. If he'd stayed maybe we wouldn't have suffered the waves of instability we've had since.

There was no way Cameron could have stayed on ... we saw the abuse May took, because she had not been a brexiteer ... and that lady did more to deliver brexit than anyone else in this country.

Many of those 'waves' were down to the brexit camps failure to bring remainers on the journey with them. The onus is on those who want change to convince the others. On my part I only ever had three simple questions:
- what are the verifiable tangible benefits of brexit ... still to be answered
- how will the success or failure of brexit be measured ... still to be answered**
- how much is brexit going to cost ... sadly we can only guess because the government is keeping that data close to its chest (current estimates that I have seen put it at somewhere between £500bn and £800bn and growing)

** Rees-Mogg was asked this question quite recently (in his role as Brexit minister) and his response was something along the lines that keeping such information would not be helpful ... and this was the person in charge??? An admission of incompetence and planning to fail if there ever was one.

I didn't rate his campaign at all. Very much Project Fear.

While I agree, it has proved a lot more accurate than the 'brexit contract with the people' which, so far, has failed to fully deliver on a single one of its promises ... on the other hand many points labelled as project fear have, unfortunately, come true.

I think he should have stayed on and gone back to the EU to say "I'm sorry I misjudged it. Have you got anything else to offer that might persuade them to change their minds if I give them the chance".

While that would have been nice, he had had his opportunity and got quite a few concessions from the EU ... however even before his plane landed back in the UK our media was spinning it as a failure (those concessions he did get never really got a fair hearing ... would it have made a difference? possibly not, by that point Farage was in control).

The EU are famous for referendum re-runs. They didn't want us to go and I think there were more concessions to be had if they thought we might rethink.

First sentence is an equivocation ... otherwise you could equally argue that it took over 30 votes in the HoC and 8 in the HoL before we got the right answer. They may not have wanted us to go, but equally they made no attempt to stop us (every blocker was of our own making) whereas they had offered concessions to other countries (resulting in referendum reruns). Both May and Johnson were in continuous negotiations with the EU and if there had been any other concessions to be had they would have got them.

All 3 of your Brexit questions refer to the cash benefits of Brexit, those of us who just wanted to be free of the EU straight jacket were quite prepared to accept the probable financial losses of Brexit, so for us your questions are pointless.

Of course, leaving the EU hasn't affected you or me John.
It's the millions who have lost their jobs - oh hang on !
Then it must the millions who were affected by the property crash - oh hang on !
Then it must the UK exports to the EU that will literally stop overnight - nope !
Then it would obviously be the imminent recession in 2016 - nah , not that ?
I almost forgot about the total collapse of the City of London and 100k finance jobs being transferred to Europe

Since the vote to leave, I'll admit that our politics has been a total s*itshow but that's not down to Brexit, that's down to incompetent politicians.
The simple fact that it took five years to actually leave highlights that.
We had the anti-democrats on one hand and Teresa May (very weak) on the other.
The moment she conceded reparations before negotiations, it was lost.