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[Hiberno-Britannic Politics] Our Batman's a Plonker
RMS Oceanic
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So this archipelago
Has these nations.
These nations are almost completely (not) unique in that they're run by a system known as Politics!
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Run by these folk.
These folk would rather they didn't.
The Issues
Oh snap! Snap Election that is.
After saying she wouldn't, Theresa May called an election. It seemed kind of smart, seeing how the polling indicated she'd have a 1997-style landslide and be completely unstoppable, and buy the Tories another two years to put some distance from the potential fallout of Brexit. But that didn't happen. Against all the odds, she actually lost seats.
Just shy of a majority, she has pursued the not totally destabilising tactic of support from the Democratic Unionist Party, the largest party of Northern Ireland. Many eyebrows are raised at this, not only because of the DUP's even more hardline conservative values - Gay Marriage and Abortion are still banned in NI despite being legal elsewhere in Britain - but how this upsets a neutral British presence needed to resolve disputes at Stormont. Like the one that's been going on for six months.
So that's fun.
Jeremy Hunt still rhymes with something. Paul Nutall is aptly named. Leave Arlene Foster alone, she did nothing wrong (and this will probably be official now).
A spiffing place to keep up to date with the latest developments.
An Poblacht na hÉireann
Okay, as someone who actually lives in the Republic of Ireland Desktop Hippie did an infinitely better job than I did explaining things, so I'm gonna pilfer this goldmine of a post to give you a lay of the land.
And this image probably sums up what Ireland thinks about the world right now
A shockin' good place to see what the feck the craic is.
So, discuss the goings on in the Dail and the Commons!
Has these nations.
These nations are almost completely (not) unique in that they're run by a system known as Politics!
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Run by these folk.
These folk would rather they didn't.
The Issues
Oh snap! Snap Election that is.
After saying she wouldn't, Theresa May called an election. It seemed kind of smart, seeing how the polling indicated she'd have a 1997-style landslide and be completely unstoppable, and buy the Tories another two years to put some distance from the potential fallout of Brexit. But that didn't happen. Against all the odds, she actually lost seats.
Just shy of a majority, she has pursued the not totally destabilising tactic of support from the Democratic Unionist Party, the largest party of Northern Ireland. Many eyebrows are raised at this, not only because of the DUP's even more hardline conservative values - Gay Marriage and Abortion are still banned in NI despite being legal elsewhere in Britain - but how this upsets a neutral British presence needed to resolve disputes at Stormont. Like the one that's been going on for six months.
So that's fun.
Jeremy Hunt still rhymes with something. Paul Nutall is aptly named. Leave Arlene Foster alone, she did nothing wrong (and this will probably be official now).
A spiffing place to keep up to date with the latest developments.
An Poblacht na hÉireann
Okay, as someone who actually lives in the Republic of Ireland Desktop Hippie did an infinitely better job than I did explaining things, so I'm gonna pilfer this goldmine of a post to give you a lay of the land.
Desktop Hippie wrote:Okay then, let's add a little Hiberno to the Hiberno-Britannic Politics thread! Because I've been keeping quiet lately but there's actually a fair bit happening over here.
As @RMS Oceanic Said in the OP, this chap
is Enda Kenny, An Taoiseach, the Irish version of Prime Minister of An Poblacht na hÉireann. However, he's had a pretty bad week and is facing calls to step down, because quitting is all the rage these days.
To understand the situation better, I need to go over the last Irish General Election.
It was a mess.
Here's a rundown of the main contenders:
You had Fianna Gael, who were in power and very unpopular due to their mismanagement of a number of different austerity measures and because they pushed ahead with the EU stipulation that Ireland had to bring in water charges, something most other European countries have (including the UK.) The issue of water charges has been a huge one in Ireland, with many who have been struggling with lower wages, higher taxes and an increased cost of living seeing it as the final straw and refusing outright to pay.
You had Labour, who helped Fianna Gael with all this, despite the fact that they're SUPPOSED TO BE A FUCKING LABOUR PARTY!
You had Fianna Fáil, arch enemies of Fianna Gael and the party who were in power before and during the 2008 financial crisis, who also drove our economy headlong into the worst of it, which lead to all the crap Fianna Gael has done since - something Fianna Gael are very keen to point out.
You had The Green Party, who helped Fianna Fáil to do all this, despite the fact that they're SUPPOSED TO BE A FUCKING GREEN PARTY!
You had Sinn Féin, growing in popularity in working class Dublin and various areas of the country by setting themselves up as the anti-corruption "honest" party, railing against the politicians who took bribes from Ben Dunne while hoping nobody pointed out that they had kidnapped him.
You had the Social Democrats, a small left wing outfit who are quickly becoming the choice for voters sick of the irony of having a right of center Labour party.
You had Renua, who were... honestly, Mrs. Lovejoy pretty much covers it.
You had People Before Profit and the Anti Austerity Alliance. Both parties do exactly what it says on the tin.
And you had independents. Lots and lots and LOTS of independents, who range from this guy...
Shane Ross, voice of the middle-to-upper-middle class who see themselves as the real victims of the 2008 financial crisis. To be fair, they're not entirely wrong. The collapse in the value of bank shares meant that many who had spent their entire lives working and were getting ready for a nice, comfy retirement saw their pensions obliterated overnight and instead find themselves having to grind through their golden years clinging to their jobs and living hand-to-mouth. They absolutely have caused to be pissed off, but they do tend to wear a bit on the nerves of someone who has to sit in a sodden adult nappy in their wheelchair for hours on end because their home care visits have been cut back to two half hours every day.
