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Lab voters trust Starmer more on Israel/Palestine than they trust Corbyn – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 12,163
edited November 2023 in General
Lab voters trust Starmer more on Israel/Palestine than they trust Corbyn – politicalbetting.com

How much attention are Britons paying to Keir Starmer's response to the Israel-Palestine conflict?All BritonsA lot: 7%A fair amount: 25%Little to none: 68%2019 Labour votersA lot: 9%A fair amount: 37%Little to none: 53%https://t.co/LQccM6e6Nb pic.twitter.com/Hkj03Nn7QA

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Comments

  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,635
    edited November 2023
    Jeremy Corbyn fans please explain.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,664
    edited November 2023
    That 'first' aged badly (!)
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,664
    edited November 2023

    Jeremy Corbyn fans please explain.

    Missing a 'more' from the header (as in *more* than they trust Corbyn).
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,662
    It is quite an interesting poll. The public (or Labour voters) trust Starmer and Corbyn more or less equally, despite their positions being very far apart. Corbyn is more mistrusted though.

    I wonder what the Venn diagram of that support and mistrust is.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,662

    That 'first' aged badly (!)

    We need VAR for the "First Game"
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,995
    FPT comments on Meeks’ latest blog post in not sure it’s a case of self-contradiction, more that you can read the cogs of his thinking turning. He’s making his mind up as he writes.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,662
    Foxy said:

    It is quite an interesting poll. The public (or Labour voters) trust Starmer and Corbyn more or less equally, despite their positions being very far apart. Corbyn is more mistrusted though.

    I wonder what the Venn diagram of that support and mistrust is.

    Though the clearest thing from that poll is that the majority of people do not trust any of Corbyn, Starmer or Sunak on the issue, with trust in them varying from only 18 to 27%.

    Just as there is no right answer to the troubles in Israel/Palestine, there is no popular approach to it either. It is a subject that all wise politicians and commentators should avoid.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,839
    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.
  • https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/31/west-bank-palestinian-villages-israeli-army-settlers

    An interesting piece on what's happening in the West Bank while eyes are on Gaza.
  • In the modern world, borders get redrawn and people get moved. For all that we have declared the forcible moving of people to be a war crime, doing so has been the way to peace in Europe.

    I mentioned at the end of the last thread the absurdity that we have these so-called refugee camps in the first place. Full of third and fourth generation descendents of people who could have been classed as refugees.

    We saw a massive slaughter in Europe. Lines on maps drawn and redrawn. Countries created and empires removed, borders shifted and peoples relocated. For peace.

    The root cause of the continuing barbarity in the middle east is that a similar process did not happen. Instead of adjusting to the new boundaries, waves of war were unleashed to make even more displaced people and yet more redrawn borders.

    The poor sods being used by Hamas are not refugees. They are political pawns, where the defeated combatants of the 48, 67 and 73 wars refuse to accept their defeat and bleat on at the international community to push the magic reset button and remove the Jew from their lands.

    We do not have generational camps of displaced people from the Memeland. Or any other former place. Poland does not burn a torch for its lost territories. It needs to stop in the middle east, because regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, if we end up with an eventual ceasefire where we have all these people left as pawns by the arab world then the next round of bloodshed won't be far away.
  • TimS said:

    FPT comments on Meeks’ latest blog post in not sure it’s a case of self-contradiction, more that you can read the cogs of his thinking turning. He’s making his mind up as he writes.

    His reverse engineering poll ratings from votes based on David Herdson's rule of thumb for extrapolating from polls to actual votes is the step that needs most thinking about imo.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,664
    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,664
    Foxy said:

    That 'first' aged badly (!)

    We need VAR for the "First Game"
    Yeah but when the Ref's playing too you're on to a loser VAR or no VAR.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,664

    Jeremy Corbyn fans please explain.

    Missing a 'more' from the header (as in *more* than they trust Corbyn).
    That also aged badly.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,662

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/31/west-bank-palestinian-villages-israeli-army-settlers

    An interesting piece on what's happening in the West Bank while eyes are on Gaza.

    The Israeli government intends to make the West Bank as unlivable as Gaza for Palestinians. It is just a matter of time.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,664
    "I did wonder if the events in the Middle East might be the blackest of black swans that upends Sir Keir Starmer general election victory."

    Tories now looking for swans even blacker than the blackest of black.
  • Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    It is quite an interesting poll. The public (or Labour voters) trust Starmer and Corbyn more or less equally, despite their positions being very far apart. Corbyn is more mistrusted though.

    I wonder what the Venn diagram of that support and mistrust is.

    Though the clearest thing from that poll is that the majority of people do not trust any of Corbyn, Starmer or Sunak on the issue, with trust in them varying from only 18 to 27%.

    Just as there is no right answer to the troubles in Israel/Palestine, there is no popular approach to it either. It is a subject that all wise politicians and commentators should avoid.
    Lets imagine that the UK PM had an outrageously brilliant diplomatic mind and could come up with a near perfect solution that worked for both Israel and Palestine.

    How much would the leaders of Israel and Palestine be willing to listen and change course right now? 1%? Probably closer to 0%.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,839

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    Yes, they are much better placed to judge who is and is not up to the job and have a much greater vested interest in who is likely to win elections.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,839

    "I did wonder if the events in the Middle East might be the blackest of black swans that upends Sir Keir Starmer general election victory."

    Tories now looking for swans even blacker than the blackest of black.

    No easy task when you are blundering about in the dark.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,662

    In the modern world, borders get redrawn and people get moved. For all that we have declared the forcible moving of people to be a war crime, doing so has been the way to peace in Europe.

    I mentioned at the end of the last thread the absurdity that we have these so-called refugee camps in the first place. Full of third and fourth generation descendents of people who could have been classed as refugees.

    We saw a massive slaughter in Europe. Lines on maps drawn and redrawn. Countries created and empires removed, borders shifted and peoples relocated. For peace.

    The root cause of the continuing barbarity in the middle east is that a similar process did not happen. Instead of adjusting to the new boundaries, waves of war were unleashed to make even more displaced people and yet more redrawn borders.

    The poor sods being used by Hamas are not refugees. They are political pawns, where the defeated combatants of the 48, 67 and 73 wars refuse to accept their defeat and bleat on at the international community to push the magic reset button and remove the Jew from their lands.

    We do not have generational camps of displaced people from the Memeland. Or any other former place. Poland does not burn a torch for its lost territories. It needs to stop in the middle east, because regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, if we end up with an eventual ceasefire where we have all these people left as pawns by the arab world then the next round of bloodshed won't be far away.

    Yes, but these are not redrawn borders. Gaza and the West Bank are ""occupied Territories" neither part of Israel, nor independent states.

    The people are not to be given equal rights with others by incorporating them into Israel, nor allowed to form a state. Hence no resolution.

    Or are you arguing for the forced expulsion/extermination of all 2.2 million in Gaza and the 3.5 million in the West Bank?
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,090

    In the modern world, borders get redrawn and people get moved. For all that we have declared the forcible moving of people to be a war crime, doing so has been the way to peace in Europe.

    I mentioned at the end of the last thread the absurdity that we have these so-called refugee camps in the first place. Full of third and fourth generation descendents of people who could have been classed as refugees.

    We saw a massive slaughter in Europe. Lines on maps drawn and redrawn. Countries created and empires removed, borders shifted and peoples relocated. For peace.

    The root cause of the continuing barbarity in the middle east is that a similar process did not happen. Instead of adjusting to the new boundaries, waves of war were unleashed to make even more displaced people and yet more redrawn borders.

    The poor sods being used by Hamas are not refugees. They are political pawns, where the defeated combatants of the 48, 67 and 73 wars refuse to accept their defeat and bleat on at the international community to push the magic reset button and remove the Jew from their lands.

    We do not have generational camps of displaced people from the Memeland. Or any other former place. Poland does not burn a torch for its lost territories. It needs to stop in the middle east, because regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, if we end up with an eventual ceasefire where we have all these people left as pawns by the arab world then the next round of bloodshed won't be far away.

