General Election 2024 Thread

[mack341]

Parker probably told the police he was just doing his job - acting.

Remember he also called the residents 'brain dead', channel 4 made sure that was relayed to us. The guy was a one man pr wrecking machine.

Nigel will at least make for some interesting exchanges in the hoc.

Better that the Sun announce Rupert Lowe is donating his salary, every month, to a different local charity in his constituency, rather than this lame play on words.

 

[thr0b]

 

[thr0b]

Of course, Nigel has as much chance or right to speak in the House as any other MP from a minority party. Hopefully he'll get as much coverage as the Greens, with their similar number of MPs.

As if the media will behave that way.

 

[mcgameboy]

The line is always drawn somewhere, that's the fundamental essence of living in rules-based democratic societies. 'Freedom' and 'democracy' don't just mean that arseholes get to act like arseholes with impunity.

Well you certainly get away with it more than most.....

OK I'm sorry! It was too good an opportunity to pass up! Just a bit of harmless banter, old chap.
Don't ha......sorry, hold on a minute, I need to change that.....

* Don't be hateful/resentful/spiteful/dislikeful/prejudicial/antagonistic/ill-willed/contemptuous/scornful or unfriendly towards me for it.

God that sounded a bit....snowflaky of me! Ewwww......

 

[thr0b]

Of course, it's key to remember that the only ones who tried to shut down free speech were, well, the right wing party that just left government, by making it significantly more difficult to exercise your right to peaceful protest.

(And by bringing in voter ID, with the intention of reducing voter fraud - which was practically non-existent and would never have had any impact on results - but coincidentally making it more difficult for younger people who would be less likely to vote for them to vote at all. OAP bus pass? Fine ID. Young people's bus pass? Fuck off is that ID, sir.)

 

[pinnit2014]

With Reeves stating the government is going to need private sector investment, few interesting pieces about the return to the PFI models (mentioned earlier in the thread) - you can see why governments like it as, whilst it stays off the govt balance sheet, seemingly results in 40% increase in debt repayments to if the govt borrowed at low interest rates - pesky fiscal rules yelled Truss, hi guys, yelled Blair .

I sort of swivel re the need for ID - when i came to Scotland took my licence down, the polling clerk said 'don't need that', which i found odd as we've needed it back across the Irish Sea. The argument will also be to the point: well, there's only been 28 or so allegations of impersonation out of 45m odd votes, only a handful of convictions etc; why need it?, with: well, that's only the ones you know about and there is a gap in the process for abuse etc

The decision not to allow young persons cards based on 'digital' was odd to be fair and a wee bit weak and nothing i'm sure at all to do with the fact older people are more likely to vote Conservative (though to be fair, is there not different application processes for some of them - one, Over 60's etc, requiring proof of age and address?)

 

[ChopleyIOM]

I realise this is going to be a bit of a tough sell to some here However I've never heard this interview before, and it's genuinely caused me to recalibrate my opinion of Starmer, I'm now far more optimistic about Labour really bringing about meaningful change for the better in the UK under his leadership.

It was recorded in early 2022 when Johnson was still PM, and I'm not sure anyone would have been putting money on a Labour victory at the next general election at that point. Starmer however is clear, confident, and visibly driven by a genuine sense of wanting Labour to win power so that it can do good things.

Whether you voted Labour or not, whether you like Starmer or not, the guy is going to be Prime Minister for the next five years, at least - maybe worth taking an hour out of your day to have a listen to what he had to say.

He also comes over as a personable and likeable bloke with a ready sense of humour, something that was perhaps missing from the election campaign where he was quite obviously in 'don't drop the Ming vase' mode.

Anyway, entirely up to each of you of course, but I'd respectfully suggest it's worth taking an hour out of your day for.

 

[thr0b]

Yeah, that was the video/podcast that made me generally like Starmer. O’Brien being exasperated/shocked that Starmer rarely brings up the amazing things he did as a barrister, as head of the CPS etc, and Starmer conceding it’s a bit of a failing to not want to sing his own praises.

I don’t agree with him on everything, but I’m glad he’s the leader we have right now.

 

[DreamRJ]

Yes, marxism/communism and their adherents has murdered/starved/killed at the rate of approximately 1m souls per year since its birth. I think military juntas, fascists and the like have some way to go before even coming close to that horrific total.

Far left views are control, violence and intolerance dressed in the clothes of egalitarianism. Will always have traction while evolution keeps the average human IQ at just under 100. Ask Corbyn.

So you want to have another version of what happened in Germany? Because if Fascists have their way then it would end up killing all gay people, all ethnic people, all religious people that is not Christian etc etc. So I think that would top what your distorted view on that 1mil figure was by 100X. It would probably end up cleansing the entire world in what fascists would call "Lets cull em all"

Socialism can lead to full blown communism yes but you can not even compare all communist regimes because they are not all the same. North Korea for example has that many sanctions and is so isolated that they are so degrading towards their people that they starve I am not denying that.

