Do you want to discuss boring politics? (34 Viewers)

[MalcSB]

Blair and the Labour Party destroyed NHS dentistry

Their GP contract wasn’t all that helpful either, not requiring out of hours cover. Never mind though, Labour were competent - it’s just silly of us to be sick out of office hours.

 

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[Brighton Sky Blue]

The prospect of him as Tory leader at the next election is a frightening prospect. They’ve already managed to get the ‘MSM’ narrative going in the UK like in the USA and he’s already like Trump to an extent where his base don’t care what he does or says.

Seen a lot of polls/surveys, presumably commissioned by him, asking what one would think of him as Tory leader. He is very clearly using this election as a tilt for the Tory leadership.

It’s alarming that there is nobody charismatic or principled enough to oppose him.

 

[Sick Boy]

Seen a lot of polls/surveys, presumably commissioned by him, asking what one would think of him as Tory leader. He is very clearly using this election as a tilt for the Tory leadership.

It’s alarming that there is nobody charismatic or principled enough to oppose him.

Agree 100%. The emergence of Reform means the party is only going to move further to the right.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

Agree 100%. The emergence of Reform means the party is only going to move further to the right.

Scratch what I just said. We have a saviour sent down from above

 

[chiefdave]

Their GP contract wasn’t all that helpful either, not requiring out of hours cover. Never mind though, Labour were competent - it’s just silly of us to be sick out of office hours.

I don't really get the thing of picking out things Labour did wrong years ago and using that as evidence they should never be in power again but not applying the same logic to the current government who fuck up massively on a weekly basis.

Let's be realistic, nobody else is going to win an election anytime soon so if you're dead against Labour you're happily accepting more of the shitshow we've got at the moment.

 

[MalcSB]

I don't really get the thing of picking out things Labour did wrong years ago and using that as evidence they should never be in power again but not applying the same logic to the current government who fuck up massively on a weekly basis.

Let's be realistic, nobody else is going to win an election anytime soon so if you're dead against Labour you're happily accepting more of the shitshow we've got at the moment.

What is getting me are the claims on here that Labour will be competent when there is no evidence to support that. People will then point to the last Labour government, ignoring things like dodgy dossiers, sale of gold reserves, ruination of private pensions, foreign military adventures. Those people will “pick out things” they dId right from years agoas evidence they would succeed when in power again.

The current government certainly haven’t proven competent either and will almost certainly be replaced. However, their replacements seem set to alter the electoral landscape by giving votes to those below the age of majority, prisoners and EU nationals in an effort to ensure that they will not be held fully to account when / if they prove themselves to be incompetent in turn.

 

[MalcSB]

Seen a lot of polls/surveys, presumably commissioned by him, asking what one would think of him as Tory leader. He is very clearly using this election as a tilt for the Tory leadership.

It’s alarming that there is nobody charismatic or principled enough to oppose him.

Boris meets half that requirement. Starmer obviously meets neither.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

Boris meets half that requirement. Starmer obviously meets neither.

Correct, but Boris is just as big a con artist as Farage who declared he would be happy to ‘let the bodies pile high’.

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

i know you’ve been waiting

Day 7: The Media​ Click here to listen to an audio recording of this reflection.​ Exodus 20.1-16 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.’ Truth matters. We want to be assured that the media can be trusted as they, literally, mediate news and events for us. Trust is often in short supply. And many people now get their news and comment via social media, where the algorithms tend to serve up more of what we like rather than providing a balance of perspectives. In this fast-changing digital world, it’s more important than ever that we become ‘media literate’ – understanding that what is reported is never neutral and is always partial. So, this means that we must love the truth, honour one another, and spot what is happening when individuals are misrepresented in any media. It is vital to afford those whose views are opposed to mine the same respect I would expect from them. And this means speaking or writing what we know to be accurate - and not indulging in condemning or vilifying people who sometimes cannot defend themselves. As we pray today that our public media (online, broadcast and print) might become more truthful and more worthy of trust, let’s reflect, too, on our own role as consumers of such media, and commit ourselves to telling the truth about – and loving – our neighbour. ​ Give wisdom, courage and insight into the media defend us from deception; and help us all to engage with truth and kindness. Hear us, good Lord.

 

[shmmeee]

I'd want my daughter to be pushed to her full potential and get the best she possibly could.

Surely people paying thousands more to live in a certain area for a school aren't much different? After all it's a luxury to live in Finham as opposed to Wood End (for example).

