[Youngian]

Truss was particularly terrible on home turf in the Radio Norfolk interview. Not just her, Sunak and May did themselves no good thinking local radio and regional media would be a soft touch.

[Andy McDandy]

Local radio, in modern parlance, DGAF. It's their day in the spotlight, they'll have done the research on the local issues, and their presenters/staff aren't open to bribery/blackmail in the way their national counterparts are. "You give us an easy ride or I'll make sure you're doing the traffic on Radio South Lincs" isn't much of a threat when they're already there.

And yes, always underestimated. You'd have thought that those clever bugger SpAds would be wise to it by now. But of course not, because as far as they're concerned, the only places that matter are Oxford and London.

[The Weeping Angel]

SEND reform is set to be a minefield for the government,

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Difficult to judge as we can't see the post he is reacting to.
My feeling is that the government are trying to create a fair and affordable system. Which will not please those who want massive spending increases.

[Abernathy]

Not looking forward to this weekend’s Reform UK conference in my city (Birmingham). It’s bad enough when the Tories are here, with wankers all around the city centre, but these wankers are cunts of a whole higher order.

[The Weeping Angel]

Where exactly in Birmingham is it, and how long does it last for?

[davidjay]

Where exactly in Birmingham is it, and how long does it last for?

Friday & Saturday at the NEC, so at least they're mostly away from decent folk.

[Oboogie]

Not looking forward to this weekend’s Reform UK conference in my city (Birmingham). It’s bad enough when the Tories are here, with wankers all around the city centre, but these wankers are cunts of a whole higher order.

Speaking of wankers and cunts, there's another one for you to swerve...Nadine Dorries has just defected.

[Youngian]

Doubt her Bozo fandom will go down well with Reformers. Don't they all hate Johnson because he backed net zero policies and isn't racist enough?

[Tubby Isaacs]

She won't have an active role. I don't think anyone but Farage will, and maybe Tice and maybe some ex-cops who talk about crime (I hope Colin Sutton doesn't end up doing this).

The audience for this defection are primarily the Tory Party, who may be thinking "there goes another, what's the point in me bothering any more?"

[kreuzberger]

Fancy jeopardising such a stellar literary career for a fifth-wit party of racists, grifters, and wife-beating cretins.

At least similar simpletons, like Portillo, had the good sense to weave a new career out of their own public profile.

[Abernathy]

Mad Nad joins Reform ? Colour me unsurprised.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Fancy jeopardising such a stellar literary career for a fifth-wit party of racists, grifters, and wife-beating cretins.

At least similar simpletons, like Portillo, had the good sense to weave a new career out of their own public profile.

Portillo is a lot brighter than Dorries. As I've said before, read The Hugo Young Papers, I was amazed Portillo was the source of the anonymous quotes that appeared in Young's articles about the Major Government, the quotes generally being well-argued and surprisingly loyal to Major. Had he spoken like this in public more often, and less of the bullshit like the SAS speech, it would have been better for everyone.

Funnily enough, Portillo seems to have gone back to his 90s mode, and perhaps he'll be following Dorries into Reform.

[Abernathy]

This from Facebook, by a guy called Jack Dart :

There we go then. Nadine Dorries has finally found her natural home.
A career built on blind loyalty, culture war stunts, and sycophancy has led her to Reform UK, a party defined by grievance and resentment. For years she humiliated herself in Parliament as Boris Johnson’s loudest cheerleader, defending him through every scandal and parroting conspiracy theories about coups and plots. Now, stripped of influence in the Conservative Party, she has re-emerged in Reform, a space tailor-made for her brand of divisive theatrics.
Her record speaks for itself. She shared far-right doctored videos to smear opponents. She dismissed NHS workers’ anger over a 1% pay rise by suggesting they should be grateful their “husbands’ furlough pay” was protected. She admitted she did not understand how Channel 4 was funded while pushing to privatise it. She gave special protection to a plaque celebrating Cecil Rhodes, calling it of “historic interest.” Each episode underlined not only her incompetence but her instinct to inflame division for political gain.
Above all, she made herself the embodiment of sycophancy towards Boris Johnson. She excused his lies, attacked his critics, and wrote a whole book to cast him as the victim of shadowy forces. Her loyalty was never to truth or to public service but to one man, and to the career rewards that came from clinging to him. That devotion earned her ministerial jobs she was unfit for and ultimately left her stranded when Johnson fell.
Her leap to Reform is not a statement of principle. It is the act of a politician with nowhere else to go, latching onto the next vehicle for relevance. Nigel Farage has given her a stage, and she will perform as she always has, attacking enemies, stoking resentment, and propping up whichever leader flatters her.
Dorries is not a serious figure, but she is a dangerous one. Her track record is of spreading misinformation, amplifying hate, and dragging political debate into the gutter. That is exactly what Reform UK trades in, which is why they deserve each other. Britain, however, deserves better than the politics of sycophancy and spite

[satnav]

All that I can add to the above is that Dorries is clearly miffed that she never got a peerage so she probably thinks that if the nation does have a collective stroke and elect Farage as PM she will get a peerage from Farage who will need to appoint hundreds of peers to get his batshit policies through parliament.

[Bones McCoy]

All that I can add to the above is that Dorries is clearly miffed that she never got a peerage so she probably thinks that if the nation does have a collective stroke and elect Farage as PM she will get a peerage from Farage who will need to appoint hundreds of peers to get his batshit policies through parliament.

She's heard Farridge demanding to appoint his own lords.
Reckons that's the best chance she's got.

I really really hope that Kier Starmer finds time for Lords reform and a more representative electoral system.