It's weird that this was the straw that broke the camel's back considering the reprehensible shit IDS has signed off on in the past, but I guess he feels the sacred duty to go full mental over the EU is more important than his cabinet position.
I always imagined he'd leave office in a flash of sulphur or something, but this is good too.
hes also in the eurosceptic paterson-gove-lawson-end of things and never got on with cameron/osborne anyway, and they have v little respect for him (he is personally disliked by a lot for disloyalty to john major and being a penis, my father always had it in for him also and was enormously pleased when his leadership of the cons fell apart)
If you read IDS's resignation letter it seems like a lot of the "evil" things he's blamed for were forced upon him.
I want to say this sounds like sour grapes, but it doesn't quite fit.
Yeah I'm not buying it. The buck stops at the top and he was in charge of the DWP, if Cameron or Osborne was forcing this stuff on him he could have actually had the integrity to stand up and say so, or resign sooner rather than day after day, week after week defending this stuff with the most heinous excuses and a shit eating grin plastered across his face.
At best he's basically the equivalent of an enthusiastic concentration camp guard and at worst his buck passing excuse is utter rubbish, he's never cared one jot about all the disabled people who have died under his tender care of the DWP and the only reason he's quitting is so he can go full swivel eyed loon over the EU referendum.
I'm swinging toward the latter.
e: I'm basing a lot of this on the simple fact he personally fought a protracted legal battle to prevent the public being allowed to know the number of deaths directly attributed to the benefit cuts to disabled people on the basis that (his actual words) "they were too emotive for public consumption".
I don't buy that the man suddenly grew a conscience in the last week. Not one bit. Although I don't doubt some of what he's done was foisted on him; the man wanted to be known as a reformer more than a cutter (arf), I'm sure. But regardless of the true reason(s), which I'm attributing to full-on "best time to jab weakened and embarrassed Europhile-side Osborne in the eye" with a small side-order of him and Osborne having butted heads one too many times because it's no secret they did not get along in any way whatsoever...
I wonder where the chips are going to land. Petty Prattle Priti Patel to take his place as W&P Secretary? Most likely. IDS now going to square himself away for a more plum post in the event that a Leave vote and subsequent ructions ends up with Boris as leader/PM? I mean, yes, he'd been working on his benefit reform ideas for years even in opposition, it was his pet project; but with that now out of his hands, is he just going to go gracefully into the good night of the backbenches in the event of Leave winning? Can't see it.
But right now it's just nice to snack on some scoodenfroody and watch this now fully operational battle station open Tory civil war.
hes also in the eurosceptic paterson-gove-lawson-end of things and never got on with cameron/osborne anyway, and they have v little respect for him (he is personally disliked by a lot for disloyalty to john major and being a penis, my father always had it in for him also and was enormously pleased when his leadership of the cons fell apart)
I had a bet on with my brother when it looked like his leadership was about to implode. I said he'd be gone within three weeks, my brother thought he'd last longer.
If you read IDS's resignation letter it seems like a lot of the "evil" things he's blamed for were forced upon him.
The DWP was a non protected department so continually had to make cuts. I can imagine it would get pretty wearing having to make cuts abyear after year onl for Osborne to then hand the money saved by those cuts over to rich people with improve tax breaks.
Not only that but is seriously looks like the PiP stuff has been structured to be u-turned on with the blame going to IDS. Osborne playing politics over the EURef and getting badly, badly burnt.
If you read IDS's resignation letter it seems like a lot of the "evil" things he's blamed for were forced upon him.
The DWP was a non protected department so continually had to make cuts. I can imagine it would get pretty wearing having to make cuts abyear after year onl for Osborne to then hand the money saved by those cuts over to rich people with improve tax breaks.
Not only that but is seriously looks like the PiP stuff has been structured to be u-turned on with the blame going to IDS. Osborne playing politics over the EURef and getting badly, badly burnt.
