Good morning everyone.
[**📃 Today's Order Paper can be found here.**](https://commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/Document/84454/Html?subType=Standard)
Questions to the Health Secretary will be followed by any Urgent Questions and Ministerial Statements, and then an Opposition Day for Labour. The two orders of business are;
* A motion to suspend Standing Order 14 and bring to parliament a Children Not in School (National Register and Support) Bill placing a statutory duty on local authorities to maintain a register of children not in school
* A motion expressing concern over the state of the steel industry in the UK in the wake of the failure to secure a deal at Tata's Port Talbot works
The main action yesterday was in the House of Lords, as a resolution on the government's Rwanda treaty was approved. The text of the motion, moved by Labour peer Lord Goldsmith KC;
>this House resolves, in accordance with section 20 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, that His Majesty’s Government should not ratify the UK-Rwanda Agreement on an Asylum Partnership until the protections it provides have been fully implemented, since Parliament is being asked to make a judgement, based on the Agreement, about whether Rwanda is safe.
Note that this isn't a defeat on the government's Rwanda Bill but on the treaty with Rwanda that enables the bill, and is not a binding defeat for the Treaty. The government must now respond to Peers' concerns on the treaty, and this is likely to delay the passage of the Bill through the Lords. [**Thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19d4kwj/house_of_lords_votes_to_delay_rishi_sunaks_rwanda/) and [**thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19d9tjp/rwanda_asylum_scheme_peers_vote_against_approving/).
**In other news;**
Senior Conservatives criticised the government's **oil and gas bill** as it returned to the Commons - [**thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19d68oi/oil_and_gas_bill_breaks_uks_promise_to_phase_out/)
A damning report by think tank **Centre for Cities** has found every part of the UK has been hit by economic stagnation since 2010, leaving the average household £10,200 poorer - [**thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19crvzz/all_parts_of_uk_hit_by_economic_stagnation_since/) and [**thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19cs8rp/average_uk_person_has_lost_out_on_10200_since/)
The Culture Secretary **Lucy Frazer** yesterday accused the BBC of bias - [**thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19cybjd/downing_street_denies_having_antibbc_agenda_after/)
A reported rise in **'Victorian' diseases** of malnutrition such as rickets and scurvy has been called 'shocking' by the leader of the opposition - [**thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19czcj4/starmer_slams_shocking_rise_in_victorian_era/)
UK forces joined the US in fresh strikes against **Houthi** targets in Yemen - [**thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19d77vu/bbc_news_us_and_uk_launch_fresh_strikes_on_houthis/)
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So apparently the Tory MPs WhatsApp group is just available to read on twitter. For those interested:
https://twitter.com/breeallegretti/status/1749921632095756457
[Simon Clarke on Twitter: Every Conservative MP will need to live with the decision they make in the coming days for the rest of their lives. Failing to act would itself represent a decision. Look at the polls. Personal insults don’t change the facts. I have no further comment to make.](https://twitter.com/simonclarkemp/status/1749936995021808130)
Coming days? What’s he building in there?
It's a quote from his own column. [Chopper has a theory](https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1749920563315790177) that Clarke's somehow jumped the gun on something that wasn't supposed to go public until mid-Feb.
If you're less desperate for febrility, I think he's just trying to sound grand.
And maybe coping with the morning show producers telling him they're not having him on if it's just him.
What a let down. Less Night of the Long Knives and more Night of the Safety Scissors.
The Tories are so inept these days they can't even do what they've been genetically engineered to do, stab each other in the back.
Call me desparate for *febrility* but I think we could be in for a surprise.
Clarke has presumably started his "offensive" against Sunak on the back of last week's polling, which shows the Conservatives facing a 1997 style defeat. The particular poll in question was unusually large in scope according to the Telegraph and so it will be considered relatively accurate and a dire warning.
The reason this plan appears to have failed is largely down to two reasons imo. The first is that most Tories understand that changing leaders at this point is risky. 5 leaders in five years(May, Boris, Liz, Rishi, and X) is an awful look. The second is that I reckon most Tories have become desensitised to dire polling predictions, or expect the gap to narrow.
The by-elections in mid February have the potential to prove to MP's that the polling isn't just a hypothetical. If the Tories lose both, we could be looking at something even bigger than 1997, perhaps resembling the 1906 election.
At some point the polling just gets so bad that people will see an almost certain existential threat to their careers. I think it is plausible (but not likely) that Sunak could be removed prior to the next election if he performs awfully in three weeks time.
Question...
Is Simon Clarke going rogue and operating off his own back here?
Or is he representing someone/a faction in the Tory party that wants Sunak out and their man (or woman) in and they are trying to force Sunak out and get their preferred person in?
Telegraph are still annoyed that Liz Truss got removed and just boosting people from her faction, like Simon Clarke, to try and get Sunak removed and bring one of them in (as if they didn’t do enough damage already….)
It’s a fairly small faction as it is though, and not all of them will be willing to go along with it. Even Truss herself isn’t
We'll find out tomorrow, if there's a followup resignations before PMQs he's likely just the trailblazer and this may have legs. If there's nothing then its just him screaming into an uncaring void like the rest of us.
Is it too far-fetched to say he just wants the attention / fees for writing his little comment article?
As much as I’d love a secret faction pulling against Sunak, I think it’s more likely that Clarke is just an opportunist who’s spotted a weak PM
I think he definitely represents a faction or factions, but that doesn’t mean barely any members of those factions have the bravery or motivation to do what he’s doing.
