UK General Election 2017 - 8 June

[Manc]

Am I correct in thinking a 2025 GE is a real possibility?

[niko_cee]

Isn't January '25 the latest it could possibly be? However the mechanics of it work - calling it the day that Parliament goes on holiday for Christmas or something?

[Spikey M]

Am I correct in thinking a 2025 GE is a real possibility?

I think it's all but nailed on. They have until early next year to hold it, and I imagine they will want a nice long run up to try to fling as much shit as they can at Labour. (Doesn't Starmer look stupid eating a battered sausage? Lolol)

[Jimmy Floyd]

It'll be first half of October I think. January would be insanity, campaign over Christmas and then a 14-year sitting government getting people to vote at peak 'fresh start' time. November has the vote in the new world and they won't want to look like Trump's useless equivalent.

[Clunge]

October or December, for sure I'd say. Get it done before the Yanks do, or once the hubbub there has died down.

[Ben]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/17/rishi-sunak-conservatives-reform-party-unity-byelection-defeats

Some incredible barrel scraping here.

Rishi Sunak: “At the next election, I will need the support of everyone who wants lower taxes and secure borders because the alternative, Keir Starmer, believes in neither of those things.”

Also Rishi Sunak: was the Chancellor that introduced record high tax rates, is the PM that is overseeing record high immigration.

These charlatans are so done.

[Jimmy Floyd]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68354377

This feels to me like quite a big story, especially when you read into it elsewhere (BBC is such low calibre reporting these days) and discover that among the things he highlights are only 21% of private jet arrivals being screened by the border agency. That strikes me as utterly insane.

[Jimmy Floyd]

A lot of cloak and dagger stuff going on today. SNP drafted a pretty explosive amendment to the Gaza vote in parliament, which was, you don't have to be too cynical to conclude, an attempt to plant a bomb under their Scottish rivals Labour, who drafted a much milder one. Labour MPs pleaded with the Speaker to select their amendment instead of the SNP one, on the basis that if Labour MPs were forced to vote against the SNP amendment (which calls for a cease fire among other things) they would face Muslim death threats for having done so. The Speaker duly chose the Labour amendment and now faces fury from the Tories, who accused him of favouritism.

Tories and SNP have clearly done a backstairs deal to try and embarrass Labour, which is of course in their mutual interest. SNP face a Labour surge in Scotland and also desperately need Tories to cling on to government if they are ever going to get another shot at independence. All this over a war / humanitarian crisis thousands of miles away. Grubby, grubby stuff.

[niko_cee]

By the same token, breaking with convention to save your own future job and/or your side of politics a bit questionable too.

[Lofty]

The madness of it all being I don't know a single voter personally who gives a flying fuck about any of it in regards to the polls.

[Jimmy Floyd]

By the same token, breaking with convention to save your own future job and/or your side of politics a bit questionable too.

Yep. It's the perfect example of literally everyone involved doing things for the wrong reasons. It's not even on a topic that this country or its parliament can actually make any difference to, either, it's all just about posturing and people's reputations.

[niko_cee]

How is this going to play out then? Government defeats Labour amendment forcing a vote on the unamended Praise to Hamas down with Israel War Crime SNP text, which Labour probably won't support [is that the plan?], that also gets defeated and the government amendment carries the day with whatever piss and wind platitudes they're pedaling? All of which means the square root of fuck all as Israel aren't listening to America, so they sure as shit aren't listening to anyone else. Another good day for Parliamentary democracy. Peerages all round.

[Jimmy Floyd]

All I can read into it is SNP desperation, so I imagine it will end with them going away blowing up with rage and declaring that Scotland is the home of a kinder, gentler politics where people care about the plight of the Gazans. Which is second prize to forcing Labour MPs to vote against their amendment, but still useful and will play well up in noddy land.

Why the Tories are scheming with them is anyone's guess.

[Lofty]

The same reason The Sun is pro Tory and The Scottish Sun is pro SNP.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Which is?

(bet you a tenner the Sun backs Labour in this year's election, btw)

[Gray Fox]

Excuse an ignorant question here, but if the Scots don't want independence(they voted against it by a fair bit) then why is the SNP still a thing? Is it more of a 'we dunnae want ya English parties up here thanks pal' situation?

[niko_cee]

You don't need a referendum winning popular mandate to sweep the board in FPTP elections.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The SNP would argue (backed up by many polls since the referendum, though less so recently) that Scots do want independence. Their best argument for this is that the Brexit referendum, in which Scotland voted Remain but Britain as a whole voted Leave, fundamentally changed the terms of the question.

However, with Sturgeon having been forced to resign last year they are not really the force they once were. Various problems are coming to light around their governance of Scotland over the last decade and a bit, and they are likely to lose some national MPs at the coming election to a resurgent Labour. I'm not really sure what their prospects are at the next devolved election, that is a bit of a law unto itself.

[niko_cee]

So, seems like things went a bit mad after I gave up paying attention.

Funny if this ends up toppling the speaker, seeing as he only did it to keep his job in the long term.

[Ben]

The Tories might want to be careful what they wish for here, because Hoyle was/is fucking useless at holding them to account.

[Lofty]

Which is?

(bet you a tenner the Sun backs Labour in this year's election, btw)

Labour can't win power without Scotland so keeping the SNP in across the border benefits the Tories.

[Lewis]

lol out loud at the MPs claiming that them and their families, staff, etc. are being threatened by pro-Palestine types. Good. Lay in your well-shitted bed you cunts.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Starmer's leadership / prime ministership will likely be defined by how he deals with the mob. Pre-Blair Labour was a patriotic party and would have told them to piss off months ago, but this lot need the suburban mullahs to prop up their party structures, as well as some woolly, fantastical version of multiculturalism being in their political DNA.

Really he should be taking a hard line with both Israel (to hell with the yanks) and the mob. Much too cautious and lawyerly to do either, though.

[Ben]

Just blow up the Commons with them all in it. Fucking embarrassing what went on last night.

[Spikey M]

I love how Guy Fawkes has gone from a terrorist to a national hero since I was a kid.

[Don]

I wasn't really too interested in this shambles of last night but it seems it's driven by some sort of support towards Israel.

This thread made me lol.

1760427517557567591

[Don]

Those Lee Anderson comments on Sadiq are something. They'd fucking chop his balls off if he said that exact stuff about Jews.

[Spikey M]

You'd have to find examples of Teachers in hiding from Jewish Schools, or Charlie Hebdo style shootings to be able to make the same kind of comments.

The speaker of the house broke parliamentary rules because:

"“I never want to go through a situation where I find a friend from any side has been murdered, I also don’t want another attack on this House,” Hoyle said, adding that he has seen evidence of “absolutely frightening” threats made to MPs because of their stance on the war in Gaza."

Now, obviously, that wasn't exclusively Muslims. There's the gAyS fOr gAzA and various other far-left weirdo's tagging along. Granted. But it remains somewhat of a trend.

#RIPDavidAmess

[phonics]

You'd have to find examples of Teachers in hiding from Jewish Schools, or Charlie Hebdo style shootings to be able to make the same kind of comments.

The speaker of the house broke parliamentary rules because:

"“I never want to go through a situation where I find a friend from any side has been murdered, I also don’t want another attack on this House,” Hoyle said, adding that he has seen evidence of “absolutely frightening” threats made to MPs because of their stance on the war in Gaza."

Now, obviously, that wasn't exclusively Muslims. There's the gAyS fOr gAzA and various other far-left weirdo's tagging along. Granted. But it remains somewhat of a trend.

#RIPDavidAmess

Abysmal post from all angles. Have a peak into the Hassidic Jewish community on the first point and I think almost literally 10 thousand Charlie Hebdo's have happened isince October and if those don't count I'm sure I can find a Jewish person who did something bad using his religion to justify his actions. Then you go onto call everyone who supports Palestine homosexual like that's something to be ashamed of. Have a look in the mirror. Absolutely dog shit posting and you should be ashamed.

[Spikey M]

Strong rebuttal.

[phonics]

Thanks, after 20 years I may have made my first good post.

