Truss And Sunak Haven't Got That Ooomph To Be Pm.

[saintpeter48]

I'm a supporter of Boris and the two that have been 'selected' to replace him are lacking loads in the personality department, Boris is a hard act to follow, he appealed to the 'man in the street' and with Starmer in the other camp Labour have little chance at the next GE, it needs someone with a bit of oooomph to come forward from the two main parties in the next few years to push to be top dog.

[ToraToraTora]

I agree but we are stuck with one of them.

[Old_Geezer]

It may be so, but they are untried as PM yet. In either case, building a strong cabinet, and minimising the number of times they would benefit from showing ooopmh to impress the public, should work fine to be able to govern well.

[Untitled]

I think his appeal was more “man in the gutter” than “man in the street” :)

[drmorgans]

Is Sunak likely to view his role as a sort of uber-chancellor, like Gordon Brown seemed to, and not have a great handle on the other key policy areas; health, education, defence, foreign affairs (I don't mean Jennifer Acuri).

[Gromit]

Boris was dishonest
His reign was a shambles.
He has done his party enormous harm.
And he promoted loyalty over talent, so what is left are the dregs.

The new leader will face a very difficult task because of the mess that Johnson has left behind.

I doubt that either of the candidates are up to the job. Sunak is equally responsible for the sorry state we are in, and Truss is even more dim than Johnson was.

[FatticusInch]

Lol at Untitled, very true.

Gromit for BA, succinct and bang on.

[Ken4155]

The main problem, as i see it, is not whether either has 'oooomph'. It is that (according to TTT) our next PM will be chosen not on their economic plans for the country, but because the grass roots party members do not like Sunak for stabbing Johnson in the back. Or, in TTT's case, because he is too rich- Sunak, that is, not the fabulously wealthy TTT:-)
I stand to be corrected, but i seem to recall Thatcher raised taxes to pay off debts and only lowered them late on in her stewardship. And many grass roots Tories regard her as the best peace-time PM this country ever had.

[Untitled]

Thatcher did indeed raise taxes in the middle of a recession in order to control the money supply and reduce inflation (did this actually work??)… she became extremely unpopular for it…

Fortunately for her the falklands war came along and saved her bacon

[ToraToraTora]

untitled: "Thatcher did indeed raise taxes in the middle of a recession in order to control the money supply and reduce inflation" - When? She reduced taxes from the 33% income tax inherited from Labour.

[Ken4155]

In her first budget, she reduced the tax set by Labour but hiked up VAT from 8% to 15%.

[ToraToraTora]

Ok I see.

[jourdain2]

I've said before that the system used seems to drive towards selecting mediocrity. I don't like either option, but I'm very glad Mordaunt has gone. Both candidates have shown huge failings in personal belief and have, according to what they say, accommodated measures to suit others.

Sunak now says he instigated measures he didn't believe in. My feeling is that anyone could have told him (even me and I'm no economist) what trouble he was building up for the country, printing money etc., etc., but political expediency prevailed.

Truss admits that she voted 'Remain' - out of loyalty to David Cameron! Of all the pathetic excuses. In short, she curried favour with the then P.M. and did not vote for the well-being of the country. She is again trying to curry favour by hinting that she was a Brexiter at heart. Our votes are hard-won and not to be used like that.

'A plague on both your houses!'

[naomi24]

Neither candidate is fit for purpose.

[Gromit]

VAT was introduced as a condition for joining Europe.
And has been a favourite of Tory Chancellors over the years who keep on raising it. Don’t be surprised if it goes up to 22.5% to pay for Sunak’s spending spree.

[Peter Pedant]

he appealed to the 'man in the street' and with Starmer in the other camp Labour have little chance at the next GE,

an old etonian with a glib tongue
who cdnt administer a ministry

[malana3]

Boris may be a bit of a loose cannon but he is the best man for getting us out of our current problems. Is there any legal reason why his name cannot be added to the upcoming ballot?

[douglas9401]

An uber-chancellor eh? Taxis and taxes.

[Peter Pedant]

.TTT - thatcher no increase taxes nevuh! no way end of!

Thatcher's approach to taxes was carefully targeted rather than one big abstraction. She increased the sales tax commonly known as the Value Added Tax (VAT) ...

Look - I am tired of all the thinkers on AB - alleging - " she no done that nevuh !(*)" and then saying - "oh foo she did den. foo OK so what? (+)"

(*) = Mrs Thatcher never raised taxes, it is anathema and disgusting that anyone should even sully her reputation with such filth

(+) Yes I agree then, I am completely wrong again but on a little,and anyway does it matter?

TTT you are indicted as a BF
gentlemen of the Jury - how find you?

[Gromit]

Anthony Barber introduced VAT at 8%
Nigel Lawson raised it to 15%
John Major raised it to 17.5%
George Osbourne raised it to 20%

And the Tories claim to be the low taxation party.

[youngmafbog]

Gromit, if you want to talk taxation you have to put income tax alongside purchase tax and also the state of the economy at the time. Both, along with interest rates are used as mechanisms to control and steer the economy.

But then you knew that didnt you?