"ANAS Sarwar has rejected calls for him to back the SNP campaign against outgoing Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross – despite Labour not standing a candidate in the constituency."
Thanks for the heads up. Shows you how desperate the SNP are getting. My campaign is cutting through - I’m out-spending them talking about jobs, investment, public services and the cost of living. They’re putting out quotes from MSPs saying you have to vote SNP to stop the Tories.
EDIT - posting this under a tree sheltering from a passing shower here in Fochabers!
Any word on which water companies the SNP are allowing to dump sewage into our rivers, lochs and seas? It would be really good to know before I cast my vote. Perhaps you could do a bar chart showing the respective companies and their sewage dumping.
Bit of reading comprehension for you. That isn’t a recent interview. It’s a puff piece in the Independent using the information from an interview with Starmer in the Jewish Chronicle from 2021.
So the interview was given to a targeted publication with a small readership three years ago.
Anything more recent that’s an actual interview where he volunteers the info?
Yes.
The Sunday Times magazine did a really interesting profile on Keir Starmer last month. Well worth reading it.
The Jewish upbringing for his family was part of the article.
Was it a profile or an interview? Did he discuss the religious and cultural importance of Friday nights in that interview or did the profile refer to mentions such as from 2021 in the Jewish Chronicle?
The thing is I would defend the Starmer’s Jewish identity and cultural choices to the hilt - what isn’t cool is if he hides it if it might be electorally more wise, wants the kudos for being the family man at the same time and then when called out, wrongly, for being a slacker then has the anti-semitism line raised in his defence.
He has no good reason to be coy about the significance of taking Friday nights off, just strange he felt it not important enough to mention on the interview with Chris’s Evans which goes out to a large listener base.
You may be right in a small way. Starmer justified Fridays off on one basis, but his supporters attack the Conservative remarks on another basis.
Thing is, those remarks about part time PMs were stupid in the first place. And coming from the party of Boris Johnson, deeply hypocritical. Which makes the gotchas fair game. It's always fun to see other people hoist on their own petard.
After being convinced for ages that the idea of the Tories getting less than 150 seats is insane, I've finally decided to actually put my money where my mouth is and put a tenner on 150-199 (and a couple of quid on 200-249).
Bit of reading comprehension for you. That isn’t a recent interview. It’s a puff piece in the Independent using the information from an interview with Starmer in the Jewish Chronicle from 2021.
So the interview was given to a targeted publication with a small readership three years ago.
Anything more recent that’s an actual interview where he volunteers the info?
Is the bit where Starmer volunteers in an interview that he doesn’t work after 6 on a Friday because it’s a cultural/religious thing and sacrosanct this bit below?
“She grew up in north London, the daughter of Bernard, an Ashkenazi Jew, and Barbara, who converted to Judaism. When I suggest that makes Victoria Jewish, and his children, too, Starmer demurs. “No, no, they’re not Jewish for reasons I won’t bore you with. Bernard’s dad’s family didn’t accept that. So it – ” he waves a hand to suggest it’s not up for discussion. The family occasionally attend a liberal synagogue. “Pretty much every week” there’s a challah and they say kiddush with Bernard, or sometimes with Victoria’s sister on Zoom. Their Jewish heritage is important, he says. “And we’re very keen for the children to know about it, to understand it. Half of the family are Jewish, they’re either here or in Israel.” No one was directly affected by 7 October. “Thank God,” he says. But they’ve been affected by the war. “No doubt about that.”
Bernard's family could stop Victoria being considered Jewish because her mother was a mere convert? Had no idea.
The source of the updates is https://democracyclub.org.uk/ and this will (Hopefully !) put them into spreadsheet format
Hero
Thanks
I find the actual information of who is doing what and where quite poor on the major news services (Despite the massive amount of info they get from PA) so had a crack at it myself this time. Hope it works !
The source of the updates is https://democracyclub.org.uk/ and this will (Hopefully !) put them into spreadsheet format
Hero
Thanks
I find the actual information of who is doing what and where quite poor on the major news services (Despite the massive amount of info they get from PA) so had a crack at it myself this time. Hope it works !
"ANAS Sarwar has rejected calls for him to back the SNP campaign against outgoing Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross – despite Labour not standing a candidate in the constituency."
Thanks for the heads up. Shows you how desperate the SNP are getting. My campaign is cutting through - I’m out-spending them talking about jobs, investment, public services and the cost of living. They’re putting out quotes from MSPs saying you have to vote SNP to stop the Tories.
EDIT - posting this under a tree sheltering from a passing shower here in Fochabers!
Any word on which water companies the SNP are allowing to dump sewage into our rivers, lochs and seas? It would be really good to know before I cast my vote. Perhaps you could do a bar chart showing the respective companies and their sewage dumping.
Scottish Water have the lowest rate of outfall monitoring at just 4%, but by some measures are still the worst performing in the whole U.K.
Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
I’m a lot younger, slimmer, and sexier than you.
And most letchy old men of your age think I’m dead hot.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
The source of the updates is https://democracyclub.org.uk/ and this will (Hopefully !) put them into spreadsheet format
Hero
Thanks
I find the actual information of who is doing what and where quite poor on the major news services (Despite the massive amount of info they get from PA) so had a crack at it myself this time. Hope it works !
test
I've done so, votes should populate column H of the "Democracy club 3" tab when the pages there are updated. But you can't test what will actually happen on the night before the night.
For me it comes down to this: Labour will be the next government, no one doubts that, but the Tories need an absolute beating to learn some hard lessons.
Partygate, sleaze, Trussonomics, Truss herself ffs!, immigration, NHS waiting lists, Brexitshambles, public services, PPE scandals, deficit, defence, more sleaze, Rwanda, D-day, bettingate...
Just go away and sort yourselves out!
Oh dont be daft, the scandals will continue with new players - this time Labour. Blairs government had loads of them from Bernie Ecclestone to Iraq. Starmer is not immune from this, it's just he hasnt had to deal with the scrutiny. That changes at the weekend.
Ive bought popcorn, lots of popcorn
Yes, I am sure there will be some Labour scandals. With 400+ MPs, Labour will have some right badduns, no doubt.
I could left out 'sleaze' and 'more sleaze' from the Tory shambles though and it would still be a pretty damning list of failure.
But get your popcorn in - you will have the chance for some consolation pointing out Labour cock-ups, that's guaranteed. I am confident it won't be nearly as bad as the past 10 years though.
One of Labour’s very first announcements in 1997 was that the Uk would have a new “ethical foreign policy”. Look how that turned out…
For me it comes down to this: Labour will be the next government, no one doubts that, but the Tories need an absolute beating to learn some hard lessons.
Agree they need a pasting, but there does needs to be something left to actually rebuild from and to ensure there can't be a Ref > Con takeover.
The one thing all sensible people should want to avoid is Ref becoming the "voice of the Right" or Nigel forcing a Ref/Con merger and becoming LOTO.
I really don't think Farage could ever lead Reform, the Tories, or any party of the right that might replace them, to power. He is too unpopular with too many people.
I don't think any party that strays too far from the centre will ever win real power in Britain in our lifetimes. See also Corbyn and Foot.
Corbyn got a hung parliament in 2017 and was just 30 seats more gained from the Tories from getting most seats and likely becoming PM.
Thatcher was thought unelectable in 1975 and too rightwing. We don't always vote for centrist governments
Fair point. And of course the Attlee government on the other side.
There's a non-trivial chance I may be... wrong. (Damn, that hurts)
What is it specifically about Bristol that gives it such a whopping green vote compared to say ooh I don't know the middle of Sheffield or say Lewisham ?
Brizzle is quite weird. It's what happens when you put people from the Somerset Levels into an urban environment. So said a former colleague of mine, a Bristol Rovers fan.
Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
I’m a lot younger, slimmer, and sexier than you.
And most letchy old men of your age think I’m dead hot.
Who is the mysterious Heathener, young but old, lives in many places, has been an expert in many fields, is published and interviewed, beautiful but hides it behind a Covid mask.
She is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, holding onto a flask of hot water.
For me it comes down to this: Labour will be the next government, no one doubts that, but the Tories need an absolute beating to learn some hard lessons.
Partygate, sleaze, Trussonomics, Truss herself ffs!, immigration, NHS waiting lists, Brexitshambles, public services, PPE scandals, deficit, defence, more sleaze, Rwanda, D-day, bettingate...
Just go away and sort yourselves out!
Oh dont be daft, the scandals will continue with new players - this time Labour. Blairs government had loads of them from Bernie Ecclestone to Iraq. Starmer is not immune from this, it's just he hasnt had to deal with the scrutiny. That changes at the weekend.
Ive bought popcorn, lots of popcorn
Yes, I am sure there will be some Labour scandals. With 400+ MPs, Labour will have some right badduns, no doubt.
I could left out 'sleaze' and 'more sleaze' from the Tory shambles though and it would still be a pretty damning list of failure.
But get your popcorn in - you will have the chance for some consolation pointing out Labour cock-ups, that's guaranteed. I am confident it won't be nearly as bad as the past 10 years though.
One of Labour’s very first announcements in 1997 was that the Uk would have a new “ethical foreign policy”. Look how that turned out…
Bit of reading comprehension for you. That isn’t a recent interview. It’s a puff piece in the Independent using the information from an interview with Starmer in the Jewish Chronicle from 2021.
So the interview was given to a targeted publication with a small readership three years ago.
Anything more recent that’s an actual interview where he volunteers the info?
John Rentoul tweets the jlpartners 16/17 y/o poll has a sample size of 201
James Johnson should make this clear. I know he's probably losing money on this enterprise and it's in his interest to drum up debate etc, but it's still shitty behaviour, imo.
