December 13, 2019

It's not the only issue

I've been saying for some time that Labour has major problems in areas like Bolsover. Not just strong anti EU sentiment but also demographic changes (Bolsover itself is becoming something of a retirement town) and a few issues with Labour themselves.

December 13, 2019

I now have a Tory MP again

Labour ran a poor campaign locally and their vote has collapsed.

I don't think much to the incoming MP Miriam Cates, although I did note some people referring to her as "Boris's girlfriend" or even worse still mistaking her for Jennifer Accuri!

November 1, 2019

Demographics play a large part here

The UK has an aging population, with a large proportion of the population being over 60. The elderly are very susceptible to backward looking, reactionary and at times bigoted politics. And it's the elderly who are the most likely to vote in elections.

The OAP block vote is an enormous part of British politics at present, it's been a major factor in the rise of UKIP, the Tories ever rightward drift, the Tories moving away from being a party of trade and free enterprise, Labour's decline in old coal mining areas with an aging population and of course the 2016 referendum and subsequent disastrous project to leave the EU.

There are other factors that have exacerbated things such as the failure of political parties to attract and recruit the best and brightest people but the massive OAP block vote is a major factor, and how it splits between the Conservative party and the Brexit pity party will define the general election.

October 29, 2019

I have noticed this problem

UK politics is not attracting the best and brightest right now. There are many reasons for this such as the tribalism of the political parties, political parties not being attractive enough to join for most people and political activism being difficult to fit with other commitments for most people. The unpopularity of politicians, deserved as it may be is also a deterrent. Not to mention how wildly uninformed the general public is about any issue with a degree of complexity, which is reflected in our politicians.

It's a difficult, complex problem, but it's clearly a major problem that we have with politics in this country.

September 25, 2019

Lord North (Prime Minister during the American Revolution)...

...Was widely regarded as the worst Prime Minister of all time.

That was until Theresa May came along. And now we have Boris Johnson who is far, far worse!

September 11, 2019

I'm pretty fed up with millionaire Brexshitters

.....trying to label anyone who disagrees with them as "elitist", in spite of the fact that very few of us have anything like as much wealth as the likes of Cummings or Rees Mogg. Here and now in 2019 the Brexshitters are the elite.

To be honest though, there are plenty of people on both left and right with some pretty warped ideas about class in the UK, and this does create opportunities for charlatans like Johnson and Cummings.

August 17, 2019

I do think that Corbyn's proposal should at least be given very strong consideration by remainers

Corbyn's proposal is realistically the best hope of delaying or derailing the disastrous project to leave the EU, and opponents of this madness need to put petty rivalries aside and work together to resolve this. Jo Swinson's proposal of a Kenneth Clarke / Harriet Harman lead government is reasonable, but has to be a plan B in the event of Corbyn's plan falling through.

The biggest problem with Corbyn's proposal is Jeremy Corbyn's unsuitability for high office. However, with a dishonest charlatan currently in Downing Street and the prospect of crashing out of the EU with no deal looming Corbyn has to be the lesser of two evils. I seriously doubt that Corbyn could stay long in Downing Street even in the best circumstances.

Part of the problem here is the approach of Momentum / Labour, who seem more interested in shifting blame for the oncoming disaster and calling everyone else all the names under the sun than in anything else. This in turn creates serious mistrust of Momentum and Labour from the people they need to persuade in order to put Corbyn in Downing Street.

To be honest, the more bile I see thrown by various political factions at present, the more convinced I am that we need major constitutional reform to increase checks and balances. Also to force all the different parties to work together. We have a political culture in the UK based far too much on tribalism and hurling insults. Which makes it very difficult when politicians and their supporters are required to work together!

July 22, 2019

Congratulations to Jo!!!!

I'm surprised she won by so much as I didn't think there was much in it between her and Ed Davey.

Time to get on with the hard work of electing excellent pro-remain candidates, forging alliances with other pro-remain groups, recruiting disaffected Tories and Labour folk and getting the basics right.

As an example of the sort of thing the Liberal Democrats need to do to progress, the below tweet is from my local ex-Labour, ex-Change UK MP. We need Jo and the rest of the parliamentary party to get people like Angela Smith on board. Won't be easy though.

https://twitter.com/angelasmithmp/status/1153220207361572864

July 17, 2019

As per usual, Johnson is playing to the gallery here

The gallery in question being an intended audience of well to do Conservative activists with little to no experience of hardship.

Now the good news here is that the idea that work helps with depression has a small amount of truth to it. I can say from experience that being unemployed is a very depressing experience indeed. Although part of what makes being unemployed so depressing is having to deal with shitty government policies dreamt up by hooray henry's in Westminster on a power trip.

The bad news is that Churchill is a poor example here, which shows that Johnson is more interested in grandstanding than in understanding the issue. Johnson clearly does not understand just how demotivating depression is, or how it destroys your confidence. And also he fails to grasp the whole matter of what a stressful work environment does for your mental health. And then there is all the stress and unemployment Johnson's bad nationalist policies will unleash on everyone else.

July 11, 2019

Many political terms and phrases have been abused to the point of meaninglessness

"Strong Leader" is just such a term. You would think that the Conservatives would have learnt their lesson on this point from Theresa May posing as a strong leader before being exposed as being nothing of the sort. Instead they are doubling down on the worst errors of recent years.

Strong leaders can tell uncomfortable truths to their own side. No leader of the Conservative party has done that since John Major.