The Tories changed election rules without a referendum so there's a precedent.
But most importantly you spend their term reminding Labour that FPTP traditionally works against them where PR would give them more frequent majorities or at least hung parliaments with Lib Dems.
The Tories changed election rules without a referendum so there's a precedent.
But most importantly you spend their term reminding Labour that FPTP traditionally works against them where PR would give them more frequent majorities or at least hung parliaments with Lib Dems.
Isn't the problem that they think it's more likely to get Labor majorities once people "wise up", rather than understand that a hung parliament where they're still a significant if not majority chunk, is preferable.
There's also the issue that it's almost certain that some Labor seats may be lost (ex 30T/30LD/40La, where Tories push for Labor last on preferences), and as we've seen in some places in the US, keeping your own seat but never getting a majority, is better (in their opinion) than risking your seat to try and get a majority. Politicians protecting their own privelege is a tale as old as time.
I think there is a good chance we are getting a coalition/supply&demand after the next GE. The boundary changes are so ridiculous that Labour are going to struggle even with a 20% swing to get a majority. I still cannot believe they let the Tories get away with it. If we do get an agreement I can only assume it will be a Lib-Lab. And I really hope the Liberals have learnt from last time...
Narrator: They haven't.
It might not be as bad as that…
One of the interesting things to come out of these recent results is that Labour’s vote distribution has now become incredibly efficient compared to what it used to be. In previous elections they’d find that their overall vote share was (for example) around 35%, but a lot of that was concentrated in cities and urban areas where they were already winning. In these locals they’ve managed to spread it out more, so they might have lower shares in some of those urban places but higher in those where it actually makes a difference to the result.
It makes it much easier for them to win an election, but it would mean they’ve got a different electoral coalition to manage if they do.
Another day, another defection. Natalie Elphicke (Dover) has left the tories to join Labour.
While I enjoy the embarassment for Sunak, I'd honestly prefer actual Labour canidates instead of defections. Especially when it seems incredibly likely that the next election will see the tories wiped out. Feels a bit like jumping to save themselves. She also sounds like a bit of a nutter quite frankly. Her full resignation statement:
Today I announce that I have decided to join the Labour Party and that I will sit in Parliament as a Labour MP.
When I was elected in 2019, the Conservative Party occupied the centre ground of British politics. The party was about building the future and making the most of the opportunities that lay ahead for our country.
Since then, many things have changed. The elected Prime Minister was ousted in a coup led by the unelected Rishi Sunak. Under Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives have become a byword for incompetence and division. The centre ground has been abandoned and key pledges of the 2019 manifesto have been ditched.
Meanwhile the Labour Party has changed out of all recognition. Since 2019, it has moved on from Jeremy Corbyn and now, under Keir Starmer, occupies the centre ground of British politics. It has accepted Brexit and its economic policies and defence policies are responsible and can be trusted.
Most significantly for me, the modern Labour Party looks to the future – to building a Britain of hope, optimism, opportunity and fairness. A Britain everyone can be part of.
I have carefully considered this decision. The change has been dramatic and cannot be ignored. For me key deciding factors have been housing and the safety and security of our borders.
From small boats to biosecurity, Rishi Sunak’s government is failing to keep our borders safe and secure. Lives are being lost in the English Channel while small boat arrivals are once again at record levels. It’s clear they have failed to keep our borders secure and cannot be trusted.
On housing, Rishi Sunak’s Government is now failing to build the homes we need. Last year saw the largest fall of new housing starts in England in a single year since the credit crunch. The manifesto committed to 300,000 homes next year – but only around half that number are now set to be built. Renters and leaseholders have been betrayed as manifesto pledges to end no fault evictions and abolish ground rents have not been delivered as promised.
The last couple of years have also seen a huge rise in homelessness, in temporary accommodation and rough sleeping - with record numbers of children now in temporary accommodation, without a secure roof over their head.
