[kreuzberger]

I'm not buying the poor ickle-wickle-lizzy-wizzy who, bless, is "doing her best" excuses .

Of course she's doing her best. That's the problem and she should never have been within a million miles of Moscow.

[mattomac]

Yeah they are all doing their best, the issue is they aren’t any good.

[Andy McDandy]

I can't ever remember any other government hanging on that excuse.

[RedSparrows]

I can't ever remember any other government hanging on that excuse.

Quite, and I'm astonished it works with anyone.

[Boiler]

I can't ever remember any other government hanging on that excuse.

Because it never has.

[Bones McCoy]

So, the Secretary of State for Selfies has humiliated her country, her office, and herself in Moscow today.

Poorly briefed, utterly vacuous, self-absorbed, and treating the whole visit as a photo opportunity - Lavrov really must think that the UK is taking the piss.

I'm sure it's pure bad luck that the UK has dispatched a sequence of mouthbreathers (see also David "No Notes" Davis, and Lord "I reject my own treaty" Frost) to high profile international events.

[mattomac]

Kind of depressing that the day after she goes there the announcement of the eve of war seems to go out.

[Andy McDandy]

Forrins don't vote. Thick Brits who see her "talking tough to Ivan" do.

[The All New KevS]

It's the woeful lack of preparation that astounds me. The Russians will have seen it as a lack of respect (even though they barely deserve any at the moment) and it will only have wound them up.

And yes, we're back to the photo of David Davis with a post it note opposite EU negotiators with a load of bulging lever arch files or similar.

It's the attitude of matching into a room and declaring "British! Fall into line, pull your socks up and none of your lip!" before slamming a picture of the Queen down on the table. It's the arrogance of assuming Johnny Foreigner WILL know his place.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Ash Sarkar, who is the best of that bunch by a long way, has complained that Starmer didn't attack Truss over that gaffe.

Would the opposition normally attack the Foreign Secretary over something like this, when there's no substantial policy difference?

[Andy McDandy]

Open goal for the government. A fair few people still equate Russia with "Commies!", and don't need much persuading that Labour are going to throw the doors open to the Cossack hordes riding SS20s and here to make your kids lesbian.

Any criticism is easily countered with "unpatriotic, need to show unity, reds under the bed, big surprise from the socialists".

[Nigredo]

It's the woeful lack of preparation that astounds me. The Russians will have seen it as a lack of respect (even though they barely deserve any at the moment) and it will only have wound them up.

And yes, we're back to the photo of David Davis with a post it note opposite EU negotiators with a load of bulging lever arch files or similar.

It's the attitude of matching into a room and declaring "British! Fall into line, pull your socks up and none of your lip!" before slamming a picture of the Queen down on the table. It's the arrogance of assuming Johnny Foreigner WILL know his place.

This is pretty much how Lord Botham of Valencia conducts his Brexit trade visits to Australia.

[Boiler]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ary-flickr

From driving a tank to jogging in New York, the foreign secretary has made more than 700 appearances on the government’s Flickr account since taking up the job

And now apparently the reason Russia wants to go nuclear, according to Dmitry Peskov.

Where's my cricket bat?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Russia are obviously lying about this, but Truss is still an angel delight standard lightweight who ought to be replaced.

[Boiler]

Russia are obviously lying about this, but Truss is still an angel delight standard lightweight who ought to be replaced.

An insult to Angel Delight.

[Nigredo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60558048

Oh.

[kreuzberger]

I don't know what she said, I doubt she does, and I doubt that anyone thought it profound enough to record it, whatever it was.

She is a blockhead, make no mistake, but this isn't her war and she couldn't bear responsibility if she tried.

[Tubby Isaacs]

I don't know what she said, I doubt she does, and I doubt that anyone thought it profound enough to record it, whatever it was.

She is a blockhead, make no mistake, but this isn't her war and she couldn't bear responsibility if she tried.

Yep.

Quite an honour for her that of all the fall guys available, Putin thought "that Liz Truss looks a prospect!", mind.

[Watchman]

I think she’d already had her card marked by her knowledge of Russian geography, hence an easy target/fall guy

[Tubby Isaacs]

Good point.

It's like that bit in In The Loop where Tom Hollander blurts out "unforeseeable" and some heavy hitters in the US pick up on it. Except in an even funnier way.