Labour figures fear more Gaza independent gains at the locals on Thursday
My dispatch from Burnley, where one candidate challenging Labour wants to end “free mixing” between men and women
I sincerely hope this is a joke/racist lie/otherwise not true.
Because if this is true, it is deeply, deeply disturbing.
It's true, and that won't be the first rude awakening you'll have about the direction of politics in multicultural Britain:
Maheen Kamran, 18, an aspiring medical student, is standing as an independent for Burnley Central East. She was motivated to enter politics by the war in Gaza, where she believes a “genocide” is taking place.
Kamran told PoliticsHome she wanted to improve school standards, public cleanliness and encourage public spaces to end “free mixing” between men and women.
“There’s a big aspect of free mixing,” she said. “Muslim women aren’t really comfortable with being involved with Muslim men. I'm sure we can have segregated areas, segregated gyms, where Muslim women don't have to sacrifice their health.”
She has a point.
A lot of gyms run women only sessions already, and it seems legal under the Equality Act if considered a proportionate action for a legitimate goal.
The quote alone doesn't clarify her views:
Sex segregated gyms should be available - no problem, not even unusual already Gyms should be automatically sex segregated - problematic
And with many thousands of councillors it is inevitable some hold problematic views anyway, that is part of democracy. If a major party decided to run on mandatory sex segregation of gyms, which they wont, that would be getting scary.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Shall we return to your intra-bubble predictions for these elex?
Very happy to. My belief in the essential depth, humanity, intelligence and empathy of the British People lead me to wonder whether they really would come out and vote Reform. And they did.
As I said, one swallow doesn't a Leon's travel anecdote make, but it would be the first time that voters have voted specifically for (ie against) immigration. Hence I'm interested in turnout and absolute numbers.
Labour figures fear more Gaza independent gains at the locals on Thursday
My dispatch from Burnley, where one candidate challenging Labour wants to end “free mixing” between men and women
I sincerely hope this is a joke/racist lie/otherwise not true.
Because if this is true, it is deeply, deeply disturbing.
It's true, and that won't be the first rude awakening you'll have about the direction of politics in multicultural Britain:
Maheen Kamran, 18, an aspiring medical student, is standing as an independent for Burnley Central East. She was motivated to enter politics by the war in Gaza, where she believes a “genocide” is taking place.
Kamran told PoliticsHome she wanted to improve school standards, public cleanliness and encourage public spaces to end “free mixing” between men and women.
“There’s a big aspect of free mixing,” she said. “Muslim women aren’t really comfortable with being involved with Muslim men. I'm sure we can have segregated areas, segregated gyms, where Muslim women don't have to sacrifice their health.”
You say its true, but then provide a quote without a source, which is quite possibly made-up bullshit scraped from Twitter made for and shared by the gullible.
If true its a disgrace, but that's a big if.
It is true
“Ladies, welcome! Kindly stand in the coned-off section of the car park.”
Maheen Kamran, 18, candidate in Burnley Central East, wants to end ‘free mixing’ in public.
Segregation is the norm at this BBQ at Cheadle Masjid last weekend but will such values reshape general British life?"
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Yawn. This talking point has been trotted out by the far right since the 1970s. It's also said about whichever immigrant group is bothering them at any given time.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Shall we return to your intra-bubble predictions for these elex?
Very happy to. My belief in the essential depth, humanity, intelligence and empathy of the British People lead me to wonder whether they really would come out and vote Reform. And they did.
As I said, one swallow doesn't a Leon's travel anecdote make, but it would be the first time that voters have voted specifically for (ie against) immigration. Hence I'm interested in turnout and absolute numbers.
Eh? The turnout for the referendum was massive, and that was a vote against immigration
More Johnson's legacy imo. Or perhaps we say both since one begat the other.
Cameron, his initial mistake begat Johnson
Cameron's initial mistake was aping Blair and not unrolling his legacy.
Thats why the country is in the shit.
We can surely go further back to Wilson devaluing the pound. And before that, Suez.
No we've had the Tird Way bollocks for 30 years or so. Parties have lost their deficed positions and the differences are marginal. Now we've run out of money and the country is tied up in legal knots. Cameron made that worse and lost the Conservatives distinctness. Everyone is crowded in the middle and the voters are looking for something different.
Well they need to embrace redistribution of wealth and opportunity then. Make leveling up more than a slogan. The idea we can be an outlier for growth is a fantasy imo. All a Reform government will do is combine economic disappointment with cultural stagnation.
"This is the first time that a party other than Conservatives or Labour have been ahead in the projected national vote share calculation - and Reform's estimated 30% is well above the 23% that Ukip scored at the height of its popularity in 2013.
Labour's tally equals its lowest previous recorded performance in 2009, while the Conservative estimate is the party's lowest-ever recorded."
BBC
Interesting. A year after 2009 Labour were strong enough to deny the Tories an outright majority.
Things look far bleaker for the Conservatives than for Labour imo.
I think that's right - but only because Labour is in government. They have a chance to do stuff to turn things around. What can the Tories do?
(1) The challenge the Conservatives face was well described on the last thread: how do they simultaneously appeal to those they have lost to Reform, and those they have lost to the Liberal Democrats.
It is clear that they have to tack right: but if they do that, how do they even begin to differentiate themselves from Reform, especially as all Reform needs to do is to attack them for their previous period in government?
(2) The fragmentation of voting patterns is on a scale we've never seen before. Reform is winning close to half of all councillors. But it's doing in on an National Equivalent Vote share that is only a few point more than the LibDems managed in 2009.
We see this is the Mayoral elections: winning parties are coming in with sub 30% numbers. We could see MPs - multiple MPs - elected with less than a quarter of the vote in 2029.
Reform are a political Black Hole. A Nigel-sized singularity which is now sucking everything else towards it.
Whilst there is a major challenge for the Tories as described, the gravitational challenge for Labour is just as existential.
What is at the heart of the Black Hole? The need to significantly reform the UK from top to bottom. Labour and the Tories can't tack their way around the edges of the event horizon - they'll get torn apart. Their only solution is to become a bigger black hole.
How do you defeat populism? By fixing the problems that drive populism. In this country that means fixing public services, making work pay, putting the pride back into our communities. You can't do that by cutting WFA or scrapping HS2 or performative tossery about penises.
The biggest reasons people have for voting Reform are "another party needs a go" and "their policies on immigration". What do you suggest mainstream parties should do about immigration?
Tackle the problems blamed on immigration. Note where people are complaining. It isn't where jobs are plentiful and services are good. Immigrants are the problem because schools are poor and the NHS is sinking and there aren't any jobs and the council is broke and crime is high and and and
Go after these problems. With crime under control you can't blame immigrants. With NHS experiences transformed you can't blame migrants. With jobs paying the bills and easier to get you can't blame migrants.
But you can't do any of this because low wage migrants don't generate enough economic activity to pay for it. Our taxes are already too high because every immigrant lowers our GDP per capita and we allowed 2m to come to the country with basically zero restrictions on incomes and dependents. Immigration is a huge net drag on our GDP per capita and it doesn't generate enough tax income for the government to cover the welfare requirements they and their dependents bring with them.
Deportation of low wage migrants, illegals and hitting the pause button on asylum is the answer.
Not giving people here on 5 year care home Visas ILR with the access to everything that comes with it for starters. Especially as many have brought over economically inactive dependents.
They will never be a net contributor.
It won’t happen. All the main parties are ideologically in favour of it.
Not just economically inactive but kids who need schooling, parents who need healthcare and translation services for it etc...
It was the biggest own goal by the Tories in the party's history and I don't think they'll ever recover from it.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Yawn. This talking point has been trotted out by the far right since the 1970s. It's also said about whichever immigrant group is bothering them at any given time.
Unfortunate timing of this comment, coming right after it's confirmed we have sectarian Islamic politicians being elected across the UK
The Greens are perilously close to overtaking Labour in the number of councillors - 65 behind 69
And yet still the Greens might have expected more?
The LDs will be happy
Reform will be ecstatic
Labour and the Tories are staring into an abyss
Farage said he wanted to destroy the Tory Party.
He wasn’t taken that seriously at the time. I bet people are listening now.
To be fair, the Tory Party have been accomplices in their own downfall... if that´s what it turns put to be. The comments earlier today about the abject lack of talent amongst Conservatives are indeed well taken. How do they come back? It is clearly not Badenoch and it is absolutely not Jenrick. So it is a serious question: can the Tories come back, and if so, then, how?
It is very much a problem. When Johnson purged the moderate end of the party it was left it with clones of Nadine Dorries and Mark Francois; essentially those without two many little grey cells
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Shall we return to your intra-bubble predictions for these elex?
Very happy to. My belief in the essential depth, humanity, intelligence and empathy of the British People lead me to wonder whether they really would come out and vote Reform. And they did.
As I said, one swallow doesn't a Leon's travel anecdote make, but it would be the first time that voters have voted specifically for (ie against) immigration. Hence I'm interested in turnout and absolute numbers.
Eh? The turnout for the referendum was massive, and that was a vote against immigration
Yes true that was a vote against immigration. Not by any Brexiter on here, mind, but yes it was.
Labour figures fear more Gaza independent gains at the locals on Thursday
My dispatch from Burnley, where one candidate challenging Labour wants to end “free mixing” between men and women
I sincerely hope this is a joke/racist lie/otherwise not true.
Because if this is true, it is deeply, deeply disturbing.
It's true, and that won't be the first rude awakening you'll have about the direction of politics in multicultural Britain:
Maheen Kamran, 18, an aspiring medical student, is standing as an independent for Burnley Central East. She was motivated to enter politics by the war in Gaza, where she believes a “genocide” is taking place.
