New Tory Leader

[Rock The Boat 1,332]

24 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

Have you ever been to the part of England. In that area, Labour is what pregnant women go into and that is all. Wakefield will not be voting for anyone but Labour at the by election.

You could make the same argument about Putney, a wealthy middle class area that switched from Tory to Labour at the last election. There is a trend for wealthy metropolitan areas to switch away from Conservatives to greener more activist parties, so there is plenty of scope for Labour to make inroads into these type of typical Tory areas. But when it comes to voting for anyone but the Tories there are several parties from which to choose and the results of that local council by-election suggests it is not just going to the libdems but drifting away from Labour at the same time. It may partly be tactical voting with libdems offering the best non-tory option, but my bet is that it is mainly a protest vote against partygate. 

[BroadstairsR 2,226]

The field is barren.

I quite like Starmer especially as he gained more credit points with his Desert Island Discs performance. He lacks that something, and it is difficult to discern just what it is. He would make an excellent Home Secretary.

Apparently, the alternative is Angela "bovver boots" Reyner. It gets much worse.

As for the Tories, why on earth didn't "Call me Tony " ever find the time to ban Bullingdon Boys from ever going near Downing Street.

Bullshine Boris seems to have become the most unpopular incumbent ever of the lofty office he feels he was destined for.

Rory Stewart is my fav. Brainbox, and his precise demolition of the "leave" argument almost made me change my vote. Almost.

However, he has left politics.

It looks like it could be the final chance of high office for Greasy Gove, there might well be worse. Boris has served his purpose. 

Edited April 15, 2022 by BroadstairsR

[A Load of Squit 5,238]

40 minutes ago, Rock The Boat said:

You could make the same argument about Putney, a wealthy middle class area that switched from Tory to Labour at the last election. There is a trend for wealthy metropolitan areas to switch away from Conservatives to greener more activist parties, so there is plenty of scope for Labour to make inroads into these type of typical Tory areas. But when it comes to voting for anyone but the Tories there are several parties from which to choose and the results of that local council by-election suggests it is not just going to the libdems but drifting away from Labour at the same time. It may partly be tactical voting with libdems offering the best non-tory option, but my bet is that it is mainly a protest vote against partygate. 

No-one had the opportunity to vote Labour as they were not on the ballot.

 

Edited April 15, 2022 by A Load of Squit

[Creative Midfielder 2,004]

39 minutes ago, Rock The Boat said:

These numbers show why Labour will still lose the next GE and the Conservatives will win. 

The local elections provide a massive opportunity to protest vote without doing much damage. And that is exactly what happened. The protest vote went to the libdems, not to Labour, who still are not trusted to form a government of any sort. The Labour vote even went down  Come the GE and the majority of the protest vote will return home and the Conservatives will return, though probably without the landslide of last time. 

Even I am likely to vote libdem at the local elections as they are good at doing stuff at the local level, but will return to stopping Labour get in at the GE. 

That sounds like pretty desperate straw clutching to me - it seems pretty obvious to almost everyone, apart from possibly you, that we've been seeing a pretty consistent pattern in both local and Parliamentary by-elections of a very significant increase in tactical voting in order to get rid of this malign government.

In an election in Surrey, as in much of the South, the tactical votes were always going to go to the Lib Dems but in some other parts of the country they will go to Labour and indeed to the Nationlist parties.

I've been saying for a long while now that I would like to see the progressive parties working together, whether formally or informally, as that would practically guarantee the decimation of the Tories at the next GE. The current approach of relying on the electorate to vote tactically, whilst it may well be successful, certainly doesn't provide any guarantee that this most incompetent and corrupt government will get the kicking it so richly deserves.

[Herman 9,857]

41 minutes ago, Creative Midfielder said:

That sounds like pretty desperate straw clutching to me - it seems pretty obvious to almost everyone, apart from possibly you, that we've been seeing a pretty consistent pattern in both local and Parliamentary by-elections of a very significant increase in tactical voting in order to get rid of this malign government.

In an election in Surrey, as in much of the South, the tactical votes were always going to go to the Lib Dems but in some other parts of the country they will go to Labour and indeed to the Nationlist parties.

I've been saying for a long while now that I would like to see the progressive parties working together, whether formally or informally, as that would practically guarantee the decimation of the Tories at the next GE. The current approach of relying on the electorate to vote tactically, whilst it may well be successful, certainly doesn't provide any guarantee that this most incompetent and corrupt government will get the kicking it so richly deserves.

There was unofficial talk of agreements between some parties and using the locals as experiments to see what works. How far these talks went is anyone's guess but I hope some sense will prevail. Or we won't.😉

[horsefly 4,324]

22 hours ago, Virtual reality said:

Sounds like you’ve got a problem with the country of Rwanda? Hope this helps

https://www.visitrwanda.com

It must be a great country full of happy citizens; in the last election 98.8% of the vote went to their leader Kagame. 