Meanwhile Labour plan to build the homes we need, help young people onto the housing ladder and care about the vulnerable and homeless. That’s why I’m honoured to have been asked to work with Keir and the team to help deliver the homes we need.
We need to move on from the broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic Government. Britain needs a Government that will build a future of hope, optimism, opportunity and fairness. A Britain everyone can be part of, that will make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead. That’s why it’s time for change. Time for a Labour Government led by Keir Starmer. The General Election cannot come soon enough.
The notion of Johnson occupying the middle ground is laughable, the rambling about a coup by Sunak comes across as conspiracy theory nonsense (and ignores the myraid of reasons they eventually got rid of him for, including acting like he was above the law during covid), and of couse she's a brexiteer.
Edit: There's talk that she might not be standing again at the election? It's about the only way this is even vaguely acceptable.
That was the case for the previous one, they're welcome to defect over but the Labour party isn't going to pick them to represent it at the next election so they would have to do so against it as independants.
Yeah, defectors don’t automatically get selected for their seat, especially as the Labour Party will probably already have someone for the seat who’s actually been through the selection process.
God I hope she's out on her arse come election time. That resignation speech clearly shows she's either a self serving parasite or a true blue tory believer who just happens to hate Labour less than the guy who dethroned her beloved Boris. Either way Labour doesn't need someone like that pissing inside their tent.
She’s already said she’s standing down at the next election. Same as the Poulter defection recently. Maybe they’re hoping to get a moment of fame from this, maybe they want to be able to say they were eventually on the winning side, I don’t know…
but this makes Sunak look like he has zero control, and I welcome anything that makes Sunak and the rest of the party look even worse.
She’s already said she’s standing down at the next election. Same as the Poulter defection recently. Maybe they’re hoping to get a moment of fame from this, maybe they want to be able to say they were eventually on the winning side, I don’t know…
but this makes Sunak look like he has zero control, and I welcome anything that makes Sunak and the rest of the party look even worse.
I assume the thinking would be "I've got another job lined up now and no chance in hell of keeping this one whenever the election is called - if I defect, the new boss is less likely to complain about me taking the new job and ignoring my constituents than the current boss desperate to win them back".
She's a complete ghoul, honestly I'd say maybe even don't let her in, but at least this makes Sunak look ridiculous
If they are immediately replacing her at the election and she can successfully be convinced to keep her fucking mouth shut and be invisible between now and then, then it's a galaxy brained move.
If she spends the next few months spouting Boris'isms while wearing a red rosette then we'll all be saying Labour have been very stupid.
I'm reminded of Nobby Nobbs in Discworld, who was always on the winning side in military battles because he hung back to see who was winning, then stole the uniform off some poor dead sod.
Rachel reeves’ speech in the economy/Tiry gaslighting went down well. The locals & mayorals spoke for themselves. Good idea, Labour: suddenly bog yourself down in weeks of questioning about an MP with a long record of totally grim views & behaviour. 10 out of 10.
I get all the reservations, but ‘have one more MP at Sunak’s expense, advertise open door to Tory voters, reinforce sense of irreversible govt rot’ is not a gift any opposition leader was going to turn down.
It makes Sunak look weak, it sends a PR message 'even this loyal Tory MP picks Labour' and it makes the Tory party nervous while taking the wind out of their attacks. No opposition leader is turning that down.
Swinney says that the Scottish government position remains that the UK government should lift its veto on the GRA meaning that the already passed legislation would take effect
Out for Independence have sought and received specific assurances that this is, and will remain the case
Forbes has now said publicly more than once that she's accepted a cabinet role on the basis of adherence to the SNP platform and collective responsibility, which means in effect that she won't/can't resist elements of SNP policy for her own reasons
If nothing else, it's good to see a willingness to tackle the questions head on instead of trying to fence-sit, presumably because Swinney realises that it's otherwise just going to poison everything he tries to do
Look, we all know how Forbes wants to vote when it comes to things like GRA and abortion. Her effectively saying she'll fall in line with how the rest of the party votes, even when it's not something she believes in, isn't something I'm going to see as a positive.
