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Post by bedknobsandboomstick on Mar 24, 2023 18:42:38 GMT
Me too. Third time at this time if year. Would Alec like to fill us in on likely variant type? |
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Post by pete on Mar 24, 2023 18:44:05 GMT
what is the end game for the Tories and trans?
Are they going to ban them?
Put them in prison?
Certainly looks as if trans people will have he least rights in the country.
Perhaps as they walk past we can throw stuff at them?
Just want to know the trans end game?
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oldnat
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Extremist - Undermining the UK state and its institutions
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Post by oldnat on Mar 24, 2023 18:58:23 GMT
what is the end game for the Tories and trans? Are they going to ban them? Put them in prison? Certainly looks as if trans people will have he least rights in the country. Perhaps as they walk past we can throw stuff at them? Just want to know the trans end game? |
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domjg
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Post by domjg on Mar 24, 2023 18:58:47 GMT
More to the point what does that say about the English electorate (large part thereof). I realise that when asked by you , that is a rhetorical question with a bitter frustrated and offensive answer. But -even when asked by you-in the event of a Tory win , it would be the key question. Here's a few suggested answers:- * It would say that they recognise a difference between Sunak and his two predecessors. * It would say that they accept that Starmer isn't Corbyn, isn't Johnson & isn't Truss..but still don't know what he IS. * It would say that jaundiced regret about Brexit is not a bar to voting for a man who is fixing its problems and getting on with EU leaders * * It would say that in the post populist politics of UK, Sunak has demonstrated he can quietly fix things , whilst Starmer can only claim that he can. * It would say a weird thing which should worry Labour-that The Conservative Party's past misdeeds are forgivable , but the Labour Party's are not.-ie a charge that Sunak is merely fixing problems he helped create has little traction. Actually-since I find that last proposal unlikely-I don't think you should be printing those "England's White Working Class are Idiots " posters just yet . But I do think that its already clear that , for some , the massive open goal which Starmer stood in front of when Johnson was goalie is already becoming a distant memory. And relying on complaining that Sunak has paid more tax than him, but not enough tax ,may not be enough to get Starmer into No 10. *-it may occur to them today, for example, that a high level Anglo French meeting was postponed because of nation wide political unrest & street protests in France -and not UK It would show that they're basically masochists or have very short memories, responding to proven incompetents, liars and endless failures in delivery rather than dull competence. Feeling more at home with those who would say any old nasty thing (and nevermind the consequences) if they thought it would put a light under the arses of some of their 'base'. A party that trades only on fear and bitterness not optimism, in stark contrast to it's earlier incarnations. I don't think I need a 'stupid white working class' poster do I? You guys aren't all working class are you? Looking forward to the local elections. Even if one were firmly right of centre only the most self deluding would expect anything positive or substantive from this shower surely? |
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Post by alec on Mar 24, 2023 19:02:15 GMT
@bedknobsandbroomsticks - likely to be one of the XBB variants I would think. These are all recombinants, and although officially the WHO is still retaining the Omicron name for this, this really isn't credible and they've been heavily criticized for this decision. These variants are genetically further from Omicron than Omicron was from Alpha, Delta etc, but governments, and now the WHO, don't want to issue a new name because that would break the thin veneer of reassurance they are trying to create around the 'Omicron is mild' fallacy. There were 27 new recombinant variants dropped onto the GISAID database in the course of a few hours yesterday, such is the massive rate of mutation now with covid. Take care, and redouble your efforts against infection. The period of immunity you get from a natural infection appears to be getting shorter. XBB1.9 is also starting to appear in the UK, which is worrying some variant watchers, although we never really know how a variant is going to play out.