Kamran told PoliticsHome she wanted to improve school standards, public cleanliness and encourage public spaces to end “free mixing” between men and women.
“There’s a big aspect of free mixing,” she said. “Muslim women aren’t really comfortable with being involved with Muslim men. I'm sure we can have segregated areas, segregated gyms, where Muslim women don't have to sacrifice their health.”
You say its true, but then provide a quote without a source, which is quite possibly made-up bullshit scraped from Twitter made for and shared by the gullible.
If true its a disgrace, but that's a big if.
It is true
“Ladies, welcome! Kindly stand in the coned-off section of the car park.”
Maheen Kamran, 18, candidate in Burnley Central East, wants to end ‘free mixing’ in public.
Segregation is the norm at this BBQ at Cheadle Masjid last weekend but will such values reshape general British life?"
This is what YOU WANT with your desire for open border and mass endless immigration
No it's what I want FROM A DEMOCRACY. People with ideas that you personally detest get elected because sufficient people vote for them. The vast majority of elected councillors don't want to end free mixing in public so it will never happen, that's also democracy.
The Cambridge results are coming through. The LibDems are winning divisions in the city, but the Greens have taken Newnham which I would have hoped for the LibDems. Winning the county may rest on the LDs winning both the Chestertons, but the east is probably a stretch. Labour is hanging on to its safer divisions.
Winning both Chestertons at the County level is a tough ask, because (unlike the City council) there is only one Chesterton seat. Phil Rodgers reckons they'll hold Queen Edith's, and both Chesterton and Castle are in the "tossup" basket, with the rest safe Labour.
I which case they had better start being very friendly to that Green
A long time ago, I used to run the Castle ward LibDem committee room. A shame it's no longer an LD stronghold
Well, they got both Castle and Chesterton (the latter by only 10 votes) to just gain control of Cambridgeshire.
Its been a good day for the Lib Dems: More seats than the Tories, more votes than Labour and more councils than either, and within a couple of seats of full control in Devon and Gloucestershire.
Reform have done very well, Labour exceptionally badly and the Tories have a bare few crumbs amidst an almost total wipe out.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
And even she criticises Jenkyns's let them sleep in tents comment.
Yes, which is what makes her interesting - well done for reading on
I checked her hustory, she's not some mad neoNazi or Trumpite. She seems to be a centre right first wave young feminist, concerned about multicultural Britain going wrong. A Tory, but open minded
Labour figures fear more Gaza independent gains at the locals on Thursday
My dispatch from Burnley, where one candidate challenging Labour wants to end “free mixing” between men and women
I sincerely hope this is a joke/racist lie/otherwise not true.
Because if this is true, it is deeply, deeply disturbing.
It's true, and that won't be the first rude awakening you'll have about the direction of politics in multicultural Britain:
Maheen Kamran, 18, an aspiring medical student, is standing as an independent for Burnley Central East. She was motivated to enter politics by the war in Gaza, where she believes a “genocide” is taking place.
Kamran told PoliticsHome she wanted to improve school standards, public cleanliness and encourage public spaces to end “free mixing” between men and women.
“There’s a big aspect of free mixing,” she said. “Muslim women aren’t really comfortable with being involved with Muslim men. I'm sure we can have segregated areas, segregated gyms, where Muslim women don't have to sacrifice their health.”
You say its true, but then provide a quote without a source, which is quite possibly made-up bullshit scraped from Twitter made for and shared by the gullible.
If true its a disgrace, but that's a big if.
It is true
“Ladies, welcome! Kindly stand in the coned-off section of the car park.”
Maheen Kamran, 18, candidate in Burnley Central East, wants to end ‘free mixing’ in public.
Segregation is the norm at this BBQ at Cheadle Masjid last weekend but will such values reshape general British life?"
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Shall we return to your intra-bubble predictions for these elex?
Very happy to. My belief in the essential depth, humanity, intelligence and empathy of the British People lead me to wonder whether they really would come out and vote Reform. And they did.
As I said, one swallow doesn't a Leon's travel anecdote make, but it would be the first time that voters have voted specifically for (ie against) immigration. Hence I'm interested in turnout and absolute numbers.
Eh? The turnout for the referendum was massive, and that was a vote against immigration
Yes true that was a vote against immigration. Not by any Brexiter on here, mind, but yes it was.
I said it was about immigration about a thousand times!
Labour figures fear more Gaza independent gains at the locals on Thursday Go tel My dispatch from Burnley, where one candidate challenging Labour wants to end “free mixing” between men and women
I sincerely hope this is a joke/racist lie/otherwise not true.
Because if this is true, it is deeply, deeply disturbing.
It's true, and that won't be the first rude awakening you'll have about the direction of politics in multicultural Britain:
Maheen Kamran, 18, an aspiring medical student, is standing as an independent for Burnley Central East. She was motivated to enter politics by the war in Gaza, where she believes a “genocide” is taking place.
Kamran told PoliticsHome she wanted to improve school standards, public cleanliness and encourage public spaces to end “free mixing” between men and women.
“There’s a big aspect of free mixing,” she said. “Muslim women aren’t really comfortable with being involved with Muslim men. I'm sure we can have segregated areas, segregated gyms, where Muslim women don't have to sacrifice their health.”
You say its true, but then provide a quote without a source, which is quite possibly made-up bullshit scraped from Twitter made for and shared by the gullible.
If true its a disgrace, but that's a big if.
It is true
“Ladies, welcome! Kindly stand in the coned-off section of the car park.”
Maheen Kamran, 18, candidate in Burnley Central East, wants to end ‘free mixing’ in public.
Segregation is the norm at this BBQ at Cheadle Masjid last weekend but will such values reshape general British life?"
This is what YOU WANT with your desire for open border and mass endless immigration
No it's what I want FROM A DEMOCRACY. People with ideas that you personally detest get elected because sufficient people vote for them. The vast majority of elected councillors don't want to end free mixing in public so it will never happen, that's also democracy.
Just like we will never have a blasphemy law right? Why don't you tell that to the teacher in Batley
You people are beyond helping. You are so dumb you are willing your own demise
The Cambridge results are coming through. The LibDems are winning divisions in the city, but the Greens have taken Newnham which I would have hoped for the LibDems. Winning the county may rest on the LDs winning both the Chestertons, but the east is probably a stretch. Labour is hanging on to its safer divisions.
Winning both Chestertons at the County level is a tough ask, because (unlike the City council) there is only one Chesterton seat. Phil Rodgers reckons they'll hold Queen Edith's, and both Chesterton and Castle are in the "tossup" basket, with the rest safe Labour.
I which case they had better start being very friendly to that Green
A long time ago, I used to run the Castle ward LibDem committee room. A shame it's no longer an LD stronghold
Well, they got both Castle and Chesterton (the latter by only 10 votes) to just gain control of Cambridgeshire.
Plus Market and Trumpington makes four - was there a fifth?
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Shall we return to your intra-bubble predictions for these elex?
Very happy to. My belief in the essential depth, humanity, intelligence and empathy of the British People lead me to wonder whether they really would come out and vote Reform. And they did.
As I said, one swallow doesn't a Leon's travel anecdote make, but it would be the first time that voters have voted specifically for (ie against) immigration. Hence I'm interested in turnout and absolute numbers.
Labour figures fear more Gaza independent gains at the locals on Thursday
My dispatch from Burnley, where one candidate challenging Labour wants to end “free mixing” between men and women
I sincerely hope this is a joke/racist lie/otherwise not true.
Because if this is true, it is deeply, deeply disturbing.
It's true, and that won't be the first rude awakening you'll have about the direction of politics in multicultural Britain:
Maheen Kamran, 18, an aspiring medical student, is standing as an independent for Burnley Central East. She was motivated to enter politics by the war in Gaza, where she believes a “genocide” is taking place.
Kamran told PoliticsHome she wanted to improve school standards, public cleanliness and encourage public spaces to end “free mixing” between men and women.
“There’s a big aspect of free mixing,” she said. “Muslim women aren’t really comfortable with being involved with Muslim men. I'm sure we can have segregated areas, segregated gyms, where Muslim women don't have to sacrifice their health.”
She has a point.
A lot of gyms run women only sessions already, and it seems legal under the Equality Act if considered a proportionate action for a legitimate goal.
The quote alone doesn't clarify her views:
Sex segregated gyms should be available - no problem, not even unusual already Gyms should be automatically sex segregated - problematic
And with many thousands of councillors it is inevitable some hold problematic views anyway, that is part of democracy. If a major party decided to run on mandatory sex segregation of gyms, which they wont, that would be getting scary.
If a gym wants to be purely single sex, then why shouldn't it be, if it's their free commercial decision to do so?
Obviously a councillor cannot mandate it for all gyms.
Quite a few women prefer single sex sessions or facilities.
God help us if Farage ever gets “quite useful” at politics. He’ll probably win the US presidency and become supreme galactic warlord
A stupider, uglier and less funny Beppe Grillo. Who has sunk into political irrelevance, after topping the polls a few years ago.
Remind me of the year Beppe Grillo successfully built a eurosceptic party which forced an Italian referendum and then won Italexit, as Italy quit the EU
Did Beppe Grillo do that? No, he did not
Next
There’s a great deal of sour grapes. Farage is the most consequential British politician of the past thirty years.
He is a brilliant politician - smart and agile in a way that no-one else comes close to matching. Of that there is no doubt and it's silly to say otherwise. He thinks in headlines, which is a tremendous gift for an insurgent. And Brexit happened because of him. But he has yet to shape the country in any particular direction. He has left that to others. I have my doubts as to whether he has the interest, the temperament or the stamina to do the hard job of actually governing a country. But I guess we may find out.