[niko_cee]

I've no idea what 50p Lee said, but the idea that this has morphed into a debate on MPs safety, when that was very clearly not the motivation for what went down in Parliament, and that now the government/whoever is criticizing the speaker for bowing to extremists rather than acting in naked self-interest is beyond lol. I assume these attack lines were drawn up previously on the assumption that it would be Labour bowing to the extremists by not backing the SNP's motion and so they are having to be used anyway because most members of the government aren't able to sustain more than one line of thinking at any given time, if they can even manage that.

[Ben]

Pure desperation from a Government that sees the writing on the wall. Having to go after Reform supporters shows how tinpot they’ve become.

[phonics]

For once Taz wasn't exaggerating. "“I heard some of the comments Suella [Braverman] made earlier this week, and I don’t necessarily believe that these Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London, and they’ve got control of Starmer as well."

“People are just turning up in their thousands and doing anything they want, and they are laughing at our police, and it’s absolutely disgusting"

“This stems with Khan, he’s actually given out our capital city away to his mates, we’ve got Starmer there doing nothing – he's more interested in getting into Number 10 and giving our country away than actually looking after our country.”

Nice to know that 'Islamists' are operating a County Lines policy as well. Really foul stuff.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Lee Anderson is stupid to route his point through Sadiq, presumably because there is an (unwinnable) election coming up, but if we pretend that the Islamist mob and their fellow travellers are not a problem for democracy then we're just causing our own future downfall. Muslims are British citizens first (whatever they might think) and do not deserve special treatment as they currently receive. Jo Cox is murdered? Rise of the far right. David Amess is murdered? Online safety bill! It will have to stop at some point, so politicians would be wise to temper it themselves.

I am in favour of Reform. They are absolutely needed. The current iteration of the Tories speak only for corporate interests. Labour speak for identity groups and the cultural establishment. Lib Dems speak for rich prats with a high opinion of themselves. Who speaks for the millions of poor whites, particularly along the east coast and in certain other pockets, who are completely disowned by all of the above? That's what Reform do.

And obviously, if you are wanting to represent people in Parliament you have to be brave enough to take on difficult people, as Cox and Amess no doubt were. It's not a creche.

[niko_cee]

Does sort of feel like some Lynton Crosby big brain type pushing a politics of division and extremism is the new black line, overlooking the fact that whilst Britain is a predominantly conservative country, it is very small c and not at all disposed to the type of hyperbolic outrage that stokes our brothers across the pond - mainly because we have practically no meaningful religious lobby, other than the 'Islamists', natch.

Yet another lasting effect of not understanding at all what motivated Brexit and all that - or at least what created the small majority for it.

I have a reasonable amount of faith the the electorate will deliver the sort of crushing blow to this line of thinking that will see the likes of Braverman et al reduced to the sidelines at best for the next era of politics.

Labour should be delivering for the poor communities.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Labour should be delivering for the poor communities.

Should be, but aren't. The old coalfields all voting Tory in 2019 tells you how bad things have got. Starmer knows he needs those votes back hence the union jacks everywhere and middle of the road rhetoric that former Corbyn supporters find so upsetting about his leadership. In reality though the Gordon Brown 'bigoted woman' line in Rochdale continues to echo through history in terms of the professional class's attitude to the less educated.

[phonics]

Can I ask what ‘the cultural establishment’ is?

[phonics]

I’ve got to go to work so sadly I can’t go point by point on how Reforms ‘speaking for the people’ is total bollocks but hopefully I can get back and make my second good post.

[niko_cee]

He probably doesn't need most of those votes back if Reform slice through the Tory vote, should be able to fall back on the traditional rump who will always vote red. Also, the amount of voter remorse for 2019 Tory voting must be at historic levels.

2019 was still fertile Boris, Brexit and thumbs down to the establishment in those sorts of areas, but has 14 years of Conservative government really done anything for them other than allowing corrupt local mayors to waste enormous amounts of public money on either doomed schemes or schemes which in no way benefit anyone other than their 'private partners'?

[Spikey M]

Sneaky edit. Naughty boy.


Abysmal post from all angles. Have a peak into the Hassidic Jewish community on the first point and I think almost literally 10 thousand Charlie Hebdo's have happened since October

Sources please? If Jewish people are shooting western journalists for drawing cartoons, then this is news to me.



I'm sure I can find a Jewish person who did something bad using his religion to justify his actions.

I'm sure you could, but I'm not sure what that has to do anything. I'm not saying that Muslims are bad people. Just that there is a problematic fringe. Is the same true of other groups? Sure. Football fans, the far right, the far left, you name it.



Then you go onto call everyone who supports Palestine homosexual like that's something to be ashamed of.

No. I didn't. I just pointed at the GaYs fOr GaZa AND "various other far-left weirdo's". You have a habit of deliberately misrepresentating what people say. you should be ashamed.

To make myself clear, the issue I have with what Taz said, is that you wouldn't get away with saying it about Jews. Which is laughable.

[phonics]

Yeah there’s no taboo when saying that the financial capital of the country is controlled by ‘the Jews’. Shift starts in 10 minutes. I’ll follow up with the references on the rest of your questions later.

[Spikey M]

I didn't have Phonics becoming a Nazi on my 2024 Bingo Card.

[phonics]

What are you talking about? Taz said 'They'd fucking chop his balls off if he said that exact stuff about Jews.' and you said 'Well the Muslims kind of deserve it' and I pointed out how ludicrous a statement that is by applying the exact same statement to Jewish people and you called me a Nazi.

[Spikey M]

And yet people do say it, all the time, with their private parts remaining untouched. So it looks like you can say shit about Jews, eh?

[Don]

Spikey, you okay bro? Two outrageously odd posts.

The comparisons between those comments around "Islamists" and the Jews are simply pointing to the very common racist stereotype that portrays the filthy hasidic cunts as wielding undue power and influence. Where the fuck are you coming from denying or taking the other side to that?

Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are the same thing, get this clear. You seem to be suggesting the muzzies are ahead in the race to harm the lovely society your people have built so the comparison can't be made? That in itself is debatable but right wingers are driving vans through crowds, stabbing up people and burning down immigration centres fuelled by the kind of rampant Islamophobia we're now seeing from Anderson, Braverman, etc.

Lay down your arms and join us in lolling at the madness of the times.

[phonics]

Yes I'm sure if the former Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party said such a thing everyone would be just dandy with it.

[Spikey M]

Spikey, you okay bro?


For the last time, no. :(



The comparisons between those comments around "Islamists" and the Jews are simply pointing to the very common racist stereotype that portrays the filthy hasidic cunts as wielding undue power and influence. Where the fuck are you coming from denying or taking the other side to that?


On this we are in agreement. Which is why I find it odd that you would say that you'd have your bollocks ripped off for saying the same about Jews. People do say it. Loudly.



Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are the same thing, get this clear. You seem to be suggesting the muzzies are ahead in the race to harm the lovely society your people have built so the comparison can't be made?


Nope. Simply that such attitudes are thrown at Jews all the time, to say otherwise in disingenuous, and that there is a problem with violence on the fringes.

As for the downfall of our lovely society, that's just capitalism being "completed it m8" by the super-rich. There's the same problems all across the west. Growing inequality will only see the Far Left and the Far Right increase in popularity in response. Leading to:


right wingers are driving vans through crowds, stabbing up people and burning down immigration centres fuelled by the kind of rampant Islamophobia we're now seeing from Anderson, Braverman, etc.

That.

If I've misunderstood your "couldn't say it about the Jews" line, then I think we are mostly on the same page.

[phonics]

Can I be pointed to these people in power that say such things loudly?

[Shindig]

Get back to work.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Can I ask what ‘the cultural establishment’ is?

All non-profit (and some for-profit) institutions populated by the educated. Media, broadcasting, TV (not just news but everything), radio, the BBC, the creative arts, teaching, schools in general, academia, the civil service, the NHS (but only the educated side of it - nothing for cleaners and cooks, unless they fall into an identity group, which fortunately they usually do). Basically anything that requires credentials, be they educationally or identity based. The modern Labour party exists for these people.

The big shift in 20th century and beyond has been that once, the Tories would have covered many areas of the above list whereas Labour represented the working class of any description. That has changed a lot and has left a lot of the poor unrepresented. It is no longer enough to be poor - you now also have to have the right opinions and ideally be 'diverse' before Labour are interested in you.

