[Politics] Tory meltdown finally arrived [was: incoming]...

[Hugo Rune]

I’m actually supportive of Starmer’s current strategy, he’s got the Mail, Sun and Telegraph (plus to a slightly more balanced extent the Times) acting as Tory Rottweiler’s. The more he announces, the more red meat he’s feeding them to come up with attack strategies.

I’m encouraged that they haven’t found much to attack in Labour’s energy policy (it’s a relief just to have a government that has one) but why give the opposition more time to come up with attack lines/strategies, he’s already got to deal with a largely hostile press.

I suppose these by-election back that up 100%.

I’ve been supportive of his strategy too but I’m just starting to feel he can be more progressive. The Tories are having to make up fantasy Labour policies to attack such as Starmer’s war on motorists and Starmer’s plan to make everyone use 7 recycling bins.

For example, Starmer has said that private schools will pay VAT and business rates if Labour win. Just go all the way and ban them. These schools represent the biggest class dividing mechanism in the country. The Sun would surely go hard against this (even though 99% of their readers left state school at 16) claiming Starmer is banning Hogwarts and Malory Towers.

 

[Randy McNob]

I doubt very much that Labour need many seats in Scotchland for a healthy majority in the election next year but they’ll get them as the SNP are shot. The Tories will be destroyed.

Reform UK are starting to do very well and seemed to have lured a lot of the ‘uneducated nationalists’ away from the Tories in these two by elections.

Now over to you Starmer. Stop pandering to the right wing press (of which we know you are terrified). You really can’t lose the next election. Ignore the Mail, Sun and Express.

Time to be bold.

i'm not Starmer fan by any means but credit where it's due he's played a great game, he's rarely courted controversy so the Tories can't smear him other than put-downs like Captain hindsight and flip-flop, it worked on Corbyn. He's tried not to re-litigate Brexit as it is polarising, and he's just played the long game and let the Tories fall on their sword. I think he knew, like everyone, Brexit would become a catasrophe and their support would dwindle over time, and now to the point where they are getting hammered by the electorate

 

[Pevenseagull]

Coward.

If I can be arsed I will do a little flow sheet for hm.

 

[Hugo Rune]

I am really relieved and happy at the two By-election results primarily because it shows so many people are recognising the increased danger that the Tories posed over the past 13 years in office.

It may be that after the election, a rump of the remaining Tory MPS veers still further to the right; we need to be proactive in condemning them. However, my main feeling is that this First Past the Post system is awful because fundamentally it reduces us to voting for what we don't want rather than positively....

PR must be the aim for democrats in this country.

Lot’s of chat about MMP on ‘the rest is politics’.

https://elections.nz/democracy-in-nz/what-is-new-zealands-system-of-government/what-is-mmp/

The fundamental idea is about changing party politics narratives and bringing people together to lead the country rather than attempting to divide the nation.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Behaviour in defeat is usually far more of an indication of character than behaviour in victory. This guy’s just shown the world he’s a monumental arse.

He showed the world before the vote, which is why many decent Tories just stayed at home. He even called the person who found his FB post, from 3 years ago, a ‘germ’, doubling down on his attitud.

 

[chickens]

Tamworth..

Tories leaking votes to Reform and Britain First who both beat the Greens and the LD's.

They'll look at that and say "OK lets go full fash..."

I hope so. It means they’re fighting for the same small share of voters who would vote Britain First or Reform, rather than for the huge swathes of non-fascist general public being hoovered up by Labour and the Lib Dem’s.

The path they’re on is a cul de sac of ever diminishing returns, but I won’t mind if they don’t figure that out within my lifetime.

 

[andyrevell]

 

[Thunder Bolt]

If I can be arsed I will do a little flow sheet for hm.

There are plenty on X to copy. Most containing the F bomb.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I hope now Starmer will have the confidence to finalise and lay out every proposed policy that makes up his vision for the country. Not so much to inform us why we should vote labour (thats a done deal now) but so they they can hit the ground running on day one.

