Topic: Doesn't matter who you vote for as long as it's for the right reasons!

[Welshred]

Howard Beckett is a deeply unpleasant man who seems extremely dodgy. How he is still in the race to become Secretary General is beyond me, especially after his racist comments towards Priti Patel

[Zeb]

He's a bully, as he showed on Newsnight there. Unite need a fumigation at the top and a reckoning with how things have gone since the merger. Beckett telling a GMB sponsored MP that she knew nothing of trade unions and belonged in another party was chef's kiss perfect for everything wrong with the direction Unite had been led down.

[Zeb]

Not really been paying attention over the last few weeks so I’ve just clocked that the Greens are pulling away from the Lib Dems on the latest YouGov poll. Any reasons been given for this?

Greens are challenging the Lib Dems for the 'none of the above' vote. Obvious problem for the Greens is how that plays out when it gets to FPTP on constituency scale and the squeeze from both Labour and Lib Dems happens.

[Wild Romany Boy]

The only thing that interview had me doing was looking up what 'mansplaining' is, cos it sure as hell wasn't Beckett that came across like a bully to be honest.

[Yorkykopite]

Hopefully Howard Beckett loses. If more than 50 per cent of the Unite members actually vote he will get rinsed I'm sure. But McCluskey was elected on a paltry 12 per cent turn-out. All that power based on a tiny fraction of the membership.

This is the problem for the trade unions (and the Labour party). There is a shocking amount of apathy in the unions and the full-time officials do nothing to discourage it because they know it suits them.   

[TSC]

Another ex PM joins the ‘rebels’

https://news.sky.com/story/foreign-aid-cuts-rebel-tory-mps-aim-to-force-commons-vote-on-governments-decision-12323584

Meanwhile

https://news.sky.com/story/peter-cruddas-peer-donated-500-000-to-conservative-party-days-after-joining-house-of-lords-12324319

[Yorkykopite]

Meanwhile

https://news.sky.com/story/peter-cruddas-peer-donated-500-000-to-conservative-party-days-after-joining-house-of-lords-12324319

Subtle isn't it?

Time now for Labour to revisit House of Lords abolition.

[Yorkykopite]

We do need a second chamber though. Let's call it a Senate. Wholly elected, and on PR.

It can't sit in London, it has to be in the North. Huddersfield would be the obvious place. But York a decent shout.

[Commie Bobbie]

We do need a second chamber though. Let's call it a Senate. Wholly elected, and on PR.

It can't sit in London, it has to be in the North. Huddersfield would be the obvious place. But York a decent shout.

Crook in the far north.

Would be far more suitable.

[Zeb]

The only thing that interview had me doing was looking up what 'mansplaining' is, cos it sure as hell wasn't Beckett that came across like a bully to be honest.

I'll have another watch just in case anyone else was making vague legal threats to shut down awkward questions. Seemed more akin to his understanding of defamation law which cost Unite members £2m trying to defend the Union leader's close friend's favorite blog so it may have been lost by it bringing smiles to faces when he tries it now. I did love the careful form of "This reply wasn't to me" rather than an obvious alternative of "I know nothing about this reply".

[Dr. Beaker]

We do need a second chamber though. Let's call it a Senate. Wholly elected, and on PR.

It can't sit in London, it has to be in the North. Huddersfield would be the obvious place. But York a decent shout.

Sheepskin instead of ermine, and a huge black pudding for a mace. They can keep the woolsack of course.

[ShakaHislop]

Tories stomping on Biden's global corporation tax suggestion. Surely Labour should be hammering away at this - making it the central focus of attack -

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/21/biden-global-corporation-tax-popular-boris-johnson

An agreement was made on this today but at 15%, rather than the 21% the US originally proposed according to the Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/05/rishi-sunak-announces-historic-agreement-by-g7-on-tax-reform

[TSC]

Patel now focusing on social media for allowing videos which she feels ‘glamourise’ migrant channel crossings.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57373084

Strangely I don’t recall same concern when similar posts were made in the run up to Brexit by the then ‘leave campaign’.

[TepidT2O]

These migrant crossings… what are they? 4 thousand or so people a year?  It’s hardly a huge issue is it?

Desperate people who want a better quality of life.  There but for the grace of god go I…..

[Zeb]

Patel now focusing on social media for allowing videos which she feels ‘glamourise’ migrant channel crossings.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57373084

Strangely I don’t recall same concern when similar posts were made in the run up to Brexit by the then ‘leave campaign’.

Darkly funny was the Tory MP who has made a ton of videos of herself stomping around beaches looking out to sea on the watch for people crossing over complaining about other people, jackboots and swastika tattoos people's militia types, doing the same thing and scaring away the tourists.

