When a child laughs in the face of a parent’s admonishment the adult’s authority all but evaporates before the supposed hilarity even ends. Liz Truss faced the grown-up version of that humiliating moment during a gruelling Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.
Instead of a wall of angry red Labour faces at PMQs, she took stage before a bear-pit of sneering laughter and jeers.
It was as if a raucous Shakespearean comedy was happening on one side of the Commons while the other was watching the closing scenes of Julius Caesar.
The modern day knives of the political elite ― mobile phones ― were alight on the Tory benches as MPs punched WhatsApp messages as fast as the blows received by their leader.
Their words cannot have been kind, as they contemplated their shocking loss of standing among the wider audience of the British public upon whom Ms Truss’s woeful economic experiment has been enacted.
Sir Keir Starmer, who must surely be the Labour leader closest to winning an election since the party's previous victory, in 2005, set the pantomime tone with an opening quip alluding to a biography on Ms Truss.
“Apparently it’s going to be out by Christmas,” he said. “Is that the release date or the title?”
The tone was set for his side to roar while the Tories smarted, their leader now the punchline for jokes.
Ms Truss “is not in charge” and had “crashed the economy”, Sir Keir said.
The prime minister's response was to say that she had said “sorry” and “made mistakes”. She then ventured: “There does need to be some reflection of economic reality from the party opposite,” before being shouted down in disbelief.
It was Ms Truss’s mini-budget of unfunded tax cuts that led to a surge in interest rates for government loans by markets unconvinced Britain had the money to be so generous.
“Why on Earth would anyone trust the Tories on the economy ever again?” Sir Keir thundered.
Warming to his panto theme, he then named each U-turn the government had made with the opposition benches shouting “gone” as he listed them one by one.
It was a moment of low political theatre, although the chant crashed across the floor into stony-faced Tory MPs, battling against their inner mortification.
They remained unstirred by Ms Truss’s assertion that “I’m a fighter not a quitter”, especially because it was a line once used by a Labour minister.
The mood darkened when she then U-turned on a U-turn by declaring that the Tory commitment to “triple lock” ― tying pensions to inflation ― would be retained despite her new chancellor Jeremy Hunt saying on Tuesday it was “on the table”.
That might buy her time, but only until Mr Hunt makes his fiscal statement on October 31, in which he may well reverse position for a triple U-turn while saving his budget an estimated £11 billion ($12.39bn) with inflation now running at 10 per cent.
As the questioning ended, The National watched as the prime minister made her way along the front bench with barely a Cabinet minister catching her eye, before one kind MP gave her a comforting pat on the back.
Ms Truss is appallingly wounded and the Conservatives cannot continue to suffer further humiliation to their brand, week after week.
The final act could well fall to the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs that authorises the rules governing leadership elections.
It has been suggested that if its chairman, Sir Graham Brady, receives letters of no confidence from one third of his colleagues, 119 MPs, then he will trigger a vote, rather than the 15 per cent which has apparently already been reached.
This will mean a rule change, because under current guidelines a Conservative leader cannot be challenged until a year has elapsed.
Just 44 days have passed since Ms Truss was elected to a term in which she has, so far, destroyed the Tory’s reputation for sound economic management and left Britain’s economy in a parlous state.
Labour probably want Ms Truss to remain in office, because her presence currently guarantees them a landslide general election victory
Her leadership rating is minus 70, worse than Boris Johnson at his nadir. The Conservatives are 36 per cent behind in the latest election survey. Nearly two thirds of Tory members want Ms Truss to go ― the same proportion that voted for her last month.
There is only so long that Conservative MPs can wear the blows that on current trajectory will mean many are ejected from their £84,000 salaries into the economic wasteland of their leader’s making.
While Labour might laugh for now, there will come a sobering moment when the curtain comes down and they find themselves the next act up on stage.
CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
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Du Football Champions
The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.4-litre%204-cylinder%20turbo%20hybrid%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20366hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E550Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESix-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh360%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
if you go
The flights
Emirates have direct flights from Dubai to Glasgow from Dh3,115. Alternatively, if you want to see a bit of Edinburgh first, then you can fly there direct with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.
The hotel
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Located in the heart of Mackintosh's Glasgow, the Dakota Deluxe is perhaps the most refined hotel anywhere in the city. Doubles from Dh850
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Events and tours
There are various Mackintosh specific events throughout 2018 – for more details and to see a map of his surviving designs see glasgowmackintosh.com
For walking tours focussing on the Glasgow Style, see the website of the Glasgow School of Art.
More information
For ideas on planning a trip to Scotland, visit www.visitscotland.com
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The biog
Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins
Favourite dish: Grilled fish
Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
info-box
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Happy Tenant
Started: January 2019
Co-founders: Joe Moufarrej and Umar Rana
Based: Dubai
Sector: Technology, real-estate
Initial investment: Dh2.5 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 4,000
More on Quran memorisation:
BRAZIL%20SQUAD
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Bio:
Favourite Quote: Prophet Mohammad's quotes There is reward for kindness to every living thing and A good man treats women with honour
Favourite Hobby: Serving poor people
Favourite Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite food: Fish and vegetables
Favourite place to visit: London
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
Company%20profile
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20Z%20FLIP5
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
More coverage from the Future Forum
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Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
MATCH INFO
Serie A
Juventus v Fiorentina, Saturday, 8pm (UAE)
Match is on BeIN Sports
Review: Tomb Raider
Dir: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walter Goggins
two stars
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
How to donate
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'
Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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