When the tough get going.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 9:21 am

Both Tories and labour have similar problems with choosing leaders. The MPS choose down to final two. One that they the MPs want and a ridiculous one that they think no one sane will pick and then it goes to the membership who obviously pick the ridiculous one. So why don't they do what they do in strictly (come dancing a TV show) and let the membership vote down to last two and then the "expert" judges pick the one the show prefers to keep.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 4:54 pm

Off trots Cruella, the Home Secretary. Still not clear on exactly why. Perhaps having sensitive documents on a non secure work phone.
Glad to see the back of her. She was not very nice at all

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 6:08 pm

Will she be the first of many? Again?

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 6:59 pm

Suella Braverman has been replaced by sacked-as-Transport-minister Grant Shapps. The TV commentator said this must have been the last thing Mr Shapps expected when he got up this morning.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 7:31 pm

The chief whip and the deputy whip have resigned.

Post by **merry** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 9:14 pm

Is it a Coalition of Chaos, lol

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 10:05 pm

Apparently the whips are still in their posts. Merry will be pleased.

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 10:26 pm

During the early evening we were told this vote on fracking was a vote of confidence in the Government. Around 10 minutes before the vote was due to take place there were noises to the effect that this wasn't a vote of confidence after all, thus pulling the rug from under the feet of the Chief Whip and her deputy. Many Conservative MPs, including some Ministers, didn't know whether or not this was a vote of confidence or whether the Chief Whip and her deputy had resigned. On top of that the Chief Whip and Ms Truss managed to not vote in this vote/non-vote of confidence in the Truss Government.

Quite a lot of Conservative MPs are very angry indeed about all this.

How much longer does this non-Government have to stagger on before the people are given a chance to have their say about all this, I wonder. You could not make this up, and this country must by now be an international laughing-stock - if there was anything in international politics to laugh about right now.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 7:58 am

Meanwhile who is running the country. Even the king is new and cant advise prime minster like the queen used to. Can't imagine he likes Liz truss much being green before green was even anything other than a colour.

Fracking seems a strange fight to fight at this time. Obviously labour are making most of situation. But even if fracking got going it wouldn't help the winter or likely even the rest of this parliament. And reducing taxes for rich which even rich weren't expecting. It's as though they deliverately made reasons to get rid of the government but why oh why oh why I can't imagine and isn't working very well. Fracking is Boris fault really for chickening out over concreting over the frack wells which was supposed to have happened after it was 2019 manifesto to be rid of it forever and that would have been that. No one likes fracking except people who live nowhere near any possible fracking do they.

Another day. Wonder who will resign today.

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 9:03 am

As a postscript to last night's utter fiasco in the House of Commons, I read that the Chief Whip, Wendy Morton, had words with Ms Truss in the Chamber and then headed for the exit with Ms Truss scurrying along behind her presumably to have some more words together; that was the distraction which prevented them from voting in the division lobby.

Elsewhere it has been said that the Chief Whip was either in the process of resigning or being sacked and that the deputy chief whip had said that if the Chief Whip departed from her office he would resign. By midnight they were both not resigning/being sacked after all.

Meanwhile the Italians have offered to lend us some ex-Ministers to instruct UK Ministers in the art of revolving door politics.

The next entertainment, unless somebody else resigns or is sacked, will be Suella Braverman's resignation statement in the House of Commons; Ms Truss must be really looking forward to it and might now be searching for a desk big enough to hide under.

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 11:15 am

Another day and she's still there, fingernails scratching the dispatch box as they try to drag her away.
When she was running for the job against Sunak I had high hopes for her, thinking she had a bit of gumption. I was wrong wasn't I.

The bookies are offering lowly odds of 2/11 that she will be gone by Christmas. They seem to like Sunak as a 13/8 bet to replace her. Penny Mordaunt is another favourite.

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 12:36 pm

I am not sure that there is anybody left on the Government side of the House with any credibility as a potential leader of the Conservative party and hence Prime Minister. Last time round it was Anybody But Rishi and that is what they landed themselves with; getting rid of Ms Truss won't get rid of the original difficulty which is that the Conservative party now is hopelessly fractured and needs a spell in opposition while they sort themselves out.

Bringing Back Boris won't work either - by the time he resigned he had lost the support of much of the Conservative parliamentary party and ministers themselves were resigning. It is all a mess and people all across the income spectrum are suffering.

I didn't have any great hopes for Ms Truss as PM because she hasn't been noticeably brilliant at any of her government jobs, and I was happy to accept WR's assessment of her, which boiled down to she ain't much cop. I am sorry she has been such a disappointment for Eccs though, because her failure is to the detriment of the whole country.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 1:05 pm

The news keep saying what is going to happen but they are supposed to be telling us that aren't they. If they really don't know why not do some other news in the meantime something else must be happening somewhere. And then switch back to the door of number 10 when someone else resigns.

Could they sack all the MPs who didn't vote the three line whip from the Tory party as original plan. That would mean Liz truss too but not sure who gets to be pm until after the next vote. Would it be Theresa Coffey she is deputy pm. Usually a pm stays on doing not much until a new leader that's what David Cameron. Theresa may Boris Johnson all did but if Liz truss isn't in the Tory party anymore she couldn't be. Then they could given them all the whip back afterwards.

One news channel has a camera on the backdoor now in case anyone sneaks in or out that way. Wouldn't you think the government would have built secret tunnels between number 10 and other places in Westminster by now and even to Buckingham palace so the prime ministers can see monarchs.

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 1:42 pm

And she's gone!

Post by **merry** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 1:44 pm

Yep!

Farewell, then, Liz Truss
You were a bit rubbish
So you got on
the bus.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 1:46 pm

Why do we have to wait a week for a leadership election why not this afternoon?

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 2:00 pm

What a fighter! But impotent as she was all trussed up...............cue groans...................

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 3:10 pm

The PM has gone,
I'm so sad to report.
Although a fighter not a quitter,
This Truss has lost its support.

Wildrover · Post by **Wildrover** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 6:14 pm

I'd rather have Liz Truss than that weasel Blair...

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 7:14 pm

Don't worry WR, he's not likely to be running for the leadership of the Conservative Party.......................

I forgot to mention that any MP wanting to be on the first ballot for the vacancy needs at least 100 nominations which effectively limits it to a maximum of 3 candidates. I noticed also that Sir Graham Brady said that the party membership would be 'consulted' which isn't the same as having a vote. So clearly they are trying to stitch it up at Westminster in the hope that only 2 front-runners will emerge and that if the gap in support is big enough the one with fewer supporters drops out and they have a coronation, like they did with Theresa May and look where that got them.

It's obvious now that a Conservative prime minister (or any other prime minister) will fail if they don't have the support of a big majority of the parliamentary party.