Topic: UK General Election - CLACTON

[PaulF]

agreed although it would have been nice for him to get the boot from the electorate rather than taking the coward's way out like the snivelling shit he is

agreed although it would have been nice for him to get the boot from the electorate rather than taking the coward's way out like the snivelling shit he is

Loads seem to be quitting. Is that normal before a GE?  I guess we don't normally go into a GE with the ruling party expecting to take a pasting.

[Draex]

Loads seem to be quitting. Is that normal before a GE?  I guess we don't normally go into a GE with the ruling party expecting to take a pasting.

I read around 150, that sounds an incredible number, imagine the quality of the ones coming through based on how shit the existing ones are.

[Craig S]

He's been campaigning for 7 months already. Not for the elections directly but a large chunk of people turn up for those Saturday marches expressly to see him on the podium each time. The last march had 250k+ protestors for example. He even gets introduced as "The People's Prime Minister" which probably makes him cringe.

A large number of Jewish folk turn up to cheer him on as well. Some also share the podium with him. He's definitely getting a fair share of the North London Jewish votes too.

Islington North doesn't really overlap with any of the traditional North London Jewish communities though. It's kind of Tufnell park to Archway in the north, down through Finsbury park, Arsenal to Newington Green.

I used to live in it, just off Hornsey Lane, right on the edge of it where Archway meets Crouch end & Highgate. There's still a lot of poor neighbourhoods, mixing with middle class workers from out of London. You can have social housing on one side of the street and £1m+ Victorian terrace houses on the other.

While I still think he will win, I think it will be by a slim margin.

[Yorkykopite]

Excellent news. Another MP who has contributed zero to the wellbeing of the people in the UK.
Good riddance gobshite.

A genuinely evil man. I can't think of a nastier British politician in my lifetime.

[west_london_red]

Good point. Brexit was a huge economic hit. And enabled by the tories.  I guess, technically, outside the chancellors remit though. 

The point I was making was the chancellors did have more influence 20 years ago than they do now, it’s definitely diminished.

[Red Beret]

I read around 150, that sounds an incredible number, imagine the quality of the ones coming through based on how shit the existing ones are.

116 MPs are standing down at this election, 73 of which are Tories (so far).

https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/mps-standing-down-next-election

Apparently, Sunak's election announcement caught many Tory constituency parties off guard - they're still looking for around a hundred candidates.

[Graeme]

How amazing would it be to see Jonathan Gullis lose his seat?

[oldfordie]

Ok, this will keep you busy all day.  Someones challenged me to say something good the last labour gov did?  I want to start with not partying while the queen sat through her husbands funeral. But that's a bit negative

I can understand people not remembering the long list of Labour achievements but how can people spend the last 14-25yrs arguing Labour did nothing decent while in power. when a quick google will give them the actual facts that show they are wrong, it's typical of many peoples attitude towards politics, 2 min forming a opinion based on assumption and bullshit and decades defending that opinion. how old are they. I assume they were never hurt by the Torys 79-97 government.

The most visual difference was homeless on the streets, older Scousers must remember what Town was like back then, honestly, you couldn't walk 25 yrds without someone homeless asking you for money. many had been booted out of care with mental health problems due to Tory cuts. it was a depressing place due to stagnation. I have a horrible image of that period. we warned it would return and it has done.

NHS. I had a problem with a injury to my hand, took ages before letter came from hospital giving me a hospital date, this was early in the year, say Feb/March. date was for October, bit long to wait but at least it would be sorted. checked the date again, I assumed it was for October that year, the actually date was for the October the following year. that's 1 year 8 months just to be given a examination, treatment came later. we warned those days would return and they have done, thankfully technology has helped with the problem, take the technology away and those waiting list would be longer today.

Doctors. am sure many now appreciate just how bad things were. having to phone up early in the morning and either getting engaged tone or told to phone tomorrow. no need to cover it all, we warned those days would return and they have done.

Cuts to Education and Schools,  the Torys never give a shit about Kids, kids with special needs dumped into main stream living a nightmare. all to save the government money.

Funding to councils, services were superb under Labour; all down to decent government funding, the Torys have chopped this funding by over 60% and the intention is to cut out all funding to councils. I always wonder how many d/heads who voted Tory now have to walk miles to work due to bus route cuts as councils cant afford to subsidise these routes. communities cut off at the weekends and night.

Your friend does know he's paying far more taxes under this Tory government, people seem that out of touch they may not even know it and just assume they pay more under Labour.

They know water problem has exploded under this Tory government.

Crime was cut under Labour.
Care improved.

This is just off the top of my head on the things most of us experienced regularly and am certain the list is far longer, it's just that people can't see the obvious, if the Torys make everything worse than they were under Labour then all those things that were better while Labour were in power are examples of all the good things Labour did.

