I would be intrigued who is going to sit in thr Reform cabinet. They have no one with experience. I am imagining a cabinet of Dolly the Sheep type clones of Farage
Keep imagining Ian, because a Reform Government will never happen. Reform might get two seats in Hampshire - Portsmouth North and Southampton Bitterne. In fact I will say they will get zero seats in Hampshire.
Voices of the left? I don't hear any of them saying that. I am aware that there are some isolated regions in England where second and third generation immigrant communities live segregated lives, but I'm not aware of any voices of the left saying this is a good thing. Unless you mean George Galloway, who is a colossal unprincipled dickhead...
There are only two red lines, in my leftist opinion, which political discussion of immigration should not cross; one is that immigrant communities should not be demonised for political gain, and two is that repatriation of law abiding immigrants who have settled and built lives here ,should be out of the question. What we are seeing at the moment in our political discourse is shocking because these reasonable limits are no longer respected.
The other iniquitous aspect of FTPT is the wasted votes. If a candidate wins 75,000 votes in a turnout of 80,000, most of the votes for that candidate are wasted. It would be far better if the “excess” votes went towards a national poll for additional seats for the party. No idea how that would work, but anything is better than FPTP.
If that were true he would have been banned for personal insults which I wouldn't defend. But he wasn't, it was for "lowering the level of debate". However popular that move was with his oppos, it was a stitch up. His comments about bench pressing, London falling or for that matter low testosterone (my favourite) were a bit eccentric but so what? Hardly a crime. Insulting only to the very thinned skinned or someone pretending to be offended. They certainly weren't breaking the rules or merited a ban. Posters didn't stop engaging with him, they took him on and couldn't cope when he refused to roll over. Let's face it, hardly anyone from whatever side of the argument concedes anything and hardly anyone wants to debate. It's gone way past that point and I include myself in that and have good reasons for it. I've answered you only because you seem reasonable without making hysterical accusations, unlike some who I generally ignore. Os has a confrontational style and it rubbed some people up the wrong way. I'm not saying he is innocent of that but he was not tolerated like some others because of his right wing opinions. What I am saying is he was removed because it suited those who oppose his views and it was a dirty trick. I made my views known at the time and I've repeated them only because Jasper asked why he was banned. I don't expect to persuade anyone to think it was wrong but people who like to spout about being kind, inclusive and tolerant need to be reminded from time to time, of their hypocrisy.
Can I ask when the last time you heard the words ‘kind’, ‘inclusive’ or ‘tolerant’ from anybody on this board? The constant strawmanning you drop yourself down to is a little desperate.
This peace process in Gaza etc . I cannot see it lasting , although I hope with all my heart it can and will . If it lasts then next year they can give Trump the Nobel peace prize and not just the freedom of the city , he can have the freedom of the entire world for all I care ( if we’re all still here ) then . I also hope Netanyahu goes on trial and gets jailed for a very long time .
Just been listening to Noga Tarnapolsky talking to James O’Brien from Jerusalem, and the relief and joy mixed with caution in her voice was palpable. The ceasefire has already started, and the next stage will be the release of all the Israeli hostages, including the bodies of those who have died in Hamas captivity. One of the most interesting parts of her analysis was when she was explaining about the strange relationship Netanyahu has with the Qatari state. It was Netanyahu who persuaded Qatar to funnel billions of dollars to Hamas, in order to undermine the legitimate Palestine Authority and take control of Gaza. Let’s all send our hopes and prayers to that part of the world that this ceasefire builds into a permanent peace. And yes, give Trump a million Nobel Prizes for his part in bringing it about.
There are loads of people in that house already that have experience, some vast experience...............and look at the state of the country! All this talk of experience is ridiculous when you look at the result of that experience.
I mean more the talking heads and commentariat that are very vocal and push narratives of cultural appropriation or celebrate difference fro an angle of complete difference and staying completely different! For example my missus is quite obviously black, she is quite obviously foreign too but she does not only associate with fellow Portuguese nor only black people! Yes she listens mostly to Portuguese music but thats because she likes Portuguese music mostly (but not limited to )in her first language. She enjoys a mostly British life as a Portuguese woman in Britain. Its a big difference to enjoying a Portuguese life as a Portuguese woman in Britain! She shares her culture with others and enjoys being able to share the British Culture with the Brits (and the Poles and everyone else) as well. She does not isolate herself from other cultures within Britain and refuse to let anyone (Brit or otherwise) join in her own culture. She is proud of her Portuguese culture like I am proud of British culture and we both enjoy sharing our own cultures with others. Be that foods, music, TV (although best in British language or with subtitles. lol) sports. All sorts. She used to love the British pub when it was still a thing. First thing her Mum does when she comes over is get Fish & Chips. lol.
I think for example If Lincolnshire is 7 seats and ignoring reform lets just say it was like it was and reform count as Tory..........The only 2 possible results on FPTP here is 7 Tory seats or Labour sometimes win Grimsby and Lincoln with the 5 rural seats always going Tory. So say the result was 44% Tory, 32% Labour, 24% LD then under PR it would be like the first place gets Lincoln then those votes taken off and who is now 1st place gets Grimsby, those votes taken off and who is first now gets seat 3 etc. etc. And then the result for Lincolnshire would be something like 4-2-1 in seats Much more representative of the actual vote than the current guaranteed 5 Tory. Reform of course are changing that a bit so lets just assume reform = Tory in that example.
The 'commentariat' may well push that, but I don't think anyone here does I don't hear anyone pushing that message, but I'm not on X or Facebook etc To me Cultural Appropriation needs to involve actions that are disrespectful, exploitative and lack understanding of the original context, meaning, or significance I'm sure that many people like sharing their culture with others and others culture with theirs, I know I do Hence her Mum can enjoy Fish & Chips and I can listen to Fado Like 'Political Correctness' it can be used and abused as an issue, when it is really all just about respecting other people Social Media fuels polarisation of views
