Do you want to discuss boring politics? (52 Viewers)

[MalcSB]

Still the most popular party. How would you feel if a Labour government was beholden to a Green/Lib Dem minority elected by an even smaller % of the electorate.

Or on the flip side, a party you voted for could only form a government with support of a smaller party or two - who you didn’t vote for?

It’s rare for parties to get above 40% in popular vote in general, but particularly so in PR systems. Therefore, coalition governments become the norm rather than majority governments.

Might be better, might be worse. FPTP seems to allow disproportionate majorities and yo-yoing from one philosophy to another rather than perhaps enabling some continuity.

 

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[Mucca Mad Boys]

Might be better, might be worse. FPTP seems to allow disproportionate majorities and yo-yoing from one philosophy to another rather than perhaps enabling some continuity.

Decisive majorities, in my personal opinion, is better. That’s just one school of thought, on the continent, the prevailing belief is that politics by consensus is inherently more desirable.

Like most things in politics, left or right, FPTP or PR, there is no definitive correct answer. Different things work for different countries and their political systems/traditions.

I’ll reiterate the point that, whilst I didn’t vote for a Labour government, it is desirable that they can carry out their ‘mandate’ (however weak or strong) without barrier. In a PR environment, I genuinely believe Brexit would’ve deadlocked the country more and risked a lot more of a toxic political environment and culture. As it happens, the 2019 GE delivered Brexit definitively - even if I personally didn’t agree with it in 2016. In my view, this shows how dynamic our constitutional settlement is.

Of course this is just one school of thought.

 

[fernandopartridge]

Great to see Blair is back and advising Starmer from the sidelines.

Starmer has just announced some new money to spend on weapons, never a "tough decision" to be made in this area

 

[fernandopartridge]

Got to ask WTF have Ofwat been doing during all this (fuck all)

They've got no real powers

 

[fernandopartridge]

Farage makes prick of himself on day 1

It'll be interesting to see how he's treated by the media now he's an actual MP, hopefully held to account more

 

[Deleted member 5849]

It'll be interesting to see how he's treated by the media now he's an actual MP, hopefully held to account more

Doubt it

 

[PVA]

I'm sure he'll get a correctly proportional amount of coverage for a party that has only 4 seats

 

[MalcSB]

I'm sure he'll get a correctly proportional amount of coverage for a party that has only 4 seats

Or one that got more votes than the Lib Dem’s and just under half Labour’s total.

 

[CCFCSteve]

They've got no real powers

Crazy if they don’t have sufficient powers but from what I’ve seen is penalties they’ve issued have been pathetic. This looks a bit late but still been around for over a year

Government supports new Ofwat powers to tackle water company dividends

New powers made possible through the Environment Act will enable Ofwat to clamp down on excessive cash pay-outs and hold water companies to account

www.gov.uk

 

[PVA]

Starmer has just announced some new money to spend on weapons, never a "tough decision" to be made in this area

I haven't seen what that entails or how much money, and I appreciate there are plenty of other pressing concerns, but it's clearly important. Like everything else the Tories have utterly hollowed out the armed forces and left it in a dire state:

 

[Deleted member 5849]

I haven't seen what that entails or how much money, and I appreciate there are plenty of other pressing concerns, but it's clearly important. Like everything else the Tories have utterly hollowed out the armed forces and left it in a dire state:

Tbf we already spend more on our military than our NATO commitment obliges.

 

[Grendel]

I haven't seen what that entails or how much money, and I appreciate there are plenty of other pressing concerns, but it's clearly important. Like everything else the Tories have utterly hollowed out the armed forces and left it in a dire state:

We are one of the few countries who meet NATO defence spending commitments

 

[PVA]

We are one of the few countries who meet NATO defence spending commitments

Yes and like everything else the Tories have obviously totally mismanaged that money and left something to ruin, so now it needs fixing.

 

[Grendel]

Yes and like everything else the Tories have obviously totally mismanaged that money and left something to ruin, so now it needs fixing.

So we need more armed forces personnel? Why? Are we going to war?

 

[PVA]

So we need more armed forces personnel? Why? Are we going to war?

'Shall we bother with pandemic planning? Why? Is there going to be a pandemic?'

 

[CCFCSteve]

Tbf we already spend more on our military than our NATO commitment obliges.

..and more than a lot of our NATO colleagues and have been for a significant period of time. Been saying for ages western European countries need to pull their collective fingers out and quick

The MoD has also unfortunately wasted billions upon billions.

 

[Grendel]

'Shall we bother with pandemic planning? Why? Is there going to be a pandemic?'

So how does our number of armed forces compare to the rest of Europe? Our general standing is rather high isn’t it? I’m amazed you think defence spending is a big issue. Then again as you’ve seen an article on X why am I surprised

Which Are the Top 10 Strongest Armies in the World in 2024?

