Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party.

[nw1]

While it concerns a former PM, this is quite the bombshell:

https://twitter.com/Gabriel_Pogrund/status/1616859756387237888

Never mind Johnson - Sharp really needs to go.

The BBC cannot be run by someone so obviously politically biased.

 

[najaB]

The BBC cannot be run by someone so obviously politically biased.

Or, more importantly for BBC impartiality, someone who has such an appearance of political bias hanging over them - real or just perceived.

 

[Lost property]

Yeah, now that it's emerged that there was in fact a penalty, that puts a very different perspective on the story - and means my earlier posts in this thread about it were clearly mistaken. This is starting to have the feel of partygate, the way the various statements put out by Zahawi and his allies keep getting shown to be misleading as more of the story leaks out. At this point, it looks like this should be, senior political career over for Zahawi. Lucky for the Conservatives that he didn't get very far in his leadership bid!

Oh I don't know..he more than fulfils all the essential job spec criteria...but, it's nice to see he's sponsored by JCB, same as Boris who allegedly didn't hesitate to appoint him when he was warned about the HMRC investigation....no surprise there....in that the holes he's digging get deeper and deeper...."careless " seems to be the approved term, but, let's face it, if it were just missing a few hundred pounds in tax, well yes, that is careless, but the reported £xxm ??....careless ...really ?

As for Boris making a comeback, well there may be a slight hiccup here. There's the no so little matter of an inquiry, which is imminent, and will be televised as well...so we can watch Boris at his best...lying and denying everything...not that am suggesting Boris is anything but a person of high standards and moral values, plus, and again, I'm not pre-empting the findings, even if he is obviously guilty, which he is, because he could well achieve the equivalent of a football double, the Cup and the League, by being booted out by his own party and then booted out as an MP.

 

[nw1]

Or, more importantly for BBC impartiality, someone who has such an appearance of political bias hanging over them - real or just perceived.

Though he did actually make a donation to the Tory party, according to the article; if that isn't bias I don't know what is!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jan 2023 ==

Oh I don't know..he more than fulfils all the essential job spec criteria...but, it's nice to see he's sponsored by JCB, same as Boris who allegedly didn't hesitate to appoint him when he was warned about the HMRC investigation....no surprise there....in that the holes he's digging get deeper and deeper...."careless " seems to be the approved term, but, let's face it, if it were just missing a few hundred pounds in tax, well yes, that is careless, but the reported £xxm ??....careless ...really ?

As for Boris making a comeback, well there may be a slight hiccup here. There's the no so little matter of an inquiry, which is imminent, and will be televised as well...so we can watch Boris at his best...lying and denying everything...not that am suggesting Boris is anything but a person of high standards and moral values, plus, and again, I'm not pre-empting the findings, even if he is obviously guilty, which he is, because he could well achieve the equivalent of a football double, the Cup and the League, by being booted out by his own party and then booted out as an MP.

He won't be booted out as an MP. If he feels he can't successfully defend Uxbridge, he'll either flee to a safer seat or (as he has done in the past) leave Parliament for a few years before returning for an ultra-safe seat again in 2028 or 2029.

 

[brad465]

He won't be booted out as an MP. If he feels he can't successfully defend Uxbridge, he'll either flee to a safer seat or (as he has done in the past) leave Parliament for a few years before returning for an ultra-safe seat again in 2028 or 2029.

He changed seats as a result of spending time out of Parliament as London Mayor, but arguably the seat he occupies now is less safe than the one he was occupying from 2001-08 (Henley), even though both have been Tory throughout his time in politics so far. He had the excuse then that his previous seat was occupied, but if he tries to change seat now, wherever he tries to go he may not have it as easy as previous voting would suggest: the next best challenger would have it easy saying that if Johnson feels he can't win in Uxbridge & South Ruislip, he won't have your best interests at heart here. There may also be extra campaigning by the challenger's party to make sure he doesn't stand a chance of winning.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jan 2023 ==

30% is the maximum penalty for “accidental” errors with HMRC, but can be reduced if there is mitigation like raising a concern, fully cooperating etc. It looks like Zahawi received no reduction, which contradicts his statement about cooperating with the investigation.

