This R&W polling looks promising for Starmer – politicalbetting.com
How would British voters feel if the Labour Party were to win the next General Election? (13 August)Satisfied: 48%Unsatisfied: 24% Neither: 22% pic.twitter.com/O5f7sSFINf
This is an important point: Starmer isn't as unpopular among the general public as he seems to be among PBers. And they've had enough of the current government
This is an important point: Starmer isn't as unpopular among the general public as he seems to be among PBers. And they've had enough of the current government
And the popularity of Blair among the general public has been overstated. He was very popular in the London media. The reception was a bit cooler in the country at large.
This is an important point: Starmer isn't as unpopular among the general public as he seems to be among PBers. And they've had enough of the current government
I don't think Starmer is unpopular amongst most PBers, he is unpopular amongst Corbynites and hardcore Leavers and Scottish Nationalists mainly
This question is not meaningful unless we have a matching "How would British voters feel if the Conservative Party were to win the next General Election?"
And as I keep saying, possibly to @MikeSmithson's irritation, we should be taking the starting benchmark as the General Election of June 2017 not the 'Get Brexit Done' referendum of December 2019.
The last proper General Election in the United Kingdom resulted in a hung parliament.
Labour are going to win an outright majority. It's just a question of how big.
This is an important point: Starmer isn't as unpopular among the general public as he seems to be among PBers. And they've had enough of the current government
And the popularity of Blair among the general public has been overstated. He was very popular in the London media. The reception was a bit cooler in the country at large.
Personally thought he was awful and never voted for him. A song and dance man who stepped forward to trip the light fantastic. All schmooze and no substance.
Starmer has substance. Just lacks the same charisma.
I know which I prefer, especially after that schmuck Boris Johnson.
Latest VI from r&w is lab 48 con 28 Lib 10. Don't think this question adds much to that, and I would be much more interested in same q about the Tories
This is an important point: Starmer isn't as unpopular among the general public as he seems to be among PBers. And they've had enough of the current government
And the popularity of Blair among the general public has been overstated. He was very popular in the London media. The reception was a bit cooler in the country at large.
Personally thought he was awful and never voted for him. A song and dance man who stepped forward to trip the light fantastic. All schmooze and no substance.
Starmer has substance. Just lacks the same charisma.
I know which I prefer, especially after that schmuck Boris Johnson.
I did laugh when someone referred to New Labour as the Third Way. Someone from New Labour, that is.
Latest VI from r&w is lab 48 con 28 Lib 10. Don't think this question adds much to that, and I would be much more interested in same q about the Tories
Personally, wrt the Tories I’d be looking beyond ‘unsatisfied’ for a downright suicidal option.
The interesting aspect of the polling is if you add the Tory and Reform numbers which are 33% it shows that there’s a section of the public who would be voting for them but aren’t really that bothered if Labour did win.
I see the same question was put to those polled re the Tories .
35% satisfied which is higher than the combined Tory and Reform . Deeply troubling !
Yes, interesting and counter-intuitive that whereas people would be pleased by 2-1 if Labour one, they are almost exactly balanced about what they'd feel if the Conservatives won. That conflicts with the widespread view that most people don't feel inspired by Labour but definitely want the Tories out.
Perhaps the explanation is that a bunch of people merely feel that a clear election result would be good so we can move on, and therefore say "satisfied" to both?
This is an important point: Starmer isn't as unpopular among the general public as he seems to be among PBers. And they've had enough of the current government
And the popularity of Blair among the general public has been overstated. He was very popular in the London media. The reception was a bit cooler in the country at large.
He was very good at appealing to a certain type of English middle class in key English marginals outside Met areas.
Indeed, that's why Labour retained a majority in 2005.
Yes, interesting and counter-intuitive that whereas people would be pleased by 2-1 if Labour one, they are almost exactly balanced about what they'd feel if the Conservatives won. That conflicts with the widespread view that most people don't feel inspired by Labour but definitely want the Tories out.
Perhaps the explanation is that a bunch of people merely feel that a clear election result would be good so we can move on, and therefore say "satisfied" to both?
Also, that any people aren't that bothered either way, perhaps as the party policies of Lab and Tory are not far apart.
This is an important point: Starmer isn't as unpopular among the general public as he seems to be among PBers. And they've had enough of the current government
And the popularity of Blair among the general public has been overstated. He was very popular in the London media. The reception was a bit cooler in the country at large.
I disagree, in 1997 Blair's win was like Jesus Christ Superstar and the second coming. After Diana died his approval ratings were higher than any PMs before or since. He also got 47%NEV in the 1995 locals, Starmer got just 35% NEV for Labour in the equivalent councils up this May.
Many voters are voting LD for example who would have voted for Blair and New Labour in the 1990s and Blair also won white working class areas like Harlow, Basildon, Dartford and Walsall and Dudley the Tories held in May. Starmer will probably win but not with great enthusiasm for him just a desire to get rid of the Tories, in 1997 by contrast there was real enthusiasm for the charismatic Blair too which lasted largely until the Iraq War
I am trying to work out what the peak comedy outcome for the next GE is. I think it's a tory/ drumbasher coalition with a majority of 1.
Which would however be just enough to give them a majority in the English bit of parliament *IF* the other parties, esp. Labour, followed the SNP self-denying ordinance. It's when one party has that majority, but none overall, that things get even more interesting, even comedic.
Yes, interesting and counter-intuitive that whereas people would be pleased by 2-1 if Labour one, they are almost exactly balanced about what they'd feel if the Conservatives won. That conflicts with the widespread view that most people don't feel inspired by Labour but definitely want the Tories out.
Perhaps the explanation is that a bunch of people merely feel that a clear election result would be good so we can move on, and therefore say "satisfied" to both?
It could simply be that they'd be 'satisfied' the Tories are out, and not 'satisfied' by the fact Labour are in.
In other words, the question could be read both ways.
I am trying to work out what the peak comedy outcome for the next GE is. I think it's a tory/ drumbasher coalition with a majority of 1.
Tory/SNP coalition with the promise of Indyref2.
That would never happen and I would rather go into Opposition than that. In any case the swing from SNP to Labour since 2019 in current polls is almost as big as the swing from Conservative to Labour
I am trying to work out what the peak comedy outcome for the next GE is. I think it's a tory/ drumbasher coalition with a majority of 1.
Tory/SNP coalition with the promise of Indyref2.
That would never happen and I would rather go into Opposition than that
The Tories were prepared to the destroy the Union to deliver Brexit, so they'll do the same to stay in power.
Your favourite Tories were the ones who put the future of the union on the table by giving the SNP a referendum, not to mention the ones who gambled on the EU referendum.
Yes, interesting and counter-intuitive that whereas people would be pleased by 2-1 if Labour one, they are almost exactly balanced about what they'd feel if the Conservatives won. That conflicts with the widespread view that most people don't feel inspired by Labour but definitely want the Tories out.
Perhaps the explanation is that a bunch of people merely feel that a clear election result would be good so we can move on, and therefore say "satisfied" to both?
It could simply be that they'd be 'satisfied' the Tories are out, and not 'satisfied' by the fact Labour are in.
In other words, the question could be read both ways.
There are just so many ways of interpreting that chart as to the motives of those giving the answers aren't there.
Eg what about all the voters not voting Tory/Lab. How did they reply? It could be any one of 3 choices.
