news & politics:discussion

[eFestivals]

57 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

 

The tories have managed to effectively blame labour for their failures in leadership. The people believe them.

Astounding how Labour are being blamed for Tory cuts but if course not credited fo rthe spending in the first plsace that required cuts to balance budgets.

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

 

Worthing West constituency has Peter Bottomley for MP who is the Father of the House, it's a safe Tory seat so really encouraging to see Labour gains being made in the Council.

 

Edited May 9, 2021 by Ozanne

[eFestivals]

5 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

2 minutes ago, Homer said:

That's surprising. I've been there (get me), proper rural villagey area in the Cotswolds.

 

The greens are strong in bristol.they normally come second in my constituency and it looks likely that they'll get their second mpbhere within the next few elections j had hoped of them winning at the last election.bfor the first time I didn't vote Labour which was an easy choice if the green didn't win it was very obviously going to be labour and was. Bristrol North is one of the most progressive seats in the country and is normally Labour then greens then lib dem withe the Tories and kippers nowhere.

[eFestivals]

Just now, Barry Fish said:

Those to guys are hilarious.  Blaming Labour for Tory failures.  It does show how many peoples grasp on how politics work is lacking.

People just don't follow this stuff as much as others.

Labour caused the need for cuts by growing the spending without growing the tax take to cover the spending.b try hats the line the Tories out out and there's a large amount of truth to it. It was still a Tory decision to cut and what to cut.

[steviewevie]

Rawnsley in Observer on Starmer/elections etc.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/09/keir-srarmer-act-urgently-rescue-labour-from-plight

[steviewevie]

Katy Balls in Observer on Johnson/election etc

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/09/tory-boris-johnson-reforms-deliver

[Mimo]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/may/09/far-right-candidates-perform-dismally-across-uk-elections
 

Can’t work out how to interpret this tbh. Clear that people who lean far right feel at home voting Tory. Is that good because they become less of a threat in being subsumed by the larger party thus becoming less relevant, or bad because the conservatives are now basically the BNP. 

[Fuzzy Afro]

11 minutes ago, Mimo said:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/may/09/far-right-candidates-perform-dismally-across-uk-elections
 

Can’t work out how to interpret this tbh. Clear that people who lean far right feel at home voting Tory. Is that good because they become less of a threat in being subsumed by the larger party thus becoming less relevant, or bad because the conservatives are now basically the BNP. 

Are the Tory policies “far right”

 

If so, then the Tories have lurched right to capture these votes and this is bad. If you don’t consider Tory policies to be far right then it’s just the case that far right voters have compromised much like Corbynites who vote for Starmer’s Labour.

[mattiloy]

46 minutes ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

Are the Tory policies “far right”

 

If so, then the Tories have lurched right to capture these votes and this is bad. If you don’t consider Tory policies to be far right then it’s just the case that far right voters have compromised much like Corbynites who vote for Starmer’s Labour.

You tell me. Here's the National Front campaign posters from the 70s.

[mattiloy]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/07/hartlepool-labour-lack-vision-corbyn-starmer

Owen Jones with a good take here. I watched his live stream earlier and he has McDonnell and Trickett on, neither pulled any punches. But its not just the socialist campaign group MPs, seems like a decent chunk of the party is all too happy to slag him, i'd be surprised if there isn't some kind of leadership challenge soon and certainly if Starmer goes ahead with his right wing reshuffle.

[Fuzzy Afro]

To clarify:

 

Far Left: Communists, Marxists and Trotskyists

 

Left Wing: Labour under Corbyn and the Green Party

 

Centre-Left: Labour under Starmer/Miliband/Brown, the SNP, Plaid Cymru

 

Centrists: Lib Dems, Labour under Blair

 

Centre-Right: Tories under May/Cameron

 

Right Wing: Tories under Johnson/Thatcher, UKIP, Brexit Party

 

Far Right: BNP, National Front, Britain First

 

Neither the far left nor the far right are represented in British mainstream politics, and rightly so! To call the current Conservative Party a party of the far right is as ridiculous as calling Jeremy Corbyn a Marxist. 

 

 

[eFestivals]

8 minutes ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

To clarify:

 

Far Left: Communists, Marxists and Trotskyists

 

Left Wing: Labour under Corbyn and the Green Party

 

Centre-Left: Labour under Starmer/Miliband/Brown, the SNP, Plaid Cymru

 

Centrists: Lib Dems, Labour under Blair

 

Centre-Right: Tories under May/Cameron

 

Right Wing: Tories under Johnson/Thatcher, UKIP, Brexit Party

 

Far Right: BNP, National Front, Britain First

 

Neither the far left nor the far right are represented in British mainstream politics, and rightly so! To call the current Conservative Party a party of the far right is as ridiculous as calling Jeremy Corbyn a Marxist. 

 

 

The SNP are as blairite as Blair 

[Fuzzy Afro]

These elections are starting to look WAY less disastrous for Starmer than first feared.

 

I’ve long thought that a potential route for Labour back into government is expanding their stranglehold on London out into the Home Counties. These results are starting to show that’s possible. 

[Homer]

13 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

The SNP are as blairite as Blair 

But not as Blairite as Biden.

[steviewevie]

I think Starmer screwed up big time in the last 24 hours. There was no need for it either...he could have just waited and done a reshuffle in a few weeks if need be. Not sure if he'll still be leader before next election...one thing he has got in his favour is there no obvious candidate to replace him.

[Homer]

2 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

I think Starmer screwed up big time in the last 24 hours. There was no need for it either...he could have just waited and done a reshuffle in a few weeks if need be. Not sure if he'll still be leader before next election...one thing he has got in his favour is there no obvious candidate to replace him.

Wife made me go for a roast earlier so I actually bought a newspaper (remember them?!!). Anyway, even the Observer didn't seem too chuffed (though there was a good interview with Adam Buxton in the culture section).

[Fuzzy Afro]

5 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

I think Starmer screwed up big time in the last 24 hours. There was no need for it either...he could have just waited and done a reshuffle in a few weeks if need be. Not sure if he'll still be leader before next election...one thing he has got in his favour is there no obvious candidate to replace him.

I think the next Labour leader is going to be a woman. Nandy and Rayner both in with a shout. Burnham is the male candidate, in fact if he hadn't just been re-elected as mayor of Manchester I'd be pencilling him in as the candidate for Batley & Spen.

[Matt42]

To hop across the pond. Trump is apparently announcing soon that he is running in 2024.

[steviewevie]

Not another one.

 

[steviewevie]

2 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

To hop across the pond. Trump is apparently announcing soon that he is running in 2024.

oh great.

[steviewevie]

Just now, steviewevie said:

Not another one.

 

 

[steviewevie]

My mum lives here, Folkestone in Kent...normally very tory/ukippy...

 

[Fuzzy Afro]

I mean, Batley & Spen is literally in the red wall. Two of its neighbours, Dewsbury and Wakefield, went blue in 2019. Nearby Morley & Outwood was one of the first northern seats to swing blue back in 2015, Ed Balls used to be the MP.

 

 

[steviewevie]

Rob Ford on how brexit changed voting patterns...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/may/09/labour-wants-to-move-on-from-brexit-but-english-voters-just-wont-let-them

[steviewevie]

about tensions between Rayner and Starmer.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/may/09/how-labour-fault-lines-led-to-a-seismic-event-with-angela-rayners-sacking