So come on, pick Boris's successor.

Well just watched the debate between the 2. Not as bad as I thought it would be. They added a couple of BBC specialist reporters which is more interesting than what they usually do and also a decent selection of questions from the audience.
 
Truss v Sunak

...Playground bragging from a party without a purpose.
Of course, i didn't watch the spectacle so i rely on highlights and commentary, such as the link to Rafael Behr's take in the Grauniad.
The Express, Mail and Telegraph all come out strongly for Truss, and the Times, Guardian and Independent underline how bruising the debate is becoming but the Sun ran with a story about Ronaldo flying in to Manchester for talks about his future at Old Trafford.
So i'd say Murdoch is letting the pair of them fight it out themselves.

I find it amusing they both decided to attack each other over the governments record without a trace of self-awareness that the pair of them are equally responsible. But Truss has an edge because she's clearly prepared to say anything to get the job. Whatever the audience wants to hear she'll feed them all the red meat a Tory needs to feel satisfied and full of themselves.
It's an odd example of cognitive dissonance where the man who voted for Brexit is being out-Brexited by a woman who voted for Remain.
But this is modern politics: up is down, black is white and having principles or integrity are seen as old-fashioned.

Either way; an election next year is becoming more and more likely, as the in-fighting will only get worse.
 
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There was one particularly interesting point in the debate for me. Truss was saying that she was going to spread the COVID costs over a long period of time. The BBC economics expert Faisal Islam asked her if she knew how much long term borrowing cost at the moment and said it would cost more money, not less. Truss was stumped.

Sunak was a much better performer but spent half the time talking over Truss. It's an effective technique but I don't have to like it.
 
Truss was saying that she was going to spread the COVID costs over a long period of time. The BBC economics expert Faisal Islam asked her if she knew how much long term borrowing cost at the moment and said it would cost more money, not less. Truss was stumped.
Truss is vacuous -she epitomises the Johnson regime: a journalist who only thinks in terms of headlines and slogans.

Truss hasnt got the ability to lie like Johnson and if she become PM she is in for a rough ride, Rwanda, protocol bill, EU legal challenges, cost of living, massive NHS crisis -they cant be hidden by some bullsh1t healdines in the Daily Mail.
 
Rees Mogg is supporting Truss. In an interview he mentioned more scope being available with financial easing. Sounds like there was an agreed max that wasn't used. I'm not sure what to make of that.

Starner's comments are interesting. Magic money from one and the other is responsible for the problems. Responsible is OTT. Magic money may well be correct. We have had lower corporation tax levels. It did nothing In need of money they went up again stating that they didn't achieve anything.

Debt repayment interest is currently £19.4b. That sounds a lot but bear in mind that expenditure is nearing £1,000b. Under 2%, The payments will drop next year by some factor but there will be payment terms associated with it so Fisal may well be correct. The debt wont disappear unless it is paid off. As Truss says it appears that related to GDP we are better than some others. We are more or less OK as this has been seen in the past but acceptable levels have steadily increased over years. I suspect Sunak is correct in this area. Cameron was making too much of it to get public expenditure down. Do we want the services or not? Tory of late seem to have come to the conclusion something does need to be done. Too many bad aspects hitting the news.

The surplus. As some pundits have pointed out this can be extended into the future indicating a larger amount but there must be a hefty safety margin. Planning ahead and these factors aren't met do nothing or borrow.

Cutting vat on fuel. Changing green charges. Anyone in power will do that if it suites. Depends on the money. Truss says she will ignore the Treasury. Sunak says we don't know what we will be faced with until we get there. Easy to say but true. As Penny the looser said to them they will have to do something in that area. That is very likely to be true.

Depression. Looks likely. Say it was in the EU. Doesn't matter. Grow up. We export there and if that drops off less money comes in. Lots of places are currently having similar problems. The Tory are in a siiimilar position to Labour and the banking crisis. Problems they could do F all about.

Sunak did say something interesting about getting companies to invest. It's a problem. They wont unless they see a definite return. Tail from the olden days. The now defunct British Steel. Plenty of money but no chance of getting a decent return on investment so started lending it. There is plenty of money sloshing around in the world but not enough comes here. He may have a point. Not sure I like what I hear about some aspects of China but no real info. One factor about globalisation is true. Some countries get rich. It always seems to be the makers. They need to do something with the money they get so invest in their markets. It's a fact of life. It has happened in the past but they will want a return. Pass on China but a point worth considering. Looks like we can forget rich Russians but a lot of that money is thought to be sloshing around in hedge funds.
 
Aren't you confusing genuine refugees who have a useful skill with illegal immigrants who bring nothing worth having with them and might very well end up carrying guns and/or setting off bombs?

He paints them all with the same brush
 
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The NHS are already employing refugees.

Oh THAT's where she came from.
I had a blood test in hospital. The phlebotomist was in full Niqab - that's the one without the veil.
My first thought was to ask,
"What the fek are you going to inject me with?"
... but I thought it might be better not to ask.

She missed the vein and made literally a bloody mess.
She didn't speak English apart from some standard phrases.

She wanted to try the other arem but I wouldn't let her - called for a senior or someone else.
They didn't like that at all, so it escalated a bit and the chief made her do it while he watched.
She was Sudanese.
 
They are trying to fast track trainee nurses. People trained to give covid jabs are being trained to do other things - phlebotomist mentioned.
 
He paints them all with the same brush
Yes. Nowt wrong with genuine refugees, especially if they bring something here which we need. Same for the refugees from Afghanistan if they worked for us and were on our side over there.
 
They are trying to fast track trainee nurses.
I'm not so sure about that. Bedpans and bottles OK, but anything more advanced and I'd want to know if they have been trained to our best standards.
 
Sunak is still loosing after the BBC debate. Seems he was aggressive on purpose as he is running from behind. Less so in the latest but the reporter feinted after 1/2 hr. ;) Probably shock when she realised where we are.

Can Truss ideas work with a near recession? I mean it will only take 1 day to have an effect wont it. All be earning and spending more and plenty coming in to them. The power generators reckon rather a lot of people wont be able to pay their energy bills following the next increase. Any help has to come out of the gov's pot of money Truss is about to reduce.

The IMF have produced a rather gloomy forecast. UK worst due to gas prices. Fiscal - they appear to follow Sunak plus tax increases might help. Concerned about monitory policy. Interest rates need to go up but how much and worried about the effects. They reckon it wouldn't take much more to really upset things.

Northern areas asking questions about levelling up following the release of actual spending. London as usual.
 
I'm not so sure about that. Bedpans and bottles OK, but anything more advanced and I'd want to know if they have been trained to our best standards.
There is a severe shortage of nurses and doctors.
Fast tracking is not ideal, but is probably better than the alternative of less nurses and doctors.
But this situation has been coming for a while now, not rocket science to have seen it on the horizon. P poor planning to allow it to get this bad though!
 
Oh THAT's where she came from.
I had a blood test in hospital. The phlebotomist was in full Niqab - that's the one without the veil.
My first thought was to ask,
"What the fek are you going to inject me with?"
... but I thought it might be better not to ask.

She missed the vein and made literally a bloody mess.
She didn't speak English apart from some standard phrases.

She wanted to try the other arem but I wouldn't let her - called for a senior or someone else.
They didn't like that at all, so it escalated a bit and the chief made her do it while he watched.
She was Sudanese.

Fookin' scary! Sounds like she (presuming it was a she under there - who knows?) tried to use the halal method on you. Cut into a vein and let you bleed out. Welcome to the future.

Friend goes to a Turkish barber. Braver than I am, wouldn't let them near me with sharp equipment. :eek:
 
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