Thursday 9th November 2023

[refitman]

Morning all.

[frog222]

[frog222]

One of the nastier images from the Inquiry was Hancock " being so far up Johnson that his ankles were brown" .

Due diligence on Starmer showed that his relationship to the US State Department was very similar when he did his VERY best to deport the hacker bloke and Julian Assange .

He's just as creepy now --

[gilsey]

Downing Street has disowned the Suella Braverman article in the Times. At the No 10 lobby briefing, which has just ended, the PM’s spokesperson said the article was “not cleared by No 10”.

Will Sunak surprise us all by finally sacking her.

Tbf, it seems to be what she wants.


Article is reproduced in the G liveblog at 11.13, for anyone with the stomach to read it.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Ooh Chris Bryant and Liz Saville-Roberts. I might actually enjoy this one.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Having now read Suella's Times article it's so cack-handed, wilfully ignorant, crass and offensive (to many on her own side never mind us) that I suspect she actually wrote it herself.

Most of the time I get the impression she's being coached (or used) by the usual hard right suspects on the Tory backbenches because she can say things they can't and she's dumb and ambitious enough to go along with it. However over the last few days I wouldn't be surprised if she's got carried away with herself and gone rogue.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Just to add to that on the Politics Live panel today there was a bod from the Taxpayer's Alliance who one would presume are Braverman backers. He cast the same assertions that the police were biased when it came to policing protests*, but ended up being completely drowned out by the discussion about Braverman's behaviour. He didn't look best pleased, presumably because she's become the story rather than the message they want her to convey. I reckon she's pretty close to having outlived her usefulness.

*What he actually said was despite it being impossible to objectively demonstrate that the police are biased (i.e he had no evidence), the perception that they were was a problem. Which was hilarious given who, in this instance, is feeding that perception.

[AnatolyKasparov]

I said the other day, Braverman is now parroting GOP "culture war" lines almost verbatim.

Presumably someone is "coaching" her in this, it would certainly be interesting to know exactly who though.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

How asking people their opinion about something that's actually happening because it's not being held on 'Remembrance Day' you simpering moron.

[AnatolyKasparov]

That incorrect reference to "Remembrance Day" was in the poll cited - that's because it is People Polling, the junk organisation run by "Professor" Badlose.

[RogerOThornhill]

I said the other day, Braverman is now parroting GOP "culture war" lines almost verbatim.

Presumably someone is "coaching" her in this, it would certainly be interesting to know exactly who though.

John Hayes probably.

[RogerOThornhill]

I have to say that the bit in Braverman's article that she had to 'clarify' was fairly hilarious.

Suella Braverman has been forced to clarify that she had been referring to dissident republicans in an article in which she likened the pro-Palestine protests in London to sectarian marches in Northern Ireland.

In an article for the Times, the home secretary described the recent protests in central London as an “assertion of primacy by certain groups – particularly Islamists – of the kind we are more used to seeing in Northern Ireland”.

Her comments were in response to the announcement by the Met police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, that he did not have grounds to ban a march due to take place on Armistice Day.

The comparison to sectarian displays of identity in Northern Ireland caused confusion, however, as it is the unionist and loyalist community that is better known for marching.

You really don't want to upset them Suella...

[Sky'sGoneOut]

John Hayes probably.

John Hayes definitely, along with the goons at Policy Exchange. Civil servants in the Home Office flagged up her secret meetings with them before she was sacked by Truss for leaking official documents to Hayes. There was talk today of her having the support of about 50 MPs which is about the size of Hayes' hilariously misnomered 'common sense group'.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

To be fair to Suella, if she has gone rogue I wouldn't blame her if this is where all that coaching from back bench fascists and Tufton Street has got her. If Sunak does sack her would the Tory right really die on a hill for someone about as popular as a repeat of a Jim'll Fix It Christmas special or would she go back to being a backbench nonentity like Patel?