    In the modern world, borders do not get redrawn and people moved. That was true maybe 70 years ago, but the rules-based international order has largely stopped the annexation of land by military force. We went into Iraq to stop them annexing Kuwait. We are supporting Ukraine against Russia’s attempted annexation. I think the West regrets not doing more over Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
  • Foxy said:

    It is quite an interesting poll. The public (or Labour voters) trust Starmer and Corbyn more or less equally, despite their positions being very far apart. Corbyn is more mistrusted though.

    I wonder what the Venn diagram of that support and mistrust is.

    Its 2019 Labour voters. A comparison with 2023 Labour voting intent would be interesting and probably look quite different.
  • HeathenerHeathener Posts: 7,084
    edited November 2023
    I'm not interested in Keir Starmer's response on Israel-Palestine. But then, I've switched off the news for 2 weeks so I'm not interested in Sunak's either. I can't change the situation so it's pointless watching.

    It will have ZERO relevance for a General Election.

    Next.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,431

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    Good morning everyone; a greeting, as opposed to a comment on the weather!

    I wonder whether there’s a case for the members producing the ‘long list’ and the MP’s deciding from there?
  • TimS said:

    FPT comments on Meeks’ latest blog post in not sure it’s a case of self-contradiction, more that you can read the cogs of his thinking turning. He’s making his mind up as he writes.

    His reverse engineering poll ratings from votes based on David Herdson's rule of thumb for extrapolating from polls to actual votes is the step that needs most thinking about imo.
    Thing is that the face value reading of the polls leads to a conclusion that looks pretty bonkers in terms of how badly the Conservatives are set to do. So it ought to be prodded pretty forcefully to see how well it stands up.

    But every by election defeat and every month that passes makes it more likely that things really are that bad for the blue team.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,995
    edited November 2023

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    Good morning everyone; a greeting, as opposed to a comment on the weather!

    I wonder whether there’s a case for the members producing the ‘long list’ and the MP’s deciding from there?
    On the subject of the weather, some nasty conditions for a time in Cornwall and later in Sussex tomorrow morning, but the worst of Ciaran looks like sticking largely to the channel.

    Keep a lookout for a new wind power record today as new capacity coming on stream this summer finally gets to test its limits. The number to watch is around 22gw. Currently at 18.6gw.
  • DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    Good morning everyone; a greeting, as opposed to a comment on the weather!

    I wonder whether there’s a case for the members producing the ‘long list’ and the MP’s deciding from there?
    Sounds even worse. Say Corbyn beats Starmer 45-25 others 30 and then the MPs choose Starmer. His authority is massively dented from the start and the party inevitably divided.

    The real long term answer is one that never gets mentioned. Get "normal" people more involved in the Conservative and Labour parties rather than just fanatics.
  • "I did wonder if the events in the Middle East might be the blackest of black swans that upends Sir Keir Starmer general election victory."

    Tories now looking for swans even blacker than the blackest of black.

    Don't worry, if they ever get close to finding one, they will get 80% of the way there and decide it is too costly so they will go for pigeon instead.
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,748
    I wonder what the Middle East would be like if rather than invading Iraq, Bush2 had invaded Iran.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,839

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    Good morning everyone; a greeting, as opposed to a comment on the weather!

    I wonder whether there’s a case for the members producing the ‘long list’ and the MP’s deciding from there?
    Sounds even worse. Say Corbyn beats Starmer 45-25 others 30 and then the MPs choose Starmer. His authority is massively dented from the start and the party inevitably divided.

    The real long term answer is one that never gets mentioned. Get "normal" people more involved in the Conservative and Labour parties rather than just fanatics.
    Normal people have way better things to do with their time.
  • DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    Good morning everyone; a greeting, as opposed to a comment on the weather!

    I wonder whether there’s a case for the members producing the ‘long list’ and the MP’s deciding from there?
    Sounds even worse. Say Corbyn beats Starmer 45-25 others 30 and then the MPs choose Starmer. His authority is massively dented from the start and the party inevitably divided.

    The real long term answer is one that never gets mentioned. Get "normal" people more involved in the Conservative and Labour parties rather than just fanatics.
    Normal people have way better things to do with their time.
    Kind of. The time I spend on here would/could be more productive within a party set up. But you lot are far more interesting and pleasant than I expect any set of partisan party members to be.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,995
    edited November 2023

    TimS said:

    FPT comments on Meeks’ latest blog post in not sure it’s a case of self-contradiction, more that you can read the cogs of his thinking turning. He’s making his mind up as he writes.

    His reverse engineering poll ratings from votes based on David Herdson's rule of thumb for extrapolating from polls to actual votes is the step that needs most thinking about imo.
    Thing is that the face value reading of the polls leads to a conclusion that looks pretty bonkers in terms of how badly the Conservatives are set to do. So it ought to be prodded pretty forcefully to see how well it stands up.

    But every by election defeat and every month that passes makes it more likely that things really are that bad for the blue team.
    Interesting to know what the break even point will be come GE between the Tories outperforming expectations and underperforming.

    It won’t be the current polling numbers. Might not even be the polling closer to the time. Major comprehensively beat the polls in 1997 yet the result was still a huge shock. Everyone had factored in massive swingback.

    If an election were held tomorrow I reckon anything above a 50-60 Lab majority would be greeted with surprise (by journalists and public, not necessarily punters), despite what the polls say.
  • Seven new commissioners join Gambling Commission - but none of them come from a gambling background
    https://www.racingpost.com/news/gambling-review/seven-new-commissioners-join-gambling-commission-but-none-of-them-comes-from-a-gambling-background-aBBuS4Z5pWau/

    Jobs for the usual boys and girls on the quango circuit. It could spell trouble for punters.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,073

    In the modern world, borders get redrawn and people get moved. For all that we have declared the forcible moving of people to be a war crime, doing so has been the way to peace in Europe.

    I mentioned at the end of the last thread the absurdity that we have these so-called refugee camps in the first place. Full of third and fourth generation descendents of people who could have been classed as refugees.

    We saw a massive slaughter in Europe. Lines on maps drawn and redrawn. Countries created and empires removed, borders shifted and peoples relocated. For peace.

    The root cause of the continuing barbarity in the middle east is that a similar process did not happen. Instead of adjusting to the new boundaries, waves of war were unleashed to make even more displaced people and yet more redrawn borders.

    The poor sods being used by Hamas are not refugees. They are political pawns, where the defeated combatants of the 48, 67 and 73 wars refuse to accept their defeat and bleat on at the international community to push the magic reset button and remove the Jew from their lands.

    We do not have generational camps of displaced people from the Memeland. Or any other former place. Poland does not burn a torch for its lost territories. It needs to stop in the middle east, because regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, if we end up with an eventual ceasefire where we have all these people left as pawns by the arab world then the next round of bloodshed won't be far away.

    In the modern world, borders do not get redrawn and people moved. That was true maybe 70 years ago, but the rules-based international order has largely stopped the annexation of land by military force. We went into Iraq to stop them annexing Kuwait. We are supporting Ukraine against Russia’s attempted annexation. I think the West regrets not doing more over Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
    Well, quite.
    Rochdale is effectively arguing for the return of regular wars of territorial conquest. That would likely present problems greater than that of refugees.

    And it's pretty unlikely that another 5m displaced Palestinians would contribute greatly to stability in the region, or accept their fate with the equanimity he notes in Poland.

    The latter, of course, came only after centuries uf conflict in the region, and a long period of Soviet repression.
    Polish leaders in exile were unusually ling sighted in arguing fur accepting the new boundaries as fixed, and seeking common cause with European democracies - including their bitter adversary Germany.

    It's an attractive model, but not a very realistic one for the Middle East.
    .
  • Seven new commissioners join Gambling Commission - but none of them come from a gambling background
    https://www.racingpost.com/news/gambling-review/seven-new-commissioners-join-gambling-commission-but-none-of-them-comes-from-a-gambling-background-aBBuS4Z5pWau/

    Jobs for the usual boys and girls on the quango circuit. It could spell trouble for punters.

