This Northumberland Calling 21.10.22

Plots and counter plots which could not be used in a political thriller!

Chaos, confused and catastrophe in the Conversative Party civil war aka the Lettuce wins edition

An iceberg lettuce bought at a British supermarket as a gag by a tabloid, The Daily Star, did indeed last longer than Liz Truss who resigned a day after declaring at Prime Minister’s Questions that she was ‘a fighter not a quitter’. The Star then beamed a photo of Liz Lettuce on to the Houses of Parliament last night. This has gone beyond The Thick of It parody.  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/21/liz-lettuce-beamed-onto-parliament/

The Conservative party has descended into civil war. The faction represented by Rishi Sunak decided to join forces with the faction represented with Penny Mordaunt. Both were disappointed in their chosen leader losing and Truss did not offer many cabinet posts to her former rivals’ backers.  It was in many ways a very British coup. They attacked through the so-called mini-Budget which was delivered on the eve of Labour’s conference. One of the avenues to say that all weakness against  the dollar was due to the mini-budget and Brexit, ignoring that the Japanese Yen and the euro are both are very low levels. In other words, it is more to do with the dollar being a safe haven than with internal UK economics. However that narrative did not suit the plotters.

 By the end of the last week, Truss had sacrificed her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, appointing Jeremy Hunt, a huge backer of Sunak’s in his place who immediately reversed course on most of the mini-budget proposals. The plotters smelt blood. On Sunday, two members from the Gender blob and huge supporters of Mordaunt (Crispin Blunt, an apologist for a MP convicted sexual assault and Jamie Wallis, the first openly trans MP but who still uses masculine pronouns) openly declared that Truss must go.

On Tuesday the Home Secretary  Suella Braverman became embroiled in a huge row with Hunt and Truss over immigration. She attempted to email an ally some papers but included the wrong MP. She resigned rather than being sacked on Wednesday. Her scathing letter helped sink Truss. Then there were awful scenes in the Commons late Wednesday with MPs being manhandled and sworn at over a vote on fracking which had become a vote of confidence (or not). There were questions on if Truss’s chief enforcers (the Chief Whip and her deputy) had resigned or not.

Thursday morning, Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee (the committee which decides if a Conservative  has the confidence of the Parliamentary party) told Truss she had to go for the sake of the party. Truss duly resigned.

The wild card that the Sunak and Mordaunt plotters had not counted on was that the Boris Johnson supporters were also plotting to get their man back in No 10. So now you have the unlovely spectacle of the man Sunak ousted hotfooting it back from his holiday in the Caribbean  with his 3rd wife and young family to see if he can garner the pledged support of over 100 Members of Parliament. Rumours have it that Carrie Johnson did not like the No 10 lifestyle and does like the oodles of cash Johnson is reputed to be earning on the after dinner circuit. However, Johnson enjoys power. His pitch is that he won a huge backing of the electorate in 2019 and he is the only one who can save the Tories from being wiped out at the next General Election. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/21/boris-johnson-scrambles-home-caribbean-canvass-comeback-support/

 Other MPs such as Braverman and Badenoch are looking at running but probably do not command the level of support (100 MPs necessary) Who knows where we go from here? Will the Conservative party even exist after the next General Election? People basically expect them to lean hard into Gender Critical and Identity Politics because they are out of ideas and Labour continues to be held in thrall of the ideology.  Goodness knows if it will be enough to save them.

The timetable is that the MPs with over 100 declared MPs (basically a third of the parliamentary party which stands at 360) go into a ballot on Monday with the two top going to Conservative members for voting after a run off ballot to show which candidate the MPs prefer ( will the members pay any attention?)  with that poll closing on 28 October.  

Boris’s camp say that they do have over 100 MPs, even though only 52 have declared. Sunak is definitely running with 50. Mordaunt is only considering with 18 declared. The Guido Fawkes’ website is the best place to see the most up to date numbers. Interestingly some of the Boris backers are not giving their names.

https://order-order.com/

Truly popcorn eating. I do think the Thick of It has better lines though…

In other UK news:

Unfortunately the UK is in the grip of maternity health crisis with over half the obstetrics units considered unsafe. This follows on from the East Kent investigation which found 45 babies died because of errors from staff. There was a lot of empire building. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/21/nhs-grip-unacceptable-maternity-crisis/

Avian flu is causing flockdown again countrywide. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bird-flu-outbreak-leads-to-countrywide-restrictions-qrwwjw9xj

After 7 years and many millions of pounds, the Child Abuse Commission has finally made its report which has promptly been buried in the Westminster news. Basically they are recommending stricter safeguards including a legal duty to report any witnessed child abuse  – both in person and online. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/child-abuse-inquiry-recommends-mandatory-reporting-of-allegations-6zlx8k2ts

A woman who went to a private hospital and requested single sex care had her operation cancelled because such a request did not accord with the hospital’s values.  The hospital’s stance is highly illegal and Baroness  Emma Nicholson has written to the hospital and regulatory body to ask for an explanation. Baroness Nicholson is a long time Conservative fighter for the rights of women and girls. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11316141/Hospital-bans-sex-assault-victim-op-female-care-request.html

World Cup fans travelling to Qatar have been warned that the strict alcohol rules are not going to be relaxed. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/world-cup-fans-told-to-respect-qatar-laws-on-alcohol-w9x0rsqmx

And finally  Nelson’s love letters to Emma Hamilton are going on display for the first time in time to mark Trafalgar Day at the Portsmouth Dock Yard where the HMS Victory  is kept. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lord-nelsons-sail-mail-love-letters-from-high-seas-7zx76gjf6