The brits are in for a rough ride

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pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
14,988
9,870
136

Yup, a great day for salad vegetables everywhere!


As Truss made her resignation statement, those viewing the video on YouTube soared to more than 20,000.

When the prime minister confirmed her departure on Thursday lunchtime, a plastic gold crown was placed on the now browning leafy vegetable. The caption changed from “Day Seven: Will Liz Truss outlast his lettuce?” to “The Lettuce Outlasted Liz Truss”. The national anthem was played to mark the lettuce’s triumph, and champagne was poured.

The lettuce was inundated with messages of congratulations, in a chat box beside the video. They included: “Lettuce Rejoice”, “Lettuce being having you”, “Lettuce for PM”, “Lettuce 1 Truss 0”, “Truss sunk by an iceberg”.
 
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WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
32,791
10,929
136
Yeah, gonna be Boris again. Just a feeling. I'm sure it'll work out this time though.
All the media talk is about about him, the only MPs talking about him are talking in positive terms, his odds at the bookies have just plummeted to 3 to 1, the tory electorate are practically rabid at the thought of him in charge...

It's very depressing.
 
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MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
26,060
24,365
136
It's pretty amazing how fragile white people are in countries and are so scared of foreigners and not the people that run the show in their country that they vote these idiots in. The US, Britain, Italy, Hungary, etc

It's a common theme. The rich white people that run the country are not the problem keeping you down it's those super little poor other colored people, or that like to do things in the bedroom you don't approve of
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,529
6,701
126
It's pretty amazing how fragile white people are in countries and are so scared of foreigners and not the people that run the show in their country that they vote these idiots in. The US, Britain, Italy, Hungary, etc

It's a common theme. The rich white people that run the country are not the problem keeping you down it's those super little poor other colored people, or that like to do things in the bedroom you don't approve of
It's not that people are white, it's that the stake holders in the countries you mentioned happen to be white. The color in unimportant. What is important is humanity's depraved state of ignorance, the assumption that life is a zero sum game. If immigrants benefit from inclusion those already there will suffer a lose for whatever the new people gain. This is an irrationality induced by fear of the other created by the inward poverty created by self contempt.

People overflowing with a feeling of inward joy of being want others to progress to the state where they feel that too. But Stockholm Syndrome is a victim mental state. It's all about poor me and the intention to get even.
 

pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
14,988
9,870
136
Goddam, it's looking increasingly likely we'll see Boris Part Deux. Clearly there are more Prime Ministerial perks he wants to collect, and more holiday leave he wants to use up.

He's still, though, under investigation for possibly lying to parliament about the lockdown parties. If they find him guilty he could be expelled from the Commons. Would be entirely in-keeping with recent history if he becomes PM and then is immediately expelled, requiring yet another leadership election (or could the Tories promptly elevate him to the Lords instead, thus allowing him to conintue as PM?)
 

pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
14,988
9,870
136
This is also extremely annoying. Especially considering the speed with which the Tories are giving all their MPs turns at being PM.

Once you've been PM, for however short a time, you get a £115k a year payment, potentially for the rest of your life (to pay for being 'a public figure').


Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said: “At a time when one in five civil servants are using food banks and 35% have skipped meals because they have no food, it’s grotesque that Liz Truss can walk away with what is effectively a £115,000 bonus.
 
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WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
32,791
10,929
136
Goddam, it's looking increasingly likely we'll see Boris Part Deux. Clearly there are more Prime Ministerial perks he wants to collect, and more holiday leave he wants to use up.

He's still, though, under investigation for possibly lying to parliament about the lockdown parties. If they find him guilty he could be expelled from the Commons. Would be entirely in-keeping with recent history if he becomes PM and then is immediately expelled, requiring yet another leadership election (or could the Tories promptly elevate him to the Lords instead, thus allowing him to conintue as PM?)
A lot of MPs loathe him but, unfortunately, he only needs to get 100 to support him to go to the party membership. If it's him and Richi there's no question that they'll choose Boris.
All I can see to stop it is some 1922 committee shenanigans where they get him not to stand in reward for something.
 

pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
14,988
9,870
136
The £115k a year 'grant' for life, for just having been PM (introduced by the Conservatives after Thatcher left office, apparently) has had remarkably little publicity till now.

Given that we seem to be moving to a future where every Conservative MP gets to be PM for 15 minutes, I wonder how it's going to be possible for the country to afford such largesse? Presumably as there's no "magic money tree" it will be necessary to cut welfare payments in order to find the funds to provide the ever-growing list of ex-Tory Prime Minsters with their £2000 p/w handouts?
 

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
32,791
10,929
136
This is also extremely annoying. Especially considering the speed with which the Tories are giving all their MPs turns at being PM.

Once you've been PM, for however short a time, you get a £115k a year payment, potentially for the rest of your life (to pay for being 'a public figure').

So it's to compensate for the hassle of being a public figure. I feel like we should make that 115k work hard!
 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
99,458
17,589
126
labour just needs to put abolishing that 115k golden parachute in their platform, assuming an election actually happens.
 