[Lofty]

We need Benders for Brexit.

[Spikey M]

Can I be pointed to these people in power that say such things loudly?

You focus on finding me all those Jewish Charlie Habdo attacks and I'll get right back to you.


We need Benders for Brexit.

Racists for Remain.

[phonics]

Pretty impressive that this group of lefty's haven't held power for nearly 2 decades despite having a stranglehold on... *checks Jimmy's notes* every institution in the country that isn't the Fire Service or the Police from the Banks to the Propaganda arm and yet still Conservative ideals emerge victorious. Rule Brittania.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Pretty impressive that this group of lefty's haven't held power for nearly 2 decades despite having a stranglehold on... *checks Jimmy's notes* every institution in the country that isn't the Fire Service or the Police from the Banks to the Propaganda arm and yet still Conservative ideals emerge victorious. Rule Brittania.

Why do you think the Tories have massively increased NHS spending, massively increased immigration, and so on and so forth? Because those institutions are incredibly powerful and simply having some MPs elected doesn't allow you to overcome that, particularly not when it comes to delivery. They have tried, too - their particular obsession is the BBC because the news is rude about them sometimes, but you can't just make an urban institution packed full of left-liberals magically turn into Tories because Bishop Auckland voted in a Tory MP.

And the reason Labour haven't held political power is that they are wrapped up in those institutions and have had nothing to say (arguably still don't) to everyone else.

[phonics]

Because this place would be an even bigger crumbling shithole than it already is if they didn't. Thank god for those Pinko Communist Bankers.

[Spikey M]

They've massively increased immigration because of the NHS? Come on Jimmy, lad.

[Jimmy Floyd]

They've massively increased immigration because of the NHS? Come on Jimmy, lad.

Er, yeah? Where do you think all the staff come from? I'm sure they would love to privatise it deep down (so would I) but that option isn't culturally available so immigration it is.


Around 265,000 out of 1.5 million staff reported a non-British nationality in June 2023, up from 220,000 a year earlier This amounts to nearly one in five of NHS staff with a known nationality.

[Spikey M]

Er, yeah? Where do you think all the staff come from? I'm sure they would love to privatise it deep down (so would I) but that option isn't culturally available so immigration it is.

Immigration is up fractionally more than 45k for the year though (672k in 2023).

[Jimmy Floyd]

Maybe, but to get those 45k you have to have rules in place that let all the others in - plus, as mentioned earlier, the Tories are currently the party of corporate interests and those interests want low-wage workers and plenty of them.

If they didn't need to staff the NHS with immigrants then it would be one less lever flicked up on the immigration control panel. Similarly, if either they or Labour wanted to deliver for Clacton and not Clapham then they would have to rethink everything. That is why there is a space for Reform.

[phonics]

But I thought all the educated people were lefty's so surely they're running the corporations too? Unless the great unwashed have managed to achieve total financial dominance with no higher education and no support from the Banking sector.

[Jimmy Floyd]

But I thought all the educated people were lefty's so surely they're running the corporations too? Unless the great unwashed have managed to achieve total financial dominance with no higher education and no support from the Banking sector.

I didn't say all educated people were lefties. I said that Labour as a party seeks to represent the interests of not-for-profit and some for-profit instutitions populated by educated people.

[Lewis]

The Royal Air Force (to use one example) was found to be deliberately not promoting white people, and here's phonics, who likes to think of himself as a weary cynic, thinking that their opponents have no institutional power because the Conservative Party have won a few elections whilst doing literally nothing about all of the Blair-era laws that mandate that sort of thinking.

Reform are useless.

[niko_cee]

30p suspended.

Just call the election already.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm not sure what their majority is now after all the miscreants are deducted. 30? I guess the opposition have lost a few to naughty corner as well.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Really not sure why the online left is going mental about Lee Anderson. He knows exactly what he is doing. I suppose they need him to be a basic thickie for their worldview to make any sense. Sunak also falling into the trap by suspending him. He'll stand for Reform in his own seat of Ashfield and may well have a puncher's chance at winning it - if not, he'll turn into a TV and online personality with a dedicated band of fans, which is all you need to make a decent living.

[niko_cee]

Didn't he start out not too long ago as a Corbynista? Man's just a rent-a-gob, in it for himself, with a willing local electorate behind him. Which seems to describe a lot of a gambling lobby / blue wall / NewCon Tories.

[niko_cee]

Sorry, I'm doing him a disservice, he was a member NUM, and cites Scargill, Skinner and Benn as important influences in his early political beliefs, but left the Labour Party after it was taken over by 'the hard left'.

:cab:

[Jimmy Floyd]

He's an old-fashioned nationalist, which used to be encompassed by Labour in the good old days but certainly not anymore. He would have been out with the blackshirts in the thirties, but not with the National Front in the eighties. Now there's a distinction to write 10,000 words about.

[Spikey M]

Is the destinction that racism gets more nostalgic over time?

[niko_cee]

It's the extent to which you could describe them as jolly good fellows on an individual basis.

[Manc]

I quite enjoyed Emily Thornberry drowning in her own BS this morning on Politics Live (smug cunt). Change has to happen, but I can't escape the feeling this Labor lot are complete chancers.

[Spikey M]

They won't change much. It's still a very fractured party. I suspect the unity is only holding because they want to get into power. Once they're in power, the reality of having basically no policies is going to blow up in their faces.

Is that better than what we have? I don't know. Can't be much worse though, I guess.

[Don]

Spoiled ballot totals are gonna be eye-watering.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I did enjoy this. Gorgeous George Galloway's leaflet delivered to white houses in Rochdale:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GHiBmbsWkAAC4p7?format=jpg&name=large

And the one he sends through Muslim letterboxes:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GHiBmbnW8AAzacj?format=jpg&name=large

Alas some chatter that he might well lose.

[Shindig]

I'd watch a series of George Galloway: Street Cop.

[niko_cee]

I don't like the things they are teaching them at school!

:D

Just found out my old property law professor is standing as the lib dem candidate in Wimbledon. 600 majority to overturn so he's got to be a shoe-in. Will make an absolutely legendary interviewee but, that being the case, he probably won't ever be allowed near anything of the sort.

Make Rochdale great again? Again?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Everything in south west London, and a fair amount of Surrey is going Lib Dem. I live near the bridge (well, one of them) and as you walk over onto the London side you can physically feel yourself turning from blue to orange. Van engines and mumbled swears fade away under the mingled sounds of baristas at work, the thuds of hybrid SUV boots shutting, and mothers-at-lunch loudly urging Oscar not to run too far from daddy. The thing is, darling, I actually loved the lockdown. Gave the family a renewed sense of being together. Well, the thing is, and I do feel bad about this, Dad's gone private for his knee op. I know? The doctor was terribly nice. Indian chap, or Pakistani, I can't remember. I heard they're turning the old water wheel into flats. Terrible, what these developers do. Rapacious, all to make a quick buck.

[phonics]

Even the lefty weirdos biggest aims are to 'Bring Primark back to our high street'

Fucking abysmal.

[Lofty]

Gorgeous George with a 6000 majority :D

[Jimmy Floyd]

If that result (Azhar Ali 4th!) at all previews how feelings will be in an October GE then Labour will need to shore up their 10 or so Muslim seats. Obviously it's a by election, Galloway is an unusually big name and a lot of water to go under the bridge before then.

Great news for Primark shoppers though.

[Ben]

I just caught a bit of BBC Breakfast in the lobby at work and the reporter's first question posed to Galloway (if you can call it that) was that he's so divisive. George retorted that the result shows he's actually not divisive because it was such a huge majority (fair enough). I would bet at least five British pounds that if the Tory candidate had scraped a win by an ant's knacker (the definition of division) then such a question wouldn't have been posed.

Anyway, my point is the media are so shit. Galloway winning just shows where the country is at mentally and the media won't dare to acknowledge that. This isn't just Muslims for Gaza (well over 80% of the constituency is White). Labour are fucking lucky there aren't many George Galloway-types willing to barrel in and fuck shit up outside of a few Reform candidates.

[Kikó]

What an odious prick of a man. Can't believe people vote for him.