For me it comes down to this: Labour will be the next government, no one doubts that, but the Tories need an absolute beating to learn some hard lessons.
Partygate, sleaze, Trussonomics, Truss herself ffs!, immigration, NHS waiting lists, Brexitshambles, public services, PPE scandals, deficit, defence, more sleaze, Rwanda, D-day, bettingate...
Just go away and sort yourselves out!
Oh dont be daft, the scandals will continue with new players - this time Labour. Blairs government had loads of them from Bernie Ecclestone to Iraq. Starmer is not immune from this, it's just he hasnt had to deal with the scrutiny. That changes at the weekend.
Ive bought popcorn, lots of popcorn
Yes, I am sure there will be some Labour scandals. With 400+ MPs, Labour will have some right badduns, no doubt.
I could left out 'sleaze' and 'more sleaze' from the Tory shambles though and it would still be a pretty damning list of failure.
But get your popcorn in - you will have the chance for some consolation pointing out Labour cock-ups, that's guaranteed. I am confident it won't be nearly as bad as the past 10 years though.
One of Labour’s very first announcements in 1997 was that the Uk would have a new “ethical foreign policy”. Look how that turned out…
Yeah, I suppose we could have stayed cosying up to apartheid and South American fascists...
That's some effective tactical voting being pulled off by the Greens if right. Even if Labour soaked up ALL the Con, Reform and LibDem votes, they'd only be 3% ahead....
Bit of reading comprehension for you. That isn’t a recent interview. It’s a puff piece in the Independent using the information from an interview with Starmer in the Jewish Chronicle from 2021.
So the interview was given to a targeted publication with a small readership three years ago.
Anything more recent that’s an actual interview where he volunteers the info?
Is the bit where Starmer volunteers in an interview that he doesn’t work after 6 on a Friday because it’s a cultural/religious thing and sacrosanct this bit below?
“She grew up in north London, the daughter of Bernard, an Ashkenazi Jew, and Barbara, who converted to Judaism. When I suggest that makes Victoria Jewish, and his children, too, Starmer demurs. “No, no, they’re not Jewish for reasons I won’t bore you with. Bernard’s dad’s family didn’t accept that. So it – ” he waves a hand to suggest it’s not up for discussion. The family occasionally attend a liberal synagogue. “Pretty much every week” there’s a challah and they say kiddush with Bernard, or sometimes with Victoria’s sister on Zoom. Their Jewish heritage is important, he says. “And we’re very keen for the children to know about it, to understand it. Half of the family are Jewish, they’re either here or in Israel.” No one was directly affected by 7 October. “Thank God,” he says. But they’ve been affected by the war. “No doubt about that.”
Yes - the reference to challah and kiddush.
I don't think Rishi Sunak's comments were anti-semitic, but it's silly to suggest there was any secret about how Starmer's family spend their Friday evenings.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
I had a rare discussion at work about politics. Twenty somethings doing standard graduate level jobs. A couple of interesting takeaways:
1. Strong sentiment of their generation being robbed. Pessimistic for the future. 2. Brexit is a big issue. It's the concept rather than the practicalities of leaving the EU that alienates them. It's a manifestation of point 1. 3. They despise the Conservatives utterly. I struggle to see how they could vote Tory in their lifetimes.
Bit of reading comprehension for you. That isn’t a recent interview. It’s a puff piece in the Independent using the information from an interview with Starmer in the Jewish Chronicle from 2021.
So the interview was given to a targeted publication with a small readership three years ago.
Anything more recent that’s an actual interview where he volunteers the info?
Is the bit where Starmer volunteers in an interview that he doesn’t work after 6 on a Friday because it’s a cultural/religious thing and sacrosanct this bit below?
“She grew up in north London, the daughter of Bernard, an Ashkenazi Jew, and Barbara, who converted to Judaism. When I suggest that makes Victoria Jewish, and his children, too, Starmer demurs. “No, no, they’re not Jewish for reasons I won’t bore you with. Bernard’s dad’s family didn’t accept that. So it – ” he waves a hand to suggest it’s not up for discussion. The family occasionally attend a liberal synagogue. “Pretty much every week” there’s a challah and they say kiddush with Bernard, or sometimes with Victoria’s sister on Zoom. Their Jewish heritage is important, he says. “And we’re very keen for the children to know about it, to understand it. Half of the family are Jewish, they’re either here or in Israel.” No one was directly affected by 7 October. “Thank God,” he says. But they’ve been affected by the war. “No doubt about that.”
Bernard's family could stop Victoria being considered Jewish because her mother was a mere convert? Had no idea.
There's no need to closely parse the detail to know that criticising a father for taking Friday evenings off to observe a family cultural tradition - whether directly religious or not - is pretty dismal stuff.
For me it comes down to this: Labour will be the next government, no one doubts that, but the Tories need an absolute beating to learn some hard lessons.
Partygate, sleaze, Trussonomics, Truss herself ffs!, immigration, NHS waiting lists, Brexitshambles, public services, PPE scandals, deficit, defence, more sleaze, Rwanda, D-day, bettingate...
Just go away and sort yourselves out!
Oh dont be daft, the scandals will continue with new players - this time Labour. Blairs government had loads of them from Bernie Ecclestone to Iraq. Starmer is not immune from this, it's just he hasnt had to deal with the scrutiny. That changes at the weekend.
Ive bought popcorn, lots of popcorn
Yes, I am sure there will be some Labour scandals. With 400+ MPs, Labour will have some right badduns, no doubt.
I could left out 'sleaze' and 'more sleaze' from the Tory shambles though and it would still be a pretty damning list of failure.
But get your popcorn in - you will have the chance for some consolation pointing out Labour cock-ups, that's guaranteed. I am confident it won't be nearly as bad as the past 10 years though.
One of Labour’s very first announcements in 1997 was that the Uk would have a new “ethical foreign policy”. Look how that turned out…
Yeah, I suppose we could have stayed cosying up to apartheid and South American fascists...
John Rentoul tweets the jlpartners 16/17 y/o poll has a sample size of 201
James Johnson should make this clear. I know he's probably losing money on this enterprise and it's in his interest to drum up debate etc, but it's still shitty behaviour, imo.
Boo, apologies for giving out incorrect info, I was assured it was a regular sized poll.
I shall have stern words with James and Tom when I see them next.
John Rentoul tweets the jlpartners 16/17 y/o poll has a sample size of 201
James Johnson should make this clear. I know he's probably losing money on this enterprise and it's in his interest to drum up debate etc, but it's still shitty behaviour, imo.
Boo, apologies for giving out incorrect info, I was assured it was a regular sized poll.
I shall have stern words with James and Tom when I see them next.
For me it comes down to this: Labour will be the next government, no one doubts that, but the Tories need an absolute beating to learn some hard lessons.
Partygate, sleaze, Trussonomics, Truss herself ffs!, immigration, NHS waiting lists, Brexitshambles, public services, PPE scandals, deficit, defence, more sleaze, Rwanda, D-day, bettingate...
Just go away and sort yourselves out!
Oh dont be daft, the scandals will continue with new players - this time Labour. Blairs government had loads of them from Bernie Ecclestone to Iraq. Starmer is not immune from this, it's just he hasnt had to deal with the scrutiny. That changes at the weekend.
Ive bought popcorn, lots of popcorn
Yes, I am sure there will be some Labour scandals. With 400+ MPs, Labour will have some right badduns, no doubt.
I could left out 'sleaze' and 'more sleaze' from the Tory shambles though and it would still be a pretty damning list of failure.
But get your popcorn in - you will have the chance for some consolation pointing out Labour cock-ups, that's guaranteed. I am confident it won't be nearly as bad as the past 10 years though.
One of Labour’s very first announcements in 1997 was that the Uk would have a new “ethical foreign policy”. Look how that turned out…
Yeah, I suppose we could have stayed cosying up to apartheid and South American fascists...
Rather than pivot to North American fascists.
Lol, that was no pivot, it was continuation as normal.
Of course, if you think an 'ethical foreign policy' means no dealing with the US, you could be struggling to find a mainstream party to vote for.
Bit of reading comprehension for you. That isn’t a recent interview. It’s a puff piece in the Independent using the information from an interview with Starmer in the Jewish Chronicle from 2021.
So the interview was given to a targeted publication with a small readership three years ago.
Anything more recent that’s an actual interview where he volunteers the info?
Oh come off it. The JC, how many people in the country read it and are aware of anything in it?
And we’ve got a bit closer to today as that article is from July 2023.
Im sure you have better things to do than continue searching but I was simply making the point that I think, and of course I might well be wildly wrong, he’s very cynical and was happy to mention Friday nights with the family being sacrosanct without any context of religion/culture because he thought he would get kudos for the family man angle. I think he left out the religious/cultural angle to dampen down the loons who would hold the Jewish angle against him. That’s fucking sad that he feels he has to but it’s still cynical.
It’s also a bit rich for Labour to defend him against attacks for not working after 6pm by then throwing the religious/cultural angle in when he wasn’t happy to link this aspect.
Do we have him bringing it up after the October attacks last year and the subsequent Gaza situation? He shouldn’t have to keep it quiet, a block of potential Labour voters shouldn’t be holding it against him either. But is there not a little nagging doubt that maybe he likes to have things both ways?
John Rentoul tweets the jlpartners 16/17 y/o poll has a sample size of 201
James Johnson should make this clear. I know he's probably losing money on this enterprise and it's in his interest to drum up debate etc, but it's still shitty behaviour, imo.
Boo, apologies for giving out incorrect info, I was assured it was a regular sized poll.
I shall have stern words with James and Tom when I see them next.