Then China they yes kill people and they do hard labour punishments etc but they have a capitalist mentality as well as being communists. So that is again different to North Korea.

You all seem to get totally confused in your views and mindset because of what you might have saw on the news or on social media sites or YT etc. Fake news plays a huge part in that as well.

So yeah carry on with your distorted views and "Lets cull em all" mentality we will all be dead then and all that will be left is the fascists. Good job. Oh wait then you will have it exactly how you wanted it. Oh but wait what would happen then? eventually you would all turn on eachother and start killing eachother as well. So yeah that sounds great indeed...........

 

[DreamRJ]

Can I add that when I saw Reeves walk down the street towards 10 downing street on Friday I was cringing so much at the way she was walking so unnaturally and smiling. I have high hopes for her as Chancellor though and I know she will do a good job.

I just wanted to say that when I saw her the other day.

Last thing, Farage will be the laughing stock in Parliament and I can foresee him being kicked out multiple times for breaking the code of conduct. I think he did when he was an MEP as well in the European Parliament.

It will all be very entertaining to watch though and seeing how many MP's boo him etc its gonna be a treat to behold to see 90% of MP's reject him in Parliament.

 

[DreamRJ]

Well the good news is that all you have to do is follow your own link and learn how not to fall afoul of the hate crime laws! (Note - Hate CRIME, not Hate Speech.)

I note that you've deliberately changed the embedded text to read 'Hate speech', when the link naturally embeds as 'Hate Crime'. So nice try but no cigar on that one.

View attachment 198691

Here's how it actually embeds -

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

View attachment 198688

There's also a whole section on prosecution guidance, i.e. what sort of hateful behaviour would actually cross a line into the realms of inviting a prosecution. Spoiler alert - It's way beyond just 'saying the wrong thing'.

It seems to me that as long as people avoid being hatefully racist, or homophobic, or transphobic, then they'll be fine.

'Oh no, I was really hateful by accident, and now I'm in trouble with the law, you can't say anything these days. It's political correctness gone mad!'

View attachment 198689
I know I'm just one of those feeble libtard snowflake tofu-eating wokerati types, but from where I'm standing, yes, absolutely, all this stuff should be a crime.

View attachment 198690

Yep and as I just posted,, Far right fascists would want to kill all of them and first thing they would do is abolish those hate crime laws so they could.

And the far right say socialists are the worst. Yeah right........

 

[mack341]

By the sounds of it, Farage and his quartet will have some folk round these parts wetting the bed (add sid james laugh)

The Khmer rouge and pol pot shows what commies are capable of.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

By the sounds of it, Farage and his quartet will have some folk round these parts wetting the bed (add sid james laugh)

Hardly mack. He'll be a gobshite irrelevance, and probably a very lazy one, if his performance as an MEP is anything to go by. Business as usual for Farage.

You've seen the bit where Labour have got one of the biggest Commons majorities ever? The amount of notice that Starmer has to pay to Farage is precisely zero.

Yeah Farage will do some of his rabble-rousing from time to time and get a few headlines, but Labour will get on with the business of governing the country with Starmer at the helm.

I'm honestly quite glad that Farage actually became an MP, he's cut from the same cloth as Johnson, crumples into lazy incompetence at the first sign of proper work. It'll be interesting to see what happens the next time the UK goes to the polls.

 

[pinnit2014]

Whilst there's no need to immediately worry about Reform/Farage, i think it's very presumptuous/arrogant to simply side swipe them as a one off: did the democrats not laugh at Trump over a decade ago, that went well -especially given they won more seats than the more GE tuned in Green's etc. What the results told you was that they even took votes of previous people who had voted Labour, as well as the Tories, aside from running Labour close in places like the NE. No one knows how the Tories will go and it's possible that support could be solidified/increased, depending on what happens there. The general trajectory of the rise of the right in Europe, if it continues - though it looks like the NR in France have had a drop in support, coming in third, could provide a platform as well to sell his snake oil.

You've also seen how the seats for the Greens/Independents showed a bit of contempt for Labour (albeit Gaza related in places like Leicester) but that may be different in 2029.

Not sure of the make up of the 'yoof' vote but the UK's still seems very much in the left territory, and crucially, staying left for longer so that could offset some right wing leanings.

Bit like you said, it's the first time locally so to speak Farage will be in the spotlight locally in terms of Parliament - you might find he tires/goes to cheerlead his buddy Trump, who knows....Personally, the sight of the four of them (more Anderson and Lowe) makes me bring up my deep fried mars bar.

Regardless, that's a worry/monitor for another day - funny what happens if the economy etc performs well though Labour will probably need to watch immigration doesn't trip them up (there's already fissures in the Scottish Labour position on immigration and Starmers view, not that he needs their support though)

 

[goatwack]

Really not sure where all this talk of Fascism and sides wanting to murder its denizens come from

Having seen successive alternative governments in power in my lifetime, this whole circus is just old hat.

