Sadiq Khan blames the rise in violence in London on reduced police funding. Well, that is a cause of failure to prevent attacks or catch perpetrators, but surely the cause is rather more fundamental, to do with a twisted culture in some sections of the youth population? Which must be strongly linked to poverty, ignorance, drugs and lack of strong role models.
According to a YouGov poll 46% of Tory Party members would vote for Nigel Farage as their leader and Prime Minister given the chance. Why this should be surprising news is beyond me. There has been active ‘entryism’ into the Tory Party from the hard right over the last year, which is why membership of the party has gone up by 40,000 (allegedly. The Tory Party refuses to reveal how many members it has. What the **** is that all about?), precisely to shift the party further rightwards. So now both of our major political parties features cliques and factions attempting to seize control. Cool, it’s like revolutionary Russia 1917. Now read the full story on this. The Tory Party has turned into a posh suicide cult. Significant majorities want to achieve Brexit even if it means destruction of their own party and significant economic damage, and feel that they have more in common with Brexit Party and UKIP supporters than Tories who voted Remain. Blue rinse and tweed auto self destruct! Weird scenes inside the goldmine.
Mmm...... Or perhaps it's much more to do with Brexit and a desire to see it delivered. I reckon many of those who have recently joined and those that would vote for Farage simply want Brexit to get done rather than this rather apocalyptic picture of a far right uprising.
Think I added a bit more in after this Col, it’s seriously odd stuff. To be honest I think the last couple of years have simply deepened entrenched positions, and Tories who were wavering on Brexit in the early days are now firmly pro Leave, a symptom of fatigue and frustration rather than fanaticism most likely. But there has been ‘entryism’. I’m pleased to report that 58% of the British public (according to a poll) oppose Johnson’s plan to raise the threshold for 40% tax to £80k, with only 21% in favour. Even the AB social grouping, those most likely to benefit, are 57% against 25% pro.
I'm no fan of Boris, but he may be the only one who can deliver what I want, ie Brexit. I can see him becoming PM, failing to secure our departure due to the intransigence of parliament and then calling a general election, which would be a final effort to get the required numbers to back leaving. Boris is probably the only one who can stop Corbyn getting his disastrous self into No10.
I don’t think there can be much doubt that he is going to get the chance. He’s bloody lucky that he will be facing Corbyn and a Labour Party crippled by division. It will be interesting to see how much support he retains in his party and in the country as the inevitable gaffes, embarrassments, lies, false promises, insults to others etc start flowing again. Perhaps it is ‘factored in’ and, like Trump, our demands on his character, honesty and ability are so low that it really doesn’t matter anymore. We get who we deserve. I didn’t watch the candidates debate on Channel 4 but have just seen their responses when asked about their weaknesses. They all gave the traditional job interview answers, where the weakness given could be seen as a characterful strength - impatience to get things done, sticking to principles etc.* Except Rory Stewart, who said going to Eton was a drawback. Which is cute initially, but when you think about it is a massive crock of horseshit. How is attending the epitome of privilege, with all the inbuilt, unearned advantages it gives - contacts, leg ups, free entries - a drawback? Especially if you want to be Prime Minister as a Conservative. **** off Rory, seen through you Tory boy. * one of the world’s ****test interview questions, only tests the imagination of the candidate in giving a weakness that isn’t a weakness. I’ve had to bite my tongue on several occasions when asked it to avoid blurting out the truth ‘I’m lazy’, ‘I swear a lot’ ‘ I have no idea how I have got away with it for so long, I really don’t know what I’m doing but give a vague impression of competence and confidence’.
Those who vote for the likes of Farage should consider one thing. The one critical variable which unites those on the hard brexit camp is their collective dream of deregulating the British economy and opening it to US markets - Britain leaves the EU. to become a free market idyll, exposed to all the market forces of a globalized World. A hallowed heartland is idolized, only to let big business hollow it out. The main proponents of a hard Brexit are radical free market Conservatives with a long history of trans Atlantic ties. This is what all those who hunger after Brexit should consider - for a working class man, voting for Brexit really is like a turkey voting for Christmas.