I could actually buy the idea that the conservatives know fine well IDS is the equivalent of an evil pantomime dame in the public consciousness already so offered him the post at the DWP where all of Osbornes most brutal shit was going to fall. But frankly that still falls squarely on him, no one forced him to be a complete cunt for his entire political career and even if in some cases he was forced, if he didn't have the integrity to resign rather than do things he found morally questionable, then once again, that's on him.
I firmly believe this move has nothing to do him getting a conscience and everything to do with him jumping Camerons ship and trying to secure himself a better place on Boris's. It's kinda galling to see him write so succinctly in his resignation letter about the evil shit he's been doing the last 6 years, robbing from the poor to feed the rich, because once again it shines the worlds brightest spotlight on the fact that the Tories all know fine well what they're doing, and give zero fucks until it's politically convenient to pretend to do so.
If you read IDS's resignation letter it seems like a lot of the "evil" things he's blamed for were forced upon him.
The DWP was a non protected department so continually had to make cuts. I can imagine it would get pretty wearing having to make cuts abyear after year onl for Osborne to then hand the money saved by those cuts over to rich people with improve tax breaks.
Not only that but is seriously looks like the PiP stuff has been structured to be u-turned on with the blame going to IDS. Osborne playing politics over the EURef and getting badly, badly burnt.
I could actually buy the idea that the conservatives know fine well IDS is the equivalent of an evil pantomime dame in the public consciousness already so offered him the post at the DWP where all of Osbornes most brutal shit was going to fall. But frankly that still falls squarely on him, no one forced him to be a complete cunt for his entire political career and even if in some cases he was forced, if he didn't have the integrity to resign rather than do things he found morally questionable, then once again, that's on him.
I firmly believe this move has nothing to do him getting a conscience and everything to do with him jumping Camerons ship and trying to secure himself a better place on Boris's. It's kinda galling to see him write so succinctly in his resignation letter about the evil shit he's been doing the last 6 years, robbing from the poor to feed the rich, because once again it shines the worlds brightest spotlight on the fact that the Tories all know fine well what they're doing, and give zero fucks until it's politically convenient to pretend to do so.
Stephen Crabb (former Welsh Secretary) now running the DWP.
I've never actually heard about him anywhere, so I'm open to the possibility that he's not an actual Bond villain. Anyone able to add more detail?
If you read IDS's resignation letter it seems like a lot of the "evil" things he's blamed for were forced upon him.
The DWP was a non protected department so continually had to make cuts. I can imagine it would get pretty wearing having to make cuts abyear after year onl for Osborne to then hand the money saved by those cuts over to rich people with improve tax breaks.
Not only that but is seriously looks like the PiP stuff has been structured to be u-turned on with the blame going to IDS. Osborne playing politics over the EURef and getting badly, badly burnt.
I could actually buy the idea that the conservatives know fine well IDS is the equivalent of an evil pantomime dame in the public consciousness already so offered him the post at the DWP where all of Osbornes most brutal shit was going to fall. But frankly that still falls squarely on him, no one forced him to be a complete cunt for his entire political career and even if in some cases he was forced, if he didn't have the integrity to resign rather than do things he found morally questionable, then once again, that's on him.
I firmly believe this move has nothing to do him getting a conscience and everything to do with him jumping Camerons ship and trying to secure himself a better place on Boris's. It's kinda galling to see him write so succinctly in his resignation letter about the evil shit he's been doing the last 6 years, robbing from the poor to feed the rich, because once again it shines the worlds brightest spotlight on the fact that the Tories all know fine well what they're doing, and give zero fucks until it's politically convenient to pretend to do so.
Stephen Crabb (former Welsh Secretary) now running the DWP.
I've never actually heard about him anywhere, so I'm open to the possibility that he's not an actual Bond villain. Anyone able to add more detail?
All I know is what the BBC have wrote up about him (which isn't much).
Who is Stephen Crabb?
43 years old
MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire since 2005
Promoted to Welsh secretary in July 2014 having been a minister in the Wales Office
Was previously a government whip
Has worked for the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services and the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Has run the London Marathon three times
My guess is he's a nobody who will do as he's told, so expect more of the same. I'm open to being proved wrong though.
