General Election 2019 thread

[ChopleyIOM]

People seem to be missing the point on the decorating. If it's proven he used funds he shouldn't have, then it's dishonest, and should start in depth investigations into other things, such as awarding million pound contracts to mates firms who had just been set up with a few quid in the company account.

Exactly this, and people who say 'Who cares how he paid for his flat?' are IMO guilty of deliberately avoiding the very obvious issue with this situation. It matters. It's important.

Anyway, as it happens someone has summarised it very concisely and effectively in this short piece.

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If someone relieved me of a bill for £58,000, I would feel greatly in their debt. The only debt a prime minister should feel is to the electorate. If a prime minister cannot live on his official salary, but is dependent on financial gifts from wealthy patrons, we need to be certain that this is not coming with conditions that pit private against public interests.

So this is not a story about soft furnishings, or taste, or a snobbish attitude to a department store. It is about money. And because it's about money, it's about accountability. And because it's about accountability, it's about democracy.

That makes it about us. If a prime minister digs in his heels; if he tells us that we are not allowed to know who is paying his expenses, or to whom he owes favours, or what he might have done for them in return, he is issuing a challenge to our democracy. Do we accept that a prime minister is not accountable to the public? That he does not need to tell us if he's in receipt of cash favours? That he can open up a private revenue stream, and tell the public where to shove their right to know about it?

 

[dunover]

There is probably slightly more involved in the comparison but something to look into, how well we compare to other countries, what they specifically do different to us and whether it achieves better results:

Norway - natural resources per head of population vastly higher than the UK's.
Norway - indirectly and directly contributed hugely to CO2 emissions via extracting fossil fuels on a huge scale.
Norway - hasn't been paying tens of billions into the EU for 30 years or more.
Norway - hasn't contributed billions for defence in NATO.
Norway - hasn't seen a huge rise in population via unmetered immigration and is the least densely populated country in Europe whereas the UK is the most densely populated.
Norway - hasn't dished out tens of billion in foreign aid every year.

Yes, the comparison is the type you would expect to see in the Gradinua and their ilk.

 

[colinsunderland]

cba to make a new thread, but Labour are getting annihilated in the local elections so far, if they are losing this many seats in the North East then they have no chance countrywide. Labour has held Sunderland pretty much my whole life, think they have been in power here for around 50 years, and the same in Durham, and it's looking like they won't be after todays elections.

 

[mack341]

cba to make a new thread, but Labour are getting annihilated in the local elections so far, if they are losing this many seats in the North East then they have no chance countrywide. Labour has held Sunderland pretty much my whole life, think they have been in power here for around 50 years, and the same in Durham, and it's looking like they won't be after todays elections.

most of london and probably birmingham etc will still vote labour come what may, but could this be an early Sayōnara to keir starmer if labour lose hundreds of councils countrywide, when he was supposedly brought in to appeal more to the middle than commie corbyn?

 

[dunover]

Bloody hell! I cannot believe the Tories took Hartlepool, forever a Labour seat since its inception in the 1970's! A thumping majority too. I didn't see that coming. Either @ChopleyIOM has seriously misjudged public opinion or the state of the opposition in the UK is lamentable. Shows people are more interested in economic regeneration and the vaccine etc. rather than bickering about a bloody refurbished flat. If people choose to vote for an (allegedly) 'bent Boris, rather than the opposition.....

 

[colinsunderland]

The Hartlepool result was pretty widely expected, as shocking as it is. Labour managed to hang onto Sunderland, but with a reduced majority, which I'm quite surprised at considering the early results.

They aren't voting for Boris though.

 

[dunover]

The Hartlepool result was pretty widely expected, as shocking as it is. Labour managed to hang onto Sunderland, but with a reduced majority, which I'm quite surprised at considering the early results.

They aren't voting for Boris though.

You sure?

 

[ChopleyIOM]

I give up, at least there's alcohol and gambling.

 

[colinsunderland]

You sure?

View attachment 154697

I think Brexit had a lot to do with that result. Labour used a candidate that voted against Brexit 47 times. Hartlepool voted 70% for Brexit. Not exactly the brightest of moves I would say!
Mind they would have lost it last time too if it wasn't for the Bexit party taking quite a few votes from the Tories

 

[dunover]

I give up, at least there's alcohol and gambling.

Now we're in a one-party state, the rest can always emigrate to the IoM....

 

[Mr_Slot5]

I think Brexit had a lot to do with that result. Labour used a candidate that voted against Brexit 47 times. Hartlepool voted 70% for Brexit. Not exactly the brightest of moves I would say!
Mind they would have lost it last time too if it wasn't for the Bexit party taking quite a few votes from the Tories

I said at the time that Labour were shooting themselves in the foot by taking the Brexit stance they did. Talk of second referenda and generally being seen to be putting obstacles in the way at every given opportunity. They massively misjudged things.

There is now a swathe of their traditional voter base who see the party as something that does not represent their views or values.

Labour need to realise they cannot go on championing the latte drinking, champagne socialist, Twitter loving wokes. They need to reconnect with the average working class person.