Edit: @bedknobsandbroomstick - for what it's worth, it's probably XBB1.5 - see here
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Post by peterbell on Mar 24, 2023 19:03:32 GMT
alec wrote:- "Meanwhile, in Bakhmut, some chatter that the Russian offensive has run out of steam and that the Wagner group are looking to refocus on their horror campaigns in Africa. If true, it would something of a humiliation for them. Bakhmut has been spoken of as being on the verge of capture since November. It is starting to appear that the Ukrainian strategy of holding the strategically unimportant town in order to create a killing ground for some of Russia's best units was an inspired bit of strategic genius. But we can't quite confirm that conclusion just yet." It appears that this is more than chatter. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have gone into print with "Prigozhin denied the Kremlin's claims that Russia is at war with NATO in Ukraine, and also questioned the existence of "Nazis" in Ukraine, which the Russian authorities constantly talk about." In addition, on War Monitor 3 Twitter feed, you can see video of Prigozhin actually expressing these thoughts together with video of him anticipating Ukranian forward movement along the whole of the eastern front as shown on the map in front of him. The big question is, to what extent this is likely to happen. Is Prigozhin making these comments in order to force the Kremlin to give him more backing or has he decided that the relationship with Putin is completely fractured and he wants out of a losing situation for him personally and for the Russian state.
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Post by alec on Mar 24, 2023 19:05:23 GMT
oldnat - "Probably starting gently, with bomb attacks on the TransPennine Express." Perhaps I better explain, for those in the south? The TransPennine Express is a railway service across the north of England, popular with people from Lancashire who like to dress as Yorkists, and vice versa. It gets quite spicey at weekends, I've been told. Anyone from south of Birmingham best keep away.
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c-a-r-f-r-e-w
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Mar 24, 2023 19:10:47 GMT
“Sir Patrick Vallance has taken a swipe at Boris Johnson’s argument that Downing Street leaving events were essential, saying that everyone should have followed government advice.
The outgoing chief scientific adviser also expressed frustration at Johnson’s insistence that he was “following the science”, during the pandemic, adding that the slogan could not “possibly be right”.
In an interview before he stands down next week, Vallance expressed frustration at “dogmatic” scientists who insisted they had been right about Covid, suggested it was time to have a scientist as cabinet secretary, warned that time was running out to hit net zero and cast doubt on the government’s goals for post-Brexit regulation of new technologies.”
Times
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on Mar 24, 2023 19:11:27 GMT
It is a standard agreed way of doing the percentages in multi-member wards - just take the top one for each party. People have more than one vote but not everyone uses them all, so can't really add all the candidates together. I am really surprised by your defending this way of analysing results, as. It flies in the face of common sense. While 'not everyone' uses all of their three votes, surely the reality must be that the majority do. In particular, I would expect that most of those minded to vote Conservative would have voted for their three candidates rather than just one or two. Also with only 2 Lab candidates and one each for the LD and Greens, it is obvious to me that all of Lab, Green and LD would have benefitted from picking up votes where they were second choices. So the apparent 'collapse' in the LD and Green vote shares in this by-election is obviously an artefact of the voting system, and number of candidates who stood 2 years ago rather than reflecting any change in voters intentions. And the Tory vote is really down by 13 points (not the 11 I quoted earlier, and certainly not up 5 points). Incidentally, the turnout for the local election in 2021 was somewhere between 23% (if all those who voted used all three votes) and 69% (if voters each cast just one vote). Which do you think is the more likely? It is not so much that I am defending it as stating a fact. All the professional psephologists who do this sort of thing for a living use the method of taking the leading candidate of each party and calculating the percentages based on that, which means that's how the percentage changes in results are then given in public forums. Councils often duck the issue by just publishing the votes and skipping percentages. It seemed odd to me when I first encountered it and I had a different method I used of adding the votes of each party together and dividing by the number of candidates to get a mean vote for each party and then using those to calculate the overall percentages by party. However, that gave me different results to the generally published ones, so I gave it up. Anyway, it is not perfect as you will often find that one candidate is vastly more popular than the others on that ticket (due to a personal vote for example) and the mean party vote becomes misleading. In the absence of a detailed breakdown of the voting or a universal move to single member wards there is no perfect solution to this. |
