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Post by jib on May 24, 2024 18:59:06 GMT
Oh, I do like political cartoons! (Courtesy of the Telegraph)  And, for balance, (courtesy of the Guardian)  |
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Post by bardin1 on May 24, 2024 19:17:09 GMT
Apparently there are around 200 vacancies for Tory candidates if anybody fancies giving it a crack. Tempted in a subversive mood - I'm sure I still have some Kingston ID - do they have a candidate there? I would be campaigning on the pier for the Richmond - Hampton Court boats with a sign saying "Stop the Boats" and at Chessington World adventures at one of the bouncy castle things with a sign saying "getting inflation down" ps I hope you are making a good recovery - sounded an awful experience. Odd to think I was in the same ICT unit in 2018 as Boris was in 2020. They treated me very well but I would be happy never to see one again. |
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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 May 24, 2024 19:22:12 GMT
Apparently there are around 200 vacancies for Tory candidates if anybody fancies giving it a crack. |
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Post by Rafwan on May 24, 2024 19:36:13 GMT
yeah what it required was ineffectual tub thumping, meaningless non-threats and wrapping yourself in a flag. As suggested elsewhere - the UK response stopped Putin in his tracks and headed off invasion of Ukraine. I don't recall Theresa May thumping any tubs; she seemed pretty shocked. Ian Blackford for the SNP later called it an "act of state terrorism" and demanded stronger action against Russia. The Scottish Nationalists are rarely accused of wrapping themselves in the Union flag. It wasn't difficult to get the right tone, but Corbyn couldn't manage it. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-45432713According the Sky report you referenced, he described the Salisbury attack as an "appalling act of violence", and urged the Government to ensure its response was "decisive, proportionate and based on clear evidence". What is inadequate with the tone there? |
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Post by jayblanc on May 24, 2024 19:39:09 GMT
From the vast amount of Conservative incumbents not contesting the election, and the apparent organisational problems the party is suffering, I start to wonder if there'll be a seat somewhere that the Conservatives will lose because they fail to nominate someone properly. (For instance, accidentally nominating someone with an outstanding Bankruptcy)
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Post by leftieliberal on May 24, 2024 19:52:46 GMT
I can see the problems for the LDs and Greens in E&W being denied the oxygen of publicity, but I'm not sure that it applies to Plaid or the SNP, where it would seem impossible to exclude them from the Welsh/Scottish TV debates, which probably matter more. That's even more true in NI, where the spoutings of the English leaders are largely irrelevant to anything. Is anyone going to watch a debate between John Swinney, Douglas Ross and Anas Sarwar? Starmer made it very clear he only wanted two debates, both with Sunak. |
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Post by mark61 on May 24, 2024 20:00:30 GMT
Oh yeah, Birmingham City… OK Mark, unlike your football team, you win  Mind, I've had two of the worst footballing experiences of my life at St Andrews - I've triggered myself - where's the strong cider?  St Andrews was our home ground for a while. We don’t own our own ground you know (I think we finished above Birmingham City while using their ground tho’) We took you in when you were homeless, you were made welcome. |
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Post by leftieliberal on May 24, 2024 20:03:34 GMT
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oldnat
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Post by oldnat on May 24, 2024 20:07:02 GMT
I can see the problems for the LDs and Greens in E&W being denied the oxygen of publicity, but I'm not sure that it applies to Plaid or the SNP, where it would seem impossible to exclude them from the Welsh/Scottish TV debates, which probably matter more. That's even more true in NI, where the spoutings of the English leaders are largely irrelevant to anything. Is anyone going to watch a debate between John Swinney, Douglas Ross and Anas Sarwar? Starmer made it very clear he only wanted two debates, both with Sunak. |
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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 May 24, 2024 20:10:13 GMT
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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 May 24, 2024 20:11:59 GMT
Oh yeah, Birmingham City… St Andrews was our home ground for a while. We don’t own our own ground you know (I think we finished above Birmingham City while using their ground tho’) We took you in when you were homeless, you were made welcome. indeed, I just wanted batters to read summat good about your team, see the other side… |
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oldnat
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Post by oldnat on May 24, 2024 20:12:42 GMT
Leadsom seems to be following some, rather than leading them - as she disappears as well.
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Post by athena on May 24, 2024 20:18:01 GMT
Apparently there are around 200 vacancies for Tory candidates if anybody fancies giving it a crack. Tempted in a subversive mood - I'm sure I still have some Kingston ID - do they have a candidate there? I would be campaigning on the pier for the Richmond - Hampton Court boats with a sign saying "Stop the Boats" and at Chessington World adventures at one of the bouncy castle things with a sign saying "getting inflation down. How are they doing for candidates in Scotland? I quite fancy an all-expenses paid holiday in the Highlands. I'm happy to do some door-to-door canvassing but I may plan scenic routes between dwellings in the most rural part of the constituency.
