I’ve only just seen the footage of Starmer in Glasgow. How on earth does anyone arrive at the conclusion that Starmer is responsible for the situation in Gaza?
As any fule kno, the axis of evil of Jezza, Hamas and the Green Brigade are virtually aiming the bombs that have killed 19000 Gazan terrorists alongside a sprinkling of unfortunate civilians.
Come on Divvie, you really what Israel to be eliminated as a nation, why don’t you just let yourself go and say it? Maybe you will inspire Jezza to release his true inner feelings.
And the right-wing nutters in Israel want Palestine to be eliminated.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
delusion after delusion. this isn't 'bad spads/process', it's a PM full on living in a parallel world - he cannot accept he was wrong when he was told explicitly & repeatedly 'your policy cannot & won't work & it's a political disaster' - he's now pretending he's 'blocking' the courts when he very obviously is not & his policy/Bill very obviously leaves the ECHR/HRA framework in control
he's so monumentally botched it he is BOTH *in breach of ECHR* AND leaving the ECHR *in actual control*! and BOTH roused the dominant Left network to smash him AND isn't seriously trying to solve the problem! so 100% on brand for establishment Tories, 'the grownups' as the IfG calls them
he will not 'stop the boats', it's already game over for the fake rwanda gimmick & the PM has wasted 2022 & left himself no time
there will be a useless attempt in 2024 to claim he's been 'sabotaged' by Lords/courts & 'this is what the election is about', they'll pathetically try to use Take Back Control, but it won't work
tories doomed if they keep him & doomed if they spasm & fire him
He does get quite intense, Dom, doesn't he. It's like he's living in a world bounded by UnHerd polemics rather than the earth and sky.
My tip for Sunak would be to stop appearing at lecterns imprinted with Stop The Boats! It just looks ineffably naff. He's our PM ffs.
There's some perfectly good writing on unherd. Cummings is just best ignored.
There is. But it mainly seems to be about a created-for-polemic world rather than this one I'm living in.
Of course there is, it's bankrolled by the same guy who funds GB News and Legatum. There is money being spent in furtherance of an agenda. The creation of alternate realities.
Ah ok. Yes it shows. It works too. If you don't occasionally come up for air and give yourself a slap you might end up buying into some of the 'takes'. What particularly irritates is seeing self-proclaimed lefties writing on there. Presenting as 'free thinkers' but in reality just paying the rent. No crime but ... well as I say it irritates.
Well you can be left wing on some issues (like tax and spend) without buying into the whole Laboury worldview - just as you can be right wing on some issues without nevessarily agreeing with HYUFD on every issue (though he will tell you you aren't a real Tory :-) )
Yes, eg me, I'm a woke class warrior yet also enamoured of sound money and balanced budgets. A free thinker in other words. But I wouldn't write for an organ pushing an alt right worldview.
You are not a free thinker. If it’s generally left wing, you will parrot it.
Or put it another way. Name us a Tory policy with which you agree.
Sound money (if they hadn't abandoned it). The ciggie ban. Levelling up (if they meant it). Gender reform (Mrs May's now dropped).
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
There is a rather big difference between admitting Thatcher was an effective politician and saying Putin is. All but the most conspiratorial on the far left or right about election results have to admit that. Even if you think there's much wrong in what she did, which we are still paying the price for - you have to admit she won elections while putting through some fairly radical changes.
In many ways, the more wrong you think those changes are, the more interested you should be in how she achieved that. Not least so you can reverse the bits you think are bad while keeping those who think they benefited from them onside.
Saying Putin is an "effective political operator" on the otherhand, is a bit like saying Stalin was. Or Ayatollah Khameini is. They are effective in the sense that they kill, torture, and repress opposition, as well as utilising corruption on a spectacular scale. They are "effective" in the sense they do things abroad that are tantamount to warfare - and would be seen as such were Western governments not determined to avoid direct war.
I’ve only just seen the footage of Starmer in Glasgow. How on earth does anyone arrive at the conclusion that Starmer is responsible for the situation in Gaza?
As any fule kno, the axis of evil of Jezza, Hamas and the Green Brigade are virtually aiming the bombs that have killed 19000 Gazan terrorists alongside a sprinkling of unfortunate civilians.
Come on Divvie, you really what Israel to be eliminated as a nation, why don’t you just let yourself go and say it? Maybe you will inspire Jezza to release his true inner feelings.
And the right-wing nutters in Israel want Palestine to be eliminated.
Believe it or not, there is not Black or White. I think Hamas needs to be destroyed. I think Bibi is a c…The two are not incompatible.
Not sure. You would think Austerity Reeves looks a good price unless we have a last minute reshuffle
After the Karma for Starmer event yesterday in Glasgow i am not so sure.
According to a news report i heard last night a LAB insider said. "It got to the stage with Tony (Blair) towards the end of his Premiership that Lab HQ advised him not to do Public appearances for fear of hostile crowds. Its a concern we are at that stage with Keir in the run up to the GE, when he hasn't even been PM"
Corbyn of course was doorstepped all the time but from the shitting himself expression from SKS and his General inability to engage with anyone he hasn't personally selected.Watching SKS perform will be amusing to say the least
Tories are such a hopeless mess though so expect PM SKS is still likely.
Starmer's ratings are nothing like as bad as late Blair. FWIW, I think Labour is being overly cautious in their approach, including Starmer's public appearances. However, he's not going to be outshone by either Sunak or Davey (never mind whichever committee is 'leading' the Greens this week).
And with several more 20+ point Labour leads in the polls today, Labour could well be looking at a majority well into three figures. Were the election today, it might be over 200.
He was unusually witty at PMQs this week although fish, barrels and guns aimed at your own feet come to mind in terms of what he was up against. I think he should be a bit braver.
Doh! The braver man is on the other side
Persuadable to cross the floor with a promise to really, really make her dream come true under a Labour government?
What is Suella's dream?
Unimaginable power? Unlimited rice pudding?
Utter delusion sadly
Apparently the Express has a readers poll for next conservative leader with Farage first, Braverman 2nd, and Johnson 3rd
Was Rory Stewart placed (just out of curiosity)?
Who
He did a thing once. I'm sure it was very important to somebody. He does podcasts and YouTubes now. Occasionally people watch. Perhaps he has a Patreon. He seems to spend a lot of time on them.
Lots and lots of people watch or listen to The Rest Is Politics. Their live shows sell out in minutes. There must be some sort of broadcasting mega-genius behind The Rest Is..., a modern-day Lord Reith.
In response to the hype I listened to a couple. It was ok but I was slightly disappointed.
I've not listened to it. I've always found Rory Stewart to be the kind of person I try to like but can't, while Campbell is the kind of person I try to dislike but can't.
Ha yes, I know what you mean. Gun to head I prefer Campbell of the two. Stewart's a bit 'born to rule' for my taste and I sense a kind of dessicated vanity there.
Rory’s analysis is usually very insightful, but he’s clearly one of life’s outsiders and you don’t really get the impression he has much of an instinctive feel for politics seen from the inside. Whereas you’d trust Campbell’s political instincts but his attempts at analysis are almost always post hoc justifications for his own actions or point of view, and don’t display much genuine understanding.
delusion after delusion. this isn't 'bad spads/process', it's a PM full on living in a parallel world - he cannot accept he was wrong when he was told explicitly & repeatedly 'your policy cannot & won't work & it's a political disaster' - he's now pretending he's 'blocking' the courts when he very obviously is not & his policy/Bill very obviously leaves the ECHR/HRA framework in control
he's so monumentally botched it he is BOTH *in breach of ECHR* AND leaving the ECHR *in actual control*! and BOTH roused the dominant Left network to smash him AND isn't seriously trying to solve the problem! so 100% on brand for establishment Tories, 'the grownups' as the IfG calls them
he will not 'stop the boats', it's already game over for the fake rwanda gimmick & the PM has wasted 2022 & left himself no time
there will be a useless attempt in 2024 to claim he's been 'sabotaged' by Lords/courts & 'this is what the election is about', they'll pathetically try to use Take Back Control, but it won't work
tories doomed if they keep him & doomed if they spasm & fire him
He does get quite intense, Dom, doesn't he. It's like he's living in a world bounded by UnHerd polemics rather than the earth and sky.
My tip for Sunak would be to stop appearing at lecterns imprinted with Stop The Boats! It just looks ineffably naff. He's our PM ffs.
There's some perfectly good writing on unherd. Cummings is just best ignored.
There is. But it mainly seems to be about a created-for-polemic world rather than this one I'm living in.
Of course there is, it's bankrolled by the same guy who funds GB News and Legatum. There is money being spent in furtherance of an agenda. The creation of alternate realities.
Ah ok. Yes it shows. It works too. If you don't occasionally come up for air and give yourself a slap you might end up buying into some of the 'takes'. What particularly irritates is seeing self-proclaimed lefties writing on there. Presenting as 'free thinkers' but in reality just paying the rent. No crime but ... well as I say it irritates.
Well you can be left wing on some issues (like tax and spend) without buying into the whole Laboury worldview - just as you can be right wing on some issues without nevessarily agreeing with HYUFD on every issue (though he will tell you you aren't a real Tory :-) )
Yes, eg me, I'm a woke class warrior yet also enamoured of sound money and balanced budgets. A free thinker in other words. But I wouldn't write for an organ pushing an alt right worldview.
You are not a free thinker. If it’s generally left wing, you will parrot it.
Or put it another way. Name us a Tory policy with which you agree.
Sound money (if they hadn't abandoned it). The ciggie ban. Levelling up (if they meant it). Gender reform (Mrs May's now dropped).
That's 4. Sort of. And I rushed it.
Full expensing of capex. Not a silver bullet but it’s OK.
Now let’s hear PB tories’ lists of Labour policies they like.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
I’ve only just seen the footage of Starmer in Glasgow. How on earth does anyone arrive at the conclusion that Starmer is responsible for the situation in Gaza?
As any fule kno, the axis of evil of Jezza, Hamas and the Green Brigade are virtually aiming the bombs that have killed 19000 Gazan terrorists alongside a sprinkling of unfortunate civilians.
Come on Divvie, you really what Israel to be eliminated as a nation, why don’t you just let yourself go and say it? Maybe you will inspire Jezza to release his true inner feelings.
Remember what I said about wrestling with pigs? Goes double for the really thick ones.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
I’ve only just seen the footage of Starmer in Glasgow. How on earth does anyone arrive at the conclusion that Starmer is responsible for the situation in Gaza?
As any fule kno, the axis of evil of Jezza, Hamas and the Green Brigade are virtually aiming the bombs that have killed 19000 Gazan terrorists alongside a sprinkling of unfortunate civilians.
Come on Divvie, you really what Israel to be eliminated as a nation, why don’t you just let yourself go and say it? Maybe you will inspire Jezza to release his true inner feelings.
And the right-wing nutters in Israel want Palestine to be eliminated.
Believe it or not, there is not Black or White. I think Hamas needs to be destroyed. I think Bibi is a c…The two are not incompatible.
“The culture war is basically each side sneering at the other side’s nutters”.
I’ve only just seen the footage of Starmer in Glasgow. How on earth does anyone arrive at the conclusion that Starmer is responsible for the situation in Gaza?