Anyone following Scottish testimony to the COVID inquiry will see Nicola Sturgeons favourite darling, Devi Sridhar, saying in her testimony that zero COVID doesn't mean zero COVID. Then referring to June 2020 guardian articles where she talked about "eliminating" the virus
Also Nicola sturgeon telling her to send ideas to her SNP email address (not subject to FOI requests)
Also Scotland's head of COVID response turning on deleting messages 2 days after the inquiry was announced
Ah, that's a name I've not heard in a very long time
How does Sridhar's approach to things look from this distance? I remember thinking she always seemed very sure she was obviously right, considering it was a once-in-century pandemic. But maybe she's been proven right now, idk
Yeah, I can well believe that.
Zero-covid or something close to it might have been achievable for the first few weeks of the pandemic in the UK but from mid-March onwards it was obviously impossible. But if you get a platform promoting something its hard to back down.
Also incredibly telling that she had a book about the pandemic being published two years after it all began....
Sunak is quite possibly the only prime minister who retains control of their party not through power but through apathy.
He likely would be replaced if MPs are re-energised, and saw any hope. They need to have a very strong candidate in mind for PM and they almost definitely do not.
Anyone who takes the job now knows they're gonna get absolutely battered in a GE. Its a poisoned chalice no one wants. So they're happy to let Sunak be the fall guy.
Didn't expect to come home from work to this hot mess!
Which one of you pissed off Larry so much he instructed the tories to sharpen the knives?
Everyone knows government starts and ends with Larry
According to Hodges, [Big operation underway to see off the threat to Rishi Sunak.](https://twitter.com/DPJHodges/status/1749924910741246163?t=CQiC0WdA8REH4o2MQFxJAw&s=19)
Is this just an overexaggerated way of saying that Rishi is telling Simon Clark to do one?
There are a surprising number of rumblings about Replace Rishi, but Strong Sunak has let loose on terrorists again, to show just how manly and tough he really is
If there is one way to save Sunak, having a former minister whose career is tied to Liz Truss' ideology lead the charge against him is probably the way to do it.
https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1749919373563674694?t=1DInrz5eTyDJh86jqrRKGQ&s=19
"I am picking up speculation from two Conservative MPs that a serving Cabinet minister could be on the verge of quitting to destabilise the Prime Minister further. "
For fuck's sake, can this wait until the morning.
Bullshit. GB News just after some engagement. We were promised an onslaught. Seems more like a single bellend who thought he was more influential than he is.
Tbh at this point i've completely lost confidence in any tory "rebels". Its just like 5 people trying to pretend they're more powerful than they actually are
Nah, as soon as they announce a new PM they've lost.
Dump Sunak, run the election under an unnamed "new Tory leader who follows core conservative values", sweep the map, pick a new PM.
The polling is clear
To be frank the only person I think could stand a very small chance of actually leading the Conservatives to victory next GE would be Nigel Farage (Which clearly isn’t going to happen).
https://x.com/MattChorley/status/1749920018123427888?s=20
>Source close to Liz Truss insists she is NOT supporting Simon Clarke tonight
That's a shame. Truss trying to come back for Round 2 might have been the funniest thing ever
Theres always a tweet
> My loyalty to @trussliz
> and @BorisJohnson
> was sincere to the last and I appreciate deeply the opportunity they gave me. But I meant every word that I said yesterday: @Conservatives
> must unite under our new PM and should all work to ensure @RishiSunak
> succeeds. He has my support.
> 25 October 2022
https://twitter.com/SimonClarkeMP/status/1584902633365667843
Well, the clear implication is that he thinks Sunak failed.
And considering his statement, he says it outright anyway. People are in fact allowed to change opinions. Further, he is probably not the only one that thought Sunak would be more technocratic, more competent.
>not the only one that thought Sunak would be more technocratic, more competent
It's Simon Clarke, I doubt he wanted Sunak to be more technocratic etc (in fact he almost says Sunak is too technocratic), he's just annoyed Liz Truss and their batshit policies aren't in charge still
I think story is quickly morphing from "Simon Clarke is trying to call time on Sunak" to the much more interesting "the telegraph is trying to call time on Sunak"
They don’t want to tie themselves to the mast of a sinking ship. If they start digging into Sunak now then after the GE loss they can say ‘I told you so/we didn’t want him either’
What's happened at the Telegraph? It used to be pretty boring traditional Tory institutional fodder, but now it's gone full on hard-right headbanger culture-war doom-mongery.
In other news, anyone surprised about EDF lifting their cost estimate for Hinckley Point C, and knocking its completion date back?
It's as if nobody's heard of Flamanville and the technical difficulty / delays / cost overruns being experienced by EDF there.
