Off Topic General Election

the probem is
talking about it in any negative stance, gets you labeled a bigot and possibly a racist
while they close their eyes and pretend its all one big utopia

 

Yeah I think they are on the same path as the Liberals early 1900,s. Not modern enough anymore. Stuck in the past as to where we stand on the world stage. For reference I give you Jacob Rees Mogg.

 

It’s more within the next decade I’m thinking. Obviously could be wrong but one thing for sure is British politics needs overhauling.

 

On Rees-Mogg and his ilk, this is my big head scratcher with the electorate.

He clearly has such disdain for the oiks and proles, but he gets reelected - same with the Edward Leigh types.

Then there's the vox pops you see of old people saying bring back Boris.

WTF do they see that I don't?

 

It's because they represent constituencies that are full of people like themselves!

 

I think the Tories will get obliterated this election but I don’t think they’ll go the way of the dodo like the old Liberal Party. I think what will happen is that Labour are in government for as long as the Tories have been, maybe more or maybe less. However, I don’t think Starmer has the charisma or personal popularity to do what Blair did and be PM for 10+ years. They’ll be in power for 10+ years but chop and change leader. The Tories will be back in government at some point. People will still dislike them immensely so they’ll probably have to scrape a coalition after 10 years of Labour, perhaps with Reform if they capitalise on their gains and try to become a somewhat serious party in parliament.

 

There is a side issue for me where I live. If I vote for my favoured candidate (not the party) then I know his voice will likely not be heard and will not be able to influence to quote someone else 'our direction of travel'...

 

Just had this discussion at home. Ignoring people only leads to discord. Your piece on Denmark is good information of a country who didn’t and reduced the far right vote.

 

They just don’t want change but we need it in a modern world. It’s ok for those comfy in their world where there house is paid of while millions of young uns can’t even get on the housing ladder.

 

It's genuinely baffling that after 14 years, when the country has been run into the ground by a group of self serving chancers who have nothing but contempt for the electorate, that a single vote will be cast in their direction.

Astonishing.

 

Licks lips at the forecast demise of the divisive SNP...De facto independence referendum,yep,that'll do nicely.

 

It’s like a massive double ended dildo, you get to choose if you want to get bummed by the blue end or the red end.

 

Interesting that those who vote SNP ( therefore who want independence) are changing their mind this election. This is why referendums are bloody dangerous.

 

There'll be a few in Cottingham surprised when they wake up in Friday morning in a Labour controlled constituency not realising Haltemprice and Howden has been broken up.

That said, Diana Johnson is a real MP and does it for the right reasons - an exception.

Still don't know how I'll vote.

 

Recent polls for a hypothetical 16-17 demographic shows Reform at second place, with Reform joint top with Labour for boys 16-17.

I think people underestimate just how appealing and popular the far/hard-right is among young people in times like this, just as it was in the 1920s and 1930s. It’s a common misconception that they’re all stuffy Boomers or ‘Gammons’. The amount of far-right content on Twitter/X, Discord, 4Chan and TikTok (yes, even TikTok) is eye-opening. The President of National Rally in France is a baby-faced 28-year-old who is Le Pen’s disciple. The AfD in Germany is exceptionally popular among young people, especially in the east. Ausländer Raus is sang by young people in nightclubs in Europe and at football matches, including the Euros.

Many people are saying we live in a ‘Weimar Europe’ right now, and it’s hard to disagree. Inflation is high, young people were shunted away during some of the most important and formative years of their lives and there’s a culture war going on which is amplified by social media. The youth are either going left or far-right, just as they did 100 years ago.

 

I appreciate you’ve said you can’t have every policy the way you want them but you’ve raised a few interesting points that can’t be ignored.

What elements of sharia law are currently in place in the UK judicial system?

If an immigrant to this country has passed through safe countries to get here but has an established network of family already in the UK, why should we refuse them entry?

The ECHR protects everyone. If we opt out and a policy is enacted that impacts on you and you in turn do not agree with the new protection, no one wins.

Im curious to know what transgender ideologies you think are taught in school? As an educator of nearly 20 years, I can say that the only real difference between now and 2006 is that we now say “some people identify as…”

incentivising marriage through taxation opens a huge can of worms. Firstly, what makes marriage so much better than cohabitation? Can any married couple benefit from this? What about transgender married couples, do they get a tax break? What if non-romantic partners decide it suits their finances to get a quick marriage just for an extra 5%? It’s so open to abuse and fundamentally Dickensian.

stop and search disproportionately targets non-white young men. Teaching in an ethnically diverse area has taught me that society “adultifies” black and Asian men. I found it a massive learning curve myself when I moved out of Hull. Stop and search, definitely has its place but when a 14yr old black lad standing at 6ft gets treated like an adult but cries like a child, your perspective shifts somewhat

 

Most of the 'far rights' policies in Europe now aren't that different from a conservative's in the 1990s.
- Immigration to be based on what you can give the country you are moving to and harder on crime and punishment.

In fact, economically and a lot of social policies, most of Europe's far-right are more left than Labour - increased investment in low income areas, better health care for those who paid in and higher benefits for those who have lost work.

 

I find European politics very interesting at the moment with the rise of right wing populism everywhere. A lot of it is reaction against the EU, free movement and the threat of immigration. It's similar to our Brexit movement and one reason why Boris gained wider support was his appeal to populism despite him being quite liberal and incompetent. The Tories have lost the populism vote and some of it went back to Labour and some of it went to Reform UK. Neither have the leadership the European populist parties have, Boris didn't have it either. The populist surge in Europe has gained enormous credibility because of strong leaders such as Giorgia Meloni in Italy and Marine Le Pen in France and Alice Weidel, Geert Wilders etc. If Reform UK had had a bit longer to develop and had better leadership than Farage and Tice then our two party system would be getting smashed tomorrow.

 

This is all reasonable counter debate against the original post which, to some, reads like a Top Ten most hated as compiled by GB News and The Daily Mail.

Not saying either way is right or wrong, it's most likely that solutions could and should be found somewhere in the middle ground.

Thing is, there is no real centrist concensus anymore and all things are polarised to the more extreme end of things.

Best result would be for all parties to get exactly the same amount of seats and have to work together, but that would be in some other parallel universe.