So we have a Labour government in charge and let's just get on with it, eh? The Tories had a lengthy tenure and lost their identity, now we try something new. It's really not that exciting, people

Britain doesn't really 'do' Fascism, it's a melting pot of different creeds and ethnicities and has been as far as the eye can see. The notion that your average Brit is an 'ist' or a 'phobe' is of course hokum, a construct imported from other parts of the world trying to find relevance here- it's not what we do, so they can keep it, thanks.

Socialism is great at first, as evidenced throughout history, but is not sustainable long-term, and hasn't the legs to ever be seen to its conclusion, unless we of course re-programme human nature and behaviours, a 'hack' employed by the Left to get an equal playing field. Take it too far and suddenly everything's a tad more Communist.....and no, there's no 'good' Communism. Just sayin'

The far-Left are just as hateful as the far-Right, neither are to be followed or admired, as they're simply extremists.

Of course we'd all like love, peace and harmony for everyone, but it's not realistic. Neither is the (far)-Right's puritanical vision of insular dominion. Brits are neither of these, but for the most part pragmatic and tolerant.

If anything, we have unique traits beholden to us alone, strange mixes of Capitalism with Socialist leanings already, underpinned by a Class System that will always have the same number of haves and have-nots.

So let's see out this Socialist movement while it lasts, because if it truly endured, every nation would be using it, would they not?

 

[mack341]

Hardly mack. He'll be a gobshite irrelevance, and probably a very lazy one, if his performance as an MEP is anything to go by. Business as usual for Farage.

You've seen the bit where Labour have got one of the biggest Commons majorities ever? The amount of notice that Starmer has to pay to Farage is precisely zero.

Yeah Farage will do some of his rabble-rousing from time to time and get a few headlines, but Labour will get on with the business of governing the country with Starmer at the helm.

I'm honestly quite glad that Farage actually became an MP, he's cut from the same cloth as Johnson, crumples into lazy incompetence at the first sign of proper work. It'll be interesting to see what happens the next time the UK goes to the polls.

View attachment 198698

Farage went into the city, always looks well dressed and presentable, whereas bohemian johnson went into journalism and nearly always looks like he's been pulled through a hedge backwards.

Farage might get a bit bored, he has a big personality and screen presence (for want of a better word) for the compact hoc, can't remember any MPs with a similar style, he might have to adapt a bit to avoid the speaker censoring him.

He can do detail, anyone who could follow the EU's complicated gobbledygook must be able to.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Whilst there's no need to immediately worry about Reform/Farage, i think it's very presumptuous/arrogant to simply side swipe them as a one off: did the democrats not laugh at Trump over a decade ago, that went well -especially given they won more seats than the more GE tuned in Green's etc. What the results told you was that they even took votes of previous people who had voted Labour, as well as the Tories, aside from running Labour close in places like the NE. No one knows how the Tories will go and it's possible that support could be solidified/increased, depending on what happens there. The general trajectory of the rise of the right in Europe, if it continues - though it looks like the NR in France have had a drop in support, coming in third, could provide a platform as well to sell his snake oil.

You've also seen how the seats for the Greens/Independents showed a bit of contempt for Labour (albeit Gaza related in places like Leicester) but that may be different in 2029.

Not sure of the make up of the 'yoof' vote but the UK's still seems very much in the left territory, and crucially, staying left for longer so that could offset some right wing leanings.

Bit like you said, it's the first time locally so to speak Farage will be in the spotlight locally in terms of Parliament - you might find he tires/goes to cheerlead his buddy Trump, who knows....Personally, the sight of the four of them (more Anderson and Lowe) makes me bring up my deep fried mars bar.

Regardless, that's a worry/monitor for another day - funny what happens if the economy etc performs well though Labour will probably need to watch immigration doesn't trip them up (there's already fissures in the Scottish Labour position on immigration and Starmers view, not that he needs their support though)

I'm honestly not worried about Reform/Farage, if you dig into the numbers, and how the vote went across the country, there's no getting away from their low vote share (which is basically the same as UKIP was polling at its peak when Cowardly Cameron shit himself and called the Brexit referendum) and small number of seats.

FPTP has distorted the results as it always does. I don't like FPTP, I've been consistent on that point for years and I'd still like to see the back of it, even though it's served Labour very well this time. So I guess me and Farage have one thing in common at least, it's time to change the UK's electoral system

So yes, Reform would have done better under FPTP, but 14% of the vote is 14% of the vote. As basically always happens in UK elections, the majority cast their vote for centre-left, progressive, liberal parties, and PR won't change that. In fact if anything it'd be an improvement as we'd see more voices contributing to that centre-left coalition.

You're always going to get a percentage of the population to vote for a party like Reform, or UKIP, or whatever form it takes at any given time, but they're never going to achieve any sort of critical mass in the UK IMO. France is certainly a salutary lesson in what happens when centrism fails the majority, although as we saw last night the electorate galvanized itself into action when it recognised a genuine threat from the right.

