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  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795

    Who did you vote for?

    Are you a hypocrite?
    I voted Corbyn in 2017. Like many others I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I voted Liberal in 2019, like many others I realised I was wrong to give him the benefit of the doubt in the previous poll.

    Check your facts before spreading untruths about others on here.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,715
    Taz said:

    I do hope we do not end up overrun with Palestinian protesters as a consequence of this during the campaign.

    It is just disgraceful how we are taken for granted like this. Utterly brazen.

    Kevan Jones told me on Facebook he was standing again and happy to do so. I do hope his standing down was not to enable this piece of crap to stand here. I didn't think it was due to his need for an operation. Would feel very let down if it was.
    Are you saying that on your doorstep Gaza isn't the most important issue.
  • OllyTOllyT Posts: 5,035
    edited May 2024

    Green Party Policies.

    • Renationalising our NHS
    • £70bn Wealth Tax
    • 500,000 Council Homes
    • £16 per hour min wage
    • Universal Basic Income
    • Rent Controls
    • Abolishing Tuition Fees
    • Recognition of Palestine
    • Free Secondary School Meals
    • Axe Two-Child Cap

    That's why I will Vote 💚

    You can promise what you like when you know that there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that you will ever be in a position to deliver it.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 24,280

    if you have all that on your plate, what the hell do you want to be an MP for ?
    He clearly doesn't want to be an MP, he switched to the LDs.....
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 5,173

    The £16 ph min wage on top of UBI is err, interesting.

    It really is young socialist workers manifesto, not a green party manifesto. Sad.
    It does sound like an invitation, on the face of it, for disappointed social democrats to stick with Ming Vase Labour. The cost of the state pension is enough of a bone of contention; imagine the colossal expense of replacing it with what amounts to the pension for *everybody*.

    It'll be fascinating to see whether they've tried to cost all this realistically in the manifesto...
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795
    Taz said:

    TRUSS
    Indeed so. Now you are getting somewhere.

    I wonder, like you, whether she could stage a scintillating comeback, perhaps capturing Truss-curious Lifelong Labour Voters like you in the process?

    All eyes on North Durham.
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,924
    Taz said:

    If they were going to impose a candidate on our area they could have, at least, had the decency to pick someone local with some local links or background rather than just take us for granted.
    I think this is one of the reasons for the fall of the Red Wall. A lot of constituencies were taken for granted and nothing ever improved.

    Why is Ed Milliband a Doncaster MP? He doesn't live here and I've never seen him. He should be representing a North London constituency.

    Labour might in theory represent the values of much of the community but failed it in just about every other way.

    Levelling up really was a good sales pitch and it is a shame it fell by the wayside.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,327
    In this discussion people who wouldn't Green with a gun to their head tell the Greens to adopt a different set of policies that they also wouldn't vote for.

    Get to fuck, the lot of you.
  • DM_AndyDM_Andy Posts: 1,261
    DougSeal said:

    My regular reminder that I have yet to meet an "SKS Fan" whether on here or elsewhere. I have also never met a "Sunak Fan" nor a "Davey Fan".

    I have met, however, several "Corbyn Fans" but given they deny he led the party into its worst defeat in nearly a century I think they could perhaps better be described as "Corbyn Cultists".
    Look, Doug. I like Jeremy Corbyn, I think he's a good guy and voted for him in the leadership elections twice. But I've never claimed that GE19 was anything but a disaster and good Labour MPs lost their seats unnecessarily, I don't think there's any Labour (or lefty more generally) who would say GE19 was great. Using "Corbyn Cultist" feels too pejorative to me, it's just people with a slightly different political view.

  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 29,849

    He clearly doesn't want to be an MP, he switched to the LDs.....
    I know. Think of the fun I could have had inside Starmer's Labour Party. Toe the line, doff the cap, and be rewarded by being parachuted into God knows where...
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,633
    TOPPING said:

    Are you saying that on your doorstep Gaza isn't the most important issue.
    God no :smiley: Wife puts me under strict orders not to mutter as we walk past the Gaza Protesters on Elvet Bridge when we are in Durham.

    Jobs and economic growth especially for the North East is my main issue. Having an MP detached from the region using the seat as a stepping stone won't help us.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,695

    Green Party Policies.

    • Renationalising our NHS
    • £70bn Wealth Tax
    • 500,000 Council Homes
    • £16 per hour min wage
    • Universal Basic Income
    • Rent Controls
    • Abolishing Tuition Fees
    • Recognition of Palestine
    • Free Secondary School Meals
    • Axe Two-Child Cap

    That's why I will Vote 💚

    Net Zero?
    Ending habitat loss?
    Rewilding?
    Animal rights?

    Oh, sorry, of course not. This is the Green Party. For a moment I was mixing them up with environmentalists.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 18,630

    Are you saying the $70bn wealth tax is not enough?