    They tried for Ivan Toney, but the reported £80m fee was just too much.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,839

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    Good morning everyone; a greeting, as opposed to a comment on the weather!

    I wonder whether there’s a case for the members producing the ‘long list’ and the MP’s deciding from there?
    Sounds even worse. Say Corbyn beats Starmer 45-25 others 30 and then the MPs choose Starmer. His authority is massively dented from the start and the party inevitably divided.

    The real long term answer is one that never gets mentioned. Get "normal" people more involved in the Conservative and Labour parties rather than just fanatics.
    Normal people have way better things to do with their time.
    Kind of. The time I spend on here would/could be more productive within a party set up. But you lot are far more interesting and pleasant than I expect any set of partisan party members to be.
    Yes, it is the variety of views and the differing viewpoints that make the debate and the threads worth reading. Meetings of the 4 feet good 2 feet bad variety would be deeply boring by comparison.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,662
    Nigelb said:

    In the modern world, borders get redrawn and people get moved. For all that we have declared the forcible moving of people to be a war crime, doing so has been the way to peace in Europe.

    I mentioned at the end of the last thread the absurdity that we have these so-called refugee camps in the first place. Full of third and fourth generation descendents of people who could have been classed as refugees.

    We saw a massive slaughter in Europe. Lines on maps drawn and redrawn. Countries created and empires removed, borders shifted and peoples relocated. For peace.

    The root cause of the continuing barbarity in the middle east is that a similar process did not happen. Instead of adjusting to the new boundaries, waves of war were unleashed to make even more displaced people and yet more redrawn borders.

    The poor sods being used by Hamas are not refugees. They are political pawns, where the defeated combatants of the 48, 67 and 73 wars refuse to accept their defeat and bleat on at the international community to push the magic reset button and remove the Jew from their lands.

    We do not have generational camps of displaced people from the Memeland. Or any other former place. Poland does not burn a torch for its lost territories. It needs to stop in the middle east, because regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, if we end up with an eventual ceasefire where we have all these people left as pawns by the arab world then the next round of bloodshed won't be far away.

    In the modern world, borders do not get redrawn and people moved. That was true maybe 70 years ago, but the rules-based international order has largely stopped the annexation of land by military force. We went into Iraq to stop them annexing Kuwait. We are supporting Ukraine against Russia’s attempted annexation. I think the West regrets not doing more over Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
    Well, quite.
    Rochdale is effectively arguing for the return of regular wars of territorial conquest. That would likely present problems greater than that of refugees.

    And it's pretty unlikely that another 5m displaced Palestinians would contribute greatly to stability in the region, or accept their fate with the equanimity he notes in Poland.

    The latter, of course, came only after centuries uf conflict in the region, and a long period of Soviet repression.
    Polish leaders in exile were unusually ling sighted in arguing fur accepting the new boundaries as fixed, and seeking common cause with European democracies - including their bitter adversary Germany.

    It's an attractive model, but not a very realistic one for the Middle East.
    .
    Arguing that borders can only be re-drawn by war and conquest, and that the victims should just acquiesce is the position of Hamas.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,839

    "I did wonder if the events in the Middle East might be the blackest of black swans that upends Sir Keir Starmer general election victory."

    Tories now looking for swans even blacker than the blackest of black.

    Don't worry, if they ever get close to finding one, they will get 80% of the way there and decide it is too costly so they will go for pigeon instead.
    If they found a goose that laid golden eggs they would eat it. Short termism rules.
  • DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    Good morning everyone; a greeting, as opposed to a comment on the weather!

    I wonder whether there’s a case for the members producing the ‘long list’ and the MP’s deciding from there?
    Sounds even worse. Say Corbyn beats Starmer 45-25 others 30 and then the MPs choose Starmer. His authority is massively dented from the start and the party inevitably divided.

    The real long term answer is one that never gets mentioned. Get "normal" people more involved in the Conservative and Labour parties rather than just fanatics.
    Normal people have way better things to do with their time.
    Kind of. The time I spend on here would/could be more productive within a party set up. But you lot are far more interesting and pleasant than I expect any set of partisan party members to be.
    Yes, it is the variety of views and the differing viewpoints that make the debate and the threads worth reading. Meetings of the 4 feet good 2 feet bad variety would be deeply boring by comparison.
    But does it really have to be run like that? I see the value in coherent communal strategy at the cabinet level, but think parties could function at local levels more effectively as broad coalitions where agreement on everything was never expected in the first place. A shared set of guiding values is all that is needed imo, not loyal adherance to whatever is in vogue at party central.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,969
    The fact most voters, including most Labour voters, are paying no attention to Starmer's response to the situation in Gaza shows that for most voters this is a non issue.
    They are much more concerned about inflation, interest rates and the cost of living.

    Of the less than 10% who are paying a lot of attention Starmer will be more focused on Jewish voters in marginal Tory seats in areas like Barnet than Muslim voters in largely Labour safe seats
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,969
    moonshine said:

    I wonder what the Middle East would be like if rather than invading Iraq, Bush2 had invaded Iran.

    Saudi Arabia would be even stronger and the Kurds less safe
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,437
    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    Or indeed the hard-of-thinking MPs and commentors who suggested Rishi Sunak was suitable to do anything more senior than make the office tea.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,969

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    In government yes, in opposition members should still have the final choice on the leader which the voters can confirm at a general election or not
  • HYUFD said:

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    In government yes, in opposition members should still have the final choice on the leader which the voters can confirm at a general election or not
    Why? When they generally give us poor leaders?

    A selection process for the most important role in the land (or even reaching the final 2 for that role) should be based on getting people who are at least vaguely suitable through that process.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,592

    In the modern world, borders get redrawn and people get moved. For all that we have declared the forcible moving of people to be a war crime, doing so has been the way to peace in Europe.

    I mentioned at the end of the last thread the absurdity that we have these so-called refugee camps in the first place. Full of third and fourth generation descendents of people who could have been classed as refugees.

    We saw a massive slaughter in Europe. Lines on maps drawn and redrawn. Countries created and empires removed, borders shifted and peoples relocated. For peace.

    The root cause of the continuing barbarity in the middle east is that a similar process did not happen. Instead of adjusting to the new boundaries, waves of war were unleashed to make even more displaced people and yet more redrawn borders.

    The poor sods being used by Hamas are not refugees. They are political pawns, where the defeated combatants of the 48, 67 and 73 wars refuse to accept their defeat and bleat on at the international community to push the magic reset button and remove the Jew from their lands.

    We do not have generational camps of displaced people from the Memeland. Or any other former place. Poland does not burn a torch for its lost territories. It needs to stop in the middle east, because regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, if we end up with an eventual ceasefire where we have all these people left as pawns by the arab world then the next round of bloodshed won't be far away.

    In the modern world, borders do not get redrawn and people moved. That was true maybe 70 years ago, but the rules-based international order has largely stopped the annexation of land by military force. We went into Iraq to stop them annexing Kuwait. We are supporting Ukraine against Russia’s attempted annexation. I think the West regrets not doing more over Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
    Yet borders being redrawn and people moved (or killed...) is exactly what Hamas want. And, in reality, anybody who chants 'from the river to the sea'.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,664
    HYUFD said:

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    In government yes, in opposition members should still have the final choice on the leader which the voters can confirm at a general election or not
    Yes maybe that's fair. I would still say a new mid-term PM should be forced to call an election within 6 months, a year at a stretch.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,957
    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    It is quite an interesting poll. The public (or Labour voters) trust Starmer and Corbyn more or less equally, despite their positions being very far apart. Corbyn is more mistrusted though.

    I wonder what the Venn diagram of that support and mistrust is.

    Though the clearest thing from that poll is that the majority of people do not trust any of Corbyn, Starmer or Sunak on the issue, with trust in them varying from only 18 to 27%.