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Post by James E on Mar 24, 2023 19:12:29 GMT
oldnat - "Probably starting gently, with bomb attacks on the TransPennine Express." Perhaps I better explain, for those in the south? The TransPennine Express is a railway service across the north of England, popular with people from Lancashire who like to dress as Yorkists, and vice versa. It gets quite spicey at weekends, I've been told. Anyone from south of Birmingham best keep away. Northern Ireland's intergrated transport system is another likely target. Not sure what the DUP policy on this is: www.translink.co.uk/ |
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Post by JohnC on Mar 24, 2023 19:19:56 GMT
Best wishes pete - take care. Lots of rest. Boots Dual Defence nasal spray and regular use of mouthwashes with chlorhexidine digluconate (Corsodyl 0.2% is one) have been found to clear the virus quicker and ease symptoms and infectivity if used quickly after infection and on a regular (several times a day) basis. There is some indication that more rapid clearance of the virus reduces risks of more severe bouts and long covid, but I'm not sure how robust that evidence is at this stage. But plenty of rest, even once you feel better. It won't make you feel better, but possibly less lonely, but around 1 in 40 are infected according to the latest and last ONS infection survey. Crazy that a world beating monitoring system is being disbanded. Corsodyl is the popular brand but it is expensive (£5+ now). As Panadol v Paracetamol, there are brands which have the same active ingredient which are much cheaper. I bought one of the cheaper brands for less than £2 a couple of weeks ago. |
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on Mar 24, 2023 19:21:07 GMT
what is the end game for the Tories and trans? Are they going to ban them? Put them in prison? Certainly looks as if trans people will have he least rights in the country. Perhaps as they walk past we can throw stuff at them? Just want to know the trans end game? Like immigrants, trans people are just a useful way of distracting from the mess the Tories have made of the economy and scaring people into voting Conservative. Once their usefulness as scapegoats has passed the Tories will lose interest in them. It is all incredibly cynical. One wonders what is wrong with Jamie Wallis that he feels it is ok to be a Conservative MP. |
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Post by alec on Mar 24, 2023 19:22:26 GMT
@james E - shit! It gets worse. All our gas is delivered by Transco.
This could cripple the economy.
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domjg
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Post by domjg on Mar 24, 2023 19:24:04 GMT
Starmer does appear to bend with the wind even more than most politicians. Perhaps he noticed the polling on 'trans' issues before breaking another pledge / promise / whatever he's calling his views this week. ... It is useful to be 'pragmatic' but if he intends to be PM then he can't just keep changing his mind on stuff from week to weak depending on polling. Is he for trans rights or against? Answer seems to depend on whether he is speaking in Stoke-on-Trent to 'Red Wall' voters or speaking in Woke-on-Thames to 'hipster marxists'. Will the real Keir Starmer ever stand up? My impression is that he doesn't really have any strong beliefs. Having decided to go into politics he chose Labour because it's where all his cool mates were. He's vaguely lefty but only because it's not cool to be a Tory. At least Corbyn believed in something. Even if he isn't a socialist (and I think he is) he at least believes in probity, in public service, in the rule of law. That alone puts a huge gulf between him and post brexit tories. |
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c-a-r-f-r-e-w
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Mar 24, 2023 19:25:06 GMT
“As part of Jeremy Hunt’s drive for growth, Vallance has been reviewing regulation of new technologies for the chancellor. Hunt and Rishi Sunak have repeatedly cited Britain’s ability to be nimble in regulating emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and gene editing as one of the key benefits of Brexit.
Vallance said, however, that although there was a need to be “flexible” in the early stages of a new field, “as technology becomes mature, and it becomes more established companies actually want consistent regulation across different countries. They don’t want lots of different regulation.”
He said he had made it “very clear” to ministers that “convergence becomes important as technologies mature”.
Vallance has been pushing for more scientists to join the civil service and said: “I hope that we will see a cabinet secretary that comes from a science background.” But he said that ministers were yet to grasp the need to make decisions now to achieve carbon neutrality by the middle of the century, warning: “Dreaming that new technology is going to come along now and save us for 2050 is wrong.””