Will you be exiling yourself to ToryHome?
Tbf TSE wasn't quoting a sub-sample, just a small sample.
What is it specifically about Bristol that gives it such a whopping green vote compared to say ooh I don't know the middle of Sheffield or say Lewisham ?
Brizzle is quite weird. It's what happens when you put people from the Somerset Levels into an urban environment. So said a former colleague of mine, a Bristol Rovers fan.
A few things:
- As Bristol is a nice place to live, it has tended to attract right on types coming down from London. - In addition the new Bristol Central seat has a lot of students and workers from Bristol University - Bristol like a lot of cities is severely underbounded to the North and East, which makes it seem more left wing than it actually is - Many of the wards that are now Green, previously went LD during their time of council dominance. - Bristol brought in an elected mayor and then removed it again (suggesting dissatisfaction with the status quo). Greens benefit as have not previously run BCC.
The new Bristol Central seat is great for the Greens as it combines pretty much all their best wards.
Someone show this to the ph lefties. The young are moving sharply to the hard right
Who was that roaster telling us young females are going overwhelmingly hard right?
From that sample.
Females:
LAB: 43% GRN: 33% REF: 12% LDEM: 8% CON: 0%
Is that a proper sample? ie >=1000?
If so, truly remarkable they can't find a single 16/17 y/o girl out of ~500, who would vote tory.
Astonishing.
The brand is toxic af.
Proper poll, not a sub-sample but I don’t have the tables or size to hand.
Mentioned on previous thread, but those numbers look too volatile to be a reliable sample size. Happy to stand corrected ofc.
JLP are tweeting about it, the tables should appear shortly.
Pretty bad news for those of us who want to rejoin the single market, let alone the EU. Those 35% of 16-17 old males who favour Reform probably aren't terribly fond of the EU. Demographics will kill Brexit seems on much less sound footing if that poll is correct.
Depends how you look at the numbers. I don't think it implies strong Brexit support at all. Firstly females vote as well as males (in fact don't they have higher turnout?), secondly Reform has essentially replaced the Tories in that age group and represents the only Brexity party choice. So this implies a maximum of 28% of that age group are pro-Brexit, and quite possibly somewhat less than that.
I also doubt Brexit is the motivation for those young male Reformers. It will be broader conspiracist alt-right stuff, Andrew Tate, incels etc.
Bit of reading comprehension for you. That isn’t a recent interview. It’s a puff piece in the Independent using the information from an interview with Starmer in the Jewish Chronicle from 2021.
So the interview was given to a targeted publication with a small readership three years ago.
Anything more recent that’s an actual interview where he volunteers the info?
Oh come off it. The JC, how many people in the country read it and are aware of anything in it?
And we’ve got a bit closer to today as that article is from July 2023.
Im sure you have better things to do than continue searching but I was simply making the point that I think, and of course I might well be wildly wrong, he’s very cynical and was happy to mention Friday nights with the family being sacrosanct without any context of religion/culture because he thought he would get kudos for the family man angle. I think he left out the religious/cultural angle to dampen down the loons who would hold the Jewish angle against him. That’s fucking sad that he feels he has to but it’s still cynical.
It’s also a bit rich for Labour to defend him against attacks for not working after 6pm by then throwing the religious/cultural angle in when he wasn’t happy to link this aspect.
Do we have him bringing it up after the October attacks last year and the subsequent Gaza situation? He shouldn’t have to keep it quiet, a block of potential Labour voters shouldn’t be holding it against him either. But is there not a little nagging doubt that maybe he likes to have things both ways?
Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
I’m a lot younger, slimmer, and sexier than you.
And most letchy old men of your age think I’m dead hot.
For me it comes down to this: Labour will be the next government, no one doubts that, but the Tories need an absolute beating to learn some hard lessons.
Partygate, sleaze, Trussonomics, Truss herself ffs!, immigration, NHS waiting lists, Brexitshambles, public services, PPE scandals, deficit, defence, more sleaze, Rwanda, D-day, bettingate...
Just go away and sort yourselves out!
Oh dont be daft, the scandals will continue with new players - this time Labour. Blairs government had loads of them from Bernie Ecclestone to Iraq. Starmer is not immune from this, it's just he hasnt had to deal with the scrutiny. That changes at the weekend.
Ive bought popcorn, lots of popcorn
Yes, I am sure there will be some Labour scandals. With 400+ MPs, Labour will have some right badduns, no doubt.
I could left out 'sleaze' and 'more sleaze' from the Tory shambles though and it would still be a pretty damning list of failure.
But get your popcorn in - you will have the chance for some consolation pointing out Labour cock-ups, that's guaranteed. I am confident it won't be nearly as bad as the past 10 years though.
One of Labour’s very first announcements in 1997 was that the Uk would have a new “ethical foreign policy”. Look how that turned out…
Yeah, I suppose we could have stayed cosying up to apartheid and South American fascists...
Rather than pivot to North American fascists.
And Middle Eastern fascists.
I think that foreign policy can’t be ethical, as we have to cut deals with horrible people, and we should not pretend that it is ethical.
For me it comes down to this: Labour will be the next government, no one doubts that, but the Tories need an absolute beating to learn some hard lessons.
Partygate, sleaze, Trussonomics, Truss herself ffs!, immigration, NHS waiting lists, Brexitshambles, public services, PPE scandals, deficit, defence, more sleaze, Rwanda, D-day, bettingate...
Just go away and sort yourselves out!
Oh dont be daft, the scandals will continue with new players - this time Labour. Blairs government had loads of them from Bernie Ecclestone to Iraq. Starmer is not immune from this, it's just he hasnt had to deal with the scrutiny. That changes at the weekend.
Ive bought popcorn, lots of popcorn
Yes, I am sure there will be some Labour scandals. With 400+ MPs, Labour will have some right badduns, no doubt.
I could left out 'sleaze' and 'more sleaze' from the Tory shambles though and it would still be a pretty damning list of failure.
But get your popcorn in - you will have the chance for some consolation pointing out Labour cock-ups, that's guaranteed. I am confident it won't be nearly as bad as the past 10 years though.
One of Labour’s very first announcements in 1997 was that the Uk would have a new “ethical foreign policy”. Look how that turned out…
Yeah, I suppose we could have stayed cosying up to apartheid and South American fascists...
Rather than pivot to North American fascists.
And Middle Eastern fascists.
I think that foreign policy can’t be ethical, as we have to cut deals with horrible people, and we should not pretend that it is ethical.
I think we should have a better awareness that what looks like rational expedience by doing deals with horrible people, is often choosing to prioritise the short-term at the expense of creating more problems later on.
For me it comes down to this: Labour will be the next government, no one doubts that, but the Tories need an absolute beating to learn some hard lessons.
Partygate, sleaze, Trussonomics, Truss herself ffs!, immigration, NHS waiting lists, Brexitshambles, public services, PPE scandals, deficit, defence, more sleaze, Rwanda, D-day, bettingate...
Just go away and sort yourselves out!
Oh dont be daft, the scandals will continue with new players - this time Labour. Blairs government had loads of them from Bernie Ecclestone to Iraq. Starmer is not immune from this, it's just he hasnt had to deal with the scrutiny. That changes at the weekend.
Ive bought popcorn, lots of popcorn
Yes, I am sure there will be some Labour scandals. With 400+ MPs, Labour will have some right badduns, no doubt.
I could left out 'sleaze' and 'more sleaze' from the Tory shambles though and it would still be a pretty damning list of failure.
But get your popcorn in - you will have the chance for some consolation pointing out Labour cock-ups, that's guaranteed. I am confident it won't be nearly as bad as the past 10 years though.
One of Labour’s very first announcements in 1997 was that the Uk would have a new “ethical foreign policy”. Look how that turned out…
Yeah, I suppose we could have stayed cosying up to apartheid and South American fascists...
Rather than pivot to North American fascists.
Lol, that was no pivot, it was continuation as normal.
Of course, if you think an 'ethical foreign policy' means no dealing with the US, you could be struggling to find a mainstream party to vote for.
Robin Cook, Charlie Kennedy and the French government all found it possible to be eclectic as to the enterprises they joined the US in.
What is it specifically about Bristol that gives it such a whopping green vote compared to say ooh I don't know the middle of Sheffield or say Lewisham ?
Brizzle is quite weird. It's what happens when you put people from the Somerset Levels into an urban environment. So said a former colleague of mine, a Bristol Rovers fan.
A few things:
- As Bristol is a nice place to live, it has tended to attract right on types coming down from London. - In addition the new Bristol Central seat has a lot of students and workers from Bristol University - Bristol like a lot of cities is severely underbounded to the North and East, which makes it seem more left wing than it actually is - Many of the wards that are now Green, previously went LD during their time of council dominance. - Bristol brought in an elected mayor and then removed it again (suggesting dissatisfaction with the status quo). Greens benefit as have not previously run BCC.
The new Bristol Central seat is great for the Greens as it combines pretty much all their best wards.
I think there's something about the West Country too that attracts those of a more hippyish "alternative" disposition. Like Americans heading to California. Different from the more truly urban London or Manchester vibes. It's a bit like the massive cultural gulf between right-on San Francisco and right-on New York.
"ANAS Sarwar has rejected calls for him to back the SNP campaign against outgoing Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross – despite Labour not standing a candidate in the constituency."
Thanks for the heads up. Shows you how desperate the SNP are getting. My campaign is cutting through - I’m out-spending them talking about jobs, investment, public services and the cost of living. They’re putting out quotes from MSPs saying you have to vote SNP to stop the Tories.
EDIT - posting this under a tree sheltering from a passing shower here in Fochabers!