    Just as there is no right answer to the troubles in Israel/Palestine, there is no popular approach to it either. It is a subject that all wise politicians and commentators should avoid.
    Very true. PB is beginning to resemble CiF of old in this regard. Endless back and forth about the issue.

    If everyone realised that I am right about it all then we could be done with much of this senseless and fruitless debate/
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,839

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    Good morning everyone; a greeting, as opposed to a comment on the weather!

    I wonder whether there’s a case for the members producing the ‘long list’ and the MP’s deciding from there?
    Sounds even worse. Say Corbyn beats Starmer 45-25 others 30 and then the MPs choose Starmer. His authority is massively dented from the start and the party inevitably divided.

    The real long term answer is one that never gets mentioned. Get "normal" people more involved in the Conservative and Labour parties rather than just fanatics.
    Normal people have way better things to do with their time.
    Kind of. The time I spend on here would/could be more productive within a party set up. But you lot are far more interesting and pleasant than I expect any set of partisan party members to be.
    Yes, it is the variety of views and the differing viewpoints that make the debate and the threads worth reading. Meetings of the 4 feet good 2 feet bad variety would be deeply boring by comparison.
    But does it really have to be run like that? I see the value in coherent communal strategy at the cabinet level, but think parties could function at local levels more effectively as broad coalitions where agreement on everything was never expected in the first place. A shared set of guiding values is all that is needed imo, not loyal adherance to whatever is in vogue at party central.
    Its not realistic. The membership of both parties get told what their policies are and what they believe from the platform at conference. Their job is to clap. That's it. No one really cares what they think, what ideas they have etc.

    If you tried this at the local level there would be endless "gotchas" where someone was quoted saying something "outrageous" (just as we saw in the last thread in relation to Boris's texts). It is the childish way that politics is played and I can't see how we get it back (and there may be some idealising of the past in that word "back") to something sane.

    Our politics is broken and only the loons have the energy to play the necessary games. The rest of us just try to cope with the consequences.
  • "I did wonder if the events in the Middle East might be the blackest of black swans that upends Sir Keir Starmer general election victory."

    Tories now looking for swans even blacker than the blackest of black.

    I was speaking as a gambler.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,662
    HYUFD said:

    The fact most voters, including most Labour voters, are paying no attention to Starmer's response to the situation in Gaza shows that for most voters this is a non issue.
    They are much more concerned about inflation, interest rates and the cost of living.

    Of the less than 10% who are paying a lot of attention Starmer will be more focused on Jewish voters in marginal Tory seats in areas like Barnet than Muslim voters in largely Labour safe seats

    It is conceivable that Starmers views on the subject are more determined by his own analysis and sympathies than electoral tactics in marginals.

    A shocking thought, I acknowledge.
  • DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    Good morning everyone; a greeting, as opposed to a comment on the weather!

    I wonder whether there’s a case for the members producing the ‘long list’ and the MP’s deciding from there?
    Sounds even worse. Say Corbyn beats Starmer 45-25 others 30 and then the MPs choose Starmer. His authority is massively dented from the start and the party inevitably divided.

    The real long term answer is one that never gets mentioned. Get "normal" people more involved in the Conservative and Labour parties rather than just fanatics.
    Normal people have way better things to do with their time.
    Kind of. The time I spend on here would/could be more productive within a party set up. But you lot are far more interesting and pleasant than I expect any set of partisan party members to be.
    The trade-off most of us make is that getting stuck in to a political party requires too much time, energy and association with the worst people on the left or the right.

    The downside is that if journals don't get involved, we leave politics to the worst people.

    With the consequences we see in the papers today.
  • DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    Good morning everyone; a greeting, as opposed to a comment on the weather!

    I wonder whether there’s a case for the members producing the ‘long list’ and the MP’s deciding from there?
    Sounds even worse. Say Corbyn beats Starmer 45-25 others 30 and then the MPs choose Starmer. His authority is massively dented from the start and the party inevitably divided.

    The real long term answer is one that never gets mentioned. Get "normal" people more involved in the Conservative and Labour parties rather than just fanatics.
    Normal people have way better things to do with their time.
    Kind of. The time I spend on here would/could be more productive within a party set up. But you lot are far more interesting and pleasant than I expect any set of partisan party members to be.
    Yes, it is the variety of views and the differing viewpoints that make the debate and the threads worth reading. Meetings of the 4 feet good 2 feet bad variety would be deeply boring by comparison.
    But does it really have to be run like that? I see the value in coherent communal strategy at the cabinet level, but think parties could function at local levels more effectively as broad coalitions where agreement on everything was never expected in the first place. A shared set of guiding values is all that is needed imo, not loyal adherance to whatever is in vogue at party central.
    Its not realistic. The membership of both parties get told what their policies are and what they believe from the platform at conference. Their job is to clap. That's it. No one really cares what they think, what ideas they have etc.

    If you tried this at the local level there would be endless "gotchas" where someone was quoted saying something "outrageous" (just as we saw in the last thread in relation to Boris's texts). It is the childish way that politics is played and I can't see how we get it back (and there may be some idealising of the past in that word "back") to something sane.

    Our politics is broken and only the loons have the energy to play the necessary games. The rest of us just try to cope with the consequences.
    Thats where we are, sure. I don't believe it is inevitable or unchangeable.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,969

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/31/west-bank-palestinian-villages-israeli-army-settlers

    An interesting piece on what's happening in the West Bank while eyes are on Gaza.

    The international community, including the US State Department, have told the Israelis to get control of settlers pushing Palestinians off their land.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,191

    Seven new commissioners join Gambling Commission - but none of them come from a gambling background
    https://www.racingpost.com/news/gambling-review/seven-new-commissioners-join-gambling-commission-but-none-of-them-comes-from-a-gambling-background-aBBuS4Z5pWau/

    Jobs for the usual boys and girls on the quango circuit. It could spell trouble for punters.

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0751810/ Jobs for the boys - Never ages.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677
    moonshine said:

    I wonder what the Middle East would be like if rather than invading Iraq, Bush2 had invaded Iran.

    It's 700km from Bushehr to Tehran assuming the invasion came from the Gulf not the Caspian and they would have to take Shiraz and Isfahan crossing mountain ranges on the way. Not easy.

    Besides, as Rumsfeld observed, all the good targets were in Iraq.
  • HeathenerHeathener Posts: 7,084
    HYUFD said:

    The fact most voters, including most Labour voters, are paying no attention to Starmer's response to the situation in Gaza shows that for most voters this is a non issue.
    They are much more concerned about inflation, interest rates and the cost of living.

    Of the less than 10% who are paying a lot of attention Starmer will be more focused on Jewish voters in marginal Tory seats in areas like Barnet than Muslim voters in largely Labour safe seats

    Yep. Spot on.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,957
    Whatever the terminology about Hamas employees the BBC was calling the shenanigans in the Middle East "war".

    I assume they don't use terms lightly and hence we can all agree that Israel and Gaza are at war.

    David Lammy put it well this morning on R4 (note: I'm a big fan of DLammy) - what Israel is doing is not necessarily a war crime, just that it falls to Israel to explain why it isn't.
  • HYUFD said:

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    In government yes, in opposition members should still have the final choice on the leader which the voters can confirm at a general election or not
    Why? When they generally give us poor leaders?

    A selection process for the most important role in the land (or even reaching the final 2 for that role) should be based on getting people who are at least vaguely suitable through that process.
    I’d turn it round. Put the candidates through a first round of membership voting. Anyone who gets say less than 20% of the vote is out, then let MPs choose from the remaining candidates.

    Anyone over a certain threshold gets through, then MPs make final decision on who the leader is from that.
  • PoliticsJoe has boiled down Dominic Cummings' testimony to a mere 40 minutes.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdK-A01OUjs
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677
    TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    It is quite an interesting poll. The public (or Labour voters) trust Starmer and Corbyn more or less equally, despite their positions being very far apart. Corbyn is more mistrusted though.

    I wonder what the Venn diagram of that support and mistrust is.