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domjg
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Post by domjg on Mar 24, 2023 19:25:29 GMT
what is the end game for the Tories and trans? Are they going to ban them? Put them in prison? Certainly looks as if trans people will have he least rights in the country. Perhaps as they walk past we can throw stuff at them? Just want to know the trans end game? Like immigrants, trans people are just a useful way of distracting from the mess the Tories have made of the economy and scaring people into voting Conservative. Once their usefulness as scapegoats has passed the Tories will lose interest in them. It is all incredibly cynical. One wonders what is wrong with Jamie Wallis MP that he feels it is ok to be a Conservative MP. They'll make anyone suffer to try to prop themselves up. I really detest them. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2023 19:35:01 GMT
colin Before you get too excited I'm not. |
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Mar 24, 2023 19:35:15 GMT
In the unlikely event that that were to happen I wonder what the effect would be on Labour morale after having such high expectations? Would they have another massive reset and rebuild from scratch again? Not my party but they tried shifting to the economic 'Left' (Miliband then even further with Corbyn) and that didn't work so if, in the unlikely event, they fail by shifting to the economic 'Right' (and a bit less liberal left?) then they'll certainly be some head scratching. Well, it’s fairer to say they moved leftwards, but they weren’t very much on the left, indeed it’s not been possible to offer that much of a left wing prospectus for many years, partly through being in the EU, but even outside the the EU, the WTO tends to have issues with standard left wing mechanisms like capital controls and state subsidies. Which is why the United States kind of ignoring the WTO and going bigger on state subsidies, and the EU looking as though they might mirror the US rather than sue them, is potentially of some significance. It is countering the way that the right forced right wing economics on countries via trade arrangements. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2023 19:37:45 GMT
It would show that they're basically masochists or have very short memories, responding to proven incompetents, liars and endless failures in delivery rather than dull competence. Feeling more at home with those who would say any old nasty thing (and nevermind the consequences) if they thought it would put a light under the arses of some of their 'base'. A party that trades only on fear and bitterness not optimism, in stark contrast to it's earlier incarnations. Ata a boy!. I love it when you talk dirty  |
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on Mar 24, 2023 19:42:01 GMT
My impression is that he doesn't really have any strong beliefs. Having decided to go into politics he chose Labour because it's where all his cool mates were. He's vaguely lefty but only because it's not cool to be a Tory. At least Corbyn believed in something. Even if he isn't a socialist (and I think he is) he at least believes in probity, in public service, in the rule of law. That alone puts a huge gulf between him and post brexit tories. Mercian is wrong about Starmer being Labour because of 'cool mates' - both his parents were Labour Party members and he was named after Keir Hardie. His mother and father were a nurse and a toolmaker respectively. In his youth Starmer was certainly a socialist, although like many he has tacked rightwards as he has aged. This from his Wikipedia page: "Starmer wrote articles for the magazines Socialist Alternatives and Socialist Lawyer as a young man in the 1980s and 1990s. In July 1986, Starmer wrote in the first issue of Socialist Alternatives that trade unions should have had control over the "industry and community". He wrote in Socialist Lawyer that "Karl Marx was, of course, right" in saying it was pointless to believe a change of society could only be achieved by arguing about fundamental rights. Gavin Millar, a former legal colleague of Starmer, has described his politics as "red-green", a characterisation Starmer has agreed with." In contrast Tony Blair came from a Tory family and had a rather upper-middle class upbringing. I have always suspected that his choice of Labour owed much to the influence of his much more left-wing wife. |
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Post by James E on Mar 24, 2023 19:53:58 GMT