Patel really is all about the performance and headlines even when Downing Street are trying to shove her into a cupboard away from too much public scrutiny.

[Zeb]

Should have news of the boundary charges for general elections today. Stephen Bush was clearly feeling rather wicked writing his overview of it, big chunk of it on the spoiler below.

Spoiler

This set of boundary changes is more consequential than most. One reason for that is that they have been extensively delayed: first the Liberal Democrats voted them down with Labour in 2013 in recompense for the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition’s failure to deliver an elected House of Lords. Then Theresa May’s 2017 election disaster meant there was no majority in parliament for changes that would have put 50 MPs out of a job. Constituency boundaries are now looking very out of date and, as a result, the changes will have to be that much bigger.

The boundary changes were shaped around a very singular purpose: to make it easier for David Cameron’s Conservatives to win parliamentary majorities. Cameron’s big political project was, in essence, socially inclusive Thatcherism: to, as one Tory MP once put it to me, “make the Conservative Party safe for middle-class ethnic minorities and rich gay people”.

It held seats such as Battersea and Canterbury; the safe Labour seats it dreamt of flipping were the likes of Poplar and Limehouse, in the shadow of Canary Wharf. Cameron and George Gideon Oliver Osborne, son of Sir Peter Osborne, 17th Baronet of Ballentaylor and Ballylemon and Felicity Alexandra Loxton-Peacock, educated at St. Paul's and Magdalen College, Oxford created powerful metro mayors for Greater Manchester and the West Midlands in part to make those cities more like London: more economically prosperous and therefore more likely to vote Tory.

Of course, when Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson’s Conservatives think about the seats they are targeting, their eyes no longer turn to gentrifying areas in London. They have lost Battersea and Canterbury, and are fairly relaxed about losing Kensington and Wimbledon in the not-too-distant future. Suddenly, a set of boundary changes that will increase the number of seats in London and the south at the expense of Wales and the north no longer looks quite so clever.

For Conservative whips, it means that managing the mood of MPs whose seats are under threat is harder. As one Tory MP points out, telling a Conservative backbencher not to worry that their north Wales constituency is being abolished because they can have first crack at a well-heeled London constituency was an attractive offer in 2013. It isn’t in 2021.

Although the specific details of the boundary changes are unknown, the changes in the make-up of the electorate point in one direction: fewer constituencies in the Midlands and north, and more in the south and London.

For both parties, that reality will be a cause of some soul-searching. A number of Labour MPs appear sometimes to dislike their new voters more than they dislike the Conservatives. One Labour MP recently told another that the better Labour did in London, the worse for the party, as if the biggest thing turning voters off wasn’t Labour’s position on the economy, social issues or Brexit but the fact that some people in the capital haven’t abandoned it yet. That a boundary review designed to help Cameron may now help them will only deepen their dismay that the party has taken a wrong turn.

For the Conservatives, the concern runs in the opposite direction. I have yet to meet a Tory MP who sincerely thinks that winning more seats in the north is bad for the party, but it is common enough to meet southern MPs who fear that their seats are already being neglected. Some hope that the boundary changes will reverse that trend, by highlighting that what one Conservative despairingly refers to as “the unfashionable south” is still an essential component of any party’s majority hopes. But it’s equally possible that the party starts to see boundary changes as yesterday’s priority, which would deepen the unease of Tory MPs in the south who fear they and their constituents are yesterday’s priority, too.

A day of individual trial for MPs across parliament is set also to be one of ideological unease for both of England’s major parties.

[close]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/4d76ba8c-c704-11eb-b6f5-fed739e7c1ca

See how it washes out. A lot of the narrative around seats in the SE has greatly outrun the demographic shifts which have given rise to the chat about them.

[Commie Bobbie]

Morning,

Has anyone had the same light bulb moment in the last few days.

Johnson's only announcing whether restrictions can be lifted next week and not this week because he doesn't want anything ruining his week in the limelight with the G7 coming over to Cornwall.

Of course the aid bill may ruin all of that in advance but still pretty shoddy considering establishments normally need a few weeks to prep in advance.

[Zeb]

Tory rebels are briefing that the amendment which would replace the development aid money won't be allowed to be heard because the Speaker has ruled it's too much of a change to the bill it was going to be tagged onto, so no rebellion vote today. Speaker's not actually announced decision yet. Potential rebellion postponed though because they're saying they'll try again next week. It is going to be interesting to see how many of the cuts coming down the line get through when Tory MPs get to thinking about the consequences, if only for their own jobs if not for the people harmed.

