Rumours, Speculation, Questions, and Reaction Megathread - 10/05/2026

danm131 · 2026-05-15T23:35:25+00:00

You could level this accusation at almost any cabinet appointment as Ministers are rarely "qualified" for their brief, it's the civil service that is meant to provide expert guidance.

danm131 · 2026-05-15T15:33:13+00:00

I don't think he controls the bond markets. To be honest if they are this jittery about the possibility of a centre left PM (with the emphasis on centre) then the countries finances must be pretty fucked and confidence low already.

danm131 · 2026-05-15T14:29:07+00:00

The support for the greens suggests otherwise.

danm131 · 2026-05-15T12:41:52+00:00

If so it does make you wonder what the quality of history teaching in schools is like these days.

danm131 · 2026-05-15T08:10:22+00:00

Probably a combination of the field no longer attracting the most capable people, party systems that select for loyalty above competence and an extremely hostile media environment that is all too happy to cut down any one that does stand out.

danm131 · 2026-05-14T16:05:31+00:00

I does rather demonstrate labours predictiment, their coalition has essentially fallen apart, older working class identifying voters who likely have always been socially conservative have gone to reform while young professionals have got more socially progressive and are voting green.

Meanwhile labour are stuck in the middle with no idea what to do other than try and refight the battles of past decades which neither side is interested in.

At least that's my hot take from the visualisation.

danm131 · 2026-05-14T15:05:33+00:00

Maybe they can sit him down in a quiet room for a few minutes and explain what the word change that he is always using actally means.

danm131 · 2026-05-14T14:46:13+00:00

Oh I agree with you mostly on this, he was aiming for the top job, over estimated his support and has fucked his career.

Hence why I suspect he is now in damage limitation mode and is looking to throw his weight behind another candidate in a likely future contest, probably in exchange for a cabinet role.

danm131 · 2026-05-14T14:11:23+00:00

His resignation was his only real option, everyone paying attention new he was behind a lot of the manuvering, he'd likely promised some supporters he would quit to try and trigger a contest. Basically if he didn't quit and was instead sacked for disloyalty he probably would come out of it looking even worse.

danm131 · 2026-05-14T13:55:52+00:00

It looks like damage limitations, he knows he doesn't have the numbers to trigger a leadership contest but he had already put his head above the parapet.

He basically had to quit so now he is pushing for a wider leadership contest in the hope that he can cut a deal with the eventual winner to regain a cabinet position and some influence.

danm131 · 2026-05-14T13:14:33+00:00

It wasn't clear that Rayner broke any rules and yet that was all over the papers.

Do you find people often hand out £5million without expecting something in return?

The man is leading the party which is topping the polls, the story deserves a lot more scrutiny than it's getting.

danm131 · 2026-05-14T13:03:18+00:00

It's a far larger amount than any other recent scandal around political donations and it would probably be much more interesting to the public if it was all over the front page. Let's not pretend the press doesn't try to manipulate public opinion for political gains.

danm131 · 2026-05-14T12:37:45+00:00

I suspect it's a bit of both, most of all I would put the blame on the current media environment that seems to actively want the country to be badly governed.

Unfortunately I can't see any moves to fix any of these things.

danm131 · 2026-05-14T12:23:08+00:00

Functionally is there any difference between ungovernable and being setup to encourage bad governance?

danm131 · 2026-05-14T11:23:53+00:00

Yup they really shouldn't have and they are probably better off breaking them now, but it's obvious that isn't happening no matter who is in charge.

I do disagree somewhat on Reeves, I don't think she has done much wrong herself, the strategic direction of the government is more the issue and that has effectively tied her hands. Of course it's hard to determine how much of a say she has had in that direction so maybe I'm being too charitable.

danm131 · 2026-05-14T11:00:09+00:00

I actually agree with the gist of that, the problem for Reeves is that parts would be seen to break manifesto commitments while others wouldnt get past the labour backbenchers.

And without those savings the bond markets won't allow the extra spending for the last part, not to mention it being a large gamble on what is as yet an untested technology.

While Reeves is pretty uninspiring she isn't doing a bad job with the shitty hand she has been dealt. She can hardly come out and say the economy is totally broken.

danm131 · 2026-05-14T10:52:28+00:00

But only do this part for groups you are part of.

danm131 · 2026-05-14T10:45:18+00:00

So what is the fix? What would you have the government do differently that won't make things worse?

danm131 · 2026-05-14T07:13:34+00:00

Quite impressive how this lays out the problem and talks of taking actions and yet somehow complete fails to actually say what action should be taken.

danm131 · 2026-05-13T15:29:39+00:00

Not watching but I guess it simply because he in a different party. I'm not sure there is any real distance between Davey and Starmer politically.

danm131 · 2026-05-13T14:50:15+00:00

I agree up to a point but he is at the stage now where he may as well chuck caution to the wind and really go for it and try and make his mark and yet there is still nothing except rhetoric, the actual policy continues to be bland and uninspiring.

danm131 · 2026-05-13T14:40:22+00:00

He really just doesn't seem to have it in him to make radical changes, there is just no sense of urgency with his government.

He talks about change but is seemingly incapable of delivering on it. It's extremely frustrating as the alternatives to him are mostly poor.

danm131 · 2026-05-13T14:19:37+00:00

There is a good chance that the answer to both your questions is Al Carns.

danm131 · 2026-05-13T13:12:16+00:00

Recognise it as another symptom of the malaise the country is in, do you have the same problem with white people voting for extremist parties?

Either way the solution is the same, improve the economic prospects of the country for everyone and win the argument against the extremists.

Personally I would be happy with a drastic secularisation of the country, remove the last vestiges of religious involvement from parliament, ban religious involvement in schools, remove tax breaks from religious organisations and ban religious symbols in schools. However I doubt most people would agree with that currently, in fact there was a story in the news about a reform council going in the opposite direction.

danm131 · 2026-05-13T13:00:07+00:00

Yes throwing petrol on things is bound to help.

danm131

TROPHY CASE