    Though the clearest thing from that poll is that the majority of people do not trust any of Corbyn, Starmer or Sunak on the issue, with trust in them varying from only 18 to 27%.

    Just as there is no right answer to the troubles in Israel/Palestine, there is no popular approach to it either. It is a subject that all wise politicians and commentators should avoid.
    Very true. PB is beginning to resemble CiF of old in this regard. Endless back and forth about the issue.
    There's too much middle class mincing around and not enough vitriol.

    Israel/Palestine is El Clasico of Internet discussions. If you've got a chance to get on the pitch then you lace your boots up.
  • HYUFD said:

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/31/west-bank-palestinian-villages-israeli-army-settlers

    An interesting piece on what's happening in the West Bank while eyes are on Gaza.

    The international community, including the US State Department, have told the Israelis to get control of settlers pushing Palestinians off their land.
    Sounds like when I tell my daughter to keep her bedroom tidy.
  • HeathenerHeathener Posts: 7,084
    HYUFD said:

    The fact most voters, including most Labour voters, are paying no attention to Starmer's response to the situation in Gaza shows that for most voters this is a non issue.
    They are much more concerned about inflation, interest rates and the cost of living.

    Of the less than 10% who are paying a lot of attention Starmer will be more focused on Jewish voters in marginal Tory seats in areas like Barnet than Muslim voters in largely Labour safe seats

    Starmer is a LOT more savvy about RealPolitik than he's given credit for.

    You could describe it as opportunism and probably other much ruder things, and he incenses some of my friends on the Left over it, but it's proving to be both effective and enduring.

    That's if you think winning power matters, which apparently Corbynistas don't.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,191

    In the modern world, borders get redrawn and people get moved. For all that we have declared the forcible moving of people to be a war crime, doing so has been the way to peace in Europe.

    I mentioned at the end of the last thread the absurdity that we have these so-called refugee camps in the first place. Full of third and fourth generation descendents of people who could have been classed as refugees.

    We saw a massive slaughter in Europe. Lines on maps drawn and redrawn. Countries created and empires removed, borders shifted and peoples relocated. For peace.

    The root cause of the continuing barbarity in the middle east is that a similar process did not happen. Instead of adjusting to the new boundaries, waves of war were unleashed to make even more displaced people and yet more redrawn borders.

    The poor sods being used by Hamas are not refugees. They are political pawns, where the defeated combatants of the 48, 67 and 73 wars refuse to accept their defeat and bleat on at the international community to push the magic reset button and remove the Jew from their lands.

    We do not have generational camps of displaced people from the Memeland. Or any other former place. Poland does not burn a torch for its lost territories. It needs to stop in the middle east, because regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, if we end up with an eventual ceasefire where we have all these people left as pawns by the arab world then the next round of bloodshed won't be far away.

    That's a very polite way of calling for ethnic cleansing.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,270
    Dura_Ace said:

    TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    It is quite an interesting poll. The public (or Labour voters) trust Starmer and Corbyn more or less equally, despite their positions being very far apart. Corbyn is more mistrusted though.

    I wonder what the Venn diagram of that support and mistrust is.

    Though the clearest thing from that poll is that the majority of people do not trust any of Corbyn, Starmer or Sunak on the issue, with trust in them varying from only 18 to 27%.

    Just as there is no right answer to the troubles in Israel/Palestine, there is no popular approach to it either. It is a subject that all wise politicians and commentators should avoid.
    Very true. PB is beginning to resemble CiF of old in this regard. Endless back and forth about the issue.
    There's too much middle class mincing around and not enough vitriol.

    Israel/Palestine is El Clasico of Internet discussions. If you've got a chance to get on the pitch then you lace your boots up.
    There’s no shortage of places to have a pointless shouting match of “I’m right, and you are all Fascists” on this and many other issues.

    #ToyHamas, #ToyNetanyhu
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,270

    HYUFD said:

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/31/west-bank-palestinian-villages-israeli-army-settlers

    An interesting piece on what's happening in the West Bank while eyes are on Gaza.

    The international community, including the US State Department, have told the Israelis to get control of settlers pushing Palestinians off their land.
    Sounds like when I tell my daughter to keep her bedroom tidy.
    Does she?

    My youngest went through a phase of worrying levels of tidyness…
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,526
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    Good morning everyone; a greeting, as opposed to a comment on the weather!

    I wonder whether there’s a case for the members producing the ‘long list’ and the MP’s deciding from there?
    Sounds even worse. Say Corbyn beats Starmer 45-25 others 30 and then the MPs choose Starmer. His authority is massively dented from the start and the party inevitably divided.

    The real long term answer is one that never gets mentioned. Get "normal" people more involved in the Conservative and Labour parties rather than just fanatics.
    Normal people have way better things to do with their time.
    Kind of. The time I spend on here would/could be more productive within a party set up. But you lot are far more interesting and pleasant than I expect any set of partisan party members to be.
    Yes, it is the variety of views and the differing viewpoints that make the debate and the threads worth reading. Meetings of the 4 feet good 2 feet bad variety would be deeply boring by comparison.
    I don't know what your local parties are like, but mine has agreeable discussions akin to PB, usually with a guest speaker and a variety of views expressed. Lockdown helped as it got potential speakers used to doing remote sessions, so we've had people like Reeves and Lammy who wouldn't want to trek down to deepest Surrey. I chair the meeting lightly, mainly enforcing the rule that nobody gets to speak twice before everyone who wants to has spoken once. We vote on the issues at the end and I tease the members for being too North Korean if we get too much unanimity. The "losers" generally take it in good part if they've had a decent hearing.

    People find it satisfying and we get a lot of normal-looking participants. But we're all clear that having a discussion isn't actually going to change anything - again, much like PB. We occasionally send a resolution to the NEC, who I'm sure find it very interesting :). By and large, members are realistic about not changing national policy and simply enjoying the chance to discuss issues with Shadow Cabinet people who do, as well as with local people of broadly similar outlook but perhaps quite different views on a specific issue.

    I gather that some constituency parties have a more strident atmosphere, and it perhaps does depend partly on local leadership style. I don't try to force any particular views, and consequently get along with all the different types of member. The price for that is that I'm not especially influential in the local party decisions, but so what?
  • geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,718

    HYUFD said:

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/31/west-bank-palestinian-villages-israeli-army-settlers

    An interesting piece on what's happening in the West Bank while eyes are on Gaza.

    The international community, including the US State Department, have told the Israelis to get control of settlers pushing Palestinians off their land.
    Sounds like when I tell my daughter to keep her bedroom tidy.
    Does she?

    My youngest went through a phase of worrying levels of tidyness…
    Marie Kondo videos?

  • Labour would have to completely jump the shark (to the hard Left) for the Tories to win the next election now.

    But SKS knows that, and that his support is wide but soft, which is why he's being so careful.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,957
    edited November 2023
    Dura_Ace said:

    TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    It is quite an interesting poll. The public (or Labour voters) trust Starmer and Corbyn more or less equally, despite their positions being very far apart. Corbyn is more mistrusted though.

    I wonder what the Venn diagram of that support and mistrust is.

    Though the clearest thing from that poll is that the majority of people do not trust any of Corbyn, Starmer or Sunak on the issue, with trust in them varying from only 18 to 27%.

    Just as there is no right answer to the troubles in Israel/Palestine, there is no popular approach to it either. It is a subject that all wise politicians and commentators should avoid.
    Very true. PB is beginning to resemble CiF of old in this regard. Endless back and forth about the issue.
    There's too much middle class mincing around and not enough vitriol.

    Israel/Palestine is El Clasico of Internet discussions. If you've got a chance to get on the pitch then you lace your boots up.
    Moreso than Jaffa Cakes cake or biscuit? I think not.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,015
    BTW: Which river and which sea?
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,957

    Labour would have to completely jump the shark (to the hard Left) for the Tories to win the next election now.

    But SKS knows that, and that his support is wide but soft, which is why he's being so careful.

