Do you want to discuss boring politics? (13 Viewers)

Nuskyblue

Well-Known Member
Also - why the fuck do we still have PMQs in 2024? Who is it serving? Hold the PM to account by all means, sit them down in front of a parliamentary committee every week for a couple of hours, whack it on TV or whatever. This weekly spectacle of each side trotting out rehearsed zingers that only resonate with lobby correspondents, parliamentary sketch writers and the other Westminster nerds is just bullshit political theatre that fills a couple of hours of Sky News airtime every Wednesday and achieves fuck all else. The worst kind of Oxbridge debating society rubbish.
I bet it puts of a lot of politics full stop. It's a ridiculous charade that serves no purpose.

A complete waste of time.
 

PVA

Well-Known Member
A simple apology would probably put this to bed.

But of course they're doubling down and useful idiot Chris Philp is out doing the rounds this morning with the line that it wasn't Sunak's fault it was Starmer's. Even though Brianna's family have asked Sunak to apologise.
 

Grendel

Well-Known Member
God we aren’t still going on about th it s are we?
 

Grendel

Well-Known Member
Perhaps he can get Major and May back as well. Oh and Truss - forgot about her

 

PVA

Well-Known Member
The policy isn't being binned, the level of investment is being reduced (according to sources).

It was daft to put a number on it to begin with though, it was inevitable this would come back to bite them on the arse.
 
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Grendel

Well-Known Member
The policy isn't being binned, the level of investment is being reduced.

It was daft to put a number on it to begin with though, it was inevitable this would come back to bite them on the arse.

What’s it being reduced to?
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
Oops you’d better complained to the BBC


That article doesn’t claim it’s being reduced to 0. Much like Sunaks refusal to back down on his comments yesterday, I’m not sure Starmer will be too bothered about a big conversation about how Labour is being fiscally restrained.
 

PVA

Well-Known Member
That article doesn’t claim it’s being reduced to 0. Much like Sunaks refusal to back down on his comments yesterday, I’m not sure Starmer will be too bothered about a big conversation about how Labour is being fiscally restrained.

Yes, it's not a great look but if they can successfully spin it that it's a result of Tory mismanagement - the pledge was made before Truss and Kwasi absolutely royally fucked it for everyone - then they can probably come out of it looking OK.
 

wingy

Well-Known Member
Yes, it's not a great look but if they can successfully spin it that it's a result of Tory mismanagement - the pledge was made before Truss and Kwasi absolutely royally fucked it for everyone - then they can probably come out of it looking OK.
How about the tax giveaway?
 

duffer

Well-Known Member
That article doesn’t claim it’s being reduced to 0. Much like Sunaks refusal to back down on his comments yesterday, I’m not sure Starmer will be too bothered about a big conversation about how Labour is being fiscally restrained.

Nope, but he might want to start getting concerned about his reputation.

It's increasingly hard for him to claim that there's a single thing that he stands for today that he won't change his mind on tomorrow.

That might start to resonate with voters, and you can bet it's an attack line the Tories are going hammer from now until the election.
 

Grendel

Well-Known Member
You really do struggle with the English language don't you?

Not it seems as much as Mr Starmer who insisted on Tuesday the policy hadn’t changed - I suggest you explain the English Language to him as he seems to talk the language of cliched bollocks from bullshit land

To suggest it hasn’t changed is utterly absurd and yes Reeves has said it’s very possible it will be zero and no money will be spent if it breaches fiscal rules

It’s going to be zero
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member

Grendel

Well-Known Member
Yes, it's not a great look but if they can successfully spin it that it's a result of Tory mismanagement - the pledge was made before Truss and Kwasi absolutely royally fucked it for everyone - then they can probably come out of it looking OK.

Why did he still say it was going to be the manifesto this week? Wasn’t he aware until then of the countries finances?
 

PVA

Well-Known Member
That might start to resonate with voters, and you can bet it's an attack line the Tories are going hammer from now until the election.

I don't think so. They've been trying it for years and it hasn't really had any impact at all. Remember 'Captain Hindsight', that stuck for about 5 minutes.

It's all Johnson had and it's all Sunak seemingly has, and it's not really cutting through at all.

Particularly when they are just as prone to a U turn as anyone!
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
Is there any evidence voters care that much about flip flopping or is it just a thing used to pin people to unpopular policy? Seems like a thing you’d bring up if you were otherwise unhappy but generally people seem pretty good at rationalising this stuff for politicians they support. I think it would take a major scandal at this point to seriously dent poll numbers, people are that sick of the Tories and the Tories are that bad at politics right now. I get the idea Starmer wants to grind them to dust and leave nothing to chance, but seems a little bit of tunnel vision. Can’t really judge until he actually starts doing stuff tho really.
 

