General Election 4th July ...

My memory is a bit vague but did we not have a referendum on FPTP or PR?

 

Yes. 2011. It was a basis of the cons-lib dem agreement. 67% voted against.

 

Thank you. Didn’t really pay it any attention at the time and didn’t vote on it.

I wouldn’t mind a proper debate and referendum on it, now.

 

I think it will, not at the election, perhaps not even at the next but it's bursting at the seams now.

 

It might as a result of the young folk. They seem to despair at all politics.

 

Boris is back

 

Is the correct answer, l bang on about the government's of this century, neither have been fit for purpose.
This country need better, but politicians calling each other out is just play ground stuff.
We need real people for the job in hand.
I notice there is a lack of circuses about, that because all the clown are in Parliament

 

A billionaire who gave the Conservatives £500,000 before the last general election has told the BBC he will vote Labour for the first time in his life next month.

John Caudwell, the founder of Phones 4U, described Rishi Sunak as an “absolute dud” and said the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer “just really hits the spot with a lot of issues with me”.

The businessman has been critical of Labour’s plan to charge VAT on private school fees and has said some of Reform UK's policies "sound sensible", although he ruled out backing Nigel Farage's party over its stance on climate change among other things.

He stopped short of saying he would donate money to Labour at this election.

But he added: “The Labour Party in my estimation, as much as I disagree with some of the policies, are absolutely the very best for Britain going forward.

“What I see is a Labour Party committed to GDP growth and the environment.

"Without GDP growth you can’t look after your social services. And without focusing on the environment there won’t be a world to look after.”

Mr Caudwell said he had donated to the Conservatives in 2019 “because I couldn’t possibly stand a Corbyn government, and I am still of exactly the same view there.”

He praised Sir Keir's attempts to get rid of what he called "the loony Left" which had focused on "extreme socialist policies", instead of "creating a wealthy Britain".

"We can't tax rich people in order to help the poor because they'll go off to Monaco and other places, we have to create real genuine wealth.”

He added that “I hope to goodness I am right in my judgement and they make Britain great again.”

The entrepreneur - who the Sunday Times Rich List recently claimed was worth £1.537bn - said “my thoughts on Labour historically were very negative” and “it took a lot of me soul searching” to get to the point of being comfortable with the idea of voting Labour.

John Caudwell has been increasingly critical of the Conservatives in recent months and is particularly outspoken about the prime minister.

“Everything he did within COVID was wrong. He paid people for furlough which was all or nothing. He gave them too much in the wrong way.

"The criticisms that I made of Rishi during his chancellorship, I think were pretty much evidenced in the D Day situation,” which he claimed showed “a complete lack of judgement.”

He said “until a few months ago I was voteless” but he had met Sir Keir and Sir Tony Blair in January, and saw the Labour leader again last Friday after the publication of the party's manifesto.

He has not given any money to the Labour Party but said “it is quite possible” he would in the future “if I think they have done an amazing job.”

 

I canvased the young members of my close family, 5 in all, they all said no too voting. I asked the youngest, who will be 17 in two week, why would she not vote if eligible, her reply, have you seen the buffoons on the telly Pops.

 

It's not though, when do vox-pop people, on the news, even mention it?

And what percentage of people even turn out to vote?

 

Chimes with those under 21 in my family. Those voting are so anti the two main parties it is refreshing. Mind you, as my oldest son says, the media doesnt want me to know what the others are offering.

I am all for younger folk getting the vote. It is their future not mine that counts. Sadly, and I say this advisedly, our older generations, mine included are selfish. Never will there be a better illustration of the Brexit vote, in my opinion.

 

Brexit was a massive kick in the teeth of our young people ...

... the last thing we needed was to go back to being 'Little England'

When Boris wanted to go back to Imperial Measures my heart sunk like a stone.

 

It was covid for me which really highlighted how selfish our older generation are. I spoke to many who wanted locked down even longer and the kids not to go back to school because they were the ‘spreaders’. They were willing to disrupt kids future just so they might get to live a little bit longer. I’ve never forgotten it.

 

Sort of, but instead of asking the question "do you want some form of PR", they made the referendum question be "do you want AV (alternate vote) or FPTP". AV is the very worst form of PR, so it was a very loaded way to have asked the question.

 

Another commie and antisemite hidden in the ranks. Get rid of him, Keir.


Labour has suspended one of its candidates after reports he shared "pro-Russian" material online.

Andy Brown, who is standing in Aberdeen North and Moray East, also shared a post that appeared to downplay allegations of antisemitism against Labour, as first reported by the Press and Journal.

A Labour spokesperson said he had been suspended pending an investigation.

Weeks after the Salisbury poisonings Mr Brown shared an article on social media in April 2018 from the Russian state media outlet RT. It claimed the "toxin" used in the Salisbury poisonings was "never produced in Russia, but was in service in the US, UK, and other NATO states".

 

The Russian bit is incredibly misguided and shows he's more gullible than you would like a representative of the people to be.

Anti-semite feels like a reach from what I've read but I'm lacking context and you may well be right.

 

Both my kids are voting Green. Won’t Eve vote tactically. Won’t consider Labour cos of Starmers Gaza stance.

 

More worried about them being pro Genocide than anti Semitic currently

 

It's been announced this morning that inflation has reached Bank of England's target of 2% . . . . very good news that the economy is getting 'back in track'
Unfortunately I expect that we'll realise soon that this track will be changed in a negative way. Change is definitely needed, but it would be better if there was a decent alternative to the present heirarchy.