POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

As I understand it the Truss camp has withdrawn plans for regional wages for civil servants after Sunak attacked and so did everyone else whose wage would be cut.
See THIS BBC report. It would appear that the Tories can't even run a ballot without it being vulnerable to attack.
Meanwhile in the sectors of the population at most risk, the poorest, the battle against eviction and starvation has already started. That's no exaggeration in many cases. That's what should be demanding attention.

[plaques]

Liz Truss's mammoth savings on the public wage bill was based on the premise that the across the board national wage settlement would be adjusted downwards if you lived in a poorly paid area. Not surprisingly this caused a bit of an uproar ex[posing the lie about 'levelling up'. Truss claimed she had been misunderstood. How stupid does she think people are? There was a half hearted attempt to bring the London weighting into the mix but then realising they had been rumbled dropped the proposal completely.

Meanwhile in the sectors of the population at most risk, the poorest, the battle against eviction and starvation has already started.

Landlords have been pushing their rents up averaging 15%. The ability to pay these increases is now becoming a real problem for many of the tenants. Also one may add that in many cases the landlord gets a single fuel bill which is passed onto tenants. The massive increases in fuel prices will mean that many won't be able to afford the combined costs. The push towards 'Don't Pay' could mean evictions on a massive scale. We are now seeing Milton Friedman's Chicago School of economics in action with market forces taking over from government planning. Unfortunately we have a situating where our right-wing Tory government is singing from Freidman's hymn sheet.

[Stanley]

"We are now seeing Milton Friedman's Chicago School of economics in action with market forces taking over from government planning."
Ye yes yes Ken!! That's exactly the problem and God Knows I have been banging on about it long enough.
I heard a news item this morning. Housing charities are pointing out that where the energy charges are part of the rent the subsidy payments from the government will not go to the tenants but straight into the landlord's back pocket.
Has anything been done about kids going hungry during the summer holidays when there are no free school meals? Is this another 'I'll sort that out when I have time' item?

[Tizer]

Brandon Lewis was on the Today programme this morning defending Truss and her U turn. A marvellous example of obfuscation and smoke-screening. I would describe him as a first class blatherer!

[Stanley]

I heard him and wondered why we allow people to spout such obvious waffle and blather. Is it because of Mad Nad and the BBC licence fee or is it simply that standards have shifted and untruths are now allowed in the search for content that will placate the masses. Are there people out there who nod approvingly and agree with these sycophants? They are only doing it in order to be in line for jobs under the new administration.
Did you see that once more the election of a Speaker at Stormont was being blocked? The sooner we take over government and allow a referendum on reunification the better. Ireland is a sick joke as it is and N Ireland is doing very nicely out of it in economic terms because they can still trade with the EU as members of the union even though technically they have brexited. Another of Johnson's cock-ups.
(Oh, and by the way, that Jerk is still PM and running the country on full pay and benefits....)
PS. I said Dystopian earlier, replace that with crazy....

[plaques]

The story so far...

The Tory leadership candidate (Liz Truss) had proposed regional pay boards, in a bid to save taxpayers a potential £8.8bn.
The foreign secretary (Liz Truss) told the BBC the plan had been "misrepresented" and people had been "unnecessarily worried about my policies".
"I never had any intention of changing the terms and conditions of teachers and nurses," Ms Truss said. "But what I want to be clear about it that I will not be going ahead with the regional pay boards."

It became immediately clear that to achieve this level of saving the proposed 'Regional Pay Boards' must move away from the traditional scapegoats of the Whitehall offices into other pay boards like Teachers and Nurses. Truss knew this since she helped to formulate the proposal in 2018. Now she denies all knowledge so she is either totally incompetent or a liar. People are not "unnecessarily worried about my policies" they are becoming frightened to death. Probably for the first time for years the electorate is studying and trying to understand what all these weasel words mean. Even her explanation "I never had any intention of changing the terms and conditions of teachers and nurses," raises questions that could raise further debate. Any across the country pay board award would alter 'terms' so a regional one would be no different in this respect. From this we are left with terms and conditions of working. These apparently would remain the same for now but the pay would be less.

As I have said before there is no intention of levelling up only a race to the bottom. Part of the smokescreen blather being spouted out is that it would promote competition in the low paid areas. I bet it would but for the wrong reasons.

[Tizer]

Never mind the Russian oligarchs, how can we be sure our politicians are not hiding their finances through the same `secrecy loophole'?...
`Banned Russian oligarchs exploited UK secrecy loophole' LINK

[Tripps]

I heard Brandon Lewis on LBC - spouting exactly the same fatuous nonsense - so not connected with the BBC, just the 'duty Tory gob of the day' Actually I came in during his effort and struggled to identify him by his voice. I thought at first he sounded a bit Australian.