[Spikey M]

If we had the same Electoral system as the yanks we would be electing a worse populist than Trump this time round.

[Jimmy Floyd]

We'd be voting in our second term of President Johnson.

[SvN]

I haven't seen what George Galloway looks like in about 15 years, and just had a good lol at the state of him.

[Yevrah]

Hang on, isn't the US system essentially the same as ours? They just have a number of electoral college votes per state while we have a number of constituencies per county.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's completely different. They have a directly elected President who exists outwith Congress. Our prime minister comes from within Parliament.

[Yevrah]

I just caught a bit of BBC Breakfast in the lobby at work and the reporter's first question posed to Galloway (if you can call it that) was that he's so divisive. George retorted that the result shows he's actually not divisive because it was such a huge majority (fair enough). I would bet at least five British pounds that if the Tory candidate had scraped a win by an ant's knacker (the definition of division) then such a question wouldn't have been posed.

Anyway, my point is the media are so shit. Galloway winning just shows where the country is at mentally and the media won't dare to acknowledge that. This isn't just Muslims for Gaza (well over 80% of the constituency is White). Labour are fucking lucky there aren't many George Galloway-types willing to barrel in and fuck shit up outside of a few Reform candidates.

You'd need to see the voter demographics and how many of the total population voted to know what impact Muslims had. Funny that we (the media) are even having this conversation though, aren't we all just British?

[Yevrah]

It's completely different. They have a directly elected President who exists outwith Congress. Our prime minister comes from within Parliament.

But ultimately, as much as people might want to claim otherwise, when it comes to where voters put their cross in a general election the vast majority are voting for the Prime Minister rather than their local candidate.

Substance over form and all that.

[Spikey M]

But ultimately, as much as people might want to claim otherwise, when it comes to where voters put their cross in a general election the vast majority are voting for the Prime Minister rather than their local candidate.

Substance over form and all that.

Donald Trump can run because Donald Trump wants to run. Then if he wins the vote, he's President.

Tommy Robbinson would have to put together an entire political party and win the most seats. Or, manage to become the leader of the Tories / Labour, then win the most seats.

[Jimmy Floyd]

They're voting for their local candidate. Why they vote for their local candidate is up to them, but if 649 constituencies vote enthusiastically Tory because they love Rishi Sunak, and Richmond (Yorks) votes Labour, then Rishi is gone.

You can say this would never happen but it could quite plausibly have happened to Boris in Uxbridge last time, and has happened in Australia at least once. Also, as does happen very regularly here, the parliamentary party can chuck out Rishi as their leader because he IS NOT directly elected by the public, no matter how much 'narrative' wants him to be.

[Yevrah]

I was focusing more on the voting system in my assertion above, rather than the candidate selection and retention (or otherwise) process, but fair points gents.

[Don]

Fucking go on, George. The media are busy smearing him as transphobic/homophobic/gammonphobic whilst Labour are explaining it away because they didn't have their own coconut up for election. The times they are a changing (they're not as mentioned above, there's not enough Galloways around). Supreme orator he is too, those speeches :cool:

[Yevrah]

He is exceptional at public speaking, that much is true.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He's a deeply terrible man, but he is good at exploiting the many gaps in mainstream politics. Much like 2005 his mob (and it is a mob) will be a factor in Muslim seats, this isn't however that many seats in the grand scheme of things so it won't be of huge importance.

[Don]

Keep downplaying the Islamists who rule your shores now, mate.

This is sensational too, fucking Putin has more shame :D

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/01/tories-accused-of-hypocrisy-farmers-protests-crackdown-climate-gaza

[Spikey M]

The true embarrassment is them allowing him to use them as a photo opp. Look at him deliberately standing next to the shortest bloke, a short woman and a kid as well. :happycry:

[Don]

Chris Williamson back on the airwaves and not giving a single fuck :drool:

[Jimmy Floyd]

PM doing a lectern at 5.40. What I'm hearing is that Lewis has been in there all day and he's going to announce the immediate expulsion of all Asians, including himself.

Funniest suggestion for the topic I've seen in the twitter replies is 'His heated pool is getting a slide'.

[Lewis]

You'd need to see the voter demographics and how many of the total population voted to know what impact Muslims had. Funny that we (the media) are even having this conversation though, aren't we all just British?

I liked how him sending different letters to Muslim and non-Muslim voters was somehow underhand. The politics of the future, brought to you by the olden days.

[Jimmy Floyd]

This is an absolutely rubbish speech from a shite politician.

[Lofty]

What's he saying, doesn't even seem to be on BBC News home page.

[Yevrah]

Only caught the last two minutes, but my first observation was what extremism is he talking about? He wasn't particularly clear.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He's having a pop at 'extremists'. It's both crap, boring and also clearly an attempt to whip up tensions to make himself look more statesmanlike.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Only caught the last two minutes, but my first observation was what extremism is he talking about? He wasn't particularly clear.

He defined it as 'Islamists and the far right' earlier.

[Yevrah]

I'm all for giving small people a chance, but he's just a manlet with no authority, isn't he?

[Yevrah]

That said, I'm becoming increasingly concerned about Starmer. I know he doesn't particularly need to be specific on policies until he launches Labour's manifesto (given Tory ineptitude), but it's going to be a bag of absolute wank when he does, isn't it?

[Jimmy Floyd]

It needs to be a bag of wank because his electoral coalition is quite diverse (in every sense) and if he commits hard to one thing then he will delight some and infuriate others, which is the opposite of what he has to do to win. To win he needs status quo, steady as she goes - no red meat for the Tories, no more George Galloway related disasters, no more wacko candidates.

You'll see what he's really like when he's in office, and I imagine that will involve cosying back up to the EU.

[Yevrah]

Fair point and given we're clearly utterly incapable of taking advantage of anything that FREEDOM from the EU might offer I wouldn't be adverse to that.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Sunak of course needs the opposite - he needs bombs going off and George Galloway on every newsreel, which is why he's just done a statement calling him a twat live on the BBC.

[Spikey M]

He / they (the party, not his pronouns) are a mess. If you're going to go after the Muslamic RayGuns, then it's an attempt to whip up the far right, so why chuck muck at them too? Use a bit of brain power lad.

[Lewis]

Imagine casting yourself as protecting democracy from 'extremists' whilst doing exactly the opposite of what most of your own voters want.

[Ben]

Manlet energy.

[Shindig]

Aye, it seems like an overreaction to a Galloway win, too. A proper leader wouldn't give it the time of day.

[randomlegend]

I'm all for giving small people a chance, but he's just a manlet with no authority, isn't he?

He's a vapid, morally bankrupt cunt with as much substance as high school bog roll.

[Yevrah]

Galloway responds.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7p7CAyxHgg

He's box office and has bodybagged Sunak there.

[Lewis]

1763531191242707095

Giving Reform free advice as well. :lol:

[Giggles]

At least you haven't a referendum soon to allow every import to bring in everyone they every met.

[niko_cee]

"a figure in the successful #Brexit campaign"

:D

He's such a self-serving prick. What's the record for most different constituencies represented? He must be having a good stab at it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He's equalled it last night (4), joining another extremist hate figure, Winston Churchill.

[Don]

That Sky interview's crowd is a real sign of the times. People ain't taking it any more and not in the sinister "you can feel the anger" way the fucking virgin gimp is trying to paint it as which is most telling. Anger is no longer sufficient to reflect the depth of public disdain. Bring on the era of mockery :drool:

[Lewis]

Dominic Cummings has been saying for years that normal people don't care about 99% of Westminster shit, and that in order to be an effective party/government you have to simply ignore much of it and speak past these wankers (like Donald Trump did prior to his election). It's a very good illustration of it. 'The Prime Minister sez...' And? Whatever you think of Galloway, he knows what he thinks and why he thinks it, which I don't think many politicians do, so they can't answer straight questions and defend themselves beyond trying to say the 'appropriate' thing.

[niko_cee]

I was going to say how much of an absolute loser do you have to be to be part of the Gorgeous George hype gang. Fair enough to the man himself, but all the nodding numpties in the background, christ, have some self-repsect.