In my experience through friends and relatives who are or were in the police force ... outside the job all have over time expressed frustration about the hoops they made to jump through re procedures... always trying to fix problems with the public interface . No wonder the respect has sunk I used to fish for the Sussex police team through relatives and I have witnessed first hand a collective racial attitude especially with the Met and more recently with a couple of policeman from Liverpool who I fished with last year in Ireland It actually stopped me from going this year as they openly slagged off all nations, colours in the pub in the evening... what was worse that they led the conversations and the majority joined in I took a load of **** just because I live in France etc around the Brexit thing and once that was done then the default was skin colour and culture It has certainly left me with an opinion that a racial seed still exists Only my experience of course but if asked directly I would say generally there is a racist culture and also they are all piss poor doing their job Job worths most of the time who operate in a climate of stepped up drama. But look at the diet the public are fed on British TV ... with these stupid documentaries on every five minutes . plus the crime drama series ... it all adds up imo I do get see two different sides here and in France You simply do not **** about with French Police the respect has not been eroded there imo Traffic cops in the U.K. have to the worse imo driving around in BMW’s and no they aren’t just doing their jobs ... I find I have little respect for their delivery of the law Bollocks
Will we just become a puppet country with a puppet PM for the USA if we leave the EU and have Boris as PM????
From my experiences with the police over the past year in emergency situations I couldn’t disagree with you more. All I have met seem to be caring individuals who are there to do what can be a difficult and frustrating job, in often life threatening situations. Of course morale is low through staff shortages and the reams of paperwork that they have to do, but the ones I have met seem to do their job well and to the best of their ability. And as for the French police......you only have to see the daily videos of the brutality and bullying dished out to see how they get their supposed ‘respect’....I know which police force I’d prefer. Of course I’m biased as my eldest has just joined the Police and starts training this year.....so take my ramblings with a bit of bias.
Yes, Johnson has based his leadership campaign on our leaving the EU on 31st October come what may. When this proves impossible (which it will), a GE will be the only way forward. Where I differ is that you see Johnson as being the only potential leader capable of stopping Corbyn. I would say that a GE with Brexit unresolved makes a Corbyn premiership more likely. A Tory leader who was prepared to ask for a further A50 extension and to compromise with Parliament and the EU to achieve Brexit would be much more likely to become a longer term PM in my opinion.
Not sure about this. If Johnson goes to the country with a plea to deliver him a mandate to get a no deal Brexit through which the current Parliament has prevented, while Labour campaigns on reopening negotiations with the EU, it’s a very clear ask in a single issue election against a woolly stance and lots of social justice promises (which admittedly played well in 2017, when we thought Brexit was a given). I think a hung parliament with a few more Lib Dems and a few Brexit Party MPs is possible, and then a Tory government propped up by the Brexit Party and the DUP. While Labour has this odd non position on Brexit why would the SNP or Lib Dem’s support it in government, unless the price of support is revocation of Article 50 or another referendum, which Labour couldn’t deliver if they didn’t campaign on it. Whatever scenario I can’t see Johnson lasting as a long term PM. He hasn’t got the minerals.
Yes, Labour would have to have a much clearer Brexit position when it came to a GE. Assuming a further A50 extension had already been sought and granted, a pragmatic manifesto proposal would be to negotiate further with the EU to get agreement on a Customs Union arrangement (solving the Irish border issue), and then to put this back to the people in a further referendum. This would see Labour as the biggest party in a hung parliament, I would say, and they would be able to form a government with the support of Lib Dems, SNP, Plaid and Greens. I do actually enjoy this stuff.
If Labour comes out for a second referendum, it could lose whole swathes of voters in the North. If it doesn't, it will lose swathes to the Lib Dems. At this very minute, Jeremy will be trying to calculate, with the aid of Diane Abbot's mathematical skills, which is the biggest swathe to lose
I just don't buy the bit about them losing loads of seats in the North, and opinion polls bear this out.