Enjoy the Election year

[BillyStubbsTears]

This is what it's going to be like.

https://twitter.com/MrHarryCole/status/1744626328639246362

This sort of shit throwing by a shit rag that supports this abomination of a Government without question.

The facts are (yeah...I know...it's The Sun) that Starmer was working to try to prevent death penalties being carried out in Commonwealth countries.

That's the death penalty that the UK Parliament, including the Tory party, has consistently been against for over 50 years. The death penalty that the Commons overwhelmingly voted against even when Thatcher had a 144 seat majority.

Of course, what do you expect from a shit rag like the Sun?

[SydneyRover]

Adam Schwarz

''Name one criminal defence barrister in the history of the English legal system who hasn’t represented terrible people.

Starmer “saved” these people from the death penalty, not from justice.

These articles reflect on The Sun’s desperation, not Starmer’s morality or integrity''


well said that man

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

It's part of the cut and thrust nature of politics isn't it? Well that's what labour would argue isn't it?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/07/labour-defends-ad-claiming-sunak-doesnt-think-child-sex-abusers-should-be-jailed

[ncRover]

Will this be history made and in being the first election The Sun have failed to gauge the tide of public opinion and momentum correctly in backing the wrong candidate?

https://x.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1744716508570550695?s=46

Trust in The Sun is -80 amongst the left and -50 on the right. The lowest net trust of all UK media outlets.

I think the people who genuinely believe this stuff such as “Starmer let Jimmy Saville off the hook” aren’t going to vote Rishi anyway.

It will be interesting to see the line of attack from the Conservatives though.

They can’t appeal to voters on classic conservative issues such as the economy and immigration because they’ve overseen that for the last 13 years.

Like I’ve said before, immigration isn’t even a main concern for most people. And they can’t even take the fiscally responsible angle because of the amount they’ve spent too.

If they take the angle that Kier is a flip-flopper it’s like, well… What do you actually stand for then?

Starmer isn’t going to be bullied like Corbyn or Miliband either.

Rishi isn’t the force of personality that Johnson was either.

[SydneyRover]

It's part of the cut and thrust nature of politics isn't it? Well that's what labour would argue isn't it?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/07/labour-defends-ad-claiming-sunak-doesnt-think-child-sex-abusers-should-be-jailed

I haven't seen your list of successes from the previous 14 years yet, holding back for impact pud?

''More than 1 million people in England died prematurely in the decade after 2011 owing to a combination of poverty, austerity and Covid, according to “shocking” research by one of the UK’s leading public health experts.

The figures are revealed in a study by the Institute of Health Equity at University College London led by Sir Michael Marmot. They demonstrate the extent to which stark economic and social inequalities are leading to poorer people dying early from cancer, heart problems and other diseases.

Using Office for National Statistics figures, the report’s author, Prof Peter Goldblatt, looked at the life expectancy of people across England who do not live in the wealthiest 10% of areas.

The report, titled Health Inequalities, Lives Cut Short, found that between 2011 and 2019, 1,062,334 people died earlier than they would have done if they lived in areas where the richest 10% of the population reside. A further 151,615 premature deaths were recorded in 2020, although this number was higher than expected because of the coronavirus pandemic''

https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2024/jan/08/england-deaths-inequality-poverty-austerity-covid-study-public-health#:~:text=More%20than%201%20million%20people,UK's%20leading%20public%20health%20experts.

[BillyStubbsTears]

It's part of the cut and thrust nature of politics isn't it? Well that's what labour would argue isn't it?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/07/labour-defends-ad-claiming-sunak-doesnt-think-child-sex-abusers-should-be-jailed

I said at the time that was a disgusting advert.

[ncRover]

Billy, would you:

Vote for a Conservative Party led by Starmer with all his ideas implemented

Or

Vote for a Labour Party led by Corbyn?

[BillyStubbsTears]

NC.

That's a totally pointless question if you don't mind me saying so.

The names of the parties don't mean anything.

If a party implemented all Labour's current policies, you could call them the Absolutely Not Labour No Never Ever party. But they'd still effectively be the current Labour party.

So perhaps the real question is, would I prefer Starmer's Labour party or Corbyn's. Which would be a very good question.

Answer is Starmer's, because they have a chance of winning power that Corbyn never had, despite the usual mythology on the Left that they would have won if only it wasn't for you pesky...(insert whatever you don't like).

But it's more nuanced than that.

I always said I strongly supported Corbyn's domestic economic agenda and I absolutely prefer that to Starmer's timidity.

But Corbyn's foreign and defence policy was somewhere between naively stupid and actively dangerous. There's no question that Labour are much more robust on that topic now.

I said loudly at the time that 2019 was the very worst choice of PM ever. A choice between a lying narcissist who was in hock to Russian money. And a student union fellow traveller who wanted the demise of the West.

Awful, awful choice and I hope to god we never go there again.

[selby]

  Any extension of world wide hostilities ( yes I know and hope little chance of It, but hey what do we know) their could be no election this year and  a coalition government put in place.
 I will leave it to others to decide who would lead and make up the main characters in that case, could be a quite funny bringing back Boris, well he thinks he is like Churchill not me.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Aye. Because Johnson led us flawlessly through the last global crisis didn't he?