I am trying to work out what the peak comedy outcome for the next GE is. I think it's a tory/ drumbasher coalition with a majority of 1.
Tory/SNP coalition with the promise of Indyref2.
That would never happen and I would rather go into Opposition than that
The Tories were prepared to the destroy the Union to deliver Brexit, so they'll do the same to stay in power.
Your favourite Tories were the ones who put the future of the union on the table by giving the SNP a referendum, not to mention the ones who gambled on the EU referendum.
When you start talking about elections and referenda as "gambling on the result" - you have already lost.
Remain lost because they didn't have a referendum earlier. Too much of "we'll just keep the Head Count away from this one"
How would I feel about another Tory victory? “Not satisfied” doesn’t fully capture the feeling. Nor would something like “distraught”. It would be more like “Oh, FFS”. The emotional equivalent of seeing yet another England batting collapse in the 90s or another loss on penalties in [any decade]. Pissed off yet somehow resigned.
Yes, interesting and counter-intuitive that whereas people would be pleased by 2-1 if Labour one, they are almost exactly balanced about what they'd feel if the Conservatives won. That conflicts with the widespread view that most people don't feel inspired by Labour but definitely want the Tories out.
Perhaps the explanation is that a bunch of people merely feel that a clear election result would be good so we can move on, and therefore say "satisfied" to both?
It could simply be that they'd be 'satisfied' the Tories are out, and not 'satisfied' by the fact Labour are in.
In other words, the question could be read both ways.
There are just so many ways of interpreting that chart as to the motives of those giving the answers aren't there.
Eg what about all the voters not voting Tory/Lab. How did they reply? It could be any one of 3 choices.
Don't know. All I can read into it is a very clear desire to eject the existing administration by a majority of voters.
There seems to be a pretty healthy debate on Ukraine today that doesn't involve vituperative (nice word) shutting down of arguments.
Actually quite surprising we don't have at least 2 or 3 parallel debates going on. Not even on LTNs or housebuilding.
As Dura points out most of the so called popular front for the liberation of Ukraine (aka people who don't trust any assurances Russia might give in a future peace deal) are not into vituperation. I assume I'm considered part of that camp, and I don't come on here with the purpose of insulting or having enjoyable snarky banter. It's a matter of taste - some people enjoy it, some don't. I come here because there's an interesting range of opinions and experience.
I think that some here do respond to any non-hawkish comment on Ukraine by speculating on the motives of the writer, which does have a chilling effect, especially for those of us who choose to be identifiable. So I don't comment very often. But I'll take your invitation as encouragement, and FWIW my view is:
(1) Russia's invasion is mostly pretty straightforward imperialism - "we want your territory and we'll take it by force of arms". As such, it's appalling. (2) Russia did have reason to complain about the way NATO was expanding up to its border (in much the same way as the US got worried about Cuba), and could reasonably have objected vehemently but peacefully to Ukraine joining in. That option was closed off by the invasion (which is why the invasion was stupid as well as appalling), and Ukraine should be welcomed into NATO once the war is either over or frozen, so that any future Russian attacks become an attack on the whole alliance and the invasion is seen to have failed in its primary aim. (3) Our dislike of the invasion shouldn't lead us to think that Ukrainian nationalism is wonderful and needs to be embraced in toto. The willingness of nationalists to continue to celebrate Hitler collaborators like Bandera is repulsive, the prewar treatment of the Russophile minority was dubious and the insistence on regaining every inch of disputed territory regardless of the views of current residents* is not a war aim we should prioritise. (4) Some Ukrainian sources admit that much of the area that is not yet recaptured has significant pro-Russian sympathies, and we could do with some more non-aligned media reporting from the east as we're getting an unremitting stream of one-sided coverage. There was one al-Jazeera piece some months back, which IIRC basically said that the Russians had some active support but the majority simply wanted the war to stop without being counter-liberated - which seems plausible, even given the constraints on people speaking their minds. (5) We should therefore aim to encourage a cease-fire ultimately followed by referendums in each region on where they want to belong - the Slesvig-Holstein solution. We should continue to give Ukraine support to make further Russian advances impossible, but shouldn't escalate with new weapon systems or seek to encourage the maximal war aim in (3) by suggesting we'll give more and more until total victory (since that would boost the "no compromise" approach),
It's a minority view, and I have zero influence on the issue, so it doesn't actually matter what I think, but maybe it helps in the interest of a full-spectrum debate.
* As in all referendums, the issue of "what is a current resident" will be a problem if we ever get that far - if pro-Ukraine residents have fled to the west of the country, do they get a vote in what happens in the east? But we're a very long way from even discussing that.
A measured comment from Nick - too measured IMO. A quick response.
1. Yes. Indeed, it's pretty much entirely imperialism, both practically and psychologically. Indeed, worse, it's ethnic nationalism aimed at Russifying Ukraine and eliminating Ukraine as a nation. (This is probably an unachievable objective for Russia now but that was the aim).
2. Russia had little reason to complain. Indeed, in retrospect, NATO should have expanded further and faster. The war would not be taking place now if it had. The failure to incorporate Ukraine was tacit agreement that Ukraine fell within Russia's legitimate sphere of interest and, as such, if push came to shove, it could intervene there because the West would only offer token opposition. The false-equality drawn here should not be drawn. NATO expansion has happened at the request of the states joining; it is wholly different from the Russian imperialist power projection.
3. True. However, in an existential crisis, you take the allies you can find - as Churchill said of Stalin and the devil.
4/5. The areas captured by Russia have been subject to extensive ethnic cleansing / importation. They may have had Russian sympathies pre-2022 but that is of no consequence now. Both as a matter of justice and of consequence, Russia should not be allowed to gain from the war, irrespective of opinions beforehand, never mind of Russians who have occupied displaced or murdered Ukrainians. As and when the lost territories are regained, Russian settlers or collaborators need expelling. The precedent is there from Poland / Czechoslovakia post-WW2.
To go back to [1], this is (or was) aimed at being a genocidal war, with the elimination of Ukraine as a nation. That is not something that any fair person should compromise with, both on its own account and because perceived weakness will only lead to a further round later, when there is a less firm approach from the White House.
I am trying to work out what the peak comedy outcome for the next GE is. I think it's a tory/ drumbasher coalition with a majority of 1.
Tory/SNP coalition with the promise of Indyref2.
That would never happen and I would rather go into Opposition than that
The Tories were prepared to the destroy the Union to deliver Brexit, so they'll do the same to stay in power.
Oh really? Then how come Brexit occurred in 2020 yet Scotland and Northern Ireland are still in the UK?
Give it time but this polling tells you everything about the madness about the current version of the Tory party.
Irrelevant poll pushed by diehard Remainers like you to suggest a forced choice between Brexit and the Union which never existed.
For 3 years after Brexit the Union is still together
As I said, give it time, the Tory Party with the border in the Irish Sea have done more for Irish unity than the IRA ever managed.
Why do you think Norn Iron Unionists lost their shit over it?
In case you missed it Rishi negotiated the Windsor Framework to remove checks on goods going between GB and Northern Ireland and vice versa. They now only apply on goods going between GB and the Republic
I am trying to work out what the peak comedy outcome for the next GE is. I think it's a tory/ drumbasher coalition with a majority of 1.
Tory/SNP coalition with the promise of Indyref2.
That would never happen and I would rather go into Opposition than that
The Tories were prepared to the destroy the Union to deliver Brexit, so they'll do the same to stay in power.