I'm pretty sure the school you worked in would have been an eye opener, I know when I worked in a school it was an eye opener. (This was before it was all academies and watched the council spend shit loads of unneeded money every week that could have gone to teachers).

Yeah until the end of my career I worked exclusively in challenging schools. They need money and nice kids and adding both money and nice kids into the system won’t be a burden.

It is the same as being in a nice area to an extent, but no one is hiring you later in life purely because you went to Finham Park. It’s the social advantages you pay for in private as I said not the quality of the school.

 

[shmmeee]

Boris meets half that requirement. Starmer obviously meets neither.

Starmer beats every other leader including Farage in a head to head who would be best PM poll.

But don’t let facts get in the way or anything.

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

Starmer beats every other leader including Farage in a head to head who would be best PM poll.

But don’t let facts get in the way or anything.

Very fearful of waking up to farage on July 5th
People have gone mad

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

Starmer beats every other leader including Farage in a head to head who would be best PM poll.

But don’t let facts get in the way or anything.

Who would win in a debate?

 

[shmmeee]

Who would win in a debate?

Who would win in a game of one goal Wembley?

What is it with you continually valuing random metrics for politicians over actually winning elections?

 

[shmmeee]

Very fearful of waking up to farage on July 5th
People have gone mad

There’s as more chance of getting Ed Davey. Even the most generous polls put reform on about 5 seats. People need to get a grip. If he took over the Tories they’d lose half their support. He’s as bad as Corbyn for getting upset in interviews that aren’t fawning and even worse at defending his numbers.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

Who would win in a game of one goal Wembley?

What is it with you continually valuing random metrics for politicians over actually winning elections?

Because dismantling the robotic Starmer on the TV would put something of a dent in those polls and public perception.

 

[shmmeee]

Because dismantling the robotic Starmer on the TV would put something of a dent in those polls and public perception.

No one cares about the debates man, more people watched Springwatch.

Someone who appeals to 30% of the population and turns off the other 70% isn’t an election winner. Rallies and online trolls are not a measure of electability. As Labour found out.

 

[MalcSB]

Starmer beats every other leader including Farage in a head to head who would be best PM poll.

But don’t let facts get in the way or anything.

That’s a record of peoples opinions, not facts.

Have there been any polls of him v Boris.

Starmer has zero charisma and his flip flopping, including recent comments about Corbyn, show he isn’t principled.

 

[MalcSB]

Correct, but Boris is just as big a con artist as Farage who declared he would be happy to ‘let the bodies pile high’.

I did say Boris would meet half your requirement.

 

[shmmeee]

That’s a record of peoples opinions, not facts.

Have there been any polls of him v Boris.

Starmer has zero charisma and his flip flopping, including recent comments about Corbyn, show he isn’t principled.

And for you that’s a big deal. But not for most people who just want someone competent who isn’t going to financially ruin the country.

This is like saying Corbyn should come back cos he got big rallies: a complete misunderstanding of the difference between protest parties and parties of govt.

 

[MalcSB]

Yeah until the end of my career I worked exclusively in challenging schools. They need money and nice kids and adding both money and nice kids into the system won’t be a burden.

It is the same as being in a nice area to an extent, but no one is hiring you later in life purely because you went to Finham Park. It’s the social advantages you pay for in private as I said not the quality of the school.

Isn’t there every chance of the nice kids getting dragged down and / or bullied by the challenging kids?

 

[shmmeee]

Isn’t there every chance of the nice kids getting dragged down and / or bullied by the challenging kids?

It depends but all things being equal adding friends to the existing nice kids is more likely to make them more bully proof IMO.

Schools for me are about critical mass in the cohort and in reality if you’re rich enough to send your kids private you can move to an area with nice kids.

Kids who go private when their parents aren’t as rich as others are very likely to be bullied as well of course.

 

[SIR ERNIE]

Seen a lot of polls/surveys, presumably commissioned by him, asking what one would think of him as Tory leader. He is very clearly using this election as a tilt for the Tory leadership.

It’s alarming that there is nobody charismatic or principled enough to oppose him.

In a parliament where the bar is set so low that you've got the likes of Rayner, Lammy and Thornberry on the Government front bench, Farage is fully entitled to be a candidate for leadership.

 

[MalcSB]

And for you that’s a big deal. But not for most people who just want someone competent who isn’t going to financially ruin the country.

