Best Of

Accidental racism from Starmer.

https://x.com/lewis_goodall/status/2001262534545092623

Keir Starmer: "I have a Christmas message for Reform. If mysterious men from the east come bearing gifts...this time, report it to the police."

I see the intention... but it doesn't really work as a joke.

One of Starmer's biggest problems is that he seems entirely humourless. It is basically impossible to warm to him unless you're also a paid up member of the Fabian Human Rights Lawyer Lanyard Class

Ooh lanyards again! This is the edgy content we come here for.

I've worked in plenty of private sector offices where keycards were used. I never saw the need to wear it around my neck; nor did my colleagues. Isn't that what wallets are for holding?

Personally I had it embedded in the back of my wrist for maximum productivity enhancement

Back of the neck works better. Wrists can be severed.

You are Bud from The Diamond Age.

I hope not.

Did you recently have a medical procedure to your skull, and do you have -perhaps- a headache?

What comes over at this PMQs is Starmer's utter obsession with Farage and Reform

Dinner Party politics.

He ought to be obsessed with tackling the issues that are leading to Reform's rise. Reduce immigration, grow the economy so that living standards rise for all.

He has reduced immigration.

Lol. Put that on a bus and see how it goes down.....

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingjune2025

Net immigration year ending March 2023 = 944,000
Net immigration year ending June 2025 = 204,000

That's a 78% drop. If you want reduced immigration, Starmer has absolutely delivered reduced immigration. And the figures are still trending downwards.

Why miss out 2024 which was 345,000

The reduction is the result of the conservative tightening rules and little to do with Starmer

The fact still remains it was the Conservatives who oversaw a massive spike in immigration, by far the biggest increase ever.

Also, there were several on here in 2023/24 who claimed a Labour government would introduce an open doors immigration policy. Many of the same group who told us the IMF would be running the country by now.

Labour have been disappointing but still a huge improvement on the previous government.

£570mn a year for Erasmus?! I see the Chagos negotiators have already found a new job in government.

I have no problem re-joining Eramus but it seems strange that our granddaughter spent her penultimate Leeds degree course in 2024 in Turin University so what is the difference that will cost £570million pa ?

The £570m is the membership fee.

Taking money from the working class and giving it to the children of the middle classes.

For the first time in my life I am contemplating voting Labour.

Slowly but surely Starmer is unravelling Brexit.

Erasmus is a euro-federalist creation machine so money well spent.

I enjoyed it a lot. I got to spend a year in Marseilles instead of Durham. I learned shitloads about French literature and culture while taking massive amounts of PEDs and racing as semi-pro cyclist.

That the Tories have come out publicly against this small improvement in opportunity for our young people (cf. Cleverley on today’s WATO) does them no credit, and simply reminds us that so far they have learned very little from all of their past mistakes.

It’s not obvious that it’s good value for money

Our granddaughter studied for a year in Turin University in 2024 as part of her Leeds degree so I do not understand what Eramus adds for over £500 million

Accidental racism from Starmer.

https://x.com/lewis_goodall/status/2001262534545092623

Keir Starmer: "I have a Christmas message for Reform. If mysterious men from the east come bearing gifts...this time, report it to the police."

I see the intention... but it doesn't really work as a joke.

One of Starmer's biggest problems is that he seems entirely humourless. It is basically impossible to warm to him unless you're also a paid up member of the Fabian Human Rights Lawyer Lanyard Class

Ooh lanyards again! This is the edgy content we come here for.

I've worked in plenty of private sector offices where keycards were used. I never saw the need to wear it around my neck; nor did my colleagues. Isn't that what wallets are for holding?

Personally I had it embedded in the back of my wrist for maximum productivity enhancement

Back of the neck works better. Wrists can be severed.

You are Bud from The Diamond Age.

Well, at least the Tories have found their floor?

Broadly. Imo, Labour continue to leak support, Tories are still at 'core' but certainty to vote amongst core firming (thus bumping VI) alongside Badenochs figures improving, Greens picking up WNV/DNV, Corbyn curious and Labour defectors which is restricting Reform/taking some of their 'NOTA' who are near ceiling and LDs are drifting somewhat aimlessly whilst they work out best approach

I'd mostly agree, except I would say the LDs are drifting aimlessly so much as have maxed out their support. Despite the common accusation at election time being they are no different from Labour that's not how they are perceived in many places, and they've already swept most of the southern anti-Tory vote, whilst those areas who want more exciting non-Tory options have Reform, Greens, or Corbyn's mob (plus PC and SNP in specific regions).

Certainly the LDs have a tricky job to advance. How well they defend whats currently theirs will be interesting

The good news for the Lib Dems is they scarcely register in 550 seats. It makes it easy to concentrate resources in the 72 seats they hold, and the 30 they have a fair chance in.