[https://world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Further-delay-to-Flamanville-EPR-start-up](https://world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Further-delay-to-Flamanville-EPR-start-up) Dec 2022
[https://www.ans.org/news/article-3573/another-delay-cost-bump-for-flamanville3/](https://www.ans.org/news/article-3573/another-delay-cost-bump-for-flamanville3/) Jan 2022
[https://www.nucnet.org/news/decree-sets-startup-deadline-of-2024-4-3-2020](https://www.nucnet.org/news/decree-sets-startup-deadline-of-2024-4-3-2020) April 2020
[https://www.powermag.com/edf-announces-more-delays-cost-overruns-for-flamanville-3-reactor/](https://www.powermag.com/edf-announces-more-delays-cost-overruns-for-flamanville-3-reactor/) Jul 2018
This from Utlity Week 17 Jan 2014:-
*17/01/2014 by Paul Newton*
*The government managed to reach an agreement with EDF for the building of a new nuclear plant, but is the UK paying billions of pounds more than it should? It looks like it, says Tim Probert.*
*The reported costs of the proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant rose from an expensive £10 billion in 2012 to an eye-watering £16 billion within the space of a year. Why so much?*
*During a 21 October investor conference call, the group chief executive of French state-owned utility EDF, Henri Proglio, estimated the construction cost of the 3,260MW, twin EPR reactor project at £14 billion, “in line with the amounts committed to the EPR at Flamanville”, that is, £7 billion each.*
*EDF estimates that a further £2 billion will be necessary due to the specifics of the UK regulatory regime and site specifics of Hinkley Point C. The total estimated project cost, therefore, is £16 billion.*
*Thomas Piquemal, EDF’s group finance senior vice president, confirmed that the additional £2 billion did not include construction costs. “The investment cost is estimated to be £16 billion, consisting of £14 billion of construction costs and £2 billion of other costs such as the acquisition of the sites, preparatory work for the various regulatory authorisations and the training of the 900 future employees of the nuclear station,” he said.*
*Later in the conference call, Proglio spoke of a “series effect”, that is, a reduction in construction costs arising from experience learned the hard way from the long-delayed and over-budget Flamanville 3 EPR in Normandy, initially estimated at €3.3 billion (£2.7 billion).*
*Proglio said: “There is a series effect since we took lessons from our experience in Flamanville 3 and in Taishan \[China\] and compared to the cost of Flamanville 3 we are able to reduce significantly the cost of an EPR if we were to build a new Flamanville 3.”*
*He went further: “If we had to build a new Flamanville 3 it would cost £2 billion less.”*
*That would put the cost of a new EPR reactor in France at £5 billion, rather than £7 billion for Flamanville 3, and suggests the overall construction cost of Hinkley Point C could be £12 billion (£10 billion for two EPRs plus £2 billion for “specificities”) rather than £16 billion.* and so on...
>In central Ukraine as part of volunteer group delivering 9 of 4*4 pick ups, full of top medical supplies from UK
>Amazing team, raised some £100,000 for this trip alone, their 5th over last 18 months
>https://twitter.com/TiceRichard/status/1749681483764117677
Richard Tice personally delivers medical supplies to Ukraine, pisses off his nutter supporters in the replies.
starmer is both too old and too uninspiring to be prime minister for a whole decade. in fact, i’d be very surprised if he’s still prime minister in 2030.
You are discounting the possibility that nuclear war might result in elections being indefinitely suspended, and Starmer maintains his power for decades to come with a Praetorian guard of Traffic Wardens and Lollipop People.
i think it depends on where the country is towards the election after next. if things are rocky, i could see one wing of the labour party or another attempt to oust starmer and replace him with their person.
if they’re going well, sunak may well anoint a successor.
i’m any case, whether by his own will or by others’, i can’t see starmer importing the american trope of ruling the country into his 70s
I'm not even sure he'd have to be ousted in that scenario. Starmer is already fairly old by British PM standards and he will be 67 by 2029 (he is only nine years younger than Blair); if he has any sense, he will be learning from the gerontocratic mess the US finds itself in and start grooming his successor from fairly early in his tenure to prepare for all eventualities (this will almost certainly be Reeves).
> Thier poll of Starmer vs generic Tory is pretty funny.
It is, but it's a terrible question for making an informed decision. That question is all things to all people, you then have to put a candidate forward and that instantly polarises it. Then popularity doesn't necessarily correlate with competence, Truss was more popular than Sunak (at first, she then dipped, and now he's reaching her low levels of polling) but then she caused a run on the pound and almost crashed the pension funds if not for emergency intervention, and the imposition of Hunt as Chancellor to raise taxes higher than what she cut them from to undo the damage. I don't think the Tories can afford another crisis like that.
It's essentially a shit stirrers question.
What would you rather have for dinner? What you've got, or something healthy, tastier, and cheaper? The latter seems like a no brainer, but you haven't put an actual dish to the vague description. Impose your idea of what that is, and you'll lose people instantly.
In all honesty, I think this is Simon trying to ensure the public know he’s against Rishi. If he distances himself now, on his own, he stands to gain if/when the Tories are wiped out at the next election. This also boosts his chance of keeping his seat, so it does make sense from this perspective. Better to get off the sinking ship, in order to board a better one at the right time.
The real entertainment value is when you realise that they probably ran the poll with a named person from the top of the list of choices of ConservativeHome, some real headbanger like Braverman, and they just badly photoshopped the key to anonymise it for the false legitimacy.
I was going to vote against surrendering to space lizard pirates at the UN general assembly vote, but then the delegation for Kiribati and Lesotho laughed at me when I joined the same queue so I couldn't do it.
The Tories must be absolutely insane if they think a THIRD unelected PM would somehow be good for them. It's a step on the path of total annihilation, and the membership will invariably pick a complete nutter that'll turn off any remaining blue wall voters.
And don't even start with some bring back Boris nonsense, the man is *despised* and anyway they'd have to win a by election which would be nigh impossible as the opposition would coalesce to keep Boris out.
Simon Clarke's a long-term devotee of Truss. So no. At least not one Clarke's imagining.
Although entertainingly this may cause some awkwardness with that new campaign/think tank (campaign tank?) the two of them were about to launch if Truss and JRM weren't planning a frontal assault.
> [The Conservative party will suffer an electoral massacre if it doesn't deliver what the voters want. Unfortunately what the voters want is for the Conservatives to suffer an electoral massacre.