    As I said, Lammy was v sensible and super measured this morning on Today.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,339
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,270
    TOPPING said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    It is quite an interesting poll. The public (or Labour voters) trust Starmer and Corbyn more or less equally, despite their positions being very far apart. Corbyn is more mistrusted though.

    I wonder what the Venn diagram of that support and mistrust is.

    Though the clearest thing from that poll is that the majority of people do not trust any of Corbyn, Starmer or Sunak on the issue, with trust in them varying from only 18 to 27%.

    Just as there is no right answer to the troubles in Israel/Palestine, there is no popular approach to it either. It is a subject that all wise politicians and commentators should avoid.
    Very true. PB is beginning to resemble CiF of old in this regard. Endless back and forth about the issue.
    There's too much middle class mincing around and not enough vitriol.

    Israel/Palestine is El Clasico of Internet discussions. If you've got a chance to get on the pitch then you lace your boots up.
    Moreso than Jaffa Cakes cake or biscuit? I think not.
    Pizza toppings...
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,339
    Also, fair play to Sunak. He’s got some serious names at his AI conference. Including Sam Altman of OpenAI, probably the most serious of all. And Elon….
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,671

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    It is quite an interesting poll. The public (or Labour voters) trust Starmer and Corbyn more or less equally, despite their positions being very far apart. Corbyn is more mistrusted though.

    I wonder what the Venn diagram of that support and mistrust is.

    Though the clearest thing from that poll is that the majority of people do not trust any of Corbyn, Starmer or Sunak on the issue, with trust in them varying from only 18 to 27%.

    Just as there is no right answer to the troubles in Israel/Palestine, there is no popular approach to it either. It is a subject that all wise politicians and commentators should avoid.
    Lets imagine that the UK PM had an outrageously brilliant diplomatic mind and could come up with a near perfect solution that worked for both Israel and Palestine.

    How much would the leaders of Israel and Palestine be willing to listen and change course right now? 1%? Probably closer to 0%.
    I'd counter that listening to those involved in the Northern Ireland peace process might be productive.

    A cynical politician might want to avoid the subject. A brave one would pop their head above the parapet.
  • Heh.


  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,969

    HYUFD said:

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    In government yes, in opposition members should still have the final choice on the leader which the voters can confirm at a general election or not
    Why? When they generally give us poor leaders?

    A selection process for the most important role in the land (or even reaching the final 2 for that role) should be based on getting people who are at least vaguely suitable through that process.
    As members are the backbone of political parties who fundraise and campaign for it and help get MPs elected.

    In opposition they absolutely should have the final say on who their party's candidate for PM should be which voters can confirm or not at a general election. In government then yes MPs can have the final say as they have to work with the PM and if MPs have removed a PM as they have no confidence in them they need a PM they do have confidence in for government to work effectively.

    Of course don't forget members picked Blair, Cameron and Starmer, MPs alone picked Foot, Hague and Theresa May and Sunak so it is not as if MPs judgement is always far superior to members anyway
  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 5,065
    edited November 2023

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    Good morning everyone; a greeting, as opposed to a comment on the weather!

    I wonder whether there’s a case for the members producing the ‘long list’ and the MP’s deciding from there?
    Sounds even worse. Say Corbyn beats Starmer 45-25 others 30 and then the MPs choose Starmer. His authority is massively dented from the start and the party inevitably divided.

    The real long term answer is one that never gets mentioned. Get "normal" people more involved in the Conservative and Labour parties rather than just fanatics.
    Normal people have way better things to do with their time.
    Kind of. The time I spend on here would/could be more productive within a party set up. But you lot are far more interesting and pleasant than I expect any set of partisan party members to be.
    I have never joined a political party, because that commits me to voting for that party in every election*. I think it is important to make the decision based on current policies and also tactical aspects (a bigger consideration in the UK than in Germany). I often vote differently in local vs national elections.


    *I know that it is possible for a party member to vote for a different party, but there was a lot of vitreol on this forum during the 2019 Euro Elections that a significant chunk of Tory members were voting for the Brexit Party, including calls for those voters being removed from the party.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,270
    TOPPING said:

    Labour would have to completely jump the shark (to the hard Left) for the Tories to win the next election now.

    But SKS knows that, and that his support is wide but soft, which is why he's being so careful.

    As I said, Lammy was v sensible and super measured this morning on Today.
    I rather like the 538 basic analysis - that as an election approaches, the "turn" required to change the result from the current polling becomes harder. And historically rarer.

    Then again, we have the May example of a collapse in support overnight as a counter example. My excuse for this was that her polling level was extremely soft.

    You say that Starmers support is soft. But he (and the Labour party) have hit a number of headwinds recently. Not vast, but noticeable. Israel/Palestine is the latest. They have weathered each one, reasonably quickly, and without a noticeable long term effect.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,270

    Heh.


    Hmmmm


  • Eabhal said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    It is quite an interesting poll. The public (or Labour voters) trust Starmer and Corbyn more or less equally, despite their positions being very far apart. Corbyn is more mistrusted though.

    I wonder what the Venn diagram of that support and mistrust is.

    Though the clearest thing from that poll is that the majority of people do not trust any of Corbyn, Starmer or Sunak on the issue, with trust in them varying from only 18 to 27%.

    Just as there is no right answer to the troubles in Israel/Palestine, there is no popular approach to it either. It is a subject that all wise politicians and commentators should avoid.
    Lets imagine that the UK PM had an outrageously brilliant diplomatic mind and could come up with a near perfect solution that worked for both Israel and Palestine.

    How much would the leaders of Israel and Palestine be willing to listen and change course right now? 1%? Probably closer to 0%.
    I'd counter that listening to those involved in the Northern Ireland peace process might be productive.

    A cynical politician might want to avoid the subject. A brave one would pop their head above the parapet.
    I would suggest such work would be far more productive six months from now, or indeed would have been six months earlier.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 5,039
    edited November 2023
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    In government yes, in opposition members should still have the final choice on the leader which the voters can confirm at a general election or not
    Why? When they generally give us poor leaders?

    A selection process for the most important role in the land (or even reaching the final 2 for that role) should be based on getting people who are at least vaguely suitable through that process.
    As members are the backbone of political parties who fundraise and campaign for it and help get MPs elected.

    In opposition they absolutely should have the final say on who their party's candidate for PM should be which voters can confirm or not at a general election. In government then yes MPs can have the final say as they have to work with the PM and if MPs have removed a PM as they have no confidence in them they need a PM they do have confidence in for government to work effectively.

    Of course don't forget members picked Blair, Cameron and Starmer, MPs alone picked Foot, Hague and Theresa May and Sunak so it is not as if MPs judgement is always far superior to members anyway
    Also it's much more inclusive to have an electorate of members - more or less anyone can become a member for a few pounds a year - indeed they're desperate to have you - but being an MP is a bit more of a hassle.
  • eristdoof said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    Good morning everyone; a greeting, as opposed to a comment on the weather!

    I wonder whether there’s a case for the members producing the ‘long list’ and the MP’s deciding from there?
    Sounds even worse. Say Corbyn beats Starmer 45-25 others 30 and then the MPs choose Starmer. His authority is massively dented from the start and the party inevitably divided.

    The real long term answer is one that never gets mentioned. Get "normal" people more involved in the Conservative and Labour parties rather than just fanatics.
    Normal people have way better things to do with their time.
    Kind of. The time I spend on here would/could be more productive within a party set up. But you lot are far more interesting and pleasant than I expect any set of partisan party members to be.
    I have never joined a political party, because that commits me to voting for that party in every election*. I think it is important to make the decision based on current policies and also tactical aspects (a bigger consideration in the UK than in Germany). I often vote differently in local vs national elections.


    *I know that it is possible for a party member to vote for a different party, but there was a lot of vitreol on this forum during the 2019 Euro Elections that a significant chunk of Tory members were voting for the Brexit Party, including calls for those voters being removed from the party.
    Yes, that is the status quo. Again, I do not believe it inevitable or desirable, it is merely how we have been conditioned because it suits the short term interests of the party hierarchy.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,329

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/31/west-bank-palestinian-villages-israeli-army-settlers

    An interesting piece on what's happening in the West Bank while eyes are on Gaza.

