There’s utterly cynical politicians then there’s Siân Berry – politicalbetting.com
There’s utterly cynical politicians then there’s Siân Berry – politicalbetting.com
The practical embodiment of political cynicism and treating voters with utter contempt from Green Party politician Siân Berry I hope electors in Brighton Pavillion have taken note @MrTomGray https://t.co/evdbNDvhS1
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AV is a very imperfect way to elect a replacement in a by-election for STV.
You could have written the rules for the London Assembly list seats to require a vote to elect a replacement.
Sian and I were in the same year at Trinity and were reasonably close friends. She was the JCR entz officer. After graduation we both lived in N19 and a few of us used to have Sunday kick abouts on Hampstead Heath.
In 2003 there was an election for the Oxford Chancellorship and I sent an email round to a few of us who lived in North London suggesting we have a day out there to vote. We’d gone back a couple of years earlier to get our upgrade MAs and I was hoping that we could have another jolly in the same vein.
Sian launched into a blistering attack on me alleging that by wanting to vote in an election that had no impact on me I was “elitist” and the type of hypocritical left liberal she had no desire to associate with. I haven’t spoken to her since save for brief pleasantries at a party in 2010. Neither have I voted Green.. She is utterly cynical and not a brilliant politician.
People don’t google for the actual story. I’m not talking esoteric searches - simply put a couple of words in the search box and hit return.
I think many people are passive consumers of “news”. They simply haven’t got the habit of asking questions.
Poor show, anyway.
Simple, easy to understand, fair.
And even as a general proposition it is suspect. People who are obsessed with a particular world view are very rarely that particular about the rights and wrongs of anything else and can justify all sorts of disgraceful behaviour for the greater good. Usually in a self serving way.
The Greens purport to aspire to convince society of the need for major changes to reduce and repair the damage to the environment, but they aren't going to be very successful at such a task if they thoughtlessly take the piss in such a way. It's disappointing.
A parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion has been accused of cronyism after stepping down from the London Assembly just three days after being re-elected.
The Green Party's Siân Berry has been a member of the London Assembly since 2016 and was re-elected on Friday but announced she was quitting today.
After announcing the news on X, formerly known as Twitter, Ms Berry was criticised for her decision.
Political commentator Alex Armstrong said: "What a shame. Cronyism at its finest."
https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/24303202.brighton-pavilion-mp-candidate-sian-berry-accused-cronyism/?ref=twtrec
Doubtless it was a nice little trainer for her, for the oncoming GE, but as far as London voters are concerned, it was a premeditated con trick.
Using her coattails to get a Green into the assembly.
Anyone wishing to be elected and take a public salary, should be elected by name.
It's the electoral system that should make you piss iron filings not people who understand how it works.
This is almost certainly my new fact for the day. Thank you.
Any remaining complaints to the Labour Party (prop: A.R.P. Blair).
See, for example, the incomprehension that First Ministers actually have to be elected in Scotland by all MSPs collectively, instead of doing it by a nod and a wink behind the scenes with KCIII's wotsits.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/article/2024/may/08/fake-monet-and-renoir-on-ebay-among-counterfeits-identified-using-ai
US COVID-19 vaccination campaign saved $90 for every $1 spent on it.
I don't suppose it will make much difference to the Green vote in London either; despite being politically aware I didn't notice Berry was on the Green list and for most people thinking of voting Green it will be forgotten by the election. Though I agree it doesn't look good, and must lose a few votes at the margins.
I was also thinking Bristol Central was out of reach but after looking at the local election results I'm not so sure. So I am in the swap Brighton for Bristol camp now.
It will be interesting to see how Swinney handles the very awkward arithmetic that Yousaf struggled with. Cass was speaking to MSPs yesterday about conversion therapy being much more a matter for professional regulation than legislation. Will the bill banning it as a practice (and it is an abhorrent practice) still come forward?
Firstly, everyone knows how the electoral system works. Expoliting it to have Berry's name on the ballot with her never having any intention of doing the job was legal but utterly unprincipled. Principles matter.
Secondly, it isn't in the least bit "intelligent" of Berry. She's given Labour in Brighton a stick with which to beat her, and added to a growing problem for the Greens that they are losing their "principled" sheen, following revelations over the type of people they endorsed in local elections.
In last week's election in wards comprising Bristol Central:
Green - 40,281 votes (63%)
Labour - 17,100 votes (26.5%)
Lib Dems 3k
Cons 3.5k
As you say, she'd have had a fight on her hands anyway, not just against Lucas's personal vote but also the state of Brighton Greens' running of their council.
However, I tend to agree that there's a reasonable chance they might pick up something somewhere else - and Bristol is as good a shout as anywhere. If the Gaza war is still going on by the election (I doubt it, partly because the Israelis have control of just about the whole territory; partly because of pressure from Washington), then they might well win 2 or more.
Quite how the Greens expect to keep their ultra-woke / conservative muslim coalition together is anyone's guess. Magic beans, possibly. Without power, slogan politics and ignoring the contradictions might work. It sure as hell won't once they come to casting actual votes, never mind running things.
I strongly favour PR, too. But this is taking the piss.
The Greens are also going through a Labour anti-Semitism 2.0 crisis, so they are in real trouble.
And as Carlotta has mentioned, the Labour Council (with an impressive leader, Bella Sankey) has been doing a pretty good job since taking over from the Greens, which will help them - the constituency covers most of central Brighton.
It's a good result for the Greens in Bristol, certainly. But I remain sceptical.