As any fule kno, the axis of evil of Jezza, Hamas and the Green Brigade are virtually aiming the bombs that have killed 19000 Gazan terrorists alongside a sprinkling of unfortunate civilians.
Come on Divvie, you really what Israel to be eliminated as a nation, why don’t you just let yourself go and say it? Maybe you will inspire Jezza to release his true inner feelings.
Remember what I said about wrestling with pigs? Goes double for the really thick ones.
As Socrates says “the really thick people are those who think they are know everything when they, in fact, do not”
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
delusion after delusion. this isn't 'bad spads/process', it's a PM full on living in a parallel world - he cannot accept he was wrong when he was told explicitly & repeatedly 'your policy cannot & won't work & it's a political disaster' - he's now pretending he's 'blocking' the courts when he very obviously is not & his policy/Bill very obviously leaves the ECHR/HRA framework in control
he's so monumentally botched it he is BOTH *in breach of ECHR* AND leaving the ECHR *in actual control*! and BOTH roused the dominant Left network to smash him AND isn't seriously trying to solve the problem! so 100% on brand for establishment Tories, 'the grownups' as the IfG calls them
he will not 'stop the boats', it's already game over for the fake rwanda gimmick & the PM has wasted 2022 & left himself no time
there will be a useless attempt in 2024 to claim he's been 'sabotaged' by Lords/courts & 'this is what the election is about', they'll pathetically try to use Take Back Control, but it won't work
tories doomed if they keep him & doomed if they spasm & fire him
He does get quite intense, Dom, doesn't he. It's like he's living in a world bounded by UnHerd polemics rather than the earth and sky.
My tip for Sunak would be to stop appearing at lecterns imprinted with Stop The Boats! It just looks ineffably naff. He's our PM ffs.
There's some perfectly good writing on unherd. Cummings is just best ignored.
There is. But it mainly seems to be about a created-for-polemic world rather than this one I'm living in.
Of course there is, it's bankrolled by the same guy who funds GB News and Legatum. There is money being spent in furtherance of an agenda. The creation of alternate realities.
Ah ok. Yes it shows. It works too. If you don't occasionally come up for air and give yourself a slap you might end up buying into some of the 'takes'. What particularly irritates is seeing self-proclaimed lefties writing on there. Presenting as 'free thinkers' but in reality just paying the rent. No crime but ... well as I say it irritates.
Well you can be left wing on some issues (like tax and spend) without buying into the whole Laboury worldview - just as you can be right wing on some issues without nevessarily agreeing with HYUFD on every issue (though he will tell you you aren't a real Tory :-) )
Yes, eg me, I'm a woke class warrior yet also enamoured of sound money and balanced budgets. A free thinker in other words. But I wouldn't write for an organ pushing an alt right worldview.
You are not a free thinker. If it’s generally left wing, you will parrot it.
Or put it another way. Name us a Tory policy with which you agree.
Sound money (if they hadn't abandoned it). The ciggie ban. Levelling up (if they meant it). Gender reform (Mrs May's now dropped).
That's 4. Sort of. And I rushed it.
Ok, levelling up - fair enough and I take back my snide comment for that. Ciggie ban / Gender reform - no, because that is more the focus of the leader, not the party. Sound money, again, that’s fair.
delusion after delusion. this isn't 'bad spads/process', it's a PM full on living in a parallel world - he cannot accept he was wrong when he was told explicitly & repeatedly 'your policy cannot & won't work & it's a political disaster' - he's now pretending he's 'blocking' the courts when he very obviously is not & his policy/Bill very obviously leaves the ECHR/HRA framework in control
he's so monumentally botched it he is BOTH *in breach of ECHR* AND leaving the ECHR *in actual control*! and BOTH roused the dominant Left network to smash him AND isn't seriously trying to solve the problem! so 100% on brand for establishment Tories, 'the grownups' as the IfG calls them
he will not 'stop the boats', it's already game over for the fake rwanda gimmick & the PM has wasted 2022 & left himself no time
there will be a useless attempt in 2024 to claim he's been 'sabotaged' by Lords/courts & 'this is what the election is about', they'll pathetically try to use Take Back Control, but it won't work
tories doomed if they keep him & doomed if they spasm & fire him
He does get quite intense, Dom, doesn't he. It's like he's living in a world bounded by UnHerd polemics rather than the earth and sky.
My tip for Sunak would be to stop appearing at lecterns imprinted with Stop The Boats! It just looks ineffably naff. He's our PM ffs.
There's some perfectly good writing on unherd. Cummings is just best ignored.
There is. But it mainly seems to be about a created-for-polemic world rather than this one I'm living in.
Of course there is, it's bankrolled by the same guy who funds GB News and Legatum. There is money being spent in furtherance of an agenda. The creation of alternate realities.
Ah ok. Yes it shows. It works too. If you don't occasionally come up for air and give yourself a slap you might end up buying into some of the 'takes'. What particularly irritates is seeing self-proclaimed lefties writing on there. Presenting as 'free thinkers' but in reality just paying the rent. No crime but ... well as I say it irritates.
Well you can be left wing on some issues (like tax and spend) without buying into the whole Laboury worldview - just as you can be right wing on some issues without nevessarily agreeing with HYUFD on every issue (though he will tell you you aren't a real Tory :-) )
Yes, eg me, I'm a woke class warrior yet also enamoured of sound money and balanced budgets. A free thinker in other words. But I wouldn't write for an organ pushing an alt right worldview.
You are not a free thinker. If it’s generally left wing, you will parrot it.
Or put it another way. Name us a Tory policy with which you agree.
Sound money (if they hadn't abandoned it). The ciggie ban. Levelling up (if they meant it). Gender reform (Mrs May's now dropped).
That's 4. Sort of. And I rushed it.
Full expensing of capex. Not a silver bullet but it’s OK.
Now let’s hear PB tories’ lists of Labour policies they like.
I really like the one about not especially doing anything different or challenging.
[X] Starmer
It's the Socialist utopia I've always dreamed about. In a way.
delusion after delusion. this isn't 'bad spads/process', it's a PM full on living in a parallel world - he cannot accept he was wrong when he was told explicitly & repeatedly 'your policy cannot & won't work & it's a political disaster' - he's now pretending he's 'blocking' the courts when he very obviously is not & his policy/Bill very obviously leaves the ECHR/HRA framework in control
he's so monumentally botched it he is BOTH *in breach of ECHR* AND leaving the ECHR *in actual control*! and BOTH roused the dominant Left network to smash him AND isn't seriously trying to solve the problem! so 100% on brand for establishment Tories, 'the grownups' as the IfG calls them
he will not 'stop the boats', it's already game over for the fake rwanda gimmick & the PM has wasted 2022 & left himself no time
there will be a useless attempt in 2024 to claim he's been 'sabotaged' by Lords/courts & 'this is what the election is about', they'll pathetically try to use Take Back Control, but it won't work
tories doomed if they keep him & doomed if they spasm & fire him
He does get quite intense, Dom, doesn't he. It's like he's living in a world bounded by UnHerd polemics rather than the earth and sky.
My tip for Sunak would be to stop appearing at lecterns imprinted with Stop The Boats! It just looks ineffably naff. He's our PM ffs.
There's some perfectly good writing on unherd. Cummings is just best ignored.
There is. But it mainly seems to be about a created-for-polemic world rather than this one I'm living in.
Of course there is, it's bankrolled by the same guy who funds GB News and Legatum. There is money being spent in furtherance of an agenda. The creation of alternate realities.
Ah ok. Yes it shows. It works too. If you don't occasionally come up for air and give yourself a slap you might end up buying into some of the 'takes'. What particularly irritates is seeing self-proclaimed lefties writing on there. Presenting as 'free thinkers' but in reality just paying the rent. No crime but ... well as I say it irritates.
Well you can be left wing on some issues (like tax and spend) without buying into the whole Laboury worldview - just as you can be right wing on some issues without nevessarily agreeing with HYUFD on every issue (though he will tell you you aren't a real Tory :-) )
Yes, eg me, I'm a woke class warrior yet also enamoured of sound money and balanced budgets. A free thinker in other words. But I wouldn't write for an organ pushing an alt right worldview.
You are not a free thinker. If it’s generally left wing, you will parrot it.
Or put it another way. Name us a Tory policy with which you agree.
Sound money (if they hadn't abandoned it). The ciggie ban. Levelling up (if they meant it). Gender reform (Mrs May's now dropped).
That's 4. Sort of. And I rushed it.
Full expensing of capex. Not a silver bullet but it’s OK.
Now let’s hear PB tories’ lists of Labour policies they like.
I think first you need to tell us what are Labour’s policies.
delusion after delusion. this isn't 'bad spads/process', it's a PM full on living in a parallel world - he cannot accept he was wrong when he was told explicitly & repeatedly 'your policy cannot & won't work & it's a political disaster' - he's now pretending he's 'blocking' the courts when he very obviously is not & his policy/Bill very obviously leaves the ECHR/HRA framework in control
he's so monumentally botched it he is BOTH *in breach of ECHR* AND leaving the ECHR *in actual control*! and BOTH roused the dominant Left network to smash him AND isn't seriously trying to solve the problem! so 100% on brand for establishment Tories, 'the grownups' as the IfG calls them
he will not 'stop the boats', it's already game over for the fake rwanda gimmick & the PM has wasted 2022 & left himself no time
there will be a useless attempt in 2024 to claim he's been 'sabotaged' by Lords/courts & 'this is what the election is about', they'll pathetically try to use Take Back Control, but it won't work
tories doomed if they keep him & doomed if they spasm & fire him
He does get quite intense, Dom, doesn't he. It's like he's living in a world bounded by UnHerd polemics rather than the earth and sky.
My tip for Sunak would be to stop appearing at lecterns imprinted with Stop The Boats! It just looks ineffably naff. He's our PM ffs.
There's some perfectly good writing on unherd. Cummings is just best ignored.
There is. But it mainly seems to be about a created-for-polemic world rather than this one I'm living in.
Of course there is, it's bankrolled by the same guy who funds GB News and Legatum. There is money being spent in furtherance of an agenda. The creation of alternate realities.
Ah ok. Yes it shows. It works too. If you don't occasionally come up for air and give yourself a slap you might end up buying into some of the 'takes'. What particularly irritates is seeing self-proclaimed lefties writing on there. Presenting as 'free thinkers' but in reality just paying the rent. No crime but ... well as I say it irritates.
Well you can be left wing on some issues (like tax and spend) without buying into the whole Laboury worldview - just as you can be right wing on some issues without nevessarily agreeing with HYUFD on every issue (though he will tell you you aren't a real Tory :-) )
Yes, eg me, I'm a woke class warrior yet also enamoured of sound money and balanced budgets. A free thinker in other words. But I wouldn't write for an organ pushing an alt right worldview.
You are not a free thinker. If it’s generally left wing, you will parrot it.
Or put it another way. Name us a Tory policy with which you agree.
Could you clarify whether a “Tory policy” is something they are doing, or something they are saying? Does saying without doing count as policy, or indeed doing without saying? Or does it have to be both?
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Kitchen Cabinet needs fixing.
I’m sure you’d recommend “those nice Hamas boys” to do the fixing.
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
I’ve only just seen the footage of Starmer in Glasgow. How on earth does anyone arrive at the conclusion that Starmer is responsible for the situation in Gaza?
