Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party.

[Busaholic]

Just occurred to me that the coalition government had three ministers responsible for the post office during its time.

Davey, then Norman Lamb, then Jo Swinson

All Lib Dems

All in a conservative dominated coalition

Am I being overly cynical or did the Tories know what might be coming down the line and want to use some Lib Dems as fall guys?

Who were all reporting to Vince Cable, the Trade Minister, Two of those four went on to receive knighthoods, incidentally.

I don't think it's over cynical to suggest the Tory high command were using the desperate desire of Nick Clegg, in particular, to share the reins of power at any price, so they could be dumped on from a height later, Clegg certainly showed his true colours very quickly with his cowardly exit from British politics.

I've voted LibDem at every General Election since 1992, in the same constituency, and helped secure my candidate as MP on four of those eight occasions. He is standing again at the next election and I'm currently planning on voting for him again, hoping he can beat the Creationist Tory to the post this time.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

I don't think it's over cynical to suggest the Tory high command were using the desperate desire of Nick Clegg, in particular, to share the reins of power at any price, so they could be dumped on from a height later, Clegg certainly showed his true colours very quickly with his cowardly exit from British politics.

Out of interest what makes you see Nick Clegg's exit as cowardly? He had after all just lost his seat as an MP. Was it wrong for him to look for alternative employment as he did?

 

[Busaholic]

Out of interest what makes you see Nick Clegg's exit as cowardly? He had after all just lost his seat as an MP. Was it wrong for him to look for alternative employment as he did?

Will you say the same when Rishi Sunak disappears to Silicon Valley after the next election, not that I'm suggesting he'll lose his Richmond seat? Anyway, not saying wrong but indicative of his dismissive attitude to those who'd supported his party and his appointment as their leader, I guess I'd expect no better from an ex-Westminster School boy, they're almost as toxic as Old Etonians imo.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Will you say the same when Rishi Sunak disappears to Silicon Valley after the next election, not that I'm suggesting he'll lose his Richmond seat?

Yes, I would think that in the unlikely event that Rishi Sunak loses his seat at the election, if he then seeks alternative employment in Silicon Valley, then my attitude would be, good luck to him. Same as it would be for any MP (or ex-leader) of any party. The only thing I can think of that would make my attitude more negative would be if the new career was in some way dodgy or unethical.

Anyway, not saying wrong but indicative of his dismissive attitude to those who'd supported his party and his appointment as their leader, I guess I'd expect no better from an ex-Westminster School boy, they're almost as toxic as Old Etonians imo.

So what could Nick Clegg had done after losing his seat that you would say is OK?

 

[Busaholic]

Yes, I would think that in the unlikely event that Rishi Sunak loses his seat at the election, if he then seeks alternative employment in Silicon Valley, then my attitude would be, good luck to him. Same as it would be for any MP (or ex-leader) of any party. The only thing I can think of that would make my attitude more negative would be if the new career was in some way dodgy or unethical.



So what could Nick Clegg had done after losing his seat that you would say is OK?

I'm suggesting that Sunak will have no interest in being Leader of the Opposition for one year, let alone five, It's hardly a radical view, most political journalists have expressed it.;
I couldn't give a damn what Clegg got himself into it, it's my view that it was a cop-out and two fingers up to the public, though the gesture was being returned with interest, particularly from students.

 

[jon0844]

Will you say the same when Rishi Sunak disappears to Silicon Valley after the next election

He barely knows how to buy petrol, or protect messages on a phone, so I suppose he's perfect for a new career in tech. Maybe Elon will give him a job - although only if he responds to the request for help relating to all those nasty community notes being attached to Conservative and other right-wing Tweets?

 

[Thirteen]

Sunak probably will stay until they elect a new of the Conservative Party then step down.

I'm far from convinced that it is sensible to go too far in "controlling media bias" and "party political propaganda", who is the arbiter of what is or is not biased? What is or isn't propaganda? That being said I do think that we need to look quite seriously at better press regulation, in general, and the relationships between the media and politicians (it doesn't seem quite right that sitting MPs also have current affairs programmes on TV or radio) as well as press ownership itself.

Some changes I would be keen to introduce, across all forms of news media be that TV, radio, newspaper and, at least for UK based, website would be to toughen up on corrections. If the Daily Express publishes a front page headline that "KEIR STARMER SAYS THAT SKY IS ORANGE" then when they run the correction that must also appear on the front page with exactly the same prominence. If Sky News run their lead story on their main 5pm show saying that "RISHI SUNAK TODAY ANNOUCED THAT ALL LABOUR MPs ARE TRAITORS" then when they run the correction it must be the lead story on the next 5pm show. No tucking corrections away on page 94, they get exactly the same prominence as the original false story.