[refitman]

Don't forget that she was part of the 'European Research Group', Tufton St funded people who were pushing Brexit and other things. This is from way back, when Krishnan G-M tried to get her to answer who funded them

[refitman]

I hope Yousaf takes Murray for all he's got.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

The only person in the QT audience who's prepared to put their hand up and support Braverman is a bloke who then goes on to claim she speaks for the 'silent majority'. So silent in fact that he's met with tumbleweed while those around him shake their heads.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Question Time tonight came to you from lovely Llandudno where I was pooed on by seagulls twice in one day while wearing a new coat. It was like they were aiming for it.

And talking of unpleasant shit stains, for the Tories we had David TC Davies. David was back to his usual self this evening after his previous more subdued outing. Endlessly blathering on and talking over people, failing to answer basic questions, snide attempted put downs, pulling stupid faces, nonsensical excuses for his colleagues' behaviour that wouldn't fool a relatively intelligent dog, tetchy reaction to criticism, in short he was an absolute arsehole. And did the esteemed chair of the panel attempt to rein in his peevish toddler act? Barely, he was allowed to go on and on and on without censure apart from one instance where Bruce tried to get him to explain how having North Sea oil and gas would give us energy security when the rigs are run by foreign companies and what they extract is sold on the open market. He had no answer. Like most blowhards he likes to talk a lot but when cornered he has very little to say.

For Labour we had Chris Bryant. A decent outing from Chris despite the afformentioned Tory dickhead barely allowing him to finish a sentence. He seemed to have broad support in the audience for his damning assessment of Braverman, made a decent case for Labour's green energy policies and sounded entirely reasonable when discussing Wales' 20 mph speed limit in built up areas. He said it should be up to local communities and the speed limit should be open to review. All good. And he managed to convey all that while appearing to be entirely human. So take note Labour Party, it can be done.

For Plaid-Cymru we had Liz Saville-Roberts. Liz wasn't her usual rambunctious self this evening. Don't get me wrong she was excellent in her take down of Braverman and highlighting of Sunak's weakness, but on purely Welsh matters she was a bit shifty. It didn't appear to me that she was in complete agreement with her Senedd colleagues about the speed limit thing, and was the only one to ask why there were no representatives of the Welsh parliament on the panel. Which was a good question. Given that one of the panelists was an opera singer.

An opera singer called Camilla Kerslake. Camilla seemed lovely and liberal and obviously had a deep distaste for the Tories. But she gave a few superficial answers that lasted about 10 seconds each and was a total waste of a panellist. I don't say that to demean her, we all have our talents, and I'm sure if for some bizarre reason the panel had all been asked to sing some Puccini the rest of them would have done equally badly.

For actual centrists we had Anne McElvoy. I like Anne, she's odd, awkward and unashamedly middle of the road. You can disagree with her but you can't fault her reasoning. By that I mean she's no ideologue, she's happy to pick and choose what she likes from the left and right and tonight she mostly chose from the left while explaining the right might have a point about a few things. It's healthy to have a barometer like Anne in a bubble like this. Healthy to understand that the centre ground of British politics is quite a few degrees off from Starmer's Labour. Sometimes it's good to be reminded of such things.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Anyway more importantly the BBC have just put all the proper old Doctor Who on the iPlayer so I've been watching the Tom Baker episodes of my youth and it's not quite what I remembered or what would be acceptable today. I mean Leela (the lovely Louise Jameson) has killed about 30 people so far, mostly by stabbing them, and I'm only halfway through her stint. And Tom Baker, while great, is less sympathetic than I recall. It's certainly a far cry from the crap the Beeb and Russell T Davies 'reinvented'.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

A very odd man who's lived a very odd life.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

It's good to be odd.

[refitman]

Anyway more importantly the BBC have just put all the proper old Doctor Who on the iPlayer so I've been watching the Tom Baker episodes of my youth and it's not quite what I remembered or what would be acceptable today. I mean Leela (the lovely Louise Jameson) has killed about 30 people so far, mostly by stabbing them, and I'm only halfway through her stint. And Tom Baker, while great, is less sympathetic than I recall. It's certainly a far cry from the crap the Beeb and Russell T Davies 'reinvented'.

Ooh, I'll have to see if 'The Talons of Weng Chiang' is there. I had the book as a kid and it scared the willies out of me. I'm sure there'll be nothing troublesome about that.

Cheers for the QT review again Sky.