As any fule kno, the axis of evil of Jezza, Hamas and the Green Brigade are virtually aiming the bombs that have killed 19000 Gazan terrorists alongside a sprinkling of unfortunate civilians.
Come on Divvie, you really what Israel to be eliminated as a nation, why don’t you just let yourself go and say it? Maybe you will inspire Jezza to release his true inner feelings.
Remember what I said about wrestling with pigs? Goes double for the really thick ones.
As Socrates says “the really thick people are those who think they are know everything when they, in fact, do not”
I don’t know everything. You on the other hand….
“you and your stinking language…you think I know fuck nothing…well, let me tell you – I know FUCK ALL!”
delusion after delusion. this isn't 'bad spads/process', it's a PM full on living in a parallel world - he cannot accept he was wrong when he was told explicitly & repeatedly 'your policy cannot & won't work & it's a political disaster' - he's now pretending he's 'blocking' the courts when he very obviously is not & his policy/Bill very obviously leaves the ECHR/HRA framework in control
he's so monumentally botched it he is BOTH *in breach of ECHR* AND leaving the ECHR *in actual control*! and BOTH roused the dominant Left network to smash him AND isn't seriously trying to solve the problem! so 100% on brand for establishment Tories, 'the grownups' as the IfG calls them
he will not 'stop the boats', it's already game over for the fake rwanda gimmick & the PM has wasted 2022 & left himself no time
there will be a useless attempt in 2024 to claim he's been 'sabotaged' by Lords/courts & 'this is what the election is about', they'll pathetically try to use Take Back Control, but it won't work
tories doomed if they keep him & doomed if they spasm & fire him
He does get quite intense, Dom, doesn't he. It's like he's living in a world bounded by UnHerd polemics rather than the earth and sky.
My tip for Sunak would be to stop appearing at lecterns imprinted with Stop The Boats! It just looks ineffably naff. He's our PM ffs.
There's some perfectly good writing on unherd. Cummings is just best ignored.
There is. But it mainly seems to be about a created-for-polemic world rather than this one I'm living in.
Of course there is, it's bankrolled by the same guy who funds GB News and Legatum. There is money being spent in furtherance of an agenda. The creation of alternate realities.
Ah ok. Yes it shows. It works too. If you don't occasionally come up for air and give yourself a slap you might end up buying into some of the 'takes'. What particularly irritates is seeing self-proclaimed lefties writing on there. Presenting as 'free thinkers' but in reality just paying the rent. No crime but ... well as I say it irritates.
Well you can be left wing on some issues (like tax and spend) without buying into the whole Laboury worldview - just as you can be right wing on some issues without nevessarily agreeing with HYUFD on every issue (though he will tell you you aren't a real Tory :-) )
Yes, eg me, I'm a woke class warrior yet also enamoured of sound money and balanced budgets. A free thinker in other words. But I wouldn't write for an organ pushing an alt right worldview.
You are not a free thinker. If it’s generally left wing, you will parrot it.
Or put it another way. Name us a Tory policy with which you agree.
Could you clarify whether a “Tory policy” is something they are doing, or something they are saying? Does saying without doing count as policy, or indeed doing without saying? Or does it have to be both?
That’s a fair point and I think Sunak et al are generally useless. I’m a big fan of levelling up plus Truss’ view that the state - in certain areas of not others where it needs to be expanded (eg defence).
After some slightly better polling for the Conservatives earlier in the week, YouGov, Techne and We Think (formerly Omnisis) have all produced 20+ Labour leads.
The YouGov England numbers are Labour 47%, Conservative 24%, Reform 11% and LD 10% - that's a colossal 18% swing from Conservative to Labour which, if reproduced on GE day, would mean a landslide, no ifs, buts or maybes.
The Conservative 2019 vote splits 38% Conservative, 24% Don't Know. 15% Reform so one might argue there's a big pool of voters (perhaps 9-10% of the total) out there to be convinced or to abstain.
The Techne split of the 2019 Conservative vote is 42% Conservative, 15% Labour, 13% Reform, 12% Don't Know so quite a difference.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
I’ve only just seen the footage of Starmer in Glasgow. How on earth does anyone arrive at the conclusion that Starmer is responsible for the situation in Gaza?
As any fule kno, the axis of evil of Jezza, Hamas and the Green Brigade are virtually aiming the bombs that have killed 19000 Gazan terrorists alongside a sprinkling of unfortunate civilians.
Come on Divvie, you really what Israel to be eliminated as a nation, why don’t you just let yourself go and say it? Maybe you will inspire Jezza to release his true inner feelings.
Remember what I said about wrestling with pigs? Goes double for the really thick ones.
As Socrates says “the really thick people are those who think they are know everything when they, in fact, do not”
I don’t know everything. You on the other hand….
“you and your stinking language…you think I know fuck nothing…well, let me tell you – I know FUCK ALL!”
Haha, funnily enough, that is what our non-British science teacher said to us when we were misbehaving (when I was aged 12/13)
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
I spent a whole summer in Israel, many years ago, as a student.
I remember the pride and sense of achievement exuded from the way they had created a modern democratic country and safe haven on such unpromising ground, and turned so much desert into places where people could live and things could grow.
I remember the perpetual paranoia, of a tiny county surrounded by enemies and entirely reliant on the US for financial and military guarantees.
And I remember that almost everyone you met was a fanatic. The religious fanatics who threw stones at ambulances that dared try and pick someone up on the sabbath. The anti-religious fanatics, the Palestinian fanatics, the socialist fanatics building their kibbutzim out in the desert.
It was a place both scary and inspiring at the same time. And lots of guns, more than you ever see in the US. Mostly carried by people who back then were my own age. I have never been back, but don’t get the impression that, in these respects at least, it has changed all that much.
A "Brexit benefit". To cut the holiday pay of teaching assistants. When nobody can recruit teaching assistants due to low pay and poor conditions. Have the Tories heard of supply and demand?
delusion after delusion. this isn't 'bad spads/process', it's a PM full on living in a parallel world - he cannot accept he was wrong when he was told explicitly & repeatedly 'your policy cannot & won't work & it's a political disaster' - he's now pretending he's 'blocking' the courts when he very obviously is not & his policy/Bill very obviously leaves the ECHR/HRA framework in control
he's so monumentally botched it he is BOTH *in breach of ECHR* AND leaving the ECHR *in actual control*! and BOTH roused the dominant Left network to smash him AND isn't seriously trying to solve the problem! so 100% on brand for establishment Tories, 'the grownups' as the IfG calls them
he will not 'stop the boats', it's already game over for the fake rwanda gimmick & the PM has wasted 2022 & left himself no time
there will be a useless attempt in 2024 to claim he's been 'sabotaged' by Lords/courts & 'this is what the election is about', they'll pathetically try to use Take Back Control, but it won't work
tories doomed if they keep him & doomed if they spasm & fire him
He does get quite intense, Dom, doesn't he. It's like he's living in a world bounded by UnHerd polemics rather than the earth and sky.
My tip for Sunak would be to stop appearing at lecterns imprinted with Stop The Boats! It just looks ineffably naff. He's our PM ffs.
There's some perfectly good writing on unherd. Cummings is just best ignored.
There is. But it mainly seems to be about a created-for-polemic world rather than this one I'm living in.
Of course there is, it's bankrolled by the same guy who funds GB News and Legatum. There is money being spent in furtherance of an agenda. The creation of alternate realities.
Ah ok. Yes it shows. It works too. If you don't occasionally come up for air and give yourself a slap you might end up buying into some of the 'takes'. What particularly irritates is seeing self-proclaimed lefties writing on there. Presenting as 'free thinkers' but in reality just paying the rent. No crime but ... well as I say it irritates.
Well you can be left wing on some issues (like tax and spend) without buying into the whole Laboury worldview - just as you can be right wing on some issues without nevessarily agreeing with HYUFD on every issue (though he will tell you you aren't a real Tory :-) )
Yes, eg me, I'm a woke class warrior yet also enamoured of sound money and balanced budgets. A free thinker in other words. But I wouldn't write for an organ pushing an alt right worldview.
You are not a free thinker. If it’s generally left wing, you will parrot it.
Or put it another way. Name us a Tory policy with which you agree.
Sound money (if they hadn't abandoned it). The ciggie ban. Levelling up (if they meant it). Gender reform (Mrs May's now dropped).
That's 4. Sort of. And I rushed it.
Full expensing of capex. Not a silver bullet but it’s OK.
Now let’s hear PB tories’ lists of Labour policies they like.
I think first you need to tell us what are Labour’s policies.
Google is available. As is a working knowledge of the period from 1997 to 2010x
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
Test:
Missing the point. (As ever). You think Hamas didn't imagine there would be a response? And, just in case Bibi was uncharacteritically minded not to react, they threw in a spot of torturing, disembowelling, gang-raping and mutilation before the murdering.
delusion after delusion. this isn't 'bad spads/process', it's a PM full on living in a parallel world - he cannot accept he was wrong when he was told explicitly & repeatedly 'your policy cannot & won't work & it's a political disaster' - he's now pretending he's 'blocking' the courts when he very obviously is not & his policy/Bill very obviously leaves the ECHR/HRA framework in control
he's so monumentally botched it he is BOTH *in breach of ECHR* AND leaving the ECHR *in actual control*! and BOTH roused the dominant Left network to smash him AND isn't seriously trying to solve the problem! so 100% on brand for establishment Tories, 'the grownups' as the IfG calls them
he will not 'stop the boats', it's already game over for the fake rwanda gimmick & the PM has wasted 2022 & left himself no time
there will be a useless attempt in 2024 to claim he's been 'sabotaged' by Lords/courts & 'this is what the election is about', they'll pathetically try to use Take Back Control, but it won't work
tories doomed if they keep him & doomed if they spasm & fire him
He does get quite intense, Dom, doesn't he. It's like he's living in a world bounded by UnHerd polemics rather than the earth and sky.
My tip for Sunak would be to stop appearing at lecterns imprinted with Stop The Boats! It just looks ineffably naff. He's our PM ffs.
There's some perfectly good writing on unherd. Cummings is just best ignored.
There is. But it mainly seems to be about a created-for-polemic world rather than this one I'm living in.
Of course there is, it's bankrolled by the same guy who funds GB News and Legatum. There is money being spent in furtherance of an agenda. The creation of alternate realities.
Ah ok. Yes it shows. It works too. If you don't occasionally come up for air and give yourself a slap you might end up buying into some of the 'takes'. What particularly irritates is seeing self-proclaimed lefties writing on there. Presenting as 'free thinkers' but in reality just paying the rent. No crime but ... well as I say it irritates.