Apparently Stephen Crabb and his brothers were brought up on a council estate by a single mother after she left her violent husband.
So it's certainly possible that he might actually have the tiniest smidge of empathy. We can but hope. But it does seem to be becoming clearer that the DWP is fully expected to dance to the Treasury's tune, come hell or high water, and subsequently take the flak for it, so...
And no, I'm not excusing IDS at all. I'm just starting to think of him as more Darth Vader (pre-RotJ, to be clear) than Emperor Palpatine, sort of thing.
Or, to go back to the Bond villain analogy, perhaps more Dr No than Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
I'm seriously thinking of putting a fiver on IDS becoming Chancellor (the horror...) if Boris gets the leadership, though. The final insult to Osborne, and Boris would relish that as much as IDS would.
Apparently Stephen Crabb and his brothers were brought up on a council estate by a single mother after she left her violent husband.
So it's certainly possible that he might actually have the tiniest smidge of empathy. We can but hope. But it does seem to be becoming clearer that the DWP is fully expected to dance to the Treasury's tune, come hell or high water, and subsequently take the flak for it, so...
And no, I'm not excusing IDS at all. I'm just starting to think of him as more Darth Vader (pre-RotJ, to be clear) than Emperor Palpatine, sort of thing.
Or, to go back to the Bond villain analogy, perhaps more Dr No than Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
From what I've seen the people from poorer backgrounds who go on to join the Tories are generally the worst of the lot. It's because they've found their way into a cushy life in politics and genuinely buy into the idea of "bootstraps", they've made it into money so obviously anyone who didn't just didn't want it badly enough, that sort of thing.
Apparently Stephen Crabb and his brothers were brought up on a council estate by a single mother after she left her violent husband.
So it's certainly possible that he might actually have the tiniest smidge of empathy. We can but hope. But it does seem to be becoming clearer that the DWP is fully expected to dance to the Treasury's tune, come hell or high water, and subsequently take the flak for it, so...
And no, I'm not excusing IDS at all. I'm just starting to think of him as more Darth Vader (pre-RotJ, to be clear) than Emperor Palpatine, sort of thing.
Or, to go back to the Bond villain analogy, perhaps more Dr No than Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
From what I've seen the people from poorer backgrounds who go on to join the Tories are generally the worst of the lot. It's because they've found their way into a cushy life in politics and genuinely buy into the idea of "bootstraps", they've made it into money so obviously anyone who didn't just didn't want it badly enough, that sort of thing.
Also true. I'd forgotten about that (I think my mind just blocked it out because goddammit.) So I guess it could go either way. But less likely to be in the middle ground.
Crabb's pro-EU, too, for what it's worth. So that at least might point to him not being a frothing hard-right type. Maybe I'm just clutching at straws.
"I was very sad to see Iain resign and particularly in the circumstances in which he did. But there's real strong unity at the heart of this government in terms of continuing our important mission with regards to welfare reform. We know we've got to carry on making good decisions, strong decisions to get this country back to a situation of sound public finances and that work will carry on."
Hahahah no.
Want to see more of Kneel's slapdash slatherings?
Visit him at Monstrous Pigments' Instagram and Facebook pages!
I'm generally pleased at the level of pushback against this budget. If nothing other then the current U-turns come of it, that's a good development.
Yeah Mr Hutton up there is almost certainly correct in that it was designed to be terrible and even Osborne probably had little intention of implementing it. I guess he just didn't expect IDS to exercise his nuclear option, resign over it and pass the stink right back onto him.
Already the pundits are calling it a torpedo launched at Osbornes future leadership bid.
Reading the news this morning I'm so torn. On the one hand it's delightful to see the Tory civil war in full swing, Tory MP's out there landing blows on the government in the name of inequality and unfair austerity that Corbyns cackhanded attempt at opposition can only dream of. On the other hand the guys landing these blows are the ones we don't want to win.
As amusing as this is in the short term I can help but worry about what happens if Boris and his swivel eyed loons faction gets control of the Tory party. For the first time I'm starting to get the same knot of suppressed panic in my chest I had during the last 6 months of the indyref, until now I didn't think the Brexit side was making much headway.
