Current Events > David Cameron named UK Foreign Secretary

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https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/13/former-uk-prime-minister-david-cameron-made-foreign-minister-in-surprise-political-comeback.html

Former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron was appointed foreign secretary Monday in a sweeping reshuffle of current Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks cabinet.

Downing Street confirmed the appointment after Cameron was seen walking into No. 10 the official residence and office of the British prime minister to meet with Sunak following the abrupt sacking of Suella Braverman as interior minister.

James Cleverly, who formerly served as foreign secretary, was appointed Bravermans successor.

The reshuffle comes as Sunak attempts to reassert his authority, with his ruling Conservative Party trailing opposition Labour in opinion polls ahead of a general election due before January 2025.

Cameron served as prime minister from 2010 to 2016 and presided over Britains controversial Brexit vote, which ultimately led to his resignation.

Only current MPs or members of the House of Lords can become government ministers. Cameron quit as a Member of Parliament in 2016, but King Charles III on Monday confirmed him as a life peer, making him a lord and so enabling him to assume the role of foreign secretary.

During his tenure as leader, Cameron was viewed as fervently pro-China. It is as yet unclear how his foreign policy agenda will adapt against a backdrop of increased Sino skepticism among Western nations and ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East.

We are facing a daunting set of international challenges, including the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East, Cameron said in a statement.

At this time of profound global change, it has rarely been more important for this country to stand by our allies, strengthen our partnerships and make sure our voice is heard.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/abbeb0b6.jpg

That's gross

That's Lord Cameron to you.

But nothing says democracy like bringing in an old Prime Minister, telling the King to make him a lord for life so he can save your failing government.

This is so fucking disgusting

Trelve posted...

That's Lord Cameron to you.

But nothing says democracy like bringing in an old Prime Minister, telling the King to make him a lord for life so he can save your failing government.

Yeah, if I lived in the UK, that would piss me off royally.

So a lord is kinda like a senator or something?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/520cbc86.jpg

St0rmFury posted...

So a lord is kinda like a senator or something?

Roughly. There are significant differences though. One of which is that Lords are usually for life, and a Senator is 6 year terms.

The Senate also cannot introduce spending bills in the US (only approve or suggest House amendment) but a Lord can introduce a spending bill in the UK Parliament.

St0rmFury posted...

So a lord is kinda like a senator or something?

Kind of

Lords are for life, appointed with no public vote and are immensely corrupt

Lords can't actually create laws, they just view laws that the government made and alter them. It's basically rich old white men ensuring that no law can possibly pass without their approval.

A complete kick in the balls to democracy and something the UK should be endlessly ashamed of.

Cameron is the cowardly fucker who gave us Brexit because he was scared he would lose a few MPs to Nigel Farage.

Sunak doesn't have a lot of options when it comes to filling cabinet posts. A lot of Tory MPs are low calibre seat fillers who got elected under Boris Johnson and plan to leave at the next election (most will be voted out anyway). Of the rest, some hate his guts for stabbing Johnson in the back, some occupy the same repulsive positions as Braverman, and some are biding their time and don't want to be associated with his dying government.

The list of alternatives would not have been an impressive one. Cameron is a lot more socially liberal than most Tories, if that means anything, which it won't.

Dodgy Dave again eh.

UnfairRepresent posted...

Kind of

Lords are for life, appointed with no public vote and are immensely corrupt

Lords can't actually create laws, they just view laws that the government made and alter them. It's basically rich old white men ensuring that no law can possibly pass without their approval.

A complete kick in the balls to democracy and something the UK should be endlessly ashamed of.

I don't know what's more shameful. The fact that we have an unelected upper chamber full of cronies, hereditary landowners, and party donors.

Or the fact they sometimes they have been the only thing that has put the brakes on some of the more disgusting pieces of Tory legislation over the past few years.

Was he the one that fucked the pig?

itcheyness posted...

Was he the one that fucked the pig?

He was the one who stuck his dick in a dead pig's mouth, yes.

That's upper class initiation rituals for you.

Baron Pigfucker

St0rmFury posted...

So a lord is kinda like a senator or something?

For someone to hold an Office of State in the UK, they have to be a Member of Parliament or the House of Lords.

They can't just be appointed like they are in the US.

ai123 posted...

For someone to hold an Office of State in the UK, they have to be a Member of Parliament or the House of Lords.

They can't just be appointed like they are in the US.

Guess it's different over here.

My country is a former British colony so we inherited the Westminster system, but we don't have the house of lords. We also appoint senators to be ministers.

I'm not sure what's the more alarming indictment of the current government - that there was apparently not a single elected MP in the majority party deemed competent enough by their own side to take over as Foreign Secretary; or that things have gotten so shit that bringing David "Cause This Entire Mess With Brexit Then Walk Away Singing" Cameron back into the fold genuinely feels like bringing in a safe pair of hands compared to what we've had lately.

