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Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#311

Post by Gordonjcp »

glogla wrote: post #43
mynameishere wrote: post #5

An obvious fall guy. Rather shameful maneuver.

That is what I was thinking. Was she worse than Boris or is it just sexism? Edit: I'm sure objectively she was bad, but yeah.

Also, if you look at Scotland, we've had Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister for six years or so now (in which time she's seen four Tory PMs come and go), and she is so popular in the last-but-one Scottish Parliament elections her party got an overall majority, in a voting system designed to prevent any one party getting an overall majority.

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#313

Post by rsynnott »

elforce002 wrote: post #155

I find this interesting. I've never seen politicians relinquishing power just like they do it in the UK.

This is standard in parliamentary democracies; when the PM knows that they're about to be removed, they'll leave. If she hadn't resigned, she'd be going anyway.

Even in non-parliamentary democracies, see Richard Nixon; he made a lot more fuss, of course, but he did, in the end, resign.

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#314

Post by mpeg »

apexalpha wrote: post #299
ShredKazoo wrote: post #275

This might sound crazy... but if the UK is already de facto ruled by financial markets, in the sense that the PM has to step down if the markets don't like what they're doing, maybe it's time to try prediction market-based governance for real? What would've happened if instead of simply announcing the proposal, Truss had described the proposal and the government had sponsored a conditional prediction market on the ec…

This happens all the time. People close to any administration "leak" plans to the media to see how they land. Not good? Just deny it. Good? Guess we go ahead.

"The Thick of It" should be a mandatory watch to understand UK politics.

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#315

Post by bearmode »

chrisseaton wrote: post #119
hairofadog wrote: post #90

I know this topic is important in substance and the thing I'm about to say is an aesthetic issue, but as an American watching this unfold I have admired the Brits for the sense of heart that still seems to be present in their politics. I'm referring to the parliamentary sessions in which, even though they're savagely roasting each other, they're doing in a way that feels somehow good-hearted and doesn't lay bare the…

> they're doing in a way that feels somehow good-hearted and doesn't lay bare the naked resentment and hatred that seems to be all we have left in the USA It's nice that it looks this way, but the different parties and their supporters in the UK absolutely hate each other. Front-bench party members now routinely and openly using words like 'scum' and 'detest' to talk about their colleagues on the other side. I don't…

Let's be clear here: there was a left-winger killed for trying to make the country a better place, and a right-winger killed by an ISIS sympathiser (literally no reason to think this MP was targeted for his party)

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#316

Post by pmoriarty »

bb123 wrote: post #186
vbezhenar wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it only me who thinks it's crazy that in modern world some guy with birth right have the authority over entire western country? So much for democracy.

He doesn't have any authority, in practice. It has been that way since 1414. The second the monarchy tried to exert control over politics would be the second it was abolished.

"The Queen has more power over British law than we ever thought" [1][2]

[1] - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/08/queen-...

[2] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26081208

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#317

Post by chrisseaton »

thebooktocome wrote: post #305
chrisseaton wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they're doing in a way that feels somehow good-hearted and doesn't lay bare the naked resentment and hatred that seems to be all we have left in the USA It's nice that it looks this way, but the different parties and their supporters in the UK absolutely hate each other. Front-bench party members now routinely and openly using words like 'scum' and 'detest' to talk about their colleagues on the other side. I don't…

A cursory glance at the various Wikipedia lists of politicians assassinated in either country rebuts your last point. US political discourse is vastly more hostile than you give it credit for, as well. Veiled death threats (shooting pictures of opponents, burning in effigy, etc.) are increasingly common, particularly on the conservative side.

> A cursory glance at the various Wikipedia lists of politicians assassinated in either country rebuts your last point.

Huh?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Congress...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_MPs_killed_in_...

UK 3 in last 30 years, US 2. For a US population of 40x larger, and easier access to guns.

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#318

Post by enraged_camel »

spicyusername wrote: post #246
spoils19 wrote: post #221

Another disappointing result for conservative politics worldwide. While her character may be in question, her policies were on point. I do hope that we're not starting to see a whiplash effect where people are against good, reasoned, conservative policy for the sake of a few bad calls.

I'm a little out of the loop, and not that familiar with UK politics. What policies do you think we're on point and representative of good conservatism?

Borrowing money to pay for tax cuts for the rich.

Oh sorry, you said good conservatism...

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#319

Post by zimpenfish »

ben_w wrote: post #218
Jgrubb wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fellow American, asking earnestly - are both examples just products of the media environment of their respective countries? Does the UK still have popular media outlets that aren't solely pushing corporate agendas?

I think the BBC still counts, though I left the country in 2018 and most of my subsequent experience of the BBC has been the satirical news quizzes "Have I Got News For You", "Mock The Week" (TV), and "The News Quiz" (radio/podcast).

The BBC, at least in the last few years, has definitely been, if not taken over, strongly guided by the Tories (because they hold the purse strings, control over appointments, etc. and are vocal about this whenever the BBC annoy them.)

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#320

Post by PaulHoule »

hairofadog wrote: post #90

I know this topic is important in substance and the thing I'm about to say is an aesthetic issue, but as an American watching this unfold I have admired the Brits for the sense of heart that still seems to be present in their politics. I'm referring to the parliamentary sessions in which, even though they're savagely roasting each other, they're doing in a way that feels somehow good-hearted and doesn't lay bare the…

My impression is that British politics are more resentful, but that you don't see it the way you do in the US because the structure of the system is different.

In Britain the PM is chosen by the party in power so you don't get the divided government situations you see in the US where usually the Democrats control some of (1) the Presidency, (2) the Senate, (3) the House of Representatives and the Republicans control others. Considering the veto power of the President and the filibuster rule in the Senate that can be a formula for gridlock.

Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan both represented a move to the right but when Thatcher was in power she had no effective opposition while any legislation that passed in the 1980s was a compromise between Reagan in the US and Tip O'Neill and I think between having a good conservative and a good liberal, we got a lot of good legislation in the 1980s (we got a new Clean Air Act in that time frame, for instance.)

As a result there was a lot of resentment towards Thatcher from Labor advocates who felt completely shut out, so some sang "Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is Dead" when Thatcher died

https://theconversation.com/burying-thatcher-why-celebrating...

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