Oh really? Then how come Brexit occurred in 2020 yet Scotland and Northern Ireland are still in the UK?
Give it time but this polling tells you everything about the madness about the current version of the Tory party.
Irrelevant poll pushed by diehard Remainers like you to suggest a forced choice between Brexit and the Union which never existed.
For 3 years after Brexit the Union is still together
As I said, give it time, the Tory Party with the border in the Irish Sea have done more for Irish unity than the IRA ever managed.
Why do you think Norn Iron Unionists lost their shit over it?
In case you missed it Rishi negotiated the Windsor Framework to remove checks on goods going between GB and Northern Ireland and vice versa. They now only apply on goods going between GB and the Republic
So Northern Ireland is different to the rest of the UK. Thanks for confirming that.
There seems to be a pretty healthy debate on Ukraine today that doesn't involve vituperative (nice word) shutting down of arguments.
Actually quite surprising we don't have at least 2 or 3 parallel debates going on. Not even on LTNs or housebuilding.
As Dura points out most of the so called popular front for the liberation of Ukraine (aka people who don't trust any assurances Russia might give in a future peace deal) are not into vituperation. I assume I'm considered part of that camp, and I don't come on here with the purpose of insulting or having enjoyable snarky banter. It's a matter of taste - some people enjoy it, some don't. I come here because there's an interesting range of opinions and experience.
I think that some here do respond to any non-hawkish comment on Ukraine by speculating on the motives of the writer, which does have a chilling effect, especially for those of us who choose to be identifiable. So I don't comment very often. But I'll take your invitation as encouragement, and FWIW my view is:
(1) Russia's invasion is mostly pretty straightforward imperialism - "we want your territory and we'll take it by force of arms". As such, it's appalling. (2) Russia did have reason to complain about the way NATO was expanding up to its border (in much the same way as the US got worried about Cuba), and could reasonably have objected vehemently but peacefully to Ukraine joining in. That option was closed off by the invasion (which is why the invasion was stupid as well as appalling), and Ukraine should be welcomed into NATO once the war is either over or frozen, so that any future Russian attacks become an attack on the whole alliance and the invasion is seen to have failed in its primary aim. (3) Our dislike of the invasion shouldn't lead us to think that Ukrainian nationalism is wonderful and needs to be embraced in toto. The willingness of nationalists to continue to celebrate Hitler collaborators like Bandera is repulsive, the prewar treatment of the Russophile minority was dubious and the insistence on regaining every inch of disputed territory regardless of the views of current residents* is not a war aim we should prioritise. (4) Some Ukrainian sources admit that much of the area that is not yet recaptured has significant pro-Russian sympathies, and we could do with some more non-aligned media reporting from the east as we're getting an unremitting stream of one-sided coverage. There was one al-Jazeera piece some months back, which IIRC basically said that the Russians had some active support but the majority simply wanted the war to stop without being counter-liberated - which seems plausible, even given the constraints on people speaking their minds. (5) We should therefore aim to encourage a cease-fire ultimately followed by referendums in each region on where they want to belong - the Slesvig-Holstein solution. We should continue to give Ukraine support to make further Russian advances impossible, but shouldn't escalate with new weapon systems or seek to encourage the maximal war aim in (3) by suggesting we'll give more and more until total victory (since that would boost the "no compromise" approach),
It's a minority view, and I have zero influence on the issue, so it doesn't actually matter what I think, but maybe it helps in the interest of a full-spectrum debate.
* As in all referendums, the issue of "what is a current resident" will be a problem if we ever get that far - if pro-Ukraine residents have fled to the west of the country, do they get a vote in what happens in the east? But we're a very long way from even discussing that.
A measured comment from Nick - too measured IMO. A quick response.
1. Yes. Indeed, it's pretty much entirely imperialism, both practically and psychologically. Indeed, worse, it's ethnic nationalism aimed at Russifying Ukraine and eliminating Ukraine as a nation. (This is probably an unachievable objective for Russia now but that was the aim).
2. Russia had little reason to complain. Indeed, in retrospect, NATO should have expanded further and faster. The war would not be taking place now if it had. The failure to incorporate Ukraine was tacit agreement that Ukraine fell within Russia's legitimate sphere of interest and, as such, if push came to shove, it could intervene there because the West would only offer token opposition. The false-equality drawn here should not be drawn. NATO expansion has happened at the request of the states joining; it is wholly different from the Russian imperialist power projection.
3. True. However, in an existential crisis, you take the allies you can find - as Churchill said of Stalin and the devil.
4/5. The areas captured by Russia have been subject to extensive ethnic cleansing / importation. They may have had Russian sympathies pre-2022 but that is of no consequence now. Both as a matter of justice and of consequence, Russia should not be allowed to gain from the war, irrespective of opinions beforehand, never mind of Russians who have occupied displaced or murdered Ukrainians. As and when the lost territories are regained, Russian settlers or collaborators need expelling. The precedent is there from Poland / Czechoslovakia post-WW2.
To go back to [1], this is (or was) aimed at being a genocidal war, with the elimination of Ukraine as a nation. That is not something that any fair person should compromise with, both on its own account and because perceived weakness will only lead to a further round later, when there is a less firm approach from the White House.
There seems to be a pretty healthy debate on Ukraine today that doesn't involve vituperative (nice word) shutting down of arguments.
Actually quite surprising we don't have at least 2 or 3 parallel debates going on. Not even on LTNs or housebuilding.
As Dura points out most of the so called popular front for the liberation of Ukraine (aka people who don't trust any assurances Russia might give in a future peace deal) are not into vituperation. I assume I'm considered part of that camp, and I don't come on here with the purpose of insulting or having enjoyable snarky banter. It's a matter of taste - some people enjoy it, some don't. I come here because there's an interesting range of opinions and experience.
I think that some here do respond to any non-hawkish comment on Ukraine by speculating on the motives of the writer, which does have a chilling effect, especially for those of us who choose to be identifiable. So I don't comment very often. But I'll take your invitation as encouragement, and FWIW my view is:
(1) Russia's invasion is mostly pretty straightforward imperialism - "we want your territory and we'll take it by force of arms". As such, it's appalling. (2) Russia did have reason to complain about the way NATO was expanding up to its border (in much the same way as the US got worried about Cuba), and could reasonably have objected vehemently but peacefully to Ukraine joining in. That option was closed off by the invasion (which is why the invasion was stupid as well as appalling), and Ukraine should be welcomed into NATO once the war is either over or frozen, so that any future Russian attacks become an attack on the whole alliance and the invasion is seen to have failed in its primary aim. (3) Our dislike of the invasion shouldn't lead us to think that Ukrainian nationalism is wonderful and needs to be embraced in toto. The willingness of nationalists to continue to celebrate Hitler collaborators like Bandera is repulsive, the prewar treatment of the Russophile minority was dubious and the insistence on regaining every inch of disputed territory regardless of the views of current residents* is not a war aim we should prioritise. (4) Some Ukrainian sources admit that much of the area that is not yet recaptured has significant pro-Russian sympathies, and we could do with some more non-aligned media reporting from the east as we're getting an unremitting stream of one-sided coverage. There was one al-Jazeera piece some months back, which IIRC basically said that the Russians had some active support but the majority simply wanted the war to stop without being counter-liberated - which seems plausible, even given the constraints on people speaking their minds. (5) We should therefore aim to encourage a cease-fire ultimately followed by referendums in each region on where they want to belong - the Slesvig-Holstein solution. We should continue to give Ukraine support to make further Russian advances impossible, but shouldn't escalate with new weapon systems or seek to encourage the maximal war aim in (3) by suggesting we'll give more and more until total victory (since that would boost the "no compromise" approach),
It's a minority view, and I have zero influence on the issue, so it doesn't actually matter what I think, but maybe it helps in the interest of a full-spectrum debate.