I don't know if you know about John Prescott arguing with Miliband over defending Labours record. for years ive thought things could have been different if Miliband had listened to him, I think I am wrong about that now, lets face it, how many times has Labour had to defend their record from critici's who said they did nothing good in power, it's as if it's something they never knew about, it even happens on here, they call all the Tory cuts cruel but then attack Labour 5 min later, it never crosses their minds to wonder who actually brought in all those decent Policys the Torys are chopping in the first place.

[TepidT2O]

A genuinely evil man. I can't think of a nastier British politician in my lifetime.

If you read the letters his ex wife wrote to the local newspaper…. It’s quite something.
What’s the point in having all the brain power and not realising that being a vile c*nt is unproductive?

[cornishscouser92]

How amazing would it be to see Jonathan Gullis lose his seat?

All but guaranteed

Prediction for Stoke on Trent North:
Lab - 50%
Con 27.9%
Reform 15.9%

[CornerFlag]

How amazing would it be to see Jonathan Gullis lose his seat?

The best Tory politicians are unemployed Tory politicians.

[thaddeus]

116 MPs are standing down at this election, 73 of which are Tories (so far).

https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/mps-standing-down-next-election

Apparently, Sunak's election announcement caught many Tory constituency parties off guard - they're still looking for around a hundred candidates.

We've become accustomed to Tory incompetence but that is crazy even for them.  They hold the starting pistol but have somehow started the race when their own runners aren't ready and everybody else is.  Even Reform UK have managed to line up cranks for almost every seat.

It says a lot about Sunak that the first hint of anything positive to come from his 18 months as PM and he's called the election.  I expect both he and Hunt see storm clouds on the horizon with the economy.

[gazzalfc]

How amazing would it be to see Jonathan Gullis lose his seat?

I bet he doesn't run

[TepidT2O]

How amazing would it be to see Jonathan Gullis lose his seat?

He might go back into teaching!!!
 

(He won’t, he will fill his grubby little pockets in some consultancy job)

[thaddeus]

The BBC have a decent article about the state of the polls: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68079726

About halfway down they have a scrollable list of polls going back to January 2020.  It's fun to start from the bottom and scroll up, getting glimpses of the Tory implosion over the past four years.  YouGov had the Tories on 49% in January 2020 and 21% this week 

[killer-heels]

How amazing would it be to see Jonathan Gullis lose his seat?

He is nailed on to lose, he pretty much said his goodbyes.

[HarryLabrador]

Lord Frost has been banned from standing as a Tory candidate at the general election. There had been speculation that the former Brexit minister could resign from the House of Lords in order to fight for a seat in the House of Commons on July 4.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/05/24/general-election-rishi-sunak-latest-news-keir-starmer/#:~:text=Lord%20Frost%20has%20been%20banned,of%20Commons%20on%20July%204.

[B0151?]

We should be OK. But it's really alarming just how many thickos there are that would happily see these lot stay in power as some form of protest. The fucking devastation they have caused, targeting the most vulnerable people every chance they get and making their lives worse, their next agenda being ro take it to new levels... it's unforgiveable for me if you have a conscience and aren't making the vote that puts them closer to being out of power, whatever vote that may be.

Think I'll definitely be avoiding social media for next few months and just hoping for the best.

[oldfordie]

Excellent news. Another MP who has contributed zero to the wellbeing of the people in the UK.
Good riddance gobshite.

Nasty lies came natural for him, one horrible man who took advantage of our Political system that allows politicians to knowingly lie with Impunity.
I struggle to think of a bigger liar in Parliament. not just once, his lies would be destroyed in some interviews but made no difference, back again within a day or so repeating the same lies to con people into voting for Brexit.

Campaigned for 2 referendums on leaving the EU. 1 to decide if we want to leave, another to decide if we should accept the deal. actual video footage of him talking about it in Parliament. his reaction to it after we voted to leave was, don't be absurd, never said it, it's ridicules. we've had the referendum.

[Jiminy Cricket]

^ I’m not on twitter - what’s it about?

Same here. I tracked it down:

https://nitter.poast.org/jimrobottom/status/1793727207732613549?cursor=EwAAAPAEHBkW2IDeiZ7ZzOQxJQISFQQAAA#r


Jim Robottom
@jimrobottom
15h
I wondered whether I would do this, when the time came. But there don’t seem to be many tales of him as a person going round. And, for reasons that will become apparent, I’ll always be grateful. So anyway here it is:
__

When I was in my early 20s at bar school in 2002, after coming home from a death row internship in Jamaica, I started to get sick. Having never been ill, I developed full blown ME/CFS and had to drop out and return to live with my parents. It lasted over 7 years.
__

My health fluctuated at first. I managed to go back to Jamaica + secure pupillage in 2004 @7BRchambers, but it turns out that isn’t the best treatment for full blown CFS. So I had a huge relapse, + between 2004 and 2007 could only live at home + go for a walk for 20 mins a day.
__