[igor_balis]

Galloway is a weird one for me, cus he's clearly a massive self-serving twat, and I'm pretty sure his own narcissism and hunger for power and relevance drives him far more than any kind of moral compass, especially these days. Plus I obviously have no time for his regressive social conservatism. Yet when he's on form, and has a decent target, he's a pretty awesome orator. He's like a more ridiculous Christopher Hitchens I suppose. Probably peaked with that US senate hearing. Quite happy to see him continuing to be an irritant to the political establishment, so long as he doesn't get any real power.

[Kikó]

I was going to say how much of an absolute loser do you have to be to be part of the Gorgeous George hype gang. Fair enough to the man himself, but all the nodding numpties in the background, christ, have some self-repsect.

I've said it on here before that my step mums brother is one of his luvvies. Weird Z list hanger on group of people.

Galloway says it like it is when it comes to saying it against the imperial west. He's got no issues denying Assad's war crimes or inviting convicted pedos on his TV shows (Scott Ritter).

[Clunge]

Galloway is a weird one for me, cus he's clearly a massive self-serving twat, and I'm pretty sure his own narcissism and hunger for power and relevance drives him far more than any kind of moral compass, especially these days. Plus I obviously have no time for his regressive social conservatism. Yet when he's on form, and has a decent target, he's a pretty awesome orator. He's like a more ridiculous Christopher Hitchens I suppose. Probably peaked with that US senate hearing. Quite happy to see him continuing to be an irritant to the political establishment, so long as he doesn't get any real power.
I often think this when his name comes up, and then I remember that was the mid-00s and he's been a complete asshat since then so I'm not sure it should count as any kind of modern day currency for him.

[Don]

Not solely political but an entertaining read.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/mar/04/middle-class-workers-mortgages-bills-tax

Yes, Lee, it very much is until we wake up as a collective.

[Spikey M]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68467359

Now he really is going too far. :mad:

[niko_cee]

It's alright, Keir can make her a Baroness or whatever if she doesn't get in as an MP.

[Ben]

What a geezer.

[Boydy]

It's alright, Keir can make her a Baroness or whatever if she doesn't get in as an MP.

Nah he won't. They'd be happy to get rid of her.

[Lewis]

I love the idea of her working class gobshite act crumbling in the face of seething freaks and Muslims wherever she goes.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Really not sure why the online left is going mental about Lee Anderson. He knows exactly what he is doing. I suppose they need him to be a basic thickie for their worldview to make any sense. Sunak also falling into the trap by suspending him. He'll stand for Reform in his own seat of Ashfield and may well have a puncher's chance at winning it - if not, he'll turn into a TV and online personality with a dedicated band of fans, which is all you need to make a decent living.

Defection incoming today, lol at Sunak.

[Ben]

1767133160603517242

:harold:

[Spikey M]

It's funny, but if Starmer drops a disasterclass during Labour's stint, then there's a chance we could actually see that mob start attracting votes in 2029 or whenever the next election would be.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I think they'll do pretty well in some areas this time. Maybe 8-10% of the total vote and could be in play in about 5-6 seats.

That said, I don't think Farage is an electoral asset at all, guy just doesn't win ever and is the wrong vibe entirely for their voter base. So they'll do well to swerve him.

[Ben]

It's funny, but if Starmer drops a disasterclass during Labour's stint, then there's a chance we could actually see that mob start attracting votes in 2029 or whenever the next election would be.

Not as long as we have FPTP. These fringe parties are just background noise, which is a good thing if they're noisy enough to whip the proper parties into shape. The Tory complacency started their downward spiral.

[Luke Emia]

1767133160603517242

:harold:

This kind of thing always comes out when someone defects though and it never happens. The Tories have really tried hard to fritter away the massive majority they had at the start of this parliament though. Down from 80 to what 53? If he then lost another 10 on top of that you'd have to think he would be toast.

[Don]

The conference Anderson and the party leader have just had was stonking. The gammonati have been awakened, once they leave the Tories, who tf is left?

[Jimmy Floyd]

The most immovable Tory voters are the people in the shires aged 50-70 who have a bit of (but not too much) money, shop for food at Marks & Spencer, read the Daily Mail because they're a bit too thick for the Telegraph, and think that the youth buy too many takeaway coffees which is why they can't afford a house. Those guys will be the final 5% of the Conservative vote once the rest of us are eagerly goose-stepping down our local high street.

Reform won't ever attract them as they'll be seen as for working class scum.

[Lewis]

Whatever good ideas might be buried in their manifesto, as long as Reform are talking to themselves on GB News, recruiting losers like Lee Anderson and their Rochdale candidate (even Nigel Farage to an extent), and talking about 'Starmergeddon' then they are a waste of space. The only way anything is going to replace the Conservative Party is if a Trump-like candidate could repeat the referendum campaign, which, in a general election context, essentially means shit-talking your way into the debates and asking the other two why they think foreign rapists should receive indefinite food and shelter courtesy of the Great British taxpayer. Ironically, prime (imaginary version of) Boris Johnson would have been the ideal vehicle for this, but yeah.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The Labour party will replace the Conservative party. There is literally no reason for a conservative party to exist in the current housing situation.

[Lewis]

The Conservative Party is the Labour Party, who also won't build enough houses.

[Jimmy Floyd]

They won't, but the people who don't own houses and therefore need more public services will all vote for them en masse. If Starmer tries to Stanley Baldwin / Harold Wilson his way through ten years of nothing, then eventually a more plausible Corbyn will do him from the inside and that is when the houses will get built.

The right will have to rebuild from Ed West's basement.

[niko_cee]

The more Rishi and his poor poor family get dragged through the mud the more I wonder what on earth would possess you, as a minted hedge-fund arsehole, who's married the daughter of a billionaire, to get involved in public life in the UK? He doesn't even strike me as having the sort of Eton-derived god complex that most of the modern toff tory leaders have had. Fair enough if you're some subpar workaday jobber like John Major, worm your way up the greasy pole, but when you've got it all on a plate [like some guy from the top estate] just why would you bother tanking the rest of your life?

[randomlegend]

He absolutely definitely does think he's brilliant.

[niko_cee]

Yeah, but more in a look how much money I've got/how clever I am sort of way rather than the born to rule mindset the likes of Cameron and Johnson have had imbued into them from birth.

[Lofty]

Overcompensating for being a manlet.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He and Gordon Brown are very similar, not in their opinions perhaps but in the fact that they're in the wrong job as PM. Intellectually strong and absolutely terrible at politics. Gordon should have been a university professor and Rishi should be a wanky tech bro.

[Yevrah]

Late to the party I know, but I'm not sure anything better sums up the mess we've gotten into as a country on race than Diane Abbott being the target of horrific racial abuse revelations while simultaneously being suspended from the labour party for.... being racist.

[SvN]

The problem is, especially where the Labour Party is concerned, being accused of being racist (especially if Jews are involved) is basically a death sentence.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Liking Diane Abbott has always been in my top 10 unpopular opinions. There are loads of worse cunts than her even among Labour left-wingers, so it's hard not to conclude that she enrages people for other reasons than what she says and does.

[niko_cee]

The way she talks is quite annoying.

Like everything is said after a sharp intake of breath/could be about to burst into tears at any moment.

[Lewis]

The pantomime over this clown who donated all of that money to the Conservative Party is proper lol. If he had given them a hundred grand they would have re-paid it already, banished him forever, and legislated for the next monarch to be black; meanwhile, the people clamouring for the donation to be re-paid would be more forgiving of him if he had molested somebody but said sorry afterwards. The health people wanting his company blacklisted, when presumably it does a decent job at whatever it does, is a top run-in as well.

From what I remember ol' Diane was a bit hard done to getting canned by the Labour Party. Oh well. Can't stop progress.

[Don]

Either side doing their bs is what it is but it's all been enabled by yet more incredible absence of leadership and foresight.

[Ben]

1769773697999450246

Are these whoppers even going to manage to make Opposition? Best call the election now before it gets even worse.

[Spikey M]

Noteworthy that the votes they're losing aren't going to Labour and Sir Beer Korma might actually be slowly losing votes.

Perhaps one of our brave parties could take the revolutionary step of actually offering what the public want, rather than "more of the same, but less fraud".