    UBI obviously means further tax changes and saving in benefits too

    Anyway both main Parties are refusing to say where their austerity cuts will hit so some of us prefer a progressive alternative
    Well lets say 50 million people? And 12K a year UBI. Simple maths gets us to 600,000,000,000 pounds a year, just a smidge over the 70,000,000,000 wealth tax. I accept it would be coupled with tax changes, but come on!
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,715
    Camelot said:

    For someone as well educated as yourself this is a remarkably stupid thing to say. So unlimited immigration is ok we just need to build enough schools and hospitals. Dont even think of cutting it. Of course someone with your wealth can just isolate yourself in your country mansion so what do you care. Hopefully the next labour govt will raid the wealth of people like yourself to pay for all these new hospitals.
    Successive governments have enabled hundreds of thousands of immigrants. It has happened in plain sight. Claims have been made ("tens of thousands", etc) but immigration has increased.

    To me this shows that really, we don't mind immigration. Or we would do something about it (cf Brexit, where we wanted to Brexit after all the faffing and finally did so).

    We of course don't like being out of control, and hence the emphasis on the boats, but it turns out that you, I, and all the others don't mind immigration.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 18,630
    OllyT said:

    You can promise what you like when you know that there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that you will ever be in a position to deliver it.
    See the Lib Dems right up until 2010...
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,633

    I voted Corbyn in 2017. Like many others I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I voted Liberal in 2019, like many others I realised I was wrong to give him the benefit of the doubt in the previous poll.

    Check your facts before spreading untruths about others on here.
    Calm down Sunshine, you'll have a coronary.

    Think of a cashless car park punishing the elderly for not having a smartphone. That will make you smile.

    Or Liz Truss.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,834
    Sean_F said:

    I'd agree with the last, but that is only one out of ten.
    I wouldn't agree with much of it either - but I'm not really the market for it.
    I'd say it's healthy, though, that these things are at least raised. I'd say none of them are the right solutions, but many of them at least attempt a solution where other parties aren't really bothering. A democracy should make space for these arguments. Kind of odd that it's the green party doing it, though.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 38,518

    if you have all that on your plate, what the hell do you want to be an MP for ?
    The Conservative Party did me a great favour, by rejecting me from their candidates' list in 2002.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,715
    Camelot said:

    Well sure the wuestion is then where do we build. Maybe we should start obviously in the home counties like surrey for london overspill. Plenty of green fields beyween the towns there.
    Welcome btw you have a very easy tone in your comments, like an old PB hand, so looking forward to hearing more from you. Don't mind the "in your country mansion" snit either.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,746
    DM_Andy said:

    Look, Doug. I like Jeremy Corbyn, I think he's a good guy and voted for him in the leadership elections twice. But I've never claimed that GE19 was anything but a disaster and good Labour MPs lost their seats unnecessarily, I don't think there's any Labour (or lefty more generally) who would say GE19 was great. Using "Corbyn Cultist" feels too pejorative to me, it's just people with a slightly different political view.

    I think you miss my point. There’s a big difference between being a “fan” and “liking”. You’re clearly in the latter camp for big JC. However, thediff between Corbyn and most other leaders is that he has a hardcore of supporters who think he’s the political messiah. BJO is looking for the equivalent for SKS as he is for JC. They don’t exist - not on here anyways
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,715
    Dura_Ace said:

    In this discussion people who wouldn't Green with a gun to their head tell the Greens to adopt a different set of policies that they also wouldn't vote for.

    Get to fuck, the lot of you.

    LOL we just examine forensically the policies. I mean you probably look on painkillers as work of the devil/AAC but they are a part of the NHS which is in private hands. As ever, the devil is in the detail.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,827
    edited May 2024
    TOPPING said:

    You are a fucking dolt.

    It is successive governments not building enough houses or schools or hospitals or whatnot that is the issue. Not immigration. The education and its detested focus on "anti-racism" has been hugely successful and means that the vast majority of our children are colour-blind (and XXX-blind also). Not everyone but broadly.

    They - and you - should be campaigning for the government to be able to accommodate us all, not stopping some of us from being here.

    That said, if you could do us all a favour and stay in the undoubted paradise that is Moldova rather than ever coming to the UK that would mean one more immigrant family able to move in to NW1. Hurrah!
    By your logic any level of immigration is fine - ten million people a year - just as long as you build the housing. Quite apart from the economic illogic, you ignore the huge cultural impact

    If Britain becomes majority Muslim are you OK with that and everything it means? Homosexuality becoming illegal again? Really?

    No you’re not ok with that so you’re just a posturing twat
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235
    Taz said:

    God no :smiley: Wife puts me under strict orders not to mutter as we walk past the Gaza Protesters on Elvet Bridge when we are in Durham.

    Jobs and economic growth especially for the North East is my main issue. Having an MP detached from the region using the seat as a stepping stone won't help us.
    The choice of Akehurst for North Durham does smack of a touch of hubris from Labour to me. "We're taking the north back, and taking it for granted once more".
    I mean the Tories are clearly on the way out this election, but my guess is Labour are probably going to get about 42% (Which will translate to an absolute thumping due to a seriously depressed Tory vote) but they'll be losing voteshare each election onward from here.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,746
    Dura_Ace said:

    In this discussion people who wouldn't Green with a gun to their head tell the Greens to adopt a different set of policies that they also wouldn't vote for.

    Get to fuck, the lot of you.