* As in all referendums, the issue of "what is a current resident" will be a problem if we ever get that far - if pro-Ukraine residents have fled to the west of the country, do they get a vote in what happens in the east? But we're a very long way from even discussing that.
The problem Nick is in (3) is that there is no disputed territory.
There is territory that is legally and indisputably Ukraine's, that has been illegally and aggressively seized by Russia.
So yes, getting every square centimetre of that back to Ukraine absolutely should be a priority.
Otherwise we are endorsing a view that you can change the borders in Europe by warfare and invasion, along side ethnic cleansing. Which will lead to more bloodshed, not less.
This is an important point: Starmer isn't as unpopular among the general public as he seems to be among PBers. And they've had enough of the current government
And the popularity of Blair among the general public has been overstated. He was very popular in the London media. The reception was a bit cooler in the country at large.
Not true. Blair's popularity in his early years was off the scale. Using the Mori leader ratings series, he had net positive ratings, usually of +20 or more, while LotO (peaking at +31 in Dec 1994), which then soared in the stratosphere when he became PM. His first three months after taking office were +60, +65 and +59. The 'dissatisfied' figure in the first two was in single figures: an unprecedented (and unrepeated) occurrence by some distance. He retained strong positive ratings until the summer of 2000 (six years after becoming Labour leader), and they only dropped into normal territory (or worse) in the run-up to the Iraq War, in late 2002.
On Ukraine - if we are gong for voting in the disputed areas.
1) Kick out the Russian soldiers or not? 2) Kick out the settlers the Russians have brought in? 3) Bring back the Ukrainians the Russians have deported?
Or are we talking "Facts on the Ground" as the the advocates of Stop The War Now in the Balkans used to say. i.e. accept whatever ethnic cleansing has happened?
EDIT: If we are going to go with Facts On The Ground, are we applying this in Israel/Palestine, as well?
How would I feel about another Tory victory? “Not satisfied” doesn’t fully capture the feeling. Nor would something like “distraught”. It would be more like “Oh, FFS”. The emotional equivalent of seeing yet another England batting collapse in the 90s or another loss on penalties in [any decade]. Pissed off yet somehow resigned.
The Tories have given themselves a chance of winning again by putting Rishi Sunak in charge. That must be annoying to anti-Conservatives. Uxbridge showed how it might be done.
How would I feel about another Tory victory? “Not satisfied” doesn’t fully capture the feeling. Nor would something like “distraught”. It would be more like “Oh, FFS”. The emotional equivalent of seeing yet another England batting collapse in the 90s or another loss on penalties in [any decade]. Pissed off yet somehow resigned.
The Tories have given themselves a chance of winning again by putting Rishi Sunak in charge. That must be annoying to anti-Conservatives. Uxbridge showed how it might be done.
No it didn't and no it isn't.
If the tories think it represents anything other than a local protest against the method of Sadiq Khan's London ulez roll-out then they are chasing a chimera.
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
I am trying to work out what the peak comedy outcome for the next GE is. I think it's a tory/ drumbasher coalition with a majority of 1.
Tory/SNP coalition with the promise of Indyref2.
That would never happen and I would rather go into Opposition than that. In any case the swing from SNP to Labour since 2019 in current polls is almost as big as the swing from Conservative to Labour
You are not leader of the party. I hate to break this to you, but you're quite principled compared with some of your fellow travellers.
Anyway, we're discussing absurd but highly unlikely events - which by definition encompasses any scenario where the Tories retain enough seats to have some role in government.
This R&W polling looks promising for Starmer – politicalbetting.com
How would British voters feel if the Labour Party were to win the next General Election? (13 August)Satisfied: 48%Unsatisfied: 24% Neither: 22% pic.twitter.com/O5f7sSFINf
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
How would I feel about another Tory victory? “Not satisfied” doesn’t fully capture the feeling. Nor would something like “distraught”. It would be more like “Oh, FFS”. The emotional equivalent of seeing yet another England batting collapse in the 90s or another loss on penalties in [any decade]. Pissed off yet somehow resigned.
The Tories have given themselves a chance of winning again by putting Rishi Sunak in charge. That must be annoying to anti-Conservatives. Uxbridge showed how it might be done.
There was still a 7 point swing from Tory to Labour . So not exactly screaming vote winning strategy . Labour messed up by failing to explain ULEZ and trying to avoid the subject. Building an election campaign over scraping a win by 500 votes not sure is the best strategy .
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
There seems to be a pretty healthy debate on Ukraine today that doesn't involve vituperative (nice word) shutting down of arguments.
Actually quite surprising we don't have at least 2 or 3 parallel debates going on. Not even on LTNs or housebuilding.
As Dura points out most of the so called popular front for the liberation of Ukraine (aka people who don't trust any assurances Russia might give in a future peace deal) are not into vituperation. I assume I'm considered part of that camp, and I don't come on here with the purpose of insulting or having enjoyable snarky banter. It's a matter of taste - some people enjoy it, some don't. I come here because there's an interesting range of opinions and experience.
I think that some here do respond to any non-hawkish comment on Ukraine by speculating on the motives of the writer, which does have a chilling effect, especially for those of us who choose to be identifiable. So I don't comment very often. But I'll take your invitation as encouragement, and FWIW my view is:
(1) Russia's invasion is mostly pretty straightforward imperialism - "we want your territory and we'll take it by force of arms". As such, it's appalling. (2) Russia did have reason to complain about the way NATO was expanding up to its border (in much the same way as the US got worried about Cuba), and could reasonably have objected vehemently but peacefully to Ukraine joining in. That option was closed off by the invasion (which is why the invasion was stupid as well as appalling), and Ukraine should be welcomed into NATO once the war is either over or frozen, so that any future Russian attacks become an attack on the whole alliance and the invasion is seen to have failed in its primary aim. (3) Our dislike of the invasion shouldn't lead us to think that Ukrainian nationalism is wonderful and needs to be embraced in toto. The willingness of nationalists to continue to celebrate Hitler collaborators like Bandera is repulsive, the prewar treatment of the Russophile minority was dubious and the insistence on regaining every inch of disputed territory regardless of the views of current residents* is not a war aim we should prioritise. (4) Some Ukrainian sources admit that much of the area that is not yet recaptured has significant pro-Russian sympathies, and we could do with some more non-aligned media reporting from the east as we're getting an unremitting stream of one-sided coverage. There was one al-Jazeera piece some months back, which IIRC basically said that the Russians had some active support but the majority simply wanted the war to stop without being counter-liberated - which seems plausible, even given the constraints on people speaking their minds. (5) We should therefore aim to encourage a cease-fire ultimately followed by referendums in each region on where they want to belong - the Slesvig-Holstein solution. We should continue to give Ukraine support to make further Russian advances impossible, but shouldn't escalate with new weapon systems or seek to encourage the maximal war aim in (3) by suggesting we'll give more and more until total victory (since that would boost the "no compromise" approach),
It's a minority view, and I have zero influence on the issue, so it doesn't actually matter what I think, but maybe it helps in the interest of a full-spectrum debate.
