Boris Johnson
#11
Proth is right - it's all being set up for Sunak, who seems to have been conveniently kept out of a lot of the negative headlines.

Such is the electorates disdain for anything remotely progressive, the Tories could stick a blue rosette on a donkey and it would probably win a fifty seat majority. Said donkey would certainly have more about it than Keir Starmer anyway.
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#12
(11-23-2021, 07:59 AM)Ted Maul Wrote: Proth is right - it's all being set up for Sunak, who seems to have been conveniently kept out of a lot of the negative headlines.

God help us all if that's what transpires.
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#13
(11-23-2021, 09:07 AM)Protheroe Wrote:
(11-23-2021, 07:59 AM)Ted Maul Wrote: Proth is right - it's all being set up for Sunak, who seems to have been conveniently kept out of a lot of the negative headlines.

God help us all if that's what transpires.

Who is the next smug cab off the Tory rank then Proth?
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#14
(11-23-2021, 09:17 AM)Ted Maul Wrote:
(11-23-2021, 09:07 AM)Protheroe Wrote:
(11-23-2021, 07:59 AM)Ted Maul Wrote: Proth is right - it's all being set up for Sunak, who seems to have been conveniently kept out of a lot of the negative headlines.

God help us all if that's what transpires.

Who is the next smug cab off the Tory rank then Proth?

Honestly? Haven't a clue. I'm hoping Boris drags enough of the current cabinet down with him. With such a huge majority the lack of reforming zeal and depressing retreat into the rancid Keynesian comfort blanket I hold out a vain hope that the Tories may identify someone to reverse those trends.

In the short term (run up to the next election) they need a professional communicator who actually sounds like a Conservative rather than some bumbling eco-obsessed Milibandian.

I'd like Penny Mordaunt, but it won't happen.
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#15
(11-23-2021, 09:35 AM)Protheroe Wrote:
(11-23-2021, 09:17 AM)Ted Maul Wrote:
(11-23-2021, 09:07 AM)Protheroe Wrote:
(11-23-2021, 07:59 AM)Ted Maul Wrote: Proth is right - it's all being set up for Sunak, who seems to have been conveniently kept out of a lot of the negative headlines.

God help us all if that's what transpires.

Who is the next smug cab off the Tory rank then Proth?

Honestly? Haven't a clue. I'm hoping Boris drags enough of the current cabinet down with him. With such a huge majority the lack of reforming zeal and depressing retreat into the rancid Keynesian comfort blanket I hold out a vain hope that the Tories may identify someone to reverse those trends.

In the short term (run up to the next election) they need a professional communicator who actually sounds like a Conservative rather than some bumbling eco-obsessed Milibandian.

I'd like Penny Mordaunt, but it won't happen.

They need replacing full stop.
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#16
Unfortunately all that's on offer is much more of the same. Starmer speaks about fiscal responsibility in one breath and then dismisses record spending in the NHS and record investment in rail as "not enough". We're in a malaise of the Tories' making; in making a land grab for the centre ground they're literally aping Labour. This is as bad as a Miliband government would have been.

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers had it right in part 3 of The Idiots Abroad. The choice at the next election is likely to be Tweedledum or Tweedledummer.
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#17
(11-23-2021, 11:29 AM)Protheroe Wrote: Unfortunately all that's on offer is much more of the same. Starmer speaks about fiscal responsibility in one breath and then dismisses record spending in the NHS and record investment in rail as "not enough". We're in a malaise of the Tories' making; in making a land grab for the centre ground they're literally aping Labour. This is as bad as a Miliband government would have been.

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers had it right in part 3 of The Idiots Abroad. The choice at the next election is likely to be Tweedledum or Tweedledummer.

Because it isn't enough, healthcare spending in this country isn't enough to cover delivery of care or sufficient training and it is woeful in comparison with every other equivalent European nation with the exception of Ireland. Saying we're spending lots doesn't mean we're spending enough, the increasing cost of provide healthcare in conjunction with an aging population means we need to be spending significantly more than we have done, since Lansley fucked up it's been lagging well behind what we need and the fact is that "record spending" doesn't cut the mustard.

Rail spending plans do not sufficiently cover required capacity upgrades. The electric spine has been indefinitely postponed, a high speed transpenine route has been shelved and current infrastructure is critically out of date as, with the exception of HS1, it was planned and implemented by the Victorians.

This is what happens when you put stuff off.
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#18
But the fact of the matter is, you can't have fiscal responsibility AND everything else you desire.
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#19
(11-23-2021, 12:23 PM)Protheroe Wrote: But the fact of the matter is, you can't have fiscal responsibility AND everything else you desire.

True, but you can have more of what you desire (and what is important) if the war chest hasn't been handed out to your mates through Track and Trace and PPE contracts that have zero benefit to anyone apart from those cashing the Billions of pounds worth of cheques.
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#20
(11-23-2021, 12:23 PM)Protheroe Wrote: But the fact of the matter is, you can't have fiscal responsibility AND everything else you desire.

But it simply isn't fiscally responsible to neglect crucial infrastructure requirements for short term budgetary reasons as all that happens is the costs accumulate to the point of being unsustainable when the infrastructure starts to collapse. We have neglected the costs of rail infrastructure for decades by putting off needed investment and it's coming to a head to the point where we need to spend hundreds of billions (at a conservative estimate) to address something that would have been a fraction of the cost 40 years ago. We are approaching a mental health crisis due to the chronic underinvestment in mental health resources for decades. We've not kept up with healthcare training demands or facility and technology upgrades over the last 15 years and as a result we're not able to improve on outcomes with "record spending" still being below the required investment to catch up in turn creating a spiralling situation.

All this pretend Tory "fiscal responsibility" has done is ensure that the long term bill is larger than it needed to be. And if we don't address those issues now then it will cost even more in the future. We are already in a situation where we're not spending money needed on infrastructure, particularly outside the South East, but the tax burden is going up to keep a level of maintenance (49.5% marginal rate for masters graduates at £22k is unacceptable but is looking extremely likely, approaching a certainty, in the near future).

We need to abandon the chronic short-termism in this country.
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