I posted this on the last thread
Years ago when our children were in their early teens we stayed in a caravan in Fochabers, whilst visiting their grandparents in Lossiemouth, and most notably our youngest son of RNLI fame kicked a football through the main window of the caravan causing much mirth with his siblings and costing his parents an unexpected bill
This is a bit bizarre from LK: “All the smaller parties, apart from Nigel Farage, have styled themselves as this sort of left wing pressure valve on the Labour Party" https://x.com/BBCSounds/status/1807853061559259244
List of smaller parties standing in the GE includes such well-known left pressure groups as: UKIP, Yorkshire, Heritage, Localist, SDP, CPA, and EngDem.
This is a bit bizarre from LK: “All the smaller parties, apart from Nigel Farage, have styled themselves as this sort of left wing pressure valve on the Labour Party" https://x.com/BBCSounds/status/1807853061559259244
List of smaller parties standing in the GE includes such well-known left pressure groups as: UKIP, Yorkshire, Heritage, Localist, SDP, CPA, and EngDem.
David Kurten, the man who decided UKIP wasn't right wing enough
Bit of reading comprehension for you. That isn’t a recent interview. It’s a puff piece in the Independent using the information from an interview with Starmer in the Jewish Chronicle from 2021.
So the interview was given to a targeted publication with a small readership three years ago.
Anything more recent that’s an actual interview where he volunteers the info?
Oh come off it. The JC, how many people in the country read it and are aware of anything in it?
And we’ve got a bit closer to today as that article is from July 2023.
Im sure you have better things to do than continue searching but I was simply making the point that I think, and of course I might well be wildly wrong, he’s very cynical and was happy to mention Friday nights with the family being sacrosanct without any context of religion/culture because he thought he would get kudos for the family man angle. I think he left out the religious/cultural angle to dampen down the loons who would hold the Jewish angle against him. That’s fucking sad that he feels he has to but it’s still cynical.
It’s also a bit rich for Labour to defend him against attacks for not working after 6pm by then throwing the religious/cultural angle in when he wasn’t happy to link this aspect.
Do we have him bringing it up after the October attacks last year and the subsequent Gaza situation? He shouldn’t have to keep it quiet, a block of potential Labour voters shouldn’t be holding it against him either. But is there not a little nagging doubt that maybe he likes to have things both ways?
Is the bit where he says he takes Friday off for cultural and religious reasons to be with the family so don’t attack him or you are being anti-Semitic this bit?
“And I do not want to be the bloke – and it is normally a bloke – who, years down the line, says ‘I wish I’d spent more time with my children.’ I want to spend more time with my children, so I do. Obviously there are constraints on that but even now on a Friday I won’t take a work meeting after six o’clock. I want to be home with Vic and the kids.”
The bit where he doesn’t mention anything about it being for cultural or religious reasons but just that he wants to be home with wife and kids?
The writer does drop in this bit of info which isn’t actually from the interview “ His wife has Jewish ancestry and as a family they sometimes do Friday night prayers with his father-in-law.”. Again it’s not exactly a rousing defence of his need to take Fridays off after 6 for religious and cultural reasons.
I'm disappointed that David Frost didn't secure the nomination for a safe Conservative seat thereby enabling him to quit the Lords and hopefully stand to become the next Tory leader. His opportunity has now probably passed.
I'm disappointed that David Frost didn't secure the nomination for a safe Conservative seat thereby enabling him to quit the Lords and hopefully stand to become the next Tory leader. His opportunity has now probably passed.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
[Part 1 of 2...] Failed? We Brexited, didn't we? Though arguably failed in that the right - both populist and mercantilist (do I mean that? do you know what I mean? the Singapore-on-Thames lobby) lost control of it, and neither really got to implement their particular vision of Brexit. So perhaps. Was it a project of the right though? Arguably the right lent Brexit most, though not all, of its leadership - but it wasn't really right-leaning voters who delivered it: the correlation between those who voted right previously and those who voted for Brexit was ambiguous, and in terms of geography weak. I'd say it was sui generis. But I can see the point you're making. And did it absorb and stunt populist right energy? Well I'd say it did, initially. Sadly, those of us who wanted Brexit on grounds of either governance (i.e. the democratic argument) or economics (the European-economy-looking-a-bit-parlous-best-disentangle-ourselves argument) were probably not those who swayed the day - what swayed the day was (as always) the emotional side: both the towns like Clacton who felt distinctly left out of the growth brought about by globalism, and, as always, the immigration angle (particularly if you remember the immigration issues mainland Europe was having in 2016). On both of those issues, those who voted Brexit had reason initially to think that their concerns might be being addressed. Boris was elected with an explicit focus on the areas which had not benefited from globalism, and (possibly coincidentally - covid must have been a factor) immigration dropped down the list of concerns. And also, after years of prevarication by parliament, Brexit was pushed through. And with labour shortages, wages began to rise. And the far right began to ebb, and the Tories won Hartlepool in a by-election.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
[Part 1 of 2...] Failed? We Brexited, didn't we? Though arguably failed in that the right - both populist and mercantilist (do I mean that? do you know what I mean? the Singapore-on-Thames lobby) lost control of it, and neither really got to implement their particular vision of Brexit. So perhaps. Was it a project of the right though? Arguably the right lent Brexit most, though not all, of its leadership - but it wasn't really right-leaning voters who delivered it: the correlation between those who voted right previously and those who voted for Brexit was ambiguous, and in terms of geography weak. I'd say it was sui generis. But I can see the point you're making. And did it absorb and stunt populist right energy? Well I'd say it did, initially. Sadly, those of us who wanted Brexit on grounds of either governance (i.e. the democratic argument) or economics (the European-economy-looking-a-bit-parlous-best-disentangle-ourselves argument) were probably not those who swayed the day - what swayed the day was (as always) the emotional side: both the towns like Clacton who felt distinctly left out of the growth brought about by globalism, and, as always, the immigration angle (particularly if you remember the immigration issues mainland Europe was having in 2016). On both of those issues, those who voted Brexit had reason initially to think that their concerns might be being addressed. Boris was elected with an explicit focus on the areas which had not benefited from globalism, and (possibly coincidentally - covid must have been a factor) immigration dropped down the list of concerns. And also, after years of prevarication by parliament, Brexit was pushed through. And with labour shortages, wages began to rise. And the far right began to ebb, and the Tories won Hartlepool in a by-election.
... [cont]
[Part 2 of 2]
Three years later and I think it's fair to say that Levelling Up hasn't happened and has been treated with some contempt by Rishi (the north gets HS2 cancelled so that money can be diverted to London potholes and trains in Devon, but we do get chessboards in the park in Hull), immigration has surged, and the globalists are back in charge of the agenda. Yes, SKS is about to get a landslide, but we shouldn't confuse that with enthusiasm for centrism - he will probably achieve a respectable but not spectacular not-quite-40% of the vote. The landslide will be delivered by the collapse in support for the unpopulist Conservatives: even as their respectability softens under the blowtorch of a campaign, Reform will probably still get rather more than 10% of the vote and the assorted populists of the left will garner another 10%. Populism hasn't gone away, and it seems to me that the conditions for it very much haven't gone away either. It doesn't seem unlikely to me that it will grow here as it has on the continent, especially with a centrist government about to take the reins. Obviously there's the possibility that under a new government everything will be run competently and immigration will fall and wages will rise* and left-behind towns will get a long-term plan of investment which will see confidence in them grow. But if it doesn't, my guess is the populist impulse grows - though I am taking no view yet on whether that gets hoovered up by the Conservatives or Reform or someone else.
I think Brexit will help, a bit. We are slightly less remote from our elected representatives than our counterparts in the EU; slightly more able to effectively pull at the levers of power - though that is dulled by FPTP. But I see no reason why the UK should be wholly immune to the trends of the continent.
*I actually think this reasonably likely. I am economically more bullish than most and think Labour will have a bit more room to maneouvre than most think.
I'm disappointed that David Frost didn't secure the nomination for a safe Conservative seat thereby enabling him to quit the Lords and hopefully stand to become the next Tory leader. His opportunity has now probably passed.
"Who lives in a House of Commons like this? David, it's over to you!"
Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
I’m a lot younger, slimmer, and sexier than you.
And most letchy old men of your age think I’m dead hot.
Who is the mysterious Heathener, young but old, lives in many places, has been an expert in many fields, is published and interviewed, beautiful but hides it behind a Covid mask.
She is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, holding onto a flask of hot water.
That is rather poetically complimentary. I hope Heathener takes it in that way.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
[Part 1 of 2...] Failed? We Brexited, didn't we? Though arguably failed in that the right - both populist and mercantilist (do I mean that? do you know what I mean? the Singapore-on-Thames lobby) lost control of it, and neither really got to implement their particular vision of Brexit. So perhaps. Was it a project of the right though? Arguably the right lent Brexit most, though not all, of its leadership - but it wasn't really right-leaning voters who delivered it: the correlation between those who voted right previously and those who voted for Brexit was ambiguous, and in terms of geography weak. I'd say it was sui generis. But I can see the point you're making. And did it absorb and stunt populist right energy? Well I'd say it did, initially. Sadly, those of us who wanted Brexit on grounds of either governance (i.e. the democratic argument) or economics (the European-economy-looking-a-bit-parlous-best-disentangle-ourselves argument) were probably not those who swayed the day - what swayed the day was (as always) the emotional side: both the towns like Clacton who felt distinctly left out of the growth brought about by globalism, and, as always, the immigration angle (particularly if you remember the immigration issues mainland Europe was having in 2016). On both of those issues, those who voted Brexit had reason initially to think that their concerns might be being addressed. Boris was elected with an explicit focus on the areas which had not benefited from globalism, and (possibly coincidentally - covid must have been a factor) immigration dropped down the list of concerns. And also, after years of prevarication by parliament, Brexit was pushed through. And with labour shortages, wages began to rise. And the far right began to ebb, and the Tories won Hartlepool in a by-election.