[Nobby Reserve]

Inevitable that these scumbags in government would seek to exploit this to whip-up the 'culture war'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/57383097

"Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden says the England and Wales Cricket Board "has gone over the top" in suspending bowler Ollie Robinson for historical racist and sexist tweets."


I don't recall the government of the day ever getting involved in the internal disciplinary process of sporting bodies before when a sportsperson transgresses the rules of the sporting organisation.

[Nobby Reserve]

Tory rebels are briefing that the amendment which would replace the development aid money won't be allowed to be heard because the Speaker has ruled it's too much of a change to the bill it was going to be tagged onto, so no rebellion vote today. Speaker's not actually announced decision yet. Potential rebellion postponed though because they're saying they'll try again next week. It is going to be interesting to see how many of the cuts coming down the line get through when Tory MPs get to thinking about the consequences, if only for their own jobs if not for the people harmed.

I miss Bercow.

Lindsay Hoyle might have been a Labour MP, but he is such a fucking Tory twat.

[Zeb]

I miss Bercow.

Lindsay Hoyle might have been a Labour MP, but he is such a fucking Tory twat.

Don't know. My understanding of it is that even Bercow would have been reluctant on this one as it has financial implications on a bill which isn't actually about setting a budget, just the overall remit. People seem to only think of the Bercow who allowed amendments in the hung parliament rather than the one who gave Brexiteers a platform in parliament by allowing them to have amendments for all sorts to vote on. Suppose as long its consistent for each speaker rather than partisan then it works. See whether the Tories are right though. They'll have plenty of other chances to stir the pot. Some of them might even help someone other than themselves.

[cdav]

Inevitable that these scumbags in government would seek to exploit this to whip-up the 'culture war'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/57383097

"Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden says the England and Wales Cricket Board "has gone over the top" in suspending bowler Ollie Robinson for historical racist and sexist tweets."


I don't recall the government of the day ever getting involved in the internal disciplinary process of sporting bodies before when a sportsperson transgresses the rules of the sporting organisation.

Thought these have been big on the "Politics and Sport should not mix" with respect to taking a knee.

Its a farce that the government, with all the shit going on, is still trying to push culture war bollocks that only seems to empower the worst in society

[Nobby Reserve]

[TSC]

Tory rebels are briefing that the amendment which would replace the development aid money won't be allowed to be heard because the Speaker has ruled it's too much of a change to the bill it was going to be tagged onto, so no rebellion vote today. Speaker's not actually announced decision yet. Potential rebellion postponed though because they're saying they'll try again next week.

I’m sure timing was merely coincidental given the scheduled G7 meetings.  Can’t have government embarrassed as hosts reducing aid spending.

[Dr. Beaker]

Andrew Mitchell reckons it can still go ahead, but I haven't heard his reasoning.

[TSC]

Andrew Mitchell reckons it can still go ahead, but I haven't heard his reasoning.

Seen that on the sky news ticker.  However, same ticker also says a Labour ‘source’ says otherwise.

[Dr. Beaker]

Seen that on the sky news ticker.  However, same ticker also says a Labour ‘source’ says otherwise.

No doubt some unintelligible arcane wrangling to ensue.

[TSC]

Speaker confirms the amendment (to debate foreign aid) is not included as its outside the scope of the bill.  But speaker goes onto say the government should find a way to have the matter (amendment) debated. 

Andrew Mitchell ‘government is treating the house with disrespect’.  Mitchell also says (via point of order) the amendment would have succeeded by between 9-20 votes.

[Red-Soldier]

Downing Street has confirmed that Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is not a fan of the term “special relationship” to describe UK-US ties, one used by Joe Biden only a day ago, ahead of the G7 leaders’ summit in Cornwall.

Johnson’s spokesperson confirmed the view after being questioned about an opinion attributed to the prime minister in a profile of him in the Atlantic, published on Monday.

The article cited an unnamed prime ministerial aide as saying that in an early call with Biden, Johnson said he did not like the phrase, used by the US president, because to Johnson it seemed “needy and weak”.

Johnson’s spokesperson said: “The prime minister is on the record previously saying he prefers not to use the phrase but that in no way detracts from the importance with which we regard our relationship with the US, our closest ally.”

[TSC]

Downing Street has confirmed that Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is not a fan of the term “special relationship” to describe UK-US ties, one used by Joe Biden only a day ago, ahead of the G7 leaders’ summit in Cornwall.

Johnson’s spokesperson confirmed the view after being questioned about an opinion attributed to the prime minister in a profile of him in the Atlantic, published on Monday.