But, to recap, a PM who wasn't even elected as leader of his party by the party members is now giving one of the highest jobs in Government to a chap who hasn't been elected anything by anyone and things are so fucked lately that this generally seems like a positive when compared any alternatives we have until we have an election and can vote these fuckwits out.

Of course, the most cynical likelihood is that competency doesn't really come into it, and that this is all a play by the more senior Tories to fast track a peerage for Cameron, so that he is then in a position where he's eligible to be put up for party leader when the Tories are crushed in the election and Rishi resigns or is forced to step down. The top brass have seen the way the wind is blowing and will be desperate for there to be anyone at all that can run against Braverman for Party Leader once they're out of power.

The truth is that among hardcore conservatives. Braverman is more popular than Sunak

Britian should abolish the House of Lords

ai123 posted...

He was the one who stuck his dick in a dead pig's mouth, yes.

That's upper class initiation rituals for you.

Oh, so Black Mirror didn't make that shit up. >_>

ai123 posted...

Cameron is the cowardly fucker who gave us Brexit because he was scared he would lose a few MPs to Nigel Farage.

You'd think that alone would be disqualifying for any future political position. Only the head in the sand "true Brexit has never been enacted" types still defend it.

Solar_Crimson posted...

Oh, so Black Mirror didn't make that shit up. >_>

I think it's more of a case of life imitating art. That episode came out before the allegations against David Cameron did, if I recall.

Lmao fuck

UnfairRepresent posted...

The truth is that among hardcore conservatives. Braverman is more popular than Sunak

Hence why I think the upper brass are trying to weasel Cameron back in. Braverman would hijack the party and drag it even further into far right lunacy than it already is. This feels like a last ditch attempt to walk things back and reclaim the party from the lunatic fringe.

There are parallels to when the last vestiges of the old-guard Republicans tried to bring Romney back to the public conversation a few years ago - at the time he seemed he was an awful option, but he looks underservedly sensible now in comparison to the nightmare we've been living in the intervening years.

I don't think it will work - like with Romney, the party's voter base have become too openly vile and mask off to go back. And honestly, like the Republicans I think the Tories have made their bed, now the re-election chances acan die in it.

TomClark posted...

Hence why I think the upper brass are trying to weasel Cameron back in. Braverman would hijack the party and drag it even further into far right lunacy than it already is. This feels like a last ditch attempt to walk things back and reclaim the party from the lunatic fringe.

To the extent that the American press has gotten that deeply (ha!) into Cameron's appointment, that has been the take. The Braverman story has been news, but not the story behind the story. Gotta check the British press for that.

UnfairRepresent posted...

The truth is that among hardcore conservatives. Braverman is more popular than Sunak

But Badenoch is more popular than Braverman.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7064dbe6.jpg
Here we go again.

He is also now a lord for life and can't be questioned due to not being an MP.

The guy who isolated us from the world is now representing us to that same world.

Trelve posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7064dbe6.jpg
Here we go again.

Ah yes, the education minister who taught kids how to give the middle finger.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/4ad90452.jpg
And acted as a character witness for someone who made violent threats towards another MP.

Such lovely people in that party.

Is he even in the British Parliament at the moment? I didn't know they allowed outsiders or lords to have this kind of thing.

brestugo posted...

Yeah, if I lived in the UK, that would piss me off royally.

Heh, nice

Starks posted...

Is he even in the British Parliament at the moment? I didn't know they allowed outsiders or lords to have this kind of thing.

the UK has 2 houses of Parliament
the main one is the House of Commons for politicians elected to represent their region
the secondary one to consult and to amend legislation is the House of Lords
so a Lord is in the British Parliament and so does qualify.

A common idea among politicians is to "burying bad news" - which means making an unpopular announcement when it will be less noticed because of other more noteworthy events at the same time.

This is a more moral variant of that - "burying" Suella Braverman.
It is believed that she had been deliberately saying things to get herself fired and hoping to use the publicity from her "martyrdom" to launch another attempt at leadership of the party
But almost all the UK newspapers today instead have a large picture of David Cameron on the cover as her sacking isn't as big news.

UnfairRepresent posted...

Kind of

Lords are for life, appointed with no public vote and are immensely corrupt

Lords can't actually create laws, they just view laws that the government made and alter them. It's basically rich old white men ensuring that no law can possibly pass without their approval.

A complete kick in the balls to democracy and something the UK should be endlessly ashamed of.

This is deeply false. The House of Lords can introduce laws, just like the House of Commons can.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/legislative-process-taking-a-bill-through-parliament:

Most bills can begin either in the House of Commons or in the House of Lords. The government will make this decision based on the need to make sure each House has a balanced programme of legislation to consider each session. However, certain bills must start in the Commons, such as a bill whose main aim is the imposition of taxation (the annual Finance bill is an example of this).