Grendel

Well-Known Member
Christ, no one is saying it hasn't changed. Learn to read.

Oh I can read. It’s going to dropped in the manifesto - it’s off the table as a commitment

As others have said you through every debate have a binary goodie and baddie mantra. So red is good and blue is bad. If Starmer said the world was flat you’d ban round the world cruises as it had to be true.

Most left leaning people on here despise Starmer and Reeves who really are now Major and Lamont reincarnated. Schmmee has discovered the wonders of capitalism now and wants a Tory Lite government. I would not take much stall from what he says.
 
D

Deleted member 5849

Guest
Is there any evidence voters care that much about flip flopping or is it just a thing used to pin people to unpopular policy?
I can only really think of Johnson as somebody who gets away with it quite so readily. Now and again and people say fine, flexible. Over and over in quick succession and it starts to look a bit dubious. Wasn't it one of the things that held Burnham back in the leadership elections, that he tended to move with the wind a little? And Kinnock too for that matter? Blair at least changed his positions over a decade or so, rather than a matter of months.

Not saying it's the only thing that brings politicians down, but people do like decisiveness and knowing where they stand.
 

PVA

Well-Known Member
Oh I can read. It’s going to dropped in the manifesto - it’s off the table as a commitment

As others have said you through every debate have a binary goodie and baddie mantra. So red is good and blue is bad. If Starmer said the world was flat you’d ban round the world cruises as it had to be true.

Most left leaning people on here despise Starmer and Reeves who really are now Major and Lamont reincarnated. Schmmee has discovered the wonders of capitalism now and wants a Tory Lite government. I would not take much stall from what he says.

Blue is bad. Very fucking bad.

Red is better. How much better we'll have to wait and see. I'm willing to give them that chance.

And your comment is incredibly ironic given the dreadful things you've excused over the years from your side.
 

Grendel

Well-Known Member
Blue is bad. Very fucking bad.

Red is better. How much better we'll have to wait and see. I'm willing to give them that chance.

And your comment is incredibly ironic given the dreadful things you've excused over the years from your side.

I don’t have a side. As I’ve stated I’ve voted Tory 4 times in my life and will not be voting this election unless it’s for a junk candidate for a laugh
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
I can only really think of Johnson as somebody who gets away with it quite so readily. Now and again and people say fine, flexible. Over and over in quick succession and it starts to look a bit dubious. Wasn't it one of the things that held Burnham back in the leadership elections, that he tended to move with the wind a little? And Kinnock too for that matter? Blair at least changed his positions over a decade or so, rather than a matter of months.

Not saying it's the only thing that brings politicians down, but people do like decisiveness and knowing where they stand.

Burnhams problem was he wasn’t as left wing as Corbyn so ended up looking like another suit with Cooper and Kendall.

I agree it can become a thing, but I think people are fairly tuned out, I’m not seeing it in polling, I’d be surprised if it has a massive impact though it’s another thing depressing the base after Gaza (and everything else).

Do agree with this tho:

 

duffer

Well-Known Member
Is there any evidence voters care that much about flip flopping or is it just a thing used to pin people to unpopular policy? Seems like a thing you’d bring up if you were otherwise unhappy but generally people seem pretty good at rationalising this stuff for politicians they support. I think it would take a major scandal at this point to seriously dent poll numbers, people are that sick of the Tories and the Tories are that bad at politics right now. I get the idea Starmer wants to grind them to dust and leave nothing to chance, but seems a little bit of tunnel vision. Can’t really judge until he actually starts doing stuff tho really.

Beg to differ, I suspect it's one of the few things that might cut through.

I don't think it will stop Labour getting into power, but I suspect it will start thinning down support.

In essence, it becomes a matter of trust. If you can't trust anything he says, why bother voting for him?

In a related way, people with genuine concerns about the environment might start switching to the Green Party if they sense that there's a lack of commitment from Labour. That's certainly where I'm heading.

That might not hurt them too much in this cycle, but a centre-right Labour party in that does nothing to improve things, might find itself quickly under pressure from both a refreshed Tory party on the right and a leftish/environmental front on the left.

Don't put it past the Lib Dems to position themselves accordingly, appearing to be to the left of the Labour convinced a fair number of progressives to switch previously.