Ideally, she'd leave the party, probably join Alba, but she's not doing that, because she knows that would likely be the end of the political career. So instead, she stays in the SNP, bides her time, and maybe tries again to have an effect on the things her "religion" says is wrong.
But, we don't live in an ideal world, the SNP don't have the majority, and sometimes politics is crap.
It makes Sunak look weak, it sends a PR message 'even this loyal Tory MP picks Labour' and it makes the Tory party nervous while taking the wind out of their attacks. No opposition leader is turning that down.
Nor should they frankly. It's a knife into the Tory party a few months ahead of the election, for the low price of letting a ghoul keep a seat they would have anyway for a couple more months.
It's good electoral politics and we need that if we wanna see the Tories get a proper kicking come election day.
Fairly certain the Labour SPADs didn't have "week of negative headlines about defector" on their communications grid for what woud happen when Natalie Elphicke crossed the floor.
Fucking idiots. Not just morally bankrupt but absolute fucking idiots.
Interesting little illustration of the issue with "levelling up" funding being demonstrated near to me
The basic problem with it is that it's a way for central government to bypass local decision making processes about what money gets allocated where
This is particularly acute in Scotland because the semi explicit purpose is to cut the Scottish Government out of the loop and try to create nice feelings for unionists by having visible projects in Scotland that they can stick the union flag on. So:
Labour councillor Alasdair Bailey sounded a note of dissent, saying they were being forced into “two projects that nobody asked for and one that nobody else would fund”.
The council is in a weird position because these are emphatically not things they would be choosing to do if they had £5m to spare, but they either take the cash and spend it on this, or get nothing
I'm contemplating writing an overly sarcastic email to my local council, asking them to change the 'Levelling Up' sign to say 'Nerfing' as it would be more honest.
(They changed some traffic lights so they don't let anyone go for thirty seconds when they're clearly supposed to let one lane turn, and now going by the paint markings they're going to narrow one road for no obvious reason)
I mean Levelling Up was publicity spin to try to keep the North seats in line. Total nonsense but the public are braindead morons who only read the Sun so probably believe they are being levelled up.
I mean , going by the comments on local press it's working, given that people clearly believe that it's the council choosing to spend money on this as opposed to leisure facilities
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FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
levelling up is one of the more embarrassing marketing phrases used for that kind of campaigning
It's just...so sad that we accept this. I wish I knew what to do to stop this. To shake these water company execs until they behave like actual human fucking beings rather than profit ghouls. If I had the power I'd compulsory purchase all the water companies at cheap price and tell them to get fucked or go to prison for endangering the public. But instead, maybe we'll get a Labour government desperate to 'look good for business' who will do nothing.
/rant.
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daveNYCWhy universe hate Waspinator?Registered Userregular
(spoilered for size). So much for that "neutrality" the bbc claims to have.
+5
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Zilla36021st Century. |She/Her|Trans* Woman In Aviators Firing A Bazooka. ⚛️Registered Userregular
Yeah that's a whole bad faith premise/question right there.
It's all just section 28 reheated and regurgitated for the new culture war that tries to question my right to exist on this Earth. I have known since I was 6/7 years old who and what I am. Telling kids that babies come from storks/jesus isn't going to help them.
Twitter even made the word 'cisgender' pop up a warning now if you try to post it.
Kinda makes it obvious who the real snowflakes are.
*narrator voice: it was the prudish evangelical right wing transphobic asshole all along...*
Zilla36021st Century. |She/Her|Trans* Woman In Aviators Firing A Bazooka. ⚛️Registered Userregular
Yeah, I didn't even discover the word 'transgender/transsexual' from sex-ed. I discovered it age 12 over dial-up and altavista/askjeeves and netscape navigator. Kids will find out about us via Wikipedia etc these days. My little wonderfully clever and curious nephew is nearly seven and he understands perfectly about auntie's past.
Hatred is learned, gender is immutable, and infinitely complex, as a societal tautological construct.
