[Oldmanmatt]

24 hours as PM and Truss has already killed the queen. Not the start she'd have been hoping for.

Yes, poor lady probably just gave up.
Clowns to the left of her, Jokers to the right…

[Offwidth]

24 hours as PM and Truss has already killed the queen. Not the start she'd have been hoping for.

I should imagine Truss is delighted. PM's always get a political boost from such sad events and it avoids a lot of scrutiny for her dumping probably around £100 billion debt on the public; without asking those companies with energy profit windfalls to pay a bit more to help out. There are some big profit numbers on quite a few UK energy generators producing cheap electricity and being paid at the high marginal price rate for gas generation, some with a subsidy deal as well (albeit it, to be fair, some others have fixed lower payment deals).

[Falling Down]

Me and W were speculating whether the Queen elected to stay in Balmoral as she was dying as a symbol of the Union and to influence the debate around independence.  Thoughts?

[SA Chris]

Don't think so. I think she just knew it was close and just wanted to be somewhere she loved and was more likely not well enough to travel.

I think she usually spends August to October there; midgies are dying off and she can rely on good connies to work on her redpoint projects at Pass of Ballater. 

[Oldmanmatt]

Anybody else finding the “King Charles III” a bit odd to conceptualise? Having been Prince of Wale or my Duke for my entire life, it feels weird.

Glad I’m not still military as try to remember HMS now means “His” etc, is going to be difficult.

[teestub]

Lots of little changes to go along with it, top lawyers becoming King’s Counsel for example, which also sounds wrong!

[Oldmanmatt]

Lots of little changes to go along with it, top lawyers becoming King’s Counsel for example, which also sounds wrong!

It feels even more anachronistic, to me.

[SA Chris]

All I can think of is cavalier king charles spaniel.

[TobyD]

Anybody else finding the “King Charles III” a bit odd to conceptualise? Having been Prince of Wale or my Duke for my entire life, it feels weird.

Glad I’m not still military as try to remember HMS now means “His” etc, is going to be difficult.

Agree all this stuff seems really weird; all cash and stamps will be different etc. Otherwise life isn't intrinsically any different for the vast majority of people, but you notice these little things.

[petejh]

Prescient by the Royal Navy to name the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (not II) in honour of the first Queen Elizabeth... Although still perhaps it breaking down* was a leading indicator...


*Not sure if breaking down is the correct terminology for a warship the size of village, Matt can correct.

[Nails]

I'm now struggling with which words to use whilst singing along with Never Mind the Bollocks.

[tc]

Yeah, weird day. I guess some people are reminded of people they've lost recently, which might explain some of the ridiculous outpouring of collective grief but I can't abide the forelock tugging and the sycophantic 'tributes'.
An old woman of 96 has died and that's sad for her family but the rest is just flags and nonsense.
In a remarkable coincidence, yesterday was the 4th anniversary of my mother's death. She was a cool old woman but because she was just a peasant from Liverpool 8 she didn't get a 20-gun salute and a state funeral.

[Oldmanmatt]

Prescient by the Royal Navy to name the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (not II) in honour of the first Queen Elizabeth... Although still perhaps it breaking down* was a leading indicator...


*Not sure if breaking down is the correct terminology for a warship the size of village, Matt can correct.

Correct term is “FFM”…

[Wellsy]

Would appear that Izyum has been liberated by Ukrainian troops, and they've captured a huge amount of territory, including the entire Kharkiv region. A pretty stunning victory apparently! Bit of good news at least

[TobyD]

This smooth transition between monarchs seems like a good argument for monarchy.
Charles may well have his flaws, and you can go on about privilege and things, but he seems like a generally decent bloke , has a long commitment to environmental issues.
What do you get with democracy? Divisive, expensive elections, and then you get Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, Brexit and Boaty McBoatface.

[lukeyboy]

This smooth transition between monarchs seems like a good argument for monarchy.
Charles may well have his flaws, and you can go on about privilege and things, but he seems like a generally decent bloke , has a long commitment to environmental issues.
What do you get with democracy? Divisive, expensive elections, and then you get Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, Brexit and Boaty McBoatface.

Yes, after the past decade, the idea of a benevolent dictator is becoming increasingly appealing

[duncan]

This smooth transition between monarchs seems like a good argument for monarchy.
Charles may well have his flaws, and you can go on about privilege and things, but he seems like a generally decent bloke , has a long commitment to environmental issues.
What do you get with democracy? Divisive, expensive elections, and then you get Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, Brexit and Boaty McBoatface.

