General election July 4th

[pete]

Sunak about to announce a general election

[ChrisJ]

Guess he can't wait to bugger off to the States

[Barrykearley]

I’m interested in what the reform party press statement is about tomorrow 

[mayevora]

6 weeks today then - One shower of shite will most like get replaced by another shower of shite. 🤡’s the lot of them. 

[pete]

Think this could be a very low turnout for a general election. Most people are fed up with politics and politicians in general . 

[ChrisJ]

Am away on holiday (I think). Postal vote for us, if I can be arsed.

[exeterjeep]

Wish I was away for the next 8 weeks or even 8 years.

[ChrisJ]

Came across this

 

[mayevora]

[C8RKH]

6 hours ago, ChrisJ said:

Came across this

 

Westminster is a tribal shouting place. I assume he is referring to Raynor?

What an absolute Clown. Davos is full of entitled arse lickers, who crave attention and power. Hmmm, not sure he is going to make a good PM for the PEOPLE.

[Chillidoggy]

Anyone would think he’s the Messiah.

[pete]

The labour party seems to think he is the 2nd coming

[DDubya]

They say it’s important to cast a vote. So I’m practicing my best Cock & Balls

[Kimbers]

I cannot get even vaguely excited TBH and with the last election getting mid 30%'s voting I'm not the only one.

There is no one Party who even gets close to representing my wants and needs. Sure, if I was at the top of society or the bottom I would but those of us in the Middle (the Majority), with cars and houses, paying our taxes and having 2.4 kids, none of us really have a voice and we pay the majority of the UK taxes!

Time for major reform

[DDubya]

I’ve just noticed 12 replies to this thread (inc. mine), great to see members of TLF can’t be arsed 😅

Just now, Kimbers said:

I cannot get even vaguely excited TBH and with the last election getting mid 30%'s voting I'm not the only one.

There is no one Party who even gets close to representing my wants and needs. Sure, if I was at the top of society or the bottom I would but those of us in the Middle (the Majority), with cars and houses, paying our taxes and having 2.4 kids, none of us really have a voice and we pay the majority of the UK taxes!

Time for major reform

Tony, I agree. I was never a supporter of PR, but now, more than ever we need it. I’d like to vote for a party that represents me in their policies and has at least a voice. I have been a life long Tory voter, never, ever again. Wasted 5 years.

[C8RKH]

1 hour ago, DDubya said:

I was never a supporter of PR, but now, more than ever we need it.

You really don't. Honestly.

We have a version of PR in Scotland, and have had it since devolution.

It's what has kept the SNP in power, for over 14 years, DESPITE them only once in that period tactually having a small minority.

This has given huge power in the past few years to the "Greens", who despite only having say 2% of the votes, have had a massive impact on policy as they were essentially the "King Makers" to give the SNP the majority it needed.

As a result, our educational attainment, law and order, local authority services, health services, etc have all dramatically fallen  well below their previous high standards.

Rather than focusing on what matters, what people really cared about, the Greens have been able to exploit their position under PR to:

1. Introduce disastrous gender assignment legislation

2. Waste over £200m on a deposit return scheme that was unworkable

3. Drive policies to potentially make home owners who use log burners criminals with a criminal record (many of us in the wilds of Scotland do  not have mains gas so log burners are not a "cosy cottage" luxury but an essential additional source of heat

The list goes on, and on.

PR sounds great, but believe me, in Westminster it would lead to successive "hung parliaments" which then opens the door to narrow minded, niche, parties to hold power and sway.

 

I do believe that what we need is a reset of our politics.

Labour come out gushing with an awful lot of bullshit about how they are the party for the working person - utter crap to be honest. What are their real policies that are going to help the working person? Labour have done more to "assist" the Financial Institutions and shysters than the Tories in the past 30 years. It was New Labour who took the shackles off the Financial Services industry. Blair and Brown where well warned that what they were doing was going to cataclysmic. But they didn't care as they were told the issues would take 20 years to surface. And they did. The Tories have grappled with this legacy and been found wanting with their responses and policies. The shit we are in now has as much to do with the legacy from Brown and New Labour, as it does Tory incompetence.

Conservatives talk about law and order, fiscal responsibility etc. Absolute total crap when it comes down to actually doing anything about it. They've spent 10 years fighting themselves. A divided, bitter party, that is all about self interest and self promotion. Shockingly poor standards of governance and accountability and transparency (though the SNP  appear to make them look like right amateurs in those areas, so they can't even be the best at being the worst!)

Career politicians is a major issue. Young, clueless individuals who are barely needing to shave, or can't even sow a button on, have been given positions way above their life experiences, intellect and capabilities. Standards have dropped to an appalling level, and grace and favour is the order of the day.

Wipe them all out, and start again. Is the only sensible thing I can suggest, but that then presents its own problems too.

Where are the statespeople? People with gravitas. Conviction. Personal integrity and values? People with humility, over hubris? That is what is lacking. A real desire and love of public service, of public good, over one's own bed feathering, enrichment and desire for "celebrity"?