Regardless of all of this, the true deficit is that there's no real change being offered by Starmer. Wait and see is hardly a great election mantra.
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
Beg to differ, I suspect it's one of the few things that might cut through.

I don't think it will stop Labour getting into power, but I suspect it will start thinning down support.

In essence, it becomes a matter of trust. If you can't trust anything he says, why bother voting for him?

In a related way, people with genuine concerns about the environment might start switching to the Green Party if they sense that there's a lack of commitment from Labour. That's certainly where I'm heading.

That might not hurt them too much in this cycle, but a centre-right Labour party in that does nothing to improve things, might find itself quickly under pressure from both a refreshed Tory party on the right and a leftish/environmental front on the left.

Don't put it past the Lib Dems to position themselves accordingly, appearing to be to the left of the Labour convinced a fair number of progressives to switch previously.

Regardless of all of this, the true deficit is that there's no real change being offered by Starmer. Wait and see is hardly a great election mantra.

I think whoever it was who said he’s like someone trying to get a king vase over the finish line is right.
Beg to differ, I suspect it's one of the few things that might cut through.

I don't think it will stop Labour getting into power, but I suspect it will start thinning down support.

In essence, it becomes a matter of trust. If you can't trust anything he says, why bother voting for him?

In a related way, people with genuine concerns about the environment might start switching to the Green Party if they sense that there's a lack of commitment from Labour. That's certainly where I'm heading.

That might not hurt them too much in this cycle, but a centre-right Labour party in that does nothing to improve things, might find itself quickly under pressure from both a refreshed Tory party on the right and a leftish/environmental front on the left.

Don't put it past the Lib Dems to position themselves accordingly, appearing to be to the left of the Labour convinced a fair number of progressives to switch previously.

Regardless of all of this, the true deficit is that there's no real change being offered by Starmer. Wait and see is hardly a great election mantra.

Lib Dem’s came from the left and gave Labour a landslide. You want the Lib Dem’s on the left. It’s when they’re on the right with the Tories and naive lefties like me vote for them that things go wrong.

The electoral calculus of it all is simple and fairly constant: people who would not vote Labour because they aren’t left wing enough aren’t the people who win elections. Just like the Tories are finding out the people who think the Tories aren’t right wing enough don’t win elections.
 
D

Deleted member 5849

Guest
I think whoever it was who said he’s like someone trying to get a king vase over the finish line is right.


Lib Dem’s came from the left and gave Labour a landslide. You want the Lib Dem’s on the left. It’s when they’re on the right with the Tories and naive lefties like me vote for them that things go wrong.

The electoral calculus of it all is simple and fairly constant: people who would not vote Labour because they aren’t left wing enough aren’t the people who win elections. Just like the Tories are finding out the people who think the Tories aren’t right wing enough don’t win elections.
There has to be a balance though. Currently he's making Blair seem a bit of a Commie!

And Blair at least laid down a vision of what to do to fix things, and we don;t really have that.
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
There has to be a balance though. Currently he's making Blair seem a bit of a Commie!

And Blair at least laid down a vision of what to do to fix things, and we don;t really have that.

No we don’t, because to get elected hes decided it’s more harm than good. It’s frustrating as hell, but ultimately even Blair’s vision didn’t exactly turn out like the ad campaigns. It’s Labour, you know what you’re getting: public service improvements, probably tax rises, probably closer to the EU and more legislation around being nice to each other, plus a government that actually believes in climate science.
 
D

Deleted member 5849

Guest
It’s Labour, you know what you’re getting: public service improvements, probably tax rises, probably closer to the EU and more legislation around being nice to each other, plus a government that actually believes in climate science.
The thing is, I'm actually having doubts about that!

And that surely becomes a problem at some point? Even if you ignored the rest, when public service is falling apart around us that's surely an easy populist win to come up with some plan there? People don't like spending money on public service, but they're not keen on their hospitals falling down either.
 

PVA

Well-Known Member
Fuck the Tories.

Cancer waiting times for 2023 in England were the worst on record, a BBC News analysis has revealed.

Only 64.1% of patients started treatment within 62 days of cancer being suspected, meaning nearly 100,000 waited longer than they should for life-saving care.

The waits have worsened every year for the past 11.

 

CCFCSteve

Well-Known Member
Fuck the Tories.




And SNP and Labour. In wales I think the figure was 55% last year.

The whole of the UK is a disgrace. While this is all happening we have consultants still striking as well. I have a bit more sympathy for junior doctors but not huge amounts. Fair play to the nurses at least
 

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