Is he brilliant or is it the rest are absolutely shit. Listening to the drones on BBC and Sky today, further, faster, further, faster....he just speaks human and so instantly sounds "better" to a certain section of the population.
I don't think you achieve what he has just by being the best of a bad bunch. He has something to him. He is totally at ease with himself in a way that most politicians struggle with.
I think he is certainly aided by how poor the mainstream lot are. As you say they seem totally handicapped by an inability to be at ease with themselves, worried they might say the "wrong" thing. e.g. jibbering wreck of Starmer inability to say what he thinks a woman is.
I just think back to say Thatcher and Kinnock, they had little trouble saying what they thought. Corbyn in many respects is the same unless you get onto one particular thorny issue.
There is something other worldly about the way Starmer talks. I have said it before, but he genuinely is a big football fan, yet when he talks about the game it's like he's got someone in his ear telling him what to say. Quite astonishingly awkward and forced.
The fact is there is a huge market in the UK for a politician who seems relatively normal, and Farage is one of a tiny minority of them who are, or at least seem like they are. Most people don't like smart arses. I am one, and am not as popular as my friends who are less pedantic, clever clogs. On here, and in political media, they love a clever clogs... although I am not that popular here either!
He has a habit of looking and sounding like someone has just told him his cat has died just before he walks on stage.
Whilst I think that Starmer is incredibly dull (and inauthentic), anyone that believes that Putin apologist Farage seems relatively normal must be smoking too much weed.
Obviously I’ve never been a Starmer fan, but I was an early Blair supporter. What Blair offered was a real vision for what a post-Thatcher Britain could be. People were excited—there was a sense of direction. And yes, reality eventually catches up to any government, but by 2001, you could feel that life was better than it was in ’97. Starmer might have a vision tucked away somewhere, but he’s done nothing to show the public what it is—why they should vote Labour at all. He was elected on a meh and then blew what little political capital he had by targeting pensioners and disabled people for cuts. It’s no wonder voters are looking elsewhere.
There is always a potential way back for a governing party, as Mark Carney and the Canadian Liberals just showed. But those numbers look potentially terminal for the Tories.
They surely have to be terminal for Badenoch ? The Tories will inevitably want a last throw of the dice, before their MPs start the competition to see who will defect to Reform early enough to actually get credit for it.
Next week, or slightly longer ?
Still clear odds against to go this year. Worth a punt if you think it's more likely than not.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
And even she criticises Jenkyns's let them sleep in tents comment.
I'd support banning first cousin marriage and an end to "it's their own culture" stuff now. Removals of illegal immigrants on top.
We've got to start breaking this stuff down. It's got too bad and gone too far.
(Nearly) everyone is in favour of deporting illegal immigrants, the contentious question has been who decides if they are illegal? Farage, Suella, the Daily Mail, or the courts?
The problem for the courts are lack of funding and poorly written legislation. Both primarily down to the populists who have destroyed their once Conservative party.
Labour figures fear more Gaza independent gains at the locals on Thursday Go tel My dispatch from Burnley, where one candidate challenging Labour wants to end “free mixing” between men and women
I sincerely hope this is a joke/racist lie/otherwise not true.
Because if this is true, it is deeply, deeply disturbing.
It's true, and that won't be the first rude awakening you'll have about the direction of politics in multicultural Britain:
Maheen Kamran, 18, an aspiring medical student, is standing as an independent for Burnley Central East. She was motivated to enter politics by the war in Gaza, where she believes a “genocide” is taking place.
Kamran told PoliticsHome she wanted to improve school standards, public cleanliness and encourage public spaces to end “free mixing” between men and women.
“There’s a big aspect of free mixing,” she said. “Muslim women aren’t really comfortable with being involved with Muslim men. I'm sure we can have segregated areas, segregated gyms, where Muslim women don't have to sacrifice their health.”
You say its true, but then provide a quote without a source, which is quite possibly made-up bullshit scraped from Twitter made for and shared by the gullible.
If true its a disgrace, but that's a big if.
It is true
“Ladies, welcome! Kindly stand in the coned-off section of the car park.”
Maheen Kamran, 18, candidate in Burnley Central East, wants to end ‘free mixing’ in public.
Segregation is the norm at this BBQ at Cheadle Masjid last weekend but will such values reshape general British life?"
This is what YOU WANT with your desire for open border and mass endless immigration
No it's what I want FROM A DEMOCRACY. People with ideas that you personally detest get elected because sufficient people vote for them. The vast majority of elected councillors don't want to end free mixing in public so it will never happen, that's also democracy.
Just like we will never have a blasphemy law right? Why don't you tell that to the teacher in Batley
You people are beyond helping. You are so dumb you are willing your own demise
Well the only person that I've talked to today who wants to supress someone's right to express their religious views at the ballot box is you.
BBC projected national share just released by Prof John Curtice
RefUK 30% Lab 20% LD 17% Con 15% Grn 11%
After Kemi reduced the CON vote to 19% in national polls and 15% in council elections, it's hard to see what the next edge goal is. 15% in a national poll? I mean she's good, but is she that good?
There is the potential that these results mark a tipping point and more of the Tory vote just decamps to Reform, knocking say another 5% off their polling figures. This has always been the greatest risk for the Tories - that at some point a chunk of their remaining core vote just won’t see them as a viable option anymore and will decide Reform is now the main party of the right. If that happens, the downfall could be very quick indeed.
I thought there was a risk of this happening later in the parliament, particularly after Wales and Scotland, but because Reform have done so well and the Tories so badly, there is a possibility this could all kick off now. A couple of defections would also help it along.
As I am in Scotland currently, what we need is more defections like this guy:
More Johnson's legacy imo. Or perhaps we say both since one begat the other.
Cameron, his initial mistake begat Johnson
Cameron's initial mistake was aping Blair and not unrolling his legacy.
Thats why the country is in the shit.
We can surely go further back to Wilson devaluing the pound. And before that, Suez.
No we've had the Tird Way bollocks for 30 years or so. Parties have lost their deficed positions and the differences are marginal. Now we've run out of money and the country is tied up in legal knots. Cameron made that worse and lost the Conservatives distinctness. Everyone is crowded in the middle and the voters are looking for something different.
Well they need to embrace redistribution of wealth and opportunity then. Make leveling up more than a slogan. The idea we can be an outlier for growth is a fantasy imo. All a Reform government will do is combine economic disappointment with cultural stagnation.
How about starting with your big fat pension. Let's start by redistributing that and getting you off your lazy arse and back into productivity.
God help us if Farage ever gets “quite useful” at politics. He’ll probably win the US presidency and become supreme galactic warlord
A stupider, uglier and less funny Beppe Grillo. Who has sunk into political irrelevance, after topping the polls a few years ago.
You clutch that straw ducks.
It's not much of a straw. 9 years after being formed, M5S were the biggest party in parliament and part of the ruling coalition. I'm still hoping Reform do worse than that.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Yes. She has herself corrected it on Twitter and admitted that it is just assumptions she is making about people:
In The Kitchen - Activist🐝 so this blew up. To clarify nothing happened that was against the rules to cast a vote (which in itself may be the problem) when i said 'told to who to vote for by family', that is my assumption, or else why would one who cannot read or speak a language turn up to vote and know how or who to vote for. I have assumed that they have been instructed by someone. https://x.com/HaitchBee_/status/1918338158808424557
As someone has replied: cbagirl People like you have a lot of assumptions. Maybe just assume that they get the media in their language, they live in the community they are voting for and have these political discussions with their friends and family - like English speaking people do https://x.com/allthemm1/status/1918340564153430332
Labour figures fear more Gaza independent gains at the locals on Thursday
My dispatch from Burnley, where one candidate challenging Labour wants to end “free mixing” between men and women
I sincerely hope this is a joke/racist lie/otherwise not true.
Because if this is true, it is deeply, deeply disturbing.
It's true, and that won't be the first rude awakening you'll have about the direction of politics in multicultural Britain:
Maheen Kamran, 18, an aspiring medical student, is standing as an independent for Burnley Central East. She was motivated to enter politics by the war in Gaza, where she believes a “genocide” is taking place.
Kamran told PoliticsHome she wanted to improve school standards, public cleanliness and encourage public spaces to end “free mixing” between men and women.
“There’s a big aspect of free mixing,” she said. “Muslim women aren’t really comfortable with being involved with Muslim men. I'm sure we can have segregated areas, segregated gyms, where Muslim women don't have to sacrifice their health.”
You say its true, but then provide a quote without a source, which is quite possibly made-up bullshit scraped from Twitter made for and shared by the gullible.
If true its a disgrace, but that's a big if.
It is true
“Ladies, welcome! Kindly stand in the coned-off section of the car park.”
Maheen Kamran, 18, candidate in Burnley Central East, wants to end ‘free mixing’ in public.
Segregation is the norm at this BBQ at Cheadle Masjid last weekend but will such values reshape general British life?"
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Shall we return to your intra-bubble predictions for these elex?
Very happy to. My belief in the essential depth, humanity, intelligence and empathy of the British People lead me to wonder whether they really would come out and vote Reform. And they did.
As I said, one swallow doesn't a Leon's travel anecdote make, but it would be the first time that voters have voted specifically for (ie against) immigration. Hence I'm interested in turnout and absolute numbers.
Eh? The turnout for the referendum was massive, and that was a vote against immigration
Yes true that was a vote against immigration. Not by any Brexiter on here, mind, but yes it was.
I said it was about immigration about a thousand times!
Yes you did and I agree with you but every (other) Brexiter on here swore blind it was about straight bananas.