I am really surprised by your defending this way of analysing results, as. It flies in the face of common sense. While 'not everyone' uses all of their three votes, surely the reality must be that the majority do. In particular, I would expect that most of those minded to vote Conservative would have voted for their three candidates rather than just one or two. Also with only 2 Lab candidates and one each for the LD and Greens, it is obvious to me that all of Lab, Green and LD would have benefitted from picking up votes where they were second choices. So the apparent 'collapse' in the LD and Green vote shares in this by-election is obviously an artefact of the voting system, and number of candidates who stood 2 years ago rather than reflecting any change in voters intentions. And the Tory vote is really down by 13 points (not the 11 I quoted earlier, and certainly not up 5 points). Incidentally, the turnout for the local election in 2021 was somewhere between 23% (if all those who voted used all three votes) and 69% (if voters each cast just one vote). Which do you think is the more likely? It is not so much that I am defending it as stating a fact. All the professional psephologists who do this sort of thing for a living use the method of taking the leading candidate of each party and calculating the percentages based on that, which means that's how the percentage changes in results are then given in public forums. Councils often duck the issue by just publishing the votes and skipping percentages. It seemed odd to me when I first encountered it and I had a different method I used of adding the votes of each party together and dividing by the number of candidates to get a mean vote for each party and then using those to calculate the overall percentages by party. However, that gave me different results to the generally published ones, so I gave it up. Anyway, it is not perfect as you will often find that one candidate is vastly more popular than the others on that ticket (due to a personal vote for example) and the mean party vote becomes misleading. In the absence of a detailed breakdown of the voting or a universal move to single member wards there is no perfect solution to this. Thanks for clarifying this. As far as I can see, the comparative percentages quoted for Rushden South are in fact 'your' method of dividing the total votes by the number of candidates. But to me, this is an absloute nonsense, and calls into question all comparative figures where we have a local by-election compared to a previous multi-member Local Election. To my mind, the only worthwhile comparisons which can be made are be for parties who fielded candidates for all available seats in the previous local election- as the Conservatives did in this case. Their vote share went down by 13% (on average) in the by election. For Labour and the Green Party, the practice of fielding three candidates between them enables both to pick up each others' second and/or third choice votes, and looking at the 2021 result it is obvious that that happened. And they probably picked up a lot of LDs' 2nd and 3rd choice votes, too. There is no way of disentangling the individual parties' "first preference" votes from the three which each voter was entitled to cast. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2023 20:01:59 GMT
... * It would say that they accept that Starmer isn't Corbyn, isn't Johnson & isn't Truss..but still don't know what he IS... Starmer does appear to bend with the wind even more than most politicians. Perhaps he noticed the polling on 'trans' issues before breaking another pledge / promise / whatever he's calling his views this week. It is useful to be 'pragmatic' but if he intends to be PM then he can't just keep changing his mind on stuff from week to weak depending on polling. Is he for trans rights or against? Answer seems to depend on whether he is speaking in Stoke-on-Trent to 'Red Wall' voters or speaking in Woke-on-Thames to 'hipster marxists'. Will the real Keir Starmer ever stand up? Politically its a choice between upsetting Feminists or upsetting the militant Trans Lobby. A no brainer really. Fortunately for all politicians , the sports bodies are having to address the obvious issues of fairness and level playing field in women's elite sport and their conclusions are setting the agenda. |
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c-a-r-f-r-e-w
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Mar 24, 2023 20:11:16 GMT
Sooo… The Times asked ChatGPT to “write a speech that the next prime minister of the UK would make from 10 Downing Street after winning the next general election”, it responded with the following:
“My fellow citizens of the United Kingdom, today I stand before you with a sense of deep gratitude and humility as your newly elected prime minister. I am honoured and privileged to have been chosen to lead our great nation at a time when we face unprecedented challenges and opportunities.
As we look to the future, I am acutely aware of the responsibility that has been entrusted to me. I promise to work tirelessly to serve the interests of our country, and to prioritise the needs and aspirations of all our citizens, regardless of their background or circumstances.
In my first 100 days in office, I will focus on five key priorities that I believe are essential to securing a brighter and more prosperous future for our country.