In the UK of course, we saw some pretty smart voting from the electorate, witness the great success of the Lib Dems on a similar vote share to Reform but getting vastly more seats, as the voters were completely determined to hoof the incumbent Tory out.

The main thing we need to happen in the UK now is that Starmer and Labour succeed. They have five years to make the country a better place, and to make the lives of normal folks better. 'Economic growth' is no good if it's just the wealthy continuing to make out like bandits at the expense of everyone else.

This is now Starmer's situation to lose, he has a stonking great majority and he needs to get on with the job straight away. Those traditionally left areas will swing back to Labour (or rather, the share of the vote that went to Reform will disappear) once they see the party doing something for them. I was watching an interview with Philip Hammond a couple of weeks ago, on immigration he basically said 'People don't care as long as their lives are getting better, it's when people are struggling that the issue gets some prominence'. I'll link it below.

All of this is dependent on Labour succeeding, if they drop the ball and we go into the next election with them having failed in their mission, then the likes of Reform will thrive, and that will become Starmer's terrible legacy. For now though, I'm glass half full, I've really changed my opinion of Starmer since watching that interview I linked above - I think he's a man on a mission, and he's not a man who likes to fail.

Anyway, here's the interview with Hammond, it's only ten minutes.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

He can do detail, anyone who could follow the EU's complicated gobbledygook must be able to.

Crikey mack I nearly just lost a mouthful of coffee over my monitor and keyboard

Did you ever watch Farage doing his routines in the European Parliament? It was just a variant of the same tiresome shtick he's still peddling now, if he attended at all that is, which was rarely.

He had the worst voting attendance record of any MEP, he attended 1 out of 42 meetings on the fisheries committee he was a member of, whilst trousering every last penny he possibly could. (And then headed up the Brexit campaign pretending to care deeply about the UK fishing industry, it's beyond the realms of parody.)

He's a shameless conman and grifter, and he'll be exactly the same as a UK MP.

 

[mack341]

Apparently in 98 seats reform came second, behind Labour.

Infinity immigration is ok as long as folk feel their lives are getting better is about as bonkers a conclusion there is to find.

'But no one said unlimited immigration' well where's the line then, at what point and why is it drawn there?

 

[mack341]

Crikey mack I nearly just lost a mouthful of coffee over my monitor and keyboard

Did you ever watch Farage doing his routines in the European Parliament? It was just a variant of the same tiresome shtick he's still peddling now, if he attended at all that is, which was rarely.

He had the worst voting attendance record of any MEP, he attended 1 out of 42 meetings on the fisheries committee he was a member of, whilst trousering every last penny he possibly could. (And then headed up the Brexit campaign pretending to care deeply about the UK fishing industry, it's beyond the realms of parody.)

He's a shameless conman and grifter, and he'll be exactly the same as a UK MP.

I never followed his EU career in great detail, his speeches seemed to hit home and stump them.

I can't really blame him on the fishing, leaders generally do more of a broad brush.

42 committee meetings, this would be more suited to captain Birdseye than Nigel!

 

[pinnit2014]

I'm honestly not worried about Reform/Farage, if you dig into the numbers, and how the vote went across the country, there's no getting away from their low vote share (which is basically the same as UKIP was polling at its peak when Cowardly Cameron shit himself and called the Brexit referendum) and small number of seats.

FPTP has distorted the results as it always does. I don't like FPTP, I've been consistent on that point for years and I'd still like to see the back of it, even though it's served Labour very well this time. So I guess me and Farage have one thing in common at least, it's time to change the UK's electoral system

So yes, Reform would have done better under FPTP, but 14% of the vote is 14% of the vote. As basically always happens in UK elections, the majority cast their vote for centre-left, progressive, liberal parties, and PR won't change that. In fact if anything it'd be an improvement as we'd see more voices contributing to that centre-left coalition.

You're always going to get a percentage of the population to vote for a party like Reform, or UKIP, or whatever form it takes at any given time, but they're never going to achieve any sort of critical mass in the UK IMO. France is certainly a salutary lesson in what happens when centrism fails the majority, although as we saw last night the electorate galvanized itself into action when it recognised a genuine threat from the right.

In the UK of course, we saw some pretty smart voting from the electorate, witness the great success of the Lib Dems on a similar vote share to Reform but getting vastly more seats, as the voters were completely determined to hoof the incumbent Tory out.

The main thing we need to happen in the UK now is that Starmer and Labour succeed. They have five years to make the country a better place, and to make the lives of normal folks better. 'Economic growth' is no good if it's just the wealthy continuing to make out like bandits at the expense of everyone else.

This is now Starmer's situation to lose, he has a stonking great majority and he needs to get on with the job straight away. Those traditionally left areas will swing back to Labour (or rather, the share of the vote that went to Reform will disappear) once they see the party doing something for them. I was watching an interview with Philip Hammond a couple of weeks ago, on immigration he basically said 'People don't care as long as their lives are getting better, it's when people are struggling that the issue gets some prominence'. I'll link it below.