    So that is different to every other party exactly how?

  • TazTaz Posts: 17,633

    I think this is one of the reasons for the fall of the Red Wall. A lot of constituencies were taken for granted and nothing ever improved.

    Why is Ed Milliband a Doncaster MP? He doesn't live here and I've never seen him. He should be representing a North London constituency.

    Labour might in theory represent the values of much of the community but failed it in just about every other way.

    Levelling up really was a good sales pitch and it is a shame it fell by the wayside.
    I think it was one reason for the fall of the red wall. I do not think in Durham it was especially bad in that respect but certainly in other parts of it. Levelling up was great in theory. It has not really happened. I hope Kim McGuinness as Mayor can make a real difference. She was quite engaging on twitter as to what she plans to do. No one in Westminster is going to help us. So we need to do it ourselves.

    The problem we had was Labour took us for granted as we always voted for them in droves, the Tories did nothing for us as they had little chance of getting in round here. That all changed in 2019 but nothing has really improved things round here.

    I think, at least, Kevan Jones had a feel for the area and its values. I do not think a parachuted NEC member who lives in the South will have any empathy or feeling for the area.

    Labour lost Durham as a local council, the coalition have not done a great job. Their focus is Seaham, Durham City and Bishop Auckland, just like Labour. Labour will probably take the council back but it is just more decline I'm afraid.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,022

    Richard Madeley is among our top political interviewers, remarkably enough.
    Everyone forgets that he was a serious journalist for two decades, before he did morning TV with his missus. Emma Barnett is another who was a proper hack for a while.

    It can be seriously disarming to an unprepared politician, when he thinks he’s going for a soft-soap chat and all he thinks he needs to remember is the price of bread and milk.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 24,313

    So they're the most unselfish group? They would rather have fewer immigrants and be forced to pay more for domestic workers.
    People are not forced to have logical reasons for their vote.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,715
    edited May 2024
    Leon said:

    I’m in the second largest wine

    By your logic any level of immigration is fine - ten million people a year - just as long as you build the housing. Quite apart from the economic illogic, you ignore the huge cultural impact

    If Britain becomes majority Muslim are you OK with that and everything it means? Homosexuality becoming illegal again? Really?

    No you’re not ok with that so you’re just a posturing twat
    Nah I'm just looking at what is in front of us. "How many 10m" is scaremongering a la Farage. As is your "majority Muslim" whine.

    What I want doesn't matter. We thought we were at the end of history with our fancy schmancy western liberal democracy but the truth is that we will win or lose in the battle of ideas. I would say the vast majority of Muslims in this country accord with "our" values. If anyone (the Pope, Orthodox Jews, Muslims) wants to outlaw homosexuality we will have to argue with them why they shouldn't.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,834
    TOPPING said:

    Successive governments have enabled hundreds of thousands of immigrants. It has happened in plain sight. Claims have been made ("tens of thousands", etc) but immigration has increased.

    To me this shows that really, we don't mind immigration. Or we would do something about it (cf Brexit, where we wanted to Brexit after all the faffing and finally did so).

    We of course don't like being out of control, and hence the emphasis on the boats, but it turns out that you, I, and all the others don't mind immigration.
    I don't think that's right. Brexit was the end result of at least two decades of that point of view being roundly ignored by the political classes, and the referendum still only came about because the Tories needed to nullify the threat of UKIP.
    Due to our political system - where Con stack up the votes of people who want to avoid a Lb government, and vice versa, it takes an absolute age for a new idea to permeate the body politic, if at all. I'd say immigration is just as big an issue in the UK as it is in the rest of Europe - it would be odd if we were an exception. But our democracy (like most) is imperfect, and it takes a long time for an idea held by the electorate to be picked up by the political classes.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 24,280
    Dura_Ace said:

    In this discussion people who wouldn't Green with a gun to their head tell the Greens to adopt a different set of policies that they also wouldn't vote for.

    Get to fuck, the lot of you.

    I vote Green occassionally. This manifesto feels quite different, and err, less green, than those of the past few general elections.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924

    I voted Corbyn in 2017. Like many others I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I voted Liberal in 2019, like many others I realised I was wrong to give him the benefit of the doubt in the previous poll.

    Check your facts before spreading untruths about others on here.
    Not lifelong Lab then?

    Despite you expecting that of others?
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,945
    Andy_JS said:

    "Karl Hansen
    @karl_fh
    ·
    1h
    Luke Akehurst believes the Vietnam War was good and should have continued. Only a few dozen weirdos in Britain hold opinions like this. Unfortunately for us, they run the Labour Party and will soon run the country.
    Quote
    Luke Akehurst
    @lukeakehurst
    ·
    Feb 11, 2020
    Replying to @caibarhaw @eli_edwards and 4 others
    It was Nixon who ended the Vietnam war and betrayed the South Vietnamese..."

    https://x.com/karl_fh/status/1796120998762181011
    Er.
    I'd always thought it was the S Vietnamese Army ditching their weapons and uniforms while the VietCong overran the US Embassy which ended the War.
    But you live and learn.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,834
    Dura_Ace said:

    In this discussion people who wouldn't Green with a gun to their head tell the Greens to adopt a different set of policies that they also wouldn't vote for.

