I'm dismayed at the thought of an election in December wrong in so many ways already posted. I want the WAB to be thoroughly scrutinised, amended to remove the "anomalies" passed by parliament subject to a referendum. Stay or go the result implemented (I'm assuming negotiations with the EU team run in parallel without any of the secrecy Johnson and his cronies hide behind). The possibility of a no deal exit has to be off the table ASAP.
You conveniently forgot about Wilson in 1974 and how he set about healing the country, after Heath tried to bullodoze the Miners' into submission.
I do think that you are in danger of over egging the pudding here. As far as I am concerned the war was a wrong decision although considerable mitigating factors can be put forward in Blair's defence. In all other aspects we had thirteen years of decent government with improvements in education and the NHS. I would be the first to admit that I dislike Corbyn, however if I thought that he could win I would be wholeheartedly behind him. However I am convinced that he is going to lose, and badly. In 2017 he was buoyed by Remainer votes. Due to his (at best) ambivalent attitude to Brexit that ship has not only sailed but lies with the fishes.
So if Boris thinks he has a good deal, why won’t he allow it to proceed through Parliament, subject to the appropriate scrutiny all new legislation receives? After all, it’s already been accepted for a second reading. So if the election isn’t about the Withdrawal Agreement, what is it about? I’m kidding, I know it’s all about Boris - it always is. Only a fool would make confident predictions about an election in current circumstances btw.
Name one mitigating factor. It was an illegal war, with no UNSC resolution backing it. The premise of WMD’s was false from the start, and 16 years later, no evidence of them was found. A maverick group of MI6 agents were believed and, despite other agencies telling him not to go, Blair’s hard-on for the war won through. I can’t speak for education under Blair, but I have several friends who were senior teachers who, in the end gave up due to the mindless SATS bureaucracy. It got worse under the Tories, but Blair didn’t help. And let’s never forget that Blair introduced tuition fees! As for the NHS, I worked in the NHS before, during, and after Blair, and the relentless drive towards privatisation, PFI’s, impossible targets, lack of resources, lowering morale, and increasing waiting lists continued seamlessly throughout. True, we had Agenda for Change, with parity of pay-grades between different professional and non-professional staff, but most staff ended up worse off and having to work night shifts for no extra pay. Your dislike of Corbyn, who is a decent, honest socialist (3 words which no one would use to describe Blair), masks the fact you have given up on the Labour Party, which is a great shame. As someone (apologies, can’t remember who) said the other day, Labour activists are fairly accustomed to being behind in the polls, but that’s never stopped them from campaigning. I do agree, however, that Corbyn’s stance on Brexit has been shamefully divisive. He honestly believes we would be better off leaving as long as the deal passed the 6 tests, but that ship has long sailed. There never will be a Labour deal now, so the only real choice for Labour is to unite around a People’s Vote, something which Swinson appears to have turned her back on now. That fact might even work in Labour’s favour.
Ok well I'm a fool. The one thing I am confident about is that Labour will return fewer MP's than in 2017. And I am willing, indeed happy, to consume any amount of humble pie if that forecast turns out to be wrong. Thngs can happen during a campaign it's true but this would require a massive upset, the only one at all possible is if Farage plays a blinder and brings Pfeffels share down into the 20's. He's a consummate politician, with the possible exception of Ian Blackford the most capable leader of any party. We can only put our trust in Nige!
This is something that really pisses me off. The amount of money being taken for parking at hospitals that is going to a private company and not entirely to the hospital. The amount that staff are paying is incredible and on top of the £3 million that patients and visitors are paying. https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/17997142.hospitals-southampton-make-3m-just-year-parking-charges/
I recently got stung with an £80 fine for overstaying by 10 minutes at an Outpatient appointment at the hospital I worked at for 36 years. None of that money went to the NHS. Before I retired I was paying £35 a month to the same company for the privilege of parking at my place of work. It stinks, big time.
I fear there will be a dreadful reckoning if the Tories win the next election. Socially, things are getting progressively worse in this country with a huge gulf between what a civilised country should be like, and the one we all live in. With a vicious Tory government, caring for little other than power and wealth, I truly fear for the future, especially for the less able and less fortunate amongst us. Is it so hard to expect to live in a society where children are brought up with decent values, where the elderly and infirm are cared for and valued as equally important as the next person? I have never understood how so many people in this country became so selfish, so greedy, so uncaring and so obsessed with money. This country is not what I thought it would be as I grew up and I feel desperately saddened that things have deteriorated to this state. Labour have to get its act together and present a manifesto that will energise people who want to live in a fair and socially dynamic society where the basic values of life don't revolve around power, money and corporate greed.
A nice little trap being set for Pfeffel in the proposed LD/SNP move for a vote on a GE on 9th December. By way of amendments 16/17 year olds could be enfranchised as well as EU citizens resident in the UK.
The young vote would be great for Labour, IMO, as Corbyn has really caught their attention over the years plus, as I said the other day, I think his manifesto will appeal to them.
Fair play to them if they can push that through, but I still think having an election in December is anti-democratic.
As, if it does happen, the election will be fought on brexit (much to my dismay as previous post) the WAB must be scrutinised if not in parliament then as part of the campaigns. Here's hoping the election is downstream. Oh and no deal off the table definitively in any circumstance.
I just hate how this election is going to be used as a mandate for loads of non brexit **** in a couple of years that so many people will not have voted about. A referendum would have been a much better way of doing it.