[Rock The Boat 1,332]

5 hours ago, Creative Midfielder said:

That sounds like pretty desperate straw clutching to me - it seems pretty obvious to almost everyone, apart from possibly you, that we've been seeing a pretty consistent pattern in both local and Parliamentary by-elections of a very significant increase in tactical voting in order to get rid of this malign government.

In an election in Surrey, as in much of the South, the tactical votes were always going to go to the Lib Dems but in some other parts of the country they will go to Labour and indeed to the Nationlist parties.

I've been saying for a long while now that I would like to see the progressive parties working together, whether formally or informally, as that would practically guarantee the decimation of the Tories at the next GE. The current approach of relying on the electorate to vote tactically, whilst it may well be successful, certainly doesn't provide any guarantee that this most incompetent and corrupt government will get the kicking it so richly deserves.

I did say that part of the vote is tactical on the non-Tory side, and I sad that has to be a concern for Labour that voters are choosing parties such as libdems of Greens for their non-Tory vote, as spitting the vote across several non-Tory parties works to the Conservative advantage. What would really worry Boris is if the anti-Tory vote coalesced around Labour. And the bye-elections since the last GE shows that isn't happening. Throw in the fact that voters can have a free protest vote in the upcoming May elections will also muddy the picture somewhat, but as we get closer to a general election that protest vote will return to its usual home. Johnson will get a slap on the wrist in May for Partygate but then it will disappear into a footnote of the history of Covid. What the economy is doing in two years time will decide the next general election result.

[Yellow Fever 3,850]

Wow - This cartoon (Guardian) is extremely apt and hard hitting for those of a certain age that are best described as the Tory party at Prayer crowd.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2022/apr/15/martin-rowson-on-the-impenitent-thief-cartoon

 

[Well b back 3,309]

10 hours ago, Rock The Boat said:

These numbers show why Labour will still lose the next GE and the Conservatives will win. 

The local elections provide a massive opportunity to protest vote without doing much damage. And that is exactly what happened. The protest vote went to the libdems, not to Labour, who still are not trusted to form a government of any sort. The Labour vote even went down  Come the GE and the majority of the protest vote will return home and the Conservatives will return, though probably without the landslide of last time. 

Even I am likely to vote libdem at the local elections as they are good at doing stuff at the local level, but will return to stopping Labour get in at the GE. 

Lol

Labour didn’t put up a candidate.

If every constituency agreed in a general election and that election was now, to put up one combined candidate against a Tory you would see a lot of similar results. After voting Tory all my life, in last years locals I wasted my vote ( in this area ) by voting Green and not voting tactically. In these next elections ( and if Johnson or similar is in charge at the time of a general election ) I will not just vote tactically to try to remove the Tory, I would also try to convince others to do the same. 
I think the Tory party are currently under estimating the number of people like me who will not vote Tory whilst a racist liar is in charge.

 

[Herman 9,857]

I think this may be the perfect picture for any campaign leaflets.

[Herman 9,857]

 

[Yellow Fever 3,850]

On 15/04/2022 at 21:37, Yellow Fever said:

Wow - This cartoon (Guardian) is extremely apt and hard hitting for those of a certain age that are best described as the Tory party at Prayer crowd.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2022/apr/15/martin-rowson-on-the-impenitent-thief-cartoon

 

Looks like the Arch Bishop got the message.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

8 minutes ago, Yellow Fever said:

Looks like the Arch Bishop got the message.

Didn't the impenintent thief eventually ask for mercy? Perhaps we are all on the same cross.

[A Load of Squit 5,238]

Andrew Bridgen goes all out to beat Johnson to the 'Tory of the Year' award.

https://twitter.com/search?q="Andrew Bridgen"&src=trend_click&vertical=trends

 

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

3 hours ago, A Load of Squit said:

Andrew Bridgen goes all out to beat Johnson to the 'Tory of the Year' award.

https://twitter.com/search?q="Andrew Bridgen"&src=trend_click&vertical=trends

 

Just like the song Doing what comes naturally.

[A Load of Squit 5,238]

Quite a couple of quotes from different sources.

At the start of last week the Conservative party included a child molester, a serial adulterer and compulsive liar, a morally bankrupt financial whiz-kid and a bully who sends immigrants to Rwanda. 

And this from crossbench peer.

He then read out the diary entry on the radio. It said: “Tuesday 12 April 2022 will be forever remembered as a dark bleak day for British public and political life.

“It is the day Boris Johnson became the great debaser in modern times of decency in public and political life and of our constitutional conventions - our very system of government.

“The moment was captured on film for ever. Just after 6pm Johnson in a panelled room at Chequers, clutching a prepared statement which he reads to the cameras for Vicky Young of the BBC.”