...to this guy
Mick Wallace, voice of lower-to-middle class who campaigns against austerity, against overpunitive drug policy and against discrimination against women - making him one of the few who will tackle the abortion issue head on - while quietly hoping that nobody remembers that he's a well off property developer.
Oh and you also had these guys
Michael and Danny Healy-Rae, who represent the all important Kerry farmers vote. Because of course they do.
"Gosh, Desktop Hippie!" you say! "What a web of interests and intrigue! Who won the election?"
That's the problem. Nobody.
Well, Fianna Gael juuuuust about managed to keep a majority despite losing a bunch of seats, but it wasn't enough to form a government and while many other parties gained significant ground, none of them had enough to form a government either. After the longest gap between an election and the formation of a government in the history of the Irish State (lasting over 50 days!) Fianna Gael eventually hammered out a deal with Shane Ross and his Independent Alliance, a group of six independent TDs (the Irish version of MPs) who agreed to club together as a sort of minority party in exchange for focus on their various raisons d'être and seats on the cabinet. This is exactly as stable a government as you're probably imagining it to be.
So, the election was in February of this year and we finally got a government at the end of April. What's happened since then?
Well, Fianna Fáil have continued to gain ground with people who are willing to forgive the whole destroying-the-economy thing if they promise to be good TDs and never do it again, especially since Fianna Gael are coming across as dangerously unstable in the fragile post-Brexit days. To tackle Brexit head on, Enda Kenny decided to set up an all-island forum focusing entirely on Brexit and the fallout. However, he sort of forgot to tell First Minister and DUP Leader Arlene Foster about it in advance. Needless to say, this went down like a lead balloon. Adding to this, there was a vote on the hugely controversial issue of abortion (still illegal in Ireland, don't get me started) in which Enda allowed his Independent ministers a free vote, which drew sharp criticism.
The biggest problem though? He fired the Deputy Leader of Fianna Gael, went through a selection process to choose a new Deputy Leader and has decided to go with... the guy he fired.
Feeling better about Theresa May yet?
And this image probably sums up what Ireland thinks about the world right now
A shockin' good place to see what the feck the craic is.
So, discuss the goings on in the Dail and the Commons!
RMS Oceanic on
+2
This discussion has been closed.
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Also threw in our Gerry because I doubt he approves of our Arlene
Like "education is too critical of British history"
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Michael Gove, also famous for this moment
http://imgur.com/gallery/5GIyWp4
Don't know who the photographer is, but at the time it got a lot of exposure in the context of the red top tabloids making a massive thing out of a photo of Ed Milliband awkwardly eating a bacon sandwich
Steam | XBL
I love it so much.
edit: DAMN too slow.
Edit - Oh it was, yay
Implemented a ton of policy on the basis of what he reckoned to be true as opposed to policy based on evidence or an understanding of good practice and what has and has not worked in the past
I'm sure Desktop will be along with an update though.
Then became justice secretary and was proposition a whole bunch of incredibly sensible policies for prison reform backed up by copious evidence.
Weird, weird, weird.
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.
Leo Varadkar - An openly gay man, son of a immigrant, our youngest taoiseach.... and also a complete bollox with a towering erection for hating on the poor.
Celeste [Switch] - She'll be wrestling with inner demons when she comes...
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age [Switch] - Sit down and watch our game play itself
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/20/official-figures-show-biggest-rise-crime-in-a-decade
Obviously on Facebook everyone is blaming the immigrants.
This rise puts in to the limelight the reduction in police numbers:
But Theresa May has told the Police Federation previously that they were crying wolf over police cuts..
UK pay growth data disappoints again as real wages decline at fastest rate in three years
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/20/tories-use-take-out-the-trash-day-to-dump-controversial-reports
Rise in inequality too. Violent crime is caused by people believing they have no hope for a better life and can never achieve anything. The more inequality you have, the more this will be true.
Michael Gove was also one of the most prominent Brexit campaigners, famous for his declaration that "the British people have had enough of experts".
He's now Environment Secretary, and has just had to tell Britain's farmers that leaving the EU means their funding is, in fact, going to be reduced.
Funny how often that tiny little detail is overlooked.
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An actual decline in real wages is fucking insane.
Real wages means after inflation not the number on the payslip.
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.
Right, wages went up 1.8 percent, but inflation was 2.9 percent, mostly due to the decline in the pound.
So even if you're taking home a little more money, your purchasing power is lower.
I think this trend will continue until a real Brexit strategy is unveiled. There is too much uncertainty right now.
Ugh brainfart. Less WTF then and just making things shittier in small ways.
As for the experts comment, I remember now on Last Week Tonight a clip of someone saying that being used during one of the Brexit segments. So that was him. Worker wages is my thing in politics and this certainly riles me up. Over here we get told to get "better" jobs. What's the Tory narrative on wages falling like that?
You should just get more money. Don't choose to be a poor person. You shirker.
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The Tory response to anything like that is just "why don't you use your other money?"
I'd argue that one of the primary reasons that we're now in the process of leaving the EU is that for several decades everything good which came from the EU was actually the UK government's responsibility, and everything bad that the UK government did was actually the EU's fault.
Even once we're out of the EU I don't expect this narrative to change much.
Not exactly the same, but it's pretty close.