The odds at this stage weren’t on me becoming a barrister. A 20 min walk a day and then going to bed doesn’t really cut it in most courts. This was annoying, I was desperate to be a barrister. My legal heroes were Ed Fitzgerald KC and Keir Starmer @DoughtyStPublic.
__

I thought, + still think, that along with the @DeathPenaltyP, stopping the use of the death penalty, in whole areas of the world, 100s off death rows using just your brain, FOR FREE, is a truly incredible thing to achieve.
Much more so than watching more4 +sweating at your mums
__

Anyway so around 2007 I was getting a bit better, couldn’t work, couldn’t redo bar school, but could go out once every couple of weeks or so to see mates. I met a girl
from New Zealand at the buffalo bar who also happened to be a solicitor. I saw her, casually, a couple of times
__

She had a mad strong NZ accent and was hilarious. One day she called me up and said ‘James I’m coming to Harrow for a widding with my work frinds. It’s a Hindu widding with a big break. You live there is thir much to do?’ The answer to that q, if you’re wondering is no
__

So I offered to pick her and her frinds up in my mum’s car and drive them to the only decent pub in Harrow, the case is altered, which has a view, + take them back to the widding. I got to the station + she + her friend Victoria get in the car + a lad in the back.

This is Keir
__

… she says.

I knew who it was.

I was very nervous. Driving my legal hero round in my mum’s car aged 28, not a great look. Anyway we all go to the pub. Potential v awkward so you’re seeing this girl but live at your mum’s chat. So I just blurt out I know who you are I worked
__

For Saul and Parvais in Jamaica. Proper ice breaker. Nice enough chat. He asks a lot about my illness and how I am. Men don’t generally do that. So you notice. I was hoping I could still qualify in a couple of years. About to leave he says email me. So a few days later I do.
__

Classic barrister he doesn’t get back to me for months.

Then out of the blue he emails and says he has to do a speech, for an @ALBA_Members do on 7 years of the Human Rights Act. Do I want to help research it, he will pay me.

Mate you will what?
__

It’s hard to convey just how much Keir Starmer QC didn’t need to do this at the time. He was absolutely at the top of his game, the top human rights QC taking the top human rights cases against the government. He didn’t know me at all. No cv, hadn’t seen my grades. Nothing.
__

He used my work, gave me a co-writing credit, and invited me to inner -temple hall for the event. And he paid me, really quite well, for research from a random.
__

Only those who have had a chronic illness or had close friends or loved ones who have will know the shot of self-esteem that working with him and having my name on that paper gave me, at a time when I really didn’t think I would become a barrister, or really work at all
__

It was an act of kindness.
__

I used to say when I was ill most young people are crap if you have a chronic illness. Why wouldn’t they be? They’ve never known illness. Every so often you’d meet someone + they would be interested. Ask how you were
__

It was never the people you expected it to be. they always turned out to have been around loved ones who had been ill, or to have been ill themselves.

I didn’t work for Keir again, but it made a real difference to me, at a very low point in my life. I won’t forget it.
__

Disclosure: I’ve told this story once before, at an early Kentish Town labour event where his local nomination was voted on. I did so in response to claims he’s a blairite, or lacking personality, or whatever it was. I later left the party to to the greens…
__

over anti-semitism. I haven’t gone back. I prob will at some stage, it’s a natural home for me.

But it occurs to me that now might be a helpful moment for the people who have got this far without falling asleep, to know about the kindness, in this small case, of Keir Starmer.

[Jiminy Cricket]

Spoiler

[close]

God dammit.  

[Jiminy Cricket]

Yup. It's called "Wifi" these days.

You young'uns, with your newfangled contrivances and ungodly ways.

[glewis93]

It seems the attack on PIP payments that the DWP were going to push through is likely dead in the water due to the election call, which would be fantastic news for people or family members /friends who are suffering with disability and have had to go through the shameful process just to get some financial support.

The first stage to bring down the PIP bill is to actually fund the NHS to provide treatment in reasonable timeframes, rather than just taking money from the most vulnerable.

[Red-Soldier]

It seems the attack on PIP payments that the DWP were going to push through is likely dead in the water due to the election call, which would be fantastic news for people or family members /friends who are suffering with disability and have had to go through the shameful process just to get some financial support.

The first stage to bring down the PIP bill is to actually fund the NHS to provide treatment in reasonable timeframes, rather than just taking money from the most vulnerable.

It would've been interesting if Labour would have stuck to the plans.  Kendall isn't exactly known, for her progressive views.

[oldfordie]

Corbyn to stand as an independent.