    Pretty sick, what a shithole the middle east is.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,969
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    DavidL said:

    I would trust almost anyone on almost anything more than I would trust Corbyn. I am really not sure what this proves other than the membership of the Labour party were seriously deluded in voting that man leader twice. Its up there with the Tory membership thinking Liz Truss, or indeed IDS, were an answer to anything useful.

    A lot to be said for returning the selection of the Leader to MPs. For both main parties.
    In government yes, in opposition members should still have the final choice on the leader which the voters can confirm at a general election or not
    Why? When they generally give us poor leaders?

    A selection process for the most important role in the land (or even reaching the final 2 for that role) should be based on getting people who are at least vaguely suitable through that process.
    As members are the backbone of political parties who fundraise and campaign for it and help get MPs elected.

    In opposition they absolutely should have the final say on who their party's candidate for PM should be which voters can confirm or not at a general election. In government then yes MPs can have the final say as they have to work with the PM and if MPs have removed a PM as they have no confidence in them they need a PM they do have confidence in for government to work effectively.

    Of course don't forget members picked Blair, Cameron and Starmer, MPs alone picked Foot, Hague and Theresa May and Sunak so it is not as if MPs judgement is always far superior to members anyway
    MPs alone picked Gordon Brown too of course
  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 5,065

    BTW: Which river and which sea?

    From Peace River* to the Sea of Tranquility


    *in Canada https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_River
  • Labour would have to completely jump the shark (to the hard Left) for the Tories to win the next election now.

    But SKS knows that, and that his support is wide but soft, which is why he's being so careful.

    I still think there is a not-insignificant chance that we could find ourselves in hung parliament territory, given as you say the prevailing wisdom that Labour support is wide but soft, and the potential that Labour could have a bad campaign or the (inevitable, by the way) significant Tory negative campaigning pays off.

    I find it very hard to see Labour not forming the next government though, if I’m honest. That requires a significant level of implosion of the Labour position given what they’re up against. Is it possible? Yes, but v unlikely IMHO, because Starmer has shown he is pretty good at avoiding pitfalls, so such a huge unforced error would be out of character.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677

    BTW: Which river and which sea?

    Tees and North.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,270

    Eabhal said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    It is quite an interesting poll. The public (or Labour voters) trust Starmer and Corbyn more or less equally, despite their positions being very far apart. Corbyn is more mistrusted though.

    I wonder what the Venn diagram of that support and mistrust is.

    Though the clearest thing from that poll is that the majority of people do not trust any of Corbyn, Starmer or Sunak on the issue, with trust in them varying from only 18 to 27%.

    Just as there is no right answer to the troubles in Israel/Palestine, there is no popular approach to it either. It is a subject that all wise politicians and commentators should avoid.
    Lets imagine that the UK PM had an outrageously brilliant diplomatic mind and could come up with a near perfect solution that worked for both Israel and Palestine.

    How much would the leaders of Israel and Palestine be willing to listen and change course right now? 1%? Probably closer to 0%.
    I'd counter that listening to those involved in the Northern Ireland peace process might be productive.

    A cynical politician might want to avoid the subject. A brave one would pop their head above the parapet.
    I would suggest such work would be far more productive six months from now, or indeed would have been six months earlier.
    The major difference between the two is scale on the international scene.

    Both sides had little support internationally (some money for the political wing from America, but guns were pretty much stopped by the mid 80s by the FBI). This isolation meant that when the Irish and British Governments agreed on the peace process, they had control.

    Compare that to a situation where one party is a nuclear armed state (with intercontinental reach at that). And everyone i the UN seems to be involved.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,191
    Leon said:

    Also, fair play to Sunak. He’s got some serious names at his AI conference. Including Sam Altman of OpenAI, probably the most serious of all. And Elon….

    Bit of a coup for Sunak this.
  • BTW: Which river and which sea?

    In some alternative universe it's the Thames and the English Channel as the Kentish Men and the Men of Kent fight over the holy city of Canterbury while the peace-loving folk of Transjordan argue about ULEZ.
  • Foxy said:

    In the modern world, borders get redrawn and people get moved. For all that we have declared the forcible moving of people to be a war crime, doing so has been the way to peace in Europe.

    I mentioned at the end of the last thread the absurdity that we have these so-called refugee camps in the first place. Full of third and fourth generation descendents of people who could have been classed as refugees.

    We saw a massive slaughter in Europe. Lines on maps drawn and redrawn. Countries created and empires removed, borders shifted and peoples relocated. For peace.

    The root cause of the continuing barbarity in the middle east is that a similar process did not happen. Instead of adjusting to the new boundaries, waves of war were unleashed to make even more displaced people and yet more redrawn borders.

    The poor sods being used by Hamas are not refugees. They are political pawns, where the defeated combatants of the 48, 67 and 73 wars refuse to accept their defeat and bleat on at the international community to push the magic reset button and remove the Jew from their lands.

    We do not have generational camps of displaced people from the Memeland. Or any other former place. Poland does not burn a torch for its lost territories. It needs to stop in the middle east, because regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, if we end up with an eventual ceasefire where we have all these people left as pawns by the arab world then the next round of bloodshed won't be far away.

    Yes, but these are not redrawn borders. Gaza and the West Bank are ""occupied Territories" neither part of Israel, nor independent states.

    The people are not to be given equal rights with others by incorporating them into Israel, nor allowed to form a state. Hence no resolution.

    Or are you arguing for the forced expulsion/extermination of all 2.2 million in Gaza and the 3.5 million in the West Bank?
    They are redrawn borders - none of these borders existed previously. Show me Gaza as a strip on a map of the Ottoman Empire. Or the mandates drawn on the map post WWI?

    Gaza is no different to other non-contiguous regions at the end of WWII which got redrawn. The question that needs to be asked isn't do we move 2.2m Gazans but do 2.2m Gazans want to stay there? Go and ask them - so many are not Gazan and do not see Gaza as any more than a refugee camp or prison.

    Gaza does not work - for the Gazans, for the Isaraelis, for the Egyptians. Nobody. I suspect that a realistic outcome of this will be Israel washing its hands of the place - but who will take on authority of keeping the peace and supplying it with power and water - Egypt? They don't want it either.

    The fighting will stop. And we are left with an over-populated strip of land with minimal resources reliant on outside support. Israel won't support it, Egypt won't support it, so who will? And if nobody will do we accept that we need to resettle the people there who want to be resettled, and work on a plan to do so?

    It isn't forced resettlement when the people being resettled want to be resettled. Israel bombed a refugee camp - these are people who do not want to be in Gaza.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677
    Pulpstar said:

    Leon said:

    Also, fair play to Sunak. He’s got some serious names at his AI conference. Including Sam Altman of OpenAI, probably the most serious of all. And Elon….

    Bit of a coup for Sunak this.
    The swing voters in hyper-marginals like Bury North talk of little else except AI. They don't give a shit about access to GPs or #cozzielivs, they want to discuss mixed scenario model free deep reinforcement learning using quantile regression soft critic.
  • numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 6,813
    edited November 2023

    TOPPING said:

    Labour would have to completely jump the shark (to the hard Left) for the Tories to win the next election now.

    But SKS knows that, and that his support is wide but soft, which is why he's being so careful.

    As I said, Lammy was v sensible and super measured this morning on Today.
    I rather like the 538 basic analysis - that as an election approaches, the "turn" required to change the result from the current polling becomes harder. And historically rarer.

    Then again, we have the May example of a collapse in support overnight as a counter example. My excuse for this was that her polling level was extremely soft.

    You say that Starmers support is soft. But he (and the Labour party) have hit a number of headwinds recently. Not vast, but noticeable. Israel/Palestine is the latest. They have weathered each one, reasonably quickly, and without a noticeable long term effect.
    I’m not sure I agree with the analysis, because I think it’s very situational as to whether a GE campaign can make a difference. In 2019, I think most people had probably made up their minds, but I could make an argument that extent of the Tory victory and Labour collapse was exacerbated by Corbyn’s “freebie a day” campaign announcements.