    Get to fuck, the lot of you.

    To be fair, you could replace 'Green' with 'Conservative' or 'Labour' and it would reflect conversations which happen on here most days.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,012

    Green Party Policies.

    • Renationalising our NHS
    • £70bn Wealth Tax
    • 500,000 Council Homes
    • £16 per hour min wage
    • Universal Basic Income
    • Rent Controls
    • Abolishing Tuition Fees
    • Recognition of Palestine
    • Free Secondary School Meals
    • Axe Two-Child Cap

    That's why I will Vote 💚

    Is that £70,000 (pa?) off 1 million people or £7000 off 10 million or what? Asking for a friend.
  • AlsoLeiAlsoLei Posts: 1,522
    pigeon said:

    It does sound like an invitation, on the face of it, for disappointed social democrats to stick with Ming Vase Labour. The cost of the state pension is enough of a bone of contention; imagine the colossal expense of replacing it with what amounts to the pension for *everybody*.

    It'll be fascinating to see whether they've tried to cost all this realistically in the manifesto...
    They don't really need to cost it meticulously, of course - not even the most ardent Green supporter is expecting them to form a government.

    They're hoping to offer potential Green switchers at least one policy that's sufficiently attractive to win their vote. So it's perfectly sensible for them to offer maximalist terms for each, even if doing so makes the manifesto as a whole self-contradictory or impossible to deliver.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 24,313

    Net Zero?
    Ending habitat loss?
    Rewilding?
    Animal rights?

    Oh, sorry, of course not. This is the Green Party. For a moment I was mixing them up with environmentalists.
    It's almost like somebody wrote an entire article on why Green's imagined future requires them to adopt progressive politics.

    https://www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2024/05/12/solarpunk/

    (You don't get stuff this good from the Speccie, I'll tell you that :) )
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,633
    Pulpstar said:

    The choice of Akehurst for North Durham does smack of a touch of hubris from Labour to me. "We're taking the north back, and taking it for granted once more".
    I mean the Tories are clearly on the way out this election, but my guess is Labour are probably going to get about 42% (Which will translate to an absolute thumping due to a seriously depressed Tory vote) but they'll be losing voteshare each election onward from here.
    The problem seems to be Labour sees us as sinners repenting rather than thinking why we as a region (I voted labour with a heavy heart in 2019) and the red wall abandoned them.

    Starmer may be cautious and may send out cautious noises but these are the deeds of someone supremely confident the will win and win well. He has figured he can take the hit for these actions and people will still vote for them as the Tories are so useless.

    The Green candidate here is Sunny Moon-Schott. May vote for him as the name is quite hoopy.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 35,302

    Not lifelong Lab then?

    Despite you expecting that of others?
    Er... you're not lifelong Lab either BJO.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924
    OllyT said:

    You can promise what you like when you know that there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that you will ever be in a position to deliver it.
    Yes but Lab had a once in a generation opportunity to be bold and still win.

    They decided not to.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,782

    Bit weak on the environment.
    Weaker still on economics.

    Strong on hopes and dreams.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,948
    edited May 2024

    I vote Green occassionally. This manifesto feels quite different, and err, less green, than those of the past few general elections.
    Britain needs a teal party with proper green policies that work within a capitalist market economy. Content wise the Lib Dems are pretty close but that’s not their primary brand.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,132

    See the Lib Dems right up until 2010...
    Or today's Tories
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,022

    4 & 5, in combination, would simply end a rather large chunk of jobs in the U.K.

    Assuming a £12k UBI, that’s £40k a year for the lowest paid job.
    The whole point of a UBI is that you can abolish the minimum wage and all the means-tested benefits, tax credits etc, along with the huge bureaucracy that supports the welfare state.
  • PJHPJH Posts: 815

    Are you saying the $70bn wealth tax is not enough?

    UBI obviously means further tax changes and saving in benefits too

    Anyway both main Parties are refusing to say where their austerity cuts will hit so some of us prefer a progressive alternative
    £70bn wouldn't build 500,000 council houses, never mind everything else.

    I do agree with your point about austerity cuts being equally ill defined, but you still have to say how you will fund your shopping list. And I still don't see what any of that list has to do with the environment.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 24,280
    TimS said:

    Britain needs a teal party with proper green policies that work within a capitalist market economy. Content wise the Lib Dems are pretty close but that’s not their primary brand.
    I suspect it is where the Tories will need to end up!
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,834
    TOPPING said:

    Nah I'm just looking at what is in front of us. "How many 10m" is scaremongering a la Farage. As is your "majority Muslim" whine.