I do think we need to look again at Press Regulation, IPSO has always felt a little bit too close to the media and a little bit too toothless. I don't want a Government (or quasi-Government) regulator that ways like the death of a free press but it feels like IPSO (or something similar like IMPRESS which is considerably smaller but appears to be more potent) needs some more teeth giving to it.

Finally I do think that ownership is an issue. The Press Gazette have interesting figures based on published circulation and, for those papers that stopped publishing their circulation, some guesstimated circulation figures about just how dominant some media groups are in the daily newspaper market.

DMGT acquisition of Telegraph could give it 50% daily newspaper market share

A DMGT purchase of The Telegraph would put the Daily Mail publisher near majority market control, according to Press Gazette analysis.

pressgazette.co.uk

DMGT (the group behind the Daily Mail, Metro, The i and others) owned by Lord Rothermere have just shy of 50% of the daily circulation, News UK (The Sun, The Times and others) owned by Murdoch is around 20% whilst the Telegraph Media Group (funnily enough the publisher of the Telegraph) until recently owned by the Barclay brothers but currently owned by Lloyds Bank with future TBC (with some reports that an Abu-Dhabi backed bid could win, or the DMGT might try and buy it) is around 5%. So 75% of the daily circulation of newspapers are owned, or could be owned, by three groups (perhaps two if the DMGT bid was to win). The proprietors of which are not exactly renowned for their centrist views and lack of outside agenda!

I'm not sure I want to go around insisting that DMGT and News UK must now go around selling off titles willy nilly but it feels somewhat unhealthy for quite so much of our newspaper circulation to be in the hands of quite so few people. It certainly seems like we need to have a broader conversation about who owns newspapers and how much of the market they can own at one time. Seems to me that DMGT and News UK should be automatically disqualified from buying any more national newspapers at the very least!

Whilst daily circulation is not the be all and end all it is worth noting that of course the newspapers have an outsize influence. BBC and Sky have programs everyday covering the next days front pages, social media amplifies the stories they run (to the benefit of the Guardian in particular to be fair whose circulation is tiny ), the MailOnline (the Daily Mail website) is big in the UK and even has significant international reach, etc etc. When newspapers try and make something a story before too long the rest of the media are almost bounced into covering as a result.

The influence of newspapers can be overstated, I'm not especially convinced that the Sun rowing in behind Blair won him the 1997 election and the Sun switching back to the Tories lost Brown the 2010 election. But certainly they can help set a tone and a mood and that power being in the hands of so few, whilst having quite a weak regulator does not seem a health position to be in.

I find media on both ends of the scale tend to be very clickbait driven to the point it's just annoying.

 

[takno]

I'm perplexed by the idea that silicon valley would want Sunak. Clegg showed a bare degree of interest in that sort of thing, whereas Sunak just says AI sometimes and then pauses like we're supposed to think it's insightful. I suppose there might be some kind of role working to make chatGPT look genuine and human by comparison, but you wouldn't risk putting him in anything strategic.

 

[SteveM70]

Sunak will go back to America and a career at a hedge fund

 

[Lost property]

Yes, I would think that in the unlikely event that Rishi Sunak loses his seat at the election, if he then seeks alternative employment in Silicon Valley, then my attitude would be, good luck to him. Same as it would be for any MP (or ex-leader) of any party. The only thing I can think of that would make my attitude more negative would be if the new career was in some way dodgy or unethical.



So what could Nick Clegg had done after losing his seat that you would say is OK?

The chances of him losing his seat are remote, but it would be nice to see, given he's helpfully bribed his constituency with various grants, along with Cheadle. Both locations being noted for their poverty and urban deprivation levels after all.

That he will return to California, the sunshine and the beach (c Albert Hammond) is a given, not that he actually needs to indulge in anything as common as work...which is only for little people who haven't conveniently married into a wealthy family after all.

As for luck, it would be nice to see him standing on the San Andreas fault line when it opens up. Do remember, he's been as instrumental in the destruction of the UK's social fabric as Boris et al was.

There are, however, no shortage of aspirants to take his place as "leader", most of whom seem intent on attempting to be even more right wing / populist than each other. Thankfully, they won't be in a position to impose their malicious ideologies on the UK population

 

[nw1]

I'm perplexed by the idea that silicon valley would want Sunak. Clegg showed a bare degree of interest in that sort of thing, whereas Sunak just says AI sometimes and then pauses like we're supposed to think it's insightful. I suppose there might be some kind of role working to make chatGPT look genuine and human by comparison, but you wouldn't risk putting him in anything strategic.