... [cont]
[Part 2 of 2]
Three years later and I think it's fair to say that Levelling Up hasn't happened and has been treated with some contempt by Rishi (the north gets HS2 cancelled so that money can be diverted to London potholes and trains in Devon, but we do get chessboards in the park in Hull), immigration has surged, and the globalists are back in charge of the agenda. Yes, SKS is about to get a landslide, but we shouldn't confuse that with enthusiasm for centrism - he will probably achieve a respectable but not spectacular not-quite-40% of the vote. The landslide will be delivered by the collapse in support for the unpopulist Conservatives: even as their respectability softens under the blowtorch of a campaign, Reform will probably still get rather more than 10% of the vote and the assorted populists of the left will garner another 10%. Populism hasn't gone away, and it seems to me that the conditions for it very much haven't gone away either. It doesn't seem unlikely to me that it will grow here as it has on the continent, especially with a centrist government about to take the reins. Obviously there's the possibility that under a new government everything will be run competently and immigration will fall and wages will rise* and left-behind towns will get a long-term plan of investment which will see confidence in them grow. But if it doesn't, my guess is the populist impulse grows - though I am taking no view yet on whether that gets hoovered up by the Conservatives or Reform or someone else.
I think Brexit will help, a bit. We are slightly less remote from our elected representatives than our counterparts in the EU; slightly more able to effectively pull at the levers of power - though that is dulled by FPTP. But I see no reason why the UK should be wholly immune to the trends of the continent.
*I actually think this reasonably likely. I am economically more bullish than most and think Labour will have a bit more room to maneouvre than most think.
A big win will give Labour some time and room to manoeuvre, for sure. We can only hope and pray that they take it.
The Tories’ strategic mistake is not to have understood how much of their home countries support came from people who, by birth or effort, were already ahead in life’s game and just wanted sensible, pragmatic, prudent, non-ideological folk to represent them and essentially leave things as they are, for as long as it took until they could pass their lives’ gains onto their children.
As soon as more and more Tories started frothing about the EU and the BBC and the judges and the ill-defined supposed woke, the Conservatives departed from reality and more and more of the sensible middle class folk of our country began to ask, WTF?
Good on Starmer, regardless of the reasons, for not working on a Friday night. Before I retired, I worked for the government indirectly - very long hours usually, and often on a Sunday. I never had time in the week to be on PB - that's why I never contributed until after I retired, though I did lurk a bit. But I never, ever worked on a Friday night after 5.30pm - that was sacrosanct, and was only very rarely breached. I was in the pub by 6pm winding down - anything hanging over could be left until later in the weekend or Monday morning.
Nothing to do with religion. All to do with having a life.
Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
I’m a lot younger, slimmer, and sexier than you.
And most letchy old men of your age think I’m dead hot.
Who is the mysterious Heathener, young but old, lives in many places, has been an expert in many fields, is published and interviewed, beautiful but hides it behind a Covid mask.
She is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, holding onto a flask of hot water.
That is rather poetically complimentary. I hope Heathener taks it in that way.
"You talk like Marlene Dietrich And you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire Your clothes are all made by Balmain And there's diamonds and pearls in your hair.."
I'm disappointed that David Frost didn't secure the nomination for a safe Conservative seat thereby enabling him to quit the Lords and hopefully stand to become the next Tory leader. His opportunity has now probably passed.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
I had a rare discussion at work about politics. Twenty somethings doing standard graduate level jobs. A couple of interesting takeaways:
1. Strong sentiment of their generation being robbed. Pessimistic for the future. 2. Brexit is a big issue. It's the concept rather than the practicalities of leaving the EU that alienates them. It's a manifestation of point 1. 3. They despise the Conservatives utterly. I struggle to see how they could vote Tory in their lifetimes.
Yup, that's the same vibe I get from my lad and his mates. They see Brexit as a generational slap in the face, variously ascribed to malice, selfishness or stupidity on the part of the boomers.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
If you jump off a cliff, you haven’t failed to leave the clifftop, but the results may not be all that you imagined.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
That people overwhelmingly think Brexit was a mistake shouldn't be a factor in any assessment of its success, in your view?
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
Brexit has overwhelmingly succeeded in its primary objective: we have taken back control.
We have our sovereignty. If our politicians won't do what we want them to do, then we can kick them out and elect a new set. As we will on Thursday.
Democracy works.
Not once in this entire General Election have I heard a single politico blame the EU for our problems.
On UNS Sir John Curtice is forecasting a result closer to what Michael Howard got in 2005 for Sunak than what Major got in 1997 and Hague got in 2001. On an MRP forecast though Curtice says the Tory result could be even worse than 1997
'Sir John Curtice projects 370 Labour seats, 191 Tory seats and 34 LD and 34 SNP seats, 2 Plaid, 1 Green and 0 Reform on universal national swing based on analysis of 8 recent polls.
However on an MRP change the results look significantly different, with Curtice saying Labour could then get 447 seats, the Tories 98, the LDs 53, the SNP 21, Reform 8 and the Greens and Plaid 2 each' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cl7y2xj728do
So he doesnt know.
Here's my regular reminder that if one methodology gives one result and another gives another, the truth is not in splitting the difference, the truth is that one of them is wrong. We now have to decide whether polls+UNS is right, or MRP is right.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
If you jump off a cliff, you haven’t failed to leave the clifftop, but the results may not be all that you imagined.
Periodic reminder to our Brexiters that the UK customs control is still a huge shite-storm. So yes, it is most certainly incomplete.
Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
I’m a lot younger, slimmer, and sexier than you.
And most letchy old men of your age think I’m dead hot.
Who is the mysterious Heathener, young but old, lives in many places, has been an expert in many fields, is published and interviewed, beautiful but hides it behind a Covid mask.
She is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, holding onto a flask of hot water.
That is rather poetically complimentary. I hope Heathener takes it in that way.
You can see why a few PB’ers still think Leon and Heathener are one and the same. They both had their hundred points to allocate and put zero against humility and preferred the superficial for most of the rest.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
Brexit has overwhelmingly succeeded in its primary objective: we have taken back control.
We have our sovereignty. If our politicians won't do what we want them to do, then we can kick them out and elect a new set. As we will on Thursday.
Democracy works.
Not once in this entire General Election have I heard a single politico blame the EU for our problems.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
If you jump off a cliff, you haven’t failed to leave the clifftop, but the results may not be all that you imagined.
Periodic reminder to our Brexiters that the UK customs control is still a huge shite-storm. So yes, it is most certainly incomplete.
Your periodic reminder that it doesn't matter one jot and we could never implement it at all for all I care.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
That people overwhelmingly think Brexit was a mistake shouldn't be a factor in any assessment of its success, in your view?
No, because much of that is because of the Tories having been in power since Brexit. A period of, competent, responsive and responsible Government will do much to improve people's views on many things, not least Brexit.
Good on Starmer, regardless of the reasons, for not working on a Friday night. Before I retired, I worked for the government indirectly - very long hours usually, and often on a Sunday. I never had time in the week to be on PB - that's why I never contributed until after I retired, though I did lurk a bit. But I never, ever worked on a Friday night after 5.30pm - that was sacrosanct, and was only very rarely breached. I was in the pub by 6pm winding down - anything hanging over could be left until later in the weekend or Monday morning.
Nothing to do with religion. All to do with having a life.
As a thrusting young Sales Manager in the 1990s I decided to bring my sales team in on a Saturday morning. I came in as well. After about a month I noticed that the pathetic performance on a Monday more than offset the gains made on Saturday morning, so after a month I gave up on that idea. Everyone needs to unwind.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
That people overwhelmingly think Brexit was a mistake shouldn't be a factor in any assessment of its success, in your view?
No, because much of that is because of the Tories having been in power since Brexit. A period of, competent, responsive and responsible Government will do much to improve people's views on many things, not least Brexit.
Truly, as Labour does as much as it dares to realign us with the EU, how that plays out as to Brits’ opinion of Brexit will be fascinating to see.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
If you jump off a cliff, you haven’t failed to leave the clifftop, but the results may not be all that you imagined.
Periodic reminder to our Brexiters that the UK customs control is still a huge shite-storm. So yes, it is most certainly incomplete.
In October you'll need a visa to go to the EU (and you can't apply in advance, have to get it at the border). Then there's goods getting checked that go via Ireland next year.
Maybe there will be another fudge, but it's not exactly ideal.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
If you jump off a cliff, you haven’t failed to leave the clifftop, but the results may not be all that you imagined.
Periodic reminder to our Brexiters that the UK customs control is still a huge shite-storm. So yes, it is most certainly incomplete.
My other half works in an NHS lab. They are currently tearing their hair out due to the bureaucracy now involved in getting hold of particular reagents that have to be imported from France. This is having a really adverse effect on turnaround times for certain cancer testing and diagnosis.
'The Reform UK chairman has admitted to "mistakes" in the party's selection process after its candidate in Orkney and Shetland suggested Nicola Sturgeon should be shot.
Robert Smith posted numerous insults about prominent women on social media between 2016 and last year, The Times has reported [...]
The Times reported that Mr Smith made several insulting comments about Ms Sturgeon, as well as author and activist JK Rowling and Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank.'
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
If you jump off a cliff, you haven’t failed to leave the clifftop, but the results may not be all that you imagined.