[Jimmy Floyd]

I wouldn't totally rule out a scenario where PM Keir is being opposed by the scything legalistic mind of fellow knight of the realm Ed Davey.

[Jimmy Floyd]

the revolutionary step of actually offering what the public want

What do the public want?

[Spikey M]

What do the public want?

You would have to ask the public. It's obviously going to vary across different groups. I'm fairly sure nobody wants "more of the same" though. Our choice is currently limited to. The Tories again or Labour continuing what the Tories have done. Sir Beer has been very clear that we shouldn't expect sweeping changes.

Well, sweeping changes are what I want. Reduce inequality, nationalise water, trains, dentists etc and start building fucking houses again. Not everyone will agree on that. Others will want a huge cuts in immigration, some will want to rejoin the EU still, etc, etc, etc.

The point is, we have no option for any of that really. We have the Tories or The Tories in red. The Lib Dems, Greens and Reform offer a bit of a protest vote, but that's all. There's no real option for anyone that wants change of any real kind. Democracy is a scam.

[Spikey M]

I suppose what I'm driving at, is we've completely moved away from the norm. It used to be straight forward.

Conservatives: small government, low tax, low spending, low funding for services.

Labour: Big government, high tax, high spending, good funding for services.

We've now fallen into a world where they both offer a muddled, worse of both offering. High tax, high spending, fuck all services.

There's no debate on how it should be or what should change. It just is what it is and the debate is around who will deliver it less shambolically.

The system is broken.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Probably because most of it is outside the control of UK government and in the hands of, say, the strength of the US dollar, or who Putin decides to invade this week, or oil prices, or what happens to the Chinese manufacturing sector.

The more one frees oneself from the idea that we can control anything much in a holistic sense, the more you see the world in terms of small shifts making a bigger difference. Even changing the mood music from the current Tory rabble trying to justify tax cuts to Starmer's lot being a bit more people-focused will make a big difference, without scaring people like Foot and Corbyn's radical platforms did. Will it lead us to the sunlit uplands, no, but it might make many people feel a bit better for a while.

[Boydy]

You would have to ask the public. It's obviously going to vary across different groups. I'm fairly sure nobody wants "more of the same" though. Our choice is currently limited to. The Tories again or Labour continuing what the Tories have done. Sir Beer has been very clear that we shouldn't expect sweeping changes.

Well, sweeping changes are what I want. Reduce inequality, nationalise water, trains, dentists etc and start building fucking houses again. Not everyone will agree on that. Others will want a huge cuts in immigration, some will want to rejoin the EU still, etc, etc, etc.

The point is, we have no option for any of that really. We have the Tories or The Tories in red. The Lib Dems, Greens and Reform offer a bit of a protest vote, but that's all. There's no real option for anyone that wants change of any real kind. Democracy is a scam.
Anyone who offers what you say you want here will get murdered by the press. See 2019.

But you're right on the last sentence.

[niko_cee]

It isn't really.

It's just the British populace, like any major developed nation, aren't really all that into the idea of radical reform, no matter how much of a right wing media conspiracy you think that prevalent view is the product of, so people who want to get elected tailor their offering to woo that 'small c conservative' majority that exists.

[Ben]

Well, sweeping changes are what I want. Reduce inequality, nationalise water, trains, dentists etc and start building fucking houses again.

There was a chap quite recently who wanted to do that and got lolled out of politics.

[Spikey M]

There was a chap quite recently who wanted to do that and got lolled out of politics.

There was. If we could find another one that wasn't regularly photographed with Hamas leaders, then he may stand a chance. Corbyn made it easy for them.

[Lewis]

To say the Great British Public can't stomach anything new and different, a million immigrants a year became normalised pretty quickly. The NHS started sterilising mentally ill kids without too much of a fuss. That teacher is still hiding from Muslims and nobody cares. If the last four years has taught us anything it's that most people barely think about anything other than in very superficial terms, so the trick is to just do things, refuse to accept that Sky News has a veto on appointments and policy, and then, assuming they can be shown to be working on some level, those things become normalised.

As a trivial example, if they had built that third runway at Heathrow, then what? It can't be un-built, so what good is voting Liberal Democrat after the event?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Starmer, since he doesn't need their votes, should definitely go to war on the nimby tendency and build loads of stuff. If he doesn't it'll be pathetic.

[Lewis]

Even if you accept that certain developments would have lost the Conservative Party seats in the South East, and that there was no option but to build high-speed rail underground and make it cripplingly expensive, why haven't they built fifty thousand flats in Cambridge and Oxford? Why hasn't every Liberal Democrat constituency had a massive reservoir and/or an enormous prison dropped on it? There is literally no downside to these things, and the new inhabitants might even thank you for it with their votes. But no. Worthless.

[Ben]

Starmer, since he doesn't need their votes, should definitely go to war on the nimby tendency and build loads of stuff. If he doesn't it'll be pathetic.

All the nimby cunts are usually in Tory/LD seats anyway so Starmer definitely needs to stick up a massive middle finger at them as the wagons roll in. Like Jeremy Irons in Die Hard with a Vengeance.

[niko_cee]

I've no idea where all these Nimby's live, but wherever they are, if they've heard of water neutrality and/or Natural England then your wagon rolling plans are already fucked.

[Ben]

That sort of stuff is easy to get around. The job I’m currently on at work is in a National Park so they’ve us capped to a measly 110 wagons per day.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Anywhere the Lib Dems poll decent numbers. Almost failsafe guide. Bad, bad people, the contemporary Lib Dems, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Their days of being a harmless nothing party are gone, these days they are aggressive downward-punching class warriors.

[niko_cee]

That sort of stuff is easy to get around. The job I’m currently on at work is in a National Park so they’ve us capped to a measly 110 wagons per day.

I dunno, it seems to have massively borked house building down here and, yes whilst there are workarounds, it doesn't really strike me as something which is going to be easily surmountable in the build them build them build them housing policy landscape proposed.

[Lewis]

What if the government could just change laws whenever it wanted?

[niko_cee]

Wetlands > People

:sorry:

[Spikey M]

When it comes to Building we need to just go full China. Just get on with it. If old people whine, stick them in a concentration camp and use them to create a .co.uk version of Temu ignore them. They'll likely only get one term anyway

[niko_cee]

China's city building policies evidently the envy of the world.

The house building thing is quite interesting. I had no idea that so much of the land that ends up getting designated for development is government/quango owned already, and then, whilst planning I guess is an inherently local issue, delegating it to councils/local authorities just ends up with lol situations where the certain districts assign areas on their neighbouring area's borders as places to build shit loads of housing presumably knowing full well all of those houses will then drain on the other authority in terms of services.

[phonics]

1770117081435947061

For the love of God. Election. Now.

[Yevrah]

What even is that?

[Ben]

:facepalm:

[wullie]

1770097592182997386

This one's cool though, top bins. What a baller

[Jimmy Floyd]

I don't even get it. Have they just googled 'footie memes' and gone from there?

[phonics]

I'm not really sure but it definitely gives off Twickenham vibes.

The Super League one is bizarre. The only people that care about it know he had nothing to do with it and also it was like 2 years and 4 Prime Ministers ago.

[Spikey M]

It's embarrassing to a level that I can't even find it funny anymore.

[Ben]

Late to the party and out of touch. It's very on-brand for them.

[niko_cee]

Why is Rishi cradling the ball like it's a rugby ball in that top bins one?

And is he in the process of some sort of high five or is he giving the crowd the cupping the ear celebration?

[Spikey M]

Rishimania is running wild.

[Ben]

I see Rishimania is taking all the credit for the falling inflation today, just one month after Hunt blamed external forces for it not coming down as expected.

Does anyone buy their bullshit anymore?

[Jimmy Floyd]

I happen to know that Rishi personally went to the inflation head offices, took the bull by the horns and said right, that's enough, we simply cannot carry on like this.

Wonderful leadership.

[Shindig]

And then the bull said it was sorry.

[Luke Emia]

I see Rishimania is taking all the credit for the falling inflation today, just one month after Hunt blamed external forces for it not coming down as expected.

Does anyone buy their bullshit anymore?

External forces being them and the Bank of England not turning the taps off to cheap money in 2021 when every many and their dog could see that there was going to be an inflation issue.

