So it is going to be Sunak

growstuff I din't make it clear, the discussion was specifically about income tax.

M0nica

growstuff I din't make it clear, the discussion was specifically about income tax.

Ah! OK! I missed the bit about it being specifically about income tax.

Income tax only makes up about 25% of the Treasury's income, so when I see any discussion about taxpayers, I always think "Oh, that's all of us then".

growstuff quite agree.

I await with interest the announcements of the new Ministers and Secretaries of State, or not, as the case may be.

He’s young isn’t he for the top job? Let’s hope he brings in decent talent for his Cabinet choices. Gove is clever and although devious, has his choice as PM so he might behave and do well. At least he’s intelligent and gets things done. I hope Hancock doesn’t get a post he’s so lightweight. Ditto Shapps.

As GG13 says I suppose at this stage the jury’s out. Actions will speak louder than words. I don’t think the triple lock is safe but let’s hope he rises the Personal Allowance for tax. It’s overdue!

He looks very dapper. Mind you I don’t think Zelensky minded Boris’ shambolic appearance.

I read yesterday that his wife is actually richer than King Charles through her father’s business in India. That seems so strange I couldn’t get my head around her having such wealth!

I think Sunak will be honest, upstanding, morally sound. He doesn’t drink alcohol and isn’t likely to tolerate sleaze in any form. He’s not a great public speaker but if his policies do well perhaps this is a PM we can all rally round and take pride in.

Time will tell eh?

Urmstongran
Hancock has got a hope in hell. Didn’t you see the way Sunak completely blanked him when arriving at head office. Ouch ?

No I didn’t MerylStreep but good stuff! He was embarrassing in his NHS efforts jumping on Kate Bingham’s bandwagon at every opportunity.

MayBee70

Why did Sunak thank and praise Truss? Was he on a different planet during her leadership?

I dare say he was just trying to be nice. You can be sure he’s been thinking for weeks that she made a thorough pig’s breakfast of it, I said she would and I was right, so good riddance - but it would hardly have looked very statesmanlike to say so in his first speech as PM in waiting - especially not when trying to unite a fractured, backstabbing party is going to be a major concern.

I wish they would stop dwelling on the fact that he is Asian. As if it matters! It shows we may not be racist in this country but we are nevertheless very aware of race.

To me he is still just another extremely rich, right wing tory. Expect nothing from him that will really be good for the majority of us. The rich will continue getting rich and the poor will continue getting poorer.

Although anyone would seem moderate after Truss, let’s not kid ourselves that he’s anything but a right wing Tory, and we will soon be seeing evidence of this.
Didn’t he support sending refugees to Rwanda?

He was fined for breaking lockdown rules so tainted by partygate. He is a relatively inexperienced politician and he is taking over the leadership of a very fractured Conservative party. I will be surprised if he can make a success of the next two years, if he lasts that long.

At least he is sane Urnstongran. I know that doesn't set the bar high, but I have just watch Truss's final statement and I am relieved to have sanity in control.

I liked Richi’s use of the word integrity in his brief speech yesterday.

Time will tell of course but I somehow feel that the party is now in a safe pair of hands.

Different leaders fulfill different roles, at various stages of a government in power. Boris was completely the right person back in 2019. He clicked with so many people, many of whom had never voted Conservative in their lives.
He did what he said he would do, especially finally, at last, delivering Brexit for us, as well as seeing us through the worst of the pandemic.
As we know now though, he made some errors of judgment which, rightly or wrongly, led to his downfall.

Richi now has two years to prove himself, unite the party and put the Conservatives in a strong position to save us from the disaster of a Labour government.

? you wish

Brexit hasn’t been delivered. The still haven’t sorted out the Irish problem which was pretty much ignored in the run up to the referendum.

watch watched

Whitewavemark2

? you wish

They have two years Whitewave. That is a fact not a theory. They may choose to go to the country before that, but he does have two years.

Much of the national and global ills are rooted in Covid and Ukraine, out of Sunak’s control, stability is probably the best result we can hope for

If ‘a week is a long time in politics’ two years is almost a lifetime! Plenty of time to turn events around. Gas prices are already in line to tumble next spring I’ve read. Then factor in the BoE saying last week inflation ‘won’t be as bad as feared’ things could look very much different by next summer. When of course Sunak will want to dole out some treats.

What I do think, is however, that Sunak has integrity, and I would expect him to be intolerant of corruption, and all the deviances the Tories seem so interested in.

Franbern

To me he is still just another extremely rich, right wing tory. Expect nothing from him that will really be good for the majority of us. The rich will continue getting rich and the poor will continue getting poorer.

He's not rich, he's from a middle class background but his wife's father is very rich.

If you believe a wife's property belongs to her husband, then yes, he is rich. But those days are gone.
I expect she is loving and generous and may want to change the wallpaper though ?

You reckon DaisyAnne? Tories are so disunited. Not all back Sunak and how is he to recoup the billions of pounds he spent during lockdown? What about the green visa he kept for the US? What about his wife only just paying tax in this country?

25Avalon

You reckon DaisyAnne? Tories are so disunited. Not all back Sunak and how is he to recoup the billions of pounds he spent during lockdown? What about the green visa he kept for the US? What about his wife only just paying tax in this country?

Honeymoon period - won’t last as he inflicts further harm to the economy through austerity.

Unless he has seen the light if course?

Mr Sunak told a BBC documentary in 2007 that he had friends across all social classes, before awkwardly admitting “well, not working class”.