UK IX: This Economy Will Self-Destruct In...

[Asura]

'I'm a loyal person,' says Truss, as she defends her decision not to resign from Johnson's cabinet

Oh, that's fine, then. After all, she was just following orders

[QualityChimp]

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[Neon Ignition]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2022/jul/14/tory-leadership-race-conservative-liz-truss-penny-mordaunt-rishi-sunak-uk-politics-latest?page=with:block-62d01cea8f08bee7e09c5c7f#block-62d01cea8f08bee7e09c5c7f

Braverman has been knocked out of the leadership race.

Sunak and Mordaunt made expected gains whilst Truss made lower than expected gains. Tugendhat survived but actually lost votes this round so speculation is he will withdraw before Monday's third vote off. Kemi remains but really at this point she's just splitting Truss' vote share

[Neon Ignition]

Rival camps in UK leadership race aim fire at Penny Mordaunt | Conservative leadership | The Guardian
Rivals turn their sights on Mordaunt pretty much confirming she's the clear frontrunner now in the leadership race

[teddymeow]

Braverman more worried about losing that sweet, sweet HIGNFY guest cash.

[Neon Ignition]

The Truss camp is amusing because there's already a strong stench of desperation about them. It's clearly the Brexit era hard right part of the party and the panic is setting in that their era is finally coming to an end

[Asura]

Rival camps in UK leadership race aim fire at Penny Mordaunt | Conservative leadership | The Guardian
Rivals turn their sights on Mordaunt pretty much confirming she's the clear frontrunner now in the leadership race

Honestly...

“Penny Mordaunt, as the bill minister, the minister responsible for passing the bill, did oppose and did resist the inclusion of the word woman, and the inclusion of the word mother,” Braverman said. “I was quite disappointed by the way it was handled, and the responsible minister, I’m afraid, didn’t stand up for women.”

You can't believe how petty it is. But more importantly, it annoys me how stupid the general public are. These lines are clearly to play to the "TERF" crowd, i.e. the segment of people in our society who are anti-trans, and all signs suggest they eat this kind of thing up. But looking at it dispassionately, forgetting about the trans stuff for a moment, it's really transparently an MP weaponising an issue for personal gain. I'd be shocked if they really gave a **** about trans people for or against, or particularly care what Mordaunt thinks.

It's manipulation but people are buying it and why does that make me so ****ing angry?

[Neon Ignition]

I feel exactly the same, I don't buy that the broad general public really cares at all about the current trans arguments. It feels like something that the media and the Tories are desperately trying to make a thing and cause outrage about but really it impacts very few people and like many subjects will sink behind whether they can feed their children this winter.

The thing is as well, surely it's only right that the use of terms like woman etc are possibly changed in bills etc. Given modern used gender definitions specifying men and women would leave legal loopholes?

[Asura]

I feel exactly the same, I don't buy that the broad general public really cares at all about the current trans arguments. It feels like something that the media and the Tories are desperately trying to make a thing and cause outrage about but really it impacts very few people and like many subjects will sink behind whether they can feed their children this winter.

It really does affect comparably few people; but those who care shout very loud, and are very active online. They make a really big deal about how this is supposedly a way for men to get into women's spaces. Notice that transmen (i.e. people who transition to being a man) almost never come up in these debates (even though they have many issues themselves).

The thing is as well, surely it's only right that the use of terms like woman etc are possibly changed in bills etc. Given modern used gender definitions specifying men and women would leave legal loopholes?

This is a bit of a minefield, true. But every trans person I've known who has talked about these issues openly accepts that, as a language, English lacks neutral language in many contexts (we don't even have a gender-neutral pronoun that is easily applied to people). In the last few years I've tried to do some things, like stopping referring to a group of people as "guys", and other casually gendered terms, but I still catch myself occasionally.

[QualityChimp]

I definitely think they have a supply of these dog-whistle topics to rile some people up but it's a lot less than they think.
If someone starts at your workplace called Andrew and you call him Andy, then he says "I prefer to be known as Andrew", you wouldn't then say "Well, I've only ever known Andys, so I'll call you Andy too."
Same with pronouns. Might take some adjusting, but you're just adjusting to people's chosen way of being addressed.

Fascinating thread on a "mainly Conservative" focus group:
"What was striking is how flat 'culture war' issues were, how removed so much of the SW1 conversation which dominates politics and a fair bit of the media really is, despite fact it's often done in name of 'real people'. Any clip where a candidate talked about those issues tanked.

And that's because people felt these are convos they just can't afford to have. They spoke of gas/elec projected bills of £3500+. Deep foreboding about the winter ahead and economic catastrophe. Having to take on second jobs. The gap between public & Westminster never felt wider."

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[Asura]

If someone starts at your workplace called Andrew and you call him Andy, then he says "I prefer to be known as Andrew", you wouldn't then say "Well, I've only ever known Andys, so I'll call you Andy too."

The funny part of this is that I'm sure all of us have known someone like this.

