Election Year or Fear!

[swaledale]

Not at all impressed by Anas Sarwar this evening, but interesting that so many Labour MPs, including Rayner, appear to be coming out in support of Starmer.

Will it last? Who knows? Politics is a messy old business and is it any surprise that the country is in the mess it is when we’re looking at the possible removal of our fourth PM in less than four years? Don’t know what the answer is, but it most certainly doesn’t begin with Nigel.

I don't think it will RA, Starmer is toast in my eyes, which on the one hand is a shame, given he is I believe a man with good ethics and principles, but his inability to communicate or sell a vision to people is a serious flaw. For all that people say they want a serious PM, the knives have been out since before he was elected and too many unforced missteps have sealed his fate.

Your right that the answer isn't Farage, nor is it the greens, whose rag tag range of policies just won't cut it, even though they are likely to split the left leaning vote.

I had an interesting discussion with a younger, more left leaning person before Christmas, who was enthusiastically singing the praises of Corbyn's new party. Theyweren't happy when I expressed the view that Corbyn couldn't lead his way out of a wet paper bag, never mind a political party and so it has proved!

[Andy_Faber]

I'll steer clear of returning then and leave you to the circle jerk party

Please only include me in that as a voyeur

[ramAnag]

Please only include me in that as a voyeur

Lol. That’s even worse!

[swaledale]

Fartrage appeals to a certain type of person. The stupid who believe conspiracy theories. Those convinced they are being done down and Fartrage is the only one to tell them who's to blame even though they are not the reason why although they are part of it. Much of it is down to everything that has helped turn the wealth gap into a gaping gorge. Maggie started the ball rolling, destroying a fair bit of UK manufacturing, the mines, steel... It's carried on ever since.

Close to home, Burton has been ruined by multinationals buying up the breweries and shutting much of the brewing down reducing the number of well paid jobs in the industry and in brewing related companies in Burton from >10K to around 1K. Those well paid jobs have been replaced by low paid, menial, unskilled low pay jobs. The pwople of the town are poorer than they were pre Coors etc and that has seen the town centre go down hill fast. Still never mind that an entire town ansd its surrounds had been financially screwed over, the shareholders are still doing well.

The rich are getting ever richer and the rest are fcuked.

Folk know they are fcuked and grifters are showing them who to blame and that is everybody except the rich and the grifters.

Same the world over. Trump and the rich now rule the roost and I am starting to doubt that the midterms will take place. IMO, if he's not stopped, the US will be a dictatorship soon run by the rich and their lackeys. Just like China and Russia at the moment.

Not a lot to disagree with there. Any human system is going to be imperfect, its run by humans after all, but whats worrying is that the controls and checks and balances that used to keep the extremes in check are being removed and many people seem unable to recognise that.

I'm not as pessimistic as you RP, because I do believe that there is a substantial body of people who are not passive in the face of Trump's outrageous behaviour, the push back in Minnesota demonstrates this, whatever ones views on individual issues, the actions of an armed militia roaming the streets with no accountability is not something the average American will stand for. Trump will overreach himself he hasn't the intelligence or guile not to.


Democracy isn't perfect, but it enables a functioning society where a peaceful compromise can be reached, most people recognise that one party does not have all the answers. Capitalism has proven the most successful economic system, but unfettered or unregulated capitalism is in nobodys interests.

[Andy_Faber]

Lol. That?s even worse!

I bow to your greater experience

[ramAnag]

I bow to your greater experience

Touche (staying with the French theme).

[Andy_Faber]

Touche (staying with the French theme).

All good clean fun (definitely referring only to our forum banter with this post)

[ramAnag]

All good clean fun (definitely referring only to our forum banter with this post)

Indeed…and all I’m watching is the cricket I’ll have you know!

[SithHappens]

Rumours Farage has 2 super injunctions issues.

Probably just crap talk but id bet he has more skeletons than most.

[swaledale]

A further illustration of the complex nature of issues involving Jews and antisemtism, comes from this piece in todays Guardian. About Reform's attempt to from a "Jewish section of Reform.

"Jewish activists have heckled Nigel Farage at the launch of a Jewish members’ organisation for Reform UK and accused the party of planning to use the new group as cover for persecuting other minorities.

Farage spoke at the inaugural event on Tuesday night of the Reform Jewish Alliance (RJA), which he said would help the party target up to 15 parliamentary seats.

Activists stood up in the middle of Farage’s speech and accused him of advocating policies under which past Jewish refugees would have been barred from the UK.

They included Carla Bloom, who recalled her own family’s history of facing persecution and of fighting the far right in the 1930s. She said: “My mother didn’t fight the Mosley fascists in Cable Street for this.”

It does highlight the danger of assumng or even alluding to the actions or words of a specific ethnic or religous group as being reflective of that group as a whole I think.

ewish activists have heckled Nigel Farage at the launch of a Jewish members’ organisation for Reform UK and accused the party of planning to use the new group as cover for persecuting other minorities.

Farage spoke at the inaugural event on Tuesday night of the Reform Jewish Alliance (RJA), which he said would help the party target up to 15 parliamentary seats.

Activists stood up in the middle of Farage’s speech and accused him of advocating policies under which past Jewish refugees would have been barred from the UK.

They included Carla Bloom, who recalled her own family’s history of facing persecution and of fighting the far right in the 1930s. She said: “My mother didn’t fight the Mosley fascists in Cable Street for this.”