I wouldn't trust Starmer and Raynor to run a bath, without either trying to boil you alive, or drown you, in it.

Rishi - a boy, over educated, privileged and totally out of touch and alien to the "common person" and their plight, dreams, and needs. This is the man who asked the Welsh if they were looking forward to the Euro's FFS and was then clearly bollocksed by the reaction they gave him. Totally and utterly clueless and out of touch.

Ed Davey - a clown. End of. Horizon happened on his watch, shame he couldn't use it to tell the time, let alone navigate through a complex issue. Total oxygen thief.

Who does that leave? Yup, no wonder we're in such a mess. The lunatics have been given the keys, and the doctors and wardens have all pissed off on a bender for the weekend.

[tim_marra]

^^ Amen to all of that brother 

[pete]

The do gooders have ruined everything.😁

[Barrykearley]

I’ve voted Tory my entire life. I grew up in a top floor council flat under the Maggie years. I have no desire to return to that sort of life and under her leadership there was a very clear route out. My life is incredible now and it’s the grounding that I have that makes me feel blessed.

What choice do I have though? A Tory party that has promised to deliver all sorts and failed on almost everything. I’m not really arsed about GDP growth, inflation, interest rates etc. there’s a very real difference between macro and micro economics and frankly what’s outside of my life I cannot control. Whatever is happening in the economy I will survive and I will always find a way.

labour ? The party for the working classes - well they really just do not appear like that to me. They are a party that accepts lazy underachieving. They brought in child tax credits etc and that led to the biggest encouragement by the state for millions to work the system and do less to get more. They defend random minority groups to the detriment of the majority - and I do believe in utter equality however no one persons rights should overrule another’s.  I joined the Labour Party simply to vote for Jeremy Corbyn on the occasions that he needed support. I did not like him or many of his visions - but I did like the fact he was a political disrupter and would have led to some sort of change - it didn’t matter if it was good or bad - change really can lead to new things.

We listen week in week out to this utter shower of bastards in the chamber insulting each other and squabbling about who knows what. They reside over achieving bugger all while our country is slowly sinking into a shadow of what it could be with cooperative politics. They are too busy ripping each other to shreds to care about our country - and that’s the issue. I won’t even think about the complete mess that is uncontrolled immigration since the EU free movement experiment.

I have no idea what my choice will be - but for the first time in my life it will not be blue. 

 

[Barrykearley]

Actually - I will correct myself - the politicians have worked together amazingly in recent years on one thing and that was the attempts to frustrate the will of the people over Brexit.

kinda sums it all up.

[C8RKH]

Mine will be blue @Barrykearley solely because of where I live. The SNP have a slim majority, Labour are nowhere, so Tory it needs to be to get an SNP member out of Westminster.

Sometimes, it's not about voting fow who you want, but about voting to get rid of who you don't.

I'm absolutely dreading Labour winning. I believe Starmer is weak. He's a puppet who may well be gone after 12 months, potentially leaving us with Raynor 😱

The Tories deserve to go. Ironically, based on performance, Cameron seems to be an excellent Foreign Secretary, plenty of good things being said from the international community.

I look at the current government, the key faces, and just want to cry. I look at the opposition and the shadow cabinet and feel nothing but despair.

I really do fear for the future of the UK with this current bunch of idiots, that by and large, we have as MPs today.

How did we get to a position where the talent pool is so bad?

I mean, even the Leaders, Sunak, Starmer and Davey, are about as credible as Muppets, then again, I suppose they also share the similarities of having cotton stuffing for brains, and, someone's hand up their arse controlling every movement.

I do like your point about cooperative politics. I agree with Barry. Leave the fight for the election. But once the election is done, work together to deliver the agenda the majority voted for, and the priorities people chose.

We've had 14 years of SNP "Progressive" Government. Ha! Regressive Government more like as we're heading back to the dark ages up here.

Be good to hear from everyone else to get a broad collective of views etc. We might not always agree, but should respect our different views.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Looks like The Daily Mail might be getting ready to jump ship, so that would be the final nail in the Conservative coffin. Despite the Boris rant at the top, I can’t remember a Labour promoting front page on the DM before.

[pete]

The article is in tomorrow Sunday Mail. It's just the mail do what it does so well,presenting both sides of the argument 😜

[ChrisJ]

Conservatives are supposed to be small state, low interference, free enterprise, free market, free trade, low tax. But this current shower have been exactly the opposite - for that reason alone they need to be removed.

[TdM]

They just love sounds bites these days, it's become a group of marketing departments. 

A lot of the time decisions are made to try to placate the loudest shouter at the time and then everyone rolls out their current marketing slogan to 'debate' it.

I do think that they need to be more honest more often. If the opposition actually thinks something is a good idea, say so. Not only when it's a super sensitive issue where opposing would be suicide but more of the time on normal issues. 

Stop spending time trying to dig up dirt to sling at the other side, it wastes everyone's time. Do try to have constructive discussions to come to a sensible outcome with all available expertise. 

Fine with rowdy debates in the house when it warrants it and have checks and balances with parties having different views, but stop just arguing for the visuals.