Today, Thursday, August 3, 2023, Guido Fawkes reported ‘Greenpeace’s Blackout Protest at PM’s Pad’ (red emphases his, photo at link):

Greenpeace have paid yet another visit to Rishi’s Richmond residence to protest against the government’s environmental policy. This time, some intrepid eco-activists appear to have made it onto the property, scaling Sunak’s house and draping it in black fabric – all in opposition to new oil and gas licences. Downing Street said this morning:

The police are in attendance. We make no apology for taking the right approach to ensure our energy security, using the resources we have here at home so we are never reliant on aggressors like Putin for our energy. We are also investing in renewables.

Rishi isn’t even in the country – he’s jetted off to California…

Hmm.

Interesting on two counts: first, how could Greenpeace get this far, shrouding his mansion in black fabric? If this could happen at the Prime Minister’s private residence, what hope for the rest of us?

And, secondly, the Sunaks were fortunate to escape a dreadful British summer. After a rather warm and very dry June, this is where the UK has been since July. I picked up this photo online but not from its source, the Daily Mail. It shows Bournemouth on the south coast yesterday:

While continental Europe is enjoying above-normal temps for the summer, we were warned about global warming. Yes, all this while we have been wearing long sleeves and sweaters:

But I digress.

Rishi did a bit of campaigning for Conservative Party policies before he jetted off to California, probably somewhere near Stanford University, where he and his wife studied.

Earlier this week, he announced 100 new drilling licences off the coast of Scotland, hence the Greenpeace protest. However, as with all Government news, this might not be all it seems. This is likely to be for smaller companies rather than the oil giants which have turned their sights to West Africa.

On Tuesday came the huge hike in alcohol tax, affecting everything except for draught beers and ales. Other libations are now taxed by ABV (alcohol by volume), making bottled beers, ciders, wine and especially spirits more expensive. Someone on GB News said that every £15 on a bottle of spirits goes to the Government in tax and duty. Shameful. Rishi even had the gall to trumpet the new tax at the London Beer Festival.

On Wednesday, Rishi played his man-of-the-people role. In the morning, he was Nick Ferrari’s guest on LBC and took phone calls from the public. Christian Calgie, a Guido alum, reported in The Express that one of the callers took exception to the failing businesses in the PM’s constituency (purple emphases mine):

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been confronted by one of his own North Yorkshire constituents, who called into his LBC phone-in to slam the Government for allowing numerous businesses to close.

Jo Foster, who runs an aromatherapy company in the PM’s constituency, criticised the Government for crashing the economy, resulting in businesses closing.

Ms Foster cited recent news that four well-established independent businesses near here are shutting up shop, as keeping going is “no longer financially possible”.

She said: “Many more are on the brink, and asked why… they’re quoting your Tory policies as the reason why; everything from increased taxes, soaring costs, the impact of Brexit, difficulty finding staff, all combined with the fact it was your Government that crashed the economy and left people without any disposable income to spend.”

The Prime Minister appeared to know Ms Foster from previous interactions, saying it was “always lovely to hear from you!”

He said: “Jo and I don’t – as you can probably tell – share the same politics, we’ve had healthy debates on Brexit in the past… she was very upset that I supported Brexit but I think that was the right thing to do.”

He added: “I don’t think that’s the reason that some businesses are struggling at the moment.”

Mr Sunak instead blamed energy bills and inflation for the struggles businesses are facing, saying that when he’s out meeting owners of businesses energy bills are “obviously a big challenge at the moment – thankfully they are coming down”.

He conceded that access to staff is a particular concern, not just in rural areas like his home of North Yorkshire, but said Tory reforms to the welfare system would increase the supply of labour.

Hmm.

Nick Ferrari added to the debate:

LBC’s Nick Ferrari intervened to cite a Guardian newspaper story from yesterday, which detailed some of the closing businesses in his constituency: York House Antiques, The Fleece Hotel, Cross View Tearooms and Ravensworth Nurseries.

“In one of those businesses they’re losing £10,000 a month and to quote the business owner: ‘nobody is buying anything’. There’s no cash, Prime Minister!“

Mr Sunak said every business will have “slightly different circumstances”, and said just yesterday at the London Beer Festival where he’d been pulling pints and speaking to publicans he heard footfall is increasing in pubs and many were telling him “business is good”.

Rishi then went on to describe his adolescence, saying that he helped out in his mother’s pharmacy in Southampton many years ago.

Ferrari interjected that helping his mother’s small business decades ago:

isn’t going to help the Fleece Hotel or the Ravensworth Nursery.

How true.

Rishi also blasted Nadine Dorries, one of Boris’s greatest admirers, for not serving her constituents. Several weeks ago she said she would resign with immediate effect as MP for not getting a peerage on Boris’s honours list. Silly. She hasn’t resigned, though, which led Rishi to say that she wasn’t serving her constituents, either:

I think people deserve to have an MP that represents them, wherever they are… at the moment people aren’t being properly represented.