This is like saying Corbyn should come back cos he got big rallies: a complete misunderstanding of the difference between protest parties and parties of govt.

Ther it is again, suggestion Labour will be competent when there is no evidence to support that. We have no idea of the state the country would be in if Labour had been in power for the past 5 years.

 

[MalcSB]

It depends but all things being equal adding friends to the existing nice kids is more likely to make them more bully proof IMO.

Schools for me are about critical mass in the cohort and in reality if you’re rich enough to send your kids private you can move to an area with nice kids.

Kids who go private when their parents aren’t as rich as others are very likely to be bullied as well of course.

Your last sentence is very true.

 

[shmmeee]

Ther it is again, suggestion Labour will be competent when there is no evidence to support that. We have no idea of the state the country would be in if Labour had been in power for the past 5 years.

But we do have evidence Farage is?

You’re all over the place. You’ve got a chip on your shoulder about Labour, fair enough, but your criticisms could be levelled at any party.

 

[shmmeee]

I think we’re arguing over a moot point with VAT on private schools anyway. I expect schools to absorb the cost over the longer term and not much difference to fees. Certainly when products have VAT removed the savings are rarely passed on to consumers and schools have been raising prices above inflation so could just not do that for a bit and claw the money back. And the kind of schools that can’t with very small class sizes I’d question the quality of anyway.

Would be nice to have the same rules around Ofsted and examination results that state schools have applied to private. Then we could have a real conversation about quality.

 

[skybluetony176]

This whole “Labour will use their super majority to rig the voting system to be a forever government” line from the Tories is getting a bit ridiculous now. They’re just adding more and more groups to the list of who they’ll allow to vote on a daily basis. I reckon we’re about 2 days away from the Tories claiming that people will be allowed to do a proxy vote for their pet dogs and about 4 days from them claiming that Labour will allow foreign dogs like Great Danes and Afghan Hounds to vote too. If they want to know while they’ll get trounced it’s shit like this, they’re not a serious party anymore.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

I did say Boris would meet half your requirement.

He would, but he’s of the same ilk

 

[clint van damme]

In a parliament where the bar is set so low that you've got the likes of Rayner, Lammy and Thornberry on the Government front bench, Farage is fully entitled to be a candidate for leadership.

He's had no where near the scrutiny any of them have had and would show up just as badly if he did.
I've seen him refuse to answer questions on at least 4 occasions in the last week or 2.
You dont get away with that that often in the cabinet/shadow cabinet.

 

[Sick Boy]

Very fearful of waking up to farage on July 5th
People have gone mad

It won’t happen this election with Reform; there’s more potential if the takes over the Tories. The country sleepwalked into Brexit and it could easily do the same.

 

[torchomatic]

Their GP contract wasn’t all that helpful either, not requiring out of hours cover. Never mind though, Labour were competent - it’s just silly of us to be sick out of office hours.

It's not like the Tories have had 14 years to put all these things right, is it? What's your excuse for that?

 

[torchomatic]

No one cares about the debates man, more people watched Springwatch.

Someone who appeals to 30% of the population and turns off the other 70% isn’t an election winner. Rallies and online trolls are not a measure of electability. As Labour found out.

Spot on. Corbyn was a shit leader. He appealed to a relatively small section of voters and Labour members but was unelectable. The polling in 2019 highlighted that perfectly. Labour under Corbyn was a protest party with no hope of governing. I still voted Labour and always will, but fuck was I tired of his sheer ineptness. Corbyn is suited to standing in Trafalgar Square with a megaphone, not sitting behind a desk in Number Ten. People used to point at the amount of people who turned up at his rally's as proof he was a great man. He wasn't.

Starmer will be Prime Minister and I shall thank God he is. I've been a Labour Party member since 1983, there have been some dark times and some great times, now I'm hoping we are in for a period of stability, once we get shot of the awful Tory Government.

 

[torchomatic]

In a parliament where the bar is set so low that you've got the likes of Rayner, Lammy and Thornberry on the Government front bench, Farage is fully entitled to be a candidate for leadership.

Haha. I'll counter you with Gullis, Lee Anderson, Braverman, Johnson. Fuck.

 

[shmmeee]

It's not like the Tories have had 14 years to put all these things right, is it? What's your excuse for that?

You can do this with any government. Looking for a government that has never made a policy error is a ridiculous bar that no government in history meets.

On the big things Labour got far more right than the Tories have and it’s not even close.