Well you can be left wing on some issues (like tax and spend) without buying into the whole Laboury worldview - just as you can be right wing on some issues without nevessarily agreeing with HYUFD on every issue (though he will tell you you aren't a real Tory :-) )
Tories are not right wing in any case
Look at what they do not what they say is the rule
High tax High spend High immigration Authoritarian rather than liberal
This is the furtherest left wing governement I have ever lived through
It’s true, yet the Labour supporters criticise them for doing things they’d cheer for if they didn’t know it was Tories doing it. They’ll cheer when Labour reduce spending and immigration when they get into power too.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
delusion after delusion. this isn't 'bad spads/process', it's a PM full on living in a parallel world - he cannot accept he was wrong when he was told explicitly & repeatedly 'your policy cannot & won't work & it's a political disaster' - he's now pretending he's 'blocking' the courts when he very obviously is not & his policy/Bill very obviously leaves the ECHR/HRA framework in control
he's so monumentally botched it he is BOTH *in breach of ECHR* AND leaving the ECHR *in actual control*! and BOTH roused the dominant Left network to smash him AND isn't seriously trying to solve the problem! so 100% on brand for establishment Tories, 'the grownups' as the IfG calls them
he will not 'stop the boats', it's already game over for the fake rwanda gimmick & the PM has wasted 2022 & left himself no time
there will be a useless attempt in 2024 to claim he's been 'sabotaged' by Lords/courts & 'this is what the election is about', they'll pathetically try to use Take Back Control, but it won't work
tories doomed if they keep him & doomed if they spasm & fire him
He does get quite intense, Dom, doesn't he. It's like he's living in a world bounded by UnHerd polemics rather than the earth and sky.
My tip for Sunak would be to stop appearing at lecterns imprinted with Stop The Boats! It just looks ineffably naff. He's our PM ffs.
There's some perfectly good writing on unherd. Cummings is just best ignored.
There is. But it mainly seems to be about a created-for-polemic world rather than this one I'm living in.
Of course there is, it's bankrolled by the same guy who funds GB News and Legatum. There is money being spent in furtherance of an agenda. The creation of alternate realities.
Ah ok. Yes it shows. It works too. If you don't occasionally come up for air and give yourself a slap you might end up buying into some of the 'takes'. What particularly irritates is seeing self-proclaimed lefties writing on there. Presenting as 'free thinkers' but in reality just paying the rent. No crime but ... well as I say it irritates.
Well you can be left wing on some issues (like tax and spend) without buying into the whole Laboury worldview - just as you can be right wing on some issues without nevessarily agreeing with HYUFD on every issue (though he will tell you you aren't a real Tory :-) )
Tories are not right wing in any case
Look at what they do not what they say is the rule
High tax High spend High immigration Authoritarian rather than liberal
This is the furtherest left wing governement I have ever lived through
Furthest.
You understood what I meant, the purpose of writing or speech is to communicate. If you understood what I communicated then who gives a shit about grammar or spelling
You need a question mark at the end of the last sentence.
delusion after delusion. this isn't 'bad spads/process', it's a PM full on living in a parallel world - he cannot accept he was wrong when he was told explicitly & repeatedly 'your policy cannot & won't work & it's a political disaster' - he's now pretending he's 'blocking' the courts when he very obviously is not & his policy/Bill very obviously leaves the ECHR/HRA framework in control
he's so monumentally botched it he is BOTH *in breach of ECHR* AND leaving the ECHR *in actual control*! and BOTH roused the dominant Left network to smash him AND isn't seriously trying to solve the problem! so 100% on brand for establishment Tories, 'the grownups' as the IfG calls them
he will not 'stop the boats', it's already game over for the fake rwanda gimmick & the PM has wasted 2022 & left himself no time
there will be a useless attempt in 2024 to claim he's been 'sabotaged' by Lords/courts & 'this is what the election is about', they'll pathetically try to use Take Back Control, but it won't work
tories doomed if they keep him & doomed if they spasm & fire him
He does get quite intense, Dom, doesn't he. It's like he's living in a world bounded by UnHerd polemics rather than the earth and sky.
My tip for Sunak would be to stop appearing at lecterns imprinted with Stop The Boats! It just looks ineffably naff. He's our PM ffs.
There's some perfectly good writing on unherd. Cummings is just best ignored.
There is. But it mainly seems to be about a created-for-polemic world rather than this one I'm living in.
Of course there is, it's bankrolled by the same guy who funds GB News and Legatum. There is money being spent in furtherance of an agenda. The creation of alternate realities.
Ah ok. Yes it shows. It works too. If you don't occasionally come up for air and give yourself a slap you might end up buying into some of the 'takes'. What particularly irritates is seeing self-proclaimed lefties writing on there. Presenting as 'free thinkers' but in reality just paying the rent. No crime but ... well as I say it irritates.
Well you can be left wing on some issues (like tax and spend) without buying into the whole Laboury worldview - just as you can be right wing on some issues without nevessarily agreeing with HYUFD on every issue (though he will tell you you aren't a real Tory :-) )
Yes, eg me, I'm a woke class warrior yet also enamoured of sound money and balanced budgets. A free thinker in other words. But I wouldn't write for an organ pushing an alt right worldview.
You are not a free thinker. If it’s generally left wing, you will parrot it.
Or put it another way. Name us a Tory policy with which you agree.
Sound money (if they hadn't abandoned it). The ciggie ban. Levelling up (if they meant it). Gender reform (Mrs May's now dropped).
That's 4. Sort of. And I rushed it.
Full expensing of capex. Not a silver bullet but it’s OK.
Now let’s hear PB tories’ lists of Labour policies they like.
I think first you need to tell us what are Labour’s policies.
Google is available. As is a working knowledge of the period from 1997 to 2010x
Fantastic. Labour policy 1997-2010 - mmmm, if that’s my guide, I don’t want Labour anywhere near power.
As for their policies announced at the conference, I think there will be a slight difference between what they say now - which is very little in substance - and what they do if they win.
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
Test:
Missing the point. (As ever). You think Hamas didn't imagine there would be a response? And, just in case Bibi was uncharacteritically minded not to react, they threw in a spot of torturing, disembowelling, gang-raping and mutilation before the murdering.
Israel has mass-murdered more women and children than Hamas in the last two months.
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
Test:
Missing the point. (As ever). You think Hamas didn't imagine there would be a response? And, just in case Bibi was uncharacteritically minded not to react, they threw in a spot of torturing, disembowelling, gang-raping and mutilation before the murdering.
Nice bunch of lads apart from that, though? Probably wouldn't stone a woman or gay to death if they knew they had voted Labour? LibDem voter I admit could go either way.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
Less hubristic than if I'd described the last 2 years in advance.
And I'm not liking the sound of this new electoral system at all.
A "Brexit benefit". To cut the holiday pay of teaching assistants. When nobody can recruit teaching assistants due to low pay and poor conditions. Have the Tories heard of supply and demand?
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Kitchen Cabinet needs fixing.
I’m sure you’d recommend “those nice Hamas boys” to do the fixing.
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
Test:
Missing the point. (As ever). You think Hamas didn't imagine there would be a response? And, just in case Bibi was uncharacteritically minded not to react, they threw in a spot of torturing, disembowelling, gang-raping and mutilation before the murdering.
So Bibi & the IDF are doing what Hamas wants? Ok.
Contra the fucking idiots who think 2 successive wrongs make a right, the wrongs are handed on from man to man, the misery deepening like a coastal shelf (to adapt Phil).
Appropriate but didn't everyone think it was written about Dublin?
It was popularised by Shane MacGowan who was…
… a public schoolboy from Kent
Well, he was born in Kent because his parents were over from Ireland visiting family for Christmas. They were living in Tipperary at the time. I’m not sure that qualifies as “from Kent”.
They moved to London when he was five and he later spent under two years at Westminster on a scholarship before being kicked out for taking drugs. So I guess he just about qualifies as a public schoolboy but The Duke of Wellington’s comment about his being born in Dublin springs to mind.
Sorry I took Holmewood House to be a public school as well
It’s not the kind of place you’d have expected him to have gone to though. Private prep school then Westminster.
I take it you were a fan of his rough and ready image?
His lyrics were genius. His image I could take or leave. I’m not quite old enough to have appreciated The Pogues in their heyday anyway - their best album came out when I was 11 and he was kicked out when I was 17.
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
Test:
Missing the point. (As ever). You think Hamas didn't imagine there would be a response? And, just in case Bibi was uncharacteritically minded not to react, they threw in a spot of torturing, disembowelling, gang-raping and mutilation before the murdering.
Israel has mass-murdered more women and children than Hamas in the last two months.
delusion after delusion. this isn't 'bad spads/process', it's a PM full on living in a parallel world - he cannot accept he was wrong when he was told explicitly & repeatedly 'your policy cannot & won't work & it's a political disaster' - he's now pretending he's 'blocking' the courts when he very obviously is not & his policy/Bill very obviously leaves the ECHR/HRA framework in control
he's so monumentally botched it he is BOTH *in breach of ECHR* AND leaving the ECHR *in actual control*! and BOTH roused the dominant Left network to smash him AND isn't seriously trying to solve the problem! so 100% on brand for establishment Tories, 'the grownups' as the IfG calls them
he will not 'stop the boats', it's already game over for the fake rwanda gimmick & the PM has wasted 2022 & left himself no time
there will be a useless attempt in 2024 to claim he's been 'sabotaged' by Lords/courts & 'this is what the election is about', they'll pathetically try to use Take Back Control, but it won't work
tories doomed if they keep him & doomed if they spasm & fire him
He does get quite intense, Dom, doesn't he. It's like he's living in a world bounded by UnHerd polemics rather than the earth and sky.
My tip for Sunak would be to stop appearing at lecterns imprinted with Stop The Boats! It just looks ineffably naff. He's our PM ffs.
There's some perfectly good writing on unherd. Cummings is just best ignored.
There is. But it mainly seems to be about a created-for-polemic world rather than this one I'm living in.
Of course there is, it's bankrolled by the same guy who funds GB News and Legatum. There is money being spent in furtherance of an agenda. The creation of alternate realities.
Ah ok. Yes it shows. It works too. If you don't occasionally come up for air and give yourself a slap you might end up buying into some of the 'takes'. What particularly irritates is seeing self-proclaimed lefties writing on there. Presenting as 'free thinkers' but in reality just paying the rent. No crime but ... well as I say it irritates.
Well you can be left wing on some issues (like tax and spend) without buying into the whole Laboury worldview - just as you can be right wing on some issues without nevessarily agreeing with HYUFD on every issue (though he will tell you you aren't a real Tory :-) )
Yes, eg me, I'm a woke class warrior yet also enamoured of sound money and balanced budgets. A free thinker in other words. But I wouldn't write for an organ pushing an alt right worldview.
You are not a free thinker. If it’s generally left wing, you will parrot it.
Or put it another way. Name us a Tory policy with which you agree.
Sound money (if they hadn't abandoned it). The ciggie ban. Levelling up (if they meant it). Gender reform (Mrs May's now dropped).
That's 4. Sort of. And I rushed it.
Full expensing of capex. Not a silver bullet but it’s OK.
Now let’s hear PB tories’ lists of Labour policies they like.
I think first you need to tell us what are Labour’s policies.
Google is available. As is a working knowledge of the period from 1997 to 2010x
Fantastic. Labour policy 1997-2010 - mmmm, if that’s my guide, I don’t want Labour anywhere near power.
As for their policies announced at the conference, I think there will be a slight difference between what they say now - which is very little in substance - and what they do if they win.
So I think we’ve just established that Tories are less open minded or magnanimous than Labour (or in my case Lib Dem) supporters.
Thereby smiting one of the comforting lies conservatives tell themselves.
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
Test:
Missing the point. (As ever). You think Hamas didn't imagine there would be a response? And, just in case Bibi was uncharacteritically minded not to react, they threw in a spot of torturing, disembowelling, gang-raping and mutilation before the murdering.