All of this is dependent on Labour succeeding, if they drop the ball and we go into the next election with them having failed in their mission, then the likes of Reform will thrive, and that will become Starmer's terrible legacy. For now though, I'm glass half full, I've really changed my opinion of Starmer since watching that interview I linked above - I think he's a man on a mission, and he's not a man who likes to fail.

Anyway, here's the interview with Hammond, it's only ten minutes.

The Lib Dem's are pretty much masterful (though more successful at a local level) at campaigning (even though Davey makes me wince) and this election really threw it in the spotlight. Though the Labour election machinery, whilst dull, was pretty targeted and efficient (helped by a lot of nudge, nudge, wink, winks in an unofficial pact with the Lib Dems for some of the marginal seats)

I think a lot of politicians would do well to re-acquaint themselves with Maslow in general

The booming or contraction of a country does play a hugely significant role in selling/refuting issues. Take up here for example, as as Angus MacNeill pointed out - trying to sell Independence when the country is stuck needing dyno rod to clear out is madness - flourishing, services good? It's an easier sell.....Same for trying to pull folk along the Green Agenda: getting folk to pay more for something is hard enough at the best of time, at times of inflation/cost of living issues, it's batshit crazy. I don't get how a lot don't understand that.

Starmer's deceptively ruthless - he's not scared to boot out people who've had a seat with him (compared to Sunak who gives posts to people he's trying to placate) - see whether that's a strength/issue in the upcoming years. There's some in the Party who don't like him/where he's taken Labour so they'll either pose little issue internally because they know it's futile given the majority or decide, as it won't impact policy, make noise as we go on - time will tell

Just, unlike the Greens, don't mention a 1% wealth tax - get the feeling that's a wee bit too left/red for this govt

 

[goatwack]

From the heady days of 'Dishy Rishi' we now find the Conservatives taking a moment of self-reflection to rebuild its core base after the disaster brought on by......hold on, just checking the latest media buzzwords.....

ah!

Suicide Sunak! That's the one!

Having been thoroughly trounced and losing staunch support to Reform, everyone's favourite runners-up are having to do some soul-searching as they look around for a new leader going forward, yet now wanting to delay the process by six months due to the dearth of quality within their ranks.

Problem being they have little to none that don't whiff of Tories yore, with Patel and Braverman, whilst Tugendhat appears to be their best interim option, much like the days of Ian Duncan Smith

Not helped by their lack of self-awareness and accountability:

We have an honest six months real appraisal of all the different voter groups we lost and why – not 'what did Boris do wrong?' or what did Liz Truss do wrong?' – but 'what are the voter groups we lost?

No, DO. You really ought to look at past leaders and take it from there....

Badenoch appears to be one for the future, but at this point, voting her in as leader might provide some sharp Opposition, provided she improves her temperament a tad.

Fact is, say what you want about Reform, whether they're loved or loathed, end of the day, people are to take note of political movements. No one said they had to be revered - and this election proved that alienated voters will gravitate towards those parties, with the next garnering even more support.

Mind you, five years is a long time, there's every chance Farage'll get bored of the waiting around and consolidating and form another party circa 2027, like Reclaim or some shit

If our parties don't listen to their electorate then we'll inevitably end up like the situation in France, with hard-Left, hard-Right and Centrists in a limp stalemate conspiring to keep the country in turmoil. Who wants that?

 

[DreamRJ]

Sorry but simple fact is this, there should be no room in any counties governments for far right or far right extremists.

Also yes that goes for far left extremists as well.

The country needs this after the disaster 14 years and mayhem, the harm they did to every department in this country, the countless blood they have on their hands as a result of their actions. Then comes the lies the cheating the scheming and then the scandals. Who ever takes over the tory leadership is going to be far right and that is certain and all that will do is stop them from even gaining much support at the next GE it will take them at least 2 or 3 elections to be even remotely electable again and then they will have to go back to the centre ground.

But then it will again be the same story if and when they did get back into power. The infighting again would happen and the right of the party would yet again cause more chaos and mayhem and it would be yet another repeat performance.

Conservatives are nasty rich scumbags who do not deserve to be in power ever again!

I even saw interviews with some of them who lost their seats and some of the ones who kept their seats and they just do not get it what so ever. They are so fucking full of themselves they do not care about the people they only care about themselves that is how they are and always will be like.

Dare I say this as well one person who I detest so much because of how far right she is was pretty much the only one who actually said "we let you all down" talking about braverman. God help everyone if she becomes the next tory leader!

 

[goatwack]

The simple reason the Conservatives would lurch to the Right is to appeal to what they consider 'Reform defectors', and so we may not see anything resembling a moderate Tory stance.

Currently, those Reform voters are lost to them and unlikely to come back into the fold, if ever. Sensible talk and 'traditional' Conservative values will fall on deaf ears, as we live in politically extreme times.

