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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

#381

Post by yxhuvud »

petesergeant wrote: post #205
raesene9 wrote: post #19

What happens next will be interesting . At this point, a general election would be the obviously correct solution. It's clear that the conservative party don't have a platform and can't agree major policy points amongst themselves. However that would require conservative MPs to vote for it, which is the turkeys voting for Christmas so unlikely to happen, so I'd expect we'll have to wait till 2024 for that election. T…

> a general election would be the obviously correct solution As much as I'd love a GE and to see Tory MPs swept from power en-masse, that's just not how a Parliamentary system works. Everyone in the UK voted for (whether they think it or not) an MP to elect them for five years. Those MPs get to choose who leads them.

How soon will the next regular election be held?

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#382

Post by smcl »

charlieyu1 wrote: post #362
smcl wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So all the names of PMs you mentioned bar one went to Oxford...

And American top politicians don’t go to top schools?

Man I really do not care where American politicians go to school. But it sounds like you're not aware of the really outsized representation that Oxford graduates of PPE have in UK politics: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/feb/23/ppe-oxford...

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#383

Post by chrisseaton »

permo-w wrote: post #376
chrisseaton wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Labour are not saying things like this. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/sep/26/angela-rayn...

the first paragraph of that article: >the Labour leader distanced himself from her words you’ve cherrypicked two examples that were disregarded by the parties as a whole, then discussed ad nauseam in the media. this is not evidence of anything

I don't understand this response - it's ok for people in one party to say whatever they want and it doesn't count because someone else 'distances' themselves? It was still said - the damage is still done to the level of civility and more hatred was thrown into the fire.

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#384

Post by xenophonf »

kmlx wrote: post #65
akudha wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Britain, Brazil, Australia, Philippines, India, Turkey, U.S … it is mind numbing that of all the good, talented people these countries have, only the dumbest, worst of the worst end up in positions of power. Depressing. At this point, we can just randomly pick a citizen to be President or PM. We might have better chances that way

if you’re talented why would you ever go into politics or work as a civil servant?

Because not everything is fungible.

Because a person is a person through other people.

Because despite the rhetoric of cynics, good governance is both possible and valuable.

Because one is not content to merely be critical of current governance from the sidelines.

Because one supports the mission; it is necessary.

Because the mission is challenging.

Because one values service to their fellow citizens.

Because their fellow citizens value that person's talents and service.

Because even if someone believes that everything is fungible and nothing matters but themselves, it's possible to find challenging, well paid, highly regarded work in government.

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#385

Post by ShredKazoo »

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.

Interesting!

I think the reason I'm excited about prediction markets in particular is because I think the average voter, justifiably, does not have the time necessary to familiarize themselves with all the details of a proposed policy and related research on its likely economic ramifications.

I see the kind of in-depth analysis of financial assets that hedge funds currently do as being somewhat wasteful. I would prefer that they switch to policy analysis in the public interest, by betting on which policies will deliver for voters.

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#386

Post by bilvar »

zagrebian wrote: post #82
akudha wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Britain, Brazil, Australia, Philippines, India, Turkey, U.S … it is mind numbing that of all the good, talented people these countries have, only the dumbest, worst of the worst end up in positions of power. Depressing. At this point, we can just randomly pick a citizen to be President or PM. We might have better chances that way

As they say, democracy sucks, but it’s the least bad system.

No post body was provided.

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#387

Post by SilasX »

frereubu wrote: post #364
smcl wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No "Public Schools" in the UK refers to a very specific subset of fee-paying schools mentioned in the Public Schools Act of 1868 (sometimes informally includes a couple of others). Private Schools are the other fee-paying schools. What a non-Brit might think of as "public" schools are actually called "state" schools in the UK

The way I explain it to American friends is that any member of the public, if they have £45,000+ per year to spare, can send their son to Eton. Simple.

Is that really true though? Money is the only factor in admission? No entrance exams? No rejections for “families we don’t want to be associated with”? No special admittances for prestigious families that don’t get charged?

If not, maybe that explanation isn’t a very helpful one.

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#388

Post by pjc50 »

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…

I would say that the hate between parties is not nearly as strong as the hate within parties, often veiled entirely or hidden in extremely polite language. After all, the other party is opposition, your own party is competition.

I remember Jo Cox, who was the conservative who got killed?

The death of Jo Cox wasn't a party political matter, it was a US-style radicalized loner.

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#389

Post by scott_w »

light_hue_1 wrote: post #359
scott_w wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not even remotely true. The Leader of the Opposition (Keir Starmer) went to Reigate, then to Leeds University. Gordon Brown went to Edinburgh University, Jeremy Corbyn went to North London Poly. Only Ed Milliband and Tony Blair went to Oxford, which is where (of the Conservative Party): David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Liz Truss went. Saying "living under both sides is the same thing" is also obse…

Why wouldn't you be honest about this? It's on Wikipedia! Starmer went to Oxford. "gained a postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law degree at St Edmund Hall at the University of Oxford in 1986." In the past 50 years there have only been 3 PMs not from Oxford. It has nothing to do with conservatives or labor. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_t...

Postgraduate degrees are VERY different from undergraduate degrees, typically being a year long and being a lot less integrated into the "student lifestyle." Where you spend your time as an undergrad is a lot more impactful on who you interact with and how your worldview is formed than the time you may spend as a postgrad.

Re: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

#390

Post by frereubu »

ranko wrote: post #378
frereubu wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The way I explain it to American friends is that any member of the public, if they have £45,000+ per year to spare, can send their son to Eton. Simple.

Only if the child in question is male.

Fair point - fixed.
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