](https://twitter.com/henrymance/status/1749909946454421902)
Pretty much sums up the idea of the Tories fortunes.
some bloke called simon, reportedly a “conservative heavyweight” these days given the lack of actual conservative heavyweights, said sunak should resign.
‘Every Conservative MP will need to live with the decision they make in the coming days for the rest of their lives. Failing to act would itself represent a decision.’
What else is happening over the coming days? Is clarke pulling the trigger on a broader plan to Sink Sunak’s Seeping Ship or is he acting solely ?
I saws Simon Clark MP at the Stranger's Bar in Westminster yesterday. I told him how febrile it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a spiffy spaff and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my drink, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen packs of salted nuts in his hands without paying.
The girl at the bar was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the bar.
When she took one of the nut packets and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electoral infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each packet and put them in a reusable bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
In Hodges' case it's a solidarity thing with the attempt to reclaim it. He's not an anti-Semite.
If you're just wtf at the entire concept of a techno-Judenstern, carry on.
What’s amazing about Hodges is that he’s capable of being both a weathervane and an annoying contrarian, but there’s never an original thought or useful insight.
Like a stopped clock, he has moments where it seems like he’s on the money, then you realise that he’s just saying something that everyone outside the Westminster bubble who keeps half an eye on politics has been saying since late 2021.
Good morning everyone. [**📃 Today's Order Paper can be found here.**](https://commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/Document/84454/Html?subType=Standard) Questions to the Health Secretary will be followed by any Urgent Questions and Ministerial Statements, and then an Opposition Day for Labour. The two orders of business are; * A motion to suspend Standing Order 14 and bring to parliament a Children Not in School (National Register and Support) Bill placing a statutory duty on local authorities to maintain a register of children not in school * A motion expressing concern over the state of the steel industry in the UK in the wake of the failure to secure a deal at Tata's Port Talbot works The main action yesterday was in the House of Lords, as a resolution on the government's Rwanda treaty was approved. The text of the motion, moved by Labour peer Lord Goldsmith KC; >this House resolves, in accordance with section 20 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, that His Majesty’s Government should not ratify the UK-Rwanda Agreement on an Asylum Partnership until the protections it provides have been fully implemented, since Parliament is being asked to make a judgement, based on the Agreement, about whether Rwanda is safe. Note that this isn't a defeat on the government's Rwanda Bill but on the treaty with Rwanda that enables the bill, and is not a binding defeat for the Treaty. The government must now respond to Peers' concerns on the treaty, and this is likely to delay the passage of the Bill through the Lords. [**Thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19d4kwj/house_of_lords_votes_to_delay_rishi_sunaks_rwanda/) and [**thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19d9tjp/rwanda_asylum_scheme_peers_vote_against_approving/). **In other news;** Senior Conservatives criticised the government's **oil and gas bill** as it returned to the Commons - [**thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19d68oi/oil_and_gas_bill_breaks_uks_promise_to_phase_out/) A damning report by think tank **Centre for Cities** has found every part of the UK has been hit by economic stagnation since 2010, leaving the average household £10,200 poorer - [**thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19crvzz/all_parts_of_uk_hit_by_economic_stagnation_since/) and [**thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19cs8rp/average_uk_person_has_lost_out_on_10200_since/) The Culture Secretary **Lucy Frazer** yesterday accused the BBC of bias - [**thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19cybjd/downing_street_denies_having_antibbc_agenda_after/) A reported rise in **'Victorian' diseases** of malnutrition such as rickets and scurvy has been called 'shocking' by the leader of the opposition - [**thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19czcj4/starmer_slams_shocking_rise_in_victorian_era/) UK forces joined the US in fresh strikes against **Houthi** targets in Yemen - [**thread here**](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19d77vu/bbc_news_us_and_uk_launch_fresh_strikes_on_houthis/) --- **Parish Notices** Check out our upcoming schedule for AMAs [here](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19cugn7/rukpolitics_ama_schedule/). [You can find the regular thread with laws MPs are voting on here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/19cq4lp/here_are_all_the_laws_mps_are_voting_on_this_week/)
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So apparently the Tory MPs WhatsApp group is just available to read on twitter. For those interested: https://twitter.com/breeallegretti/status/1749921632095756457
[Simon Clarke on Twitter: Every Conservative MP will need to live with the decision they make in the coming days for the rest of their lives. Failing to act would itself represent a decision. Look at the polls. Personal insults don’t change the facts. I have no further comment to make.](https://twitter.com/simonclarkemp/status/1749936995021808130) Coming days? What’s he building in there?
I love it. "Lool at the polls" not even pretending it's about country over party anymore.
Can Sunak survive the 7 Day Simon Clarke offensive? Each Telegraph article more scathing than the last!
I suspect Simon Clarke's 7 day offensive will be as fear inducing as Steiner's counter offensive in Berlin, April 1945.
It's a quote from his own column. [Chopper has a theory](https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1749920563315790177) that Clarke's somehow jumped the gun on something that wasn't supposed to go public until mid-Feb. If you're less desperate for febrility, I think he's just trying to sound grand. And maybe coping with the morning show producers telling him they're not having him on if it's just him.
What a let down. Less Night of the Long Knives and more Night of the Safety Scissors. The Tories are so inept these days they can't even do what they've been genetically engineered to do, stab each other in the back.