    The 2017 victory was as you say a pretty clear cut example of the campaign mattering. 2015 could also be seen as that, given the unexpected swing to the Tories (possibly though again debatably as a result of Miliband’s comments re the last Labour government not spending too much and the SNP factor).

    Without the very effective Labour negative campaigning and the Cleggasm I think the Tories would have won a majority in 2010 too.
  • Labour would have to completely jump the shark (to the hard Left) for the Tories to win the next election now.

    But SKS knows that, and that his support is wide but soft, which is why he's being so careful.

    I still think there is a not-insignificant chance that we could find ourselves in hung parliament territory, given as you say the prevailing wisdom that Labour support is wide but soft, and the potential that Labour could have a bad campaign or the (inevitable, by the way) significant Tory negative campaigning pays off.

    I find it very hard to see Labour not forming the next government though, if I’m honest. That requires a significant level of implosion of the Labour position given what they’re up against. Is it possible? Yes, but v unlikely IMHO, because Starmer has shown he is pretty good at avoiding pitfalls, so such a huge unforced error would be out of character.
    I agree.

    FWIW, I read Alistair Meeks post FPT on this. I found it quite clear and well-laid out. His analysis builds towards a conclusion that a clear landslide is likely based on current evidence, but there is a wide range of error in it and the prospect of events over the next year.
  • Nigelb said:

    In the modern world, borders get redrawn and people get moved. For all that we have declared the forcible moving of people to be a war crime, doing so has been the way to peace in Europe.

    I mentioned at the end of the last thread the absurdity that we have these so-called refugee camps in the first place. Full of third and fourth generation descendents of people who could have been classed as refugees.

    We saw a massive slaughter in Europe. Lines on maps drawn and redrawn. Countries created and empires removed, borders shifted and peoples relocated. For peace.

    The root cause of the continuing barbarity in the middle east is that a similar process did not happen. Instead of adjusting to the new boundaries, waves of war were unleashed to make even more displaced people and yet more redrawn borders.

    The poor sods being used by Hamas are not refugees. They are political pawns, where the defeated combatants of the 48, 67 and 73 wars refuse to accept their defeat and bleat on at the international community to push the magic reset button and remove the Jew from their lands.

    We do not have generational camps of displaced people from the Memeland. Or any other former place. Poland does not burn a torch for its lost territories. It needs to stop in the middle east, because regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, if we end up with an eventual ceasefire where we have all these people left as pawns by the arab world then the next round of bloodshed won't be far away.

    In the modern world, borders do not get redrawn and people moved. That was true maybe 70 years ago, but the rules-based international order has largely stopped the annexation of land by military force. We went into Iraq to stop them annexing Kuwait. We are supporting Ukraine against Russia’s attempted annexation. I think the West regrets not doing more over Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
    Well, quite.
    Rochdale is effectively arguing for the return of regular wars of territorial conquest. That would likely present problems greater than that of refugees.

    And it's pretty unlikely that another 5m displaced Palestinians would contribute greatly to stability in the region, or accept their fate with the equanimity he notes in Poland.

    The latter, of course, came only after centuries uf conflict in the region, and a long period of Soviet repression.
    Polish leaders in exile were unusually ling sighted in arguing fur accepting the new boundaries as fixed, and seeking common cause with European democracies - including their bitter adversary Germany.

    It's an attractive model, but not a very realistic one for the Middle East.
    .
    I am not. The wars of territorial conquest have already happened. Borders were drawn in 1920. 1948. 1967. 1973. And incrementally since then. People argue about which status quo ante they want to revert back to - such as the Green Line. That is a line drawn on a map.

    The joker is that the people wanting relocation from Gaza are the people of Gaza. How can people call this ethnic cleansing or forced relocation when the people who would be relocated want to be relocated?

    The only argument is relocated to where.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,671

    Heh.


    Posting stuff like this does not go then well in a Gen Z WhatsApp group.

    https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJEAwrBU/
  • Dura_Ace said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Leon said:

    Also, fair play to Sunak. He’s got some serious names at his AI conference. Including Sam Altman of OpenAI, probably the most serious of all. And Elon….

    Bit of a coup for Sunak this.
    The swing voters in hyper-marginals like Bury North talk of little else except AI. They don't give a shit about access to GPs or #cozzielivs, they want to discuss mixed scenario model free deep reinforcement learning using quantile regression soft critic.
    (((Dan Hodges)))
    @DPJHodges
    ·
    1h
    Again, I just cannot understand Rishi Sunak’s political strategy. For a Prime Minister who is perceived as out of touch with the day to day concerns of ordinary people, why on earth prioritise an AI summit.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,662

    Foxy said:

    In the modern world, borders get redrawn and people get moved. For all that we have declared the forcible moving of people to be a war crime, doing so has been the way to peace in Europe.

    I mentioned at the end of the last thread the absurdity that we have these so-called refugee camps in the first place. Full of third and fourth generation descendents of people who could have been classed as refugees.

    We saw a massive slaughter in Europe. Lines on maps drawn and redrawn. Countries created and empires removed, borders shifted and peoples relocated. For peace.

    The root cause of the continuing barbarity in the middle east is that a similar process did not happen. Instead of adjusting to the new boundaries, waves of war were unleashed to make even more displaced people and yet more redrawn borders.

    The poor sods being used by Hamas are not refugees. They are political pawns, where the defeated combatants of the 48, 67 and 73 wars refuse to accept their defeat and bleat on at the international community to push the magic reset button and remove the Jew from their lands.

    We do not have generational camps of displaced people from the Memeland. Or any other former place. Poland does not burn a torch for its lost territories. It needs to stop in the middle east, because regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, if we end up with an eventual ceasefire where we have all these people left as pawns by the arab world then the next round of bloodshed won't be far away.

    Yes, but these are not redrawn borders. Gaza and the West Bank are ""occupied Territories" neither part of Israel, nor independent states.

    The people are not to be given equal rights with others by incorporating them into Israel, nor allowed to form a state. Hence no resolution.

    Or are you arguing for the forced expulsion/extermination of all 2.2 million in Gaza and the 3.5 million in the West Bank?
    They are redrawn borders - none of these borders existed previously. Show me Gaza as a strip on a map of the Ottoman Empire. Or the mandates drawn on the map post WWI?

    Gaza is no different to other non-contiguous regions at the end of WWII which got redrawn. The question that needs to be asked isn't do we move 2.2m Gazans but do 2.2m Gazans want to stay there? Go and ask them - so many are not Gazan and do not see Gaza as any more than a refugee camp or prison.

    Gaza does not work - for the Gazans, for the Isaraelis, for the Egyptians. Nobody. I suspect that a realistic outcome of this will be Israel washing its hands of the place - but who will take on authority of keeping the peace and supplying it with power and water - Egypt? They don't want it either.

    The fighting will stop. And we are left with an over-populated strip of land with minimal resources reliant on outside support. Israel won't support it, Egypt won't support it, so who will? And if nobody will do we accept that we need to resettle the people there who want to be resettled, and work on a plan to do so?

    It isn't forced resettlement when the people being resettled want to be resettled. Israel bombed a refugee camp - these are people who do not want to be in Gaza.
    According to the best polling available the vast majority of Gazans want to stay in Gaza and West Bank.

    "The vast majority of Gazans surveyed—69 percent—said they have never considered leaving their homeland. This is a higher proportion than residents of Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia who were asked the same question. (For all of these countries, the most recent available data comes from Arab Barometer’s 2021–22 survey wave.)"

    https://reader.foreignaffairs.com/2023/10/25/what-palestinians-really-think-of-hamas/content.html

    So what you are proposing is ethnic cleansing against the express will of the people concerned.

    You may be happy with that, but most of us are not.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,159
    Has the free scoring South African opener been dismissed yet?
This discussion has been closed.