Not to try to wriggle out of this - a large number of people did indeed vote for controls on immigration via the EURef. But....why didn't they then vote for a low immigration party in 2024. Why on earth would they give a stonking majority to a party which is known for its lax views on increased immigration.
These council elections are directly about who governs us so that's why I think it possible to make a distinction.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Shall we return to your intra-bubble predictions for these elex?
Very happy to. My belief in the essential depth, humanity, intelligence and empathy of the British People lead me to wonder whether they really would come out and vote Reform. And they did.
As I said, one swallow doesn't a Leon's travel anecdote make, but it would be the first time that voters have voted specifically for (ie against) immigration. Hence I'm interested in turnout and absolute numbers.
Farage is a successful campaigner but UKIP / Reform have not been in govt, UKIP did win control of Thanet council in 2015, splintered over Manston in 2018 and get wiped out in 2019. Successful political campaigner but not until he's been in government not a successful politician.
Until recently I would have doubted whether he actually wanted power but something seems to have changed now he's sensed that it's possible to win.
That was Farage's hope - two mayoralties plus Runcorn, and a lot of councillors
He's got everything he hoped, and, I suspect, far more councillors than he dreamed
The most reassuring thing about today is your relentless shilling for the extremists. Given your track record, it’s now just a matter of time…
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
And even she criticises Jenkyns's let them sleep in tents comment.
I'd support banning first cousin marriage and an end to "it's their own culture" stuff now. Removals of illegal immigrants on top.
We've got to start breaking this stuff down. It's got too bad and gone too far.
(Nearly) everyone is in favour of deporting illegal immigrants, the contentious question has been who decides if they are illegal? Farage, Suella, the Daily Mail, or the courts?
The problem for the courts are lack of funding and poorly written legislation. Both primarily down to the populists who have destroyed their once Conservative party.
You're asking a forum that mostly agreed that shopkeepers should be legally allowed to shot dead anyone they think is a shoplifter.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Shall we return to your intra-bubble predictions for these elex?
Very happy to. My belief in the essential depth, humanity, intelligence and empathy of the British People lead me to wonder whether they really would come out and vote Reform. And they did.
As I said, one swallow doesn't a Leon's travel anecdote make, but it would be the first time that voters have voted specifically for (ie against) immigration. Hence I'm interested in turnout and absolute numbers.
Eh? The turnout for the referendum was massive, and that was a vote against immigration
Yes true that was a vote against immigration. Not by any Brexiter on here, mind, but yes it was.
I said it was about immigration about a thousand times!
Yes, it quite obviously was, but many Brexiteers on here deny it.
Ironic that the ramping up of non-EU immigration was by the same government that implemented Brexit, and that the numbers are dropping rapidly under the party that opposed Brexit.
The part of the immigration debate that never happens (it seems the actual subject is perpetually debated) is the economic and social costs of stopping or reversing it.
Labour figures fear more Gaza independent gains at the locals on Thursday
My dispatch from Burnley, where one candidate challenging Labour wants to end “free mixing” between men and women
I sincerely hope this is a joke/racist lie/otherwise not true.
Because if this is true, it is deeply, deeply disturbing.
It's true, and that won't be the first rude awakening you'll have about the direction of politics in multicultural Britain:
Maheen Kamran, 18, an aspiring medical student, is standing as an independent for Burnley Central East. She was motivated to enter politics by the war in Gaza, where she believes a “genocide” is taking place.
Kamran told PoliticsHome she wanted to improve school standards, public cleanliness and encourage public spaces to end “free mixing” between men and women.
“There’s a big aspect of free mixing,” she said. “Muslim women aren’t really comfortable with being involved with Muslim men. I'm sure we can have segregated areas, segregated gyms, where Muslim women don't have to sacrifice their health.”
She has a point.
A lot of gyms run women only sessions already, and it seems legal under the Equality Act if considered a proportionate action for a legitimate goal.
The quote alone doesn't clarify her views:
Sex segregated gyms should be available - no problem, not even unusual already Gyms should be automatically sex segregated - problematic
And with many thousands of councillors it is inevitable some hold problematic views anyway, that is part of democracy. If a major party decided to run on mandatory sex segregation of gyms, which they wont, that would be getting scary.
If a gym wants to be purely single sex, then why shouldn't it be, if it's their free commercial decision to do so?
Obviously a councillor cannot mandate it for all gyms.
Quite a few women prefer single sex sessions or facilities.
61% of women gym goers according to a yahoo survey. And there were at least 73 such gyms by 2022, expect it is closer to the hundred mark by now.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Yes. She has herself corrected it on Twitter and admitted that it is just assumptions she is making about people:
In The Kitchen - Activist🐝 so this blew up. To clarify nothing happened that was against the rules to cast a vote (which in itself may be the problem) when i said 'told to who to vote for by family', that is my assumption, or else why would one who cannot read or speak a language turn up to vote and know how or who to vote for. I have assumed that they have been instructed by someone. https://x.com/HaitchBee_/status/1918338158808424557
As someone has replied: cbagirl People like you have a lot of assumptions. Maybe just assume that they get the media in their language, they live in the community they are voting for and have these political discussions with their friends and family - like English speaking people do https://x.com/allthemm1/status/1918340564153430332
Discussing SUDS incorporation in cycle infrastructure, I reckon.
More Johnson's legacy imo. Or perhaps we say both since one begat the other.
Cameron, his initial mistake begat Johnson
Cameron's initial mistake was aping Blair and not unrolling his legacy.
Thats why the country is in the shit.
We can surely go further back to Wilson devaluing the pound. And before that, Suez.
No we've had the Tird Way bollocks for 30 years or so. Parties have lost their deficed positions and the differences are marginal. Now we've run out of money and the country is tied up in legal knots. Cameron made that worse and lost the Conservatives distinctness. Everyone is crowded in the middle and the voters are looking for something different.
Well they need to embrace redistribution of wealth and opportunity then. Make leveling up more than a slogan. The idea we can be an outlier for growth is a fantasy imo. All a Reform government will do is combine economic disappointment with cultural stagnation.
The fun thing is we have absolutely no idea who would be in a Reform government, beyond Farage and maybe Tice as Chancellor. In fact, not even Farage has any idea. Voters would be asked to cast their ballots entirely blind. That may become an issue the closer to a GE we get.
Labour figures fear more Gaza independent gains at the locals on Thursday
My dispatch from Burnley, where one candidate challenging Labour wants to end “free mixing” between men and women
I sincerely hope this is a joke/racist lie/otherwise not true.
Because if this is true, it is deeply, deeply disturbing.
It's true, and that won't be the first rude awakening you'll have about the direction of politics in multicultural Britain:
Maheen Kamran, 18, an aspiring medical student, is standing as an independent for Burnley Central East. She was motivated to enter politics by the war in Gaza, where she believes a “genocide” is taking place.
Kamran told PoliticsHome she wanted to improve school standards, public cleanliness and encourage public spaces to end “free mixing” between men and women.
“There’s a big aspect of free mixing,” she said. “Muslim women aren’t really comfortable with being involved with Muslim men. I'm sure we can have segregated areas, segregated gyms, where Muslim women don't have to sacrifice their health.”
She has a point.
A lot of gyms run women only sessions already, and it seems legal under the Equality Act if considered a proportionate action for a legitimate goal.
The quote alone doesn't clarify her views:
Sex segregated gyms should be available - no problem, not even unusual already Gyms should be automatically sex segregated - problematic
And with many thousands of councillors it is inevitable some hold problematic views anyway, that is part of democracy. If a major party decided to run on mandatory sex segregation of gyms, which they wont, that would be getting scary.
If a gym wants to be purely single sex, then why shouldn't it be, if it's their free commercial decision to do so?
Obviously a councillor cannot mandate it for all gyms.
Quite a few women prefer single sex sessions or facilities.
Agree - that's the difference; is it voluntary or compulsory?
Single sex gyms are everywhere, and have been for a long time.
Labour figures fear more Gaza independent gains at the locals on Thursday Go tel My dispatch from Burnley, where one candidate challenging Labour wants to end “free mixing” between men and women
I sincerely hope this is a joke/racist lie/otherwise not true.
Because if this is true, it is deeply, deeply disturbing.
It's true, and that won't be the first rude awakening you'll have about the direction of politics in multicultural Britain:
Maheen Kamran, 18, an aspiring medical student, is standing as an independent for Burnley Central East. She was motivated to enter politics by the war in Gaza, where she believes a “genocide” is taking place.
Kamran told PoliticsHome she wanted to improve school standards, public cleanliness and encourage public spaces to end “free mixing” between men and women.
“There’s a big aspect of free mixing,” she said. “Muslim women aren’t really comfortable with being involved with Muslim men. I'm sure we can have segregated areas, segregated gyms, where Muslim women don't have to sacrifice their health.”
You say its true, but then provide a quote without a source, which is quite possibly made-up bullshit scraped from Twitter made for and shared by the gullible.
If true its a disgrace, but that's a big if.
It is true
“Ladies, welcome! Kindly stand in the coned-off section of the car park.”
Maheen Kamran, 18, candidate in Burnley Central East, wants to end ‘free mixing’ in public.
Segregation is the norm at this BBQ at Cheadle Masjid last weekend but will such values reshape general British life?"
This is what YOU WANT with your desire for open border and mass endless immigration
No it's what I want FROM A DEMOCRACY. People with ideas that you personally detest get elected because sufficient people vote for them. The vast majority of elected councillors don't want to end free mixing in public so it will never happen, that's also democracy.
Just like we will never have a blasphemy law right? Why don't you tell that to the teacher in Batley
You people are beyond helping. You are so dumb you are willing your own demise
... we don't have a blasphemy law. And Starmer shot it down at PMQs, if not quite as forcefully as I would have liked.