Zilla36021st Century. |She/Her|Trans* Woman In Aviators Firing A Bazooka. ⚛️Registered Userregular
Also lmao, watch cruella/gb 'news' get owned by these protesters doing the right thing and giving her the silent treatment, since all she wants is a reaction they can edit in bad faith:
Also lmao, watch cruella/gb 'news' get owned by these protesters doing the right thing and giving her the silent treatment, since all she wants is a reaction they can edit in bad faith:
Posts
But most importantly you spend their term reminding Labour that FPTP traditionally works against them where PR would give them more frequent majorities or at least hung parliaments with Lib Dems.
Isn't the problem that they think it's more likely to get Labor majorities once people "wise up", rather than understand that a hung parliament where they're still a significant if not majority chunk, is preferable.
There's also the issue that it's almost certain that some Labor seats may be lost (ex 30T/30LD/40La, where Tories push for Labor last on preferences), and as we've seen in some places in the US, keeping your own seat but never getting a majority, is better (in their opinion) than risking your seat to try and get a majority. Politicians protecting their own privelege is a tale as old as time.
It might not be as bad as that…
One of the interesting things to come out of these recent results is that Labour’s vote distribution has now become incredibly efficient compared to what it used to be. In previous elections they’d find that their overall vote share was (for example) around 35%, but a lot of that was concentrated in cities and urban areas where they were already winning. In these locals they’ve managed to spread it out more, so they might have lower shares in some of those urban places but higher in those where it actually makes a difference to the result.
It makes it much easier for them to win an election, but it would mean they’ve got a different electoral coalition to manage if they do.
While I enjoy the embarassment for Sunak, I'd honestly prefer actual Labour canidates instead of defections. Especially when it seems incredibly likely that the next election will see the tories wiped out. Feels a bit like jumping to save themselves. She also sounds like a bit of a nutter quite frankly. Her full resignation statement:
When I was elected in 2019, the Conservative Party occupied the centre ground of British politics. The party was about building the future and making the most of the opportunities that lay ahead for our country.
Since then, many things have changed. The elected Prime Minister was ousted in a coup led by the unelected Rishi Sunak. Under Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives have become a byword for incompetence and division. The centre ground has been abandoned and key pledges of the 2019 manifesto have been ditched.
Meanwhile the Labour Party has changed out of all recognition. Since 2019, it has moved on from Jeremy Corbyn and now, under Keir Starmer, occupies the centre ground of British politics. It has accepted Brexit and its economic policies and defence policies are responsible and can be trusted.
Most significantly for me, the modern Labour Party looks to the future – to building a Britain of hope, optimism, opportunity and fairness. A Britain everyone can be part of.
I have carefully considered this decision. The change has been dramatic and cannot be ignored. For me key deciding factors have been housing and the safety and security of our borders.
From small boats to biosecurity, Rishi Sunak’s government is failing to keep our borders safe and secure. Lives are being lost in the English Channel while small boat arrivals are once again at record levels. It’s clear they have failed to keep our borders secure and cannot be trusted.
On housing, Rishi Sunak’s Government is now failing to build the homes we need. Last year saw the largest fall of new housing starts in England in a single year since the credit crunch. The manifesto committed to 300,000 homes next year – but only around half that number are now set to be built. Renters and leaseholders have been betrayed as manifesto pledges to end no fault evictions and abolish ground rents have not been delivered as promised.
The last couple of years have also seen a huge rise in homelessness, in temporary accommodation and rough sleeping - with record numbers of children now in temporary accommodation, without a secure roof over their head.
Meanwhile Labour plan to build the homes we need, help young people onto the housing ladder and care about the vulnerable and homeless. That’s why I’m honoured to have been asked to work with Keir and the team to help deliver the homes we need.
We need to move on from the broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic Government. Britain needs a Government that will build a future of hope, optimism, opportunity and fairness. A Britain everyone can be part of, that will make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead. That’s why it’s time for change. Time for a Labour Government led by Keir Starmer. The General Election cannot come soon enough.