    What I want doesn't matter. We thought we were at the end of history with our fancy schmancy western liberal democracy but the truth is that we will win or lose in the battle of ideas. I would say the vast majority of Muslims in this country accord with "our" values. If anyone (the Pope, Orthodox Jews, Muslims) wants to outlaw homosexuality we will have to argue with them why they shouldn't.
    Why is how many 10m scaremongering? We've had 2m in 3 years. Are you assuming this will stop? Why?
    And the battle of ideas is important. But it's hard to win the battle of ideas if you're continually importing people with a rather different set of ideas.
  • DM_AndyDM_Andy Posts: 1,261
    DougSeal said:

    I think you miss my point. There’s a big difference between being a “fan” and “liking”. You’re clearly in the latter camp for big JC. However, thediff between Corbyn and most other leaders is that he has a hardcore of supporters who think he’s the political messiah. BJO is looking for the equivalent for SKS as he is for JC. They don’t exist - not on here anyways
    Isn't that just because fundamentally Starmer is 'just a politician'? If Starmer fell under the Labour battlebus and Reeves or Streeting took over would anything be any different? Corbyn does attract a more iconic status because he's unusual and in some ways irreplaceable - I'm sure that there will be future stars of the left, but it's not going to be Richard Burgon is it. You see it on the right wing of politics too, a longing for the next Thatcher and the people who want to vote for whatever vehicle Farage is in. My problem with 'Cultist' is it assumes that the people who disagree with you are doing so because they haven't thought about things well enough and they just blindly follow whatever the Leader says. I don't know anyone who has abdicated their faculties like that.
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,633

    Not lifelong Lab then?

    Despite you expecting that of others?
    The guy is a prick. Casts aspertions and makes snide insinuations about others then takes the hump when he thinks others do the same.

    He really is rather think skinned :smiley:
  • kyf_100kyf_100 Posts: 4,955
    TOPPING said:

    Nah I'm just looking at what is in front of us. "How many 10m" is scaremongering a la Farage. As is your "majority Muslim" whine.

    What I want doesn't matter. We thought we were at the end of history with our fancy schmancy western liberal democracy but the truth is that we will win or lose in the battle of ideas. I would say the vast majority of Muslims in this country accord with "our" values. If anyone (the Pope, Orthodox Jews, Muslims) wants to outlaw homosexuality we will have to argue with them why they shouldn't.
    You don't need to outlaw something for it to become less socially acceptable due to changing cultural norms.

    Homosexuality was entirely legal in 1994, but the way LGBTQ people are treated in 2024 is entirely different to how it was 30 years ago.

    And it may be very different again in 30 years if we a) import a lot of people who don't share our values and b) don't integrate, or reach such a critical mass where they have no need to integrate.

    How do we feel about the protests outside Parkfield Community School in Birmingham becoming the norm rather than the exception?

  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,132
    Leon said:

    B


    No you’re not ok with that so you’re just a posturing twat
    Pot, kettle.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,782
    Dura_Ace said:

    In this discussion people who wouldn't Green with a gun to their head tell the Greens to adopt a different set of policies that they also wouldn't vote for.

    Get to fuck, the lot of you.

    Adopt what policies you wish.
    Not my business - beyond the extent of telling you I think they're daft.
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,633
    TimS said:

    Britain needs a teal party with proper green policies that work within a capitalist market economy. Content wise the Lib Dems are pretty close but that’s not their primary brand.
    Yes it does. Not the degrowth loons you have currently in the Green sphere.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,787
    Taz said:

    The problem seems to be Labour sees us as sinners repenting rather than thinking why we as a region (I voted labour with a heavy heart in 2019) and the red wall abandoned them.

    Starmer may be cautious and may send out cautious noises but these are the deeds of someone supremely confident the will win and win well. He has figured he can take the hit for these actions and people will still vote for them as the Tories are so useless.

    The Green candidate here is Sunny Moon-Schott. May vote for him as the name is quite hoopy.
    Pah, vote as your told and tug your forelock harder.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,022

    Because it doesn't exist. The problem is a lack of construction. We need construction even if population level is stable due to ageing.
    The problem is that the population is increasing faster than housebuilding completions, leading to increased scarcity of housing, leading to price rises and overcrowding.

    Yes, everything starts with building millions more houses, on that we are in complete agreement. But the housebuilding needs to come before the population increase, otherwise prices keep going up and the NIMBYs keep winning.
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,633

    Pah, vote as your told and tug your forelock harder.
    Exactly.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,827
    TOPPING said:

    Nah I'm just looking at what is in front of us. "How many 10m" is scaremongering a la Farage. As is your "majority Muslim" whine.

    What I want doesn't matter. We thought we were at the end of history with our fancy schmancy western liberal democracy but the truth is that we will win or lose in the battle of ideas. I would say the vast majority of Muslims in this country accord with "our" values. If anyone (the Pope, Orthodox Jews, Muslims) wants to outlaw homosexuality we will have to argue with them why they shouldn't.
    This is provably untrue

    “Over Half of British Muslims Think Homosexuality Should Be Illegal, Poll Finds”

    https://time.com/4288592/british-muslims-survey-homosexuality/

    This was in 2016. Since then we have imported more Muslims from more conservative backgrounds and polls show younger Muslims are MORE socially conservative than their elders. So the latest state of play could be worse. We are making a country that, therefore, will be much more hostile to gays and Jews, and considerably less pleasant for women

    So you’re not just a twat, you’re a wilfully blind and stupid twat. You shouldn’t even have a vote, you’re so dumb

  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 24,313
    TimS said:

    Britain needs a teal party with proper green policies that work within a capitalist market economy. Content wise the Lib Dems are pretty close but that’s not their primary brand.
    Believe it or not that was one of the abandoned paras in the Solarpunk article. In it I pointed out that Greens' greatest utility is as a free ideas generator, which Lab and Cons could co-opt.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,945
    Sandpit said:

    Everyone forgets that he was a serious journalist for two decades, before he did morning TV with his missus. Emma Barnett is another who was a proper hack for a while.