When everyone told you it was a cliff and it turned out to be nothing more than a small step a lot of people would have the good grace to feel rather foolish.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
That people overwhelmingly think Brexit was a mistake shouldn't be a factor in any assessment of its success, in your view?
No, because much of that is because of the Tories having been in power since Brexit. A period of, competent, responsive and responsible Government will do much to improve people's views on many things, not least Brexit.
Truly, as Labour does as much as it dares to realign us with the EU, how that plays out as to Brits’ opinion of Brexit will be fascinating to see.
Well you already know my positin on that. If Starmer moved us towards an EEA arrangement I would be absolutely delighted. Not something that we could have enjoyed had we remained in the EU.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
If you jump off a cliff, you haven’t failed to leave the clifftop, but the results may not be all that you imagined.
When everyone told you it was a cliff and it turned out to be nothing more than a small step a lot of people would have the good grace to feel rather foolish.
That’s rather glib when Brexit has sent many small UK exporters to the wall.
I'm disappointed that David Frost didn't secure the nomination for a safe Conservative seat thereby enabling him to quit the Lords and hopefully stand to become the next Tory leader. His opportunity has now probably passed.
More chance of David Frost the broadcaster becoming Tory leader, and he'd do it with more skill, intelligence, and a hell of a lot more charm too, despite having been dead a good ten years.
Technically there is no such thing as a Supermajority in the UK.
A landslide I would say is c. 120+ majority. Some would set the bar a bit lower.
I suspect that this Tory / Daily Mail Supermajority message is cutting through and I’m not too unhappy about it. If it helps defeat @Leon ’s warped worldview then it’s a double win as far as I’m concerned.
There seems to be mixed signals. On one hand "its cutting through" - as I have to presume witnessed by this absurd 48 Hours thing. On the other hand the net of seats to LB attack / Tory defend gets stretched further and further.
It won't people an avalanche of people voting Labour. But they're voting against the Tories. Only a few days to find out if there is a late Tory swingback or not. But lets assume there is, and the "please please no" campaign has "worked" and Labour "only" win a 150 majority
Bit abject isn't it for the Tories? "We successfully avoided getting crushed! We only got beat by a massive landslide! WooHoo!!!!"
I would suggest you may be missing the point that many conservatives look on in disgust at Reform and their stated aim to take over the party and are determined to fight for the one nation conservative cause, but also to have at least a viable opposition and yes including an increased lib dem seat count
I have no idea of Fridays seat totals but disenchantment with all governing parties is at an extreme high, not just here but elsewhere and you only need to witness what is happening in France to be concerned if the centre right is marginalised into irrelevance
No I get it - we don't want Farage.
That is a given, the motivation to salvage as many seats as possible. And *that* is my point. The best case scenario - one the party is now spending its remaining cash pleading for - is to only give Labour a landslide.
How the mighty have fallen. It took Labour over a decade to recover from a badly misguided comedy note channeling Reginald Maudling. How long will it take the Tories to recover from "please don't destroy us, isn't a landslide enough for you?"
I kinda understand BigG's position. But a clearer signal to the Tories to return to the centre would be to vote for the centre. That's the Lib Dems, probably.
I want to address this directly
I was going to vote Lib Dem post Sunak's D day error but it was when Farage entered the fray as leader of Reform that we (my wife and I) made the decision it was correct for us to return to the conservatives as it it far more important to us that the conservatives out vote Reform in votes
Whether that happens I do not know but a vote for the Lib Dems here would have been a wasted vote anyway as labour are going to easily regain the seat
You could equally have decided it was important that the Lib Dems beat Reform on votes. Or that Plaid Cymru beat Reform in Wales. But you didn't. Because you're a Tory tribalist. It's not about Reform, it's about finding some reason to justify what you were always going to do anyway.
Basically every single thing you say can be discounted if it can be contradicted with "but you'll vote Tory anyway". Because you will. Your bland handwringing over Tory scandals can be (and in some quarters was) safely disregarded because the conclusion was always going to be same.
Please disregard everything I post and say if you so wish
I will continue to post as honestly as I can as long as I can
Already do, but I hope you don't think that also means I'll stop pointing out hypocrisy
Oh, I guess you won't be voting Starmer then?
Correct, I won't be
And yet you seem so keen for him to be PM. Hypocrite.
Do I? I'm keen for the Conservatives to be out of power, and I'm realistic enough to know that Labour are the only likely winner. If pushed, I would prefer a Lib Dem led government over a Labour one, but a Labour one will do.
Nigel, if you're going to call people hypocrites at least try to get a handle on their actual view instead of just making any old shit up, there's a good lad.
Hypocrite. There you go, and sorry I really couldn't give a flying fuck about your sad "actual view", as it appears that your "actual view" is really pretty unpleasant..
I have voted LD for the last two elections, though I am pleased that I will not be voting alongside a party that has such unpleasant emotionally unintelligent gits amongst it's following such as yourself. There is also the slight problem with the LDs having a fat buffoon as leader; Boris-Johnson-lite.
I'm probably* not voting Lib Dem either. You can have yet another go if you like! Eventually you might have enough of a handle on what's actually going on and then you can find some deep set hypocrisy and wound me, wound me with your formidable wit.
*I might, though. I will decide tomorrow.
What do I need to say to get your vote? Latest campaign push on FB points out that both Tory and SNP are saying the exact same thing about each other - you have to vote for x to stop y. What people are actually saying on the doorstep doesnt concern either of those two.
I’m the only candidate who’s been talking up jobs and the cost of living and the state of the NHS and council services - literally the only things anyone raises in the doors. And that isn’t just my opinion - Ross and Logan both confirmed that’s what they hear as well.
So why are they only talking about each other? People want change - so vote for it. Voting for more cuts and more broken promises and more failure changes nothing
Same thing I've been saying all along: my priority is that the Tories lose. There's absolutely nothing wrong with your policy platform. I voted Lib Dem last time around and I don't think you're worse now than you were then. So it's 100% an available option for me. Policy wise, you're EASILY within my quite flexibile limits. There are five parties: I will NEVER vote for Reform. I will ONLY vote for Conservative if it's them vs Reform because I'd MUCH rather have a Conservative MP than a Reform one. But that's not the situation, so CON are out. I could vote Labour I could vote SNP I could vote Lib Dem
So it's down to three. I've established to my satisfaction that Labour aren't going to win here: their candidate is suspended and I've heard not a peep from them, honestly ever, since I moved here. So they obviously aren't best placed to beat the Tories.
So it's down to two. My working assumption is the SNP are going to finish above Lib Dem. It's been a few days since I've delved into any polling or MRPs on the subject because I'm waiting for tomorrow when I'll have the freshest data as close to the vote as I can get. If I think Lib Dems will run the Tories the closest, I vote Lib Dem. If it's the SNP, I vote SNP. It's that simple.
Incidentally, update on campaigning: I passed the SNP bus driving along an A-road coming out of Peterhead, and I've seen one -- ONE! -- SNP poster in a window. On the same drive I saw that bus I also saw a big SNP banner in a field, just south of Peterhead near the turning for the Bullers. The permanent Alba poster a couple of miles from me remains in its window. It's been there for years and of course they're not even standing here. No other poster activity.
Thanks for the answer. I’m out in Fochabers - they definitely backed Ross last time and he’s been back here knocking as it’s in his comfort zone.
He isn’t getting their vote this time. The anger with the party is as palpable here as I’ve seen it anywhere. But what are the voters saying? They don’t want the SNP either.
I spoke to one guy who postal voted SNP purely because he hates the Tories. But genuinely I’ve had half a dozen other conversations this afternoon with people switching from the Tories to me. My campaign has been mentioned a few times - it’s cutting through.
And on the SNP side? They’re so pissed off with me that they’ve been reduced to begging for Labour votes despite most of their national campaign being an attack on Labour. Too many of their people last time on the doors saying not this time. I’m picking up votes off them - openly and as I’ve heard repeatedly now there’s people who have switched but don’t want to say so as there is this horrible omertà on speaking out against them.
I’m prepared for every possible result on Thursday. I’m not saying I am going to win - but in a change election people will win from worse positions than I started from. So I *could* win. And there’s a vibe going about both locally and in the wider LD campaign. Let’s put it like this. The Tories are telling candidates who are sitting MPs they have lost and to stop. We’re pushing further and further into Tory safe seats…
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
That people overwhelmingly think Brexit was a mistake shouldn't be a factor in any assessment of its success, in your view?
No, because much of that is because of the Tories having been in power since Brexit. A period of, competent, responsive and responsible Government will do much to improve people's views on many things, not least Brexit.
I'm a simple person who takes lots of things at face value. So when people say they think Brexit was a mistake, they do so because they think Brexit was a mistake.
Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
I’m a lot younger, slimmer, and sexier than you.
And most letchy old men of your age think I’m dead hot.
lol!
Though you’re probably right. Middle aged postwomen laden with thermoses as they get the hoppa shoppa handybus into Newton Abbott to buy organic lentils are generally NOT my demographic
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
That people overwhelmingly think Brexit was a mistake shouldn't be a factor in any assessment of its success, in your view?
Has the abolition of the death penalty been a success?
Technically there is no such thing as a Supermajority in the UK.
A landslide I would say is c. 120+ majority. Some would set the bar a bit lower.
I suspect that this Tory / Daily Mail Supermajority message is cutting through and I’m not too unhappy about it. If it helps defeat @Leon ’s warped worldview then it’s a double win as far as I’m concerned.
There seems to be mixed signals. On one hand "its cutting through" - as I have to presume witnessed by this absurd 48 Hours thing. On the other hand the net of seats to LB attack / Tory defend gets stretched further and further.