Lord Hennessy wrote in his diary that after the PM claimed to be speaking in a “spirit of openness and humility”, “if there were **** on the Chequers estate, they would have crowed at their very loudest at this point as the Prime Minister sealed his place in British history as the first law-breaker to occupy the premiership - an office he has sullied like no other, turning it into an adventure playground for one man’s narcissistic vanity.

“Boris Johnson has broken the law, misled Parliament, and has in effect shredded the Ministerial Code which is a crucial part of the spinal cord of the constitution.

“And the great weakness of the system is that the Prime Minister, the wrong-un in chief, is the guardian of the code and with it the supposed protector of accountability and decency.

“The Queen’s First Minister is now beyond doubt a rogue Prime Minister, unworthy of her, her Parliament, her people and her Kingdom.

“I cannot remember a day when I’ve been more fearful for the wellbeing of the constitution.”

 

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Tuesday may well be a turning point. He dodged PMQs this week by refusing to recall Parliament even though he had mooted he would recall it to discuss Ukraine.

I'm sure someone will bring up about Asquith and Chamberlain being ousted at war time. And wars that we were actually involved in rather than supplying weapons (didn't we accuse the Yanks in 1940?) and filling the coffers with stolen money.

[canarydan23 4,125]

Remember kids, Corbyn would have been MUCH worse.

[ricardo 7,444]

1 hour ago, keelansgrandad said:

Tuesday may well be a turning point. He dodged PMQs this week by refusing to recall Parliament even though he had mooted he would recall it to discuss Ukraine.

I'm sure someone will bring up about Asquith and Chamberlain being ousted at war time. And wars that we were actually involved in rather than supplying weapons (didn't we accuse the Yanks in 1940?) and filling the coffers with stolen money.

He's dodging next week too.

Off to India to discuss a new economic relationship.😉

[PurpleCanary 5,601]

2 hours ago, keelansgrandad said:

Tuesday may well be a turning point. He dodged PMQs this week by refusing to recall Parliament even though he had mooted he would recall it to discuss Ukraine.

I'm sure someone will bring up about Asquith and Chamberlain being ousted at war time. And wars that we were actually involved in rather than supplying weapons (didn't we accuse the Yanks in 1940?) and filling the coffers with stolen money.

If a picture is worth a thousand words then 300 pictures will equate to a political death sentence. Or would in normal times. But today's Tory party (as with what used to be the Republican party in the US) exists in some alternative universe where the old rules -  a rough if sometimes flexible adherence to a kind of moral code and a general understanding that while being economical with the truth is OK outright and perpetual lying is not - have ceased to apply.

[TheGunnShow 6,089]

On 14/04/2022 at 17:00, Virtual reality said:

Rated as the 9th safest country in the world according to that website. Where would you rather be? 9th safest country in the world or knife crime ridden London? 

One stat on its own doesn't tell you much of a story. Yes, there is relatively little crime in Rwanda. However, Paul Kigame, the Rwandan president, has become a somewhat criticised figure after initially doing admirable work in turning the country around after the genocide. It may be safe and clean, but it's still very impoverished and pretty much a dictatorship.

Maybe Rwanda is Johnson et al's role model for shutting down media / journalistic enquiry?

20 years after genocide, Rwanda safe, clean, undemocratic - Committee to Protect Journalists (cpj.org)

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

16 hours ago, ricardo said:

He's dodging next week too.

Off to India to discuss a new economic relationship.😉

But isn't that Thursday? Or will he have to pack on Wednesday?

[ricardo 7,444]

29 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

But isn't that Thursday? Or will he have to pack on Wednesday?

Last minute shopping probably.

[dj11 378]

58 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

But isn't that Thursday? Or will he have to pack on Wednesday?

Probably wants to spend some time in duty free. 

[Daz Sparks 1,204]

19 hours ago, dj11 said:

Probably wants to spend some time in duty free. 

He's duty free alright.

[horsefly 4,324]

Starmer ripping Johnson a new one after that appalling contemptuous fatuous "apology". 

Edited April 19, 2022 by horsefly

[Indy 3,343]

He genuinely believes he’s Churchill! What a total waste of space using the poor Ukrainian war to deflect his utterly useless government, utterly corrupt and incompetent! Surely it’s about time his time is over, this guy will do anything to stay in power! Does that not sound like someone else we know?

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

The whole afternoon was a disgrace. Patel was hounded by all and sundry to say how much each individual case will cost when sending those seeking asylum to Rwanda but treated each question with disdain while at the same time glowing when for the sixth time at least, she was commended for doing something "to save lives".

Then when the idiot briefly lied to Parliament again, he was given plenty opportunity to bull about how Ukraine loves us.

Its not even worth getting angry about anymore. Its just so pathetic.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Of course, the IMF has just forecast that in 12 months time, ours will be the worst among G7 countries. Hope you are listening voters.

[horsefly 4,324]

I look forward to him trying this same defence when he gets his next fines. It will be a wee bit tougher trying to claim that a BYO bottle invitation with music and food could be mistaken as an everyday work meeting.