I thought he was MInister for N. Ireland , but it seems that I've not been keeping up -

On 6 July 2022, Lewis told Johnson he needed to step down from office due to a loss in support, during the 2022 Government crisis.
Lewis resigned on 7 July, after turning down offers of promotion from Johnson, saying the Government was no longer upholding "honesty, integrity and mutual respect".
Return to the backbenches - Lewis ran Nadhim Zahawi's campaign in the 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. After Zahawi was eliminated from the contest, Lewis endorsed Liz Truss' leadership bid.

No doubt that nonsense in support of Liz Truss yesterday will ensure he gets back into the Cabinet.

[Stanley]

Peter. Private Eye has been banging on about ELPs and similar corporate entities which enable ownership and financial details to be concealed for years. Have a look at THIS link to the PE research.....

[Tripps]

I've dipped in and out of the latest hustings. Couldn't stand more than a minute or so of Truss. Cardboard dim automaton.

Sunak is better - more likeable by a mile, thinks on his feet, and seems very bright.He is almost cromulent.

Still definitely 'none of the above' though. Don't trust his long term ambitions.

PS - He's just spoiled iy by saying 'don't put fuel on the fire' whilst talking about inflation. Not the best metaphor at the moment. As Peter Kay explained that 'fighting fire with fire ' was the reason his dad was sacked from the Fire Brigade.

[Stanley]

"No doubt that nonsense in support of Liz Truss yesterday will ensure he gets back into the Cabinet."
David, that thought occurs to me every time I hear former opponents endorsing a candidate when their own attempt has failed.
See THIS for the reaction of the two candidates to the BofE news on interest rates and the recession. Liz Truss says she can avert a recession. I don't know which planet she spends her time on but she doesn't seem to have noticed that the recession has already started and many people are in crisis as a result already. Instead of making daft promises (And this one will come back to bite her) she should be talking about relief for the worst hit.
Like David, I favour Sunak over Truss largely because I think she's a bit dim but of course don't want either of them. (Or Starmer either!)
I had to look cromulent up again. it won't stick in my head......
Later.... Listening to the howls of anguish following the forecast of a 5 year recession the thought strikes me that this is after 12 years economic management by the natural lords of the universe and the Party that understands money. That might need revising.....

[plaques]

Truss, Sunak hustings. Liz Truss, Question 1) If I became Prime Minister I would cut taxes, Increase investment, create a high growth economy, with high skills and high wages, increasing the GDP and stopping inflation. Question 2) Same answer but a different order. Question 3). Shuffle deck chairs again. On and on it went. The comparison is not the Titanic but the Britannic sunk by a german mine but in this case a combination of a Brexit and Russian mines. Rishi Sunak, Painful experience and gave up trying to make sense of it all.
As pointed out in Stanley's post all the wannabe failures pushing for places in her Cabinet. Meanwhile the PM has disappeared to god knows where and Zahawi has also done a bunk but is working hard or so he says.

Meanwhile back in Disney Land the B of E raises interest rates to stop inflation although admitting that it is outside forces that is causing the problem. Funny how self inflicted Brexit has become outside forces. So why in interest rate rise? Well its to stop firms who may be thinking of borrowing money to invest in knew machinery which may create a demand from workers for higher wagers thereby sparking another round of inflation.

On one hand we have Truss cutting taxes paid for by government savings, a euphemism for lower wages, and the BofE stopping wage growth altogether.
What a pathetic lot we have got.

[Tizer]

This shows how desperate and careless the Russian military are...
`Ukraine war: 'Russia using Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as cover to shell us'' link

[plaques]

This doesn't need any explanation. From the Guardian.

Rishi Sunak has admitted taking money from deprived urban areas in order to give it to other parts of the country.

The former chancellor, who is standing to be prime minister, made the claim last month while speaking to Conservative party members in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

In footage obtained by the New Statesman, Sunak said: “I managed to start changing the funding formulas to make sure areas like this are getting the funding they deserved.

“We inherited a bunch of formulas from Labour that shoved all the funding into deprived urban areas and that needed to be undone. I started the work of undoing that.”

Tunbridge Wells has a Tory majority of 14,645 and has been held by the party since the constituency was created in 1974.

[Stanley]

Good posts illustrating just how deep the hole is that the Tories have dug over the last 12 years. It wasn't perfect before them, not by a long chalk but in their retrogression towards a 19th C economy they have made everything much worse. My verdict on the two surviving candidates is the same as it was when the contest boiled down to these two. Sunak is an untrustworthy spiv and Truss is a dim Thatcher look-alike.
I have news for you, we are in deep trouble.

[Stanley]

I had another look at THIS BBC report of spiv Sunak's Tunbridge Wells speech..... It strikes me that I have been thinking of this leadership campaign from the average voter's point of view but if I am to make an accurate judgement about what is going on I have to step into the shoes of one of the 160,000 voters the two candidates are aiming to impress.
That being the case, the revelation that Sunak is actively reversing the policy of funding cash-strapped urban areas in favour of increasing the funding to the leafy suburbs where the constituency he is aiming to impress live changes from a gaffe to a cunning wheeze. This is of course what the majority of the 160,000 want to hear. I may see this as a gaffe revealing Sunak's true colours as a right wing politician looking after the wealthy at the expense of the poor. Many of the 16,000 will see it as a sensible move to wise spending and 'sound money'.
It's a cynical and clever move to get the votes of the people who can get him into No. 10. He couldn't care less about what old Lefties like me think or suspect. As far as he is concerned this is a sensible move directed towards his own self-advancement.