It won't people an avalanche of people voting Labour. But they're voting against the Tories. Only a few days to find out if there is a late Tory swingback or not. But lets assume there is, and the "please please no" campaign has "worked" and Labour "only" win a 150 majority
Bit abject isn't it for the Tories? "We successfully avoided getting crushed! We only got beat by a massive landslide! WooHoo!!!!"
I would suggest you may be missing the point that many conservatives look on in disgust at Reform and their stated aim to take over the party and are determined to fight for the one nation conservative cause, but also to have at least a viable opposition and yes including an increased lib dem seat count
I have no idea of Fridays seat totals but disenchantment with all governing parties is at an extreme high, not just here but elsewhere and you only need to witness what is happening in France to be concerned if the centre right is marginalised into irrelevance
No I get it - we don't want Farage.
That is a given, the motivation to salvage as many seats as possible. And *that* is my point. The best case scenario - one the party is now spending its remaining cash pleading for - is to only give Labour a landslide.
How the mighty have fallen. It took Labour over a decade to recover from a badly misguided comedy note channeling Reginald Maudling. How long will it take the Tories to recover from "please don't destroy us, isn't a landslide enough for you?"
I kinda understand BigG's position. But a clearer signal to the Tories to return to the centre would be to vote for the centre. That's the Lib Dems, probably.
I want to address this directly
I was going to vote Lib Dem post Sunak's D day error but it was when Farage entered the fray as leader of Reform that we (my wife and I) made the decision it was correct for us to return to the conservatives as it it far more important to us that the conservatives out vote Reform in votes
Whether that happens I do not know but a vote for the Lib Dems here would have been a wasted vote anyway as labour are going to easily regain the seat
You could equally have decided it was important that the Lib Dems beat Reform on votes. Or that Plaid Cymru beat Reform in Wales. But you didn't. Because you're a Tory tribalist. It's not about Reform, it's about finding some reason to justify what you were always going to do anyway.
Basically every single thing you say can be discounted if it can be contradicted with "but you'll vote Tory anyway". Because you will. Your bland handwringing over Tory scandals can be (and in some quarters was) safely disregarded because the conclusion was always going to be same.
Please disregard everything I post and say if you so wish
I will continue to post as honestly as I can as long as I can
Already do, but I hope you don't think that also means I'll stop pointing out hypocrisy
Oh, I guess you won't be voting Starmer then?
Correct, I won't be
And yet you seem so keen for him to be PM. Hypocrite.
Do I? I'm keen for the Conservatives to be out of power, and I'm realistic enough to know that Labour are the only likely winner. If pushed, I would prefer a Lib Dem led government over a Labour one, but a Labour one will do.
Nigel, if you're going to call people hypocrites at least try to get a handle on their actual view instead of just making any old shit up, there's a good lad.
Hypocrite. There you go, and sorry I really couldn't give a flying fuck about your sad "actual view", as it appears that your "actual view" is really pretty unpleasant..
I have voted LD for the last two elections, though I am pleased that I will not be voting alongside a party that has such unpleasant emotionally unintelligent gits amongst it's following such as yourself. There is also the slight problem with the LDs having a fat buffoon as leader; Boris-Johnson-lite.
I'm probably* not voting Lib Dem either. You can have yet another go if you like! Eventually you might have enough of a handle on what's actually going on and then you can find some deep set hypocrisy and wound me, wound me with your formidable wit.
*I might, though. I will decide tomorrow.
What do I need to say to get your vote? Latest campaign push on FB points out that both Tory and SNP are saying the exact same thing about each other - you have to vote for x to stop y. What people are actually saying on the doorstep doesnt concern either of those two.
I’m the only candidate who’s been talking up jobs and the cost of living and the state of the NHS and council services - literally the only things anyone raises in the doors. And that isn’t just my opinion - Ross and Logan both confirmed that’s what they hear as well.
So why are they only talking about each other? People want change - so vote for it. Voting for more cuts and more broken promises and more failure changes nothing
Same thing I've been saying all along: my priority is that the Tories lose. There's absolutely nothing wrong with your policy platform. I voted Lib Dem last time around and I don't think you're worse now than you were then. So it's 100% an available option for me. Policy wise, you're EASILY within my quite flexibile limits. There are five parties: I will NEVER vote for Reform. I will ONLY vote for Conservative if it's them vs Reform because I'd MUCH rather have a Conservative MP than a Reform one. But that's not the situation, so CON are out. I could vote Labour I could vote SNP I could vote Lib Dem
So it's down to three. I've established to my satisfaction that Labour aren't going to win here: their candidate is suspended and I've heard not a peep from them, honestly ever, since I moved here. So they obviously aren't best placed to beat the Tories.
So it's down to two. My working assumption is the SNP are going to finish above Lib Dem. It's been a few days since I've delved into any polling or MRPs on the subject because I'm waiting for tomorrow when I'll have the freshest data as close to the vote as I can get. If I think Lib Dems will run the Tories the closest, I vote Lib Dem. If it's the SNP, I vote SNP. It's that simple.
Incidentally, update on campaigning: I passed the SNP bus driving along an A-road coming out of Peterhead, and I've seen one -- ONE! -- SNP poster in a window. On the same drive I saw that bus I also saw a big SNP banner in a field, just south of Peterhead near the turning for the Bullers. The permanent Alba poster a couple of miles from me remains in its window. It's been there for years and of course they're not even standing here. No other poster activity.
Thanks for the answer. I’m out in Fochabers - they definitely backed Ross last time and he’s been back here knocking as it’s in his comfort zone.
He isn’t getting their vote this time. The anger with the party is as palpable here as I’ve seen it anywhere. But what are the voters saying? They don’t want the SNP either.
I spoke to one guy who postal voted SNP purely because he hates the Tories. But genuinely I’ve had half a dozen other conversations this afternoon with people switching from the Tories to me. My campaign has been mentioned a few times - it’s cutting through.
And on the SNP side? They’re so pissed off with me that they’ve been reduced to begging for Labour votes despite most of their national campaign being an attack on Labour. Too many of their people last time on the doors saying not this time. I’m picking up votes off them - openly and as I’ve heard repeatedly now there’s people who have switched but don’t want to say so as there is this horrible omertà on speaking out against them.
I’m prepared for every possible result on Thursday. I’m not saying I am going to win - but in a change election people will win from worse positions than I started from. So I *could* win. And there’s a vibe going about both locally and in the wider LD campaign. Let’s put it like this. The Tories are telling candidates who are sitting MPs they have lost and to stop. We’re pushing further and further into Tory safe seats…
Don’t get over excited. You’ve fought a spirited campaign, but will be so far away from winning that you need to prepare yourself for the result.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
That people overwhelmingly think Brexit was a mistake shouldn't be a factor in any assessment of its success, in your view?
Has the abolition of the death penalty been a success?
I suppose that is a good question for people like me who oppose the death penalty.
She’s gone from the mid teens to the mid 30 percent. In one election. A ginormous leap
Also see this about Bardella, from the same FT article
“Driving much of the change is Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella, who appeals to women and does not have the baggage of the Le Pen name.”
Women - younger women - are shifting to the RN. Despite the mewlings of geriatric thermos-freak and self declared anarchist @Heathener, sitting under her tartan blankie on the top deck of her hipster revolutionary bus heading into suburban Sidmouth, I am right. The young are moving to the hard right
Yes, the claim that 'we have already done that' with Brexit is nonsense. Brexit was a) driven by the old, b) about one specific issue, and c) arguably didn't really entail any sort of change of view: the British had always been pretty Eurosceptic anyway and while there was probably a majority in support of the EU as it was circa 1987 or 1992 or even 2005, I don't think in retrospect there was ever really support for the EU as it was post Lisbon. It certainly wasn't a rightwards shift, still less one driven by the young.
Well Brexit was a (failed) project of the populist right (both inside and outside the Tory Party) and to the extent we have a certain amount of 'populist right energy' in the UK it has absorbed and stunted it rather than fed the flames. France is France but there doesn't seem to be much appetite for more of that sort of stuff here. The opposite in fact. Landslide majorities for a politician like Keir Starmer don't happen in countries gagging for a hard right strongman.
Except of course you fall at the first hurdle because Brexit has not failed. We have left the EU and will not be returning.
That people overwhelmingly think Brexit was a mistake shouldn't be a factor in any assessment of its success, in your view?
Has the abolition of the death penalty been a success?
I suppose that is a good question for people like me who oppose the death penalty.
If you applied Brexit arguments to polling like this, you'd have to say that maintaining its abolition is unsustainable.
Comments
Well played James Bracey, 203 not out as Gloucestershire bugger Glamorgan like a reluctant Turkish conscript.
Thing is, those remarks about part time PMs were stupid in the first place. And coming from the party of Boris Johnson, deeply hypocritical. Which makes the gotchas fair game. It's always fun to see other people hoist on their own petard.
Looks fiendishly complicated: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_to_Judaism
I find the actual information of who is doing what and where quite poor on the major news services (Despite the massive amount of info they get from PA) so had a crack at it myself this time. Hope it works !
And they are, of course, publicly owned...
And most letchy old men of your age think I’m dead hot.
https://twitter.com/Conservatives
There's a non-trivial chance I may be... wrong. (Damn, that hurts)
She is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, holding onto a flask of hot water.
https://www.thejc.com/news/our-family-treasures-our-shabbat-dinners-says-keir-starmer-hrnmdcu7
James Johnson should make this clear. I know he's probably losing money on this enterprise and it's in his interest to drum up debate etc, but it's still shitty behaviour, imo.
As Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz once said... "Death´s too good for them"
I don't think Rishi Sunak's comments were anti-semitic, but it's silly to suggest there was any secret about how Starmer's family spend their Friday evenings.
