UK General Discussion:The Rt. Hon Alex Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, Populist Hero

[Cassius]

Pls stop Tory MPs

[Filuwaúrdjan]

And yet, somehow, not the former late 90s/early 00s social democratic PM with the most embarrassing post-political career.

[Conservatopia]

Another reason I'll never be able to become an MP is my love of tractors.

[YL]

Dangerous watching for Tory MPs

[Blair]

Another reason I'll never be able to become an MP is my love of tractors.

It’s going to be a line that will be on his obituary, and in political history for a while.

[CumbrianLefty]

As if things weren't absurd enough #growlergate is now trending on Twitter.

[Torrain]

https://mobile.twitter.com/HugoGye/status/1520678457100935169

Totally a serious party you guys. “We’ll stick around to support Ukraine, but once this is over we should leave, because Russia will never do anything this bad again.”

Going to be interesting to see whether their current polling (5-8%) is borne out in 2024, (especially if they pick up a fresh crop of councillors next week), or if closer interrogation of their policies and environmental promises from Labour chip that support down to a more traditional level.

[CumbrianLefty]

Its an obvious, almost telegraphed, move for Labour voters browned off with Starmer. However, polls showed that opposition to NATO was very much a minority thing even amongst left wingers even prior to February 24th this year.

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

Wait is there a serious anti-NATO movement in the UK?
I could see a brief period around the Iraq war (not a NATO operation, but the US was being idiotic) when leftist might have though about it, but for the vast majority of the time I can’t see how anyone but fellow travelers or ultra-rightists, before and after the wall fell respectively, deciding that the mutual defense pact to keep the Russian military out of (most of) Europe was a bad idea.

[CumbrianLefty]

Wait is there a serious anti-NATO movement in the UK?

No, the real point here is that there isn't. It really is a "fringe left/right" thing.

It is opportunism from the Greens  - something they showed they were quite capable of when linking up with the #FBPE brigade over Brexit - but quite possibly not as well aimed this time.

[Torrain]

Of all the BS they’ve pulled this week, my favourite Daily Mail nonsense has to be today’s “shock revelation” that Labour and the Lib Dems are coordinating to hurt the Tories.

Not only is it old news (I remember chatting about it on the TIGMOO thread at least a month ago) and has precedent going back to 1997, but the Mail wrote a series of front page articles applauding Farage’s similar tactics in 2019!

Compare and contrast:

[Storr]

Dear British friends, the CIA has reliably informed me that you should be on the lookout for 500m high nuclear tsunamis:

https://twitter.com/francis_scarr/status/1520846423629213699?s=20&t=RKXIDvb0...

[icc]

Of all the BS they’ve pulled this week, my favourite Daily Mail nonsense has to be today’s “shock revelation” that Labour and the Lib Dems are coordinating to hurt the Tories.

Not only is it old news (I remember chatting about it on the TIGMOO thread at least a month ago) and has precedent going back to 1997, but the Mail wrote a series of front page articles applauding Farage’s similar tactics in 2019!

Compare and contrast:

Not to mention that it isn’t true …

Labour not standing a full slate in Cheltenham or the Lib Dems not finding candidates in South Tyneside isn’t indicative of some nefarious plot - it is a reflection of those parties’ weaknesses.

[CumbrianLefty]

Labour are actually fielding more candidates than the Tories in these elections. Starmer should simply state this fact in any reply to Dowden's delusional drivel - and nothing else

[Joe Republic]

The Daily Mail continues their winning streak:

https://twitter.com/nadinedorries/status/1520886236797444097?s=21

The primary image leading the article, shown here in a tweet by the minister in charge of managing the dissemination of misinformation, has cropped out the person Starmer is sitting with.  Turns out that was Frank Dobson.  Who died in 2019.

[Blair]

Really doesn’t help having Nadine front the message. Especially as it’s in her brief to deal with misinformation…

Imo she was lucky not to get sued back in 2020 for sharing that vile video.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/14/labour-urges-tory-mps-to-admit-keir-starmer-video-was-doctored?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[Blair]

It’s also hilarious as Keir looks about 10 years younger in that photo- that’s what being Leader of the Labour Party does to you, as Mr Tony said.

[Joe Republic]

It’s also hilarious as Keir looks about 10 years younger in that photo- that’s what being Leader of the Labour Party does to you, as Mr Tony said.

It's from 2015, so close enough.

[Joe Republic]

In some local news:

https://twitter.com/NorthNorfPolice/status/1521138495846293506

[Blair]

Am I broadly right that Tories complaining that local elections aren’t actually about ‘partygate, tax rises, energy prices’ and should actually be about ‘bins’ is a sign that they realise they’re screwed?

I’ve seen a very large amount of well whining from people and it seems very similar to Labour whine of ‘why are you talking about immigration when you actually want more buses.’

[CumbrianLefty]

Really doesn’t help having Nadine front the message. Especially as it’s in her brief to deal with misinformation…

Imo she was lucky not to get sued back in 2020 for sharing that vile video.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/14/labour-urges-tory-mps-to-admit-keir-starmer-video-was-doctored?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

A certain D Hodges humiliating himself as perhaps never before in trying to "justify" said photo.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

Really doesn’t help having Nadine front the message. Especially as it’s in her brief to deal with misinformation…

Imo she was lucky not to get sued back in 2020 for sharing that vile video.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/14/labour-urges-tory-mps-to-admit-keir-starmer-video-was-doctored?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

A certain D Hodges humiliating himself as perhaps never before in trying to "justify" said photo.

Interesting that the certain D Hodges was a former Labour Member.

[Blair]

The PM did his first media round since what October today- it was pretty awful and a reminder of why he doesn’t really do much of it.

It was very similar to the late Gordon Brown era where you actively wondered why it he was allowed out.

[Torrain]

The PM did his first media round since what October today- it was pretty awful and a reminder of why he doesn’t really do much of it.

It was very similar to the late Gordon Brown era where you actively wondered why it he was allowed out.

For a man who started his career in the media, and used TV very effectively to jumpstart his political prospects, I'm always surprised how badly Johnson does when exposed to political or media scrutiny.

The buffoon act works in specific settings (and in the past was a good deflector during elections), but now that he's a leader with a record and a disgruntled public, it seems to be coming to the end of it's usefulness.

When cornered, Johnson either becomes a clown, or a high school bully with a blunt tongue. In the coming months, and (if he makes it that far) in 2024, I can't see either strategy being particularly helpful. If "out of touch" Boris (either frivolous or cruel, take your pick) finally cuts through his populist vibe, and becomes the prevailing media narrative, he could find himself stereotyped just as effectively as Brown was...

[Blair]

Day 7 of beergate on the front of the Mail and Sun for Starmer.

Alastair Campbell made the interesting point that the purpose is to keep doing it to ensure that TV and radio interviews ask about it- no doubt helped by the relative news vacuum, and well they have.

There isn’t any suggestion it’s really translated in the polls but it seems to be spreading through the lobby and seems to be taken up by three journalists (in addition to the Mail) today who all use to work for the same Westminster publication.

Curious if people think it will have any real impact.