I don't think we should ban people from discussing one though. Free speech, innit.
7 Reform majority councils, a few others Reform minority control, others have Reform now as the opposition group.
Not a single one of these councillors were elected before yesterday. Hopefully some of them will have been councillors previous with other parties - or at least have an idea of how this works., Because otherwise we have people coming in off the street and being put in charge of major employers who are critically short of cash and literally have people's lives in their hands.
Farage is a successful campaigner but UKIP / Reform have not been in govt, UKIP did win control of Thanet council in 2015, splintered over Manston in 2018 and get wiped out in 2019. Successful political campaigner but not until he's been in government not a successful politician.
Until recently I would have doubted whether he actually wanted power but something seems to have changed now he's sensed that it's possible to win.
That was Farage's hope - two mayoralties plus Runcorn, and a lot of councillors
He's got everything he hoped, and, I suspect, far more councillors than he dreamed
The most reassuring thing about today is your relentless shilling for the extremists. Given your track record, it’s now just a matter of time…
"Extremism" is such a loaded term because it seeks to define your own beliefs as the sensible middle ground, even when they are extreme by historical standards.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
And even she criticises Jenkyns's let them sleep in tents comment.
I'd support banning first cousin marriage and an end to "it's their own culture" stuff now. Removals of illegal immigrants on top.
We've got to start breaking this stuff down. It's got too bad and gone too far.
(Nearly) everyone is in favour of deporting illegal immigrants, the contentious question has been who decides if they are illegal? Farage, Suella, the Daily Mail, or the courts?
The problem for the courts are lack of funding and poorly written legislation. Both primarily down to the populists who have destroyed their once Conservative party.
You're asking a forum that mostly agreed that shopkeepers should be legally allowed to shot dead anyone they think is a shoplifter.
Not asking anyone, trying to point out that there are often shared aims (removing illegal immigrants) but in politics we talk past each other and forget that. We are already seeing Labour deporting more illegal immigrants than the Tories were despite being quieter and more "reasonable" about it. I strongly suspect that is the more efficient way.
7 Reform majority councils, a few others Reform minority control, others have Reform now as the opposition group.
Not a single one of these councillors were elected before yesterday. Hopefully some of them will have been councillors previous with other parties - or at least have an idea of how this works., Because otherwise we have people coming in off the street and being put in charge of major employers who are critically short of cash and literally have people's lives in their hands.
nah, we got the nigel farage fan club in charge now. it's gonna be mayhem and plenty of tears before bedtime i expect
Said before but there is no doubt that the winter fuel allowance means testing has played a large part in where Labour find themselves and the rise of Reform. It’s this government’s original sin and comes up in almost every single focus group.
It is indeed a stunning performance by Reform UK. The LibDems were unlucky to miss out on control of 2 councils by tiny margins (Devon, Gloucestershire), but can be very happy overall.
The "big two" are flattered in the mayoral results. Holds for Labour in three close mayoral contests makes up for a big drop in councillor numbers. The Tories gaining the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayor gives them something to celebrate amid the devastation, although their gain is more to do with switching to FPTP!
Good to see now two LibDem council gains, and both places where I’ve stood for the party previously! Clearly the work I put in at the time, a quarter of a century ago, has paid off.
More Johnson's legacy imo. Or perhaps we say both since one begat the other.
Cameron, his initial mistake begat Johnson
Cameron's initial mistake was aping Blair and not unrolling his legacy.
Thats why the country is in the shit.
We can surely go further back to Wilson devaluing the pound. And before that, Suez.
No we've had the Tird Way bollocks for 30 years or so. Parties have lost their deficed positions and the differences are marginal. Now we've run out of money and the country is tied up in legal knots. Cameron made that worse and lost the Conservatives distinctness. Everyone is crowded in the middle and the voters are looking for something different.
Well they need to embrace redistribution of wealth and opportunity then. Make leveling up more than a slogan. The idea we can be an outlier for growth is a fantasy imo. All a Reform government will do is combine economic disappointment with cultural stagnation.
The fun thing is we have absolutely no idea who would be in a Reform government, beyond Farage and maybe Tice as Chancellor. In fact, not even Farage has any idea. Voters would be asked to cast their ballots entirely blind. That may become an issue the closer to a GE we get.
It’s not inconceivable that he puts together a “shadow” team in time.
I wouldn’t expect him to do it any earlier than a few months out of a GE, because it attracts more scrutiny than he likes. He doesn’t want his plans blowing up because the person he’s tapped for education secretary makes some nutty comment on the news.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
And even she criticises Jenkyns's let them sleep in tents comment.
I'd support banning first cousin marriage and an end to "it's their own culture" stuff now. Removals of illegal immigrants on top.
We've got to start breaking this stuff down. It's got too bad and gone too far.
(Nearly) everyone is in favour of deporting illegal immigrants, the contentious question has been who decides if they are illegal? Farage, Suella, the Daily Mail, or the courts?
The problem for the courts are lack of funding and poorly written legislation. Both primarily down to the populists who have destroyed their once Conservative party.
Fund them. Rewrite the legislation. Suspend the treaties. Boot them out.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Shall we return to your intra-bubble predictions for these elex?
Very happy to. My belief in the essential depth, humanity, intelligence and empathy of the British People lead me to wonder whether they really would come out and vote Reform. And they did.
As I said, one swallow doesn't a Leon's travel anecdote make, but it would be the first time that voters have voted specifically for (ie against) immigration. Hence I'm interested in turnout and absolute numbers.
Eh? The turnout for the referendum was massive, and that was a vote against immigration
Yes true that was a vote against immigration. Not by any Brexiter on here, mind, but yes it was.
I said it was about immigration about a thousand times!
Yes, it quite obviously was, but many Brexiteers on here deny it.
Ironic that the ramping up of non-EU immigration was by the same government that implemented Brexit, and that the numbers are dropping rapidly under the party that opposed Brexit.
The part of the immigration debate that never happens (it seems the actual subject is perpetually debated) is the economic and social costs of stopping or reversing it.
In Durham, Nigel Farage tells council staff to look for other jobs
Says those working on climate change, diversity or even just from home - "You all better be seeking alternative careers very, very quickly".
Britain Trump, or Britain Musk? TBD. Not really a Vance character.
Whilst I hate Farage, there does need to be some sorting of priorities in councils. Non-jobs that have big salaries and massively expensive pensions mean that essential services (such as SEND) end up being cut or council tax being raised. Efficiencies in local government are long overdue. Not sure the swivel-eyed nutters have the intellectual bandwidth to achieve it though.
How many areas are there where there is both a Reform County Council, and a Reform Mayor?
That is where we will see the outworking in major policy areas such as Transport and Education, District Councils being responsible for just a fraction of expenditure.
7 Reform majority councils, a few others Reform minority control, others have Reform now as the opposition group.
Not a single one of these councillors were elected before yesterday. Hopefully some of them will have been councillors previous with other parties - or at least have an idea of how this works., Because otherwise we have people coming in off the street and being put in charge of major employers who are critically short of cash and literally have people's lives in their hands.
Yeh. I am extremely concerned about this as a major user of council services via social services.
I suspect we are going to see a lot of mini-Musks running around playing at chainsawing every service they can get near to be honest.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
And even she criticises Jenkyns's let them sleep in tents comment.
I'd support banning first cousin marriage and an end to "it's their own culture" stuff now. Removals of illegal immigrants on top.
We've got to start breaking this stuff down. It's got too bad and gone too far.
(Nearly) everyone is in favour of deporting illegal immigrants, the contentious question has been who decides if they are illegal? Farage, Suella, the Daily Mail, or the courts?
The problem for the courts are lack of funding and poorly written legislation. Both primarily down to the populists who have destroyed their once Conservative party.
You're asking a forum that mostly agreed that shopkeepers should be legally allowed to shot dead anyone they think is a shoplifter.
And you @Phil@bondegezou are total Liberal idiots who wouldn't see any issue if you were the last ones in the bunker with a plastic water pistol (you'd never have the courage to use an actual gun) as the hordes came for you.
It is indeed a stunning performance by Reform UK. The LibDems were unlucky to miss out on control of 2 councils by tiny margins (Devon, Gloucestershire), but can be very happy overall.
The "big two" are flattered in the mayoral results. Holds for Labour in three close mayoral contests makes up for a big drop in councillor numbers. The Tories gaining the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayor gives them something to celebrate amid the devastation, although their gain is more to do with switching to FPTP!
Good to see now two LibDem council gains, and both places where I’ve stood for the party previously! Clearly the work I put in at the time, a quarter of a century ago, has paid off.
Cambs and Oxon majority control. Herts NOC from Con. likely LD led Glocs NOC from Con. likely LD led Devon NOC from Con. LD led Wilts. NOC from Con. likely LD led
How many areas are there where there is both a Reform County Council, and a Reform Mayor?
That is where we will see the outworking in major policy areas such as Transport and Education, District Councils being responsible for just a fraction of expenditure.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Shall we return to your intra-bubble predictions for these elex?
Very happy to. My belief in the essential depth, humanity, intelligence and empathy of the British People lead me to wonder whether they really would come out and vote Reform. And they did.
As I said, one swallow doesn't a Leon's travel anecdote make, but it would be the first time that voters have voted specifically for (ie against) immigration. Hence I'm interested in turnout and absolute numbers.
Eh? The turnout for the referendum was massive, and that was a vote against immigration
Yes true that was a vote against immigration. Not by any Brexiter on here, mind, but yes it was.
I said it was about immigration about a thousand times!
Yes, it quite obviously was, but many Brexiteers on here deny it.