Yes, I don't think Sunak is exactly an IT professional by any definition, is he?

 

[Gloster]

Yes, I don't think Sunak is exactly an IT professional by any definition, is he?

Is he a ‘professional’ anything, except possibly money-maker (for himself).

 

[sor]

Yes, I don't think Sunak is exactly an IT professional by any definition, is he?

For those of us who don't believe Silicon Valley companies are the be all and end all (especially once you have to use their products), and there are plenty of startups that do seem to be solely about throwing around today's buzzword - lack of IT knowledge doesn't seem to stop them being hired!

There will absolutely be some company out there that would love to have an ex UK PM on the books - Americans love to hire former politicians for their connections

 

[birchesgreen]

Having worked in IT for almost 30 years i feel that Sunak seeming to be a dunce at technology just means he'll be a shoo-in as a high level IT manager...

 

[dgl]

Maybe Fujitsu need some new IT experts.

 

[Thirteen]

Sunak is more likely to go into wealth management than a tech company.

 

[Busaholic]

Sunak is more likely to go into wealth management than a tech company.

What's the difference?

 

[najaB]

What's the difference?

Working in IT requires some usable skills.

 

[317 forever]

If the Election was sooner then maybe Ed Davey would be in trouble but if it's November then the Post Office scandal will not be front page news anymore.

It's a bit hyperbolic to suggest the Tories will win the GE because of this scandal

If the Election were imminent, votes for the LibDems could get lost in the post

 

[jfollows]

Lee Anderson and someone else have resigned from the government to vote against it on Rwanda.

 

[brad465]

Lee Anderson and someone else have resigned from the government to vote against it on Rwanda.

Brendan Clarke-Smith, those two should never have been on the ministerial payroll in the first place.

 

[Peterthegreat]

Lee Anderson and someone else have resigned from the government to vote against it on Rwanda.

Brendan Clarke-Smith!

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Brendan Clarke-Smith, those two should never have been on the ministerial payroll in the first place.

Both thugs lacking in morality but had to be there to keep right wing happy. Would be nice if it precipitates another Tory leadership race but doubt that as most Torys know its an end game and need time to find themselves a cushy number in the private sector.

 

[TrainGeekUK]

I’m no lover fan of Mrs Thatcher and the damage she did, but I would go as far to suggest that she would have had this Rwanda fiasco sorted if she were still around.

Sunak is about as useful as a chocolate tea pot.

 

[Typhoon]

Lee Anderson and someone else have resigned from the government to vote against it on Rwanda.

Doubtless it will give Anderson more time to spend on GB News. Clarke-Smith was also a Deputy Leader of the Party.

Would be nice if it precipitates another Tory leadership race but doubt that as most Torys know its an end game and need time to find themselves a cushy number in the private sector.

Three unelected PMs in a row, that must be go in the Guinness Book of Records. I worry it will be someone a whole lot worse (there a quite a few to choose from).

 

[Class 317]

I’m no lover fan of Mrs Thatcher and the damage she did, but I would go as far to suggest that she would have had this Rwanda fiasco sorted if she were still around.

Sunak is about as useful as a chocolate tea pot.

I'm not sure she would be trying to get an unworkable, immoral and probably illegal under international law policy through parliament.
It's trying to do this that's causing most of the problems within n the Tory party at the moment. If Sunak was to move to more moderate Tory policies rather than pandering to the minority out on the far right of the party I think it would commend more popular support.

 

[Busaholic]

Doubtless it will give Anderson more time to spend on GB News. Clarke-Smith was also a Deputy Leader of the Party.

How long before Anderson defects to Reform UK, probably on air with Farage at the time? I'd say before January is up.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I'm not sure she would be trying to get an unworkable, immoral and probably illegal under international law policy through parliament.
It's trying to do this that's causing most of the problems within n the Tory party at the moment. If Sunak was to move to more moderate Tory policies rather than pandering to the minority out on the far right of the party I think it would commend more popular support.

Indeed i suspect he won't be that bothered and will go for broke to centre the party more.

 

[Typhoon]

How long before Anderson defects to Reform UK, probably on air with Farage at the time? I'd say before January is up.

I'm not certain, He must know that Reform are nowhere near as popular as Tice & Co are making out. UKIP never made an impact at Westminster, I can see him trying to cosy up to some right winger like Braverman or Patel to make a leadership bid. Incidentally there is already a Reform candidate in Clarke-Smith's seat.

 

[telstarbox]

They made an impact when they got 13% of the vote in 2015, so the Tories had a tiny majority and we all know what happened next.