In the 20th and 21st Centuries we've had Georges V and VI and Elizabeth II who all made a reasonable go of being a constitutional monarch. We've also had Edward "the Caresser" VII, euphemistically described as a playboy, and Edward VIII, a fascist in all but name. Had Charles III overcooked a corner in his Aston Martin in his youth we'd be looking at King Andrew.

I'd rather try to fix our democracy.

[JamieG]

we'd be looking at King Andrew.

At least it would have been no sweat for him.

[petejh]

Had Charles III overcooked a corner in his Aston Martin in his youth we'd be looking at King Andrew.

I'd rather try to fix our democracy.

I'm not sure if the vicissitudes of accidental death are any more or less discerning of leadership ability than the general populace. We weren't *that* far off having Jeremy Corbyn as PM for example.

[mrjonathanr]

This smooth transition between monarchs seems like a good argument for monarchy.
Charles may well have his flaws, and you can go on about privilege and things, but he seems like a generally decent bloke , has a long commitment to environmental issues.
What do you get with democracy? Divisive, expensive elections, and then you get Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, Brexit and Boaty McBoatface.

Yes, after the past decade, the idea of a benevolent dictator is becoming increasingly appealing

Is that irony? If not, you’re not alone. https://twitter.com/JLPartnersPolls/status/1567443028364742658?s=20&t=m42W8ZavJhRptqFYTZEISQ

. J.L. Partners poll of 8,004 UK adults for @ukonward
% support for running the UK with "a strong leader who doesn't have to bother with parliament/elections"

All: 46%
18-34s: 61%
35-54s: 49%
Over-55s: 29%

Be careful what you wish for. Mummy/ daddy will not make everything ok. Dictators don’t do benign, they mostly just do dominance and the exercise of power. It can happen here, because it can happen anywhere. Even just ‘democracy lite’ will bring a lot of harm.

As for Charles and hereditary power Toby,  Charles is at heart an interventionist fruitcake, nothing like his wiley mother. Maybe, as a good environmentalist, he’ll forgo the exemption from environmental legislation negotiated by his mother for the Crown estates? https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jul/28/queen-secretly-lobbied-scottish-ministers-climate-law-exemption

Forfeiting the (now) King’s prerogative so that the royals are subject to the same democratic processes as the rest of us might be a good step too. The black spider memosdon’t offer hope.

[mrjonathanr]

Had Charles III overcooked a corner in his Aston Martin in his youth we'd be looking at King Andrew.

I'd rather try to fix our democracy.

I'm not sure if the vicissitudes of accidental death are any more or less discerning of leadership ability than the general populace. We weren't *that* far off having Jeremy Corbyn as PM for example.

Yes, we were really lucky with how that panned out.

[jwi]

It is desirable to have a political system where the incompetent or the unlucky can be removed from office and someone new take their place in an orderly fashion. I cannot believe that I felt like I had to write that sentence.
 

[andy popp]

It is desirable to have a political system where the incompetent or the unlucky can be removed from office and someone new take their place in an orderly fashion. I cannot believe that I felt like I had to write that sentence.

Purely as an aside, how do you feel it's going to go today in Sweden?

[jwi]

It is desirable to have a political system where the incompetent or the unlucky can be removed from office and someone new take their place in an orderly fashion. I cannot believe that I felt like I had to write that sentence.

Purely as an aside, how do you feel it's going to go today in Sweden?

It is likely that the current government will continue in its current form.

I should probably not comment or speculate too much on Swedish politics as I have not lived there for ten years, so my social contacts are very limited (family and old friends that I have stayed in touch with).

[petejh]

It is desirable to have a political system where the incompetent or the unlucky can be removed from office and someone new take their place in an orderly fashion. I cannot believe that I felt like I had to write that sentence.

Your definition of a 'desirable political system' is interesting jwi. Personally I think for the system to be 'desirable' it must include 'competence', but competence doesn't equal desirable. Dictators can be highly competent, they can create cohesive societies with services working etc. That doesn't mean having a competent dictator is necessarily desirable - it also depends on benevolence.
Isn't it possible that it might be more desirable to have a competent (benevolent) leader who can't be easily replaced, than to have a series of incompetent (benevolent) leaders who can?