I honestly cannot understand why any politician - regardless of party - caught up in any controversy doesn’t tell the whole truth straight away. The story always gets out eventually

I think it's because some of them live in a kind of parallel universe in which common sense and laws that apply to the rest of us don't apply to them - I agree with your point completely, they're stupid when they don't tell the truth from the start, but so many of them don't that there has to be a reason for it, and the only one I can think of is that the "Westminster bubble" effect makes them think that they're much more important than they really are and that the world outside Westminster doesn't really matter, so it's OK to be vague and evasive in the first place, which it really isn't.

Iain Duncan Smith seems to realise this, which would explain him saying earlier today that Zahawi should "get it all out now whatever you have to do and clear it up":

'Get it all out now' over tax affairs, Zahawi urged

Nadhim Zahawi should release "the absolute facts" on his taxes, ex-Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith says.

www.bbc.co.uk

Nadhim Zahawi should release "the absolute facts" on his tax affairs after paying a settlement with HMRC, former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has said.
Tory party chairman Mr Zahawi has faced mounting pressure over claims he tried to avoid tax and had to pay it back.
On Saturday the ex-chancellor said he had paid a settlement and HMRC had accepted it was a "careless" error.
Labour has called for correspondence with HMRC to be published.
Asked on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg if it would be better for Mr Zahawi to publish everything that had happened relating to his tax affairs, Sir Iain said "the sooner you can get the absolute facts out the better", rather than it "coming out in phases."
He said he would say to Mr Zahawi to "get it all out now whatever you have to do and clear it up".
But he defended Mr Zahawi, saying he "genuinely" did not believe he was "deceitful".
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said it was for Mr Zahawi to decide "how much detail to put in the public domain".

According to the Guardian, Mr Zahawi had to pay back tax he owed with a 30% penalty, the total amounting to £4.8m.
The BBC has been unable to verify that figure, but when the paper asked about the penalty, Mr Zahawi's spokesperson did not deny one had been paid.
This weekend Mr Zahawi issued a statement saying he wanted to address "confusion about my finances".
He did not make clear whether or not he had paid a penalty as part of his settlement, nor did he say how much he had paid to HMRC.
Mr Zahawi said when he was being appointed chancellor, questions were being raised about his tax affairs and he had discussed it with the Cabinet Office at the time.
An aide to Mr Zahawi confirmed to the BBC that the tax matter was resolved while he was serving as chancellor.

'Untenable' position​

On Sunday, the foreign secretary was asked about what he knew about the circumstances surrounding Mr Zahawi's tax affairs.
He said he did not know if Mr Zahawi had sorted out his settlement with HMRC while he was chancellor, nor if he had paid a penalty as part of a settlement, nor if this was all discussed with the prime minister.
Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner has said Mr Zahawi's position is "untenable" and has called on the prime minister to sack him.
In the statement issued on Saturday afternoon, Mr Zahawi said: "As a senior politician I know that scrutiny and propriety are important parts of public life.
"Twenty-two years ago I co-founded a company called YouGov. I'm incredibly proud of what we achieved. It is an amazing business that has employed thousands of people and provides a world-beating service.
"When we set it up, I didn't have the money or the expertise to go it alone. So I asked my father to help. In the process, he took founder shares in the business in exchange for some capital and his invaluable guidance.
"Twenty one years later, when I was being appointed chancellor of the exchequer, questions were being raised about my tax affairs. I discussed this with the Cabinet Office at the time.
"Following discussions with HMRC, they agreed that my father was entitled to founder shares in YouGov, though they disagreed about the exact allocation. They concluded that this was a 'careless and not deliberate' error.
"So that I could focus on my life as a public servant, I chose to settle the matter and pay what they said was due, which was the right thing to do."

 

[jon0844]

Say nothing, deny when asked, admit a small mistake now sorted, acknowledge it was a bit more serious when more info leaks, claim that the media continuing to dig is a witch-hunt, say that anything new coming to light is petty as it all happened so long ago and it's clearly time to move on.

Have we got to the 'time to move on' demands by the right wing sympathisers yet?

 

[Typhoon]

Johnson is on manoeuvres again.

Boris Johnson has once again visited Ukraine despite warnings from senior military figures that he should stay away and stop “looking for publicity”.

The former PM was seen on the outskirts of Kyiv on Sunday, as he comes under pressure over claims that the BBC chairman helped arrange talks which led to his £800,000 line of credit while at No 10.

Former Army chief Lord Dannett had previously told The Independent that Mr Johnson was a “loose cannon” whose plan could upstage Rishi Sunak, while ex-First Sea Lord warned the former PM against “looking for publicity”.