The article cited an unnamed prime ministerial aide as saying that in an early call with Biden, Johnson said he did not like the phrase, used by the US president, because to Johnson it seemed “needy and weak”.

Johnson’s spokesperson said: “The prime minister is on the record previously saying he prefers not to use the phrase but that in no way detracts from the importance with which we regard our relationship with the US, our closest ally.”

Probably prefers ‘the UK’s Trump’ label given to him by Trump a couple of years back.

[Wild Romany Boy]

Downing Street has confirmed that Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is not a fan of the term “special relationship” to describe UK-US ties, one used by Joe Biden only a day ago, ahead of the G7 leaders’ summit in Cornwall.

Johnson’s spokesperson confirmed the view after being questioned about an opinion attributed to the prime minister in a profile of him in the Atlantic, published on Monday.

The article cited an unnamed prime ministerial aide as saying that in an early call with Biden, Johnson said he did not like the phrase, used by the US president, because to Johnson it seemed “needy and weak”.

Johnson’s spokesperson said: “The prime minister is on the record previously saying he prefers not to use the phrase but that in no way detracts from the importance with which we regard our relationship with the US, our closest ally.”

Kind of agree with him to be honest. It certainly has a lot of those connotations from the Blair Bush relationship. But, even if you agree with him, it seems like he has given it more thought than anything else he has ever done in his life...which is a little weird.

[Yorkykopite]

Downing Street has confirmed that Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is not a fan of the term “special relationship” to describe UK-US ties, one used by Joe Biden only a day ago, ahead of the G7 leaders’ summit in Cornwall.

Johnson’s spokesperson confirmed the view after being questioned about an opinion attributed to the prime minister in a profile of him in the Atlantic, published on Monday.

The article cited an unnamed prime ministerial aide as saying that in an early call with Biden, Johnson said he did not like the phrase, used by the US president, because to Johnson it seemed “needy and weak”.

Johnson’s spokesperson said: “The prime minister is on the record previously saying he prefers not to use the phrase but that in no way detracts from the importance with which we regard our relationship with the US, our closest ally.”

But we are "needy and weak."

If we weren't needy and weak Johnson wouldn't be on his knees unzipping Viktor Orban's flies.

[TSC]

Kind of agree with him to be honest. It certainly has a lot of those connotations from the Blair Bush relationship. But, even if you agree with him, it seems like he has given it more thought than anything else he has ever done in his life...which is a little weird.

Doubt Johnson thinks of much.  Some of his cabal are primarily driven by nationalist tendencies (massive flags etc), so maybe that sort have had a word in his ear. Can’t show even a hint of subservience, not that ‘special relationship’ does imply that IMO.

Tricky one to handle though given government are chasing trade deals while simultaneously trying not to piss off the US re the Brexit protocol debate and Ireland.

[bornandbRED]

The PM and culture secretary openly coming out against suspensions for Ollie Robinson’s racist tweets.

What is happening in this country?

[TepidT2O]

The PM and culture secretary openly coming out against suspensions for Ollie Robinson’s racist tweets.

What is happening in this country?

On taking the knee, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson said he preferred action over mere symbolism.

On Ollie Robinson he didn’t agree with taking action….

Go figure.

[Commie Bobbie]

On taking the knee, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson said he preferred action over mere symbolism.

On Ollie Robinson he didn’t agree with taking action….

Go figure.

He is a fucking parody.

[killer-heels]

If I could I would punch Oliver Dowden into paralysis.

[Yorkykopite]

On taking the knee, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson said he preferred action over mere symbolism.

On Ollie Robinson he didn’t agree with taking action….

Go figure.

I suppose Johnson would argue that suspending Robinson is also just 'symbolism'. What he'd prefer of course is radical action to punish racism in the police force and society in general, to stiffen the race equality laws, and to embark on a massive programme of public spending in education, industrial training and inner-city housing in order to elevate disadvantaged communities and give racial minorities a genuinely level playing-field. 

[bornandbRED]

On taking the knee, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson said he preferred action over mere symbolism.

On Ollie Robinson he didn’t agree with taking action….

Go figure.

We really are through the looking glass. It boggles my mind as to 1) why actions shouldn’t have consequences and 2) why this requires government intervention. They continually go out of their way to legitimise archaic views.

Combine with the widespread anti-knee taking sentiment displayed recently and it’s all quite concerning really.

[Red-Soldier]

We really are through the looking glass. It boggles my mind as to 1) why actions shouldn’t have consequences and 2) why this requires government intervention. They continually go out of their way to legitimise archaic views.

Combine with the widespread anti-knee taking sentiment displayed recently and it’s all quite concerning really.

Feeding a culture war serves their purpose.

Turns my stomach