First and foremost, we must take decisive action to tackle the climate crisis. We owe it to future generations to preserve our planet and its precious resources. As a country, we have a responsibility to lead the way in reducing our carbon footprint, investing in renewable energy, and transitioning to a more sustainable and resilient economy. I will work closely with our international partners to ensure that we remain at the forefront of the fight against climate change, and that we build a greener, more prosperous future for all our citizens.
Second, we must prioritise investing in our public services. Our NHS, schools, and social care systems have been stretched to breaking point in recent years, and we must take immediate action to restore them to their former strength and glory. I will commit significant resources to our public services, ensuring that they have the support and funding they need to deliver the highest quality care and education to all our citizens.
Third, we must focus on rebuilding our economy in a way that benefits all our citizens, not just the few. Our economic system has become increasingly unequal and unsustainable, and we must take bold and innovative steps to create a fairer, more inclusive economy. I will work to invest in new technologies and industries, create new opportunities for growth and innovation, and support small businesses and entrepreneurs across the country.
Fourth, we must prioritise investing in our young people. They are the future of our country, and we owe it to them to provide the best possible education and opportunities for success. I will work to increase funding for schools, colleges, and universities, and to create new apprenticeships and skills-training programmes that enable young people to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the workforce.
Finally, we must focus on building a more cohesive and inclusive society. Our country is diverse and multicultural, and we must celebrate that diversity and work to promote greater understanding and tolerance among all our citizens. I will work to tackle discrimination and inequality, promote cultural exchange and understanding, and support community-based initiatives that bring people together and foster a greater sense of social cohesion.
These are just a few of the priorities that I will focus on in my first 100 days in office. I am committed to working with all our citizens, regardless of their political affiliation, to deliver real and meaningful change for our country.
I recognise that we face significant challenges ahead, but I am confident that, with your support and dedication, we can overcome these challenges and build a better and more prosperous future for all our citizens.
Thank you, and God bless the United Kingdom.”
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domjg
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Post by domjg on Mar 24, 2023 20:24:52 GMT
It would show that they're basically masochists or have very short memories, responding to proven incompetents, liars and endless failures in delivery rather than dull competence. Feeling more at home with those who would say any old nasty thing (and nevermind the consequences) if they thought it would put a light under the arses of some of their 'base'. A party that trades only on fear and bitterness not optimism, in stark contrast to it's earlier incarnations. Ata a boy!. I love it when you talk dirty Weird.. I think most people on here would simply see that as stating the facts or do you think the country and the lives of it's people are now in so much better shape than they were in 2010? After having our rights and economic opportunities ripped from us by Johnson, after having felt genuine fear during the lunacy of Truss what is this milk and honey that Sunak is offering other than offering the retired an outlet for their inchoate rage at societal change? I remember a party election broadcast prior to the 2015 election with Cameron listening to the economic concerns of a young couple in a starter home in one of the Swindon seats. The modern tory party cares not a jot and has nothing to offer these people. |
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Post by hireton on Mar 24, 2023 20:36:22 GMT
This from the Telegraph would be hilarious if Brexit wasn't the most serious mistake of UK statecraft since Munich:
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on Mar 24, 2023 20:38:59 GMT
Thanks for clarifying this. As far as I can see, the comparative percentages quoted for Rushden South are in fact 'your' method of dividing the total votes by the number of candidates. No the changes quoted for the by-election are against the highest candidate method - as follows: Highest candidate prior election: Con 1894, Lab 849, Green 575, Lib Dem 514 - percentages 49.4%, 22.2%, 15.0%, 13.4% This exactly tallies to the quoted changes for the by election: Con 54.6 (+5.2), Lab 28.8 (+6.6), LD 7.1 (-6.3), Green 4.2 (-10.8) If it had been done on my abandoned idea the figures would have been a little different, although not too much so in this case as the candidates were not too far apart. It would have been: Con 1794.7, Lab 781.5, Green 575, LD 514 - percentages 49.0, 21.3, 15.7, 14.0. Therefore the changes to the by-election would have become: Con +5.6, Lab +7.5, LD - 6.9, Green -11.5. |
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on Mar 24, 2023 20:40:56 GMT
Sooo… The Times asked ChatGPT to “write a speech that the next prime minister of the UK would make from 10 Downing Street after winning the next general election”, it responded with the following: In my first 100 days in office, I will focus on five key priorities that I believe are essential to securing a brighter and more prosperous future for our country.
