Rick's b.log - entry 2022/10/21

Truss, beaten by a lettuce (@ 5am)

So, Truss, who threw her chancellor under the bus, was dealt a mortal blow by Cruella resigning and possibly one or both whips. Or not. Everybody is doing U-turns so who knows.

Truss talked in her resignation speech about being unable to deliver the mandate, like she had any idea what that actually meant.

You see, her only claim to a mandate wasn't anything to do with the racist xenophobic swivel eyed loons that chose her in the first place, her mandate is the manifesto of the 2019 General Election. Which, as far as I recall, was more Boris Bluster about "getting Brexit done" rather than being one of the world's most right-wing governments and engaging in a catastrophically failed financial experiment while screeching "growth, growth, growth" like a demented parrot.

Truss goes down in history as one of the only prime ministers to have served under two monarchs, and the shortest serving one ever. Her tenure was shorter, even, than the ridiculous drama that was the leadership contest, played out like some sort of important reality TV spectacle, yet only the aforementioned swivel eyed loons got to vote.

Now? Potentially Sunak. Maybe Cruella might pop her nasty little self into the running? Certainly the reason for her quitting was utterly trivial compared to everything Johnson got up to. Speaking of Johnson, the loons would rather like him to return.

This is not a functioning government. They cannot talk about stability when there have been four Chancellors, two Home Secretaries, and two Prime Ministers in four months...and soon to be a third and potentially a whole new cabinet. This will also make four PMs in as many years (three this year alone) and six since the Referendum.
This is not stability. This is throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks.

General.
Election.
NOW.

Morally bankrupt #1 (@ 6½pm)

The man is, I should remind you, still under investigation for breaking his own laws...which, if he is found guilty, will cause a massive constitutional crisis.
His relationship to truth is about as close as the relationship between butane bottles and a forest fire. And more than a loony few in the party, having kicked him out, now want him back.

You know, this ought to be one of those "what if" scenarios, that people talk about just to ridicule, but it's clearly so batshit crazy that nobody actually takes it seriously. Like, say, a crash-out Brexit, or Trump for President.

Morally bankrupt #2 (@ 6½pm)

That's nearly four times what a Junior Doctor is paid in Foundation training, or two-three times what a Doctor is paid when starting specialist training. It's about the upper level of basic pay for a Consultant.
It's five times what a band 4 nurse is paid after three years of service.

All for being PM for less time than her leadership bid, during which she completely fucked the finances; not to mention throwing away the country's reliability, credibility, and trustworthiness. There's a reason the markets sink every damn time she opens her mouth.
And it was all a big experiment anyway, as it's amazing the number of times things have been said (they stand by the mini-budget! pensions will be protected!) and to, nearly in the same interview, perform a U-turn so hard the hacks reporting will suffer whiplash, and say the exact opposite.

For that, she can now lay claim to £115,000 a year.

It. Is. A. Disgrace.

Well, I have to be up at a stupid time tomorrow. Which is why the first half of today's blog entry was uploaded at 5am (I got up at half four to acclimatise to the early morning, or is it late night?).
So I popped into Lidl again to grab something for dinner. The bananas, by thr way, are from Ghana. I got another bunch. Ate one in the car and another when I got home. If I remember, I might pick up some cream tomorrow. I think they'd be nice chopped and thrown into whipped cream with hundreds and thousands sprinkled on top.

Anyway, it's quarter to seven now as I write this. Bedtime in <counts on fingers> an hour and a quarter.

Pfffft. :-(

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Rick, 21st October 2022, 05:31

If you aren't aware of the lettuce... https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/daily-stars-wet-lettuce-refuses-28289729 Some British satire at it's finest, especially given that the lettuce won.

Rick, 21st October 2022, 08:18

The radio news said if there is more than one candidate, it will be up to the swivel eyed loons to decide, because they did such a bloody great job the last time.  So... if it's up to them, let's say hello to Johnson II. 🤦

Anon, 21st October 2022, 10:13

If the consequences weren't so serious... this whole shenanigans would actually be hilarious. A bit like a real life version of Spitting Image.    Rick - are you still able to vote in UK elections? By post or proxy? Or have you been living outside the UK for too long?

Rick, 21st October 2022, 14:35

Couldn't vote in the Referendum. I was (just) eligible to vote, but the website wanted to know when I last registered to vote, not when I left the country, and it seemed everybody felt this was correct (it wasn't). By the time that was sorted out (taking for-freaking-ever to respond), I finally got my registration papers.  After the referendum.    Now, it's been 20 years and counting. Due to how screwed British democracy is, I'm now unable to vote anywhere. Thanks guys.

John, 21st October 2022, 15:10

Do you not think that Cruella Braverman-than-I-am deliberately used the e-mail business and her resignation as a Judas-kiss to bring down the already tottery Truss woman? That was the way I saw it - an invented/manipulated minor transgression to get the letter, which was very well-written, into the public domain.    After all, up until now, she may be a potential candidate (usual deity forbid!).

Rick, 21st October 2022, 17:17

Very well written? It was like a fifth former's breakup letter...

Rick, 21st October 2022, 17:18

Don't forget, also, the whips quit. Then unquit. Or something. I'm not sure who's coming and who's going in this utter omnishambles. Anyway, I think a lot of things happened at once that conspired to convince her to give up. Certainly Cruella's letter will not have helped, but I don't think it was that alone that did it.

J.G.Harston, 22nd October 2022, 01:21

I'm uncomfortable with foreign residents voting. When I lived in Hong Kong I didn't vote in any UK elections. Really, the franchise is a mess, it should be either universal adult citizenship franchise a la America, or exclusively resident adult citizen franchise.

VinceH, 22nd October 2022, 02:10

You don't like the idea of foreign residents voting? You're really not going to like this flaw in the Conservative party leadership election, then:      "In the absence of information from the Conservative Party and in order to test the safequards being applied to the members’ vote in the leadership contest, in August 2022 Tortoise Media applied for four new memberships to the Conservative Party. The applications were for Archie   Harding, a pet tortoise, two foreign nationals and Margaret Roberts, the maiden name of the late Prime Minister, Baroness Margaret Thatcher. Each of these applications was successful, with the membership fee being taken by the Conservative Party and the individuals being issued   with membership numbers. Despite not having been Conservative Party members on 3 June 2022, each of the individuals were invited to the leadership contest hustings. The approach   taken to these applications reinforced the concerns as to the robustness of the process being applied in the leadership contest."      That's taken from the 'Witness Statement' PDF found on this page:    https://www.tortoisemedia.com/democracy-in-britain-who-deci des-the-next-pm/

J.G.Harston, 23rd October 2022, 23:46

Yeah gods! I'm our local IT Officer, and I check all membership details with the electoral register. Shesh!

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