Israel has mass-murdered more women and children than Hamas in the last two months.
Israel has no more "mass-murdered" during the last two months than the RAF and USAF "mass-murdered" during WW2.
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
Test:
Missing the point. (As ever). You think Hamas didn't imagine there would be a response? And, just in case Bibi was uncharacteritically minded not to react, they threw in a spot of torturing, disembowelling, gang-raping and mutilation before the murdering.
Israel has mass-murdered more women and children than Hamas in the last two months.
Israel has no more "mass-murdered" during the last two months than the RAF and USAF "mass-murdered" during WW2.
17,177 deaths versus 1,361 deaths. Why do right-wing nutters only care about the 1,361 deaths?
Appropriate but didn't everyone think it was written about Dublin?
It was popularised by Shane MacGowan who was…
… a public schoolboy from Kent
Well, he was born in Kent because his parents were over from Ireland visiting family for Christmas. They were living in Tipperary at the time. I’m not sure that qualifies as “from Kent”.
They moved to London when he was five and he later spent under two years at Westminster on a scholarship before being kicked out for taking drugs. So I guess he just about qualifies as a public schoolboy but The Duke of Wellington’s comment about his being born in Dublin springs to mind.
Sorry I took Holmewood House to be a public school as well
It’s not the kind of place you’d have expected him to have gone to though. Private prep school then Westminster.
I take it you were a fan of his rough and ready image?
His lyrics were genius. His image I could take or leave. I’m not quite old enough to have appreciated The Pogues in their heyday anyway - their best album came out when I was 11 and he was kicked out when I was 17.
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
Test:
Missing the point. (As ever). You think Hamas didn't imagine there would be a response? And, just in case Bibi was uncharacteritically minded not to react, they threw in a spot of torturing, disembowelling, gang-raping and mutilation before the murdering.
Israel has mass-murdered more women and children than Hamas in the last two months.
Israel has no more "mass-murdered" during the last two months than the RAF and USAF "mass-murdered" during WW2.
I’ve only just seen the footage of Starmer in Glasgow. How on earth does anyone arrive at the conclusion that Starmer is responsible for the situation in Gaza?
delusion after delusion. this isn't 'bad spads/process', it's a PM full on living in a parallel world - he cannot accept he was wrong when he was told explicitly & repeatedly 'your policy cannot & won't work & it's a political disaster' - he's now pretending he's 'blocking' the courts when he very obviously is not & his policy/Bill very obviously leaves the ECHR/HRA framework in control
he's so monumentally botched it he is BOTH *in breach of ECHR* AND leaving the ECHR *in actual control*! and BOTH roused the dominant Left network to smash him AND isn't seriously trying to solve the problem! so 100% on brand for establishment Tories, 'the grownups' as the IfG calls them
he will not 'stop the boats', it's already game over for the fake rwanda gimmick & the PM has wasted 2022 & left himself no time
there will be a useless attempt in 2024 to claim he's been 'sabotaged' by Lords/courts & 'this is what the election is about', they'll pathetically try to use Take Back Control, but it won't work
tories doomed if they keep him & doomed if they spasm & fire him
He does get quite intense, Dom, doesn't he. It's like he's living in a world bounded by UnHerd polemics rather than the earth and sky.
My tip for Sunak would be to stop appearing at lecterns imprinted with Stop The Boats! It just looks ineffably naff. He's our PM ffs.
There's some perfectly good writing on unherd. Cummings is just best ignored.
There is. But it mainly seems to be about a created-for-polemic world rather than this one I'm living in.
Of course there is, it's bankrolled by the same guy who funds GB News and Legatum. There is money being spent in furtherance of an agenda. The creation of alternate realities.
Ah ok. Yes it shows. It works too. If you don't occasionally come up for air and give yourself a slap you might end up buying into some of the 'takes'. What particularly irritates is seeing self-proclaimed lefties writing on there. Presenting as 'free thinkers' but in reality just paying the rent. No crime but ... well as I say it irritates.
Nice to see some of our left wing posters showing their true colours when it comes to freedom of thought and speech.
He was criticising something he read. He merely said it “irritates”. Like so many on the right you conflate criticism with an attempt to silence. That way bad things lie.
Not really. Kinabalu regularly attacks the right to freedom of speech. Indeed we had a disagreement about it only a few days ago. I read his comments in that context.
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
Test:
Missing the point. (As ever). You think Hamas didn't imagine there would be a response? And, just in case Bibi was uncharacteritically minded not to react, they threw in a spot of torturing, disembowelling, gang-raping and mutilation before the murdering.
Israel has mass-murdered more women and children than Hamas in the last two months.
Israel has no more "mass-murdered" during the last two months than the RAF and USAF "mass-murdered" during WW2.
17,177 deaths versus 1,361 deaths. Why do right-wing nutters only care about the 1,361 deaths?
Right wingers care about both, or rather either.
Right wing settlers and Israeli nationalists care only about the 1,361, and dismiss the 17,177.
Right wing Hamas supporters and antisemites care only about the 17,177 and are quite satisfied with the 1,361.
After some slightly better polling for the Conservatives earlier in the week, YouGov, Techne and We Think (formerly Omnisis) have all produced 20+ Labour leads.
The YouGov England numbers are Labour 47%, Conservative 24%, Reform 11% and LD 10% - that's a colossal 18% swing from Conservative to Labour which, if reproduced on GE day, would mean a landslide, no ifs, buts or maybes.
The Conservative 2019 vote splits 38% Conservative, 24% Don't Know. 15% Reform so one might argue there's a big pool of voters (perhaps 9-10% of the total) out there to be convinced or to abstain.
The Techne split of the 2019 Conservative vote is 42% Conservative, 15% Labour, 13% Reform, 12% Don't Know so quite a difference.
The average graph for the week
Conservatives on 25.0%, Labour on 43.7%, LibDems 11.5%, ReformUK 8.5% and Green 5.7%
Since the end of October C-1.2%, L-2.5%, LD+1%, R+1.7% and G+1% so a move away from both Conservatives and Labour to the others.
I have extended the graph back in time to the earliest point in July 22 when all six polling companies had polls (albeit within a 11 day period rather than a week). Since then the main movement has been to R+5%. Labour is up 1.5% and Conservatives down 4.7% (SNP -1.4%) so most of the net movement is a shift from C to R.
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
Test:
Missing the point. (As ever). You think Hamas didn't imagine there would be a response? And, just in case Bibi was uncharacteritically minded not to react, they threw in a spot of torturing, disembowelling, gang-raping and mutilation before the murdering.
Israel has mass-murdered more women and children than Hamas in the last two months.
Israel has no more "mass-murdered" during the last two months than the RAF and USAF "mass-murdered" during WW2.
In modern terms the RAF and USAAF were indeed committing mass murder. The explicit targetting of civilians as proposed and executed by Harris would today unquestionably be considered a war crime.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
This has been an atypical Parliament. The Government enjoyed a lot of public support (as Governments always do in times of crisis) in the early days of Covid but the unravelling of that support from mid 2021 onwards is quite clear and in truth the polls have scarcely moved at all in 2023.
Could they "swingback" in 2024? Of course, nothing is impossible but it's hard to see how the current administration and the current Prime Minister can regain the kind of support levels needed to be even competitive at the next election at this time. No one denies Starmer lacks Blair's charisma or his popularity (even if he had the former the cynicism Blair came to represent would make the latter less likely).
The thing is, he doesn't need to - he simply needs to continue to reassure disullusioned Conservative voters a) the Labour Party is a non-socialist party of the centre or centre-left and b) in truth, nothing much will change. The time to be radical will be once the majority is in place - that assumes there is any radicalism behind Starmer (there wasn't behind Blair ultimately).
Tories will continue to believe in the privacy of the ballot box the doubtful voter will hover and then vote for the blue rosette but that's wishful thinking.
I’ve only just seen the footage of Starmer in Glasgow. How on earth does anyone arrive at the conclusion that Starmer is responsible for the situation in Gaza?
It seems a series on the Post Office scandal airs on ITV at New Year and locally there has been a lot of interest as the filmmakers have filmed quite a lot of it in Llandudno
Appropriate but didn't everyone think it was written about Dublin?
It was popularised by Shane MacGowan who was…
… a public schoolboy from Kent
Well, he was born in Kent because his parents were over from Ireland visiting family for Christmas. They were living in Tipperary at the time. I’m not sure that qualifies as “from Kent”.
They moved to London when he was five and he later spent under two years at Westminster on a scholarship before being kicked out for taking drugs. So I guess he just about qualifies as a public schoolboy but The Duke of Wellington’s comment about his being born in Dublin springs to mind.
Sorry I took Holmewood House to be a public school as well
It’s not the kind of place you’d have expected him to have gone to though. Private prep school then Westminster.
I take it you were a fan of his rough and ready image?
His lyrics were genius. His image I could take or leave. I’m not quite old enough to have appreciated The Pogues in their heyday anyway - their best album came out when I was 11 and he was kicked out when I was 17.
Fair okay. I never really got into them myself
I remember doing some very early Karaoke at the student bar and there being a big Pogues fan in our group who chose one of their songs. I can't quite recall but 'Dirty Old Town' seems likely.
Trouble was the guy with the lyric sheet didn't know the tune so much, and the rest of us didn't quite know the words. So, it descended into incoherent growling and, though I wouldn't want to overplay the sense of menace, we were canned off stage.
All in all, I feel it was probably a compellingly realistic Pogues performance.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
I take it you've not been on many doorsteps recently? We're almost at the fourth anniversary of the last election; the public are fairly clear on the choice and have largely made up their minds.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Kitchen Cabinet needs fixing.
I’m sure you’d recommend “those nice Hamas boys” to do the fixing.
Nah, just a couple of screws.
Hamas can definitely do the screws part, just not too sure how hot they are on consent.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
I take it you've not been on many doorsteps recently? We're almost at the fourth anniversary of the last election; the public are fairly clear on the choice and have largely made up their minds.
Thing is, if you look at the studies, people are naturally risk averse. Blair’s great feat was to persuade Tory voters it was safe not to vote against him. I’m not sure Starner is there yet.
delusion after delusion. this isn't 'bad spads/process', it's a PM full on living in a parallel world - he cannot accept he was wrong when he was told explicitly & repeatedly 'your policy cannot & won't work & it's a political disaster' - he's now pretending he's 'blocking' the courts when he very obviously is not & his policy/Bill very obviously leaves the ECHR/HRA framework in control
he's so monumentally botched it he is BOTH *in breach of ECHR* AND leaving the ECHR *in actual control*! and BOTH roused the dominant Left network to smash him AND isn't seriously trying to solve the problem! so 100% on brand for establishment Tories, 'the grownups' as the IfG calls them
he will not 'stop the boats', it's already game over for the fake rwanda gimmick & the PM has wasted 2022 & left himself no time
there will be a useless attempt in 2024 to claim he's been 'sabotaged' by Lords/courts & 'this is what the election is about', they'll pathetically try to use Take Back Control, but it won't work
tories doomed if they keep him & doomed if they spasm & fire him
He does get quite intense, Dom, doesn't he. It's like he's living in a world bounded by UnHerd polemics rather than the earth and sky.
My tip for Sunak would be to stop appearing at lecterns imprinted with Stop The Boats! It just looks ineffably naff. He's our PM ffs.
