"I want it, therefore I should have it for free". Isn't that the hymn of the privileged, entitled elite?
On Uxbridge, it’s worth remembering that Transport Secretary Grant Schapps actually instructed Sadiq Khan to expand ULEZ, in return for funding to cover TfL losses during the pandemic. During the by-election campaign, of course, this was conveniently forgotten as the Tories used the UKEZ expansion as a stick to beat Labour with.
Labour’s failure to take Uxbridge is being put down to ULEZ. Given the scant size of the much reduced Tory majority, it’s probably fair to say that’s why they were able to cling on in this case. Extending ULEZ is, in my opinion, absolutely the right thing to do. But the people of Uxbridge don’t like it, and they don’t like it because human beings are intrinsically selfish. Having a more radical, idealistic, left leaning leader of the Labour Party is unlikely to persuade selfish people to vote for things they don’t like. So I’m not really sure how best to square that circle tbh.
I was a bit tongue in check and past my three score year and ten so don't qualify as a Millennial, apparently I'm a boomer, oh well, someone has to be.
I am not a big fan of Starmer, but the Conservatives are a blight on our country and the damage they have willingly / intentionally done to the UK since Cameron got his majority in 2015 is unprecedented. (some would argue since the coalition, but imo even if many of its policies were disagreeable it was at least functional). They must be removed, we cannot afford another 5 years of them. I genuinely think another Conservative victory will be the end of the road for the UK. As for Corbyn he had the right mindset for many domestic policies but approach to foreign policy and diplomacy would have been risky, he was also painfully naive and despite largely suffering an unprecedented vilification from our largely (but not totally) Conservative weighted media, he willingly walked into every trap that could be set for him and continues to do so. I think Labour are actually better off for not winning in 2019 though, the disruption caused by Covid and various international crises would have stuck to them far harder than it has to the Tories and it would have been used to delegitimise the party and any leftward platform for decades to come, even if I believe they probably would have handled domestic policy better. I also think Corbyn wouldnt have survived the Ukraine issue, as I think he may have clashed with his party on support for Ukraine given his apparent stance during the conflict and the party would have booted him as a response. One issue the Labour left has is that it is still utterly obsessed with Corbyn, he is yesterdays man yet they are still clinging on to him. They need a new voice within the party and one that is more dynamic at that. I agree that I find Keir Starmer extremely underwhelming (a shame as I thought he was promising as Shadow Brexit Sec), but toppling him at the present is untenable and would just mean 5 more years of the Conservatives. Lets get Labour in, see how he actually does in the job and if he fails to deliver in office then is time to get organised and put the pressure on.
Starmer will win the next election I have no doubt. Despite your love of Corbyn they wouldn't have had a hope in hell. Your reservations about Starmer are justified but people at the far left of the Labour Party, like yourself, continuing these forlorn references to Momentum and Corbyn are a divisive distraction. Do you want a Labour government or not? It seems as if the hard left would prefer election failure in order to justify their arguments. In my opinion, although the public talk a good socialist system, in practice that is not what they want or at least not full on socialism. 13 years of Tory goverments confirm that. Momentum were seen as the epitome of the loony left and their connection to Labour did more harm than good for their election chances. Why would people vote for things they don't like? You would surely vote for a party that you do like, calling them selfish because they don't share your views is a little prejudiced I think. As I posted above, the public don't want hard left and IMO would prefer a mix of left and right but (as shown by previous elections) if a choice has to be made, right takes left most of the time.
As a millennial...we're all old as hell now. I would like to be one of the snot-nosed brats ruining society, but my beard is more grey than black and my knees hurt too much and I don't even like avocado toast.
I can assure you that I know enough of the policies and policy direction of the 2 major parties and have no problem making an informed decision on who I would vote for on that basis. The detail is worked out when in government and passing legislation Or in this governments case the policies change with the wind and with each new leader, however the policy direction is always basically the same and based on enriching themselves and their mates and pandering to the populations worst instincts Indeed. The jokes on us EDIT: BTW, arguing about policies and making amendments before passing them is LITERALLY what parliament is for
Boris told them the password was one of his kid's names, but they kept getting locked out for making too many incorrect guesses.
Appears that a purge of the 'Club of Angry Patriots', the Russian ex-military/ex-intelligence (many of whom were leaders in 2014's totally legit Donetsk uprising) group critical of Putin from the right, is underway. They've gone so far as blaming his corruption and incompetence for the failures of the war in Ukraine...Igor Girkin/Strelkov (retired Russian GRU colonel, former 'Minister of Defense' in the DPR, wanted war criminal) and Pavel Gubarev (former self-appointed governor of the DPR, Girkin ally) have been arrested, potentially among others. A number of generals and intelligence officers arrested after Wagner's Weekend Getaway to Rostov are still missing as well. It sucks that all of the challenges to Putin are from people who think he isn't doing enough war, but the cracks are really starting to emerge among the hardline nationalists that should be Putin's primary source of support...and given that most of the seats of power are held by hardliners, that's potentially dangerous.
Agree with most of what you’ve said there. I fear it won’t be much better under Keir’s labour. We must get rid of them, what they’re doing to the country is scary. There was an interesting article in the FT about 8 months ago (I saw an analysis of it, I don’t read the FT). It showed how countries rank against each other in different income groups in terms of standard of living (adjusted for different costs of living). Interesting points were: despite being the 5th richest country in the world, even the top 5% earners are lower than 5th. If you’re on the median income you come 12th, meaning there are 7 other countries which are ‘worse off’ where you would have a better standard of living. If you are in the 5th centile you have a lower standard of living than Slovenia. Norway has 3rd highest standard of living for highest earners, yet that is maintained across the board, even the lowest earners rank very highly. In the 5 years before COVID the UK economy grew, but salaries and standards of living did not (similar growth in the US, but they did benefit and had rises in salaries even in low centiles. We all know that the Tories are looking after the super rich, but nowhere have I seen a more graphic demonstration than this study. People often say “the gap between the rich and poor is getting larger”, but we don’t see the fact that the gap between rich and average earners is growing. Even the gap between the very well off and the rich is growing. The tories are not looking after any of us. Rant over.