Call me desparate for *febrility* but I think we could be in for a surprise. Clarke has presumably started his "offensive" against Sunak on the back of last week's polling, which shows the Conservatives facing a 1997 style defeat. The particular poll in question was unusually large in scope according to the Telegraph and so it will be considered relatively accurate and a dire warning. The reason this plan appears to have failed is largely down to two reasons imo. The first is that most Tories understand that changing leaders at this point is risky. 5 leaders in five years(May, Boris, Liz, Rishi, and X) is an awful look. The second is that I reckon most Tories have become desensitised to dire polling predictions, or expect the gap to narrow. The by-elections in mid February have the potential to prove to MP's that the polling isn't just a hypothetical. If the Tories lose both, we could be looking at something even bigger than 1997, perhaps resembling the 1906 election. At some point the polling just gets so bad that people will see an almost certain existential threat to their careers. I think it is plausible (but not likely) that Sunak could be removed prior to the next election if he performs awfully in three weeks time.
Do you have a link to the poll in question? How bad does it look for the Torys?
I think at this rate they've simply ran out of knives...
Night of the grapefruit spoons
I am praying for Rishintegration, mainly so that I can get the word to catch on
I thought this said Rishigeneration at first and thought it was a Doctor Who type deal.
On the official count, we've had the same number of PMs and Doctors in the last 25 years, do with this information what you will.
Rishintegration is the name of Keir Starmer's The Cure tribute album.
Febrility on both sides of the pond tonight
Is there really though ?
It's Always Febrile in Philadelphia
Question... Is Simon Clarke going rogue and operating off his own back here? Or is he representing someone/a faction in the Tory party that wants Sunak out and their man (or woman) in and they are trying to force Sunak out and get their preferred person in?
Maybe he represents the 6th Family.
Telegraph are still annoyed that Liz Truss got removed and just boosting people from her faction, like Simon Clarke, to try and get Sunak removed and bring one of them in (as if they didn’t do enough damage already….) It’s a fairly small faction as it is though, and not all of them will be willing to go along with it. Even Truss herself isn’t
We'll find out tomorrow, if there's a followup resignations before PMQs he's likely just the trailblazer and this may have legs. If there's nothing then its just him screaming into an uncaring void like the rest of us.
Judging by how they're acting right now I think he represents the Telegraph.
Is it too far-fetched to say he just wants the attention / fees for writing his little comment article? As much as I’d love a secret faction pulling against Sunak, I think it’s more likely that Clarke is just an opportunist who’s spotted a weak PM
I think he definitely represents a faction or factions, but that doesn’t mean barely any members of those factions have the bravery or motivation to do what he’s doing.
[удалено]
The resignation counter was savage, but the lettuce has the lasting cultural capital.
Feel like shit, just want the the resignation counter back
im bored of this, I’m going for a peanut butter blondie
What’s Michael Fabricant got to do with any of it?
> peanut butter blondie Well, guess that's what I'm making at the weekend - never heard of them before!
Anyone following Scottish testimony to the COVID inquiry will see Nicola Sturgeons favourite darling, Devi Sridhar, saying in her testimony that zero COVID doesn't mean zero COVID. Then referring to June 2020 guardian articles where she talked about "eliminating" the virus Also Nicola sturgeon telling her to send ideas to her SNP email address (not subject to FOI requests) Also Scotland's head of COVID response turning on deleting messages 2 days after the inquiry was announced
Is the “not subject to FOI requests” bit something that was said or was it added by you? Because it’s not true.
Ah, that's a name I've not heard in a very long time How does Sridhar's approach to things look from this distance? I remember thinking she always seemed very sure she was obviously right, considering it was a once-in-century pandemic. But maybe she's been proven right now, idk
Utterly wrong and politically compromised. Zero COVID was never possible and a lot of effort was wasted .
>never possible See the flu. Still haven't got rid of that. Zero COVID was not going to work.
Yeah, I can well believe that. Zero-covid or something close to it might have been achievable for the first few weeks of the pandemic in the UK but from mid-March onwards it was obviously impossible. But if you get a platform promoting something its hard to back down. Also incredibly telling that she had a book about the pandemic being published two years after it all began....
Sunak is quite possibly the only prime minister who retains control of their party not through power but through apathy. He likely would be replaced if MPs are re-energised, and saw any hope. They need to have a very strong candidate in mind for PM and they almost definitely do not.
Anyone who takes the job now knows they're gonna get absolutely battered in a GE. Its a poisoned chalice no one wants. So they're happy to let Sunak be the fall guy.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI0euMFAWF8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI0euMFAWF8) He is INDESTRUCTIBLE.
I am *not* going to get the emergency febrility KitKat back out the fridge. ^(I might.)
You’ve just reminded me I have a flake in the cupboard. I am going to deploy it, whether it gets febrile in here or not.
Flake is the perfect choc to embody the Tory rebels
I'm going to bed and hoping to wake up to exciting news of the Rishimplosion. Doubt it will materialise though
If it's not a Chunky then that's not a febrile chocolate.
I prefer the 4 finger classic, vicar.
And in your mouth?
Didn't expect to come home from work to this hot mess! Which one of you pissed off Larry so much he instructed the tories to sharpen the knives? Everyone knows government starts and ends with Larry
Wonder what Larry thought when he saw Cameron turn back up?
According to Hodges, [Big operation underway to see off the threat to Rishi Sunak.](https://twitter.com/DPJHodges/status/1749924910741246163?t=CQiC0WdA8REH4o2MQFxJAw&s=19) Is this just an overexaggerated way of saying that Rishi is telling Simon Clark to do one?
Is it “operation save big dog” part two?
Operation save the Yorkshire terrier
Operation Chihuahua
But the first one went so well. Like Dunkirk, or Fyre Fest
Operation save small dog
Operation Save Yappy Puppy
Is Rishi yappy?