Ironic that the ramping up of non-EU immigration was by the same government that implemented Brexit, and that the numbers are dropping rapidly under the party that opposed Brexit.
The part of the immigration debate that never happens (it seems the actual subject is perpetually debated) is the economic and social costs of stopping or reversing it.
or perhaps the reality of swapping culturally aligned Europeans with less culturally aligned non-Europeans
7 Reform majority councils, a few others Reform minority control, others have Reform now as the opposition group.
Not a single one of these councillors were elected before yesterday. Hopefully some of them will have been councillors previous with other parties - or at least have an idea of how this works., Because otherwise we have people coming in off the street and being put in charge of major employers who are critically short of cash and literally have people's lives in their hands.
A significant majority of Reform Councillors already in post were defectors from other parties, so there is at least that experience.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Shall we return to your intra-bubble predictions for these elex?
Very happy to. My belief in the essential depth, humanity, intelligence and empathy of the British People lead me to wonder whether they really would come out and vote Reform. And they did.
As I said, one swallow doesn't a Leon's travel anecdote make, but it would be the first time that voters have voted specifically for (ie against) immigration. Hence I'm interested in turnout and absolute numbers.
Don't beat yourself up. Plenty of talented pundits made that same mistake about the American electorate. You'll bounce back.
Said before but there is no doubt that the winter fuel allowance means testing has played a large part in where Labour find themselves and the rise of Reform. It’s this government’s original sin and comes up in almost every single focus group.
In Durham, Nigel Farage tells council staff to look for other jobs
Says those working on climate change, diversity or even just from home - "You all better be seeking alternative careers very, very quickly".
Britain Trump, or Britain Musk? TBD. Not really a Vance character.
Whilst I hate Farage, there does need to be some sorting of priorities in councils. Non-jobs that have big salaries and massively expensive pensions mean that essential services (such as SEND) end up being cut or council tax being raised. Efficiencies in local government are long overdue. Not sure the swivel-eyed nutters have the intellectual bandwidth to achieve it though.
It'll be interesting to see if Reform end up having a major policy of reforming local gov finance for their 2028 GE run after these newbies have all seen close up what a shitshow the finance base is.
Said before but there is no doubt that the winter fuel allowance means testing has played a large part in where Labour find themselves and the rise of Reform. It’s this government’s original sin and comes up in almost every single focus group.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Yes. She has herself corrected it on Twitter and admitted that it is just assumptions she is making about people:
In The Kitchen - Activist🐝 so this blew up. To clarify nothing happened that was against the rules to cast a vote (which in itself may be the problem) when i said 'told to who to vote for by family', that is my assumption, or else why would one who cannot read or speak a language turn up to vote and know how or who to vote for. I have assumed that they have been instructed by someone. https://x.com/HaitchBee_/status/1918338158808424557
As someone has replied: cbagirl People like you have a lot of assumptions. Maybe just assume that they get the media in their language, they live in the community they are voting for and have these political discussions with their friends and family - like English speaking people do https://x.com/allthemm1/status/1918340564153430332
My wife, not very politically engaged, asked me who to vote for to stop the Tory or Reform candidate winning in Sidders. LibDem, I told her. So she voted for them. And the LibDems won!
Said before but there is no doubt that the winter fuel allowance means testing has played a large part in where Labour find themselves and the rise of Reform. It’s this government’s original sin and comes up in almost every single focus group.
I'll say it again. Reeves and her axing of WFA has been a political disaster and today is the end result.
The political cost/benefit on that decision must make it one of the worst policies ever.
I'm all for new governments pushing ahead with their program, irrespective of popularity, or they'd never get anything done. But the massive expenditure of capital on something of such minor economic consequence was just ridiculous.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
And even she criticises Jenkyns's let them sleep in tents comment.
I'd support banning first cousin marriage and an end to "it's their own culture" stuff now. Removals of illegal immigrants on top.
We've got to start breaking this stuff down. It's got too bad and gone too far.
(Nearly) everyone is in favour of deporting illegal immigrants, the contentious question has been who decides if they are illegal? Farage, Suella, the Daily Mail, or the courts?
The problem for the courts are lack of funding and poorly written legislation. Both primarily down to the populists who have destroyed their once Conservative party.
It's not difficult, any non-citizen who is here without permission from the government either with a work permit, residency or visa. Everyone else should be deported.
Farage is a successful campaigner but UKIP / Reform have not been in govt, UKIP did win control of Thanet council in 2015, splintered over Manston in 2018 and get wiped out in 2019. Successful political campaigner but not until he's been in government not a successful politician.
Until recently I would have doubted whether he actually wanted power but something seems to have changed now he's sensed that it's possible to win.
That was Farage's hope - two mayoralties plus Runcorn, and a lot of councillors
He's got everything he hoped, and, I suspect, far more councillors than he dreamed
The most reassuring thing about today is your relentless shilling for the extremists. Given your track record, it’s now just a matter of time…
"Extremism" is such a loaded term because it seeks to define your own beliefs as the sensible middle ground, even when they are extreme by historical standards.
I would have thought you would revel in the description.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Yes. She has herself corrected it on Twitter and admitted that it is just assumptions she is making about people:
In The Kitchen - Activist🐝 so this blew up. To clarify nothing happened that was against the rules to cast a vote (which in itself may be the problem) when i said 'told to who to vote for by family', that is my assumption, or else why would one who cannot read or speak a language turn up to vote and know how or who to vote for. I have assumed that they have been instructed by someone. https://x.com/HaitchBee_/status/1918338158808424557
As someone has replied: cbagirl People like you have a lot of assumptions. Maybe just assume that they get the media in their language, they live in the community they are voting for and have these political discussions with their friends and family - like English speaking people do https://x.com/allthemm1/status/1918340564153430332
My wife, not very politically engaged, asked me who to vote for to stop the Tory or Reform candidate winning in Sidders. LibDem, I told her. So she voted for them. And the LibDems won!
More Johnson's legacy imo. Or perhaps we say both since one begat the other.
Cameron, his initial mistake begat Johnson
Cameron's initial mistake was aping Blair and not unrolling his legacy.
Thats why the country is in the shit.
We can surely go further back to Wilson devaluing the pound. And before that, Suez.
No we've had the Tird Way bollocks for 30 years or so. Parties have lost their deficed positions and the differences are marginal. Now we've run out of money and the country is tied up in legal knots. Cameron made that worse and lost the Conservatives distinctness. Everyone is crowded in the middle and the voters are looking for something different.
Well they need to embrace redistribution of wealth and opportunity then. Make leveling up more than a slogan. The idea we can be an outlier for growth is a fantasy imo. All a Reform government will do is combine economic disappointment with cultural stagnation.
The fun thing is we have absolutely no idea who would be in a Reform government, beyond Farage and maybe Tice as Chancellor. In fact, not even Farage has any idea. Voters would be asked to cast their ballots entirely blind. That may become an issue the closer to a GE we get.
It’s not inconceivable that he puts together a “shadow” team in time.
I wouldn’t expect him to do it any earlier than a few months out of a GE, because it attracts more scrutiny than he likes. He doesn’t want his plans blowing up because the person he’s tapped for education secretary makes some nutty comment on the news.
Yep, he'll have to do that but it will be quite a task. He'll need to find the right people for the right constituencies. You don't want to be putting up a lot of ex-Tories in the North East, for example. This is the kind of tedious hard raft that Farage has always avoided, so it may well be outsourced - with all the issues that might cause.
7 Reform majority councils, a few others Reform minority control, others have Reform now as the opposition group.
Not a single one of these councillors were elected before yesterday. Hopefully some of them will have been councillors previous with other parties - or at least have an idea of how this works., Because otherwise we have people coming in off the street and being put in charge of major employers who are critically short of cash and literally have people's lives in their hands.
Yeh. I am extremely concerned about this as a major user of council services via social services.
I suspect we are going to see a lot of mini-Musks running around playing at chainsawing every service they can get near to be honest.
Wannabee Mini-Musks no doubt... but County Councils are a lot more constrained than the US Federal Government. Service provision is quite bound by legal obligations, and council officers form a permanent civil service who cannot readily be disposed of. Quite apart from the fact that new RefUK councillors will love the idea of cuts in principle... but not to anything that will have the residents on their backs, which in practice covers most things.
A lot of senior council officers will be brushing up on their "Yes, Minister" and I suspect this will all be a bit of a damp squib in terms of impact. Don't get me wrong... I'm doubtful that RefUK will run these local authorities well, but the scope to go wild is somewhat limited in this area.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Yawn. This talking point has been trotted out by the far right since the 1970s. It's also said about whichever immigrant group is bothering them at any given time.
Even before that. A good Aktion T4 will stop the handicapped from voting.
In Durham, Nigel Farage tells council staff to look for other jobs
Says those working on climate change, diversity or even just from home - "You all better be seeking alternative careers very, very quickly".
Those savings are crumbs but will make good headlines in the local papers for the gullible to feed on .
When you consider that one pound in every four goes on council staff pensions, one can see that a reduction in the number of unnecessary staff might be more than crumbs.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Yes. She has herself corrected it on Twitter and admitted that it is just assumptions she is making about people:
In The Kitchen - Activist🐝 so this blew up. To clarify nothing happened that was against the rules to cast a vote (which in itself may be the problem) when i said 'told to who to vote for by family', that is my assumption, or else why would one who cannot read or speak a language turn up to vote and know how or who to vote for. I have assumed that they have been instructed by someone. https://x.com/HaitchBee_/status/1918338158808424557
As someone has replied: cbagirl People like you have a lot of assumptions. Maybe just assume that they get the media in their language, they live in the community they are voting for and have these political discussions with their friends and family - like English speaking people do https://x.com/allthemm1/status/1918340564153430332
My wife, not very politically engaged, asked me who to vote for to stop the Tory or Reform candidate winning in Sidders. LibDem, I told her. So she voted for them. And the LibDems won!
