Overheated kernels

+The definition of popcorn, “maize of a variety with hard kernels that swell up and burst open when heated” seems kind of apposite for the new variety of Tories gathering around Liz Truss under the name ‘PopCon.’ This group, which includes haughty nutter Jacob Rees Mogg and naughty nutter Lee Anderson in its starry line-up wants the UK to be dragged back to a state of true Conservatism, which I can only imagine harks back to Victorian times, since it can’t possibly reference the Conservatism that embraced Gaitskellism, or a wartime period when Attlee served as Churchill’s deputy, or indeed Ted Heath’s pro-Europeanism, or even for that matter Cameron’s ‘hug a hoodie’ lark. So what is the true Conservatism that the PopCorns want? We know the answer of course: it’s the very unBritish concept of Trumpism, which widely defines freedom but narrowly delivers it into the hands of its privileged promoters. From what I see of this new ‘movement’ which may superficially appeal to the ranks of the ageing Tory Party is a libertarian shift which if fully revealed would probably alienate many in the Tory gerontocracy. Yes, they may have a distaste for ‘wokery’ and political correctness as we used to call it, but are they ready for the economic shock treatment the Trussites wish to inflict on Olde England? I doubt it.
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+According to the Politics Home website, 54 Tory MPs have said they're standing down at the next election. Best to jump before you’re pushed, eh? Saves the indignity of a Portillo moment. Also, 18 Labour MPs have announced their pending retirement (including two currently suspended, more may be added to that category). Labour MPs thinking of retirement should however hold off from prematurely announcing their intentions. The leadership would like nothing more than a handful of very late announcements which would allow them to bypass local members and parachute in one of their own—I well remember in Hull West Stuart Randall resigning at the very last minute, allowing Alan Johnson in. Randall’s reward was a seat in the Lords, although he had to relinquish any hopes of becoming PM (a role which the Hull Daily Mail thought he was ‘tipped’ for—absolute hyperbolic bollocks of course—but what are local papers for?).