I've tried to devise a Green Conservative programme to appeal to the voters, but I keep veering into radical decentralisation of power and land reform, then it rapidly ceases to look remotely rightwing so I will be focusing on sex-based rights for women (sorry, the war on woke-ist genderism). |
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Post by graham on May 24, 2024 20:23:22 GMT
Personally I would be happy to see no Debates at all- and a reversion to pre- 2010 practice. No real precedents really exist given the differing formats these events have had at elections held in 2015 , 2017 and 2019.I do wonder whether the LDs and Greens will mount legal challenges to prevent any Debates being restricted to Sunak and Starmer. The LDs have a far weaker case for being included than was the case back in 2010 and 2015. That said, I do recall suggestions at the time of the 1966 election that there be a Debate between Wilson, Heath and Grimond - albeit nothing materialised. The BBC might find it more difficult to exckude the smaller parties than ITV and other Broadcasters.
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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 May 24, 2024 20:33:34 GMT
Personally I would be happy to see no Debates at all- and a reversion to pre- 2010 practice. No real precedents really exist given the differing formats these events have had at elections held in 2015 , 2017 and 2019.I do wonder whether the LDs and Greens will mount legal challenges to prevent any Debates being restricted to Sunak and Starmer. The LDs have a far weaker case for being included than was the case back in 2010 and 2015. That said, I do recall suggestions at the time of the 1966 election that there be a Debate between Wilson, Heath and Grimond - albeit nothing materialised. The BBC might find it more difficult to exckude the smaller parties than ITV and other Broadcasters.
ITV's writ runs in England and part of southern Scotland. In the rest of Scotland it is STV, and in NI - UTV. They make their own decisions, although they are also contracted to carry a lot of ITV's programming. |
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Post by crossbat11 on May 24, 2024 20:52:27 GMT
I wonder if some of these more recent Tory MP resignations, like Leadson and Gove, are more flounces in protest at Sunak's decision to go for an early election rather than considered personal decisions to retire from public life?
It's becoming increasingly evident that the shambolic early campaigning by Sunak is part of a pattern emerging and that Sunak may well have made a spur of the moment decision on the election date and did so with next to no consultation with his party.
Gove, Redwood and Leadson going with a mix of pique and exasperation.
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Post by graham on May 24, 2024 20:55:47 GMT
Gove apparently has told Sunak that he made the right decision - and that he will win!
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Post by crossbat11 on May 24, 2024 21:02:55 GMT
Gove apparently has told Sunak that he made the right decision - and that he will win! Well, he would say that, wouldn't he? He was always a master of unctuous insincerity, after all. |
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Post by mercian on May 24, 2024 21:11:34 GMT
I've wondered how much of what these interviewers say is semi-scripted - i.e. though they have to respond according to the answers they get, they will have a list of questions and attack lines pre-prepared. So perhaps differences are because of different scriptwriters? I wouldn't be at all surprised if the BBC had multiple teams of those guys. I remember from one (and probably all) recent US presidential elections the BBC actually had 5 different teams out there - BBC1, BBC2, Radio 4, Radio5 and another, maybe World Service? Anyway, a huge waste of money. They could have had one journalist and a cameraman and sound recordist and relayed the material to all the relevant stations. Typical waste of licence-payers money. It should be commercialised post-haste but of course Labour won't do that any more than the Tories did. You portray that as obvious redundant duplication. However, the US is a big place and I can imagine 5 teams of interviewers pretty small to cover events happening all over the nation? If they sent 5 teams each from different stations, that might just be where they found the staff to cover a big event. Yes, but though the USA is obviously very important to us, do they make anywhere near the same effort for France or Germany or India or anywhere else for that matter? Perhaps they do and I just haven't noticed. |
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on May 24, 2024 21:22:24 GMT
I don't recall Theresa May thumping any tubs; she seemed pretty shocked. Ian Blackford for the SNP later called it an "act of state terrorism" and demanded stronger action against Russia. The Scottish Nationalists are rarely accused of wrapping themselves in the Union flag. It wasn't difficult to get the right tone, but Corbyn couldn't manage it. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-45432713According the Sky report you referenced, he described the Salisbury attack as an "appalling act of violence", and urged the Government to ensure its response was "decisive, proportionate and based on clear evidence". What is inadequate with the tone there? "the Labour leader drew ire for failing to explicitly back the Prime Minister's assertion of Russian responsibility for the attack. Repeating Moscow's demands, he also asked whether Mrs May had accepted the Russian government's request for them to be handed a sample of the nerve agent, in order for them to run their own tests." "A number of high-profile Labour backbenchers then voiced their own disapproval with their party leader's comments. "Can I assure the Prime Minister that most of us on these benches fully support the action she is taking," said former Labour cabinet minister Ben Bradshaw. Labour's Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, was cheered by MPs on all sides of the chamber when she said Russia's actions should be met with "unequivocal condemnation". The PM, in her response, thanked Ms Cooper for the tone of her comments and acknowledged they were "representative of many" on the Labour benches." |
