Off Topic General Election

As an aside am I the only one who Starmer reminds him of Sam the American Eagle off the Muppets?

 

Yep, I know. Such shrieks are utterly ridiculous and infantile. You would have thought that Reform having a Muslim entreprenuer as their biggest donor would have put an end to such stupid shrieks. Fancy, caring about your own country, it's people, our safety, our values, and common sense, eh.

 

I am not an economist obviously, but i think successful taxation depends on the economy type and has to be adjusted to suit - the asset tax in Norway has had the opposite desired effect as HNW/UHNW families here are largely Norwegian and so have the bulk of their assets registered here - North Italy offered decent deals as have local tax rates, so all individuals had to do was relocate families and supposedly be out the country for 180 days a year, plus had the added effect of weakening the currency and reducing foreign investment. The UK is a different case because a different economy and wealthy non-doms were/are based there for different reasons. Ppl in Hackney who have become property millionaires aren´t leaving the UK.

It´s a complex issue, but I think each country has to adapt to suit. Actually, in some ways, I pay lower tax in Norway on income compared to the UK, once all the other UK costs are included, then once services are balanced in etc.

 

Everyone at the time thought it was a parody turns out it was a fly on the wall look at real life.

 

Don't thinks so TBH. Blair had the chance to bring in PR but didn't because he never thought the Tories would come back from the majority he held. Starmer will be the same and I will be amazed if he does anything beyond giving 16 year olds the vote. FPTP favours the big 2 parties - why would either of them change it? If Starmer and co bomb, then the Tories will make a much stronger showing next time - particularly if they get Reform on board and offer a united right wing alternative.

 

As Starmer’s definition of a working people was someone who uses public services and can’t write a cheque ( when was the last time you wrote a cheque?) in an emergency or who has less than £1,000 then nearly everyone on here is not a working person and could find there are a myriad of ways they are taxed without income tax going up.

 

You could be as it's widely accepted that Sam and Mick Mccarthy are the same person.

 

When did i say that?
You thought i meant medical operations?

Dumbass

 

Shouldn’t be surprised at the cynicism on here, but I am a bit. I’m sure not all politicians are the same, but if they are maybe it’s us that make them that way? When the press complain about everything, their readers (we) lap it up. No campaign succeeds by telling the voters that the problems we have aren’t solvable without complex value judgements, followed by time and money; and we won’t give politicians much of either, before we start complaining and the press picks up on it and amplifies it again. We have a biased and barely adequate press despite some pretty decent historic regulation. Social media is much less regulated and becomes an echo chamber. All the choices politicians make are a mixture of what they believe and what they think will make them popular enough to taste power. Being a politician being like being a football manager - very few get to leave while still popular. If we get a **** show from the next government then maybe they are all the same. TWT

 

It's not just him, from what I've seen I don't have much confidence that the team around him have got what it takes to deliver at the level they're going to need to.

I think they've been having a comfortable ride shouting 'not that' about policies from the wings, and they'll no doubt get a honeymoon period to find their feet in sorting out the mess they've inherited, but they can't hide for long.

 

I think the press have played a massive part in how things play out. They are fighting for their own relevance as social media is rapidly taking customers from them, and they've drifted from reporting the news to trying to be the news.

 

Isn't it 'literal nazi’?

Isn't this a bit victim blamingy? It's our fault politicians turn out the way they do?( I agree that there are a rare few with apparent integrity.)
What choices do MPs make when they vote according to party instructions?

 

Social media is well on its way to aiding the decline of society.

 

You've got my vote.

 

Brightened up with a bit of Hawk Tuah though.

 

And as for AI
https://x.com/RetroSolesUK/status/1808191602944352702?t=UhTiH9ZCVtibE4S29XlcIQ&s=19

 

That's the most interesting he has ever been.

 

I think I have a different definition of common sense, but I do agree with your last two points

 

I’m not voting. Not even registered to vote at my current address. If I was forced at gunpoint, I’d probably vote Labour but I can’t stand them for a myriad reasons. They’ll win with a huge majority anyway.

Immigration will be a major issue that the electorate will consider when voting again. Net migration from non-EU countries has skyrocketed since Brexit. The far/hard-right is rising in Europe. National Rally in France and AfD in Germany are gaining significant ground. Mainstream parties on the left, centre and right have underestimated the far-right’s growing appeal in Europe, especially among the youth.

What I will say is that support for the far-right in Denmark has dropped off massively in the last 10 years and it’s because the mainstream parties on both the left and right in Denmark have adopted much stricter immigration control for non-EU nationals. The Danish People’s Party went from 21% of the vote and being the second-largest party in the 2015 general election to only 8.7% in 2019 and losing 21 seats, then in 2022 they only got 2.6% of the vote and lost a further 11 seats. A large reason why is because both Venstre (centre-right) and the Social Democrats (centre-left) adopted the Danish People’s Party’s policies on stricter immigration control. Just food for thought.

I used to be far-left. In many ways I still am and I still find value in the works of Marx, Engels, Kropotkin, Bakunin etc. but I also find a lot of the modern left completely ridiculous.