Would the Conservative Party do better if it had stuck by Liz Truss?
Some Tories are asking themselves and wondering if the answer is Yes after Rishi Sunak proved a prize dud. It's that bad.
1. Strong sentiment of their generation being robbed. Pessimistic for the future.
2. Brexit is a big issue. It's the concept rather than the practicalities of leaving the EU that alienates them. It's a manifestation of point 1.
3. They despise the Conservatives utterly. I struggle to see how they could vote Tory in their lifetimes.
I shall have stern words with James and Tom when I see them next.
Of course, if you think an 'ethical foreign policy' means no dealing with the US, you could be struggling to find a mainstream party to vote for.
And we’ve got a bit closer to today as that article is from July 2023.
Im sure you have better things to do than continue searching but I was simply making the point that I think, and of course I might well be wildly wrong, he’s very cynical and was happy to mention Friday nights with the family being sacrosanct without any context of religion/culture because he thought he would get kudos for the family man angle. I think he left out the religious/cultural angle to dampen down the loons who would hold the Jewish angle against him. That’s fucking sad that he feels he has to but it’s still cynical.
It’s also a bit rich for Labour to defend him against attacks for not working after 6pm by then throwing the religious/cultural angle in when he wasn’t happy to link this aspect.
Do we have him bringing it up after the October attacks last year and the subsequent Gaza situation? He shouldn’t have to keep it quiet, a block of potential Labour voters shouldn’t be holding it against him either. But is there not a little nagging doubt that maybe he likes to have things both ways?
Plus, there would have been endless scope for other bat-shit craziness up until the election.
Under Truss, Leon's nil seats bet might just have come off.
- As Bristol is a nice place to live, it has tended to attract right on types coming down from London.
- In addition the new Bristol Central seat has a lot of students and workers from Bristol University
- Bristol like a lot of cities is severely underbounded to the North and East, which makes it seem more left wing than it actually is
- Many of the wards that are now Green, previously went LD during their time of council dominance.
- Bristol brought in an elected mayor and then removed it again (suggesting dissatisfaction with the status quo). Greens benefit as have not previously run BCC.
The new Bristol Central seat is great for the Greens as it combines pretty much all their best wards.
https://x.com/Conservatives/status/1807754451056206174
They know their demographic at least.
I also doubt Brexit is the motivation for those young male Reformers. It will be broader conspiracist alt-right stuff, Andrew Tate, incels etc.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/28/sir-keir-starmer-labour-interview-general-election-2024/
I think that foreign policy can’t be ethical, as we have to cut deals with horrible people, and we should not pretend that it is ethical.
Years ago when our children were in their early teens we stayed in a caravan in Fochabers, whilst visiting their grandparents in Lossiemouth, and most notably our youngest son of RNLI fame kicked a football through the main window of the caravan causing much mirth with his siblings and costing his parents an unexpected bill
Baxters of Fochabers is worth a visit
“All the smaller parties, apart from Nigel Farage, have styled themselves as this sort of left wing pressure valve on the Labour Party"
https://x.com/BBCSounds/status/1807853061559259244
List of smaller parties standing in the GE includes such well-known left pressure groups as: UKIP, Yorkshire, Heritage, Localist, SDP, CPA, and EngDem.
“And I do not want to be the bloke – and it is normally a bloke – who, years down the line, says ‘I wish I’d spent more time with my children.’ I want to spend more time with my children, so I do. Obviously there are constraints on that but even now on a Friday I won’t take a work meeting after six o’clock. I want to be home with Vic and the kids.”
The bit where he doesn’t mention anything about it being for cultural or religious reasons but just that he wants to be home with wife and kids?
The writer does drop in this bit of info which isn’t actually from the interview “ His wife has Jewish ancestry and as a family they sometimes do Friday night prayers with his father-in-law.”. Again it’s not exactly a rousing defence of his need to take Fridays off after 6 for religious and cultural reasons.
Failed? We Brexited, didn't we? Though arguably failed in that the right - both populist and mercantilist (do I mean that? do you know what I mean? the Singapore-on-Thames lobby) lost control of it, and neither really got to implement their particular vision of Brexit. So perhaps.
Was it a project of the right though? Arguably the right lent Brexit most, though not all, of its leadership - but it wasn't really right-leaning voters who delivered it: the correlation between those who voted right previously and those who voted for Brexit was ambiguous, and in terms of geography weak. I'd say it was sui generis. But I can see the point you're making.
And did it absorb and stunt populist right energy? Well I'd say it did, initially. Sadly, those of us who wanted Brexit on grounds of either governance (i.e. the democratic argument) or economics (the European-economy-looking-a-bit-parlous-best-disentangle-ourselves argument) were probably not those who swayed the day - what swayed the day was (as always) the emotional side: both the towns like Clacton who felt distinctly left out of the growth brought about by globalism, and, as always, the immigration angle (particularly if you remember the immigration issues mainland Europe was having in 2016). On both of those issues, those who voted Brexit had reason initially to think that their concerns might be being addressed. Boris was elected with an explicit focus on the areas which had not benefited from globalism, and (possibly coincidentally - covid must have been a factor) immigration dropped down the list of concerns. And also, after years of prevarication by parliament, Brexit was pushed through. And with labour shortages, wages began to rise. And the far right began to ebb, and the Tories won Hartlepool in a by-election.
... [cont]
Three years later and I think it's fair to say that Levelling Up hasn't happened and has been treated with some contempt by Rishi (the north gets HS2 cancelled so that money can be diverted to London potholes and trains in Devon, but we do get chessboards in the park in Hull), immigration has surged, and the globalists are back in charge of the agenda. Yes, SKS is about to get a landslide, but we shouldn't confuse that with enthusiasm for centrism - he will probably achieve a respectable but not spectacular not-quite-40% of the vote. The landslide will be delivered by the collapse in support for the unpopulist Conservatives: even as their respectability softens under the blowtorch of a campaign, Reform will probably still get rather more than 10% of the vote and the assorted populists of the left will garner another 10%.
Populism hasn't gone away, and it seems to me that the conditions for it very much haven't gone away either. It doesn't seem unlikely to me that it will grow here as it has on the continent, especially with a centrist government about to take the reins. Obviously there's the possibility that under a new government everything will be run competently and immigration will fall and wages will rise* and left-behind towns will get a long-term plan of investment which will see confidence in them grow. But if it doesn't, my guess is the populist impulse grows - though I am taking no view yet on whether that gets hoovered up by the Conservatives or Reform or someone else.
I think Brexit will help, a bit. We are slightly less remote from our elected representatives than our counterparts in the EU; slightly more able to effectively pull at the levers of power - though that is dulled by FPTP. But I see no reason why the UK should be wholly immune to the trends of the continent.
*I actually think this reasonably likely. I am economically more bullish than most and think Labour will have a bit more room to maneouvre than most think.
I'll volunteer myself up to be PB's correspondent.
The Tories’ strategic mistake is not to have understood how much of their home countries support came from people who, by birth or effort, were already ahead in life’s game and just wanted sensible, pragmatic, prudent, non-ideological folk to represent them and essentially leave things as they are, for as long as it took until they could pass their lives’ gains onto their children.
As soon as more and more Tories started frothing about the EU and the BBC and the judges and the ill-defined supposed woke, the Conservatives departed from reality and more and more of the sensible middle class folk of our country began to ask, WTF?
Nothing to do with religion. All to do with having a life.
And you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire
Your clothes are all made by Balmain
And there's diamonds and pearls in your hair.."
Take care, it'll be like a demilitarised zone.
We have our sovereignty. If our politicians won't do what we want them to do, then we can kick them out and elect a new set. As we will on Thursday.
Democracy works.
Not once in this entire General Election have I heard a single politico blame the EU for our problems.
Here's my regular reminder that if one methodology gives one result and another gives another, the truth is not in splitting the difference, the truth is that one of them is wrong. We now have to decide whether polls+UNS is right, or MRP is right.
Maybe there will be another fudge, but it's not exactly ideal.
'The Reform UK chairman has admitted to "mistakes" in the party's selection process after its candidate in Orkney and Shetland suggested Nicola Sturgeon should be shot.
Robert Smith posted numerous insults about prominent women on social media between 2016 and last year, The Times has reported [...]
The Times reported that Mr Smith made several insulting comments about Ms Sturgeon, as well as author and activist JK Rowling and Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank.'
He isn’t getting their vote this time. The anger with the party is as palpable here as I’ve seen it anywhere. But what are the voters saying? They don’t want the SNP either.
I spoke to one guy who postal voted SNP purely because he hates the Tories. But genuinely I’ve had half a dozen other conversations this afternoon with people switching from the Tories to me. My campaign has been mentioned a few times - it’s cutting through.
And on the SNP side? They’re so pissed off with me that they’ve been reduced to begging for Labour votes despite most of their national campaign being an attack on Labour. Too many of their people last time on the doors saying not this time. I’m picking up votes off them - openly and as I’ve heard repeatedly now there’s people who have switched but don’t want to say so as there is this horrible omertà on speaking out against them.
I’m prepared for every possible result on Thursday. I’m not saying I am going to win - but in a change election people will win from worse positions than I started from. So I *could* win. And there’s a vibe going about both locally and in the wider LD campaign. Let’s put it like this. The Tories are telling candidates who are sitting MPs they have lost and to stop. We’re pushing further and further into Tory safe seats…
Other explanations are possible of course.
Though you’re probably right. Middle aged postwomen laden with thermoses as they get the hoppa shoppa handybus into Newton Abbott to buy organic lentils are generally NOT my demographic
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/should-the-death-penalty-be-reintroduced-for-cases-of-multiple-murder