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domjg
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Post by domjg on May 24, 2024 21:31:20 GMT
Gove apparently has told Sunak that he made the right decision - and that he will win! Well, he would say that, wouldn't he? He was always a master of unctuous insincerity, after all. 'Unctuous'. What a great word. |
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Post by mercian on May 24, 2024 21:36:00 GMT
My immediate thought was he was a financier, so retiring to spend more time making money. However, he is 73 so legitimately time to retire and has had a long career as an MP. However he has managed to combine that with a second career in asset management. Wiki noted Sky in 2023 determined he had earned £600,000 in about 3 years from his work outside parliament, making him the 5th highest earning MP. He's probably knackered. I am, and I'm 73 as well. I've just given up all my responsibilities at the chess club. Not quite the same thing but there comes a time when you just want to let go and wait for the sweet embrace of death. 😁 |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2024 21:37:11 GMT
I wish we could do without the next, really unnecessary, six weeks and go straight to penalties. ⚽️
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Post by alec on May 24, 2024 21:41:55 GMT
Significant polling in Germany, with the AfD down in this latest poll - x.com/Wahlen_DE/status/1793958220618145912This is noteworthy as it shows crossover with the SPD now taking second place, and continues the trend that has seen the AfD fall from 22% in January to 14 - 16% now. |
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Post by RAF on May 24, 2024 21:43:08 GMT
My immediate thought was he was a financier, so retiring to spend more time making money. However, he is 73 so legitimately time to retire and has had a long career as an MP. However he has managed to combine that with a second career in asset management. Wiki noted Sky in 2023 determined he had earned £600,000 in about 3 years from his work outside parliament, making him the 5th highest earning MP. He's probably knackered. I am, and I'm 73 as well. I've just given up all my responsibilities at the chess club. Not quite the same thing but there comes a time when you just want to let go and wait for the sweet embrace of death. 😁 Perhaps seeing a 17 year old make it to the World Championship may have also affected that decision! |
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Post by mercian on May 24, 2024 21:49:11 GMT
In the Paula Vennelles evidence today, an email where she told her boss (ie that would be at HM government?) that today she had 'earned her keep' in keeping mention of the Horizon system out of the propospectus being developed for privatisation of Royal Mail on behalf of the coalition government. So...on behalf of the conservative administration more than ten years ago, she was activwely suppressing talk of Horizon because she knew there was a problem with it. And hard to see how her boss could not also have known. Which means, the government. Possibly a civil servant, but the coverup has now formally stretched to above her level. And formally more than a decade ago. The general inference would seem to be Conservatives wanted to privatise the PO, and so any bad publicity had to be suppressed. It seems deeply unlikely Vennelles did anything her bosses did not want done. after leaving the PO someone found her another job as a company directer, and nearly got her a bishopric. So who has influence picking church of England Bishops? I read somewhere (on here?) that Blair was told about the problems when he was PM. If so the problem isn't solely that of the Conservatives or the Coalition. Though they can of course be blamed for dragging their feet. I hope someone goes to prison over this, but very much doubt if they will. One bit I caught was where one of the KCs seemed to nail her on lying to a H0C committee which I understand is taken very seriously. |
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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 May 24, 2024 21:49:21 GMT
Gove apparently has told Sunak that he made the right decision - and that he will win! Gove was also quite encouraging of BJ’s leadership ambitions, until suddenly he wasn’t! |
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steve
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Post by steve on May 24, 2024 21:52:38 GMT
"Gove apparently has told Sunak that he made the right decision - and that he will win!"
Before or are after his nose candy arrived?
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c-a-r-f-r-e-w
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A step on the way toward the demise of the liberal elite? Or just a blip…
Posts: 6,700
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on May 24, 2024 21:54:08 GMT
I can see the problems for the LDs and Greens in E&W being denied the oxygen of publicity, but I'm not sure that it applies to Plaid or the SNP, where it would seem impossible to exclude them from the Welsh/Scottish TV debates, which probably matter more. That's even more true in NI, where the spoutings of the English leaders are largely irrelevant to anything. Is anyone going to watch a debate between John Swinney, Douglas Ross and Anas Sarwar? Maybe, if it’s accompanied by a pack of hobnobs… |
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pjw1961
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Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
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Post by pjw1961 on May 24, 2024 21:58:59 GMT
"Gove apparently has told Sunak that he made the right decision - and that he will win!" Before or are after his nose candy arrived? Given Gove also said of himself that he had always “tried to be a voice for those who have been overlooked and undervalued” it was clearly after. |
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