Medway Council.

[Rod Speed]

No one who matters ever doubted that.

BUT the UK voters are quite reluctant to have them for govt and usually give up on them after just one term. Blair/Brown are the only ones who did better than that and they were only Labour in name only.

And given that Starmer is so enthustiastically kicking the previous left leaders like Corbyn and Abbott right out of the party, it remains to be seen what Labour voters will make of that. He's even sanctioned one of his shadow ministers for daring to show up at a strike picket line.

Otoh with the SNP imploding so spectacularly it remains to be seen what that will do for the Labour vote in Scotland.

[gareth evans]

And not just Labour, for the Conservatives are equally at fault.

Political parties are a conglomeration of large numbers of people with differing views and to remove the whip from, or to expel from the party, those whose views do not tally with the opinions of the leaders is to run your party as the Russians, for example, conduct their affairs.

[Rod Speed]

Nope, covid and the invasion of the Ukraine did.

She blew both feet right off with her stupid poll tax.

Bullshit.

True.

[Brian Morrison]

"Be sure to keep a hold of nurse, for fear of finding something worse"

[Rod Speed]

gareth evans [e-mail] wrote

Nope, they havent kicked the previous leader and deputy right out of the party.

Putin has his killed or jailed.

[Roger Hayter]

You are not comparing the electorate to naive, malleable children are you? In which case I have bad news for you; the oligarchs in charge of this country have decided to install that nice Mr Starmer next time[1]; they always do this when they want to squeeze the middle classes (in terms of pay, interest rates, and taxes) even more than usual. The latter is not a good look for the Tories, so they prefer a Labour government to do it. E.g. Brown's destruction of the private pension system and the later considerable weakening of public sector pension benefits. It would not have looked convincing to tell a Tory to do this.

[1] I think they would have liked to install Labour in 2019, so "austerity" could be deeper, and Brexit less harmful, but there was not a suitable Labour leadership available willing to accept bribes, honours, directorships, consultancies, quangoes, and straightforward bribes in return for toeing the line. Hence the anti-semitism and anti-Corbyn smear cammpaign was needed to "prepare" the Labour Party for its treacherous role.

[Brian Morrison]

I was actually thinking that we're utterly screwed whatever we do, or whoever we "choose", but that the act of choosing always makes people worried about whether their choice is good or not.

Part of the problem is that the choices we are presented with are not from the top drawer so the playing field is always full of holes and bald patches.

[Roger Hayter]

You wouldn't support proportional representation, then? At least our choices would be more fun, and much wider, even if ultimately no better. We would have both an overt fascist party and (perhaps) a socialist one in Parliament.

[Rod Speed]

Fantasy.

Fantasy.

they always

Fantasy.

The latter is not a good look for the

You are completely off with the f****ng fairys, as always.

You are completely off with the f****ng fairys, as always.

[Rod Speed]

So who do you believe is top drawer who would not have that problem ?

No one who actually is top drawer would actually be stupid enough to want that particular job.

[Bernie]

A hung parliament could be a good place to get a deal on PR. I REALLY hope that happens. Upsetting the business model of the two main players, and (hopefully) never again being governed by the toxic tory scum would be a VERY GOOD THING.

[Brian Morrison]

Quite, and there lies the problem and the reason that Jean Monnet et al conceived a European Union that avoided the populace electing the people running the Commission. That doesn't work either, because the most useless politicians from the Member States are punted off to where it's felt that they can do less damage, but instead end up running the wrecking ball in a dysfunctional construction.

[Rod Speed]

Why didn't you answer this ?

And there is no evidence that anyone is ever close to top drawer.

[Spike]

WHS

[The Natural Philosopher]

I will vote for any party except liblabcon Its time to stir the pot.

[The Natural Philosopher]

They dont. They simply adjust the odds so they make a profit whoever wins, according to the amount laid on each option

[The Natural Philosopher]

Is there any difference these days?

[Brian]

Of course they do and, most of the time, they come out ahead - they have no special knowledge and predicting who will win based on their odds is flawed. That is my point.

[Ottavio Caruso]

Am 06/05/2023 um 16:05 schrieb Rod Speed:

Quick reminder that us forriners can vote at local elections. Frightening, isn't it?

[Fredxx]

I suppose if you think what's happening in Stormont with no decisions being made is a good thing, the near equivalent of having a hung parliament would be great.

I suppose one good thing would be an independent England campaign might be successful and get some seats.

How do you propose the MPs should be chosen? Would it become jobs for the boys? Which MP would represent you and your area? Yes I can see this working very well indeed.