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
32,791
10,929
136
labour just needs to put abolishing that 115k golden parachute in their platform, assuming an election actually happens.
I'm ok with them given a bit more in their retirement but it shouldn't be paid until state retirement age!
 

brycejones

Lifer
Oct 18, 2005
29,530
30,012
136
labour just needs to put abolishing that 115k golden parachute in their platform, assuming an election actually happens.
elections are for losers. Tories are winners, as a country don't just love all the Tory winning right now? Are you just sick and tired of being such winners?
 

pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
14,988
9,870
136
labour just needs to put abolishing that 115k golden parachute in their platform, assuming an election actually happens.

This is in addition to the "golden parachute". That term usually refers to the lump sum they get on leaving office. They get that as well, but this is paid yearly _for life_.

On the other hand, it is apparently audited, and is only supposed to be for 'legitimate expenses' incurred in their role as a 'public figure', so office expenses and costs of 'official visits' to exotic locations in the course of running the various 'foundations' and stuff that they set up. I presume it's audited every bit as well as MP's expense claims are (and likewise probably allows them to employ members of their families as secretarial staff).

Blair of course claims every penny, running his various vanity projects, that he somehow finds time for in addition to his role in bringing peace to the middle-east.

The generous pension is in addition to all that.

And even if one believes none of it ends up in their pockets or those of their family members, it's still an expense for the tax-payer, and one that's likely to grow the faster is the turnover of PMs.
 

pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
14,988
9,870
136
The Conservative membership _really_ want Johnson. Threatening to deselect MPs who don't vote for him, apparently. And Rishi is being reported as having said he will drop out if it has to go to a membership vote against Johnson.

It's absurd. He was forced out in the first place for a very good reason (multiple reasons - partygate, possibly lying to parliament about that, and trying to protect a sex-pest, just for starters). Nothing has changed, other than many of the Tories have concluded that they can't find anyone else.

A tangential point - does he get to make a fresh 'resignation honours list' every time he gets reappointed and quits again? Could be an interesting way of gaming the system - have your leader quit and be reappointed twenty times each parliamentary term, get to put through 20 resignation honours lists.
 

pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
14,988
9,870
136
A perfectly understandable reaction...


Though this feels more appropriate to me

the-thing-kidding.gif
 
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pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
14,988
9,870
136
The Tory party can't be long for this world, surely? It's broken into multiple factions. For starters there's the metropolitan plutocrat/hedge-fund-manager/libertarian wing (featuring Sunak and Kwarteng - the former clearly being a bit smarter than the latter) and the anti-migrant/populist/former Red Wall wing (featuring Pritti Patel and Suella Braverman).

But there seem to be other factions also (e.g the fading remnant of 'one nation' Conservatives, and the anti-woke-warriors - who seem to be less right-wing on economic issues but obsessed with culture-war topics - like Badenoch and Dorries).

And Johnson - on account being not-very-ideological and motivated entirely by egotism and a craving for the perks of office - seems to be the only one capable of papering over the cracks between them.

He's a liar with no moral compass, but he might be their only remaining chance.

All the major parties are now fracturing coalitions - the Lib Dems have always been split between moderate European-style social democrats and their own plutocrat libertarian wing, Labour are obviously divided between the moderate left social democrats and the hard-left still-believing socialists. But only the Tories are split into more than two factions.

Maybe FPTP has had its day as a system? None of these ramshackle coalitions seem to be terribly-functional any more.
 
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WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
32,791
10,929
136
The Tory party can't be long for this world, surely? It's broken into multiple factions. For starters there's the metropolitan plutocrat/hedge-fund-manager/libertarian wing (featuring Sunak and Kwarteng - the former clearly being a bit smarter than the latter) and the anti-migrant/populist/former Red Wall wing (featuring Pritti Patel and Suella Braverman).

But there seem to be other factions also (e.g the fading remnant of 'one nation' Conservatives, and the anti-woke-warriors - who seem to be less right-wing on economic issues but obsessed with culture-war topics - like Badenoch and Dorries).

And Johnson - on account being not-very-ideological and motivated entirely by egotism and a craving for the perks of office - seems to be the only one capable of papering over the cracks between them.

He's a liar with no moral compass, but he might be their only remaining chance.

All the major parties are now fracturing coalitions - the Lib Dems have always been split between moderate European-style social democrats and their own plutocrat libertarian wing, Labour are obviously divided between the moderate left social democrats and the hard-left still-believing socialists. But only the Tories are split into more than two factions.

Maybe FPTP has had its day as a system? None of these ramshackle coalitions seem to be terribly-functional any more.
Populism is like crack to political parties. It gets things moving in the short term but you end up hooked on it and totally insane.
The only bit of the Tory party that isn't mental is the old One Nation faction, but the rest of the Tour party hates them now.
 
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pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
14,988
9,870
136
There is an upside (in a dark and twisted way).
If Boris comes back Truss might not be the shortest serving PM.


Then they will have to have another leadership contest (in which Truss will probably stand again). And so on, for all eternity...'If you want a picture of the future, imagine a Tory leadership election boring everyone to death – for ever'.
 
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