* As in all referendums, the issue of "what is a current resident" will be a problem if we ever get that far - if pro-Ukraine residents have fled to the west of the country, do they get a vote in what happens in the east? But we're a very long way from even discussing that.
A measured comment from Nick - too measured IMO. A quick response.
1. Yes. Indeed, it's pretty much entirely imperialism, both practically and psychologically. Indeed, worse, it's ethnic nationalism aimed at Russifying Ukraine and eliminating Ukraine as a nation. (This is probably an unachievable objective for Russia now but that was the aim).
2. Russia had little reason to complain. Indeed, in retrospect, NATO should have expanded further and faster. The war would not be taking place now if it had. The failure to incorporate Ukraine was tacit agreement that Ukraine fell within Russia's legitimate sphere of interest and, as such, if push came to shove, it could intervene there because the West would only offer token opposition. The false-equality drawn here should not be drawn. NATO expansion has happened at the request of the states joining; it is wholly different from the Russian imperialist power projection.
3. True. However, in an existential crisis, you take the allies you can find - as Churchill said of Stalin and the devil.
4/5. The areas captured by Russia have been subject to extensive ethnic cleansing / importation. They may have had Russian sympathies pre-2022 but that is of no consequence now. Both as a matter of justice and of consequence, Russia should not be allowed to gain from the war, irrespective of opinions beforehand, never mind of Russians who have occupied displaced or murdered Ukrainians. As and when the lost territories are regained, Russian settlers or collaborators need expelling. The precedent is there from Poland / Czechoslovakia post-WW2.
To go back to [1], this is (or was) aimed at being a genocidal war, with the elimination of Ukraine as a nation. That is not something that any fair person should compromise with, both on its own account and because perceived weakness will only lead to a further round later, when there is a less firm approach from the White House.
There is a terrible tendency of people to think "voted for parties who supported better relations work Russia" is the equivalent to "wants Russia to invade".
It's like Liberal Democrats. They are pro-European. But I'm pretty sure most of them would be pretty horrified if there was a German invasion of South East England.
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Still campaigning against older people I see.
I think CHB was merely pointing out the reality .
The Tories only really care about pensioners and don’t give a fig about anyone else.
On Ukraine - if we are gong for voting in the disputed areas.
1) Kick out the Russian soldiers or not? 2) Kick out the settlers the Russians have brought in? 3) Bring back the Ukrainians the Russians have deported?
Or are we talking "Facts on the Ground" as the the advocates of Stop The War Now in the Balkans used to say. i.e. accept whatever ethnic cleansing has happened?
EDIT: If we are going to go with Facts On The Ground, are we applying this in Israel/Palestine, as well?
There seems to be a pretty healthy debate on Ukraine today that doesn't involve vituperative (nice word) shutting down of arguments.
Actually quite surprising we don't have at least 2 or 3 parallel debates going on. Not even on LTNs or housebuilding.
As Dura points out most of the so called popular front for the liberation of Ukraine (aka people who don't trust any assurances Russia might give in a future peace deal) are not into vituperation. I assume I'm considered part of that camp, and I don't come on here with the purpose of insulting or having enjoyable snarky banter. It's a matter of taste - some people enjoy it, some don't. I come here because there's an interesting range of opinions and experience.
I think that some here do respond to any non-hawkish comment on Ukraine by speculating on the motives of the writer, which does have a chilling effect, especially for those of us who choose to be identifiable. So I don't comment very often. But I'll take your invitation as encouragement, and FWIW my view is:
(1) Russia's invasion is mostly pretty straightforward imperialism - "we want your territory and we'll take it by force of arms". As such, it's appalling. (2) Russia did have reason to complain about the way NATO was expanding up to its border (in much the same way as the US got worried about Cuba), and could reasonably have objected vehemently but peacefully to Ukraine joining in. That option was closed off by the invasion (which is why the invasion was stupid as well as appalling), and Ukraine should be welcomed into NATO once the war is either over or frozen, so that any future Russian attacks become an attack on the whole alliance and the invasion is seen to have failed in its primary aim. (3) Our dislike of the invasion shouldn't lead us to think that Ukrainian nationalism is wonderful and needs to be embraced in toto. The willingness of nationalists to continue to celebrate Hitler collaborators like Bandera is repulsive, the prewar treatment of the Russophile minority was dubious and the insistence on regaining every inch of disputed territory regardless of the views of current residents* is not a war aim we should prioritise. (4) Some Ukrainian sources admit that much of the area that is not yet recaptured has significant pro-Russian sympathies, and we could do with some more non-aligned media reporting from the east as we're getting an unremitting stream of one-sided coverage. There was one al-Jazeera piece some months back, which IIRC basically said that the Russians had some active support but the majority simply wanted the war to stop without being counter-liberated - which seems plausible, even given the constraints on people speaking their minds. (5) We should therefore aim to encourage a cease-fire ultimately followed by referendums in each region on where they want to belong - the Slesvig-Holstein solution. We should continue to give Ukraine support to make further Russian advances impossible, but shouldn't escalate with new weapon systems or seek to encourage the maximal war aim in (3) by suggesting we'll give more and more until total victory (since that would boost the "no compromise" approach),
It's a minority view, and I have zero influence on the issue, so it doesn't actually matter what I think, but maybe it helps in the interest of a full-spectrum debate.
* As in all referendums, the issue of "what is a current resident" will be a problem if we ever get that far - if pro-Ukraine residents have fled to the west of the country, do they get a vote in what happens in the east? But we're a very long way from even discussing that.
A measured comment from Nick - too measured IMO. A quick response.
1. Yes. Indeed, it's pretty much entirely imperialism, both practically and psychologically. Indeed, worse, it's ethnic nationalism aimed at Russifying Ukraine and eliminating Ukraine as a nation. (This is probably an unachievable objective for Russia now but that was the aim).
2. Russia had little reason to complain. Indeed, in retrospect, NATO should have expanded further and faster. The war would not be taking place now if it had. The failure to incorporate Ukraine was tacit agreement that Ukraine fell within Russia's legitimate sphere of interest and, as such, if push came to shove, it could intervene there because the West would only offer token opposition. The false-equality drawn here should not be drawn. NATO expansion has happened at the request of the states joining; it is wholly different from the Russian imperialist power projection.
3. True. However, in an existential crisis, you take the allies you can find - as Churchill said of Stalin and the devil.
4/5. The areas captured by Russia have been subject to extensive ethnic cleansing / importation. They may have had Russian sympathies pre-2022 but that is of no consequence now. Both as a matter of justice and of consequence, Russia should not be allowed to gain from the war, irrespective of opinions beforehand, never mind of Russians who have occupied displaced or murdered Ukrainians. As and when the lost territories are regained, Russian settlers or collaborators need expelling. The precedent is there from Poland / Czechoslovakia post-WW2.
To go back to [1], this is (or was) aimed at being a genocidal war, with the elimination of Ukraine as a nation. That is not something that any fair person should compromise with, both on its own account and because perceived weakness will only lead to a further round later, when there is a less firm approach from the White House.
