Westminster Politics

Tories moved right to cannibalise UKIP. Tories to move further to the right to cannibalise Reform.
 
jasT1981 said:
Click to expand...

Voted Labour and really glad they won. Thought the Lib Dems campaign was full of shite and a big reason I didn't vote for them. Have to say the Lib Dems were relentless in my local area, posting leaflets near enough everyday.

Their whole campaign was based on don't waste a vote for Labour as they can't win here. Thought it was weird in all honesty.
 
Jippy said:
This will likely get overlooked a bit because of the by-election results, but the HS2 debacle loses even more money as the government does a fire sale of the land, with a bit of spite and likely added cronyism thrown into the mix.

Sale of HS2 land to lose £100m of taxpayers’ money


https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hs2-land-sale-birmingham-taxpayer-cost-100m-rs82rxxx6
Click to expand...

This needs to be shouted from the rafters immediatley. It's so clearly a direct attempt to sabotage any future goverments ability to invest in infrastructure. Any Labour MP with any vision beyond the next election needs to be hammering this stuff home now.
 
Bert_ said:
This needs to be shouted from the rafters immediatley. It's so clearly a direct attempt to sabotage any future goverments ability to invest in infrastructure. Any Labour MP with any vision beyond the next election needs to be hammering this stuff home now.
Click to expand...
Exactly and you wouldn't put it past the government to flog the land of cheap to their mates and donors.
 
Jippy said:
Exactly and you wouldn't put it past the government to flog the land of cheap to their mates and donors.
Click to expand...

It's a given. They will sell/trade everything they can from this country over the next year. They are going full scorched earth.
 
A Labour majority would be an awful result at the next election. Better than what we've had for the last decade sure, but still really bad.
 
altodevil said:
A Labour majority would be an awful result at the next election. Better than what we've had for the last decade sure, but still really bad.
Click to expand...

As you say, it would still be a lot better than what we've had to this point. My major concern with Labour is the lack of real identity, I get the strategy in not giving the Conservative media to bash but it definitely feels like Starmer will play it safe in the election and not do anything 'radical'
 
altodevil said:
A Labour majority would be an awful result at the next election. Better than what we've had for the last decade sure, but still really bad.
Click to expand...
Better than this country has had throughout its history bar a few elections? I don’t like Starmer and I’d love more progressive policies, but it’s certainly not awful to decimate the tories.
 
LARulz said:
As you say, it would still be a lot better than what we've had to this point. My major concern with Labour is the lack of real identity, I get the strategy in not giving the Conservative media to bash but it definitely feels like Starmer will play it safe in the election and not do anything 'radical'
Click to expand...
Dan_F said:
Better than this country has had throughout its history bar a few elections? I don’t like Starmer and I’d love more progressive policies, but it’s certainly not awful to decimate the tories.
Click to expand...
As I said, it will be better, but it would take electoral reform and EU-relationship reform off the table for another 5+ years, and we've already seen him cosying up to the wrong people. Sure we'll probably get less dodgy contracts to mates, but on the whole I'm not seeing them changing the system under Starmer. Which is what is needed.
 
The Tories are going to get decimated at the next election.

This is the biggest opportunity this country has had change course since Attlee. If we can get Labour and the Lib Dems to unite and pass PR. Then then Tories are dead forever.

Starmer will take short term power over long term security though. And will add himself to the list of Prime Ministers no one will remeber in a generation.
 
altodevil said:
A Labour majority would be an awful result at the next election. Better than what we've had for the last decade sure, but still really bad.
Click to expand...

Not sure I get the longing for the Lib Dems, they were in coalition with the last tory govt - they would pull Labour further rightwards, no?
 
Bert_ said:
The Tories are going to get decimated at the next election.

This is the biggest opportunity this country has had change course since Attlee. If we can get Labour and the Lib Dems to unite and pass PR. Then then Tories are dead forever.

Starmer will take short term power over long term security though. And will add himself to the list of Prime Ministers no one will remeber in a generation.
Click to expand...
Spot on, sadly
 
nickm said:
Not sure I get the longing for the Lib Dems, they were in coalition with the last tory govt - they would pull Labour further rightwards, no?
Click to expand...

At the minute, they'll probably be pulling Labour left. But that's not the point. Force PR by any means and remove the Tories from existenance.

I'd take a system where the Left to Centre have an absolute majority over the right/far right. Despite the rhetoric, this country isn't right-wing. The electoral system and it's support network is. Break it!
 
Last edited:
Regarding the Lib Dems, I was deeply critical of the record of the coalition government from 2010-2015, notably the excessive austerity.

However it seems clear to me that there instead been a majority Tory government during that period things would have been worse as, 1) the austerity and cuts would have been even deeper (Cameron pretty much admitted that and that the Lib Dems were a roadblock in some areas), and 2) same sex marriage probably wouldn't have been legalised as there wouldn't have been a government backed Commons motion on the subject (the Lib Dems and Lynne Featherstone in-particular were the main driving force there).

Also I think that a Labour / Lib Dem coalition is the only realistic route to electoral reform and proportional representation, and that it simply wouldn't happen under a majority Labour government. And I doubt that the domestic policy agenda of a majority Labour government under Starmer would be significantly different to that of a Starmer led Labour / Lib Dem coalition either.

However, helped by the SNP also collapsing in addition to the Tories, it seems increasingly likely that Labour will win an outright majority and won't need the Lib Dems.
 
saivet said:
Voted Labour and really glad they won. Thought the Lib Dems campaign was full of shite and a big reason I didn't vote for them. Have to say the Lib Dems were relentless in my local area, posting leaflets near enough everyday.

