General Election 2024

[voice]

Well she's already knifing Rishi in the back so she got that Tory duplicitous scum streak needed to be leader

[perrykneeham]

"The Tories have announced they want to put £730m into mental health support to end "sick note culture", while Labour says its planning reforms could deliver 20,000 more prison places".

Mmmm .... extra prison places. That's attractive.

[mids]

What's the proportion of foreign born prisoners? It's more than 10% I think. Imagine if they weren't allowed in? Prison places would suddenly go up by 10%+.

[flatandy]

So the Tories couldn't be bothered with "sick note culture" for the last 14 years they were in power?

This is the fundamental problem with campaigning on culture war "it's all going to sh*t" stuff if you're the ones who almost permanently run the country.

[mids]

Shouldn't that be "Labour's sick note culture"? Yes, yes I think it should.

[voice]

Yeah campaigning on "only we can fix it" is odd given you've had 14 years.

[mids]

14 years of Liabn.

[perrykneeham]

It's pretty rainbow-unicorn think to imagine that all societal and economic conditions are static and that new ones don't present themselves over time. It's genuinely refreshing when a commentator alludes to global challenges or challenges which are experienced by similar countries. Of course, that rarely suits the narrative of politicians of either stripe, in power or not, as they all like to crack on that they have (or will have) the policies and powers to correct those problems.

The example that comes to mind is the West's response to massively unsuitable content on the Internet. It still beggars belief that precisely fuckall was ever done to protect people from that. I completely accept that the primary responsibility for protecting kids is their parents but we, collectively, utterly failed.

[perrykneeham]

Okay, hostage to fortune moment: I reckon that Starmer, within moments of getting the keys to No.10, will declare that all manifesto commitments are subject to review as he hasn't realised how little money is available etc.

[flatandy]

Jun 9, 2024 14:37:30 GMT mids said:

Shouldn't that be "Labour's sick note culture"? Yes, yes I think it should.

That makes it even worse that they couldn't be f**k*d to deal with it for a decade and a half

[flatandy]

Jun 9, 2024 16:32:08 GMT perrykneeham said:

Okay, hostage to fortune moment: I reckon that Starmer, within moments of getting the keys to No.10, will declare that all manifesto commitments are subject to review as he hasn't realised how little money is available etc.

Normally I'd agree and expect this. But Starmer's made almost no commitments to anything that would cost money, so I reckon he probably won't even need to do this before being a total chocolate teapot of a PM.

[flatandy]

Jun 9, 2024 16:28:26 GMT perrykneeham said:

It's pretty rainbow-unicorn think to imagine that all societal and economic conditions are static and that new ones don't present themselves over time.

Maybe true. But do you think nobody was whining about sicknote culture in 2010? It feels like a whine from the 80s and 90s.

[perrykneeham]

Agreed. There are some things that mutate.

[moggyonspeed]

"Reform candidate said UK should have been neutral against Hitler" : Ian Gribbin? More like Ian Grubbinaroundtheshit&detritusofhisownmiserableexistence

So only a matter of days after the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day landings and our observation & remembrance of the sacrifices made, some in the Reform party would have us believe that those who indeed made the ultimate sacrifice died for nothing. What a thoroughly nasty thing to have implied.

Clearly, anyone who plans on voting Reform is not a patriot to Britain, is fundamentally brain-dead, and has no moral compass. And likely eats babies.

[perrykneeham]

"In posts from 2022 ...."

[mids]

"Seen by the BBC"

[flatandy]

Jun 10, 2024 18:02:47 GMT perrykneeham said:

"In posts from 2022 ...."

The distant, distant past, long since gone. A different country entirely with different mores. Why judge one man for saying what basically everyone did so long ago.

[perrykneeham]

If only it had just been one man, eh?

[Repat Van]

Jun 10, 2024 16:28:43 GMT moggyonspeed said:

"Reform candidate said UK should have been neutral against Hitler" : Ian Gribbin? More like Ian Grubbinaroundtheshit&detritusofhisownmiserableexistence

So only a matter of days after the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day landings and our observation & remembrance of the sacrifices made, some in the Reform party would have us believe that those who indeed made the ultimate sacrifice died for nothing. What a thoroughly nasty thing to have implied.

Clearly, anyone who plans on voting Reform is not a patriot to Britain, is fundamentally brain-dead, and has no moral compass. And likely eats babies.

I am surprised that some people are surprised a Reform candidate thinks this way.
Supporting Nazis is fully in line with the party’s ethos.

[Repat Van]

Jun 10, 2024 18:15:48 GMT mids said:

"Seen by the BBC"

“ A Reform UK candidate has apologised for claiming the country would be "far better" if it had "taken Hitler up on his offer of neutrality" instead of fighting the Nazis in World War Two.
Ian Gribbin, the party's candidate in Bexhill and Battle, also wrote online that women were the "sponging gender" and should be "deprived of health care".
In posts from 2022 on the Unherd magazine website, seen by the BBC, he said Winston Churchill was "abysmal" and praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Initially Mr Gribbin declined to comment, but later said: “I apologise for these old comments and withdraw them unreservedly and the upset that they have caused.”

You know that anybody can read Unherd right?