    It can be seriously disarming to an unprepared politician, when he thinks he’s going for a soft-soap chat and all he thinks he needs to remember is the price of bread and milk.
    Yeah. Granada Reports was a superb watch back in the day.
    Madeley skewering shifty Council leaders, Judy Finnegan with the three legged dog and cancer patients emoting.
    Topped off with Tony Wilson reviewing the latest Bauhaus exhibition, interviewing bemused Rugby League coaches with questions referencing Bakunin, then bringing on Durutti Column live.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235
    In a field near me:

  • ToryJimToryJim Posts: 4,192
    I see Reform have a wizard wheeze, an immigrant employers tax. I can’t see how their policy isn’t by definition inflationary, whether it works or not. The tax cost will be passed on to consumers through an increase in the cost of a company’s goods or services. Tice reckons that wages are unnaturally depressed, so if it works the impact will be higher wage demands which will feed back into goods or services costs. Reform’s idea would wreak havoc on the economy and force interest rates higher. Tice reckons it’s just basic A level economics, the question is did he get an E in it?

    https://x.com/skynews/status/1796137233176580388?s=61
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 62,357
    .
    Sean_F said:

    The Conservative Party did me a great favour, by rejecting me from their candidates' list in 2002.
    I was asked but didn't even apply.

    Some of that was uncertainty but having seen it up close with a couple of fridge it's a shit life.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 62,357
    Leon said:

    By your logic any level of immigration is fine - ten million people a year - just as long as you build the housing. Quite apart from the economic illogic, you ignore the huge cultural impact

    If Britain becomes majority Muslim are you OK with that and everything it means? Homosexuality becoming illegal again? Really?

    No you’re not ok with that so you’re just a posturing twat
    To be fair, that is also the position of The Economist.

    I think their solution was English lessons.
  • megasaurmegasaur Posts: 586
    viewcode said:

    Believe it or not that was one of the abandoned paras in the Solarpunk article. In it I pointed out that Greens' greatest utility is as a free ideas generator, which Lab and Cons could co-opt.
    But there's no new ideas in that manifesto, Israel hating and Maoism are old hat. Nor is any of it predicated on What happens when renewables win the day. It's a pure reverse takeover of the brand.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 9,778

    Wealthy older folk. All the increase has come from people with at least two spare
    bedrooms. Doesn't help anyone.

    "Between 2011 and 2021, the number of spare bedrooms in people's homes in England and Wales surged from 24.2m to 26m, census data shows. The number of households living in properties with at least two spare bedrooms soared by 825,000"
    A lot of that is due to divorce and separation. Each parent needs a spare room for the kids
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 18,367
    Cookie said:

    Why is how many 10m scaremongering? We've had 2m in 3 years. Are you assuming this will stop? Why?
    And the battle of ideas is important. But it's hard to win the battle of ideas if you're continually importing people with a rather different set of ideas.
    It's certainly expected to fall- short term arrivals and departures (e.g. students) have still got some transient effects from the plague. As for the western liberal democracy thing, we used to have lots of people coming from places that were Christian heritage, and fiercely keen on democracy. We don't get so many of them now. For some reason.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 62,357
    Dura_Ace said:

    In this discussion people who wouldn't Green with a gun to their head tell the Greens to adopt a different set of policies that they also wouldn't vote for.

    Get to fuck, the lot of you.

    Just trying to understand your position: you'd vote Green but also applauded the chopping down of the Sycamore Gap tree?
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 10,161
    edited May 2024
    Sandpit said:

    The problem is that the population is increasing faster than housebuilding completions, leading to increased scarcity of housing, leading to price rises and overcrowding.

    Yes, everything starts with building millions more houses, on that we are in complete agreement. But the housebuilding needs to come before the population increase, otherwise prices keep going up and the NIMBYs keep winning.
    But this just isn't true, however much you wish to ignore it:

    Number of dwellings +8.2%
    Population +6.3%
    Households +6.1%

    Outright owners +12.5%
    Mortgage -5.1%
    Renting + 28.2%
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,827
    Sandpit said:

    Everyone forgets that he was a serious journalist for two decades, before he did morning TV with his missus. Emma Barnett is another who was a proper hack for a while.

