The fall of the Tory party

A thick, violent cunt with connections and an expensive education in using your connections to get ahead in the world of thick, violent, expensively educated cunts.

Being Minister for the Armed Forces when the "Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan" is published is probably something you'd avoid if you possibly could.

Being Minister for the Armed Forces when a fellow Tory MP (isn’t there bad blood between the two?) gets sent to prison for not revealing sources to an Independent Inquiry is etc, etc

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/26/minister-johnny-mercer-name-sources-afghan-inquiry-jail-term-british-troops-war-crimes

Tim Montgomerie was on Times Radio yesterday saying that Rishi is now asking he advisers "is it me that's the problem, am I just not very good at this"

This does suggest a degree of self reflection that Liz Truss clearly doesn't have, but how has it taken him this long to come to this conclusion.

"No boss. No. It's just, umm, it's... Corbyn...? "

Spotter, you have a way with words!

Sunak appointing Anderson in such a position then Gullis speaks volumes about Sunak, agreeing with the toxic bullies completely but too spineless/dishonest to actually say what they are saying himself.

I'm not @spotter

I was thinking a bit about this in the shower.

Sunak is clearly a bright and very capable person. He wouldn't have had the working career he had if he wasn't.

However, he seems to have been most undone by two things, both linked. First, political experience. Second, political ability.

We often bemoan politicians for being too political. But he is a great eg of what happens when you're shit at politics. He several opportunities to isolate Johnson early on, but allowed him to fester and make him look weak at the start of his reign. He's let the right wing nutters maintain a wholly disproportionate hold over the party and block his technocratic new start or whatever his original pitch was.

Johhny Mercer's witness statement to the inquiry is fucking bonkers; he pushed through two separate acts of Parliament to make prosecution of soldiers more difficult in 2021-23 but when it came to Afghanistan various whistleblowers told him really bad things happened, then intelligence services showed him a letter proving it did, meaning MOD effectively got him to lie to Parliament about things they knew were true.

But after all that he refuses to disclose who told him.

https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/65403/the-remarkable-witness-statement-of-johnny-mercer

Johhny Mercer's witness statement

In which we are asked to believe that an experienced British soldier and veterans' minister had no idea that the British Army is riddled with death squads and murderers. It's as true in Afghanistan as it was in Iraq, Norn Iron, Kenya, wherever. It's bullshit.

Prof Sir John Curtice stating that Labour are 99% certain to form the next Govt

That's fucked it then!

"So you're saying there's a chance?"

Did he factor in Sunak's vigorous desk banging last week though?

MP sets up petition for spuriously needed chip shop to trawl for emails to use for campaigning.

https://twitter.com/mikeysmith/status/1773020797998641366?t=eNJ6QSkSOSpaXN8_qj04yA&s=19

Edit - turns out he also previously voted against a planning application for a chip shop there. Cunts.

STuckwell has only a slim majority.
The Uxbridge & South Ruislip bye election was won on an anti-ULEZ platform.
Few people in U&SR now have ULEZ as an issue.
STuckwell did little to oppose the (Tory) Council's recent vote to relocate Uxbridge library and the borough archives to an inadequate location in the Civic Centre.

U&SR is on the list of Labour winnable seats, which is remarkable given the Blair/New Labour never won the precursor (pre-boundary change) Uxbridge seat.

s a summer election becoming more likely? Sources have always
insisted to me that those around the PM wanted to go for a
November election, but they are now talking about what happens if
the PM faces a confidence vote after May elections… 1/

One source suggested to me that the PM is one of the voices now
arguing that things may not be sustainable until later in the year.
Another suggests that if there is a confidence vote - whether he wins
or loses - it would mean June/July election becomes v likely 2/

One insider said that there had been a shift from thinking there was
still a glimmer of hope towards accepting more fully that defeat is
coming, and so what that defeat looks like and how to handle it has
become more key. Some like @Peston have suggested PM could just quit
3/

People I speak to think that is possible, but say more likely he
would fight. (I did hear one worry that if a Penny Mordaunt figure
gets a small bounce then more blame would be piled on PM). But still
loads of Tory MPs think Sunak not to blame for probs facing party 4/

https://twitter.com/AnushkaAsthana/status/1773047259833237961

Sunak not to blame? He's been front and centre for long enough....

Edit - turns out he also previously voted against a planning application for a chip shop there. Cunts.

This will be a misunderstanding all the same. I haven't even looked at the officers' report or the decision notice for the application, but I bet you the application was refused for planning reasons rather than for being for a chip shop. If the decision was unanimous, as reported, this indicates that officers had recommended refusal and councillors followed the recommendation. Steve Tuckwell could still argue that he didn't like voting against it, but he had to because there was something wrong with the application.

Sunak not to blame for probs facing party

Aah, so that was some other Rish! Sunak that was Johnsons Chancellor,
and,
some other Sunak who launched 'Eat Out to help Out' that spread Covid?
These 'loads of Tory MPs' again forget that voters do have a memory.

Summer election fucks over the student vote in university places.

Probably worse for Tories though isn't it?

Students would tend to lean left more than parents; send them home and that means more left voters spread across the country rather than lab votes mounding up in fewer less efficient piles

no cos they can only be registered to vote in one place.

Edit - turns out i'm wrong about this, i wonder how many students vote either at their university address or their previous home address.

i don't recall ever registering to vote in my university city but it's fair to say i wasn't paying a great deal of attention to administrative details at that point on time.

The electoral commission website says that you can be registered at more than one address, but can only vote once for general elections and

Voting as a student

thanks - i was not aware of that.