UK General Discussion:The Rt. Hon Alex Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, Populist Hero (user search)
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  UK General Discussion:The Rt. Hon Alex Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, Populist Hero (search mode)
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Author Topic: UK General Discussion:The Rt. Hon Alex Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, Populist Hero  (Read 283668 times)
LabourJersey
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« on: June 29, 2020, 07:41:19 PM »

I do wonder if myself & the Labour Party discourse/forever war would benefit from no twitter. I don't even use my account anymore- but even searching just brings up people like myself (who've had the exact same opinion on every political issue since 2016!)

When I was studying in the UK I met a lot of politics students. I definitely noticed the ones with twitter have much more Americanized views on politics than what I consider a more British view (focus on race/culture vs. focus on class issues, to really oversimplify it)

I definitely don't think that must help British politics, especially given a lot of the anger from the American left comes from how absurdly difficult it is for our government to enact big change, something that isn't nearly as bad when you have a parliamentary system.

(Not to mention how I think American politics is especially shallow, but that's another discussion)
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2020, 09:36:09 PM »

Has there ever been a time that a Conservative government has said "there will be no U-turn under any circumstances" that wasn't immediately followed by a government U-turn within 48 hours?

The Tories have a remarkable habit of letting some terrible policy happen, get flak for it, say they're continuing said terrible policy, only to flip shortly thereafter.

It's bizarre; I understand plenty of Tories in government care a lot more about staying in power than anything else, but you'd think they would realize they shouldn't pursue unpopular policies in the first place
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #2 on: September 16, 2020, 08:32:08 AM »

Was just watching Angela Rayner's PMQs on the grouse shooting exceptions of the "Rule of Six" (is that really what they're calling the new rules?)

Thought Rayner did really well. I'm still so surprised when she didn't run for Leader.
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2021, 08:49:28 AM »

Brexit is an incredibly weak justification for Scottish independence - an independent Scotland won’t get the same kind of relationship that the UK had with the EU when it was a member state, and will face more disruption separating from an ex-EU UK than it did from Brexit itself. I think the recent surge in support for independence has been driven primarily by Boris Johnson’s lack of appeal north of the border and the perception that Nicola Sturgeon has done a better job handling COVID.

Of course, ‘getting lost in pointless constitutional wrangling’ has been baked in from the moment the Labour Party signed up to turn this country into a tea-drinking Yugoslavia through the devolution experiment, an experiment that has been continued by the Conservatives since 2010 (all these ridiculous metro-mayors et al).

Why do you think having Mayors of metro areas is a bad thing? My natural inclination is that it's fine to have some executive authority in major cities, especially away from London, but I don't know enough about UK local gov't to have a strong opinion
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #4 on: April 28, 2021, 04:48:59 PM »

Looking at Edwin Poots: I can see the most obvious feature of him that will caricatured... and I'm reminded, not in a good way, of the late Dr Paisley.

Just looked him and...oh my. He makes Prince Charles' ears look tiny by comparison.
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #5 on: May 12, 2021, 07:41:55 AM »

There really need to be some analysis as to why Starmer has lost so much ground since December. Is it all due to the success of the vaccine roll out? Some gaffes that I'm not aware of? It just seems so bizarre for a Leader to slide down on the polls that quickly
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #6 on: May 12, 2021, 04:20:24 PM »

(Sultry singing voice)

'Whatever boomers want...boomers get.'

Demographically most western nations have an economic and political bottleneck. What's made the last decade more difficult is the very online 'radicalisation' of much of the boomer anglosphere leading to a faster and harder swing to the right than 'just getting older'. Though in the same breath it's not the case in countries where they might be the ones who save us from Le Pen next time round.

I think one of the most underrated developments in the current state of politics is the point in early 2010s when middle aged and older people started using social media/when less tech savvy older people got smartphones.
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #7 on: May 14, 2021, 07:47:22 PM »

To state the obvious if Labour lose Batley (still unlikely) then Keir is in deep trouble.

I think Keir is already in deep trouble at this point...
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #8 on: July 21, 2021, 09:15:04 AM »

If the UK's vaccination program is supposedly "world beating", then why am I reading stuff about people not getting their second jab until deep into September?

As I understand it, the UK spread out the time between doses early on to maximize the amount of people who have at least some protection. As far as I can tell that did work well in the late winter then they got most retired British people vaccinated at least once.

Now that's a little more risky because of Delta, but I think it's still a method to work with a finite supply of vaccines for the younger population
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #9 on: August 10, 2021, 09:00:54 AM »


She's not actually Thatcher in the above post.

So what? It's not her marriage to Dennis Thatcher that made her an unlikely Labour voter, but her upbringing and the values and social position of her family.

Yes, agree with this. Its just about possible to see how different circumstances might have made her a Liberal, but *never* Labour.

Yeah, this isn't like American politics where you could imagine, say, FDR becoming a Republican or Eisenhower a Democrat. Political identities in the UK were more based on social positions/circumstances than the US (back then anyway, though obviously social status was a big thing in the US political sphere in the early 1900s too)
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #10 on: January 26, 2022, 08:15:55 AM »

Christ, Jacob Rees-Mogg is going to be party leader at some point in the near-ish future, isn't he?  If anyone thinks that's a totally ridiculous notion, I direct your attention to the current one.