[Tizer]

There's no point in speculating now, Sunak is finished and Truss will be crowned - a survey of 10,000 Telegraph readers has said they want her to be the next PM. Also Andrea Leadsom has offered her support to Truss. We're doomed I tell ye, we're aal doomed!

[plaques]

Sunak will play this game out. Lose miserably. Possibly be offered the Chancellors job so that Truss can blame Sunak when it all goes belly up. He will gracefully decline and leave politics in the UK but not before he reminds people that Truss was at the Cabinet meeting where the levelling up became levelling down. Rees-Mogg will claim that getting rid of Sunak was a Brexit advantage and the pantomime dynamic duo of Truss and Leadsom will search for the invisible man (Griffin, who just happened to be an albino but is using the pseudonym Boris Johnson) to give the whole shambles a party atmosphere.

[Stanley]

Liz Truss has said that the best way to help people with energy bills isn't hand outs but tax cuts. It's the Conservative way. I don't think I have ever heard a politician say anything more stupid.
One thing is not in doubt, there will be no poor people leaping with joy at the news.....
Meanwhile the ship of state drifts out of control..... A far cry from Johnson's vision of a confident voyage into a glorious future.
See THIS article in the New Statesman on the measures Johnson is taking in the current crisis. (And the Chancellor of the Exchequer.)

[Stanley]

I have a question.... 'Killer Cyclists'.... Is THIS the most pressing matter facing Parliament at the moment? Or is it just a desperate ploy to try to give the appearance that government is still active and functioning?

[plaques]

Liz Truss's promise to reverse the Nation Insurance increase that Sunak imposed is no big deal.
For our mythical £1500 a month after tax who now pays £36 per week NI its a 1% reduction = 36p per week. Not a huge amount to put a big hole in the energy bills but may let you boil the kettle for a cup of tea or pay for the petrol for a trip to the end of the street.

Well that's sorted out the cost of living crisis.

[Stanley]

Ken, I didn't know the figures.... That's ridiculous!
I was thinking about Richard Broughton. If I remember rightly he said he would leave the country if Brexit actually happened. I wonder if he did....? I do miss his words of wisdom, he warned us about the 'Irish Question' long before it dawned on the Brexiteers.

[Tizer]

He probably did go, he had plans to live for periods in different EU countries, taking advantage of the ability to move freely from one to another. Didn't he have Lithuanian ancestors?

[Stanley]

"Liz Truss has said that the best way to help people with energy bills isn't hand outs but tax cuts. It's the Conservative way."
But see THIS. It appears she was 'over interpreted'.
"A senior ally of Liz Truss says the Tory leadership candidate has not ruled out giving help to families struggling with the cost of living crisis. Penny Mordaunt claimed that to say so was "overinterpreting" what Ms Truss had previously said.
So it's all our fault for not watching her lips and clearly understanding what she is saying.
PS. The 'senior ally' is Penny Mordaunt who will be tied on for a Cabinet Post if Truss wins the Leadership. Note the 'senior' bit.
Meanwhile.... "Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said an emergency budget was needed now.
Writing in the Observer, he said Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Ms Truss and Mr Sunak should agree on one this week, warning "a financial timebomb will explode for families in October" when the energy price cap next rises.
Godron is right, action is needed now. This Tory Private Function leadership race has come at entirely the wrong time. Instead of focussing on their navels our leaders should be looking after the shop!

[plaques]

Here we go again. Our potentially but nearly certain leader (Liz Truss) makes a statement 'no more hand outs' and then it needs an army of people to explain what she means. If the 150,000 Conservative cards holders were asked no doubt the would say 'no more hand outs' clear and simple. Ask the proletariat who will be voting in the next election and they will say it means nothing extra for me and what's more on the meagre wages I earn a tax reduction couldn't but a cup of tea. Truss is so intent on winning over the blue rinse she has forgotten that millions of other people are listening in. This Lady's not for turning so its left to one of her sycophant minions to do the u-turn.

Todays cost of living crisis is different to those in the past. Rather than sneaking up on you in small steps, remember the BofE saying 5% then 6% then 7% we all know that come october it will be 13% and that's another BofE guess. More than likely it will be bigger than that. Its not surprising that when workers can see in advance what is coming they are going to organise themselves to protect their income. The governments response is not to anything about the crisis but to call them militants and commies intent on ruining the country. Then they claim the only way out is to change the laws to make it impossible for them to take any industrial action and remove any right to protest. Someone please tell me I am wrong.