    It can be seriously disarming to an unprepared politician, when he thinks he’s going for a soft-soap chat and all he thinks he needs to remember is the price of bread and milk.
    I share an agent with Richard madeley. There’s a weird overlap between flint knappers and tv presenters. My agent reports he is extremely intelligent - predicted Brexit and Trump
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924
    DM_Andy said:

    Isn't that just because fundamentally Starmer is 'just a politician'? If Starmer fell under the Labour battlebus and Reeves or Streeting took over would anything be any different? Corbyn does attract a more iconic status because he's unusual and in some ways irreplaceable - I'm sure that there will be future stars of the left, but it's not going to be Richard Burgon is it. You see it on the right wing of politics too, a longing for the next Thatcher and the people who want to vote for whatever vehicle Farage is in. My problem with 'Cultist' is it assumes that the people who disagree with you are doing so because they haven't thought about things well enough and they just blindly follow whatever the Leader says. I don't know anyone who has abdicated their faculties like that.
    I have plenty of criticisms of Corbyn mainly on not being strong enough on party discipline and allowing people like Margaret Hodge to shout lies in his face.

    Should have forced Lab Europhiles to vote for the Clarke version of Brexit lite too.

    Doug is exactly as you describe but at least he hasn't reached the "Jezzbollah" heights of the LD PPC Candidate on here or the stupidity of "ToryBigJohnOwls" of Sunil everytime I write a pro Green post
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,633
    Michael Crick seems to think Eddie Izzard is in with a shot at Brighton Kemptown if interested.

    Currently doing a one man version of Hamlet which is, apparently, quite poor. Run finishes end of June. Even the Graun theatre review was quite uncomplimentary.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 18,630
    Pulpstar said:

    In a field near me:

    Nice of them to put a message out for Brendan (who I assume must be off on his holiday or somesuch?)
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,782
    Cookie said:

    I wouldn't agree with much of it either - but I'm not really the market for it.
    I'd say it's healthy, though, that these things are at least raised. I'd say none of them are the right solutions, but many of them at least attempt a solution where other parties aren't really bothering. A democracy should make space for these arguments. Kind of odd that it's the green party doing it, though.
    500k council homes could be done, too, and FSM even at secondary level isn't impossible.

    But you'd need serious economic plans to deliver costly policies like that, rather than awarding yourself an imaginary pot of money.
    (Though tbf successive governments have done a bit of that, too, which is why affording any additional spending has become so difficult.)
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 24,280
    edited May 2024
    algarkirk said:

    Is that £70,000 (pa?) off 1 million people or £7000 off 10 million or what? Asking for a friend.
    https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2024/01/15/green-party-call-on-government-and-labour-to-use-davos-super-rich-summit-to-back-wealth-tax/

    "Green Party proposed wealth tax:

    Starting rate would be 1% for wealth in excess of £10m
    This would rise to 2% above £1bn
    It would cover wealth in all forms, valued at current market value and assessed on all UK resident taxpayers by an extension to the self-assessment tax return
    A wealth tax would raise an estimated £16bn per year to address inequality and tackle the climate crisis by funding investment in renewable energy and home insulation to bring down household energy bills for good"

    -----

    So its £70bn over a parliament, which isn't going to fund much of the manifesto. And probably a tad over optimistic on the revenue - the biggest review on wealth taxes here estimated a similar amount of revenue from 1% over £2m assets.

    The wealth tax is actually a good idea, as are building new council homes and free school meals. UBI is worthy of investigation. But this isn't a coherent plan but a fantasy wish list.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 24,313
    Nigelb said:

    Weaker still on economics.

    Strong on hopes and dreams.
    It's almost like somebody wrote an entire article on why Green's imagined future is an Utopia, which is electorally popular but inherently dangerous.

    https://www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2024/05/12/solarpunk/
  • ToryJimToryJim Posts: 4,192
    https://x.com/hughrbrechin/status/1796134141706076618?s=61

    pitch: Ed Davey's tragic death during a particularly wacky campaign stunt propels the Lib Dems to a massive sympathy-driven majority
  • megasaurmegasaur Posts: 586

    Just trying to understand your position: you'd vote Green but also applauded the chopping down of the Sycamore Gap tree?
    I just love all the stories about how against all odds RHS boffins in secret locations have propagated the tree so it will Live Again. It's a sycamore FFS, the skill lies in stopping the buggers seeding themselves everywhere
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 62,357
    Taz said:

    Michael Crick seems to think Eddie Izzard is in with a shot at Brighton Kemptown if interested.

    Currently doing a one man version of Hamlet which is, apparently, quite poor. Run finishes end of June. Even the Graun theatre review was quite uncomplimentary.

    Eddie Izzard's resilience is impressive but he doesn't seem much liked by members or voters.

    Never been sure why. Unless behind the scenes he's quite full of himself and thinks he should be elected just because he's Eddie Izzard.
  • AlsoLeiAlsoLei Posts: 1,522
    Scott_xP said:
    We're just waiting for 'bored woman' to make a statement to the press about what she really thinks of Rishi, aren't we?
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 35,302
  • boulayboulay Posts: 6,156
    dixiedean said:

    Yeah. Granada Reports was a superb watch back in the day.
    Madeley skewering shifty Council leaders, Judy Finnegan with the three legged dog and cancer patients emoting.
    Topped off with Tony Wilson reviewing the latest Bauhaus exhibition, interviewing bemused Rugby League coaches with questions referencing Bakunin, then bringing on Durutti Column live.
    Never heard a two litre bottle of vodka called “the three legged dog” before but every day is a learning day.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 24,280

    A lot of that is due to divorce and separation. Each parent needs a spare room for the kids
    So the kids can have two rooms set aside for them to see their parents for a couple of weeks a year, but have to share a bedroom with their own kids for the other 50 weeks? Can you see why the kids may not be ecstatic about this?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,782
    Taz said:

    Michael Crick seems to think Eddie Izzard is in with a shot at Brighton Kemptown if interested.