I'm generally pleased at the level of pushback against this budget. If nothing other then the current U-turns come of it, that's a good development.
Yeah Mr Hutton up there is almost certainly correct in that it was designed to be terrible and even Osborne probably had little intention of implementing it. I guess he just didn't expect IDS to exercise his nuclear option, resign over it and pass the stink right back onto him.
Already the pundits are calling it a torpedo launched at Osbornes future leadership bid.
Incidentally up until today I had been confident of a comfortable Remain win. Hiwever, if Cameron loses his luster then a big chunk of Tory Remain voters melt away as they are only voting Remain on his say so.
Incidentally up until today I had been confident of a comfortable Remain win. Hiwever, if Cameron loses his luster then a big chunk of Tory Remain voters melt away as they are only voting Remain on his say so.
How big a chunk, though? I'd assume that there's a pretty good number of Tories who want to vote for remain because they really do think that we'll be better off staying in. Cameron and Osborne losing face over some of their policies shouldn't affect that.
Incidentally up until today I had been confident of a comfortable Remain win. Hiwever, if Cameron loses his luster then a big chunk of Tory Remain voters melt away as they are only voting Remain on his say so.
How big a chunk, though? I'd assume that there's a pretty good number of Tories who want to vote for remain because they really do think that we'll be better off staying in. Cameron and Osborne losing face over some of their policies shouldn't affect that.
Prior to the deal being announced Polling switched from leave to remain when "If David Cameron recommends the deal" was asked.
Incidentally I hope everyone appreciates the irony of a Eurosceptic party being led by a Europhile whilst the Europhile opposition party is led by a Eurosceptic.
Incidentally I hope everyone appreciates the irony of a Eurosceptic party being led by a Europhile whilst the Europhile opposition party is led by a Eurosceptic.
I feel like the second led there should be in quotes.
Just enjoying the ambiance as a million Treasury scribes cry out in terror, and try to put a Budget back together with baling wire and hope.
The headlines haven't been this entertaining in some time.
Osborne really is in the doghouse today. About the only thing taking attention away from the Tory civil war headlines is Tory MP's lining up to talk about how there are plenty of alternatives for leadership other than him. Doesn't feel like so long ago he was a shoe in for the job after Cameron left. It's bad news for Cameron too, nothing undermines your leadership in a crisis like people talking like you're already out the door.
He's dodged the budget debate today, sending out another Treasury minister. Mickey Fabricant has been quoted as saying Osborne has allies in the Commons and Cameron has friends, and when you're up to your neck in it what you need are friends.
Oh dear. It seems Osborne is not well-liked. I am astonished that the only man to have been roundly booed by the spectators at the London 2012 Olympics turns out to be unlikable in person as well as from a distance.
Has Cameron said that Osborne 'has his full support' yet?
Because I can see him being thrown over the sideresigning honourably in an attempt to move the focus.
Nobody remembers the singer. The song remains.
0
Options
SnicketysnickThe Greatest Hype Man inWesterosRegistered Userregular
Has Cameron said that Osborne 'has his full support' yet?
Because I can see him being thrown over the sideresigning honourably in an attempt to move the focus.
I will be very surprised if Osborne actually falls on his sword over this. More likely he'll just hang on until it blows over and hope he can somehow reclaim his lost rep.
Has Cameron said that Osborne 'has his full support' yet?
Because I can see him being thrown over the sideresigning honourably in an attempt to move the focus.
Has Cameron said that Osborne 'has his full support' yet?
Because I can see him being thrown over the sideresigning honourably in an attempt to move the focus.
Does anyone else get the vibe that the Tories have had one of their worst weeks in Government and yet they've got away with it without injury because of how bad Labour are under Corbyn?
I watched today's PMQs and you would have expected a bloodbath based on the stuff that's been handed to Labour but... nothing. I expect this mess to blow over pretty soon, if it hasn't done so already. At this point, the only thing that will bring down the Tories is the Tories themselves. Corbyn really is looking more and more rudderless every week. Perhaps it's me being slightly pessimistic but I'm increasingly worried over how easy all this is for Cameron and Co and the minute.