The Tories will tub-thump until the cows come home, a la Braverman & co, or reel in someone who quietly gets on with their job of steering the party into obscurity. They're kinda spent, it seems

 

[ollygarch]

As always it's difficult to see the way forward through a thick fog.. Most people seem to think we need more tax rises to balance the books, the alternative is for the benefits regime to be cut back. Do I hear screams of foul by the 'workers'? Can Starmer cuddle up to the Scots and find an answer to the 20,000 jobs at risk from the North Sea oil surcharge. I've said elsewhere that this is a completely nonsensical policy which does absolutely nothing to reduce oil and gas consumption. Why should high earners get 40% tax relief on their pension contributions when the lower paid only get 20%? Perhaps one emigration destination which should now be considered is Rwanda. I gather there are quite a lot of vacant properties going cheap.

 

[goatwack]

I see Rachel Reeves truly endearing herself to people by proposing to trample over Green Belt land, no doubt seen by her and her visionaries as expendable.

All the while removing local powers to object to these plans, because they don't matter. Tsk!

I mean why revitalize the plethora of degraded inner-city housing when one can just steamroller protected land? Also noteworthy how useful wind farms actually are, i.e 'not very'.

Still, if building projects are prioritized, with Councils teetering on financial hardship as it is, it will be interesting to see how quickly they are fully realized, as they are notoriously difficult to circumvent

 

[DreamRJ]

Well I watched her first speech earlier today and 1 thing that was not even mentioned at all was what you just stated above @ChopleyIOM about the derelict housing all over the country mostly in very run down areas.

Why do they not mention or actually do something about that. They could easily some how get private sector involved in fixing all those properties that could then be turned into social housing again.

That would bring growth and also would bring more social housing back into the councils hands again. I saw videos on YT over the last few years of famous youtubers visiting these run down housing estates and what boggled my mind the most was councils was spending money in painting FAKE doors and windows on the empty houses to try make them look better. I mean how bloody crazy is that? That is something you would think North Korea would do, to make people think the country is better than it actually is lol.

 

[pinnit2014]

Sorry but simple fact is this, there should be no room in any counties governments for far right or far right extremists.

Also yes that goes for far left extremists as well.

The country needs this after the disaster 14 years and mayhem, the harm they did to every department in this country, the countless blood they have on their hands as a result of their actions. Then comes the lies the cheating the scheming and then the scandals. Who ever takes over the tory leadership is going to be far right and that is certain and all that will do is stop them from even gaining much support at the next GE it will take them at least 2 or 3 elections to be even remotely electable again and then they will have to go back to the centre ground.

But then it will again be the same story if and when they did get back into power. The infighting again would happen and the right of the party would yet again cause more chaos and mayhem and it would be yet another repeat performance.

Conservatives are nasty rich scumbags who do not deserve to be in power ever again!

I even saw interviews with some of them who lost their seats and some of the ones who kept their seats and they just do not get it what so ever. They are so fucking full of themselves they do not care about the people they only care about themselves that is how they are and always will be like.

Dare I say this as well one person who I detest so much because of how far right she is was pretty much the only one who actually said "we let you all down" talking about braverman. God help everyone if she becomes the next tory leader!

Braverman as PM would be a sole reason to emigrate - a horrible woman, in such a state of her own delusion (matched only by Truss), she has been trying to separate herself from the 'bad decisions' made by the Tories (a good few were hers)

She actually had the audacity to criticise her own department, even though, er, she was the one in charge. Sweet Baby Jesus.

 

[pinnit2014]

House Builders have the Govt over a barrel - we're told Green, Green, Green, Heat Pumps etc - so why is not installing HP's a condition of New Builds? - reason being the HB's have told the Govt they're not prepared to install as it costs too much. Same rationale for building on Fields - it's cheaper than knocking down/refurbing.

'Streamlining' the Planning Process basically means removing the powers of Local Authorities to decide, giving more power to House builders and reducing the right of appeal.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Watching a Tory insist that the British people 'did not vote' for this, after a truly historic defeat that may yet see the party cast to the winds of oblivion, is certainly a take.

The pearl-clutching is mainly around the appointment of James Timpson as the new Prisons Minister, who has stated that around 1/3 of people currently in jail shouldn't be there.

James Timpson has been working with ex-offenders for over 20 years and 10% of his staff have a criminal record.

Watching the Tories lose their shit as they thrash around in the cold waters of irrelevance, whilst Starmer absolutely doesn't give a fuck and just gets on with fixing their mess, is a sight I think I will never get old.

Anyway, you can make your own mind up, as here's a long interview with the UK's new Prisons Minister.

 

[goatwack]

Watching a Tory insist that the British people 'did not vote' for this, after a truly historic defeat that may yet see the party cast to the winds of oblivion, is certainly a take.

The pearl-clutching is mainly around the appointment of James Timpson as the new Prisons Minister, who has stated that around 1/3 of people currently in jail shouldn't be there.

James Timpson has been working with ex-offenders for over 20 years and 10% of his staff have a criminal record.