The bad news is that's the limit. They have a substantial niche vote, of well to do, centrist voters. But, they have very little appeal beyond that niche.

Thats simply not true. LD votes are heavily weighted to certain seats for sure, but the demographics of the LD vote are much less skewed by other demographic markers such as age, SE class, education etc than other parties, at least in England.

There's a lot more potential LD voters out there if they can be convinced that LDs have a decent chance of winning.

That isn't really true. At the last general election the LDs did best with ABs and voters earning over £70k. Indeed the LDs did 5% better with ABs than DEs, whereas Labour only did 2% better with ABs than DEs, the Greens 1% better with ABs than DEs and the Tories 4% better with ABs than DEs.

Only Reform had a bigger social divide, doing 9% better with DEs than ABs and 10% better with C2s than ABs.
https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/49978-how-britain-voted-in-the-2024-general-election

In conclusion.
Analysing UK voting behaviour by class is an irrelevant hangover from the fifties and sixties.

In terms of Tory and Labour and Green yes, the age gap is more relevant with them, in terms of LDs and Reform though the class divide remains.

The LDs are now the party of posh upper middle class Remainers most of all and Reform the party of working class Leavers

The LDs only chance of growing their support is to spread from Waitrose to Booths.

Reform has got Lidl and Aldi sown up. They need Netto to make another comeback, and they'll be nailed-on for a majority.

The Greens have abandoned the Organic Farmers' Market and are now targeting the bins round the back of the local convenience store.

What comes over at this PMQs is Starmer's utter obsession with Farage and Reform

Dinner Party politics.

He ought to be obsessed with tackling the issues that are leading to Reform's rise. Reduce immigration, grow the economy so that living standards rise for all.

He has reduced immigration.

Lol. Put that on a bus and see how it goes down.....

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingjune2025

Net immigration year ending March 2023 = 944,000
Net immigration year ending June 2025 = 204,000

That's a 78% drop. If you want reduced immigration, Starmer has absolutely delivered reduced immigration. And the figures are still trending downwards.

Why miss out 2024 which was 345,000

The reduction is the result of the conservative tightening rules and little to do with Starmer

The fact still remains it was the Conservatives who oversaw a massive spike in immigration, by far the biggest increase ever.

Also, there were several on here in 2023/24 who claimed a Labour government would introduce an open doors immigration policy. Many of the same group who told us the IMF would be running the country by now.

Labour have been disappointing but still a huge improvement on the previous government.

The risk premium on gilts is now higher than it was under Liz Truss. Labour have smashed the economy, into tiny little pieces and the only "winners" are benefit claimants and public sector workers.

The 'smashed into tiny little pieces' economy still grew over the last 12 months, the FTSE is 20% up since the election, the Economic Inactivity rate has declined.

I am not saying it's a rosy picture overall, far from it, but 'smashed into tiny little pieces' is hyperbole bullshit.

She was a terrible candidate. But people like @kinabalu were very disapproving when I told people that ahead of time.

They should have run a Republican. What were they thinking. Bloody self-indulgent Dems!

Any case, bit of a cheap shot but I like it. I'm fronting my very own "people like" grouping.

Few attain this ✊️

No she was just a terrible candidate. She was unpopular and ineffective in California - and those were the people who knew her best

Here's the nutshell. Biden put the party in a hole by clinging on. It then pretty much had to be Harris. She fought a good campaign but was handicapped by her start point, the cost of living crisis, and her own limitations. And she lost. A small fraction the other way in the rustbelt would have flipped it but so what, she lost. Terrible candidate, mediocre candidate, good candidate, whatever. I'd say mediocre myself fwiw. One thing's for sure, all the warnings from the Dem campaign about Trump were correct and then some.

She was a terrible candidate. But people like @kinabalu were very disapproving when I told people that ahead of time.

They should have run a Republican. What were they thinking. Bloody self-indulgent Dems!

Any case, bit of a cheap shot but I like it. I'm fronting my very own "people like" grouping.

Few attain this ✊️

No she was just a terrible candidate. She was unpopular and ineffective in California - and those were the people who knew her best

Well, she outperformed my expectations.

Albeit, my expectations were very, very low.

There are a dozen good reasons why shouldn't be the Democratic candidate. Here are my top two.

1. When she ran in a competitive Democratic primary, she didn't even make it to the first caucus in Iowa. That's how bad she was. Her poll ratings were terrible. A young gay Mayor from a small town in Indiana was outpolling her 3-1.

2. Of all the potential candidates, she was the most complicit in covering up Biden's dementia. I don't think it's in the Democrat's interests to be reminded of that.

Point 1. kind of makes this discussion pointless. Harris will not be the Dem candidate unless she wins the primaries this time. Which she won't.