[7om]

My theory is that the conservative Twitter account is being run by someone who hates the tories. It’s the only way to explain how consistently pathetic it is.

[Lewis]

You could replace 'conservative Twitter account' with 'Conservative Party' there and it would be equally valid.

[Boydy]

This WASPI stuff seems pretty lol. It all just seems to be well off boomers crying about having had to retire a few years later. "I had to sell the investment property I bought", boo fucking hoo.

[Spikey M]

Aren't they just retiring at the same age as men now? Thus addressing the inequality they're so against? :happycry:

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've long had a theory about the boomers (probably read it somewhere originally, I'm not claiming authorship) that they spent their youths looking up to the ageing war generation who commanded instant respect, but when they themselves passed fifty and weren't accorded the same respect by the generation below - because rather than fighting through foxholes in Normandy to earn their deference, they just hopped on cheap housing and became rich - their minds were blown and have ultimately gone down the toilet in a kind of desperate childish reaction.

The more you read 20th/21st century history, the more you realise that basically all of it is to do with the second world war, and still is.

[Lewis]

This WASPI stuff seems pretty lol. It all just seems to be well off boomers crying about having had to retire a few years later. "I had to sell the investment property I bought", boo fucking hoo.

I would like somebody to ask them all how/whether they consider it compared to kids who left school just before tuition fees either came in/were increased.

Fortunately, the sheer cost of paying them all off will likely leave them hanging, because otherwise any government would absolutely have folded on first contact with a bunch of organised entitled twats like this.

[Spikey M]

1772331229146222820?t=XDcp1QJrEsSBKz7SXj8CXw&s=19

:drool:

Full French level fuckery, please lads.

[Kikó]

Blocking ambulances getting to hospitals 😍

[Spikey M]

They'd only be sat in the hospital carpark for 18 hours anyway.

[niko_cee]

1772321715713982730

:lol:

What?

[Jimmy Floyd]

That account has been all over the show of late, they're obviously resorting to complete desperation.

[Ben]

Pathetic stuff. Fortunately a lot of this crop will be out of jobs in about seven months.

[Yevrah]

There should be some sort of punishment levelled at the Tories for that, it's absolutely disgusting.

[Raoul Duke]

They should take it up with the government. They'd be able to fix all those problems, surely

[Jimmy Floyd]

There should be some sort of punishment levelled at the Tories for that, it's absolutely disgusting.

They have the punishment of complete electoral wipeout looming in their near future, should suffice.

[Yevrah]

That added context feature might just be the best thing to ever happen to Social media.

[Boydy]

1772897355139780665

What is the point of the labour party?

[Spikey M]

1772897355139780665

What is the point of the labour party?

My wife works for a nursery and tHe gOvErNmEnTs fReE cHiLdCaRe pLaN was "here, have some more kids, enjoy".

"but we're already massively under funded and nurseries are going out of business (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62496728)"

Yeah yeah, work it out.

"How? We rely on unfunded kids to fund the funded kids, because the government funding doesn't even cover the staffs minimum wage"

Lol. Work it out.

"Can we atleast increase the child:adult room ratio then?"

No no. Work it out.

What about some kind of subsidy to increase wages? That way we can attract more staff and stop them from leaving (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/childcare-crisis-staff-leaving-sector-b2442390.html)"

Lol. Work it out.

"OK, please can we atleast cut back on the qualifications requirement? It currently costs £2800 for a Level 3 in Childcare. That's an unreasonable expectation for a minimum wage job"

Work. It. Out.

It's an unworkable mess. It's just one of many traps the Tories are setting to make the next government's time as difficult as possible.

[Spikey M]

And how have the Abysmal cunts let the NHS got into a position where this (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-68668234) is happening?

They deserve what happened to Gaddafi at this point and anyone that votes for them this time round should be on the first plane we send to Rwanda.

I'm not convinced by Labour or Starmer, but the only goal here should be getting these horrible cunts out of power.

[Ben]

Of course we've got no money when the Government has spent the last decade awarding their pals a load of taxpayer contracts, with hardly any service in return, then the money is promptly siphoned off into offshore bank accounts, never to be seen again.

Example: Steve Dechan, Conservative councillor for Stroud, resigned in 2020 and was immediately awarded £276m in PPE contracts without any competition. One year on, P14 had only delivered 1/400th of its commitment and was soon wound up over an unpaid £5.5m tax bill.

This Government have backpocketed that £4bn several times over. Cunts need to go to jail for shit like this. Taxpayer money literally stolen and now sat in Swiss/Cayman bank accounts.

[Spikey M]

In better news:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-68656787

:D

[Shindig]

The uneaten cat food. :D

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

:lol:

[Luke Emia]

It's an unworkable mess. It's just one of many traps the Tories are setting to make the next government's time as difficult as possible.

Yep you can see it all over the place now. Just almost fuck it let the country burn but if we can score some points when they come in and reverse some of the measures we are implementing that's a win for us.

Rwanda
National Insurance cut
Removal of lifetime allowance for pensions
Childcare

That's four without even looking that hard. All of the Tory ideas around this are absolute dogshit but don't let that get in the way.

[Spikey M]

And if they somehow managed to win the next election, the Tories would quietly dump all the promises themselves anyway.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's about time they actually sold off the NHS. Maybe they can get Musk to bid for it before the election.

[Lofty]

'Due to your negative opinion about Elon Musk on social media we regret to inform you your life saving operation has been cancelled.'

[Luke Emia]

That young girl thing doesn't surprise me though. My wife has an issue with her knee they haven't been 100% sure about it but likely will need an operation to fix it. The process has been ridiculous. Last February she went to our GP(obviously she had to wait 3 weeks to get an appointment) to get it looked at and to be told he will refer her to a specialist. She goes to see said specialist in July who tells her before he can do anything else she needs to have an MRI. She has the MRI in September goes back to the specialist at the beginning of October who tells her yes she needs an operation and will be referred to Adenbrookes. The appointment to see a consultant at Adenbrookes finally comes through for the end of February so she goes for that expecting to get some information on when she may need an operation.

Consultant is an hour and a half late for the appointment but then when she goes in turns out her MRI scan hasn't been uploaded to her records previously so they can't see anything. But, that she also will need to have an X-Ray and a CT Scan before they can make a decision on what to do. My wife was basically sent on her way(bear in mind the hospital is a good hour away from where we live). She then has to chase our doctors surgery to arrange getting the MRI sent over to the hospital and then has wait for the X-Ray and CT Scans which took place yesterday. Now she has to wait for them to go back to the consultant before she gets an actual appointment to go through her options and if she will get an operation and she will then be placed on a waiting list.

When people talk about the NHS and wasting money and time this is what they are on about it's absolutely fucking mental. The wastage just in this one example is absolutely incredible there was even a point where they were saying she might need a new MRI as the current one may be out of date.

[Lewis]

Life in a developing economy. Still, pensioners are doing well.

[Don]

I've had some recent run-ins with NHS and beside some incompetent talent, the real takeaway was seeing some successful use of the NHS app.

AI will sort so much of the problems out as it replaces these fuckers who can barely speak English or operate a computer and centralises things. But as with all public sector shite, it'll take a few more years than required but it seems at least the NHS has been prioritised so is at least using Windows 7 level software rather than Windows 95.

[randomlegend]

And how have the Abysmal cunts let the NHS got into a position where this (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-68668234) is happening?

They deserve what happened to Gaddafi at this point and anyone that votes for them this time round should be on the first plane we send to Rwanda.

I'm not convinced by Labour or Starmer, but the only goal here should be getting these horrible cunts out of power.

I've been saying for years this is where we're heading. It was all lols and "they say this every winter" at my "the NHS is going to collapse" speak, but this is what it looks like. You don't wake up one day and suddenly all the A and Es have shut. It's a slow degradation of services until the point is reached where children can't get life-changing/life-saving surgery.

The health service is right at the precipice. If doctors don't win the wars we are currently fighting against the "workforce plan" and pay, I think we'll be heading towards a two-tier system. You'll be able to chance your luck on Arrrr EN AITCH ESS with Becky, her zoology degree and her two year masters in "the medical model" or you can pay through the nose/have insurance to see a doctor privately.