Watching the Tories lose their shit as they thrash around in the cold waters of irrelevance, whilst Starmer absolutely doesn't give a fuck and just gets on with fixing their mess, is a sight I think I will never get old.

Anyway, you can make your own mind up, as here's a long interview with the UK's new Prisons Minister.

I've heard of Peter Pan syndrome, but c'mon. It happens to us all, we just have to age gracefully!

As for the Tories, taking stock of their mistakes seems somewhat alien to them. Yet last I checked, Sunak was proposing to do exactly the same thing. 'Clutching' and 'straws' spring to mind

 

[goatwack]

Frontman Farage and his band 'Reform Five' arriving at Parliament today, looking set to disrupt and annoy in equal measure.

Let the drama begin!

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Frontman Farage and his band 'Reform Five' arriving at Parliament today, looking set to disrupt and annoy in equal measure.

Let the drama begin!

View attachment 198740

 

[thr0b]

Frontman Farage and his band 'Reform Five' arriving at Parliament today, looking set to disrupt and annoy in equal measure.

Let the drama begin!

View attachment 198740

 

[goatwack]

In a further twist that surprises no one, the Rwandan government has told Britain that it has no chance of seeing any part of the £290 million returned, having upheld its financial obligations and arrangement.

That's to say, the hare-brained scheme that was never going to provide any solution, let alone tackle illegal boat crossings, yielding a grand total of zero deportations

Further proof that the end of Sunak's reign was riddled with desperation and going against any sage leanings from those allied to him. What a complete waste of taxpayers' money!

 

[ChopleyIOM]

In a further twist that surprises no one, the Rwandan government has told Britain that it has no chance of seeing any part of the £290 million returned, having upheld its financial obligations and arrangement.

That's to say, the hare-brained scheme that was never going to provide any solution, let alone tackle illegal boat crossings, yielding a grand total of zero deportations

Further proof that the end of Sunak's reign was riddled with desperation and going against any sage leanings from those allied to him. What a complete waste of taxpayers' money!

Remember that the Rwanda scheme was originally announced by Johnson in April 2022, Truss and Sunak kept it on the table despite it costing millions upon millions of pounds and achieving precisely fuck all.

£290m has been paid to Rwanda (who are indeed just saying, 'Cheers, we'll be keeping that'), if you add on all the other costs, including the failure to actually just process the claims like we used to, you're easily up into the region of half a billion pounds or more. It's obscene.

I cannot even remotely begin to convey the joy I have in my soul at seeing this most terrible, destructive era of Tory misrule and disaster come to an end. A catastrophic procession of some of the worst people ever, elevated to the highest offices of the land, causing untold damage to the very fabric of the United Kingdom.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

 

[Webzcas]

.

 

[Webzcas]

Yes, Rwanda was a ridiculous idea. Best and most obvious route is to escort the dinghies back to where they departed from ie France...

 

[DreamRJ]

Yes, Rwanda was a ridiculous idea. Best and most obvious route is to escort the dinghies back to where they departed from ie France...

I do not disagree with that argument but the main destination for the migrants is the UK because of the benefit system. There is a solution to stop that as well and that would be to make it so Migrants do not instantly gain benefits and only time they would be able to claim the immigration benefits is when they have had their asylum claim approved. If it is denied then yes send them back, but then there is again the long appeal process too.

So in that time they would still be getting a place to stay and food etc but it would still not mean they get any money. But again then that would mean they turn to crime. So that would then increase the crime rate as well if you did remove the benefit system for migrants.

There is actually no real 100% fix for solving the problem. It is complicated and then you also need to remember most are fleeing because they face threats to life or persecution etc.

Main thing though is everyone is human and they all deserve to feel safe and that is why people do migrate legally or illegally.

 

[thr0b]

Yep. And the reason a lot of people migrate here, or attempt to, is because a lot of them have family links here.

The other day the Daily Heil was suggesting destinations that its readers may like to move to abroad now that we live in a socialist paradise.

Remember, immigrants are bad, except if the immigrant is a Daily Mail reader arriving in another country to access what they hope to be a better life. Then they’re not immigrants. They’re ex-pats.

 

[goatwack]

Is anyone here going to convince others about their hot take on immigration? I don't believe so, no

Again, it all boils down to believing whether those crossing here are doing so illegally to exploit a weak system, or genuinely fleeing persecution. It's obviously not absolutes and clearly defined, therein lies the whole problem.

We have never had real issues with integration here, so the notion 'Forrinahs arn't welkum' is of course horseshit (again).

In fact come ye who wish it, but allowing unchecked and unvetted arrivals to just enter a country is the crux of the problem, because apparently security concerns aren't a thing.

And yes, they do predominantly choose the UK as their preferred destination precisely because it has always been blessed with a generous Benefits system, free Healthcare, Housing etc, the kind of things that made the UK stand out for its generosity over decades?

Yet I guess if there are no criminal elements exploiting this and everything's hunky dory, then I guess Starmer won't have to tackle human traffickers at source. Wait what's that? But I thought they're all fleeing persecution! There is no people-smuggling, silly!