Blimey, by one vote? lol
No, it was quite easy - around a 400 majority. Reform took a load from the Tories. And Sidmouth turned yellow, just as it did in the GE. The LibDems are going to be very hard to move now.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
And even she criticises Jenkyns's let them sleep in tents comment.
I'd support banning first cousin marriage and an end to "it's their own culture" stuff now. Removals of illegal immigrants on top.
We've got to start breaking this stuff down. It's got too bad and gone too far.
(Nearly) everyone is in favour of deporting illegal immigrants, the contentious question has been who decides if they are illegal? Farage, Suella, the Daily Mail, or the courts?
The problem for the courts are lack of funding and poorly written legislation. Both primarily down to the populists who have destroyed their once Conservative party.
You're asking a forum that mostly agreed that shopkeepers should be legally allowed to shot dead anyone they think is a shoplifter.
And you @Phil@bondegezou are total Liberal idiots who wouldn't see any issue if you were the last ones in the bunker with a plastic water pistol (you'd never have the courage to use an actual gun) as the hordes came for you.
If there really were hordes, I’d get a real gun. But I’m not about to arm myself against mobs that only exist in your imagination. I’m not the kind of right-winger who would have tried to keep Jews out of Britain even after Kristallnacht. This country is made stronger by the arrival of talented immigrants. I’ve worked alongside people who made London their home and was genuinely proud to see some of them become British citizens. As far as I’m concerned, they’re every bit as British as I am.
Farage is a successful campaigner but UKIP / Reform have not been in govt, UKIP did win control of Thanet council in 2015, splintered over Manston in 2018 and get wiped out in 2019. Successful political campaigner but not until he's been in government not a successful politician.
Until recently I would have doubted whether he actually wanted power but something seems to have changed now he's sensed that it's possible to win.
That was Farage's hope - two mayoralties plus Runcorn, and a lot of councillors
He's got everything he hoped, and, I suspect, far more councillors than he dreamed
The most reassuring thing about today is your relentless shilling for the extremists. Given your track record, it’s now just a matter of time…
Explain again how Nigel Farage is a “useless politician.” lol
In Durham, Nigel Farage tells council staff to look for other jobs
Says those working on climate change, diversity or even just from home - "You all better be seeking alternative careers very, very quickly".
This is exactly why I could never vote Reform. It's one thing to suggest that councils aren't prioritising their spending and staffing properly. It's another thing to try and whip up hatred against people who had the temerity to fill an advertised vacancy and adhere to their employment terms.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Shall we return to your intra-bubble predictions for these elex?
Very happy to. My belief in the essential depth, humanity, intelligence and empathy of the British People lead me to wonder whether they really would come out and vote Reform. And they did.
As I said, one swallow doesn't a Leon's travel anecdote make, but it would be the first time that voters have voted specifically for (ie against) immigration. Hence I'm interested in turnout and absolute numbers.
Eh? The turnout for the referendum was massive, and that was a vote against immigration
Yes true that was a vote against immigration. Not by any Brexiter on here, mind, but yes it was.
I said it was about immigration about a thousand times!
Yes you did and I agree with you but every (other) Brexiter on here swore blind it was about straight bananas.
Not to try to wriggle out of this - a large number of people did indeed vote for controls on immigration via the EURef. But....why didn't they then vote for a low immigration party in 2024. Why on earth would they give a stonking majority to a party which is known for its lax views on increased immigration.
These council elections are directly about who governs us so that's why I think it possible to make a distinction.
Fewer people voted for that party with lax views on immigration than they did for the previous two elections, but they were pledging to be tough on immigration, and Tory voters were fed up with Tories
Reform's vote yesterday is more or less a vote for NOTA, fronted by the country's most charismatic politician. Let's hope they do well
Labour figures fear more Gaza independent gains at the locals on Thursday
My dispatch from Burnley, where one candidate challenging Labour wants to end “free mixing” between men and women
So not in favour of unisex toilets, I suspect...
Women's safe spaces taken a step too far for some.
It's what is known in Woke circles as Intersectionality.
Single sex spaces when foughtfor by middle aged, middle class women is fine and dandy, but woe and pearl clutching when young Muslim women argue for it.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
And even she criticises Jenkyns's let them sleep in tents comment.
I'd support banning first cousin marriage and an end to "it's their own culture" stuff now. Removals of illegal immigrants on top.
We've got to start breaking this stuff down. It's got too bad and gone too far.
(Nearly) everyone is in favour of deporting illegal immigrants, the contentious question has been who decides if they are illegal? Farage, Suella, the Daily Mail, or the courts?
The problem for the courts are lack of funding and poorly written legislation. Both primarily down to the populists who have destroyed their once Conservative party.
You're asking a forum that mostly agreed that shopkeepers should be legally allowed to shot dead anyone they think is a shoplifter.
And you @Phil@bondegezou are total Liberal idiots who wouldn't see any issue if you were the last ones in the bunker with a plastic water pistol (you'd never have the courage to use an actual gun) as the hordes came for you.
I used to do competitive shooting, albeit at school a long time ago, so I suspect I would be of more use in this hypothetical bunker than you, Casino!
I support deporting illegal immigrants. (OK, I don’t think minor infractions of visa rules should necessarily lead to deportation. Someone who’s a week late on some paperwork, for example.) I am glad Labour are deporting more people than the previous government, which combined inflammatory rhetoric with complete incompetence at actually doing anything.
It is concerning that some on the radical right, when they talk about “illegals immigrants”, don’t mean illegal immigrants, they mean brown people they don’t like the look of. We can see this playing out in the US, where a 4-year old US citizen receiving cancer treatment ends up on a plane to Central America.
Wiltshire and Cornwall: probably LIB minorities (well-hung).
Of the others where a full picture isn’t ready yet, North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire are looking like REF/CON. If LDs fall short in Shropshire it will probably be LIB/GREEN. Doncaster is looking like majority REF at the moment.
Edit: oh and Bucks would typically look to be CON/LIB historically on that result (if CON don’t get a majority), but still a few seats to come, and I am not sure in the current climate how viable such a pairing will be this time out.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Shall we return to your intra-bubble predictions for these elex?
Very happy to. My belief in the essential depth, humanity, intelligence and empathy of the British People lead me to wonder whether they really would come out and vote Reform. And they did.
As I said, one swallow doesn't a Leon's travel anecdote make, but it would be the first time that voters have voted specifically for (ie against) immigration. Hence I'm interested in turnout and absolute numbers.
Eh? The turnout for the referendum was massive, and that was a vote against immigration
Yes true that was a vote against immigration. Not by any Brexiter on here, mind, but yes it was.
I said it was about immigration about a thousand times!
Yes, it quite obviously was, but many Brexiteers on here deny it.
Ironic that the ramping up of non-EU immigration was by the same government that implemented Brexit, and that the numbers are dropping rapidly under the party that opposed Brexit.
The part of the immigration debate that never happens (it seems the actual subject is perpetually debated) is the economic and social costs of stopping or reversing it.
or perhaps the reality of swapping culturally aligned Europeans with less culturally aligned non-Europeans
Of course! Chatting to the delightful kenyan carer at my grandfather's care home last week, I couldn't help but think how a Romanian big issue seller and her pimp would have been better additions to the country. More culturally aligned, you see.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
And even she criticises Jenkyns's let them sleep in tents comment.
I'd support banning first cousin marriage and an end to "it's their own culture" stuff now. Removals of illegal immigrants on top.
We've got to start breaking this stuff down. It's got too bad and gone too far.
(Nearly) everyone is in favour of deporting illegal immigrants, the contentious question has been who decides if they are illegal? Farage, Suella, the Daily Mail, or the courts?
The problem for the courts are lack of funding and poorly written legislation. Both primarily down to the populists who have destroyed their once Conservative party.
You're asking a forum that mostly agreed that shopkeepers should be legally allowed to shot dead anyone they think is a shoplifter.
And you @Phil@bondegezou are total Liberal idiots who wouldn't see any issue if you were the last ones in the bunker with a plastic water pistol (you'd never have the courage to use an actual gun) as the hordes came for you.
If there really were hordes, I’d get a real gun. But I’m not about to arm myself against mobs that only exist in your imagination. I’m not the kind of right-winger who would have tried to keep Jews out of Britain even after Kristallnacht. This country is made stronger by the arrival of talented immigrants. I’ve worked alongside people who made London their home and was genuinely proud to see some of them become British citizens. As far as I’m concerned, they’re every bit as British as I am.
And when the sectarian Islamic party wins power you'll be telling us all about how you weren't a racist and how we were all wrong to oppose the Islamification of the UK (and Europe).
More Johnson's legacy imo. Or perhaps we say both since one begat the other.
Cameron, his initial mistake begat Johnson
Cameron's initial mistake was aping Blair and not unrolling his legacy.
Thats why the country is in the shit.
We can surely go further back to Wilson devaluing the pound. And before that, Suez.
No we've had the Tird Way bollocks for 30 years or so. Parties have lost their deficed positions and the differences are marginal. Now we've run out of money and the country is tied up in legal knots. Cameron made that worse and lost the Conservatives distinctness. Everyone is crowded in the middle and the voters are looking for something different.
Well they need to embrace redistribution of wealth and opportunity then. Make leveling up more than a slogan. The idea we can be an outlier for growth is a fantasy imo. All a Reform government will do is combine economic disappointment with cultural stagnation.