[randomlegend]

I've had some recent run-ins with NHS and beside some incompetent talent, the real takeaway was seeing some successful use of the NHS app.

AI will sort so much of the problems out as it replaces these fuckers who can barely speak English or operate a computer and centralises things. But as with all public sector shite, it'll take a few more years than required but it seems at least the NHS has been prioritised so is at least using Windows 7 level software rather than Windows 95.

NHS IT systems are absolutely appalling for the most part. A completely different system for literally every small task and they are all fucking wank. The system used for documentation across all the acute units (A and E, Acute Medical Unit, Paediatric Assessment Unit, etc) in my last trust (which was a major regional centre and University Teaching hospital, not St 1980's in Shitland-on-sea) took literally 15 minutes to log into. If you think the NHS is technologying it's way out of the shit then you are even more of a laughable cretin than I thought.

[Raoul Duke]

The Netherlands (where I live) has a paid-for system and the GPs are absolute dickheads and just prescribe everyone paracetamol. Hospitals tend to be alright if you can get in

[Don]

Why must you be so toxic? :(

The post was saying in comparison to other government departments, their use of the NHS app is way ahead and in the grander scheme of things, replacing your fat fingers and slim brain with an AI system will solve everything. HTH.

[niko_cee]

I had a pretty good NHS experience recently via a skin app [skindoctor or something], although there was nothing much for them to do and the 'appointments' took what felt to me like a long time to book/be scheduled/whatever. Showed the power of technology though. I could upload pics as wanted and they could be reviewed and referred without need for face-to-face contact, so much more efficient for all concerned. By the time the old age wart in question was due to be excised it had fallen off of its own accord. Still had the appointment though, at their behest, and have just seen the note sent back to the GP today [8 weeks later] which could and should have been written by AI. I happen to know of an attempt to enter that space in the NHS so maybe there is some light at the end of the tunnel before the whole thing sinks under the weight of its own administrative bureaucracy. More money, and god help us 'letting the doctors run it' aren't going to be the solution.

[randomlegend]

I had a pretty good NHS experience recently via a skin app [skindoctor or something], although there was nothing much for them to do and the 'appointments' took what felt to me like a long time to book/be scheduled/whatever. Showed the power of technology though. I could upload pics as wanted and they could be reviewed and referred without need for face-to-face contact, so much more efficient for all concerned. By the time the old age wart in question was due to be excised it had fallen off of its own accord. Still had the appointment though, at their behest, and have just seen the note sent back to the GP today [8 weeks later] which could and should have been written by AI. I happen to know of an attempt to enter that space in the NHS so maybe there is some light at the end of the tunnel before the whole thing sinks under the weight of its own administrative bureaucracy. More money, and god help us 'letting the doctors run it' aren't going to be the solution.

Never said anything about "letting the doctors run it". Most doctors are obviously not good managers and their skills are better utilised elsewhere. There should definitely be much more involvement of clinical, patient-facing staff - not just doctors - in decision-making though. Many of the decisions made are patently idiotic and it would take a maximum of 5 seconds talking to someone who is actually going to have to deal with said change to find that out in many cases.

The calibre of people in NHS management positions is absolutely terrible, also.

It is a horribly inefficient service in a million ways, but it does also need more money. Patients are drastically more complex due to living longer with muiti-morbidity. Treatments are both more expensive and more numerous. Patient numbers have drastically increased. It all costs money to deal with.

AI will be an interesting one in healthcare and I really doubt it's going to be the revolution people think. Where will culpability lie when the AI bot inevitably makes mistakes, for a start?

[Jimmy Floyd]

I always imagined that AI in this context would be replacing the dozy receptionist who can't be arsed to do any work that afternoon, rather than telling the patient to cut their fingers off to stop arthritic pain. Greasing the wheels, if you like.

[Gray Fox]

Laurence Fox in the mud.

Applied to run for Mayor of London, but filled in the form incorrectly so is not eligible.

[Spikey M]

What are the 13 people that would have voted for him going to do now?

[phonics]

Post under the username Lewis on thethirdhalf.co.uk

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Speaking of him, the other day he quickly deleted a post on Twitter of him moaning about child support and accusing Billie Piper of being a massive cokehead who can't look after their kids.

[Spikey M]

Post under the username Lewis on thethirdhalf.co.uk

Isn't sharing an account against the rules? Ban please.

[Lewis]

lol out loud at absolutely everyone who thought Lawrence Fox was a viable anything. He is clearly an idiot (in the actual sense of not knowing anything at all, rather than just being a social idiot like many politicians), and I can still see him renouncing it all as a mental health wobble within a couple of years when the reality hits him.

I said he was a spastic three years ago, which could have saved whoever backs him millions. That libel case against him was a joke mind.

[niko_cee]

Hopefully he takes the only self-respecting way forward and, no, not that, starts bealing about election interference.

[Kikó]

The Netherlands (where I live) has a paid-for system and the GPs are absolute dickheads and just prescribe everyone paracetamol. Hospitals tend to be alright if you can get in

Similarly, the German system works pretty well. Public private with doctors very keen to push you through to specialists and let the insurance pick up the slack. It means you can actually be treated in a reasonable amount of time.

[Boydy]

1773695673176649750

Rumours have been swirling on twitter since last night after a report that a 61 year old man was arrested on suspicion of historical sexual offences. All of Jeffrey Donaldson's social media accounts seemed to have been wiped/disappeared on the same day and people were connecting the two. Seems they were right and it was him?

[Giggles]

1773695673176649750

Rumours have been swirling on twitter since last night after a report that a 61 year old man was arrested on suspicion of historical sexual offences. All of Jeffrey Donaldson's social media accounts seemed to have been wiped/disappeared on the same day and people were connecting the two. Seems they were right and it was him?

What's Robinson like? Any way progressive or another tub thumper?

[Ben]

I didn’t have “agreeing with Rees-Mogg” on my 2024 bingo card but here we are.

1773417565240357367

[Boydy]

What's Robinson like? Any way progressive or another tub thumper?

I think maybe not quite so mad. He did do his best Paisley impression back when he won the East Belfast seat back from Naomi Long of the Alliance in 2015 in a weird speech but apparently he was one of the ones pushing for them to go back into Stormont recently. So not a mentalist like Paisley Jr or Sammy Wilson at least. He's only interim leader though. Fuck knows who they'll appoint/elect as new leader.

Not sure what it means for the party or Stormont more generally yet. Jamie Bryson (loyalist blogger/activist and general gobshite) who has been at the forefront of anti-protocol protests along with the TUV's Jim Allister has already been suggesting that Jeffrey took the DUP back into Stormont with the "surrender deal" because this was being held over him by the powers that be.

[Giggles]

Anyone paying any attention to Jim Allister these days only have themselves to blame. He's like a boiling little pot as a human.

[Yevrah]

Mogg is bang on there. You’d struggle to find a worse run company than TW and the idea that we should prop that shit up is cloud cuckoo stuff.

[Lewis]

Are the people responding to him in bemused agreement surprised that he believes in capitalism or surprised that they do?

[Ben]

More in the expectation that, according to today's papers, the Conservative Party are still expected to shift the burden onto the taxpayer rather than let the hedge fund take the massive loss they deserve. No Government in my lifetime has had a reputation of letting capitalism play out when shit hits the fan. The phrase "capitalise the profits, socialise the losses" certainly rings true and the media are suggesting this one will be no different.

So it seems ol' Jacob isn't toeing the party line here. Which is a shame, because I'd rather they'd do what he's saying on this one.

[Lewis]

Other than banking and throwing money at certain industrial sites, which you could make a case for in some form, plenty of things have gone down the tubes in our lifetimes without the government stepping in past pension protections.

[Luke Emia]

Other than banking and throwing money at certain industrial sites, which you could make a case for in some form, plenty of things have gone down the tubes in our lifetimes without the government stepping in past pension protections.

They effectively let Bulb go under. Which is probably comparable in size. What’s the difference?

[Spikey M]

Good news everyone!

1775882749921911191?t=ilgCidh7vApA_cnrm0TAeA&s=19

[randomlegend]

That genuinely looks like it was made by a 9 year old. They are beyond parody.