Unashamed Politics

[Deleted]

Now the hbs thread has dropped off the front page of the football forum, can I suggest we move it here instead?

Here's my contribution as a starter:

www.theguardian.com/news/2022/aug/27/billionaire-closes-main-road-in-south-kensington-for-gardening-work?CMP=share_btn_link

[Deleted]

Liz Truss could well be Labour's secret weapon in returning to power. The woman hasn't got a clue and neither do any of her followers.

[Deleted]

Aug 28, 2022 20:54:59 GMT @61666 said:

Liz Truss could well be Labour's secret weapon in returning to power. The woman hasn't got a clue and neither do any of her followers.

Do Labour have anyone capable of capitalizing on the Tory mess. I keep hearing Andy Burnham mentioned but Christ he's way too left wing for my taste. One of the biggest exponents of the politics of envy. One of those politicians where the rich will just piss off and leave the middle classes to pick up the bill.

[Deleted]

What pisses me off about Truss is that she is only pandering to the Tory members who, it seems certain, will vote her in as the new PM. They, like her, haven't got a clue about the impact of rampant energy prices on ordinary people. If you currently don't pay tax, because you earn too little, what good is a tax cut?
People on low incomes will desert town centres, except to go to charity shops, while they certainly won't be able to afford to go to the pub or a coffee shop.
Small businesses will be crippled, while inflation continues to spiral. The energy companies themselves seem to have the most sensible ideas (much the same as Labour), because capping the tarrif at its present level will act as a brake on inflation. Yes it will make the Covid bail out seem cheap, but short of joining forces with Clad the Vunt, there aren't many obvious alternatives.
In Europe, they are calling for gas and electric prices to be separated, which makes eminently good sense when nuclear/solar/wind etc don't rely on Russian fuel. Germany has already begun stock piling gas for the winter, while we are currently doing sod all it seems.
A programme of mass home insulation would be a start - let's face it, this situation is not going to go away any time soon and at the very point when we need strong leadership, over half of Tory Party members would actually vote Boris back in again.
You couldn't make it up if you tried.

[Deleted]

In the final 'hustings', both candidates said they would get rid of smart motorways.
Good.
However, Truss went on to underline her lack of grasp on reality by saying she would get rid of motorway speed limits, instead making 70mph merely 'advisory', like in Germany.
Errrrr.....
Given most of our roads are not up to even 70mph, being full of potholes and botched repairs, the thought of fuckwits coming up behind you at more than twice the speed you are going doesn't bear thinking about - though lorries blocking both lanes at 56mph could act as moderators I suppose.
There is also the minor (?) issue of fuel economy. On French autoroutes recently, my car was barely doing 40mpg at the legal 81mph. I get high forties at 70. Can only assume you can see the fuel gauge move at 100mph plus.
Still, I suppose if you can afford a 150mph car, you can afford it, or you've stolen it.
Nice one Liz. Got any more bright ideas? If they are along these lines, best if you kept them to yourself.

[Deleted]

Sept 2, 2022 7:48:28 GMT @61666 said:

In the final 'hustings', both candidates said they would get rid of smart motorways.
Good.
However, Truss went on to underline her lack of grasp on reality by saying she would get rid of motorway speed limits, instead making 70mph merely 'advisory', like in Germany.
Errrrr.....
Given most of our roads are not up to even 70mph, being full of potholes and botched repairs, the thought of fuckwits coming up behind you at more than twice the speed you are going doesn't bear thinking about - though lorries blocking both lanes at 56mph could act as moderators I suppose.
There is also the minor (?) issue of fuel economy. On French autoroutes recently, my car was barely doing 40mpg at the legal 81mph. I get high forties at 70. Can only assume you can see the fuel gauge move at 100mph plus.
Still, I suppose if you can afford a 150mph car, you can afford it, or you've stolen it.
Nice one Liz. Got any more bright ideas? If they are along these lines, best if you kept them to yourself.

I too would get rid of smart motorways but not until I had laid to rest both candidates underneath one encased in concrete.

[Deleted]

Only those two?
Remembering Citizen (Wolfie) Smith, my list of those first against the wall after the revolution, runs to quite a few pages.
Reece-Mogg, IDS, Bojo and Pritti Patel would be well towards the front though.

Speaking of Bojo, last night's 'tribute' to him on Have I Got News For You, pulled no punches at all and was worryingly funny.

Power to the People!

[Deleted]

Possibly the finest political cartoon ever: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2022/sep/05/martin-rowson-on-a-hatching-of-horror-cartoon

[Deleted]

There have been seven Prime Ministers since Gillingham last beat Maidstone. Probably.

[Deleted]

Sept 6, 2022 20:22:51 GMT Benny said:

There have been seven Prime Ministers since Gillingham last beat Maidstone. Probably.

There has been 2 since they last scored a goal🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Deleted]

So, Truss has arrived and managed to find a few brown nosers to make up her cabinet. There are rumours that she won't last long, before being stabbed in the back by her own party.
However, I wish her well, not least because the country is so far up Shit Creek that something needs to be done to turn things round. Kicking out Bojo's cronies no bad thing, though see the odious Reece-Mogg is still around and see that the new education secretary is the SIXTH different person to hold that post in the last 12 months. To me that suggests education is not a Tory priority, but then they all go to private school, so it doesn't matter.🤫
Whatever plans she has, expect them to be like the Covid response - a shitload of money spunked on emergency measures to get us through the next year or so and then hope somebody comes up with a bright idea after that, or Putin suddenly realises he made a mistake and offers free energy as compensation for all his fuckups.
Trouble is, the Tories have been in power for 12 years now and while they may not have created Covid or the Ukraine war, they haven't enabled the country to be able to weather such problems either.
Probably the same in many other countries, I guess (Germany in particular), so what I'd like to see is how we start future proofing ourselves. Given we are so deep in debt, don't see that happening any time soon mind.

[Deleted]

Truss is going to worn like a glove puppet by JRM (proxy for the "powers that be" as Sunak refers to them).

[Deleted]

From hbs, on the wrong thread: Yay. Its back to trickledown economics mantra with Truss. The good news is we get to foot the £130bn energy bill while large companies make off with £170bn!

[Deleted]

Sept 7, 2022 19:13:22 GMT @johndaubneyslegs said:

From hbs, on the wrong thread: Yay. Its back to trickledown economics mantra with Truss. The good news is we get to foot the £130bn energy bill while large companies make off with £170bn!

In an attempt to keep this thread where it belongs I'll reply on here.

Not as simple as that though is it. Lots of pension funds have shares in these companies. Hit their profits and you potentially hit pensions. I don't know what the answer is but swingeing taxes on company profits may be counterproductive. Dismissing it out of hand may also be a mistake. It's a delicate balancing act and I'm not sure we have any politicians capable of achieving it.

[Deleted]

Sept 7, 2022 21:20:36 GMT daveu said:

Sept 7, 2022 19:13:22 GMT @johndaubneyslegs said:

From hbs, on the wrong thread: Yay. Its back to trickledown economics mantra with Truss. The good news is we get to foot the £130bn energy bill while large companies make off with £170bn!

In an attempt to keep this thread where it belongs I'll reply on here.

Not as simple as that though is it. Lots of pension funds have shares in these companies. Hit their profits and you potentially hit pensions. I don't know what the answer is but swingeing taxes on company profits may be counterproductive. Dismissing it out of hand may also be a mistake. It's a delicate balancing act and I'm not sure we have any politicians capable of achieving it.

Thatcher managed it quite well...