All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[hyped78]

Liz Truss has resigned here in the UK. New Conservative PM in a week.

[Kirby101]

It's funny because, not too long ago, she was being hailed as a rising star in the Democratic Party, as stated by folks like Nancy Pelosi and Bernie Sanders

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/u...efying-it.html
https://www.vogue.com/article/making...tic-party-star

These are from almost a decade ago, before she became a full nutter. It is in fact, very long ago in political terms.

[Tendrin]

*briefly pops up for air* Truss is out.

[shooshoomanjoe]

LA and AL GOP officials want to narrow who can identify as black.

Who counts as Black in voting maps? Some GOP state officials want that narrowed

"Republican state officials, however, have called for narrower definitions of Blackness that do not include people who also identify with another minority group.

Citing no evidence, GOP officials in Alabama argued in lower court filings that limiting the definition to people who mark just the "Black" box and do not identify as Latino for the census would be "most defensible."

And in the Louisiana case — Ardoin v. Robinson — officials have been arguing for the definition to only include people who check off either just the "Black" box or both "Black" and "White" and do not identify as Latino.

Before appealing their redistricting case to the Supreme Court, Alabama officials dropped their push to redefine Blackness.

But the state of Louisiana and its Republican secretary of state, Kyle Ardoin, have asked the country's highest court to weigh in with a final word on which definition should be used in Section 2 cases.

Lower courts have already found that even when using more limited definitions of "Black" as proposed by the Republican officials, the premise of the courts' analyses of the voting maps does not change.

Still, in one filing to the high court, Louisiana officials say using the more expansive definition of Blackness, which includes all people who identify themselves as Black, to analyze the state's new map of congressional districts is an "independent legal error warranting this Court's intervention."

A narrower definition of "Black" could end up allowing other redistricting plans to minimize Black voting strength"

[Tami]

*briefly pops up for air* Truss is out.

Liz Truss resigns as prime minister

Liz Truss has resigned as prime minister after just 45 days in office.

The announcement, made by Truss outside Downing Street, follows the near-complete evaporation of her political authority which has seen her crash the markets, lose two key ministers and shed the confidence of almost all her own MPs.

Truss will be the shortest-serving prime minister in UK history.

New leader in place by 31 October, says Brady

Sir Graham Brady says it will be possible to conduct a leadership ballot by 28 October.

He says:

I have spoken to the party chairman, Jake Berry, and he has confirmed that it will be possible to conduct a ballot and conclude a leadership election by Friday the 28th of October.

So we should have a new leader in place before the fiscal statement which will take place on the 31st.

[hyped78]

*briefly pops up for air* Truss is out.

Liz Truss resigns as prime minister

This is a complete mess. The Tory MPs are going to choose another party leader/ PM, among themselves, instead of having the members of party voting for it, like they did for Sunak x Truss. No indication they will call for a general election, regardless of who they pick as leader. Sunak and Mordaunt seem to be the frontrunners, as Hunt has ruled himself out.

[JackDaw]

This is a complete mess. The Tory MPs are going to choose another party leader/ PM, among themselves, instead of having the members of party voting for it, like they did for Sunak x Truss. No indication they will call for a general election, regardless of who they pick as leader. Sunak and Mordaunt seem to be the frontrunners, as Hunt has ruled himself out.

Not full of enthusiasm for either. And to be fair whoever it is will face super difficult time. (If I was Conservative leader would think about early general election. Yes…they would lose heavily, but Labour would be in near impossible economic position, and then Tories would stand better chance of winning the one after.)

Having said all that hope its Sunak…he did have guts to stand openly against Boris, and he correctly predicted how badly “Trussonomics” would turn out. His overall competence is good by standard of present British politicians. (Not a high bar!)

[CaptainEurope]

What if they chose Prince Andrew?

[4saken1]

This is a complete mess. The Tory MPs are going to choose another party leader/ PM, among themselves, instead of having the members of party voting for it, like they did for Sunak x Truss. No indication they will call for a general election, regardless of who they pick as leader. Sunak and Mordaunt seem to be the frontrunners, as Hunt has ruled himself out.