Posts
I always imagined he'd leave office in a flash of sulphur or something, but this is good too.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
Visit him at Monstrous Pigments' Instagram and Facebook pages!
I want to say "can't be worse than IDS" but... I'm terrified to tempt fate.
I want to say this sounds like sour grapes, but it doesn't quite fit.
if people actually want to no wat he thought all they need to do is look at the output of the centre for social justice, the think tank he founded
there is some usual conservative stuff about dependency caused by certain types of welfare bla bla bla but he was not exactly doctor evil
http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/about-us/social-breakdown-and-poverty eg
hes also in the eurosceptic paterson-gove-lawson-end of things and never got on with cameron/osborne anyway, and they have v little respect for him (he is personally disliked by a lot for disloyalty to john major and being a penis, my father always had it in for him also and was enormously pleased when his leadership of the cons fell apart)
Yeah I'm not buying it. The buck stops at the top and he was in charge of the DWP, if Cameron or Osborne was forcing this stuff on him he could have actually had the integrity to stand up and say so, or resign sooner rather than day after day, week after week defending this stuff with the most heinous excuses and a shit eating grin plastered across his face.
At best he's basically the equivalent of an enthusiastic concentration camp guard and at worst his buck passing excuse is utter rubbish, he's never cared one jot about all the disabled people who have died under his tender care of the DWP and the only reason he's quitting is so he can go full swivel eyed loon over the EU referendum.
I'm swinging toward the latter.
e: I'm basing a lot of this on the simple fact he personally fought a protracted legal battle to prevent the public being allowed to know the number of deaths directly attributed to the benefit cuts to disabled people on the basis that (his actual words) "they were too emotive for public consumption".
I wonder where the chips are going to land. Petty Prattle Priti Patel to take his place as W&P Secretary? Most likely. IDS now going to square himself away for a more plum post in the event that a Leave vote and subsequent ructions ends up with Boris as leader/PM? I mean, yes, he'd been working on his benefit reform ideas for years even in opposition, it was his pet project; but with that now out of his hands, is he just going to go gracefully into the good night of the backbenches in the event of Leave winning? Can't see it.
But right now it's just nice to snack on some scoodenfroody and watch this now fully operational battle station open Tory civil war.
Excellent thread title, by the way, RMS.
Steam | XBL
I had a bet on with my brother when it looked like his leadership was about to implode. I said he'd be gone within three weeks, my brother thought he'd last longer.
He was ousted the next day.
Best £3 I ever made (we were both students)
The DWP was a non protected department so continually had to make cuts. I can imagine it would get pretty wearing having to make cuts abyear after year onl for Osborne to then hand the money saved by those cuts over to rich people with improve tax breaks.
Not only that but is seriously looks like the PiP stuff has been structured to be u-turned on with the blame going to IDS. Osborne playing politics over the EURef and getting badly, badly burnt.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
I could actually buy the idea that the conservatives know fine well IDS is the equivalent of an evil pantomime dame in the public consciousness already so offered him the post at the DWP where all of Osbornes most brutal shit was going to fall. But frankly that still falls squarely on him, no one forced him to be a complete cunt for his entire political career and even if in some cases he was forced, if he didn't have the integrity to resign rather than do things he found morally questionable, then once again, that's on him.
I firmly believe this move has nothing to do him getting a conscience and everything to do with him jumping Camerons ship and trying to secure himself a better place on Boris's. It's kinda galling to see him write so succinctly in his resignation letter about the evil shit he's been doing the last 6 years, robbing from the poor to feed the rich, because once again it shines the worlds brightest spotlight on the fact that the Tories all know fine well what they're doing, and give zero fucks until it's politically convenient to pretend to do so.
Stephen Crabb (former Welsh Secretary) now running the DWP.
I've never actually heard about him anywhere, so I'm open to the possibility that he's not an actual Bond villain. Anyone able to add more detail?
