Luxon goes to London to get campaign ideas

Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, July 8th, 2022 - 19 comments
Categories: boris johnson, Christopher Luxon, national, uk politics, uncategorized - Tags:

Chris Luxon is visiting the United Kingdom to gather new ideas.

He obviously thinks that the United Kingdom and in particular England is a haven for conservative ideology.  Although it is currently turning out to be a classic example of how bad a clusterfuck conservative leadership can achieve and you really have to wonder at the virtue of seeking any sort of guidance from Boris Johnson’s Government.

He has also visited Ireland no doubt wanting to check out tax breaks for multi nationals.  John Key’s plan to make New Zealand a bolt hole for the wealthy may be back on the table.

The things Luxon has chosen to comment on are interesting.  Like he supports Brexit even though it is the reason that the UK economy is tanking.

And he also wants to raise productivity, but it seems that the tools he wishes to use are the winding back of wages and conditions.  From Toby Manhire at the Spinoff:

Luxon raised concern about the added costs being “passed on to business”, pointing to “national income insurance coming at us, things like national awards coming at us … extending sick leave, minimum wages, more public holidays”. It was a “government that has no people in it with any business experience and it gets thrown over the fence and actually those costs get passed on to businesses”, he said. The challenge was “unleashing enterprise”, he said, “because we’ve kind of got into a place where the public look to the government for all their answers [and] now businesses are getting soft and looking to the government for all their answers.”

Fancy describing businesses as “soft” and advocating essentially for the reduction in the minimum wage and the roll back of sickness and holiday entitlements.

Meanwhile it appears that Jacinda Ardern is Kryptonite for conservative leaders.  She met with Johnson 6 days ago, just enough time for the Kryptonite to take effect.

And she also met with former Prime Minister Theresa May shortly before May’s demise as leader.

From Claire Trevett at the Herald:

Ardern had met with May on May 16 in 2019 while in Paris for the Christchurch Call summit – nine days before May announced she would resign after her struggles to deliver on a Brexit deal. Ardern had also visited her at 10 Downing Street in January of the same year.

She has had the same effect on Bill English, Simon Bridges, Todd Muller and Judith Collins.  I wonder how long Luxon will last?

19 comments on “Luxon goes to London to get campaign ideas ”

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  1. Robert Guyton 1
    8 July 2022 at 8:44 am

    I hope he meets Jonathan Pie.

  2. ianmac 2
    8 July 2022 at 9:49 am

    I watched most of Luxon's demolition of NZ last night and wondered if his party welcomes his line of nasty misleading tosh. Imagine him using that in a public Election Debate.

    Made me think of the rhetoric coming from the anti-vaxers and the mob on Parliament grounds. He could be their cheerleader.

  3. Blazer 3
    8 July 2022 at 10:05 am

    Clustopher….Luxon!

  4. AB 4
    8 July 2022 at 10:12 am

    This numbskull's views on abortion by no means exhaust his capacity for anti-human extremism.

  5. roy cartland 5
    8 July 2022 at 10:53 am

    Luxon knows he doesn't have to win over everyone, just a critical, powerful few. It's the same old National tactic. Trump, Bolso, Scomo played it brilliantly; Boris so far is playing it well too.

    In the end they all crumble, or do they? Where even is the end these days?

  6. Robert Guyton 6
    8 July 2022 at 11:31 am

    Looking to emulate Johnson, Luxon?

    Muss-up your hair!

    Worked for Boris.

  7. logie97 7
    8 July 2022 at 12:18 pm

    Presumably this junket is from the public trough.

    I may have missed it, but is Seymour calling it out?

    • Lettuce 7.1
      8 July 2022 at 10:22 pm

      It is indeed a taxpayer funded junket. The Leader of the Opposition is entitled to one fully funded overseas "fact finding" trip per three year term.

      Luxon was wise enough to blunt any charges of excessive parliamentary waste from Seymour by making sure that he went to visit a UK charter school in London.

  8. Sanctuary 8
    8 July 2022 at 1:18 pm

    Going to the ZUK for ideas on education is just bonkers, unless you are looking for answers that reinforce your preconceived prejudices. According to the OECD the UK has a worse education system than ours.

    While Luxon is in Europe, why didn't he go to the Scandinavian countries to see how they do things? Because he was afraid they'd tell him things he didn't want to hear, like spend more money or get rid of standardised testing or abolish private schools?

    Luxon seems to me to me to be no Key 2.0. He comes across as very mediocre, as having little intellectual curiosity, rather closed minded and as being a rigid social conservative who dislikes the poor. He seems most comfortable talking corporate kumbaya to sympathetic monocultural audiences – which I suppose makes sense since he is your boringly typical bullet headed white cracker Evangelical from the big end of town.

    The MSM will soon tire of him once they realise he isn't the liberal business messiah they so desperately want.

    • tc 8.1
      8 July 2022 at 2:44 pm

      The MSM would've tired of him already in another era having seen the new emporers wearing the same outfit….the era that had proper journalism and objectivity.

      They'll fall in behind as they always do come election with their setting of: If lab greens then bad else if nact then good.

      A simple message they thrive at.

    • Hanswurst 8.2
      9 July 2022 at 2:08 am

      Luxon seems to me to me to be no Key 2.0. […]

      No John Key, then?

      […] He comes across as very mediocre, as having little intellectual curiosity, rather closed minded and as being a rigid social conservative who dislikes the poor. He seems most comfortable talking corporate kumbaya to sympathetic monocultural audiences […]

      Oh, so he is John Key 2.0. I'm confused.

  9. Patricia Bremner 9
    8 July 2022 at 1:43 pm

    Luxon is not Key.

    Key knew he was guilding the lily.

    Luxon believes he is the lily.

  10. ianmac 10
    8 July 2022 at 2:47 pm

    As Roy points out, we are not his audience. But rubbishing NZ begs the question about who would applaud such a spiel.

  11. roblogic 11
    8 July 2022 at 7:20 pm

    The Gnats' mission in opposition is sabotage and dirty tricks. Luxon is more desperate and hamfisted than Key. Along with their pals in the MSM running a relentless campaign of negativity, it's the only way that "zero-policies" Luxon has a chance

    https://twitter.com/anni3ru0k/status/1545150817879003136?s=21&t=klXnPisPzNqFClCFKehwtw

  12. Tiger Mountain 12
    9 July 2022 at 10:08 pm

    Baldrick is certainly no Sirkey. But, the media are still giving him an easy ride, even if not quite the hot towel and rosewater treatment the pony puller in chief got for so many years.

    As election 2023 approaches his Upper Room weirdness needs to be highlighted more along with the nasty policies of a natzo/ACT Govt.

  13. Chris 13
    11 July 2022 at 4:32 pm

    Wow, maybe Luxon is dumb enough after all for most of us to notice? I thought we were so stupid we'd make him PM in a heartbeat. It must be something to do with stupidity being relative.