Sunak will soon wish we were still talking about Johnson.

Siope

It’s quite important not to fall down the rabbit hole of ‘he’s only had six months’. He is a continuum of a government which has had 13 years.

Equally, he was an active, eager, contributor to the Johnson years, and some of his own policies as Chancellor are being shown to have failed (eat out to help out, cost of living payments not helping the poorest, and more).

My thoughts exactly - but many people still very much support Conservatives and will continue to do so. I think after 13 years we are due a change, I won’t rubbish the Labour Party until we have a least given a properly elected PM a chance - how many unelected PMs have we “suffered” under this govt ? All I can say in their defence is that they’ve had a shedload of very difficult issues to work with, do I think they’ve done a good job ? No !

There is already a temporary windfall tax on energy companies but if we are to be anywhere near self-sufficient it will go in order to encourage exploration. As regards banks, talk of a windfall tax is premature - we need to see their pre-tax profits for the current financial year in order to make a judgment.

GSM there’s an article by John McDonnell in today’s Guardian online re banking profits. Probably first time I’ve agreed with him!
I don’t know if I am buying into the rhetoric about self sufficiency and huge energy profits. I think someone is pulling a fast one but too tired to argue the point.

As regards banks, talk of a windfall tax is premature - we need to see their pre-tax profits for the current financial year in order to make a judgment.

Banks are getting increased revenue from the interest they charge on all loans and increased revenue from the interest that the BoE, for some unfathomable reason, pays them on their Reserve Accounts (which, as the RAs are BoE created money in the first place, somewhat staggers me).

Where are they likely to make losses great enough to seriously dent their profits for the current financial year?

Only today another stress test has been announced and scandals in respect of which money has to be set aside happens with amazing frequency. I would assume nothing at this stage.

WWM2,

Your post was fair and informative! It is hard to be a Conservative given the state the country is in. No government had to face up to such a shocking health problem before. We were I’ll equipped to deal with it, but really apart from the tragic separation of families and the elderly being sent back from hospital into care homes, I think the govt were guided by experts but more money was flung at dodgy companies than should have been. Boris was not only I’ll with COVID himself but the woman he married seemed to me to poke her head into politics and liked having get togethers unnecessarily. Don’t start telling me I should not be criticising her but it seemed like stupid Boris should have not been such a womaniser and should have stayed married to Marina who seemed to,have him under some control. I cannot believe that I supported him during the election campaign. I am glad he has gone but shudder to think of Theresa May, John Major and Liz
Purvis as PMs. We certainly lack leaders of any calibre in all political parties., although Sir Keir seems honest enough. Now I am approaching 90 with three dogs to look after and a household which seems to need a lot of upkeep I do keep busy. Anyway we are about to be hit by a tropical wave ( just short of a hurricane) to hit us tomorrow night. There will be very strong winds and very heavy rain and another one is following. Son is extremely worried and wanted me to go into a hotel as we are likely to suffer power going off, which is very serious in mosquito central as I take Warfarin and they love my thin blood. Howrvef, I cannot leave my poor dogs, so we will sit it out. That is me going quiet for a day or two. Thank you if you managed to read my rambling thoughts.

Anniel

WWM2,

Your post was fair and informative! It is hard to be a Conservative given the state the country is in. No government had to face up to such a shocking health problem before. We were I’ll equipped to deal with it, but really apart from the tragic separation of families and the elderly being sent back from hospital into care homes, I think the govt were guided by experts but more money was flung at dodgy companies than should have been. Boris was not only I’ll with COVID himself but the woman he married seemed to me to poke her head into politics and liked having get togethers unnecessarily. Don’t start telling me I should not be criticising her but it seemed like stupid Boris should have not been such a womaniser and should have stayed married to Marina who seemed to,have him under some control. I cannot believe that I supported him during the election campaign. I am glad he has gone but shudder to think of Theresa May, John Major and Liz
Purvis as PMs. We certainly lack leaders of any calibre in all political parties., although Sir Keir seems honest enough. Now I am approaching 90 with three dogs to look after and a household which seems to need a lot of upkeep I do keep busy. Anyway we are about to be hit by a tropical wave ( just short of a hurricane) to hit us tomorrow night. There will be very strong winds and very heavy rain and another one is following. Son is extremely worried and wanted me to go into a hotel as we are likely to suffer power going off, which is very serious in mosquito central as I take Warfarin and they love my thin blood. Howrvef, I cannot leave my poor dogs, so we will sit it out. That is me going quiet for a day or two. Thank you if you managed to read my rambling thoughts.

Stay safe Annie…💐💐
.