But Mr Johnson said he was invited by president Volodymyr Zelensky to visit the country once again – as he urged western leaders to give Ukraine “all the tools they need”.

In a statement on Sunday, the former prime minister said: “It is a privilege to visit Ukraine at the invitation of president Zelensky. The suffering of the people of Ukraine has gone on for too long.”

“The only way to end this war is for Ukraine to win – and to win as fast as possible,” he added. “This is the moment to double down and to give the Ukrainians all the tools they need to finish the job. The sooner Putin fails, the better for Ukraine and for the whole world.”

On Sunday Mr Johnson was seen making unannounced visits to two suburbs north of Kyiv – two areas where Russian troops are accused of atrocities after a failed push on the capital last year.

I believe he was at Davos during the week. He last voted in the Commons on 22 November, before that on 11 July (when he voted that he had confidence in his own government). Truss, on the other had, has voted 11 times this year.. Someone needs to remind him what his day job is

Quote from https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/ukne...sedgntp&cvid=6ab95e60ebe74a46b9666b9f59cba3e7

 

[Lost property]

Johnson is on manoeuvres again.


I believe he was at Davos during the week. He last voted in the Commons on 22 November, before that on 11 July (when he voted that he had confidence in his own government). Truss, on the other had, has voted 11 times this year.. Someone needs to remind him what his day job is

Quote from https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/ukne...sedgntp&cvid=6ab95e60ebe74a46b9666b9f59cba3e7

The day job is the same as it always has been....the self promotion of Boris. by Boris, for Boris....nothing and nobody else is of interest to him. As for the visit to Ukraine, only Boris could trade on the misery of a nations war to gain publicity for.....himself.

 

[DC1989]

The daily mail reporting that the Boris backers will make their move in May

 

[WizCastro197]

The daily mail reporting that the Boris backers will make their move in May

Move for what?

 

[Thirteen]

I know the London Mayoral Election isn't until next year but I wonder when the Conservative will announce their candidate, they don't have a chance of winning but will be interesting who the options are.

 

[takno]

Move for what?

They're currently running a campaign claiming that the party and country is being let down by rabid left-wingers like Rishi Sunak, so presumably they'll be after him leading a nice military coup, followed by a spot of good old-fashioned monetarism, Pinochet-style.

If he's got time before dinner I believe he mentioned something about getting Brexit done as well, and yet we still haven't started a war with France, which is what the people voted for.

 

[WizCastro197]

I know the London Mayoral Election isn't until next year but I wonder when the Conservative will announce their candidate, they don't have a chance of winning but will be interesting who the options are.

I am rather certain it won't be Shaun Bailey. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a laugh and throw Boris in, just as a last ditch effort. However, some Conservatives are still so thick and just generally weird, like that James Cleverly dude, who may be certain they can 'win everything', as he is the CONservatives' cabinet defender at this point.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jan 2023 ==

The daily mail reporting that the Boris backers will make their move in May

Do you mind linking such page? I can't go through ad and gossip hell to find it, sorry.

 

[Peterthegreat]

I am rather certain it won't be Shaun Bailey. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a laugh and throw Boris in, just as a last ditch effort. However, some Conservatives are still so thick and just generally weird, like that James Cleverly dude, who may be certain they can 'win everything', as he is the CONservatives' cabinet defender at this point.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jan 2023 ==


Do you mind linking such page? I can't go through ad and gossip hell to find it, sorry.

I suspect this is it.

DAN HODGES: A coup to oust Rishi could still be months away

DAN HODGES: There is no longer any doubt that at some point this year, Rishi Sunak will face an organised attempt to oust him and reinstall Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[WizCastro197]

I suspect this is it.

DAN HODGES: A coup to oust Rishi could still be months away

DAN HODGES: There is no longer any doubt that at some point this year, Rishi Sunak will face an organised attempt to oust him and reinstall Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Thank you for bravery, in scrolling through the forest of ads and endless gossip that I so need in my life.

No one will replace Rishi without a General Election, we can't have 4 prime ministers within one term.

 

[Gloster]

No one will replace Rishi without a General Election, we can't have 4 prime ministers within one term.

Don’t you bet on it: there are no rules any longer.

 

[Thirteen]

I am rather certain it won't be Shaun Bailey. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a laugh and throw Boris in, just as a last ditch effort. However, some Conservatives are still so thick and just generally weird, like that James Cleverly dude, who may be certain they can 'win everything', as he is the CONservatives' cabinet defender at this point.