First and foremost, we must take decisive action to tackle the climate crisis. We owe it to future generations to preserve our planet and its precious resources. As a country, we have a responsibility to lead the way in reducing our carbon footprint, investing in renewable energy, and transitioning to a more sustainable and resilient economy. I will work closely with our international partners to ensure that we remain at the forefront of the fight against climate change, and that we build a greener, more prosperous future for all our citizens.
Second, we must prioritise investing in our public services. Our NHS, schools, and social care systems have been stretched to breaking point in recent years, and we must take immediate action to restore them to their former strength and glory. I will commit significant resources to our public services, ensuring that they have the support and funding they need to deliver the highest quality care and education to all our citizens.
Third, we must focus on rebuilding our economy in a way that benefits all our citizens, not just the few. Our economic system has become increasingly unequal and unsustainable, and we must take bold and innovative steps to create a fairer, more inclusive economy. I will work to invest in new technologies and industries, create new opportunities for growth and innovation, and support small businesses and entrepreneurs across the country.
Fourth, we must prioritise investing in our young people. They are the future of our country, and we owe it to them to provide the best possible education and opportunities for success. I will work to increase funding for schools, colleges, and universities, and to create new apprenticeships and skills-training programmes that enable young people to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the workforce.
Finally, we must focus on building a more cohesive and inclusive society. Our country is diverse and multicultural, and we must celebrate that diversity and work to promote greater understanding and tolerance among all our citizens. I will work to tackle discrimination and inequality, promote cultural exchange and understanding, and support community-based initiatives that bring people together and foster a greater sense of social cohesion.
I'd vote for that agenda. Chat GPT for Prime Minister! |
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Post by mercian on Mar 24, 2023 20:42:24 GMT
Even if he isn't a socialist (and I think he is) he at least believes in probity, in public service, in the rule of law. That alone puts a huge gulf between him and post brexit tories. Mercian is wrong about Starmer being Labour because of 'cool mates' - both his parents were Labour Party members and he was named after Keir Hardie. His mother and father were a nurse and a toolmaker respectively. In his youth Starmer was certainly a socialist, although like many he has tacked rightwards as he has aged. This from his Wikipedia page: "Starmer wrote articles for the magazines Socialist Alternatives and Socialist Lawyer as a young man in the 1980s and 1990s. In July 1986, Starmer wrote in the first issue of Socialist Alternatives that trade unions should have had control over the "industry and community". He wrote in Socialist Lawyer that "Karl Marx was, of course, right" in saying it was pointless to believe a change of society could only be achieved by arguing about fundamental rights. Gavin Millar, a former legal colleague of Starmer, has described his politics as "red-green", a characterisation Starmer has agreed with." In contrast Tony Blair came from a Tory family and had a rather upper-middle class upbringing. I have always suspected that his choice of Labour owed much to the influence of his much more left-wing wife. Well I did just say it was my impression. It's how he comes across to me, and presumably at least some other voters. He rarely seems comfortable discussing policy even in vague terms (which I understand because he doesn't want to give Tories ammunition). Anyway the bit I highlighted was because this was discussed on the board some time ago and the consensus seemed to be against the idea. I think it's generally true, even though I myself am now to the left of where I was as a youngster. |
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domjg
Member
Posts: 5,123
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Post by domjg on Mar 24, 2023 20:49:22 GMT
This from the Telegraph would be hilarious if Brexit wasn't the most serious mistake of UK statecraft since Munich: Accelerate a culture of decline i think they mean. |
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Post by mercian on Mar 24, 2023 20:52:19 GMT
c-a-r-f-r-e-wThe speech the Times quoted was certainly the sort of bland meaningless drivel that they usually say.
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