Interesting that there wasn't even a measured majority in Russia for the invasion, despite the political environment there. But so much has happened since then that popular opinion in neither Russia nor in the invaded and despoiled territories should count for much.
There seems to be a pretty healthy debate on Ukraine today that doesn't involve vituperative (nice word) shutting down of arguments.
Actually quite surprising we don't have at least 2 or 3 parallel debates going on. Not even on LTNs or housebuilding.
As Dura points out most of the so called popular front for the liberation of Ukraine (aka people who don't trust any assurances Russia might give in a future peace deal) are not into vituperation. I assume I'm considered part of that camp, and I don't come on here with the purpose of insulting or having enjoyable snarky banter. It's a matter of taste - some people enjoy it, some don't. I come here because there's an interesting range of opinions and experience.
I think that some here do respond to any non-hawkish comment on Ukraine by speculating on the motives of the writer, which does have a chilling effect, especially for those of us who choose to be identifiable. So I don't comment very often. But I'll take your invitation as encouragement, and FWIW my view is:
(1) Russia's invasion is mostly pretty straightforward imperialism - "we want your territory and we'll take it by force of arms". As such, it's appalling. (2) Russia did have reason to complain about the way NATO was expanding up to its border (in much the same way as the US got worried about Cuba), and could reasonably have objected vehemently but peacefully to Ukraine joining in. That option was closed off by the invasion (which is why the invasion was stupid as well as appalling), and Ukraine should be welcomed into NATO once the war is either over or frozen, so that any future Russian attacks become an attack on the whole alliance and the invasion is seen to have failed in its primary aim. (3) Our dislike of the invasion shouldn't lead us to think that Ukrainian nationalism is wonderful and needs to be embraced in toto. The willingness of nationalists to continue to celebrate Hitler collaborators like Bandera is repulsive, the prewar treatment of the Russophile minority was dubious and the insistence on regaining every inch of disputed territory regardless of the views of current residents* is not a war aim we should prioritise. (4) Some Ukrainian sources admit that much of the area that is not yet recaptured has significant pro-Russian sympathies, and we could do with some more non-aligned media reporting from the east as we're getting an unremitting stream of one-sided coverage. There was one al-Jazeera piece some months back, which IIRC basically said that the Russians had some active support but the majority simply wanted the war to stop without being counter-liberated - which seems plausible, even given the constraints on people speaking their minds. (5) We should therefore aim to encourage a cease-fire ultimately followed by referendums in each region on where they want to belong - the Slesvig-Holstein solution. We should continue to give Ukraine support to make further Russian advances impossible, but shouldn't escalate with new weapon systems or seek to encourage the maximal war aim in (3) by suggesting we'll give more and more until total victory (since that would boost the "no compromise" approach),
It's a minority view, and I have zero influence on the issue, so it doesn't actually matter what I think, but maybe it helps in the interest of a full-spectrum debate.
* As in all referendums, the issue of "what is a current resident" will be a problem if we ever get that far - if pro-Ukraine residents have fled to the west of the country, do they get a vote in what happens in the east? But we're a very long way from even discussing that.
A measured comment from Nick - too measured IMO. A quick response.
1. Yes. Indeed, it's pretty much entirely imperialism, both practically and psychologically. Indeed, worse, it's ethnic nationalism aimed at Russifying Ukraine and eliminating Ukraine as a nation. (This is probably an unachievable objective for Russia now but that was the aim).
2. Russia had little reason to complain. Indeed, in retrospect, NATO should have expanded further and faster. The war would not be taking place now if it had. The failure to incorporate Ukraine was tacit agreement that Ukraine fell within Russia's legitimate sphere of interest and, as such, if push came to shove, it could intervene there because the West would only offer token opposition. The false-equality drawn here should not be drawn. NATO expansion has happened at the request of the states joining; it is wholly different from the Russian imperialist power projection.
3. True. However, in an existential crisis, you take the allies you can find - as Churchill said of Stalin and the devil.
4/5. The areas captured by Russia have been subject to extensive ethnic cleansing / importation. They may have had Russian sympathies pre-2022 but that is of no consequence now. Both as a matter of justice and of consequence, Russia should not be allowed to gain from the war, irrespective of opinions beforehand, never mind of Russians who have occupied displaced or murdered Ukrainians. As and when the lost territories are regained, Russian settlers or collaborators need expelling. The precedent is there from Poland / Czechoslovakia post-WW2.
To go back to [1], this is (or was) aimed at being a genocidal war, with the elimination of Ukraine as a nation. That is not something that any fair person should compromise with, both on its own account and because perceived weakness will only lead to a further round later, when there is a less firm approach from the White House.
There is a terrible tendency of people to think "voted for parties who supported better relations work Russia" is the equivalent to "wants Russia to invade".
It's like Liberal Democrats. They are pro-European. But I'm pretty sure most of them would be pretty horrified if there was a German invasion of South East England.
Yes. It's worth noting the reaction to the invasion by the bulk of the "Russian" politicians, in Ukraine. Which is more on the lines of "Fix bayonets and push the invaders back" than "Hello there, Mr Putin."
There seems to be a pretty healthy debate on Ukraine today that doesn't involve vituperative (nice word) shutting down of arguments.
Actually quite surprising we don't have at least 2 or 3 parallel debates going on. Not even on LTNs or housebuilding.
As Dura points out most of the so called popular front for the liberation of Ukraine (aka people who don't trust any assurances Russia might give in a future peace deal) are not into vituperation. I assume I'm considered part of that camp, and I don't come on here with the purpose of insulting or having enjoyable snarky banter. It's a matter of taste - some people enjoy it, some don't. I come here because there's an interesting range of opinions and experience.
I think that some here do respond to any non-hawkish comment on Ukraine by speculating on the motives of the writer, which does have a chilling effect, especially for those of us who choose to be identifiable. So I don't comment very often. But I'll take your invitation as encouragement, and FWIW my view is:
(1) Russia's invasion is mostly pretty straightforward imperialism - "we want your territory and we'll take it by force of arms". As such, it's appalling. (2) Russia did have reason to complain about the way NATO was expanding up to its border (in much the same way as the US got worried about Cuba), and could reasonably have objected vehemently but peacefully to Ukraine joining in. That option was closed off by the invasion (which is why the invasion was stupid as well as appalling), and Ukraine should be welcomed into NATO once the war is either over or frozen, so that any future Russian attacks become an attack on the whole alliance and the invasion is seen to have failed in its primary aim. (3) Our dislike of the invasion shouldn't lead us to think that Ukrainian nationalism is wonderful and needs to be embraced in toto. The willingness of nationalists to continue to celebrate Hitler collaborators like Bandera is repulsive, the prewar treatment of the Russophile minority was dubious and the insistence on regaining every inch of disputed territory regardless of the views of current residents* is not a war aim we should prioritise. (4) Some Ukrainian sources admit that much of the area that is not yet recaptured has significant pro-Russian sympathies, and we could do with some more non-aligned media reporting from the east as we're getting an unremitting stream of one-sided coverage. There was one al-Jazeera piece some months back, which IIRC basically said that the Russians had some active support but the majority simply wanted the war to stop without being counter-liberated - which seems plausible, even given the constraints on people speaking their minds. (5) We should therefore aim to encourage a cease-fire ultimately followed by referendums in each region on where they want to belong - the Slesvig-Holstein solution. We should continue to give Ukraine support to make further Russian advances impossible, but shouldn't escalate with new weapon systems or seek to encourage the maximal war aim in (3) by suggesting we'll give more and more until total victory (since that would boost the "no compromise" approach),
It's a minority view, and I have zero influence on the issue, so it doesn't actually matter what I think, but maybe it helps in the interest of a full-spectrum debate.