It’s all part of his weird ‘governing from opposition’ thing. As the polls show, nobody is buying it, least of all now he’s dropped the tactical self-own of appointing Call Me Dave.
I’ve only just seen the footage of Starmer in Glasgow. How on earth does anyone arrive at the conclusion that Starmer is responsible for the situation in Gaza?
It seems a series on the Post Office scandal airs on ITV at New Year and locally there has been a lot of interest as the filmmakers have filmed quite a lot of it in Llandudno
It's a drama starring Toby Jones as Alan Bates, who set up the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance which won the case which blew this wretched scandal apart.
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
Test:
Missing the point. (As ever). You think Hamas didn't imagine there would be a response? And, just in case Bibi was uncharacteritically minded not to react, they threw in a spot of torturing, disembowelling, gang-raping and mutilation before the murdering.
Israel has mass-murdered more women and children than Hamas in the last two months.
Israel has no more "mass-murdered" during the last two months than the RAF and USAF "mass-murdered" during WW2.
17,177 deaths versus 1,361 deaths. Why do right-wing nutters only care about the 1,361 deaths?
Deaths are a consequence of war, particularly when it's conducted in an urban area. There's no rule that says that the aggrieved party has to stop once it's reached its quota of permitted deaths. That's not how it works. Wars end when one or both sides agree to stop, not according to body-count.
FWIW, I do think that Israel has at times been reckless in its bombing and has paid insufficient attention to its obligation to minimise civilian casualties. However, Israel also has the right to continue to conduct its war - within international law - until its war objectives are met. Given the nature of the defensive infrastructure Hamas has built, that will inevitably result in a lot of destruction. If Israel wants to set as its objective the elimination of Hamas from Gaza and the surrender of its government, it has that right and can prosecute the war to that end. Whether it's an achievable objective is a different question but there's plenty of precedent for it to rely on if it wants to try.
It is very interesting but maybe more interesting is that a FT, fairly left wing journalist still wants to use X despite EM’s comments. So much for the boycott…
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
I take it you've not been on many doorsteps recently? We're almost at the fourth anniversary of the last election; the public are fairly clear on the choice and have largely made up their minds.
Agree on the whole. But such are the hazards of politics that value may well still reside in NOM. All it would need is a selection of: a Reform fail, a bit of swingback, some well planned populist 'triumph', some Sun headlines, a Starmer wobble, an SNP recovery, a collective sense that Lab/LD coalition would be best, an expertly staged Labour crisis and a left-field event suggesting that we are safest with nanny. Gaining net 123 seats is still a lot to do and a big ask.
I’ve only just seen the footage of Starmer in Glasgow. How on earth does anyone arrive at the conclusion that Starmer is responsible for the situation in Gaza?
It seems a series on the Post Office scandal airs on ITV at New Year and locally there has been a lot of interest as the filmmakers have filmed quite a lot of it in Llandudno
It's a drama starring Toby Jones as Alan Bates, who set up the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance which won the case which blew this wretched scandal apart.
Looking at the previews it is going to get a lot of people very angry at the injustices and hopefully help to win the postmasters/postmistresses their case for substantial compensation
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
I take it you've not been on many doorsteps recently? We're almost at the fourth anniversary of the last election; the public are fairly clear on the choice and have largely made up their minds.
Thing is, if you look at the studies, people are naturally risk averse. Blair’s great feat was to persuade Tory voters it was safe not to vote against him. I’m not sure Starner is there yet.
I am.
I agree on the risk-averseness. I also think that an awful lot of swing voters see the Tories as the riskier option.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
This poll suggests otherwise:
Would the British public support or oppose the UK Government calling a General Election in the next six months? (26 November)
It is very interesting but maybe more interesting is that a FT, fairly left wing journalist still wants to use X despite EM’s comments. So much for the boycott…
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
This has been an atypical Parliament. The Government enjoyed a lot of public support (as Governments always do in times of crisis) in the early days of Covid but the unravelling of that support from mid 2021 onwards is quite clear and in truth the polls have scarcely moved at all in 2023.
Could they "swingback" in 2024? Of course, nothing is impossible but it's hard to see how the current administration and the current Prime Minister can regain the kind of support levels needed to be even competitive at the next election at this time. No one denies Starmer lacks Blair's charisma or his popularity (even if he had the former the cynicism Blair came to represent would make the latter less likely).
The thing is, he doesn't need to - he simply needs to continue to reassure disullusioned Conservative voters a) the Labour Party is a non-socialist party of the centre or centre-left and b) in truth, nothing much will change. The time to be radical will be once the majority is in place - that assumes there is any radicalism behind Starmer (there wasn't behind Blair ultimately).
Tories will continue to believe in the privacy of the ballot box the doubtful voter will hover and then vote for the blue rosette but that's wishful thinking.
There are I think two separate questions.
1.) Can the Tories actually win? To which I think the answer is almost certainly not. Yes, swingback has been a thing in the past - but there are usually obvious reasons behind it. Governments can stack unpopular or tough decisions at the start of a parliament. They can ensure any bribes or quick fixes occur before an election. If all else fails, they can boot the leader. None of these are true of the Tories, for reasons that are both unfortunate and entirely of their own making. Covid has shortened the time to get things done. But their flagship policy is now viewed as a huge mistake, and have failed to deliver on both their original promises and much else promised since. These things can't be admitted without a civil war. They can't ditch Rishi - as even the Truss interregnum made them a bit of a joke. Losing a fourth PM would make Lady Bracknell faint.
Furthermore, they usually have an incumbency advantage of looking basically competent and a known quantity over an unknown opposition. The Tories have veered about all over the place since 2016 so a Starmer government may even be less of an obvious risk. Plus, just after 13 years, more than enough people are fed up and willing to try someone and something else. Look at polling figures among the working age. People in their 40s have the same polling patterns as students. That's a pretty big indicator that something is deeply broken with the Tories and that this is far more than mid-term disillusion.
2.) Can they rescue a respectable result and avoid catastrophe- maybe even at a push force a Lab-Lib coalition? To which the answer is, quite possibly. In both 2017 and 19 Labour looked destined for disaster, but something of a self-righting mechanism kicked in. As those a bit upset with the party for its leader or Brexit position got back on board for the sake of the tribe - much more so in 2017 when objections and divides were less solid and gaping wounds less fresh. In the former case, they rode the wins to a result the Tories should kill for now. But there are few signs the Tories either know how much trouble they're in, nor want, or can, do the kinds of things that would help avert a terrible, possibly existential, defeat - at least yet.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
This poll suggests otherwise:
Would the British public support or oppose the UK Government calling a General Election in the next six months? (26 November)
Mmmmm, I don’t know the population of the country but I know the c 100 people I speak to in an affluent part of London are not really concentrating on the election - it’s next year, people are definitely anti Tory but they don’t (generally) trust Starmer. I’ve also had a lot of friends with kids in private school day they are mortified with the Labour VAT policy on schools - sure only 7% of kids go to private school but their parents are fired up if my conversations are a guide.
It is very interesting but maybe more interesting is that a FT, fairly left wing journalist still wants to use X despite EM’s comments. So much for the boycott…
The boycott is paying advertisers, not users.
Advertisers follow users. Yes, big advertisers say they are boycotting X but they said the same about Meta, YouTube etc - and those companies still published strong numbers.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
This poll suggests otherwise:
Would the British public support or oppose the UK Government calling a General Election in the next six months? (26 November)
Mmmmm, I don’t know the population of the country but I know the c 100 people I speak to in an affluent part of London are not really concentrating on the election - it’s next year, people are definitely anti Tory but they don’t (generally) trust Starmer. I’ve also had a lot of friends with kids in private school day they are mortified with the Labour VAT policy on schools - sure only 7% of kids go to private school but their parents are fired up if my conversations are a guide.
Feel free to say "I told you so" when the Tories retain power after the next election but I think, barring some black swan event, that is vanishingly unlikely.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
I take it you've not been on many doorsteps recently? We're almost at the fourth anniversary of the last election; the public are fairly clear on the choice and have largely made up their minds.
Thing is, if you look at the studies, people are naturally risk averse. Blair’s great feat was to persuade Tory voters it was safe not to vote against him. I’m not sure Starner is there yet.
I am.
I agree on the risk-averseness. I also think that an awful lot of swing voters see the Tories as the riskier option.
Yes. I am one of the voters voting Labour this time, more or less always Tory in General Elections for 50 years. Labour is the safer option, the option closest (not close enough) to One Nation Toryism, and the thought of the Conservatives continuing is appalling; so awful that I fear that if it happened it would not have the whole hearted 'losers consent' which characterises UK elections.
Rishi Sunak’s emergency Rwanda migration scheme has only a “50 per cent at best” chance of enabling flights to take off next year before the general election, according to the government’s official legal advice.
Victoria Prentis, the attorney-general, has been told that the legislation leaves a significant risk of the European Court in Strasbourg blocking flights. The advice, from the government legal department, was signed off by Sir James Eadie, the UK’s most senior legal adviser on issues of national importance, who led the government’s defence of the Rwanda policy in the Supreme Court this year.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
This poll suggests otherwise:
Would the British public support or oppose the UK Government calling a General Election in the next six months? (26 November)
Mmmmm, I don’t know the population of the country but I know the c 100 people I speak to in an affluent part of London are not really concentrating on the election - it’s next year, people are definitely anti Tory but they don’t (generally) trust Starmer. I’ve also had a lot of friends with kids in private school day they are mortified with the Labour VAT policy on schools - sure only 7% of kids go to private school but their parents are fired up if my conversations are a guide.
Feel free to say "I told you so" when the Tories retain power after the next election but I think, barring some black swan event, that is vanishingly unlikely.
I never said they would retain power, I said there was a lot of uncertainty about SKS and that people (generally) tend to be risk averse. NOM is my favourite option.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
I take it you've not been on many doorsteps recently? We're almost at the fourth anniversary of the last election; the public are fairly clear on the choice and have largely made up their minds.
Thing is, if you look at the studies, people are naturally risk averse. Blair’s great feat was to persuade Tory voters it was safe not to vote against him. I’m not sure Starner is there yet.
I am.
I agree on the risk-averseness. I also think that an awful lot of swing voters see the Tories as the riskier option.
Yes. I am one of the voters voting Labour this time, more or less always Tory in General Elections for 50 years. Labour is the safer option, the option closest (not close enough) to One Nation Toryism, and the thought of the Conservatives continuing is appalling; so awful that I fear that if it happened it would not have the whole hearted 'losers consent' which characterises UK elections.
I agree with most of that post but disagree with the last point: if the Tories somehow retain power there would a lot of discontent but losers' consent would still be there. See also 1992.
Late to the party, but as a leftie I would like to acknowledge that the current government has one absolutely brilliant policy:
The £2 single bus fare cap.
(Though they're so quiet about it, it's hardly surprising that they get little or no credit for it. Instead, they just go on about failing to stop the boats).
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
This poll suggests otherwise:
Would the British public support or oppose the UK Government calling a General Election in the next six months? (26 November)
Mmmmm, I don’t know the population of the country but I know the c 100 people I speak to in an affluent part of London are not really concentrating on the election - it’s next year, people are definitely anti Tory but they don’t (generally) trust Starmer. I’ve also had a lot of friends with kids in private school day they are mortified with the Labour VAT policy on schools - sure only 7% of kids go to private school but their parents are fired up if my conversations are a guide.