Keep safe Anniel. I value your posts - there aren’t many Conservative voters on here willing to stick their heads above the parapet! You’re much more brave than I am!

anniel thank you for your kind reply.

Stay safe wherever you are - and as a dog lover I can absolutely empathise with your choice not to leave them.

If you can do so, do keep in contact so that we know that you are ok.

Kind regards

anniel keep safe x

Saetana

As for inflation, that can be laid firmly at the door of the Bank of England - they should have started tackling it far earlier than they did. Their inaction is what has led to a lot of rate rises in a very short period of time, thus sending mortgage costs skyrocketing. Why on earth Tony Blair made them independent is beyond me! Both the current and previous governors have been useless - no idea why Sunak continues to support them. Although, birds of a feather and all that...

They also seem to fail to make accurate predictions either.

Saetana

The news has just come in that inflation for May was no different from April, still 8.7% - and, even worse, underlying inflation has actually risen. Sunak talks a good game but he is achieving precisely nothing. You are quite correct OP, he has got nowhere with any of his five pledges up to now. I am really disappointed in him as our PM, and I am a Conservative voter. Problem is, we are likely stuck with him until after the election as I doubt the party want to have yet another leadership contest before then.

And he is supposedly good with figures and finances too.

As a country I think we continue on a downward spiral, in more ways than one.

And he is supposedly good with figures and finances too.

He's good at making money, for himself and for other people. This is not a skill that is particularly needed for running a country. He isn't an economist and has about as much economic knowledge as most of the electorate. which is about zilch..

I think it’s one of those political myths that, once they take old are difficult to dispel. Such as the one that Johnson still has lots of support and is popular both within parliament and in the country

MaizieD

^And he is supposedly good with figures and finances too.^

He's good at making money, for himself and for other people. This is not a skill that is particularly needed for running a country. He isn't an economist and has about as much economic knowledge as most of the electorate. which is about zilch..

I’m not a fan of his, but that’s a bit harsh. He studied philosophy, politics and economics at Lincoln College, Oxford, so he probably does know more than Joe Public.

It might be the case that he knows more than Joe Public, but the economics component of an Oxford PPE is very general and theoretical.

And, as a Brexiter Sunak thought that Brexit would be good for the economy unlike Mark Carney who said at the time and is still saying that it would be bad. Therefore I have to question Sunak when it comes to knowing what is good for this countries economy.

Well now top economists are talking about stagflation in the U.K.

Joy is heaped upon joy.

I don’t envy the next government.

If the U.K. does enter a period of stagflation, and is the only western country to do so, as seems highly likely, it seems to me that the “supply-push” element of the problem that we don’t have in common with other like economies is the shock on the supply side - Brexit.

Other countries have the energy supply shock but they don’t have the supply shock of Brexit.

It seems to me that the next government must address this issue as a matter of urgency in order to get the economy to function properly.

Closer working is the biggest key imo.

MaryemBop

He can't even wear clothes that fit, nevermind run a govt. Those wee skinny legs with trousers at half mast are absolutely pathetic!!

So glad someone else noticed it. Those tight trousers don't do men any favours.
When I look at him I always think would his wife still be non dom if it had not been exposed. They are all up to something; wouldn't it be nice if we could have a good leader whose priority was our country and it's people and to turn round any boats heading here illegally. Those people are quite safe in Europe but they want our benefits, they cost more per head than my state pension.

Oh for goodness sake what has someone’s dress sense got to do with the price of fish ? Really ? Good luck with your next potential leader, you are going to need it!

Ww2 don’t see rising unemployment as part of Uk stagflation. Don’t think we have enough people of working age to fill jobs. I do see wages not increasing in line with inflation though.
Rishi Sunak needs to be more proactive about mortgages.

No I’ve been giving that some thought.

I reckon that if we still had the level of available workforce as we did before Brexit and covid, then the picture would look different. Liquidations are running quite high, but I would guess that the resultant unemployed are being mopped up by the labour shortage.

So I think that 3rd factor is there but “hidden”

Take best care Anniel .and stay safe.

Whitewavemark2

No I’ve been giving that some thought.

I reckon that if we still had the level of available workforce as we did before Brexit and covid, then the picture would look different. Liquidations are running quite high, but I would guess that the resultant unemployed are being mopped up by the labour shortage.

So I think that 3rd factor is there but “hidden”

Liquidations may be running high however, what I would like to know is how many of these companies immediately start up under a different name with different named directors albeit being the same

Liquidation has been the modus operandi for many to avoid VAT etc for years added to which now avoiding repaying the Governments Covid bounce back loans

It’s not a business model that I endorse, but many do and are experts at it.