* As in all referendums, the issue of "what is a current resident" will be a problem if we ever get that far - if pro-Ukraine residents have fled to the west of the country, do they get a vote in what happens in the east? But we're a very long way from even discussing that.
A measured comment from Nick - too measured IMO. A quick response.
1. Yes. Indeed, it's pretty much entirely imperialism, both practically and psychologically. Indeed, worse, it's ethnic nationalism aimed at Russifying Ukraine and eliminating Ukraine as a nation. (This is probably an unachievable objective for Russia now but that was the aim).
2. Russia had little reason to complain. Indeed, in retrospect, NATO should have expanded further and faster. The war would not be taking place now if it had. The failure to incorporate Ukraine was tacit agreement that Ukraine fell within Russia's legitimate sphere of interest and, as such, if push came to shove, it could intervene there because the West would only offer token opposition. The false-equality drawn here should not be drawn. NATO expansion has happened at the request of the states joining; it is wholly different from the Russian imperialist power projection.
3. True. However, in an existential crisis, you take the allies you can find - as Churchill said of Stalin and the devil.
4/5. The areas captured by Russia have been subject to extensive ethnic cleansing / importation. They may have had Russian sympathies pre-2022 but that is of no consequence now. Both as a matter of justice and of consequence, Russia should not be allowed to gain from the war, irrespective of opinions beforehand, never mind of Russians who have occupied displaced or murdered Ukrainians. As and when the lost territories are regained, Russian settlers or collaborators need expelling. The precedent is there from Poland / Czechoslovakia post-WW2.
To go back to [1], this is (or was) aimed at being a genocidal war, with the elimination of Ukraine as a nation. That is not something that any fair person should compromise with, both on its own account and because perceived weakness will only lead to a further round later, when there is a less firm approach from the White House.
There is a terrible tendency of people to think "voted for parties who supported better relations work Russia" is the equivalent to "wants Russia to invade".
It's like Liberal Democrats. They are pro-European. But I'm pretty sure most of them would be pretty horrified if there was a German invasion of South East England.
I still think we should give Spain the isle of Portland though. Would make for a brilliant weekend break.
I am trying to work out what the peak comedy outcome for the next GE is. I think it's a tory/ drumbasher coalition with a majority of 1.
Tory/SNP coalition with the promise of Indyref2.
That would never happen and I would rather go into Opposition than that
The Tories were prepared to the destroy the Union to deliver Brexit, so they'll do the same to stay in power.
Your favourite Tories were the ones who put the future of the union on the table by giving the SNP a referendum, not to mention the ones who gambled on the EU referendum.
When you start talking about elections and referenda as "gambling on the result" - you have already lost.
Remain lost because they didn't have a referendum earlier. Too much of "we'll just keep the Head Count away from this one"
No, any referendum is going to be a bit of a coin flip in the British system because the voters don't get many chances to express themselves about the government and other issues they're mad about will get mixed in. This is especially true if much of the press are going to back the side the government thinks is a bad idea.
You could have a referendum on something we generally think there's a consensus against like abolishing the monarchy or legalizing all the drugs or banning twiglets or whatever and it would never be more than 90% certain to go that way.
On Ukraine - if we are gong for voting in the disputed areas.
1) Kick out the Russian soldiers or not? 2) Kick out the settlers the Russians have brought in? 3) Bring back the Ukrainians the Russians have deported?
Or are we talking "Facts on the Ground" as the the advocates of Stop The War Now in the Balkans used to say. i.e. accept whatever ethnic cleansing has happened?
EDIT: If we are going to go with Facts On The Ground, are we applying this in Israel/Palestine, as well?
I read a very interesting book on that latter point.
If the Israeli strategy of 'facts on the ground' is applied it's going to be very hard to deny them the West Bank.
But if you then include Gaza, the old Mandate probably already has a Muslim majority.
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Triple lock on benefits?
How could you two forget? Whacking great IHT allowance boost for their heirs, if direct children/g'child boys'n'girls in approved Tory-type families (no nasty nephews or nieces).
Some trends across satisfied/unsatisfied are shared across the parties. People are moderate in their satisfaction, and immoderate in their dissatisfaction: more are satisfied than very safisfied, more are very unsatisfied than unsatisfied, for both Tories and Labour. At the same time, people are more ready to express positive sentiments than negative ones*, with one important exception: more are very satisfied with Con than very unsatisfied with Lab, more are satisfied with Con than unsatisfied with Lab, more are satisfied with Lab than unsatisfied with Con; the exception is that more are very unsatisfied with a Conservative victory than are very satisfied with a Labour victory. This bias towards positive sentiments is evident in the fact that on average 5pp more people are ready to express a positive sentiment about a party winning than a negative sentiment about the same party winning. The main points of divergence for Labour is in terms of satisfied vs unsatisfied, where 17pp more are safisfied than unsatisfied (a 12pp difference), and for the Tories it is in terms of very satisfied vs very unsatisfied, where 13pp more would be very unsatisfied (ie an 18pp difference). The overall message seems to be that on net people want Labour to win, and really don't want the Tories to win, which I guess is in line with all the other polling. This suggests that if the election is framed around the question of whether the electorate want a Labour government then Labour's lead could be around 10pp. With a fair wind the Tories could deny Labour a majority. If it is framed round whether people want another Conservative government then the lead is closer to 20pp, and we are in landslide territory. So while the public is skewed towards positive sentiment, the campaign will be relentlessly negative on both sides.
(* given the existence of other parties I guess this is surprising, in the sense that for any party there are more who vote for other parties than who vote for that party so you'd think that negative sentiment would outweigh positive sentiment towards any party).
On Ukraine - if we are gong for voting in the disputed areas.
1) Kick out the Russian soldiers or not? 2) Kick out the settlers the Russians have brought in? 3) Bring back the Ukrainians the Russians have deported?
Or are we talking "Facts on the Ground" as the the advocates of Stop The War Now in the Balkans used to say. i.e. accept whatever ethnic cleansing has happened?
EDIT: If we are going to go with Facts On The Ground, are we applying this in Israel/Palestine, as well?
I read a very interesting book on that latter point.
If the Israeli strategy of 'facts on the ground' is applied it's going to be very hard to deny them the West Bank.
But if you then include Gaza, the old Mandate probably already has a Muslim majority.
Which is why Sharon withdrew from it.
Yup. And why Netan-yahoo is carrying on the "good work" creating "facts on the ground" as fast as he can.
Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?
Still campaigning against older people I see.
I think CHB was merely pointing out the reality .
The Tories only really care about pensioners and don’t give a fig about anyone else.
This obviously isn't true, but it struck me that it could, at one point, become so. If medical treatments advance then you could see a huge vote that is just about living in comfort longer.
If you run it to extremes you have 99% of the population dictating their wishes on the 1% - the young. Don't know what to make of these ideas.
Comments
This is an important point: Starmer isn't as unpopular among the general public as he seems to be among PBers. And they've had enough of the current government
And as I keep saying, possibly to @MikeSmithson's irritation, we should be taking the starting benchmark as the General Election of June 2017 not the 'Get Brexit Done' referendum of December 2019.