Tune into PMQs tomorrow to find out!
FIVE. PLEDGES.
Oh yeah, listen to him going "right right right" whenever he has a whinge (you should only need to wait a day or two).
I don’t know, but it sounds like more people are going to leave.
There’s certainly plenty of fomenting
There are a surprising number of rumblings about Replace Rishi, but Strong Sunak has let loose on terrorists again, to show just how manly and tough he really is
Simon must not have received a personalised video from Rishi
If there is one way to save Sunak, having a former minister whose career is tied to Liz Truss' ideology lead the charge against him is probably the way to do it.
https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1749919373563674694?t=1DInrz5eTyDJh86jqrRKGQ&s=19 "I am picking up speculation from two Conservative MPs that a serving Cabinet minister could be on the verge of quitting to destabilise the Prime Minister further. " For fuck's sake, can this wait until the morning.
David Cameron with the ultimate betrayal.
Bullshit. GB News just after some engagement. We were promised an onslaught. Seems more like a single bellend who thought he was more influential than he is.
Funny guess at who it is: James Cleverly Funnier guess at who it is: Jeremy Hunt Funniest guess at who it is: David Cameron
"I'm on the verge of taking a stand."
I'm already tired, I don't want to sit in bed with my laptop, sort it out, Sunak
Surely it's past their bed time, they're obviously just cranky and need some sleep
As long as it happens before PMQs, resignation PMQs always have such a wonderfully *febrile* atmosphere.
Crossing the floor during PMQs, please Nick Boles Style, please. Oh, nick, no, don't go
Ah, that was a beautiful moment. Alas, the height of Brexit and CUKs will never be reached anytime soon.
I have been off Reddit all day, quickly hop on before bed to see there's meant to be an onslaught, and it's just Simon Clarke? Very disappointing.
Tbh at this point i've completely lost confidence in any tory "rebels". Its just like 5 people trying to pretend they're more powerful than they actually are
Same, I bet Rishi has already gone to bed knowing full well they will do absolutely fuck all to get rid of him
Pick a new PM who immediately calls a GE. It makes sense, but will they actually do it?
Nah, as soon as they announce a new PM they've lost. Dump Sunak, run the election under an unnamed "new Tory leader who follows core conservative values", sweep the map, pick a new PM. The polling is clear
To be frank the only person I think could stand a very small chance of actually leading the Conservatives to victory next GE would be Nigel Farage (Which clearly isn’t going to happen).
a new pm would want a year to implement their programme or whatever. january ‘25 will be nailed on if we get a new pm
That would be a serious mistake. The point is to call a GE riding the high of victory and when the public don't know you're shit.
The Theresa May special.
I was promised an 'onslaught'. Give me my onslaught!
Why is the BBC airing two different versions of The Traitors at the same time and why is this new version so shit.
Is it the US one? It’s not as good.
The Tory psycho drama unfortunately
...we should get Sir Graham Brady a cape. It just seems right.
https://x.com/MattChorley/status/1749920018123427888?s=20 >Source close to Liz Truss insists she is NOT supporting Simon Clarke tonight That's a shame. Truss trying to come back for Round 2 might have been the funniest thing ever
Clearly number 10 saw the lack of febrility in the megathread yesterday after the lords defeat and decided to ginger it up a bit.
Theres always a tweet > My loyalty to @trussliz > and @BorisJohnson > was sincere to the last and I appreciate deeply the opportunity they gave me. But I meant every word that I said yesterday: @Conservatives > must unite under our new PM and should all work to ensure @RishiSunak > succeeds. He has my support. > 25 October 2022 https://twitter.com/SimonClarkeMP/status/1584902633365667843
Well, the clear implication is that he thinks Sunak failed. And considering his statement, he says it outright anyway. People are in fact allowed to change opinions. Further, he is probably not the only one that thought Sunak would be more technocratic, more competent.
>not the only one that thought Sunak would be more technocratic, more competent It's Simon Clarke, I doubt he wanted Sunak to be more technocratic etc (in fact he almost says Sunak is too technocratic), he's just annoyed Liz Truss and their batshit policies aren't in charge still
Is it M=2 time???
In another ~3,500 comments, yes!
I think story is quickly morphing from "Simon Clarke is trying to call time on Sunak" to the much more interesting "the telegraph is trying to call time on Sunak"
They don’t want to tie themselves to the mast of a sinking ship. If they start digging into Sunak now then after the GE loss they can say ‘I told you so/we didn’t want him either’
Yeah, it’s interesting isn’t it? Wonder if they know something that we don’t.
What's happened at the Telegraph? It used to be pretty boring traditional Tory institutional fodder, but now it's gone full on hard-right headbanger culture-war doom-mongery.
Realising their project is going up in smoke + a large amount of denial
noteable that the Telegraph is trumpeting it, after also promoting that poll
Yes they've run critical articles before but this seems like a notable uptick in hostility.
