United Kingdom General Election: July 4, 2024

[GoTfan]

Just tuned unto the livestream. Are UK debates turning American with how often the interrupting is happening or is this just normal?

[GoTfan]

This just gets better and better!

[GoTfan]

https://twitter.com/scottygb/status/1800231637265068343

Respect.

Say what you will about whether or not this strategy will actually work, he definitely seems like he's actually enjoying the election more than anyone else. It feels like he took the calling of a general election as an excuse to hit every vacation destination in Great Britain and good for him.

Given the life that the guy's lived, I can't exactly blame him.

[GoTfan]

Just when you think Ianucci can't write anymore banger episodes.

[GoTfan]

Starmer has played it well politically by minimising his liabilities. This election is a 'referendum election' on the Tories, but Labour have ensured it stays that way.

However, I am worried that Labour won't actually deliver much change in government, and in a few years this could end up hurting them politically. They have backed down on so many policies that they have to reverse some-if they stick with their current tax promises then it's hard to see how public services improve. I also think Labour have moved to the right in ways that aren't necessary based on the polls, such as by not capping banker's bonuses again and backing down easily on their green investment plan.

So I am not optimistic about Labour's ability to make necessary changes that are controversial. I wouldn't bet on it being a transformational government, but we all know Labour will deviate from their promises in some way so hopefully they overperform.

Rory Stewart has made this point elsewhere. His fear is that if a Labour government fails to deliver meaningful change, then that will only end up empowering Reform. We are seeing a similar phenomenon play out in France right now, and to a lesser extent, here in Australia.

Starmer will end up with a decent mandate to say the least, and I hope does more than small-target stuff because otherwise, we could end up with PM Farage.

[GoTfan]

Rory Stewart has made this point elsewhere. His fear is that if a Labour government fails to deliver meaningful change, then that will only end up empowering Reform. We are seeing a similar phenomenon play out in France right now, and to a lesser extent, here in Australia.

Starmer will end up with a decent mandate to say the least, and I hope does more than small-target stuff because otherwise, we could end up with PM Farage.

The elephant in the room is obviously Brexit.

The reason why the British economy has been doing worse than the rest of Europe is Brexit, which is the underlying reason for general voter discontent, and the obvious way to improve it is to reverse (at the least cautiously and gradually) Brexit.

However, moving towards this would cut against earlier statements Starmer had to make against rejoining the EU or single market which he pretty much had to make for obvious political reasons.

But they have started making noises:

Labour signals closer UK-EU trade ties as Sunak returns to campaign trail

Moving in this direction will obviously pour kerosene on the Farage fire.

But not doing this means the economy is probably not going to get better quickly, in which case it probably won't take long for Starmer's approval ratings to drop into Sunak territory.

Wouldn't an easy way to sell this be to say "We're not rejoining the EU; that's gone and done with. However, being in the Single Market lessens trade costs, which makes your food shop cheaper and gives you more money in your pocket"?

[GoTfan]

Have we done “JK Rowling endorses the Communist Party because they’re the only ones with a gender policy she agrees with” yet?

I thought this was a f**king joke!! 😂😂😂😂😂

Rowling herself has become a joke. Is there anyone on Earth who as quickly pissed away as much good-will they've earned over decades than her?

Somehow I think even Ianucci would look at this and think "No, this is too ridiculous for TV."

[GoTfan]

This just gets funnier and funnier