I am just talking generally online really: Twitter, subreddits, fb, forums etc. Nothing official I know, but these are commonly encountered views.
Not Labour platforms then. It seems you are referring to ‘culture war’ propaganda generated by right wing interest groups. There is a sinister online program of deliberate disinformation, which certainly needs to be countered somehow. Not sure how though.
There was a very good opinion piece on line from The Guardian last week which outlined the number of times Sir Keir Starmer had lied about things or had done exactly the opposite to what his manifesto had promised. It started with the premise that he had initially supported many of the polocies advocated by Corbyn and then developed to explain how he was now contesting the very same ideas. The conclusion was that, despite his image, he was just as much of a liar as Johnson. The article seemed to suggest that there was little different between the two and that Starmer's track record for consistency was pretty poor. Interested to see the name Owen Jones mentioned earlier. I believe that he was actively supporting Corbyn in the articles and interviews he was doing but he appears to have disappeared more lately. The fact that he comes across as a sanctomonious , spoilt and from a solidly middle class background does not help his profile and maybe he is someone for whom ordinary working class people struggle to relate. Still, I have heard him make some salient points about how dangerous some of the views by senior Tories are and why we should be concerned. I think he is probably the wrong person to deliver this message and unfortunately just ends up being a figure of ridicule for the Right whilst failing to chime at all with the people whose interests he proclaims to represent. What this country really needs is someone like Jack Monroe in charge. She is the polar opposite to someone like Jones and is, if you like, an "authentic" voice. There was a documentary about her on Radio 4 the other Saturday evening when I was coming home from the British Museum and both supporters and detractors were complimentary in the way that she had dealt with presenting her arguments which were typically well researched. It was suggested that she was a formidable opponent and that the way she had set about mismantling any case presented by her oppositions effectively made her a wily political figure. Effectively, the way she tackle issues such as poverty is effectively what the Labour politicians should be doing.
I don’t think Jack Monroe particularly enjoys the limelight. Her cook books are good and we put to good use when we needed to be frugal! Think we’re talking about the same Jack.
There is more to her than cook books, tough! The documentary outlined the festidious way in which she had monitored the cost increases of basic staples and "economy" ranges and how this had actually prompted supermarkets to respond to the criticism. Basically , the programme was making the point that she does not make statements without establishing that her facts are correct first and how political components had struggled to contest the positions she was arguing due to the fact that her research was so thorough. A marked contrast to Rishi.....
The “very good opinion piece “ you are referring to is the very Owen Jones smear pieces I was referring to and a prime example of the left being determined to destroy itself with purity tests rather than trying to win Nothing about it was very good. It is a golden example of taking a shotgun, pointing it squarely at your own foot and pulling the trigger. And then spending the next several years in hospital complaining about why you have no foot and how much pain you are in Owen Jones seemingly actively blocks anyone who tries to debate, argue or criticise him on twitter. Which much take ages. Seems to be blocking by the thousands. Which is just creating a nice echo chamber of opinion. Which probably explains how he ends up writing that ridiculous article on Starmer One of his recent gambits certainly seemed to be trying to dox / bully the teenage girl who got bullied out of her school by her peers for questioning the trans ideology being taught. She had already been forced out of her school and Jones wanted to join the pile on for reasons that I cannot fathom I’m not going to say everything he says is nonsense but he is going off the deep end in the other direction to what is usually referred to when people talk about people going off the deep end and probably isn’t far off full on crackpot status. I’d guess that is why he isn’t quite so visible at the moment
Political parties are broad churches - by nature they have to appeal to enough people to vote them in - the problem on the Labour side is some would rather have an ideologically pure party rather than a real opportunity to do the change, and on the Conservative side there is the opposite, where they sell themselves to multiple interest groups/businesses/business owners to get into power.
Yes there are many in the conservative with no principles or political convictions at all (Johnson and Truss to name two) and will do whatever it takes for power. Similar with the voters who will hold their noses and do anything to stop labour getting in (and it is usually as simple as that) That doesn’t seem to be the case for Labour who will torpedo people at a moments notice. Same for the US Dems. It is far more prevalent among the voters and “supporters”. So many progressives don’t get that you need to win power by appealing to the majority and gradually shift the Overton window
Pretty much spot on. I have said it on here numerous times that my political views are probably right of centre, but I have (and will again ) vote labour for the reasons above. I am not religious about it (ie I am a Tory and that is that), I suppose, I am your archetypal floating voter.
Bloody Brexit. Just bought an Oura Ring that comes from the Netherlands for $299 (paid in £ about 250). DHL delivering tomorrow but want £56 VAT and customs.
Works both ways, some suppliers won't send to EU, their product becomes too expensive together with the possible slip ups in documentation. What a ****ing triumph! © Vin
Not related to culture war at all, just opinions of Labour supporters that seem to be quite openly discussed re internal party politics.
Agree. In my opinion, neither party has any political conviction or principles. The Labour Party doesn’t stand for anything anymore. It’s been evident for decades that socialism isn’t appealing to the British population. Time and again socialism has been voted away. No one wants higher taxes and woke ideology. Yet half the party abuse starmer instead of backing him because he isn’t socialist. They need to clean house. Back starmer or **** off. The Conservative party is no longer conservative. They are willing to lie, steal and cheat at the expense of the nation. I have no idea what principles they stand for, other than whatever their donors tell them. The carelessness with which these people handle every aspect of society, from the NHS to monetary/fiscal policy is an absolute disgrace. Who represents families and the hard working people of this country that make it what it is? Nobody.
The issue, for me, with socialism isn’t that it doesn’t work or isn’t accepted by the public but with the way it is misrepresented to the public. If the public truly understood what socialism included, and it wasn’t simply explained to them as meaning “higher taxes and woke ideology”, which is quite often the tactics of the media and the Conservative party, they might be prepared to give it more of a chance. If the public were asked to name things that make them proud to be British, I would expect a majority to rate the NHS, Social Care, Social Housing, free school education and the Welfare State very highly, yet many of those people probably don’t realise that they are built on Socialist principles, simply because they don’t understand what socialism entails. The fact that the Tory party continues to underfund all of the above, in order to minimise the effectiveness of socialism, is a deliberate attempt to distract from the fact that socialism can and does work when properly funded. Equally, the privatisation of so many businesses, previously owned by the country, was just another mission by the Tories to undermine the benefits of socialism. You only need to look at the profits and share issues being made by companies that were previously nationalised, to see how much money has been “stolen” from the country by conservative capitalism. Yes some of those businesses weren’t being run effectively but how much of that was down to interference and underfunding, the prime weapons used by the Tories to convince people that some things aren’t working, so let’s sell it to our mates.
Reference the price of petrol and diesel. In Spain they are giving back, to drivers, 20c per litre to help with costs. It doesn’t show on the price on the pump, but the reduction shows on the receipt, so you know you are paying a reduced price. In the UK the government reduced the fuel duty by 5p a litre (something they crow about) but they admit not knowing if the reduction was passed on by all filling stations. 5p per litre is paltry, especially when you consider that pretty much 51% of petrol/diesel cost per litre goes to the government. (34.9% fuel duty 16% VAT) In the last 12 months, according to the AA, fuel has gone up by 50p a litre, of which the government’s cut, of that increase, is 25.5p!!!!!! And they give drivers a measly 5p per litre rebate and expect them to praise them and be grateful. Their decision not to do more is totally unacceptable.