We'd be better off exhuming Churchill's corpse and putting it in charge.

[belton rover]

It's part of the cut and thrust nature of politics isn't it? Well that's what labour would argue isn't it?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/07/labour-defends-ad-claiming-sunak-doesnt-think-child-sex-abusers-should-be-jailed

I said at the time that was a disgusting advert.

The point is that the shit throwing won’t be one way, and never has been.
It’s good to know you will equally condemn both sides for what we are about to see.

[Donnywolf]

Aye. Because Johnson led us flawlessly through the last global crisis didn't he?

We'd be better off exhuming Churchill's corpse and putting it in charge.

Yes after all they both have had lots of practice in lying albeit in Churchills case in a prone position

[Colin C No.3]

Power.

THAT, is what all parties are 'chasing' at a General Election. It's ultimately of course how they use or indeed abuse that power once they are given the mandate to govern by the British electorate.

We have had 16+ years of a government that has ultimately failed the country miserably, as a landslide victory later this year for a Labour government will show. Let us hope that this new government governs for ALL the people & let's hope we will see an end to appointments made to members of any 'Old Pals Club' but to people who will become Ministers that will understand & appreciate the enormity of the position they have been entrusted to oversee & will implement the policies within their remits to the absolute best of their abilities.

Or am I being naive.

[drfchound]

Power.

THAT, is what all parties are 'chasing' at a General Election. It's ultimately of course how they use or indeed abuse that power once they are given the mandate to govern by the British electorate.

We have had 16+ years of a government that has ultimately failed the country miserably, as a landslide victory later this year for a Labour government will show. Let us hope that this new government governs for ALL the people & let's hope we will see an end to appointments made to members of any 'Old Pals Club' but to people who will become Ministers that will understand & appreciate the enormity of the position they have been entrusted to oversee & will implement the policies within their remits to the absolute best of their abilities.

Or am I being naive.

CC3, I also hope that what you are hoping for comes to fruition but I think that we may both be being naive to think that it will happen.

[BillyStubbsTears]

It's part of the cut and thrust nature of politics isn't it? Well that's what labour would argue isn't it?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/07/labour-defends-ad-claiming-sunak-doesnt-think-child-sex-abusers-should-be-jailed

I said at the time that was a disgusting advert.

The point is that the shit throwing won’t be one way, and never has been.
It’s good to know you will equally condemn both sides for what we are about to see.

And you might recall that when Labour published that poster last year, many Labour supporters expressed their disgust at it, and even Labour front benchers distanced themselves from it.

It was wrong. It was nasty and unpleasant. And it hasn't happened since.

If the Tories respond in the same way when their side publishes wrong, nasty and demeaning attacks, I'll be delighted.

[belton rover]

It's part of the cut and thrust nature of politics isn't it? Well that's what labour would argue isn't it?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/07/labour-defends-ad-claiming-sunak-doesnt-think-child-sex-abusers-should-be-jailed

I said at the time that was a disgusting advert.

The point is that the shit throwing won’t be one way, and never has been.
It’s good to know you will equally condemn both sides for what we are about to see.

And you might recall that when Labour published that poster last year, many Labour supporters expressed their disgust at it, and even Labour front benchers distanced themselves from it.

It was wrong. It was nasty and unpleasant. And it hasn't happened since.

If the Tories respond in the same way when their side publishes wrong, nasty and demeaning attacks, I'll be delighted.

Did Starmer? The leader of the Labour Party. Probably the next leader of our country.
As you often say, the buck stops (or doesn’t) at the top.

[belton rover]

It's part of the cut and thrust nature of politics isn't it? Well that's what labour would argue isn't it?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/07/labour-defends-ad-claiming-sunak-doesnt-think-child-sex-abusers-should-be-jailed

I said at the time that was a disgusting advert.

The point is that the shit throwing won’t be one way, and never has been.
It’s good to know you will equally condemn both sides for what we are about to see.

And you might recall that when Labour published that poster last year, many Labour supporters expressed their disgust at it, and even Labour front benchers distanced themselves from it.

It was wrong. It was nasty and unpleasant. And it hasn't happened since.

If the Tories respond in the same way when their side publishes wrong, nasty and demeaning attacks, I'll be delighted.

Did Starmer? The leader of the Labour Party. Probably the next leader of our country.
As you often say, the buck stops (or doesn’t) at the top.

And, not forgetting, this was direct from the party, not from a tabloid.

[BillyStubbsTears]

No. He didn't.

Which was a mistake in my opinion and I believe I said so at the time.

And yes, it was from the Labour office. And it was categorically unacceptable.

Would you like to have a bet that we don't see anything remotely as bad as that again from Labour this year?

[belton rover]

No. I have no idea what they are capable of.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Well then, let's agree to look back after the event, ok? I'll nail my colours to the mast and predict that there will be no repeat of anything like that poster, precisely because there was so much anger and revulsion against it from within the party.

If I'm wrong, you're at liberty to point it out.

[belton rover]

Agreed. And I’ll nail my colours on both sides throwing shit.
Likewise, you are at liberty to point it outaftewards too.
So can we agree not to comment on any shit throwing until after the election?