I originally thought he would be certain to stand then started having second thoughts. it puts a lot of his supporters in a position as they will be kicked out the Labour party if they campaign for him, obviously left it up to the individual to decide.
Ive never questioned Corbyns enthusiasm as a local representative, many of the left make good local representatives as they love the fight, that's not a criticism, I see it as a asset. it's his ability at National level that's been so disastaterous for the Labour party and the left.

The idea that all Left wingers love Corbyn is false, many are furious with him for throwing away the biggest opportunity they have had to show they deserve power, this was all down to his own personal opinions which were passed off as principles, that pissed me off,  he was praised for standing up for his principles when they were just nutty old fashioned views from decades ago, the world had moved on.
 He was completely out of his depth at National level, he actually said we should look forward to getting back to everyday politics a few days after the referendum. he had no idea of what was coming.  all  the opportunity's for his big speeches on fighting the Torys on poverty etc evaporated after the referendum. they were all put to the back of the debates as Brexit took over for the following few years, it dominated his whole period as leader,  all that could have been avoided with a bit of foresight, it destroyed the lefts credibility to lead Labour, all down to his own personal opinions. I always look for foresight in a Labour leader, someone intelligent who sees serious problems ahead and deals with it, Corbyn had zero foresight which ruled him out as a national leader, local representative, yep, national, no way, he set the Labour party back for years and destroyed the lefts credibilty to take power for many years to come.

[kopite77]

It would've been interesting if Labour would have stuck to the plans.  Kendall isn't exactly known, for her progressive views.

Kendall is Iain Duncan Smith in a wig, both physically and Politically!

[TSC]

It seems the attack on PIP payments that the DWP were going to push through is likely dead in the water due to the election call, which would be fantastic news for people or family members /friends who are suffering with disability and have had to go through the shameful process just to get some financial support.

The first stage to bring down the PIP bill is to actually fund the NHS to provide treatment in reasonable timeframes, rather than just taking money from the most vulnerable.

Apparently bills being rushed through had to pass the following in order

1. Tory party would support said bill
2.  Labour Party would support said bill

So bills that failed on one or both of the above are binned for now

[TheShanklyGates]

Hope all the Refuck voters turn out for them on the 6th of July

[Dr. Beaker]

If you read the letters his ex wife wrote to the local newspaper…. It’s quite something.
What’s the point in having all the brain power and not realising that being a vile c*nt is unproductive?

Oh the BBC will probably give him a series about train journeys or something. Birkenau Probaby.

[kopite77]

Hope all the Refuck voters turn out for them on the 6th of July

And Fartrage won’t be ready until the New Year after the US election, they’re really pulling out all the stops aren’t they?!😂

[RedDeadRejection]

The best Tory politicians are unemployed Tory politicians.

Unemployed and bankrupt. Financially bankrupt obviously. They're already morally so

[Libertine]

[Yorkykopite]

Hope all the Refuck voters turn out for them on the 6th of July

How many of their candidates will be forced to stand down before election day? All those old racist tweets coming to the fore. All those photos with Nick Griffin and Yaxley-Lennon. All those 'Hitler did some good things' comments that will resurface. I'd say at least a quarter of them are vulnerable to this kind of stuff

[thaddeus]

I wasn't particularly politically engaged when Blair romped home in 1997 so didn't realise he'd had such a commanding lead in the polls for such a long time.  A 20+ point lead for well over three years.

It's hard to know if his (relative) charisma would have led to an even bigger lead than Starmer is currently enjoying or if both equally benefitted from a public utterly fed up with Tory rule.

[Lisan Al Gaib]

In today's what did Rishi Sunak inexplicably do we have him holding a campaign event at the Titanic quarter where a journalist asked him if he was captaining a singing ship

[kavah]

Same here. I tracked it down:

https://nitter.poast.org/jimrobottom/status/1793727207732613549?cursor=EwAAAPAEHBkW2IDeiZ7ZzOQxJQISFQQAAA#r


Jim Robottom
@jimrobottom
15h
I wondered whether I would do this, when the time came. But there don’t seem to be many tales of him as a person going round. And, for reasons that will become apparent, I’ll always be grateful. So anyway here it is:
__

When I was in my early 20s at bar school in 2002, after coming home from a death row internship in Jamaica, I started to get sick. Having never been ill, I developed full blown ME/CFS and had to drop out and return to live with my parents. It lasted over 7 years. ...

Great story, thanks for tracking it down and posting - cheers

[TepidT2O]

The Tories hate Sumak.

Today, they’ve sent him to visit the Titanic quarter of Belfast

[PaulF]

The Tories hate Sumak.

Today, they’ve sent him to visit the Titanic quarter of Belfast

Rishi has a spread bet on how few seats he can win....

[Red Beret]

Rishi has a spread bet on how few seats he can win....

Does that make him guilty of insider trading?

[Lisan Al Gaib]

The Tories hate Sumak.

Today, they’ve sent him to visit the Titanic quarter of Belfast

They sent the press to the wrong location at first as well