Right. So its weighted sample of the population canvassed by a leading member of the British Polling Council verses your perception of your mates’ attitudes? That’s me convinced. And I’m equally sure the “fired up” private school parents will swing things because, as we know, fired up votes count double - like away goals.
Rishi Sunak’s emergency Rwanda migration scheme has only a “50 per cent at best” chance of enabling flights to take off next year before the general election, according to the government’s official legal advice.
Victoria Prentis, the attorney-general, has been told that the legislation leaves a significant risk of the European Court in Strasbourg blocking flights. The advice, from the government legal department, was signed off by Sir James Eadie, the UK’s most senior legal adviser on issues of national importance, who led the government’s defence of the Rwanda policy in the Supreme Court this year.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
This poll suggests otherwise:
Would the British public support or oppose the UK Government calling a General Election in the next six months? (26 November)
Mmmmm, I don’t know the population of the country but I know the c 100 people I speak to in an affluent part of London are not really concentrating on the election - it’s next year, people are definitely anti Tory but they don’t (generally) trust Starmer. I’ve also had a lot of friends with kids in private school day they are mortified with the Labour VAT policy on schools - sure only 7% of kids go to private school but their parents are fired up if my conversations are a guide.
That fired up group of parents is of course interesting and if reflecting about 7% of the population, non trivial.
However whether it can make a real difference required more thought. Those living in 'safe' seats make no difference. I suspect they are concentrated in a minority of seats (it will make no difference where I live) many of which are safe Labour or Tory anyway. Where they have no concentration the effect is minimal. And of course it may gain a few Labour votes as well from its supporters. Is it possible that it will make a marginal difference in a tiny number of mainly London seats?
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
This poll suggests otherwise:
Would the British public support or oppose the UK Government calling a General Election in the next six months? (26 November)
Mmmmm, I don’t know the population of the country but I know the c 100 people I speak to in an affluent part of London are not really concentrating on the election - it’s next year, people are definitely anti Tory but they don’t (generally) trust Starmer. I’ve also had a lot of friends with kids in private school day they are mortified with the Labour VAT policy on schools - sure only 7% of kids go to private school but their parents are fired up if my conversations are a guide.
I rather suspect that the vast majority of the parents of the 7% of kids who go to private school wouldn't vote Labour regardless of the VAT policy.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
This poll suggests otherwise:
Would the British public support or oppose the UK Government calling a General Election in the next six months? (26 November)
Mmmmm, I don’t know the population of the country but I know the c 100 people I speak to in an affluent part of London are not really concentrating on the election - it’s next year, people are definitely anti Tory but they don’t (generally) trust Starmer. I’ve also had a lot of friends with kids in private school day they are mortified with the Labour VAT policy on schools - sure only 7% of kids go to private school but their parents are fired up if my conversations are a guide.
Feel free to say "I told you so" when the Tories retain power after the next election but I think, barring some black swan event, that is vanishingly unlikely.
I never said they would retain power, I said there was a lot of uncertainty about SKS and that people (generally) tend to be risk averse. NOM is my favourite option.
Fair enough. I'm now thinking the chances are currently something like:
<5% Tories retain power 10% NOM Labour government 20% Small Labour majority (<50) 35% Clear Labour Majority (50 - 100) 20% Labour Landslide (>100 majority) 10% Tory wipe out (<100 Tory seats)
Rishi Sunak’s emergency Rwanda migration scheme has only a “50 per cent at best” chance of enabling flights to take off next year before the general election, according to the government’s official legal advice.
Victoria Prentis, the attorney-general, has been told that the legislation leaves a significant risk of the European Court in Strasbourg blocking flights. The advice, from the government legal department, was signed off by Sir James Eadie, the UK’s most senior legal adviser on issues of national importance, who led the government’s defence of the Rwanda policy in the Supreme Court this year.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
This poll suggests otherwise:
Would the British public support or oppose the UK Government calling a General Election in the next six months? (26 November)
Mmmmm, I don’t know the population of the country but I know the c 100 people I speak to in an affluent part of London are not really concentrating on the election - it’s next year, people are definitely anti Tory but they don’t (generally) trust Starmer. I’ve also had a lot of friends with kids in private school day they are mortified with the Labour VAT policy on schools - sure only 7% of kids go to private school but their parents are fired up if my conversations are a guide.
Right. So its weighted sample of the population canvassed by a leading member of the British Polling Council verses your perception of your mates’ attitudes? That’s me convinced. And I’m equally sure the “fired up” private school parents will swing things because, as we know, fired up votes count double - like away goals.
I didn’t exactly claim that it was weighted by the British Polling Council, did I? I said - clearly - it was anecdotal. Not sure why you therefore think of the need to start claiming I’d quoted an independent, accredited polling organisation…..
It is very interesting but maybe more interesting is that a FT, fairly left wing journalist still wants to use X despite EM’s comments. So much for the boycott…
The boycott is paying advertisers, not users.
Advertisers follow users. Yes, big advertisers say they are boycotting X but they said the same about Meta, YouTube etc - and those companies still published strong numbers.
Strong numbers? It’s estimated that X will bring in $1.89 billion in advertising revenue this year, down 54% from 2022. Monthly users are down 15% since he bought the platform. He’s fucked it.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
This poll suggests otherwise:
Would the British public support or oppose the UK Government calling a General Election in the next six months? (26 November)
Mmmmm, I don’t know the population of the country but I know the c 100 people I speak to in an affluent part of London are not really concentrating on the election - it’s next year, people are definitely anti Tory but they don’t (generally) trust Starmer. I’ve also had a lot of friends with kids in private school day they are mortified with the Labour VAT policy on schools - sure only 7% of kids go to private school but their parents are fired up if my conversations are a guide.
Right. So its weighted sample of the population canvassed by a leading member of the British Polling Council verses your perception of your mates’ attitudes? That’s me convinced. And I’m equally sure the “fired up” private school parents will swing things because, as we know, fired up votes count double - like away goals.
I didn’t exactly claim that it was weighted by the British Polling Council, did I? I said - clearly - it was anecdotal. Not sure why you therefore think of the need to start claiming I’d quoted an independent, accredited polling organisation…..
Late to the party, but as a leftie I would like to acknowledge that the current government has one absolutely brilliant policy:
The £2 single bus fare cap.
(Though they're so quiet about it, it's hardly surprising that they get little or no credit for it. Instead, they just go on about failing to stop the boats).
Hell of a lot of routes not covered by that cap though.
It is very interesting but maybe more interesting is that a FT, fairly left wing journalist still wants to use X despite EM’s comments. So much for the boycott…
The boycott is paying advertisers, not users.
Advertisers follow users. Yes, big advertisers say they are boycotting X but they said the same about Meta, YouTube etc - and those companies still published strong numbers.
Strong numbers? It’s estimated that X will bring in $1.89 billion in advertising revenue this year, down 54% from 2022. Monthly users are down 15% since he bought the platform. He’s fucked it.
Read my post. I said Meta and YouTube posted strong ad numbers recently, Meta in particular. Did I say X posted strong ad numbers?
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
This poll suggests otherwise:
Would the British public support or oppose the UK Government calling a General Election in the next six months? (26 November)
Mmmmm, I don’t know the population of the country but I know the c 100 people I speak to in an affluent part of London are not really concentrating on the election - it’s next year, people are definitely anti Tory but they don’t (generally) trust Starmer. I’ve also had a lot of friends with kids in private school day they are mortified with the Labour VAT policy on schools - sure only 7% of kids go to private school but their parents are fired up if my conversations are a guide.
Right. So its weighted sample of the population canvassed by a leading member of the British Polling Council verses your perception of your mates’ attitudes? That’s me convinced. And I’m equally sure the “fired up” private school parents will swing things because, as we know, fired up votes count double - like away goals.
I didn’t exactly claim that it was weighted by the British Polling Council, did I? I said - clearly - it was anecdotal. Not sure why you therefore think of the need to start claiming I’d quoted an independent, accredited polling organisation…..
My point is the exact opposite. It the fact that you’re not so accredited that was the basis of my sarcasm, As you will see if you read the post properly.
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
This poll suggests otherwise:
Would the British public support or oppose the UK Government calling a General Election in the next six months? (26 November)
Mmmmm, I don’t know the population of the country but I know the c 100 people I speak to in an affluent part of London are not really concentrating on the election - it’s next year, people are definitely anti Tory but they don’t (generally) trust Starmer. I’ve also had a lot of friends with kids in private school day they are mortified with the Labour VAT policy on schools - sure only 7% of kids go to private school but their parents are fired up if my conversations are a guide.
Right. So its weighted sample of the population canvassed by a leading member of the British Polling Council verses your perception of your mates’ attitudes? That’s me convinced. And I’m equally sure the “fired up” private school parents will swing things because, as we know, fired up votes count double - like away goals.
I didn’t exactly claim that it was weighted by the British Polling Council, did I? I said - clearly - it was anecdotal. Not sure why you therefore think of the need to start claiming I’d quoted an independent, accredited polling organisation…..
Doug's not saying that.
But he’s not exactly acknowledging I clearly pointed out it was anecdotal is he? In which case why make the reference to the British Polling Council?
Appropriate but didn't everyone think it was written about Dublin?
It was popularised by Shane MacGowan who was…
… a public schoolboy from Kent
Well, he was born in Kent because his parents were over from Ireland visiting family for Christmas. They were living in Tipperary at the time. I’m not sure that qualifies as “from Kent”.
They moved to London when he was five and he later spent under two years at Westminster on a scholarship before being kicked out for taking drugs. So I guess he just about qualifies as a public schoolboy but The Duke of Wellington’s comment about his being born in Dublin springs to mind.
Sorry I took Holmewood House to be a public school as well
Yes, very supportive of the state system, Prep Schools. How on earth else are you going to get your middle-middle class plank of thicket into a good state grammar.</ I don’t care what school Shane MacGowan went to. He was the greatest poet of my generation. <blockquote class="UserQuote">
It’s fair enough to say what he did to the Telegraph; she did effect change, although he was praising her by saying the bit about unleashing the nations entrepreneurialism.
Thing is, it’s like when Farage said Putin was a good political operator; the centrists will just ignore any nuance and take what he said at face value…. Wont they?
If I was Sunak (Thank God, I am not), my strategy would be to run as long as GE election campaign as possible so there would be more pressure on SKS to explain exactly what he would do in Government. My guess is both he and Reeves would collapse under relentless questioning.
The particular kitchen cabinet you opened tonight had the strong medicinal stuff in?
Not really. It had some stuff labelled ‘Starmer’ - it didn’t tell me what it would do or what would be the reaction, just ‘trust me and swallow’
The mouldy blue ones that stink of death and seem to have different bad effects every week are even more unclear in purpose.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
Rather hubristic. Look at the past three years - big Tory leads, then big swings to Labour. The electorate is not thinking about the election now. They will when a gun is put to their head and they are forced to make a choice.
This poll suggests otherwise:
Would the British public support or oppose the UK Government calling a General Election in the next six months? (26 November)
Mmmmm, I don’t know the population of the country but I know the c 100 people I speak to in an affluent part of London are not really concentrating on the election - it’s next year, people are definitely anti Tory but they don’t (generally) trust Starmer. I’ve also had a lot of friends with kids in private school day they are mortified with the Labour VAT policy on schools - sure only 7% of kids go to private school but their parents are fired up if my conversations are a guide.
