526
@mrjamesob
There's a slim but real chance that this u-turn will turn out to be worse for Truss & Kwarteng than sticking with the ridiculous policy. twitter.com/DavidPBMaddox/…
527
@mrjamesob
Despite the u-turn, I think this is going to have a very long tail. There's a lot of industrial action on the horizon & every time they argue that public sector pay rises are unaffordable, the comeback will surely be that they could afford tax cuts for the rich.
528
@mrjamesob
Not just the front page, either. Pages 6-10 in early editions insist the tax cut for the rich must stay & condemn its critics, with the likes of Iain Duncan Smith queueing up to attack Michael Gove... twitter.com/davidyelland/s…
529
@mrjamesob
Is there a precedent for a party conference hearing a speech that so completely contradicts the party line in that morning’s newspapers?
530
@mrjamesob
It’s politics built on belief. It has been since 2016. It will always fall apart when it encounters reality. The only question is how quickly.
531
@mrjamesob
An hour is a long time in politics…
532
@mrjamesob
As with Johnson, they queue up to defend the indefensible then feel a little bit more of their soul slip away when the policy is abandoned anyway.
533
@mrjamesob
534
@mrjamesob
You turn if you want to…
535
@mrjamesob
Director of yet another secretly-funded ‘think tank’ says what? twitter.com/thetimes/statu…
536
@mrjamesob
This is very classy. twitter.com/Mike_Fabricant…
537
@mrjamesob
Brexit hard man wilts... twitter.com/lisaocarroll/s…
538
@mrjamesob
Remarkably, there is no catastrophe of Liz Truss’s creation that cannot be made worse by Liz Truss talking about it.
539
@mrjamesob
Apparently, Marie-Antoinette never actually said that thing about cake. Jake Berry, by contrast… twitter.com/lisaocarroll/s…
540
@mrjamesob
What’s happening now isn’t an aberration, it’s a culmination.
541
@mrjamesob
I’m trying to retreat from my recent & uncharacteristic sweariness on Twitter but, goodness gracious me, it’s hard sometimes… twitter.com/Gabriel_Pogrun…
542
@mrjamesob
I think we’re in one of those historically, constitutionally *and* politically significant periods where Parliament must act to protect the population from government. The problem is that the population’s depending on politicians who waved through Boris Johnson’s myriad offences.
543
@mrjamesob
I see now why they came after me & my modest little radio show with big shot lawyers & an obvious determination to silence questioning & criticism: they rightly thought they were on the brink of getting into power & making the worship of unaccountable wealth government policy.
544
@mrjamesob
I confess I sometimes questioned my conviction that secretly-funded Tufton Street lobby groups masquerading as ‘think tanks’ were dangerous & disgusting. Mostly, I think, because so many people I respect treated them as trusted contributors. There’s no joy in being proved right.
545
@mrjamesob
The calculation must surely be that releasing the OBR report would have a *worse* effect on the pound & the markets than continuing with the secrecy & obfuscation. When you look at what the secrecy & obfuscation did to the pound & the markets last week, this truly beggars belief.
546
@mrjamesob
I met two charming Hounslow councillors tonight. One Labour, one Tory. The first just got back from their first ever party conference, the second is heading off to his tomorrow. It’s hard to imagine how different their experiences will be.
547
@mrjamesob
Johnson completely destroyed any claim the Conservatives could lay to probity, ‘family values’ or law & order.
Truss & Kwarteng have torched any claim to fiscal responsibility.
It’s hard to see what’s left.
548
@mrjamesob
549
@mrjamesob
Disclose your funding! That would really distinguish you from all the Tufton Street/IEA clown cars... twitter.com/RestoreTrustNT…
550
@mrjamesob
More than six years after the Brexit vote, the Daily Mail gives a full page to Daniel Hannan to explain why he has a better grasp of everything currently happening than Mark Carney, the Bank of England, the Economist, the IMF, the 'markets', credit agencies, the OBR, the IFS...
@mrjamesob
LBC Radio show: lbc.co.uk Full Disclosure Podcast: shorturl.at/tyC37 Mystery Hour Game: mysteryhour.co.uk Not even a proper DJ.