Their whole campaign was based on don't waste a vote for Labour as they can't win here. Thought it was weird in all honesty.
Click to expand...
They do the same thing in every election here in Southport. They used to trade the seat with the Tories every generation or so, but in recent times they've been relegated to a distant third. I've seen stuff on twitter in the past few years that suggests that this is their strategy nationwide when there's a bit of a three horse race.
 
Badunk said:
They do the same thing in every election here in Southport. They used to trade the seat with the Tories every generation or so, but in recent times they've been relegated to a distant third. I've seen stuff on twitter in the past few years that suggests that this is their strategy nationwide when there's a bit of a three horse race.
Click to expand...
Damien Moore used to be my manager when I worked at Asda. He was a cnut then and completely useless. I’m amazed he made it to an MP.
 
esmufc07 said:
Damien Moore used to be my manager when I worked at Asda. He was a cnut then and completely useless. I’m amazed he made it to an MP.
Click to expand...

sounds over-qualified, if anything.
 
esmufc07 said:
Damien Moore used to be my manager when I worked at Asda. He was a cnut then and completely useless. I’m amazed he made it to an MP.
Click to expand...
I walked past him near my house about 6 months ago. He looked like he was wary of being stopped and questioned by members of the public. A sort of rabbit in the headlights glazed expression. He was also much smaller than he looks in the local media photos.

But he's totally useless. I was staggered when, in the parliamentary voting on the different brexit options (there were 7 in total, from memory), he voted against every single one. I remember thinking: "What does he actually want?"
 
Jeremy Hunt is expected to stand down as an MP before the next election, according to senior Conservatives, who say the chancellor is aware he could suffer a “Michael Portillo” moment on polling day.

Hunt has already put himself forward and been selected for the new Surrey constituency of Godalming and Ash, after his South West Surrey seat was dissolved and split into two under boundary changes.


His spokesman said on Friday that his position remained that he would stand. But with his party in increasingly dire straits as byelection defeats mount up, and Labour’s poll lead solidifying, several senior sources nationally and locally have told the Observer that they expect him to announce he is stepping down much nearer to the election.
Click to expand...

 
I hope one or both of Cruella or Patel have their Portillo moment. Horrible excuses for humans who deserve a humiliating end. Though I suspect they reside in seats which are considered safe even for todays climate.
 
Bert_ said:
They literally have nothing left to offer. Wish we had PR voting to relegate these bunch of cnuts to a fringe party and force them to disband.
Click to expand...
Their story of power is quite impressive when you look at the different stages;

1) Gordon sold the gold and Labour caused the worldwide banking/mortgage crash.
2) Only Gideon can put money back in your pockets.
3) Immigrants and poor people are to blame because they have wide-screen TVs.
4) Dave fecked a pig.
5) We shouldn't leave Europe.
6) Feck, we've left Europe.
7) May wins by default due to literally every other nominee shitting the bed.
8) Fields of wheat.
9) Bye Teresa. You thought Cameron and Osborne were not ministerial? Just you wait...
10) Boris.
11) Boris doing Boris things.
12) Can't even remember her name but she totally fecked it within five minutes.
13) Rishi climbs up to the podium, with a head as thick as the soles on his shoes.
14) Immigrants and poor people are to blame. Shit, all the immigrants are gone and everyone is poor.
15) Trans people are to blame?
16) The elite? Except us?
17) ah, shite.

Their party is on life support, in a hospital corridor surrounded by overworked nurses.
 
Mr Pigeon said:
Their story of power is quite impressive when you look at the different stages;

1) Gordon sold the gold and Labour caused the worldwide banking/mortgage crash.
2) Only Gideon can put money back in your pockets.
3) Immigrants and poor people are to blame because they have wide-screen TVs.
4) Dave fecked a pig.
5) We shouldn't leave Europe.
6) Feck, we've left Europe.
7) May wins by default due to literally every other nominee shitting the bed.
8) Fields of wheat.
9) Bye Teresa. You thought Cameron and Osborne were not ministerial? Just you wait...
10) Boris.
11) Boris doing Boris things.
12) Can't even remember her name but she totally fecked it within five minutes.
13) Rishi climbs up to the podium, with a head as thick as the soles on his shoes.
14) Immigrants and poor people are to blame. Shit, all the immigrants are gone and everyone is poor.
15) Trans people are to blame?
16) The elite? Except us?
17) ah, shite.

Their party is on life support, in a hospital corridor surrounded by overworked nurses.
Click to expand...

The worst part of that is how many people genuinely believe #1.
 
Berbasbullet said:
It has proper taken control that rubbish. All my mates use this to justify their tory vote and then don't care that debt has since more than doubled.
Click to expand...
And some folk are now using ULEZ as their excuse for voting Tory. These type of people are always going to vote for those twats no matter what.
 
Mr Pigeon said:
And some folk are now using ULEZ as their excuse for voting Tory. These type of people are always going to vote for those twats no matter what.
Click to expand...

I know people that live in the arse end of nowhere around the Lancs/Yorkshire border that keep going on about ULEZ and how it's putting them off Labour. Probably been to London a handful of times in their life and never once driven there.
 
Bert_ said:
I know people that live in the arse end of nowhere around the Lancs/Yorkshire border that keep going on about ULEZ and how it's putting them off Labour. Probably been to London a handful of times in their life and never once driven there.
Click to expand...

They also almost certainly have no idea what cars are actually caught by it. I had to drive to Heathrow recently and was surprised to learn our car is not impacted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.