 

[Webzcas]

I do not disagree with that argument but the main destination for the migrants is the UK because of the benefit system. There is a solution to stop that as well and that would be to make it so Migrants do not instantly gain benefits and only time they would be able to claim the immigration benefits is when they have had their asylum claim approved. If it is denied then yes send them back, but then there is again the long appeal process too.

So in that time they would still be getting a place to stay and food etc but it would still not mean they get any money. But again then that would mean they turn to crime. So that would then increase the crime rate as well if you did remove the benefit system for migrants.

There is actually no real 100% fix for solving the problem. It is complicated and then you also need to remember most are fleeing because they face threats to life or persecution etc.

Main thing though is everyone is human and they all deserve to feel safe and that is why people do migrate legally or illegally.

No, do what they do in Australia, as soon as they get within the 12 mile international border, forcibly turn them around if needs be. Unless of course France turns into North Korea overnight, then let them apply for asylum if that is the case.

 

[amandajm]

Or process claims quicker Dave. Yay or nay.

Two 1st world countries. I give them a week to sort it, tops.

 

[goatwack]

You'd think the UK never processed an application for asylum before.

Of course that's complicated a smite when said person(s) arrive illegally and not wish to claim refuge.

Say, economic migrants that 'live in the UK' for any specified amount of time with their 'relatives', work cash-in-hand jobs before they return to their home country?

The tell-tale sign is usually when a gaggle of men aged 18-35 arrive onshore away from detection as much as possible before being whisked off in transport pickups?

But yes, let's process the ones that purposely evade the system and/or wait long enough to declare their status once confident they'll be allowed to stay, say, when having had kids here or owning a cat!

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Farage being in parliament might turn out to be quite good, because he's going to be subject to that thing he really doesn't like, and doesn't fare well under - scrutiny.

Watching his slapped arse face whilst Bercow spelled out the disaster of Brexit to him on GB News was quite funny.

Also, his role on GB News has to change now because he's an MP, he can still be on there, but not in the same capacity as before.

The latest Private Eye went to press before the election result, but it's obvious they'll be having some fun with him.

 

[dunover]

Farage being in parliament might turn out to be quite good, because he's going to be subject to that thing he really doesn't like, and doesn't fare well under - scrutiny.

Watching his slapped arse face whilst Bercow spelled out the disaster of Brexit to him on GB News was quite funny.

Also, his role on GB News has to change now because he's an MP, he can still be on there, but not in the same capacity as before.

View attachment 198759

The latest Private Eye went to press before the election result, but it's obvious they'll be having some fun with him.

View attachment 198760

The same Bercow who Labour suspended two years ago because of his horrific and humiliating bullying of staff? Pot and kettle story, move along......

 

[ChopleyIOM]

The same Bercow who Labour suspended two years ago because of his horrific and humiliating bullying of staff? Pot and kettle story, move along......

Yeah Bercow is a bit of a tit, but people can still be tits and also be right about things, like me in the Brexit thread

 

[mack341]

Bercow should never have been chosen as speaker, iirc labour had something to do with that.

I suspect he damaged the public perception of parliament, not just Brexit but his general jumped-up sometimes demented demeanor.

 

[ChopleyIOM]

Bercow should never have been chosen as speaker, iirc labour had something to do with that.

I suspect he damaged the public perception of parliament, not just Brexit but his general jumped-up sometimes demented demeanor.

For sure mack, Bercow is what's really hurt politics in the UK, the guy who was speaker for a while and, with the benefit of hindsight, was clearly trying to save the UK from itself (Given how massively damaging Brexit has turned out to be.)

Since Cameron called the Brexit referendum in 2016, the Tories have been an absolute shitshow. They have dragged politics into the gutter and they have mortally wounded the UK with their fucked-up Brexit, economic malpractice, lies, divisive culture wars (that panned out well for them, eh? WOMEN WITH PENISES!!!!!), cavalcade of incompetence with a rotating door of senior government ministers and even Prime Ministers, and they've spaffed billions of pounds on a load of wank that achieved nothing.

About the only public good the entire crumbling edifice of the Conservative Party has performed since 2010 is Sunak calling a general election a few months before he had to, and putting the country out of its right-wing nutjob inflicted misery.

But yeah, Bercow eh, he's the villain of the piece!

Still, one could almost argue it's a price worth paying, since the end result is the Tories have been smashed into oblivion, and Farage has gathered up all the annoyed old people who don't like the way things aren't what they used to be, in a little rump of permanent grumpiness, and they can just piss and moan and shout at the clouds whilst Starmer gets on with the actual important business of fixing the country.

 

[Webzcas]

Or process claims quicker Dave. Yay or nay.

Two 1st world countries. I give them a week to sort it, tops.

International law dictates that you should be able to claim asylum in the first 'safe' country you arrive in. So why do France turn a blind eye to all the camps outside Calais???