Goodreads
SF&F Reviews blog
All I know is what the BBC have wrote up about him (which isn't much).
My guess is he's a nobody who will do as he's told, so expect more of the same. I'm open to being proved wrong though.
So it's certainly possible that he might actually have the tiniest smidge of empathy. We can but hope. But it does seem to be becoming clearer that the DWP is fully expected to dance to the Treasury's tune, come hell or high water, and subsequently take the flak for it, so...
And no, I'm not excusing IDS at all. I'm just starting to think of him as more Darth Vader (pre-RotJ, to be clear) than Emperor Palpatine, sort of thing.
Or, to go back to the Bond villain analogy, perhaps more Dr No than Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
I'm seriously thinking of putting a fiver on IDS becoming Chancellor (the horror...) if Boris gets the leadership, though. The final insult to Osborne, and Boris would relish that as much as IDS would.
Steam | XBL
From what I've seen the people from poorer backgrounds who go on to join the Tories are generally the worst of the lot. It's because they've found their way into a cushy life in politics and genuinely buy into the idea of "bootstraps", they've made it into money so obviously anyone who didn't just didn't want it badly enough, that sort of thing.
Also true. I'd forgotten about that (I think my mind just blocked it out because goddammit.) So I guess it could go either way. But less likely to be in the middle ground.
Crabb's pro-EU, too, for what it's worth. So that at least might point to him not being a frothing hard-right type. Maybe I'm just clutching at straws.
Steam | XBL
"I was very sad to see Iain resign and particularly in the circumstances in which he did. But there's real strong unity at the heart of this government in terms of continuing our important mission with regards to welfare reform. We know we've got to carry on making good decisions, strong decisions to get this country back to a situation of sound public finances and that work will carry on."
Hahahah no.
Visit him at Monstrous Pigments' Instagram and Facebook pages!
Sounds like Osborne giving a budget speech... oh, wait.
Steam | XBL
Yeah Mr Hutton up there is almost certainly correct in that it was designed to be terrible and even Osborne probably had little intention of implementing it. I guess he just didn't expect IDS to exercise his nuclear option, resign over it and pass the stink right back onto him.
Already the pundits are calling it a torpedo launched at Osbornes future leadership bid.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/19/iain-duncan-smith-resignation-damages-george-osborne-tory-leader-hopes
It's definitely going to be remembered as Omnishambles Part 2: Electric Boogaloo.
Steam | XBL
As amusing as this is in the short term I can help but worry about what happens if Boris and his swivel eyed loons faction gets control of the Tory party. For the first time I'm starting to get the same knot of suppressed panic in my chest I had during the last 6 months of the indyref, until now I didn't think the Brexit side was making much headway.
It was a budget where Osborne pushed a EuroRef agenda. He has a tin ear to his parliamentary colleagues.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
How big a chunk, though? I'd assume that there's a pretty good number of Tories who want to vote for remain because they really do think that we'll be better off staying in. Cameron and Osborne losing face over some of their policies shouldn't affect that.
Prior to the deal being announced Polling switched from leave to remain when "If David Cameron recommends the deal" was asked.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
I feel like the second led there should be in quotes.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
The headlines haven't been this entertaining in some time.
Goodreads
SF&F Reviews blog
Oh dear. It seems Osborne is not well-liked. I am astonished that the only man to have been roundly booed by the spectators at the London 2012 Olympics turns out to be unlikable in person as well as from a distance.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
Because I can see him being thrown over the sideresigning honourably in an attempt to move the focus.
D3 Steam #TeamTangent STO
Yeah, about that...
Andy Coulson had complete confidence of Cameron as did Liam Fox and a few others.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
D3 Steam #TeamTangent STO
I watched today's PMQs and you would have expected a bloodbath based on the stuff that's been handed to Labour but... nothing. I expect this mess to blow over pretty soon, if it hasn't done so already. At this point, the only thing that will bring down the Tories is the Tories themselves. Corbyn really is looking more and more rudderless every week. Perhaps it's me being slightly pessimistic but I'm increasingly worried over how easy all this is for Cameron and Co and the minute.