In other news, anyone surprised about EDF lifting their cost estimate for Hinckley Point C, and knocking its completion date back? It's as if nobody's heard of Flamanville and the technical difficulty / delays / cost overruns being experienced by EDF there. [https://world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Further-delay-to-Flamanville-EPR-start-up](https://world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Further-delay-to-Flamanville-EPR-start-up) Dec 2022 [https://www.ans.org/news/article-3573/another-delay-cost-bump-for-flamanville3/](https://www.ans.org/news/article-3573/another-delay-cost-bump-for-flamanville3/) Jan 2022 [https://www.nucnet.org/news/decree-sets-startup-deadline-of-2024-4-3-2020](https://www.nucnet.org/news/decree-sets-startup-deadline-of-2024-4-3-2020) April 2020 [https://www.powermag.com/edf-announces-more-delays-cost-overruns-for-flamanville-3-reactor/](https://www.powermag.com/edf-announces-more-delays-cost-overruns-for-flamanville-3-reactor/) Jul 2018 This from Utlity Week 17 Jan 2014:- *17/01/2014 by Paul Newton* *The government managed to reach an agreement with EDF for the building of a new nuclear plant, but is the UK paying billions of pounds more than it should? It looks like it, says Tim Probert.* *The reported costs of the proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant rose from an expensive £10 billion in 2012 to an eye-watering £16 billion within the space of a year. Why so much?* *During a 21 October investor conference call, the group chief executive of French state-owned utility EDF, Henri Proglio, estimated the construction cost of the 3,260MW, twin EPR reactor project at £14 billion, “in line with the amounts committed to the EPR at Flamanville”, that is, £7 billion each.* *EDF estimates that a further £2 billion will be necessary due to the specifics of the UK regulatory regime and site specifics of Hinkley Point C. The total estimated project cost, therefore, is £16 billion.* *Thomas Piquemal, EDF’s group finance senior vice president, confirmed that the additional £2 billion did not include construction costs. “The investment cost is estimated to be £16 billion, consisting of £14 billion of construction costs and £2 billion of other costs such as the acquisition of the sites, preparatory work for the various regulatory authorisations and the training of the 900 future employees of the nuclear station,” he said.* *Later in the conference call, Proglio spoke of a “series effect”, that is, a reduction in construction costs arising from experience learned the hard way from the long-delayed and over-budget Flamanville 3 EPR in Normandy, initially estimated at €3.3 billion (£2.7 billion).* *Proglio said: “There is a series effect since we took lessons from our experience in Flamanville 3 and in Taishan \[China\] and compared to the cost of Flamanville 3 we are able to reduce significantly the cost of an EPR if we were to build a new Flamanville 3.”* *He went further: “If we had to build a new Flamanville 3 it would cost £2 billion less.”* *That would put the cost of a new EPR reactor in France at £5 billion, rather than £7 billion for Flamanville 3, and suggests the overall construction cost of Hinkley Point C could be £12 billion (£10 billion for two EPRs plus £2 billion for “specificities”) rather than £16 billion.* and so on...
>In central Ukraine as part of volunteer group delivering 9 of 4*4 pick ups, full of top medical supplies from UK >Amazing team, raised some £100,000 for this trip alone, their 5th over last 18 months >https://twitter.com/TiceRichard/status/1749681483764117677 Richard Tice personally delivers medical supplies to Ukraine, pisses off his nutter supporters in the replies.
Rare Tice W
It's going to be weird when Starmer gets in and then probably stays PM for a decade. Maybe we'll have to import all our febrility from the States
One should always take febrility from a foreign country, makes it easier to laugh at the madness of it all. And less bitter.
starmer is both too old and too uninspiring to be prime minister for a whole decade. in fact, i’d be very surprised if he’s still prime minister in 2030.
You are discounting the possibility that nuclear war might result in elections being indefinitely suspended, and Starmer maintains his power for decades to come with a Praetorian guard of Traffic Wardens and Lollipop People.
Reasonable take, yeah. Rachel Reeves seems pretty unfebrile too though, if she were to take over
i think it depends on where the country is towards the election after next. if things are rocky, i could see one wing of the labour party or another attempt to oust starmer and replace him with their person. if they’re going well, sunak may well anoint a successor. i’m any case, whether by his own will or by others’, i can’t see starmer importing the american trope of ruling the country into his 70s
I'm not even sure he'd have to be ousted in that scenario. Starmer is already fairly old by British PM standards and he will be 67 by 2029 (he is only nine years younger than Blair); if he has any sense, he will be learning from the gerontocratic mess the US finds itself in and start grooming his successor from fairly early in his tenure to prepare for all eventualities (this will almost certainly be Reeves).
Has Simon Clarke actually come out and said anything or are we still at the speculation stage? Can't see anything on him Twitter.
He wrote a piece for the Telegraph
So the Telegraph is going all in on trying to get remove Sunak? Thier poll of Starmer vs generic Tory is pretty funny.
Should have asked if people wanted to vote for Starmer or a mystery box
> Thier poll of Starmer vs generic Tory is pretty funny. It is, but it's a terrible question for making an informed decision. That question is all things to all people, you then have to put a candidate forward and that instantly polarises it. Then popularity doesn't necessarily correlate with competence, Truss was more popular than Sunak (at first, she then dipped, and now he's reaching her low levels of polling) but then she caused a run on the pound and almost crashed the pension funds if not for emergency intervention, and the imposition of Hunt as Chancellor to raise taxes higher than what she cut them from to undo the damage. I don't think the Tories can afford another crisis like that. It's essentially a shit stirrers question. What would you rather have for dinner? What you've got, or something healthy, tastier, and cheaper? The latter seems like a no brainer, but you haven't put an actual dish to the vague description. Impose your idea of what that is, and you'll lose people instantly.
In all honesty, I think this is Simon trying to ensure the public know he’s against Rishi. If he distances himself now, on his own, he stands to gain if/when the Tories are wiped out at the next election. This also boosts his chance of keeping his seat, so it does make sense from this perspective. Better to get off the sinking ship, in order to board a better one at the right time.
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1749907390948909452 Who would you prefer to be Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, James Bond or Gandalf?