Do you think that they will go with somebody a little more moderate that might appeal to more people, or will they take a page from the Republican playbook and double down on stupid?

[hyped78]

Not full of enthusiasm for either. And to be fair whoever it is will face super difficult time. (If I was Conservative leader would think about early general election. Yes…they would lose heavily, but Labour would be in near impossible economic position, and then Tories would stand better chance of winning the one after.)

Having said all that hope its Sunak…he did have guts to stand openly against Boris, and he correctly predicted how badly “Trussonomics” would turn out. His overall competence is good by standard of present British politicians. (Not a high bar!)

Some reports are saying that Boris might stand. How crazy would that be?

What if they chose Prince Andrew?

He doesn't sweat

Do you think that they will go with somebody a little more moderate that might appeal to more people, or will they take a page from the Republican playbook and double down on stupid?

I think they will go with Sunak, who is theoretically mode moderate than Truss. He's also woefully out of touch with the concerns of the average Brit, in my opinion.

[Kirby101]

They are more and more insuring a Yes on the Scottish independence vote next year. First they leave the EU, which was a big concern for Scottish voters, not they want to just make the UK economy suck compared to the rest of Europe. Maybe that's the Tories' plan, get rid of all the Labour votes in the North.

[hyped78]

They are more and more insuring a Yes on the Scottish independence vote next year. First they leave the EU, which was a big concern for Scottish voters, not they want to just make the UK economy suck compared to the rest of Europe. Maybe that's the Tories' plan, get rid of all the Labour votes in the North.

I don't think there will be another Scottish referendum

[Kirby101]

I don't think there will be another Scottish referendum

There is going to be one next year in all likelihood.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland...itics-63312363

[hyped78]

There is going to be one next year in all likelihood.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland...itics-63312363

I'm aware of the discussions but I would be highly surprised if the courts rule in Sturgeon's favor, when the previous stance has always been "You need Westminster's approval to hold a referendum" (which was the case last time). The Supreme Court has been hearing arguments from both sides but historically the law has always said that only with Westminster's approval can you hold a referendum like this; why would it change now, when the law hasn't changed?

https://www.ft.com/content/f0f1139e-...d-f49fae8ada34

Sturgeon is already hinting that there might not be a referendum, saying she would turn the next Scottish elections into an unofficial 'referendum' if there's no actual referendum.

I think it's very low probability there will be a referendum in the next, say 5-10 years. This would be as shocking as Roe vs. Wade getting overturned - it can certainly happen, but it's still a huge shock/ change. Sturgeon is doing a lot of political posturing but that doesn't mean she will be able to deliver. I can't forecast the future, of course.

Also, imagining there's a referendum and they vote to Leave - it would be extremely difficult for Scotland to join the EU, as Spain can veto it.

Where you can bank on a referendum "soon" is in Northern Ireland, as that has been accounted for.

I'm not British, so I honestly don't care either way.

[AnakinFlair]

I'm aware of the discussions but I would be highly surprised if the courts rule in Sturgeon's favor, when the previous stance has always been "You need Westminster's approval to hold a referendum" (which was the case last time).

And Sturgeon is already hinting that there might not be a referendum, saying she would turn the next Scottish elections into an unofficial 'referendum' if there's no actual referendum.

I think it's very low probability there will be a referendum in the next, say 5-10 years. This would be as shocking as Roe vs. Wade getting overturned - it can certainly happen, but it's still a huge shock/ change. Sturgeon is doing a lot of political posturing but that doesn't mean she will be able to deliver.

Also, imagining there's a referendum and they vote to Leave - it would be extremely difficult for Scotland to join the EU, as Spain can veto it.

Where you can bank on a referendum "soon" is in Northern Ireland, as that has been accounted for.

I'm not British, so I honestly don't care either way.

I'm curious- why would Spain veto Scottland joining the EU? I have very little understanding of the political situation over there.