The last proper General Election in the United Kingdom resulted in a hung parliament.
Labour are going to win an outright majority. It's just a question of how big.
Starmer has substance. Just lacks the same charisma.
I know which I prefer, especially after that schmuck Boris Johnson.
https://twitter.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1692159452441448652?t=EttpZKJ-u-7xIN1qcEzRVw&s=19
35 Sat
40 Unsat
21 Neutral
I see the same question was put to those polled re the Tories .
35% satisfied which is higher than the combined Tory and Reform . Deeply troubling !
Perhaps the explanation is that a bunch of people merely feel that a clear election result would be good so we can move on, and therefore say "satisfied" to both?
Lab: Unsatisfied: 24%, Satisfied: 48%, Neither: 22%, Source[2]
[1] https://twitter.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1692159452441448652
[2] https://twitter.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1692161902598578530
Indeed, that's why Labour retained a majority in 2005.
Many voters are voting LD for example who would have voted for Blair and New Labour in the 1990s and Blair also won white working class areas like Harlow, Basildon, Dartford and Walsall and Dudley the Tories held in May. Starmer will probably win but not with
great enthusiasm for him just a desire to get rid of the
Tories, in 1997 by contrast
there was real enthusiasm for
the charismatic Blair too which lasted largely until the Iraq War
In other words, the question could be read both ways.
For 3 years after Brexit the Union is still together
Why do you think Norn Iron Unionists lost their shit over it?
The people of Scotland voted for a referendum in 2011, David Cameron delivered on their will.
Eg what about all the voters not voting Tory/Lab. How did they reply? It could be any one of 3 choices.
The people of Britain voted for a referendum in 2015, David Cameron delivered on their will.
Remain lost because they didn't have a referendum earlier. Too much of "we'll just keep the Head Count away from this one"
Ergo I consider that a win for a lawyer, end of debate.
https://www.ft.com/content/7fedd6ec-4b6c-49a5-88f2-569249f31954
The demographic collapse proceeds space here as elsewhere.
Start the boats!
1. Yes. Indeed, it's pretty much entirely imperialism, both practically and psychologically. Indeed, worse, it's ethnic nationalism aimed at Russifying Ukraine and eliminating Ukraine as a nation. (This is probably an unachievable objective for Russia now but that was the aim).
2. Russia had little reason to complain. Indeed, in retrospect, NATO should have expanded further and faster. The war would not be taking place now if it had. The failure to incorporate Ukraine was tacit agreement that Ukraine fell within Russia's legitimate sphere of interest and, as such, if push came to shove, it could intervene there because the West would only offer token opposition. The false-equality drawn here should not be drawn. NATO expansion has happened at the request of the states joining; it is wholly different from the Russian imperialist power projection.
3. True. However, in an existential crisis, you take the allies you can find - as Churchill said of Stalin and the devil.
4/5. The areas captured by Russia have been subject to extensive ethnic cleansing / importation. They may have had Russian sympathies pre-2022 but that is of no consequence now. Both as a matter of justice and of consequence, Russia should not be allowed to gain from the war, irrespective of opinions beforehand, never mind of Russians who have occupied displaced or murdered Ukrainians. As and when the lost territories are regained, Russian settlers or collaborators need expelling. The precedent is there from Poland / Czechoslovakia post-WW2.
To go back to [1], this is (or was) aimed at being a genocidal war, with the elimination of Ukraine as a nation. That is not something that any fair person should compromise with, both on its own account and because perceived weakness will only lead to a further round later, when there is a less firm approach from the White House.
Build more fucking houses.
https://www.politico.eu/article/nicolas-sarkozy-emmanuel-macron-europe-russia-ukraine-we-need-the-russians-and-they-need-us/
mean we already even have some houses spare.
Anyway 100 years ago most rented and we had a much higher birthrate than now
There is territory that is legally and indisputably Ukraine's, that has been illegally and aggressively seized by Russia.
So yes, getting every square centimetre of that back to Ukraine absolutely should be a priority.
Otherwise we are endorsing a view that you can change the borders in Europe by warfare and invasion, along side ethnic cleansing. Which will lead to more bloodshed, not less.
https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/political-monitor-satisfaction-ratings-1997-present
1) Kick out the Russian soldiers or not?
2) Kick out the settlers the Russians have brought in?
3) Bring back the Ukrainians the Russians have deported?
Or are we talking "Facts on the Ground" as the the advocates of Stop The War Now in the Balkans used to say. i.e. accept whatever ethnic cleansing has happened?
EDIT: If we are going to go with Facts On The Ground, are we applying this in Israel/Palestine, as well?
If the tories think it represents anything other than a local protest against the method of Sadiq Khan's London ulez roll-out then they are chasing a chimera.
The tories cannot win.
I hate to break this to you, but you're quite principled compared with some of your fellow travellers.
Anyway, we're discussing absurd but highly unlikely events - which by definition encompasses any scenario where the Tories retain enough seats to have some role in government.
If Japan is a straw in the wind then perhaps the former, which is sad if true.
It's like Liberal Democrats. They are pro-European. But I'm pretty sure most of them would be pretty horrified if there was a German invasion of South East England.
The Tories only really care about pensioners and don’t give a fig about anyone else.
You could have a referendum on something we generally think there's a consensus against like abolishing the monarchy or legalizing all the drugs or banning twiglets or whatever and it would never be more than 90% certain to go that way.
Rick Wilson
@TheRickWilson
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3h
1/ Great coverage on
@Morning_Joe of the tidal wave of terrible polls showing
@realdonaldtrump is political poison.
As Joe pointed out, it has always been thus; losses or vast underperformance since 2017, on years and off.
For the base, though...
https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/1692136036476821908
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/17/a-level-grades-pre-pandemic-grades-gillian-keegan/
If the Israeli strategy of 'facts on the ground' is applied it's going to be very hard to deny them the West Bank.
But if you then include Gaza, the old Mandate probably already has a Muslim majority.
Which is why Sharon withdrew from it.
This bias towards positive sentiments is evident in the fact that on average 5pp more people are ready to express a positive sentiment about a party winning than a negative sentiment about the same party winning. The main points of divergence for Labour is in terms of satisfied vs unsatisfied, where 17pp more are safisfied than unsatisfied (a 12pp difference), and for the Tories it is in terms of very satisfied vs very unsatisfied, where 13pp more would be very unsatisfied (ie an 18pp difference).
The overall message seems to be that on net people want Labour to win, and really don't want the Tories to win, which I guess is in line with all the other polling. This suggests that if the election is framed around the question of whether the electorate want a Labour government then Labour's lead could be around 10pp. With a fair wind the Tories could deny Labour a majority. If it is framed round whether people want another Conservative government then the lead is closer to 20pp, and we are in landslide territory. So while the public is skewed towards positive sentiment, the campaign will be relentlessly negative on both sides.
(* given the existence of other parties I guess this is surprising, in the sense that for any party there are more who vote for other parties than who vote for that party so you'd think that negative sentiment would outweigh positive sentiment towards any party).
If they were bad it would be embarrassing that she's in charge of education.
If they were any good it would be depressing to think A-levels are worthless.
(The latter point applies with particular force to Spielman, whom I believe has a large number of A-levels with good grades.)
If you run it to extremes you have 99% of the population dictating their wishes on the 1% - the young. Don't know what to make of these ideas.