    Currently doing a one man version of Hamlet which is, apparently, quite poor. Run finishes end of June. Even the Graun theatre review was quite uncomplimentary.

    Crick isn't obvious casting as Hamlet, but you've got to credit him for the effort.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 18,630
    megasaur said:

    I just love all the stories about how against all odds RHS boffins in secret locations have propagated the tree so it will Live Again. It's a sycamore FFS, the skill lies in stopping the buggers seeding themselves everywhere
    Plus the Chelsea Flower Show features huge trees being brought in and out - surely a fairly mature one could be placed on site within 24 hours?
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 35,302
    AlsoLei said:

    We're just waiting for 'bored woman' to make a statement to the press about what she really thinks of Rishi, aren't we?
    She'll no doubt turn out to be a Labour Party member but it's still very funny.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 62,357

    .

    I was asked but didn't even apply.

    Some of that was uncertainty but having seen it up close with a couple of fridge it's a shit life.
    I meant friends, not fridge.

    Although some politicians do hide in them.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 35,302
    ToryJim said:

    https://x.com/hughrbrechin/status/1796134141706076618?s=61

    pitch: Ed Davey's tragic death during a particularly wacky campaign stunt propels the Lib Dems to a massive sympathy-driven majority

    Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his party.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,948
    Leon said:

    I share an agent with Richard madeley. There’s a weird overlap between flint knappers and tv presenters. My agent reports he is extremely intelligent - predicted Brexit and Trump
    He also looks exactly the same as he did in the early 90s when I used to watch This Morning during school holidays. He must have a painting in the attic.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924
    PJH said:

    £70bn wouldn't build 500,000 council houses, never mind everything else.

    I do agree with your point about austerity cuts being equally ill defined, but you still have to say how you will fund your shopping list. And I still don't see what any of that list has to do with the environment.
    Might not be perfect but its the only game in town for progressives as all other Parties are offering is a new version of Tory Austerity.

    Only looking like 2 Constituencies will vote for that though

    And when you say what about the environment This is still their Policy I believe despite being nearly 4 years old

    https://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/Communications/10_Point_Climate_Plan.pdf
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,945

    Eddie Izzard's resilience is impressive but he doesn't seem much liked by members or voters.

    Never been sure why. Unless behind the scenes he's quite full of himself and thinks he should be elected just because he's Eddie Izzard.
    Met Izzard on Northumberland Street a few months ago, quite by chance.
    Gave me a few minutes of time. Seemed nice enough.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 10,161
    Eabhal said:

    But this just isn't true, however much you wish to ignore it:

    Number of dwellings +8.2%
    Population +6.3%
    Households +6.1%

    Outright owners +12.5%
    Mortgage -5.1%
    Renting + 28.2%
    Overcrowded households NC
    (1.1 million in 2011, 1.1 million in 2021).
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,924
    edited May 2024
    megasaur said:

    I just love all the stories about how against all odds RHS boffins in secret locations have propagated the tree so it will Live Again. It's a sycamore FFS, the skill lies in stopping the buggers seeding themselves everywhere
    It will also sprout like mad from the stump, like all species that coppice. Usually this increases the longevity of the tree.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,827
    I was gonna do a long impassioned comment about our blindness on migration but fuck it. The debate is so warped and stupid it’s not even worth it

    Also I have just been to the world’s second largest wine cellar
  • megasaurmegasaur Posts: 586

    Plus the Chelsea Flower Show features huge trees being brought in and out - surely a fairly mature one could be placed on site within 24 hours?
    You would think so
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,327
    TimS said:

    He also looks exactly the same as he did in the early 90s when I used to watch This Morning during school holidays. He must have a painting in the attic.
    Devouring adrenochrome from his Mrs because she looks 112.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 10,161
    Leon said:

    I was gonna do a long impassioned comment about our blindness on migration but fuck it. The debate is so warped and stupid it’s not even worth it

    Also I have just been to the world’s second largest wine cellar

    That wine cellar could be at least three bedrooms
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 10,161
    Dura_Ace said:

    In this discussion people who wouldn't Green with a gun to their head tell the Greens to adopt a different set of policies that they also wouldn't vote for.

    Get to fuck, the lot of you.

    I've enjoyed all the concern about Abbott too - Starmer is 20 points ahead largely because he's ruthless.

    The Arteta of UK politics.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 24,313
    Taz said:

    Michael Crick seems to think Eddie Izzard is in with a shot at Brighton Kemptown if interested.

    Currently doing a one man version of Hamlet which is, apparently, quite poor. Run finishes end of June. Even the Graun theatre review was quite uncomplimentary.

    To be a carpetbagger. Or not to be a carpetbagger. That, is the question.
This discussion has been closed.