General Election ...

[monmouth]

Well have some pinches because the latest (and probably last) poll for Wales puts Labour on 40%. Centre left or left wing parties combined (Labour, Libdem, Plaid, Green) are on 67%. Right wing parties combined (Tories, Reform) on 32%. We’ll know by Friday morning.

Centre left/left parties would have had a permanent majority in the U.K. for decades if there weren’t so many of them fracturing the voter base. Hopefully we’ll see some mass tactical voting this time round.

One more day of this dreadful crap from the Con turds and then get them gone for a generation. Just need the frog faced arsehole to croak and then things might start really looking up.

 

[exiledclaseboy]

One more day of this dreadful crap from the Con turds and then get them gone for a generation. Just need the frog faced arsehole to croak and then things might start really looking up.

The funniest thing on Friday will be the bleating from those who wake up and finally realise how shit FPTP really is when (assuming the polls aren’t way out) Labour secure a massive majority on possibly a shade less than 40% of the vote and Reform get 15% and an handful or no seats.

 

[Itchysphincter]

One more day of this dreadful crap from the Con turds and then get them gone for a generation. Just need the frog faced arsehole to croak and then things might start really looking up.

As repulsive as he is, Farage might prove to be quite handy when it comes to weakening the Tories. Funny thing is he knows they’ll probably have to adopt him and his policies to repair themselves, he doesn’t even need to win a single seat, just split their vote.

 

[bytholwyn]

So the choice in Wales boils down to a far right Reform, a Hard right Conservative Party (the most right wing government since the war), a right wing Labour Party (not even centre right but mainstream right wing such is their positioning slightly to the left of the Tories), centrist Lib Dems, left of centre Plaid and left wing Greens.

 

[Itchysphincter]

So the choice in Wales boils down to a far right Reform, a Hard right Conservative Party (the most right wing government since the war), a right wing Labour Party (not even centre right but mainstream right wing such is their positioning slightly to the left of the Tories), centrist Lib Dems, left of centre Plaid and left wing Greens.

The Lib Dem’s have been closest to the Tories economically as far as I can remember.

 

[bytholwyn]

The Lib Dem’s have been closest to the Tories economically as far as I can remember.

Well Labour have aped the Tories on tax. Hard though Sunak has tried there is very little to distinguish the two parties. The Lib Dems have focused on social care, which provides clear red water between them and both Labour and the Tories. It says it all about Labour that they intend to persist with the hideous two child benefit cap.

 

[bytholwyn]

This is the future under Labour

Labour is putting its plans for Britain in the hands of private finance. It could end badly | Daniela Gabor

Handing vital infrastructure to big finance will generate windfalls for investors and leave the rest of us worse off. We need a better plan, says Daniela Gabor, a professor of economics and macrofinance at UWE Bristol

www.theguardian.com

They clearly haven't learnt the lessons of PFI.

 

[bytholwyn]

From the BBC website:

Sir Keir Starmer has again defended his receipt of “freebies” after yesterday saying much of it was down to accepting Arsenal away game hospitality due to security concerns.

For context: Financial Times, external research showed the Labour leader had accepted £76,000 worth of entertainment, clothes and similar “freebies” from UK donors since 2019.

Pressed today by journalists about reports of £16,000 worth of free clothes, within that £76,000 figure, Starmer says the declarations were “really clear”.

“If we take money from anyone on anything, over a certain amount of money it has to be declared. I complied with all that.”

Asked if he is comfortable with that, he says: “Everything's done in accordance with the register and the public declarations.”

Asked about the overall figure yesterday, Starmer said: “Quite a lot of that was Arsenal hospitality, particularly away games where as you can appreciate my desire to go in the stands is not always met with approval by the security teams around me which inevitably means I’m in corporate hospitality if I want to see the game.”

The sleave has started already. Note the similarity between Starmer's statement and Gething's in justifying his acceptance of £200,000 from the convicted polluter: “Everything's done in accordance with the register and the public declarations.”

 

[J_B]

So the choice in Wales boils down to a far right Reform, a Hard right Conservative Party (the most right wing government since the war), a right wing Labour Party (not even centre right but mainstream right wing such is their positioning slightly to the left of the Tories), centrist Lib Dems, left of centre Plaid and left wing Greens.

Plaid keep proping up Labour in Cardiff so I've given up voting for them.

 

[bytholwyn]

Plaid keep proping up Labour in Cardiff so I've given up voting for them.

Not any more they're not. It says a lot about the state of UK politics that there isn't a centrist or left of centre option with a realistic chance of winning power. The near universal acceptance of neoliberalism is so, so depressing.

 

[J_B]

Not any more they're not. It says a lot about the state of UK politics that there isn't a centrist or left of centre option with a realistic chance of winning power. The near universal acceptance of neoliberalism is so, so depressing.

No, it’s taken them 25 years to come to their senses. Pathetic.

 

[Itchysphincter]

Well Labour have aped the Tories on tax. Hard though Sunak has tried there is very little to distinguish the two parties. The Lib Dems have focused on social care, which provides clear red water between them and both Labour and the Tories. It says it all about Labour that they intend to persist with the hideous two child benefit cap.

Tuition fees and privatisation. Very Tory in their financial nature.

 

[bytholwyn]

The nature of minority government is that the biggest partner holds most of the cards, with the smaller party only able to make limited demands. However, the Lib Dems conceded far too much to the Tories and should have explored joining up with Labour, if only to extract more concessions from the Tories. It was a monumental error by Clegg, not understanding the power he had and wielding it. Although a lot of the flak they got over tuition fees was deserved it also showed a lack of understanding in the electorate about the nature of coalition politics. So they were rightly condemned for capitulation on tuition fees but got little credit for the green agenda of the coalition, which was tellingly discarded the moment the Tories had sole power. Remember Cameron's infamous talk of "ditching the green crap".

A mature electorate looks at things in the round, good and bad. The UK electorate, probably because of FPTP has to be one of the most unsophisticated in the developed world. Although we're not quite as bad as the American electorate. For now.

 

[Itchysphincter]

Funniest thing today was Mel Stride trying to hoodwink voters in to staying at home by saying that a Tory wipeout was a foregone conclusion - don’t fall for it folks, VOTE!

Yesterday it was Boris wheeled out with loads of brown faces behind him to reel out lies and whip up hateful rhetoric.

Angela Rayner came closest to summing up these Tories. Simply put, SCUM.

 

[Neath_Jack]

I’ve had a pamphlet through the door today from a candidate from the Heritage Party. Their three main points are:
Protect our children.
No Net Zero.
Control our borders.

In other words another party for the whoppers to get on board with