The people I hear want the Tories out, but won’t decide until Labour actually come out with some policies. Being scared to upset anyone is harming Labour.
Late to the party, but as a leftie I would like to acknowledge that the current government has one absolutely brilliant policy:
The £2 single bus fare cap.
(Though they're so quiet about it, it's hardly surprising that they get little or no credit for it. Instead, they just go on about failing to stop the boats).
Hell of a lot of routes not covered by that cap though.
Hell of a lot of other routes cut as a result of the reduced income too (obviously lots of factors in play there but overall income will be down and low-use routes / times have been cut, so unlikely to be an unrelated coincidence).
Appropriate but didn't everyone think it was written about Dublin?
No. It was written in the forties by Ewan McColl. Father of Kirsty. Who was from Salford. "On the Salford wind" as one of the lines is a bit of a giveaway tbf.
Late to the party, but as a leftie I would like to acknowledge that the current government has one absolutely brilliant policy:
The £2 single bus fare cap.
(Though they're so quiet about it, it's hardly surprising that they get little or no credit for it. Instead, they just go on about failing to stop the boats).
Hell of a lot of routes not covered by that cap though.
Really? Not in my neck of the woods - all routes are covered. e.g. Brighton to Eastbourne for £2 - a snip. Helps to get cars off the road too.
Comments
That's 4. Sort of. And I rushed it.
In many ways, the more wrong you think those changes are, the more interested you should be in how she achieved that. Not least so you can reverse the bits you think are bad while keeping those who think they benefited from them onside.
Saying Putin is an "effective political operator" on the otherhand, is a bit like saying Stalin was. Or Ayatollah Khameini is. They are effective in the sense that they kill, torture, and repress opposition, as well as utilising corruption on a spectacular scale. They are "effective" in the sense they do things abroad that are tantamount to warfare - and would be seen as such were Western governments not determined to avoid direct war.
That's the difference.
Now let’s hear PB tories’ lists of Labour policies they like.
I don’t know everything. You on the other hand….
Even Netanyahu couldn't stop the IDF now, after what Hamas did on 7th Oct, and the craven response of so many in the West.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/08/israel-bombardment-hamas-gaza
Snippet:
The centrality of sexual violence in all this should not be underestimated. As one eminent Israeli historian put it to me in an email this week, “On 7 October Israel [itself] was raped and humiliated; the mass rape of women (and some men) was the apt microcosm. This is something simply not grasped outside Israel.” That sense of violation and humiliation has fed a rage felt especially, the historian wrote, in the top brass of the IDF and Israeli intelligence, those who ignored the warning signs and allowed 7 October to happen. Those commanders feel a need to compensate, even atone, for their failure. “I don’t think Netanyahu could stop the IDF, even if he wanted to.”
[X] Starmer
It's the Socialist utopia I've always dreamed about. In a way.
Could you clarify whether a “Tory policy” is something they are doing, or something they are saying? Does saying without doing count as policy, or indeed doing without saying? Or does it have to be both?
boys” to do the fixing.
After some slightly better polling for the Conservatives earlier in the week, YouGov, Techne and We Think (formerly Omnisis) have all produced 20+ Labour leads.
The YouGov England numbers are Labour 47%, Conservative 24%, Reform 11% and LD 10% - that's a colossal 18% swing from Conservative to Labour which, if reproduced on GE day, would mean a landslide, no ifs, buts or maybes.
The Conservative 2019 vote splits 38% Conservative, 24% Don't Know. 15% Reform so one might argue there's a big pool of voters (perhaps 9-10% of the total) out there to be convinced or to abstain.
The Techne split of the 2019 Conservative vote is 42% Conservative, 15% Labour, 13% Reform, 12% Don't Know so quite a difference.
The idea that a Starmer campaign will collapse anytime before the Tory campaign and policy programme has long since reduced to a puddle of sick on the floor seems hopelessly optimistic.
I remember the pride and sense of achievement exuded from the way they had created a modern democratic country and safe haven on such unpromising ground, and turned so much desert into places where people could live and things could grow.
I remember the perpetual paranoia, of a tiny county surrounded by enemies and entirely reliant on the US for financial and military guarantees.
And I remember that almost everyone you met was a fanatic. The religious fanatics who threw stones at ambulances that dared try and pick someone up on the sabbath. The anti-religious fanatics, the Palestinian fanatics, the socialist fanatics building their kibbutzim out in the desert.
It was a place both scary and inspiring at the same time. And lots of guns, more than you ever see in the US. Mostly carried by people who back then were my own age. I have never been back, but don’t get the impression that, in these respects at least, it has changed all that much.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/dec/08/part-time-and-shift-workers-to-lose-up-to-248m-holiday-pay-in-uk-rule-change
A "Brexit benefit". To cut the holiday pay of teaching assistants.
When nobody can recruit teaching assistants due to low pay and poor conditions.
Have the Tories heard of supply and demand?
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/what-policies-have-uks-labour-party-announced-their-conference-2023-10-09/
As for their policies announced at the conference, I think there will be a slight difference between what they say now - which is very little in substance - and what they do if they win.
And I'm not liking the sound of this new electoral system at all.
Contra the fucking idiots who think 2 successive wrongs make a right, the wrongs are handed on from man to man, the misery deepening like a coastal shelf (to adapt Phil).
Thereby smiting one of the comforting lies conservatives tell themselves.
Right wing settlers and Israeli nationalists care only about the 1,361, and dismiss the 17,177.
Right wing Hamas supporters and antisemites care only about the 17,177 and are quite satisfied with the 1,361.
Conservatives on 25.0%, Labour on 43.7%, LibDems 11.5%, ReformUK 8.5% and Green 5.7%
Since the end of October C-1.2%, L-2.5%, LD+1%, R+1.7% and G+1% so a move away from both Conservatives and Labour to the others.
I have extended the graph back in time to the earliest point in July 22 when all six polling companies had polls (albeit within a 11 day period rather than a week). Since then the main movement has been to R+5%. Labour is up 1.5% and Conservatives down 4.7% (SNP -1.4%) so most of the net movement is a shift from C to R.
Could they "swingback" in 2024? Of course, nothing is impossible but it's hard to see how the current administration and the current Prime Minister can regain the kind of support levels needed to be even competitive at the next election at this time. No one denies Starmer lacks Blair's charisma or his popularity (even if he had the former the cynicism Blair came to represent would make the latter less likely).
The thing is, he doesn't need to - he simply needs to continue to reassure disullusioned Conservative voters a) the Labour Party is a non-socialist party of the centre or centre-left and b) in truth, nothing much will change. The time to be radical will be once the majority is in place - that assumes there is any radicalism behind Starmer (there wasn't behind Blair ultimately).
Tories will continue to believe in the privacy of the ballot box the doubtful voter will hover and then vote for the blue rosette but that's wishful thinking.
It seems a series on the Post Office scandal airs on ITV at New Year and locally there has been a lot of interest as the filmmakers have filmed quite a lot of it in Llandudno
Trouble was the guy with the lyric sheet didn't know the tune so much, and the rest of us didn't quite know the words. So, it descended into incoherent growling and, though I wouldn't want to overplay the sense of menace, we were canned off stage.
All in all, I feel it was probably a compellingly realistic Pogues performance.
https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/23668974.real-scandal-behind-itv-drama-filmed-llandudno/
https://x.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1733188292277838292?s=46
FWIW, I do think that Israel has at times been reckless in its bombing and has paid insufficient attention to its obligation to minimise civilian casualties. However, Israel also has the right to continue to conduct its war - within international law - until its war objectives are met. Given the nature of the defensive infrastructure Hamas has built, that will inevitably result in a lot of destruction. If Israel wants to set as its objective the elimination of Hamas from Gaza and the surrender of its government, it has that right and can prosecute the war to that end. Whether it's an achievable objective is a different question but there's plenty of precedent for it to rely on if it wants to try.
I agree on the risk-averseness. I also think that an awful lot of swing voters see the Tories as the riskier option.
Would the British public support or oppose the UK Government calling a General Election in the next six months? (26 November)
Support: 62% (–)
Oppose: 10% (-2)
Changes +/- 19 November
https://x.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1730912254390870257?s=20
1.) Can the Tories actually win? To which I think the answer is almost certainly not. Yes, swingback has been a thing in the past - but there are usually obvious reasons behind it. Governments can stack unpopular or tough decisions at the start of a parliament. They can ensure any bribes or quick fixes occur before an election. If all else fails, they can boot the leader. None of these are true of the Tories, for reasons that are both unfortunate and entirely of their own making. Covid has shortened the time to get things done. But their flagship policy is now viewed as a huge mistake, and have failed to deliver on both their original promises and much else promised since. These things can't be admitted without a civil war. They can't ditch Rishi - as even the Truss interregnum made them a bit of a joke. Losing a fourth PM would make Lady Bracknell faint.
Furthermore, they usually have an incumbency advantage of looking basically competent and a known quantity over an unknown opposition. The Tories have veered about all over the place since 2016 so a Starmer government may even be less of an obvious risk. Plus, just after 13 years, more than enough people are fed up and willing to try someone and something else. Look at polling figures among the working age. People in their 40s have the same polling patterns as students. That's a pretty big indicator that something is deeply broken with the Tories and that this is far more than mid-term disillusion.
2.) Can they rescue a respectable result and avoid catastrophe- maybe even at a push force a Lab-Lib coalition? To which the answer is, quite possibly. In both 2017 and 19 Labour looked destined for disaster, but something of a self-righting mechanism kicked in. As those a bit upset with the party for its leader or Brexit position got back on board for the sake of the tribe - much more so in 2017 when objections and divides were less solid and gaping wounds less fresh. In the former case, they rode the wins to a result the Tories should kill for now. But there are few signs the Tories either know how much trouble they're in, nor want, or can, do the kinds of things that would help avert a terrible, possibly existential, defeat - at least yet.
Victoria Prentis, the attorney-general, has been told that the legislation leaves a significant risk of the European Court in Strasbourg blocking flights. The advice, from the government legal department, was signed off by Sir James Eadie, the UK’s most senior legal adviser on issues of national importance, who led the government’s defence of the Rwanda policy in the Supreme Court this year.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/9dffb5de-cc17-434c-a681-cc74fbfb649f?shareToken=c62edd311c5a863b2e25fbaacfa99688
The £2 single bus fare cap.
(Though they're so quiet about it, it's hardly surprising that they get little or no credit for it. Instead, they just go on about failing to stop the boats).
However whether it can make a real difference required more thought. Those living in 'safe' seats make no difference. I suspect they are concentrated in a minority of seats (it will make no difference where I live) many of which are safe Labour or Tory anyway. Where they have no concentration the effect is minimal. And of course it may gain a few Labour votes as well from its supporters. Is it possible that it will make a marginal difference in a tiny number of mainly London seats?
<5% Tories retain power
10% NOM Labour government
20% Small Labour majority (<50)
35% Clear Labour Majority (50 - 100)
20% Labour Landslide (>100 majority)
10% Tory wipe out (<100 Tory seats)
"On the Salford wind" as one of the lines is a bit of a giveaway tbf.