I hope he doesn't. Sunak can stretch out the election call for another 12 months and anything could happen in that time. We'll need clever, nuanced positions on the Middle East, Ukraine, the economy and Brexit for a start. All of those things are currently fluctuating on an almost day by day basis. I'm sure that a general position can be taken by Labour, indeed it's doing that right now, but manifesto level commitments must wait until the election is called. Despite these landslide results, it's still Labour's job to oppose and the Tories' job to govern.

I can tell you what WON'T be in the manifesto though. There won't be a 'meat tax', a 'war on motorists' or a compulsion to keep seven different bins.

 

[Randy McNob]

Lot’s of chat about MMP on ‘the rest is politics’.

https://elections.nz/democracy-in-nz/what-is-new-zealands-system-of-government/what-is-mmp/

The fundamental idea is about changing party politics narratives and bringing people together to lead the country rather than attempting to divide the nation.

we definately need eletoral reform, FPTP is undemocratic and completely outdated. It's become so much more apparant in the last 10 years because it gives one party all the power, they can win a parliamentary majority winning seats with a minority of the overall votes in a constituency as long as they are the single biggest party and every other vote cast is thrown in the bin. Every vote should count and with a PR system parliament would have to work together to pass legislation rather than one party dictating on their own ideology

 

[nicko31]

Where is 7 bin Sunak when you need him?

Last seen on a camel at Giza...

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Going back to Andrew Cooper, this is his WAG. Tears before bedtime.

 

[andyrevell]

 

[AK74]

worst Apprentice candidate ever.

 

[Hotchilidog]

The public want the tories out. That we still have another year of this lame duck government is utterly infuriating. Sunak couldn't win a raffle in which he held the only ticket. A lazy, corrupt and throughly superficial non-entity, Rishi has no mandate from the public to govern at all.

NGL I have very low hopes for the next government but I do at least think they may respond to constructive criticism when faced with the loss of votes that got them into power. This current government simply do not care, who knows what further damage they can do in the next 13 months.

 

[nicko31]

The public want the tories out. That we still have another year of this lame duck government is utterly infuriating. Sunak couldn't win a raffle in which he held the only ticket. A lazy, corrupt and throughly superficial non-entity, Rishi has no mandate from the public to govern at all.

NGL I have very low hopes for the next government but I do at least think they may respond to constructive criticism when faced with the loss of votes that got them into power. This current government simply do not care, who knows what further damage they can do in the next 13 months.

They're going for scorched earth policy, screw and country and fill ya boots while you can chaps

 

[Hotchilidog]

They're going for scorched earth policy, screw and country and fill ya boots while you can chaps

Yep. That is exactly what they are doing.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

They're going for scorched earth policy, screw and country and fill ya boots while you can chaps

Their answer at the moment is to blame Sunak.

 

[abc]

I hope he doesn't. Sunak can stretch out the election call for another 12 months and anything could happen in that time. We'll need clever, nuanced positions on the Middle East, Ukraine, the economy and Brexit for a start. All of those things are currently fluctuating on an almost day by day basis. I'm sure that a general position can be taken by Labour, indeed it's doing that right now, but manifesto level commitments must wait until the election is called. Despite these landslide results, it's still Labour's job to oppose and the Tories' job to govern.

I can tell you what WON'T be in the manifesto though. There won't be a 'meat tax', a 'war on motorists' or a compulsion to keep seven different bins.

Fair comment. There are so many global factors - Ukraine, Israel, Brexit, OPEC, Trump (god forbid), Covid etc that Labour are going to have a very hard job without having to also address our numerous domestic issues and divisions. Expectations will be high but perhaps we should settle for some integrity and honesty in politics and be grateful for that as a starting point.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Fair comment. There are so many global factors - Ukraine, Israel, Brexit, OPEC, Trump (god forbid), Covid etc that Labour are going to have a very hard job without having to also address our numerous domestic issues and divisions. Expectations will be high but perhaps we should settle for some integrity and honesty in politics and be grateful for that as a starting point.

Yep, absolutely,