I really doubt this---I don't get the sense that Rees-Moog has any allies or friends to speak of that would allow him to get selected for Leader
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #11 on: February 03, 2022, 10:20:29 AM »

It is worrying for the union that the executive looks set to collapse for the second time in what four years and people in Westminster, let alone the entire country, barely bat an eyelid.

Really illustrates the obvious fact that most people in Westminster and Great Britain in general do not care about Northern Ireland at all.

Also how does the rules about coalition governing in NI work if the Unionists are split between three parties? what if the DUP is just barely larger in terms of seats compared to the TUV or UUP? wouldn't that make the government untenable?
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #12 on: June 15, 2022, 07:33:07 AM »

Sturgeon announced they're trying for a second Scottish Independence referendum, claiming it would happen in October 2023.

I don't understand how they expect that to happen--Westminster is not going to assent to a Section 30 order? And I don't really see that changing short of some snap election where Labour suddenly need to do the SNP's bidding to get into government (agreeing to IndyRef2 is also a very dumb idea for Labour, but that's besides the point). Or are they going to plow ahead Catalonia style?

Does make you wonder what would happen if the "NO" vote wins again in 2023--Perhaps that could "end" discussion on this for a while, or it could just keep the nation somewhat polarized on pro- and anti-independence matters
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #13 on: June 15, 2022, 10:15:23 AM »

Sturgeon announced they're trying for a second Scottish Independence referendum, claiming it would happen in October 2023.

I don't understand how they expect that to happen--Westminster is not going to assent to a Section 30 order? And I don't really see that changing short of some snap election where Labour suddenly need to do the SNP's bidding to get into government (agreeing to IndyRef2 is also a very dumb idea for Labour, but that's besides the point). Or are they going to plow ahead Catalonia style?

Does make you wonder what would happen if the "NO" vote wins again in 2023--Perhaps that could "end" discussion on this for a while, or it could just keep the nation somewhat polarized on pro- and anti-independence matters

Yes it really seems futile. Boris - or whoever has control of the Tories then - will say no. Then the ball is then back in Sturgeon's court and no move is beneficial. She could confront the government, calling for protests and demonstrations. That won't win her any favors with the marginal Scottish voters, and it may prompt a reaction from Westminster to try and generate some rally-around-the-flag sympathy and play their cards like Madrid did. She could plow ahead and hold an unrecognized referendum like Catalonia - which will likely be won by the separatists thanks to unionist abstention -  but then the SNP are in the position of the Catalans where they threw away national and international goodwill for little benefit. Then there is the option of accepting Westminster's No, but Sturgeon can't so that politically.

Yeah I think she's in a weird place politically. Sturgeon clearly interprets the SNP's continued majorities in Holyrood as proof that the Scots support the SNP's mission for independence (a conclusion I don't agree with). But Westminster is going to say No. Does she just give in? That would make her look weak or cowardly. Does she go full Catalonia? That will just make the Scots look extreme.

I think it could also look worse for her if the economy sours between now and next year. Sarwar, the Labour leader in Scotland, gave a fairly convincing argument: there's a lot of economic crises in Scotland that the Holyrood gov't out to focus on outside of independence.
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #14 on: June 27, 2022, 01:26:25 PM »

Churchill, who changed parties twice, sat for no less than five constituencies.
I wonder why the UK is seemingly unique in having very little stigma against their politican carpetbagging.

I don't think this is true. Look at Canada.

The United States, as far as I can tell, is unusual in this regard. I can think of no other country with single-member districts where there is such a strong stigma against politicians contesting elections in a district that is not their home.

There's still a vestigial sense in American politics that Congress is a collection of representatives of states working together as a union. So in that sense it makes sense for voters to dislike the idea of candidates from other states coming in.

Another part of it is the unique negativity associated with "carpetbaggers" and people moving for political reasons during Reconstruction (hence why we use that term in the first place)!
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #15 on: July 06, 2022, 09:19:08 AM »

If the 1922 votes to amend the rules tonight (as it seems possible?) to allow a VONC, could we see a vote as early as next Monday? Or is the process more drawn out than that?
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #16 on: July 06, 2022, 12:52:18 PM »

Worth noting that the PM does not have the unrestricted power to dissolve Parliament when he/she wishes: a request must be made to the Sovereign, who can refuse. The rules governing this at present are the so-called Lascelles Principles, submitted by terrifying Mid Century Arch-Flunkey Sir Alan Lascelles (a.k.a. 'Tommy', a.k.a. 'Senex') in an anonymous letter to The Times in 1950. Quite a few of the scenarios being floated around at present happen to violate both active parts of the Lascelles Principles, which would presumably mean a refusal.

What's unique about this situation is the lemmingisation of senior and junior ministers which has never happened before. If the Cabinet can't move him and they resign then the 1922 Committee can only remove him as party leader. He ends up a political cuckoo.

The System is fairly flexible, but it's not really designed well for this sort of politician. As we know the monarch can technically fire him but that's a crisis in itself.

Most certainly won't happen but that would genuinely hilarious if the Queen fired BoJo. A historically profound refutation of his leadership
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #17 on: July 06, 2022, 03:05:46 PM »

Any guesses how long he'll last? Tomorrow? Next week? I can't imagine much longer.

Good riddance, Boris.

Monday at the latest, with the rules change being floated.

What might he come up with in the meantime? That's the scary thought.


Maybe he'll get on a flight to Kyiv and see his good friend Zelenskyy and hope that somehow MPs will reconsider him as a "statesman"
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