Explore the world's ten most powerful armies, with respect to their technical brilliance, military force, and strategic impact.

bestdiplomats.org

 

[Deleted member 5849]

..and more than a lot of our NATO colleagues and have been for a significant period of time. Been saying for ages western European countries need to pull their collective fingers out and quick

Yup. Starmer's committed increase is also relatively small, and smacks of something you can stick in the last budget before the election to say you've made it!

 

[PVA]

So how does our number of armed forces compare to the rest of Europe? Our general standing is rather high isn’t it? I’m amazed you think defence spending is a big issue. Then again as you’ve seen an article on X why am I surprised

Which Are the Top 10 Strongest Armies in the World in 2024?

Explore the world's ten most powerful armies, with respect to their technical brilliance, military force, and strategic impact.

bestdiplomats.org

And it's quite amusing you dismiss something from the recently retired Chief of the army yet take Best Diplomats as gospel.

I'm sure they've got a much better grasp of the state of the British armed forces than the bloke who was *checks notes* oh, in charge of the British armed forces.

 

[Grendel]

I never said anything about number of armed forces.

And it's quite amusing you dismiss something from the recently retired Chief of the army yet take Best Diplomats as gospel.

I'm sure they've got a much better grasp of the state of the British armed forces than the bloke who was *checks notes* oh, in charge of the British armed forces.

Well clearly someone in the armed forces will see an opportunity with a new government to increase spending.

Even NW is someone sceptical - sometimes rather than have vibes you have to perhaps think more and dig a bit deeper before posting?

 

[Deleted member 5849]

Even NW is someone sceptical

Don't involve me in your daily tete-a-tete

 

[PVA]

vibes

 

[skybluetony176]

Tbf we already spend more on our military than our NATO commitment obliges.

The last 2 years aside though our spending in real terms has gone down for over a decade and our military has shrunk considerably in terms of personnel.

 

[fernandopartridge]

And it's quite amusing you dismiss something from the recently retired Chief of the army yet take Best Diplomats as gospel.

I'm sure they've got a much better grasp of the state of the British armed forces than the bloke who was *checks notes* oh, in charge of the British armed forces.

Yes somebody who is high up in the army is not at all conflicted in this matter

 

[fernandopartridge]

The last 2 years aside though our spending in real terms has gone down for over a decade and our military has shrunk considerably in terms of personnel.

Personally think the increases in poverty is far more important a priority

 

[Deleted member 5849]

The last 2 years aside though our spending in real terms has gone down for over a decade and our military has shrunk considerably in terms of personnel.

The trend has been downward since Major really (Northern Ireland would help I guess? No more Cold War either) but we have always stayed above our NATO commitments

 

[PVA]

Yes somebody who is high up in the army is not at all conflicted in this matter

Ok well how about someone who carried out an independent assessment of the state of the armed forces for the government?

The findings were presented by Dr Rob Johnson, who led a government unit to measure the country’s readiness for war.

He said that the UK military was operating with a “bare minimum” that only just allowed it to mount peacekeeping and humanitarian relief operations, civilian evacuation from warzones, and some anti-sabotage activities.

Johnson told the Financial Times: “In any larger-scale operation, we would run out of ammunition rapidly. Our defences are too thin and we are not prepared to fight and win an armed conflict of any scale.

“The UK has reached a situation where it cannot defend the British homelands properly.”

 

[skybluetony176]

Personally think the increases in poverty is far more important a priority

It is, but they didn’t address that with the money saved.

 

[PVA]

Hang on a minute. I've just had a look at what has actually been said or proposed.

This new money he's found that you're upset about is a 0.2% increase to happen at some point in the future. That's it?

He really hasn't got a chance with some people!

 

[Deleted member 5849]

 

[skybluetony176]

They’re tearing themselves apart

 

[David O'Day]

i do like a bit of blue on blue violence

 

[PVA]

If they were sensible they'd go for someone like Tugenhadt but they're not so it'll be Braverman or Badenoch and it'll be a disaster.

 

[skybluetony176]

If they were sensible they'd go for someone like Tugenhadt but they're not so it'll be Braverman or Badenoch and it'll be a disaster.

If Braverman and BadEnoch are the final 2 the Tory memberships heads are going to explode trying to pick the craziest out of those two.

 

[Deleted member 9744]

If Braverman and BadEnoch are the final 2 the Tory memberships heads are going to explode trying to pick the craziest out of those two.

Someone's going to come on here and say they are centre right or moderates though. I really don't know what they have to say or do for some people to realise how extreme our last Government was. Let’s not forget these two held senior positions.