"Beth, can you get that for me?"
"I've told you 50 times, we've worked together for months, I prefer Liz, not Beth."
"Okay Beth can you get that for me?" <smug grin>

[Neon Ignition]

It really does affect comparably few people; but those who care shout very loud, and are very active online. They make a really big deal about how this is supposedly a way for men to get into women's spaces. Notice that transmen (i.e. people who transition to being a man) almost never come up in these debates (even though they have many issues themselves).

This is a bit of a minefield, true. But every trans person I've known who has talked about these issues openly accepts that, as a language, English lacks neutral language in many contexts (we don't even have a gender-neutral pronoun that is easily applied to people). In the last few years I've tried to do some things, like stopping referring to a group of people as "guys", and other casually gendered terms, but I still catch myself occasionally.

The focus on trans-woman and void of trans-men discussion has always been the most telling element of the discourse. It feels like, with the Tories, that even for their own supporters it's a drum they keep banging that displays how out of touch they are regardless of the voters views. Like No.10 is an Echo Chamber

For things like government bills I'd assume they would just use terms like 'individual' so there's no room for interpretation etc given how tricky legal ground can be. The right of the Tories seem to be making a real concerted effort to discredit Mordaunt for not wanting to persecute trans people but haven't even provided a clear reason why they feel she's wrong on the issue, why they're right and why voters should care less either way. It's a very particular hill they're choosing to die on to discredit her but I guess it speaks to how little mud they have to fling at her which only bolsters her position as appealing to the party members.

I have to say, from the outside, the right wing Tories have completely and utterly fluffed every second of the leadership contest.

Their slimy, sweaty grip of power was everything they were clearly desperate for during the Brexit/May years and utilising Jonhson finally saw they succeed. Now they've opted to burn Sunak because they are so needy of the level of sway they hold and have completely and utterly failed to read the room. The smart move would have been to utiliise Mordaunt's clean slate and bolster her up in exchange for leveraging having hard right wing figures in prominent positions of the new cabinet.

Instead they've let their votes get split multiple ways, lost momentum and in a hissy fit are now going scorched Earth. The result is a likely two horse race between two people who won't allow a single one of their tainted back stabbing cronies anywhere near a lever of power. They've completely and utterly blown it for themselves and it's frankly glorious to behold.

[Lebowski]

The focus on trans-woman and void of trans-men discussion has always been the most telling element of the discourse. It feels like, with the Tories, that even for their own supporters it's a drum they keep banging that displays how out of touch they are regardless of the voters views. Like No.10 is an Echo Chamber

For things like government bills I'd assume they would just use terms like 'individual' so there's no room for interpretation etc given how tricky legal ground can be. The right of the Tories seem to be making a real concerted effort to discredit Mordaunt for not wanting to persecute trans people but haven't even provided a clear reason why they feel she's wrong on the issue, why they're right and why voters should care less either way. It's a very particular hill they're choosing to die on to discredit her but I guess it speaks to how little mud they have to fling at her which only bolsters her position as appealing to the party members.

I have to say, from the outside, the right wing Tories have completely and utterly fluffed every second of the leadership contest.

Their slimy, sweaty grip of power was everything they were clearly desperate for during the Brexit/May years and utilising Jonhson finally saw they succeed. Now they've opted to burn Sunak because they are so needy of the level of sway they hold and have completely and utterly failed to read the room. The smart move would have been to utiliise Mordaunt's clean slate and bolster her up in exchange for leveraging having hard right wing figures in prominent positions of the new cabinet.

Instead they've let their votes get split multiple ways, lost momentum and in a hissy fit are now going scorched Earth. The result is a likely two horse race between two people who won't allow a single one of their tainted back stabbing cronies anywhere near a lever of power. They've completely and utterly blown it for themselves and it's frankly glorious to behold.

The front runner is someone who received a police fine in the party gate scandal, is at the center of tax avoidance scandal involving him and his wife, failed massively to get a handle on the cost of living crisis when he was in charge of the economy and is in favor of returning the UK to austerity measures. He's had his chance to fix things over the last 4 years of him being at the top of goverment and has done nothing. That so many in his party are getting behind him shows how out of touch they are. i mean come on he was Johnson right hand man up until he saw the wind change and decided he could stab him in the back.

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this about sums it up for me.

[Neon Ignition]

David Frost urges Kemi Badenoch to step aside for Liz Truss | Conservative leadership | The Guardian
Frost pushes Badenoch to withdraw, no chance given the 15 minutes of fame interview happening tonight on Channel 4

Officials warned of ‘serious wildlife incidents’ at Queen’s Sandringham estate | Monarchy | The Guardian
Animal cruelty by the monarchy

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2022/jul/15/tory-leadership-race-penny-mordaunt-liz-truss-rishi-sunak-debates-uk-politics-latest?page=with:block-62d1341c8f086e8f93696a8a#block-62d1341c8f086e8f93696a8a

Johnson ordered to hand over partygate documents

[Neon Ignition]

The first Red Extreme heat warning issued. - Met Office
The chances of seeing a 40 degree temperature day in the UK is 1 occasion every 100-300 years

Get ready because that occasion will be happening on Monday/Tuesday with the weather office issuing its first ever red alert weather warning. If climate change continues the 40 degree occasion will increase by 2100 to 1 occasion every 15 years.