Andrew Boff has declared but I doubt the Party would go for him. Paul Scully has shown interest as well.

 

[WizCastro197]

Dont you bet on it: there are no rules any longer.

Ha, you beat me to it! I was going to edit my post to stretch over this, but alas. If Sunk is replaced (which seems highly unlikely), and the successor doesn't call a General Election, it just proves that Tories love to cling onto power and blatant admission they know they'll lose the next one.
It is interesting reading the DailyMail comments, some foreign input from New Zealand, who says Sunak is a snake.

DAN HODGES: A coup to oust Rishi could still be months away

DAN HODGES: There is no longer any doubt that at some point this year, Rishi Sunak will face an organised attempt to oust him and reinstall Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.

www.dailymail.co.uk

battlebot, Auckland, New Zealand, 1 hour ago

That's why Sunak the snake was plotting from day one, people don't like that regardless of their politics, Imagine every time they had a meeting or dinner there was sunak storing away useful info and planning to strike ,I'll never back him ever

Andrew Boff has declared but I doubt the Party would go for him. Paul Scully has shown interest as well.

I wonder what they'll do for London? Ah, I know,.....nothing.

 

[The Ham]

I wonder what they'll do for London? Ah, I know,.....nothing

No improvements is the current Tory message. Things like "my staff can live on less than £30k and not need a food bank" - ignoring that said person is renting a room and so there's likely to be little hope of aspiring to buy their own place; as about 40% of their take home is being spent on rent (£29,500 is pretty much spot on 40%).

Is the biggest thing that our next generation of graduates can aspire to is that they don't use a food bank?

 

[brad465]

The daily mail reporting that the Boris backers will make their move in May

Basically after the local elections, in anticipation of a dire result for the Tories in them. The problem with this is the Privileges Committee investigation could be over by then, where if it recommends a suspension long enough for a recall petition, there's a lot of expectation Johnson will be then out of Parliament.

 

[jon0844]

No improvements is the current Tory message. Things like "my staff can live on less than £30k and not need a food bank" - ignoring that said person is renting a room and so there's likely to be little hope of aspiring to buy their own place; as about 40% of their take home is being spent on rent (£29,500 is pretty much spot on 40%).

Is the biggest thing that our next generation of graduates can aspire to is that they don't use a food bank?

It's not exactly a great legacy for the history books. Having taken people to the point where they may consider themselves rich for not using a food bank, but can't afford to enjoy life or travel because most of their income goes on food, fuel, energy, mortgage or rent.

Nor is it good to encourage people to find ways to spend no more than 30p on a meal, at least unless the person giving that advice is also doing it themselves.

I am sure the people who said Get Brexit Done didn't expect this?

 

[DynamicSpirit]

I am sure the people who said Get Brexit Done didn't expect this?

Well, yes, clearly no-one in 2016 expected a pandemic to basically close the country down for a year, and then soon afterwards for Russia to do stuff that would then restrict energy supplies and force energy prices up to what for many people are unaffordable levels. But hey, let's ignore the main causes of the cost of living crisis and blame Brexit instead (which to be fair will have made a minor contribution to the high prices).

 

[Gloster]

I am sure the people who said Get Brexit Done didn't expect this?

But the people who told them how wonderful Brexit’s sunny uplands would be were hoping it would be. Less money for others means more money for them.

 

[The Ham]

But the people who told them how wonderful Brexit’s sunny uplands would be were hoping it would be. Less money for others means more money for them.

Only problem is that only lasts for a short time.

If you run a business, you need people to have money to spend in that business and there's only so many electricity/petrol companies.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jan 2023 ==

Well, yes, clearly no-one in 2016 expected a pandemic to basically close the country down for a year, and then soon afterwards for Russia to do stuff that would then restrict energy supplies and force energy prices up to what for many people are unaffordable levels. But hey, let's ignore the main causes of the cost of living crisis and blame Brexit instead (which to be fair will have made a minor contribution to the high prices).

It depends on how wide an impact Brexit had, for example if there hasn't been the need do get a deal then more government time could have focused on ensuring more energy independence - which would have reduced the impact from Russia invading Ukraine on fuel costs.

Even if the only change was that renewables weren't linked in price to gas prices (and not all are, but enough) then when gas prices went up significantly the cost of electricity wouldn't have gone up so much, which would have softened the impact.