Guido has the video.

That afternoon, the Prime Minister championed a chess initiative. Guido has the story:

High inflation, stagnant growth, rising debt, a failure to get small boats in check and record NHS waiting lists won’t stop the government getting down to the real issues at hand. Today, Bloomberg reports that Rishi will launch a set of reforms targeting a policy area at the top of voters’ minds… Chess.

Not content with professing his love for Star Wars and mandating maths lessons into adulthood, the Prime Minister is looking to add to his nerdy image with a move to grow the board game’s popularity. The government will commit £500,000 to the English Chess Federation, expand chess teaching in schools and install 100 chess sets in public parks. All of this is set to be announced in front of a giant chess set in Number 10. Who needs economic growth when you know how to execute a queen’s gambit… 

I despair.

I further despaired when I saw that the Work and Pensions Secretary, Mel Stride, say that over-50s can start a new career by delivering takeaways. How condescending. He earns upwards of £82,000 a year just for being an MP and he will get more because he is a Secretary of State. One can further add on the taxpayer subsidies he receives in Parliament’s restaurants and bars. And let’s not forget his expenses. Sickening.

The Guardian reports:

Over-50s looking for work should consider delivering takeaways and other flexible jobs typically occupied by younger people, the work and pensions secretary has said.

Mel Stride made the comments during a visit to the London headquarters of the food delivery firm Deliveroo, which has recorded a 62% increase in riders aged over 50 since 2021.

In an interview with the Times during the visit, Stride said these flexible jobs offered “great opportunities” and that it was “good for people to consider options they might not have otherwise thought of”.

“What we’re seeing here is the ability to log on and off any time you like, no requirement to have to do a certain number of hours over a certain period of time, which is driving huge opportunities.”

He said employers could benefit from widening their recruitment pool to “access all the available talent”, and that flexible working can attract older workers. This builds on his earlier comments that such jobs suit workers with disabilities.

On the recently introduced digital “mid-life MOTs”, which are designed to help older workers with financial planning, health guidance and career skills, Stride said: “You really do need to sensibly stop, take where you are in life, and assess whether, for example, you’ve got enough money to get you through with the kind of lifestyle and living standards that you’re expecting.”

Since the pandemic there has been a sharp rise in the number of economically inactive people, those who are neither working nor looking for work. About 8.6 million people in the UK – equivalent to one in five working adults – are classed as economically inactive, according to the Office for National Statistics. More than 3.4 million of them are over 50 but under the retirement age.

Returning to Rishi, however, an American fashion influencer has taken exception to the Prime Minister’s suits, the length of his trousers in particular.

On Tuesday, August 1, The Telegraph reported ‘Rishi Sunak warned “baffling” fashion choice could cost him votes’. I could not agree more:

Derek Guy, who has earned the nickname “Menswear Guy” for his viral social media posts, believes that clothing missteps from government figures can distract from their political messages.

On Monday, the California-based fashion blogger posted four photos to his 460,000 followers on X, formerly known as Twitter – one of which appeared to have been photoshopped in order to make Mr Sunak’s trousers appear several inches shorter than they actually were.

Alongside the four unflattering snaps he wrote: “Baffling to me how the wealthiest UK Prime Minister in history could live just steps away from Savile Row, the single greatest concentration of skilled bespoke tailors, and end up paying $2k for a MTM suit with sleeves and trousers 2-4” too short.”

In a follow-up to the post, which was viewed 2.4 million times, Mr Guy waved off suggestions that Mr Sunak, who stands at 5ft 6in tall, dressed in smaller clothing to make himself appear taller. “I don’t think he has a grand theory for how short sleeves and pants make him look taller,” he said.

He added: “It is not unusual to see wealthy guys wear such shrunken suits. In fact, this is the dominant silhouette if you visit the downtown district of any major city.”

Why that is mystifies me. It’s true in London, too.

Guy said that Rishi needs to move with the times:

He claimed the Prime Minister was “just a little behind on the times”, and suggested he was following “early 2000s menswear trends” like the “shrunken suit” style pioneered by the American fashion designer Thom Browne.

I call those Pee Wee Herman suits. They’re terrible.

Rishi has also been criticised for his casual attire:

In June, as he joined Border Force crews in Dover to give a speech on his plan to stop small migrant boats, the spotlight shifted to the Prime Minister’s £190 Timberland boots, as some people online made fun of his own slogan, rephrasing it: “Stop the boots.”

Mr Sunak’s style missteps are in stark contrast to his wife, Akshata Murty, who last week claimed the number one position on Tatler magazine’s best dressed list.

Perhaps Rishi and Derek Guy can meet up in California. I doubt Rishi even saw the article, though.

Re too-short trousers, my late mother used to ask jovially, ‘Where’s the flood?’

I have no idea where the Conservatives are going. We are fortunate that Labour flip-flop on issues weekly, but that might not help Rishi’s party win re-election next year.