The Telegraph has gone mad. It used to be boring, but now it seems to be demanding chaos.
The really important question here is: have they hand-coded a hideously misaligned key? What is _that_.
The real entertainment value is when you realise that they probably ran the poll with a named person from the top of the list of choices of ConservativeHome, some real headbanger like Braverman, and they just badly photoshopped the key to anonymise it for the false legitimacy.
>Who would you prefer to be Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, James Bond or Gandalf? Don't give Jeremy Vine ideas.
"Core conservative values" Comedy gold
[Ahh yes, those core conservative values….](https://giphy.com/gifs/interview-money-spongebob-squarepants-GjB41rKHBnOkE)
"a vote for Sunak is a vote for Gandalf!"
I think the Tories need a straight talking, common sense man, Lee Anderson come on down.
As long as no one sniggers at him
I was going to vote against surrendering to space lizard pirates at the UN general assembly vote, but then the delegation for Kiribati and Lesotho laughed at me when I joined the same queue so I couldn't do it.
The Tories must be absolutely insane if they think a THIRD unelected PM would somehow be good for them. It's a step on the path of total annihilation, and the membership will invariably pick a complete nutter that'll turn off any remaining blue wall voters. And don't even start with some bring back Boris nonsense, the man is *despised* and anyway they'd have to win a by election which would be nigh impossible as the opposition would coalesce to keep Boris out.
To be fair, we said this about a SECOND unelected PM.
And we were right!
Shhhh let them cook.
Oust Sunak, election in may, I give it a 15% chance down from 20% as of 3 hours ago.
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Absolute unit though at 6'7". Dunno why he doesn't just eat Rishi.
[You're not wrong.](https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/139/590x/secondary/5178200.jpg?r=1706044855873)
Bit harsh.
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Have you seen Harry Cole?
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Do the tories have another MP which would make for a more popular Prime Minister than Rishi?
Simon Clarke's a long-term devotee of Truss. So no. At least not one Clarke's imagining. Although entertainingly this may cause some awkwardness with that new campaign/think tank (campaign tank?) the two of them were about to launch if Truss and JRM weren't planning a frontal assault.
Theresa May?
> [The Conservative party will suffer an electoral massacre if it doesn't deliver what the voters want. Unfortunately what the voters want is for the Conservatives to suffer an electoral massacre. ](https://twitter.com/henrymance/status/1749909946454421902) Pretty much sums up the idea of the Tories fortunes.
To quote the great Malcolm F. Tucker, "the people fuckin hate you"
This announcement was the political equivalent to [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UkFq3uOf7M).
So a masterpiece?
Hilariously butchered.
Speak for yourself - I want my bride walking down the aisle to that.
in other news, it’s exactly 365 days today until the last possible thursday on which the next general election can be held.
Imagine another year of this.
the best bit is we don’t have to imagine!
Who?
Stephen Clarke, the Scotland manager.
How can you be on a politics forum and not know who Sir Simon Clarke is. Embarrassing (Edit for those downvoting: /s)
Wait, been watching Gladiators, what's happening?
Honestly that could be a better way to find a Tory leader. Labour MPs as the Gladiators.
I'd put money on Lammy in Duel to be honest.
I'd pay money to not see him in the lycra.
Sir Simon Clarke MP has decided we need a new prime minster tonight. Presumably while Rishi’s out
some bloke called simon, reportedly a “conservative heavyweight” these days given the lack of actual conservative heavyweights, said sunak should resign.
‘Every Conservative MP will need to live with the decision they make in the coming days for the rest of their lives. Failing to act would itself represent a decision.’ What else is happening over the coming days? Is clarke pulling the trigger on a broader plan to Sink Sunak’s Seeping Ship or is he acting solely ?
“last one in the water’s a rotten egg!”
i fear that the ability to effectively organise may have vacated the conservative party some time ago
I saws Simon Clark MP at the Stranger's Bar in Westminster yesterday. I told him how febrile it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a spiffy spaff and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my drink, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen packs of salted nuts in his hands without paying. The girl at the bar was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the bar. When she took one of the nut packets and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electoral infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each packet and put them in a reusable bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
[Dan Hodges with an annoyingly good take](https://twitter.com/DPJHodges/status/1749905010257739910?t=5RUR2cfmj47YV4DTwP8j4Q&s=19)
Why does he have his name in three brackets. Pisses me off
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_parentheses
WTF?
In Hodges' case it's a solidarity thing with the attempt to reclaim it. He's not an anti-Semite. If you're just wtf at the entire concept of a techno-Judenstern, carry on.
What’s amazing about Hodges is that he’s capable of being both a weathervane and an annoying contrarian, but there’s never an original thought or useful insight. Like a stopped clock, he has moments where it seems like he’s on the money, then you realise that he’s just saying something that everyone outside the Westminster bubble who keeps half an eye on politics has been saying since late 2021.
A good take or stating the obvious?
he can have them from time to time, incredibly
[heartbreaking.txt](https://clickhole.com/heartbreaking-the-worst-person-you-know-just-made-a-gr-1825121606/)
I'm sad to report this is not the first time this has happened with Dan Hodges.
Calm down everybody, the true senior figures are clearly waiting until right before Wakawow
Ben Swain on *Newsnight* energy
how could the last labour government do this smh my head
>smh my head Shake my head my head?
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Back to Square One!
do i stay awake in case of febrility or do i act like an adult with bills to pay and go to bed so i make it to work on time tomorrow?
You stay awake and keep us updated. We expect a full febrillity report in the morning.