Of course that's not the path which was taken, so we are where we are and we'll never know the alternative outcome.

 

[DelayRepay]

No one will replace Rishi without a General Election, we can't have 4 prime ministers within one term.

In the mind of Boris and his supporters, he could replace Rishi. Because Boris, love him or hate him, is the only one of the last three Conservative leaders to have won a General Election.

I don't think Boris has any realistic chance of taking back power, but if he does he will be dangerous. The Tories under Boris may actually stand a chance of winning another election.

 

[The Ham]

In the mind of Boris and his supporters, he could replace Rishi. Because Boris, love him or hate him, is the only one of the last three Conservative leaders to have won a General Election.

I don't think Boris has any realistic chance of taking back power, but if he does he will be dangerous. The Tories under Boris may actually stand a chance of winning another election.

I'm not sure how much Boris won vs Cummings' strategy won for Boris.

However I've of the winning elements was the three word slogans. The big issue (currently) are all the strikes, so would that be "crush all strikes" or "better NHS pay"?

If the former, that's about 4% of the working population not likely to vote for you (as that's the percentage who work for the NHS) before you consider any other backlash from such a policy (such as those who who are married to someone in the NHS, or are others who are striking).

However the latter would put off a lot of traditional Tory supporters, who believe that company profits are key (almost ignoring that you need people with reasonable pay to generate those profits).

 

[DelayRepay]

I'm not sure how much Boris won vs Cummings' strategy won for Boris.

Cummings helped without a doubt, and of course in the last election Brexit (and specifically 'getting it done') was a much bigger issue than it will be next time. And the mess that the opposition had got themselves into certainly helped Boris too.

But, I get the impression that Boris was, and still is personally popular. And if he can write a narrative presenting himself as the saviour of the UK (fix the NHS without saying how, deal with the energy crisis, and standing up to Putin), I can see a scenario where voters decide to give him another chance. I think Boris could hold some of the Red Wall seats - whereas Sunak has no chance.

 

[edwin_m]

Well, yes, clearly no-one in 2016 expected a pandemic to basically close the country down for a year, and then soon afterwards for Russia to do stuff that would then restrict energy supplies and force energy prices up to what for many people are unaffordable levels. But hey, let's ignore the main causes of the cost of living crisis and blame Brexit instead (which to be fair will have made a minor contribution to the high prices).

All other countries have had to cope with Covid and Putin too, and many have been more dependent on Russian energy than the UK has. But of the major Western economies, only the UK has yet to get back to where it was before the pandemic.

Time to stop the Brexit denialism I think.

 

[nw1]

I know the London Mayoral Election isn't until next year but I wonder when the Conservative will announce their candidate, they don't have a chance of winning but will be interesting who the options are.

I doubt Boris will win in London again, given how universally disliked he is by the "liberal left-wing elite".

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Jan 2023 ==

All other countries have had to cope with Covid and Putin too, and many have been more dependent on Russian energy than the UK has. But of the major Western economies, only the UK has yet to get back to where it was before the pandemic.

Time to stop the Brexit denialism I think.

Indeed; I'm not saying Brexit is the number one cause of our problems (number three I think, with Covid fallout the first). But - what I find strange is how few Conservative MPs, members, or supporters, are openly critical about Brexit. I think I said this the other day, but surely there must be people who believe in low-tax low-spend (I don't, for avoidance of doubt) but also think Brexit was a stupid idea? There must surely be differences of opinion within the Tory Party, its members and supporters?

 

[DelayRepay]

Indeed; I'm not saying Brexit is the number one cause of our problems (number three I think, with Covid fallout the first). But - what I find strange is how few Conservative MPs, members, or supporters, are openly critical about Brexit. I think I said this the other day, but surely there must be people who believe in low-tax low-spend (I don't, for avoidance of doubt) but also think Brexit was a stupid idea? There must surely be differences of opinion within the Tory Party, its members and supporters?

I was a strong Remainer, but I never denied that Brexit would bring opportunities and benefits. I just thought the benefits and opportunities as part of the EU were greater.

But, I wonder why I am not hearing Brexit supporters highlighting the benefits it's brought? The best they seem to come up with is blue passports, crowns on pint glasses and more recently no foil on Champaign bottles. Meanwhile Remainers can point to increased friction in trade with the EU and our labour shortage affecting many sectors including our beloved NHS.