 

[pinnit2014]

Labour are abysmal up here as well - one of the few to come knocking on doors right enough but a quick flick through of their wee leaflet was littered with negative messages. There was a SNP member who was found to have breached Covid etc and Labour actually thought putting, second bullet point down, a message of 'Vote Labour to show her you won't take rule breaking' (words to that effect), was a good idea.Pathetic.

 

[Mr_Slot5]

Labour are abysmal up here as well - one of the few to come knocking on doors right enough but a quick flick through of their wee leaflet was littered with negative messages. There was a SNP member who was found to have breached Covid etc and Labour actually thought putting, second bullet point down, a message of 'Vote Labour to show her you won't take rule breaking' (words to that effect). Pathetic.

Once again showing they’re more interested in appeasing the social media pitch fork mob. Yes it’s pathetic but I’m glad that a lot of people seem to be thoroughly fed up with it.

 

[interlog]

Labour are abysmal up here as well - one of the few to come knocking on doors right enough but a quick flick through of their wee leaflet was littered with negative messages. There was a SNP member who was found to have breached Covid etc and Labour actually thought putting, second bullet point down, a message of 'Vote Labour to show her you won't take rule breaking' (words to that effect), was a good idea.Pathetic.

If you don't have any real policies or answers to how to solve some of the problems in the County, all you will have left is nickpicking

 

[cncas2123]

I honestly think this is a Corbyn hangover, I think he put the fear of God into a lot of ordinary people and there is still the spectre of the rabid left hanging over the Labour Party.
Add to that the fact that the only policy they had was to highlight BJ’s flat decorations, and that was enough to turn people off them.

 

[mack341]

Khalid Mahmood, an Asian Labour MP for 20 years, quits front bench, commenting:

 

[Mr_Slot5]

Asian Labour MP quits front bench, commenting:

View attachment 154723

He’s spot on.

 

[mack341]

He’s spot on.

yes it's hard to say he's got it wrong, other than I think it's been longer in germination than 1 decade. Also not sure a white male labour mp would now be able to say the same, without being hounded out afterwards or accused of being prejudiced.

 

[Mr_Slot5]

Also not sure a white male labour mp would now be able to say the same, without being hounded out afterwards or accused of being prejudiced.

And that is the issue many people have with society today and is why we’re seeing what we’re seeing. People are fed up with being insulted, called thick, racist and homophobic.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

As you can imagine my Twitter feed is very left-wing and liberal, but even they're not happy with how things are being handled at the moment, especially with the sacking of Angela Raynor.

 

[mack341]

The tories lose amersham and chesham from a 16,000 majority, I'd hoped it was due to their vaccine/passport obsession and lockdown mania but seems it was HS2 and planning changes that provoked the revolt.

If the libs talked a bit more common sense I might consider them as a protest vote regarding boris's desire to vaccinate every living and moving thing, and then force them to prove it with a tracking app, but on some issues they're too far left and still infatuated with the EU.

 

[Mr_Slot5]

The tories lose amersham and chesham from a 16,000 majority, I'd hoped it was due to their vaccine/passport obsession and lockdown mania but seems it was HS2 and planning changes that provoked the revolt.

If the libs talked a bit more common sense I might consider them as a protest vote regarding boris's desire to vaccinate every living and moving thing, and then force them to prove it with a tracking app, but on some issues they're too far left and still infatuated with the EU.

Voting Lib Dem is akin to spoiling your ballot. Complete wasted vote.

 

[mack341]

Voting Lib Dem is akin to spoiling your ballot. Complete wasted vote.

My view it's about pressurising the govt, [ via the local mp not feeling he can give blind support due to his majority and safe seat ] as farage managed before, lib dems do fairly well near me, on local issues they seem to be more sensible but disconnected on other topics and policies. What's the definition of a wasted vote, if like me, you feel boris is not really a conservative, his cabinet is crony central for one. Peter bone and the vulcan jon redwood should be in place, we need straight talkers.

 

[Kroffe]

we need straight talkers.

Sorry Mack, but....

 

[ChopleyIOM]

So how do we think Johnson and his cronies are doing so far?

(Pinched from Twitter.)

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Apart from failure to secure food supply, failure to control the pandemic, failure to get us working, failure to get us travelling, stealing our money on an epic scale, dividing us bitterly, and killing 150k of us, it's been a top government so far.

Apart from alienating the Scots, alienating the Irish, alienating all of Europe, making buying from Europe a costly nightmare, making selling to Europe a costly nightmare, and establishing the UK as a bad-faith actor on the world stage, it's been a great show so far.

Apart from abandoning the norms of the unwritten British constitution, lying to the Queen, thwarting our sovereign parliament, overtly breaking laws, clamping down on protest, brushing away legal and electoral scrutiny - oh and lying all day long - it's been a decent govt so far.

Apart from starving the NHS of funds and offering claps instead of cash for the heroes who risked, and even gave, their lives; apart from throwing families into dependency on food banks and denying hungry kids food until challenged by a footballer, the regime's done us proud.

Apart from boycotting challenging BBC programmes even in a national emergency, attacking the BBC, defunding the BBC, infiltrating the BBC, muzzling the BBC, boycotting C4 News, selling Channel 4, and giving instant access to a new right wing channel, it's been upright, open govt.

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