The fun thing is we have absolutely no idea who would be in a Reform government, beyond Farage and maybe Tice as Chancellor. In fact, not even Farage has any idea. Voters would be asked to cast their ballots entirely blind. That may become an issue the closer to a GE we get.
I think it will. Farage is shrewd though. He'll be doing all he can to raise his ceiling. Prepare for Cuddly Nige. Plain speaking, likes a joke, heart of gold.
A fairly terrifying thread. Worth reading the whole thing
"I've just finished working for the local elections and i tell you, England is finished. The impoverished area i worked in, the Somali and Pakistani inhabitants were organised. With many not able to speak or read English being told who to vote for by family. It was insane to me"
"The sheer amount eligible to vote that were neither born here, read English, write or understand English, having a say over how this country is governed. I saw too, foreign severely mentally incapacitated people with voting ballots being told who to vote for by presumably family."
Sorry let me just get this straight. Is this you not reading something on twitter and having an hysterical reaction to it.
Difficult to keep up.
Yes. She has herself corrected it on Twitter and admitted that it is just assumptions she is making about people:
In The Kitchen - Activist🐝 so this blew up. To clarify nothing happened that was against the rules to cast a vote (which in itself may be the problem) when i said 'told to who to vote for by family', that is my assumption, or else why would one who cannot read or speak a language turn up to vote and know how or who to vote for. I have assumed that they have been instructed by someone. https://x.com/HaitchBee_/status/1918338158808424557
As someone has replied: cbagirl People like you have a lot of assumptions. Maybe just assume that they get the media in their language, they live in the community they are voting for and have these political discussions with their friends and family - like English speaking people do https://x.com/allthemm1/status/1918340564153430332
My wife, not very politically engaged, asked me who to vote for to stop the Tory or Reform candidate winning in Sidders. LibDem, I told her. So she voted for them. And the LibDems won!
Blimey, by one vote? lol
No, it was quite easy - around a 400 majority. Reform took a load from the Tories. And Sidmouth turned yellow, just as it did in the GE. The LibDems are going to be very hard to move now.
I read an article about Sidmouth recently; incredible demographic. Have the Lib Dems have cornered the beige market?
Welcome to Sidmouth, where over-90s are having the time of their lives The Devon town has only 842 residents under 30 — and 1,100 over 80 — and yet somehow it works, thanks to a strong sense of community and plenty of willing volunteers
Comments
https://x.com/brexitblog_info/status/1918152125718380686?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
Sex segregated gyms should be available - no problem, not even unusual already
Gyms should be automatically sex segregated - problematic
And with many thousands of councillors it is inevitable some hold problematic views anyway, that is part of democracy. If a major party decided to run on mandatory sex segregation of gyms, which they wont, that would be getting scary.
As I said, one swallow doesn't a Leon's travel anecdote make, but it would be the first time that voters have voted specifically for (ie against) immigration. Hence I'm interested in turnout and absolute numbers.
“Ladies, welcome! Kindly stand in the coned-off section of the car park.”
Maheen Kamran, 18, candidate in Burnley Central East, wants to end ‘free mixing’ in public.
Segregation is the norm at this BBQ at Cheadle Masjid last weekend but will such values reshape general British life?"
https://x.com/sirwg202110/status/1917279944419258654
Victory confirmed here:
"And she's been elected"
https://x.com/NeilDotObrien/status/1918314726456721478
This is what YOU WANT with your desire for open border and mass endless immigration
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/articles/c1lm69gn56go
Reform have done very well, Labour exceptionally badly and the Tories have a bare few crumbs amidst an almost total wipe out.
I checked her hustory, she's not some mad neoNazi or Trumpite. She seems to be a centre right first wave young feminist, concerned about multicultural Britain going wrong. A Tory, but open minded
We've got to start breaking this stuff down. It's got too bad and gone too far.
You people are beyond helping. You are so dumb you are willing your own demise
Obviously a councillor cannot mandate it for all gyms.
Quite a few women prefer single sex sessions or facilities.
I think they'll hold off.
The problem for the courts are lack of funding and poorly written legislation. Both primarily down to the populists who have destroyed their once Conservative party.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yp8gee2peo
In The Kitchen - Activist🐝
so this blew up.
To clarify nothing happened that was against the rules to cast a vote (which in itself may be the problem)
when i said 'told to who to vote for by family', that is my assumption, or else why would one who cannot read or speak a language turn up to vote and know how or who to vote for. I have assumed that they have been instructed by someone.
https://x.com/HaitchBee_/status/1918338158808424557
As someone has replied:
cbagirl
People like you have a lot of assumptions. Maybe just assume that they get the media in their language, they live in the community they are voting for and have these political discussions with their friends and family - like English speaking people do
https://x.com/allthemm1/status/1918340564153430332
Not to try to wriggle out of this - a large number of people did indeed vote for controls on immigration via the EURef. But....why didn't they then vote for a low immigration party in 2024. Why on earth would they give a stonking majority to a party which is known for its lax views on increased immigration.
These council elections are directly about who governs us so that's why I think it possible to make a distinction.
@_katedevlin
In Durham, Nigel Farage tells council staff to look for other jobs
Says those working on climate change, diversity or even just from home - "You all better be seeking alternative careers very, very quickly".
Ironic that the ramping up of non-EU immigration was by the same government that implemented Brexit, and that the numbers are dropping rapidly under the party that opposed Brexit.
The part of the immigration debate that never happens (it seems the actual subject is perpetually debated) is the economic and social costs of stopping or reversing it.
https://uk.style.yahoo.com/gymtimidation-women-female-only-gym-work-out-154800949.html#:~:text=There are just 73 female,the nearest five miles out.
Single sex gyms are everywhere, and have been for a long time.
For example curves are a worldwide chain for women with 400 locations:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curves_International
I don't think we should ban people from discussing one though. Free speech, innit.
Not a single one of these councillors were elected before yesterday. Hopefully some of them will have been councillors previous with other parties - or at least have an idea of how this works., Because otherwise we have people coming in off the street and being put in charge of major employers who are critically short of cash and literally have people's lives in their hands.
@LukeTryl
Said before but there is no doubt that the winter fuel allowance means testing has played a large part in where Labour find themselves and the rise of Reform. It’s this government’s original sin and comes up in almost every single focus group.
https://x.com/LukeTryl/status/1918245930442072426
I'll say it again. Reeves and her axing of WFA has been a political disaster and today is the end result.
I wouldn’t expect him to do it any earlier than a few months out of a GE, because it attracts more scrutiny than he likes. He doesn’t want his plans blowing up because the person he’s tapped for education secretary makes some nutty comment on the news.
I am quite right-wing on this. Had enough.
Before the event.
That is where we will see the outworking in major policy areas such as Transport and Education, District Councils being responsible for just a fraction of expenditure.
I suspect we are going to see a lot of mini-Musks running around playing at chainsawing every service they can get near to be honest.
They post here
Herts NOC from Con. likely LD led
Glocs NOC from Con. likely LD led
Devon NOC from Con. LD led
Wilts. NOC from Con. likely LD led
Been a great election for us so far
Tired of their whining. Suck it up.
But what must be tremendous news for the King, Harry reveals he has forgiven him.
https://news.sky.com/story/prince-harry-says-he-wants-reconciliation-with-royal-family-but-says-king-wont-speak-to-me-13360011
I'm all for new governments pushing ahead with their program, irrespective of popularity, or they'd never get anything done. But the massive expenditure of capital on something of such minor economic consequence was just ridiculous.
lol
A lot of senior council officers will be brushing up on their "Yes, Minister" and I suspect this will all be a bit of a damp squib in terms of impact. Don't get me wrong... I'm doubtful that RefUK will run these local authorities well, but the scope to go wild is somewhat limited in this area.
A good Aktion T4 will stop the handicapped from voting.
Reform's vote yesterday is more or less a vote for NOTA, fronted by the country's most charismatic politician. Let's hope they do well
Single sex spaces when foughtfor by middle aged, middle class women is fine and dandy, but woe and pearl clutching when young Muslim women argue for it.
I support deporting illegal immigrants. (OK, I don’t think minor infractions of visa rules should necessarily lead to deportation. Someone who’s a week late on some paperwork, for example.) I am glad Labour are deporting more people than the previous government, which combined inflammatory rhetoric with complete incompetence at actually doing anything.
It is concerning that some on the radical right, when they talk about “illegals immigrants”, don’t mean illegal immigrants, they mean brown people they don’t like the look of. We can see this playing out in the US, where a 4-year old US citizen receiving cancer treatment ends up on a plane to Central America.
Northumberland: likely CON/REF
Leicestershire: likely REF/CON
Warwickshire: likely REF/CON
Worcestershire: likely REF/CON
Gloucestershire: likely LIB/GREEN (possibly LIB/LAB)
Devon: likely LIB/GREEN
Hertfordshire: Likely LIB/GREEN/LAB
Wiltshire and Cornwall: probably LIB minorities (well-hung).
Of the others where a full picture isn’t ready yet, North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire are looking like REF/CON. If LDs fall short in Shropshire it will probably be LIB/GREEN. Doncaster is looking like majority REF at the moment.
Edit: oh and Bucks would typically look to be CON/LIB historically on that result (if CON don’t get a majority), but still a few seats to come, and I am not sure in the current climate how viable such a pairing will be this time out.
Welcome to Sidmouth, where over-90s are having the time of their lives
The Devon town has only 842 residents under 30 — and 1,100 over 80 — and yet somehow it works, thanks to a strong sense of community and plenty of willing volunteers
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/society/article/welcome-to-sidmouth-where-over-90s-are-having-the-time-of-their-lives-pkl07sch6?msockid=1aae0b29d86069d029621e1ed9ff6889