The German idiocy of relying on Russian gas and abolishing nuclear has pushed their energy costs up thus destroying their industrial sector. We could, and should, have avoided that while avoiding our own native idiocy of Brexit.
https://www.scottishparliament.tv/meeting/health-social-care-and-sport-committee-may-7-2024
And I agree this is bad for Europe as a whole, what’s more it’s arguably been accelerated by Ukrainian proxies acting for America - blowing up Nordstream
But it’s not just energy. Germany is screwed because they are also reliant on mid-high level manufacturing, which China once imported in huge volumes. But now China can produce all this for itself; and so it doesn’t need German imports so much, and China can supplant Germany in OTHER export markets
I remember saying this might happen a few years back and PBers loudly pooh-poohing the notion on the basis “made in Germany” is such a good brand it cannot be replaced. It IS a good brand but if someone can do it cheaper, it will be replaced
Fun Fact: My first ever political bet was on Watford in 2010.
Indeed the Gender Recognition Reform bill was a 2016 and 2021 SNP manifesto commitment and subsequently introduced by an SNP minister. It's slightly bonkers to spend months criticising the SNP for that reform and then suddenly decide that their gender-critical views caused the split with the Greens.
And honestly, the Greens are good value on climate change. Governments love setting climate change targets and making lots of noise, but not actually doing anything about it and then discarding the target at political expediency. At the least the Greens are up front about the kind of transformation that is required and are willing to resign from government should the targets be abandoned.
Increasingly, investment moved further East - when Ukraine was invaded, there were massive problems for industry in Germany due to components not arriving.
It's become quite noticeable, in the last few years, that for kitchen white goods (for example), some lines are not made in Germany and often have very poor quality.
The mad way in which the German car industry has approached electrification hasn't helped. Instead of taking it as a chance to explore new markets...
England still makes great stuff but not that much of it, relatively. Looks like the same is now happening to Germany
Also see the Greens allegedly being in favour of high-speed rail, but against HS2, because they saw that position as a vote-winner in the home counties.
This is personal for me.
I’m standing to be an MP in the city I love and where I’ve chosen to live for 25 years.
I’ve not stood or tried to stand anywhere else. Nor do career & pay really motivate me and, frankly, never have.
Making the change we need does.
https://x.com/MrTomGray/status/1775912163300823300
https://twitter.com/TG4Pavilion
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crgypzg4edvo
A UK firm developing artificial intelligence (AI) tech to power self-driving cars has raised $1.05bn (£840m) in funding.
Microsoft and leading chip-maker, Nvidia, are among the companies investing in Wayve's latest funding round, led by investment firm SoftBank.
It is the largest known investment in an AI company in Europe to date.
Wayve says the funding will allow it to help build the autonomous cars of the future.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it "anchors the UK’s position as an AI superpower".
"The fact that a homegrown, British company has secured the biggest investment yet in a UK AI start-up is a testament to our leadership in this industry", he said.
(ducks)
Using the "top vote" method, the figures were:
Bristol Central
Grn 14,965
Lab 7,785
Con 1,532
LD 1,454
TUSC 182
Ind 135
There is certainly precedent, in 2005 LDs held every ward in Islington South and Liverpool Wavertree but Labour held the seats.
The British industry was badly managed, fragmented and horribly undercapitalised so they couldn't develop products of quality and relevance. Then Thatcher turned the pound into a petrocurrency in the 80s which killed all export potential.
Triumph are back now though and leaking slightly less oil than before.
https://twitter.com/hkfp/status/1788126236524331133
- "The End of Germany as a Modern Economy || Peter Zeihan", YouTube, 11 mins, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmEhTFjQB1g
YouTube gives a transcript of each video. An AI summary of the transcript by https://ahrefs.com/writing-tools/summarizer is given below:The main points of the text are as follows:
1. Germany has three unsolvable problems that will likely lead to its downfall as a modern economy and nation state in the next 20 to 30 years.
2. The first problem is Germany's trade relationship with Russia and China. Germany heavily relies on Russian raw materials, especially energy, but the cost of cutting ties with Russia has led to significantly higher energy prices. Companies in the energy sector are moving out due to the inability to bring costs down. Germany has also doubled down on its trade relationship with China, despite the ethical concerns associated with authoritarian regimes.
3. The second problem is Germany's demographics. The country has been on a downward spiral for over a hundred years, and by 2030, a large portion of the skilled labor force will be retired. This will lead to a decline in workmanship and a collapse in the workforce, making it difficult for Germany to fund its own industrial buildup and consume what it produces.
4. The third problem is Germany's energy system. Germany relies on a bottomless supply of inexpensive and reliable energy, primarily from Russia. However, with the decline in trade relations with Russia, Germany now relies on liquefied natural gas from the United States and crude oil from the Middle East. The country has largely shut down nuclear power and is left with lignite coal, which contributes to high carbon emissions.
5. The combination of these three problems makes Germany's current system unsustainable. The country is likely to face the end of its ethnicity and decline as an industrial power within the next 10 to 15 years. The unresolved European debt crisis and the energy crisis further contribute to the bleak outlook for Germany.
6. Despite these challenges, Germany has shown a willingness to prioritize morals and ethics over convenience and wealth. This was evident when Germany chose to face an energy crisis rather than give in to Russia's demands during the Ukraine war. However, it remains to be seen if Germany's commitment to morals and ethics will be enough to overcome its other problems.
It seems a supremely daft move, overall.