The notion of Johnson occupying the middle ground is laughable, the rambling about a coup by Sunak comes across as conspiracy theory nonsense (and ignores the myraid of reasons they eventually got rid of him for, including acting like he was above the law during covid), and of couse she's a brexiteer.
Edit: There's talk that she might not be standing again at the election? It's about the only way this is even vaguely acceptable.
but this makes Sunak look like he has zero control, and I welcome anything that makes Sunak and the rest of the party look even worse.
Glad they're having a joyful old time, and not realising just how neck deep they are.
Celeste [Switch] - She'll be wrestling with inner demons when she comes...
I assume the thinking would be "I've got another job lined up now and no chance in hell of keeping this one whenever the election is called - if I defect, the new boss is less likely to complain about me taking the new job and ignoring my constituents than the current boss desperate to win them back".
If they are immediately replacing her at the election and she can successfully be convinced to keep her fucking mouth shut and be invisible between now and then, then it's a galaxy brained move.
If she spends the next few months spouting Boris'isms while wearing a red rosette then we'll all be saying Labour have been very stupid.
John Harris:
Rafael Behr:
Steam | XBL
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68984774
That didn't take long.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c97zv90d77do
Swinney says that the Scottish government position remains that the UK government should lift its veto on the GRA meaning that the already passed legislation would take effect
Out for Independence have sought and received specific assurances that this is, and will remain the case
Forbes has now said publicly more than once that she's accepted a cabinet role on the basis of adherence to the SNP platform and collective responsibility, which means in effect that she won't/can't resist elements of SNP policy for her own reasons
If nothing else, it's good to see a willingness to tackle the questions head on instead of trying to fence-sit, presumably because Swinney realises that it's otherwise just going to poison everything he tries to do
Ideally, she'd leave the party, probably join Alba, but she's not doing that, because she knows that would likely be the end of the political career. So instead, she stays in the SNP, bides her time, and maybe tries again to have an effect on the things her "religion" says is wrong.
But, we don't live in an ideal world, the SNP don't have the majority, and sometimes politics is crap.
Nor should they frankly. It's a knife into the Tory party a few months ahead of the election, for the low price of letting a ghoul keep a seat they would have anyway for a couple more months.
It's good electoral politics and we need that if we wanna see the Tories get a proper kicking come election day.
Fucking idiots. Not just morally bankrupt but absolute fucking idiots.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
The basic problem with it is that it's a way for central government to bypass local decision making processes about what money gets allocated where
This is particularly acute in Scotland because the semi explicit purpose is to cut the Scottish Government out of the loop and try to create nice feelings for unionists by having visible projects in Scotland that they can stick the union flag on. So:
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/perth-kinross/4981096/perth-city-centre-5m-regeneration-approved/
The council is in a weird position because these are emphatically not things they would be choosing to do if they had £5m to spare, but they either take the cash and spend it on this, or get nothing
While at the same time one of the leisure centres is being closed for lack of funding:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/live-active-leisure-set-remove-32770989
(They changed some traffic lights so they don't let anyone go for thirty seconds when they're clearly supposed to let one lane turn, and now going by the paint markings they're going to narrow one road for no obvious reason)
40 thousand people without drinkable water in Devon
https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/household/help-support/in-your-area/service-updates
/rant.
Cryptosporidium in the house, so I guess this Onion article is relevant.
(spoilered for size). So much for that "neutrality" the bbc claims to have.
It's all just section 28 reheated and regurgitated for the new culture war that tries to question my right to exist on this Earth. I have known since I was 6/7 years old who and what I am. Telling kids that babies come from storks/jesus isn't going to help them.
Twitter even made the word 'cisgender' pop up a warning now if you try to post it.
Kinda makes it obvious who the real snowflakes are.
Steam | XBL
Hatred is learned, gender is immutable, and infinitely complex, as a societal tautological construct.
Don't negotiate with terrorists.