OT An observation as we start a new decade....

Despite the unnecessary (and untrue) remarks about people 'not knowing how Parliament works' it's a staggeringly simplistic view to say that the Opposition have to oppose every single proposal put forward by government. They don't, and there have been many examples of measures being passed without opposition. It is more statesmanlike to be a little bit more selective about the really important issues which you do oppose. Did Jezza oppose the calling of the most recent election, for example? No - of course he didn't.

Do I attack Corbyn personally? Yes. I think his personal qualities make him totally unsuitable for the post of Party Leader. That is not to say he is not a sincere, conviction-based politician. But he is and always will be a protest politician. Labour cannot win an election with the likes of Corbyn at the helm. I see from this morning's Guardian that Sir Keir Starmer is in pole position according to recent YouGov polling:

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...members-suggests-keir-starmer-is-first-choice

I think that would be a step in the right direction, although I'm not convinced Sir Keir has the charisma to win over the swing voters up against Johnson.

 

Have you lot any idea how childish and pathetic you sound? Regardless of your opinions on the actual subject. You won't change anyone else's opinion, why not just chill and try to enjoy life? Happy New Year.

 

Nah - it's just the octopus and beers disagreeing with you!

 

It's not common for opposition leaders to vote with the government - but lets step back a bit.
Love him or hate him, what JC actually said is that he'll be holding the government to account. That's his job.

The media spin on that statement is the reason for this thread.

You and I agree that he's a liability (and for similar reasons) - but I refuse to fall for the populist anti Corbynism just because it's easy and being promoted by the media. He's been a disaster as a leader - but we need to check ourselves to not fall into media manipulation (as per the story that led to this thread)

 

Purely out of interest. Can you point to anything in the Tory manifesto that is considered a universally good idea and shouldn't be opposed?

A bad idea does not become a good idea because it is popular. I'm big enough and heavy enough to qualify as an heavyweight boxer. Stepping into the ring with a professional that would be likely to punch my head off would not be a good idea - irrespective of how many millions paid to watch me get pummeled into human jam on Sky.

 

So do I. I make my own mind up.

 

the tory lead media in this country did a fine job of getting the vast majority of voter not to vote tory because as you rightly pointed out over 60% of votes were not for the tories

 

there was a time when politics on this board made for decent debate but as you rightly point out that debate has turned into summat rather childish, snide comments about peoples intelligence have ruined it,

happy new year Stahlrost.

 

I never mentioned 'tory led' (and if I had, I'd have spelled it correctly)

But you keep ignoring points made and just keep up your binary world view - I'm sure it makes for a well balanced life

 

Err.... most of them like
Iincreasing numbers of nurses,
No-one should have to sell their home to provide, social care,
No income tax, NI or VAT increases,
Pension increases
Living wage and minimum wage increase,
carbon emissions cuts to net zero by 2050,
Change the treasury funding methodology to make it less London centric and enable rebalancing of the North/South divide.

All the above are good ideas although the big questions are:
Will they honour those pledges and do they go far enough?

One thing is that they are at least realistic unlike the 'promise after promise' manifesto from Labour that no one, except the young and naive believed , were achievable, or at least achievable without bankrupting the UK. The so called list of economists supporting it seemed to do so before the add ons that kept on coming e.g. £53bn for the WASPI women.

Only time will tell

 

well done you,top marks for spelling

btw,I really do fink you 2rd centance sums yersen up far moore then it duz me or any uvver posta you try to be cwever wiv..'n' gmammer wo nivver mi strong point..

 

We can't afford pension increases - well, if we can't afford to fund students, the disabled, WASPI women or those on benefits - without increasing taxation, NI or VAT. Especially given that GDP has fallen by over $200bn since 2014 (it has recovered from the low in 2017), but still $250bn below 2007.
The extra nurses will not even cover the current vacancies (so not "extra") - there are 43,000 current NHS nursing vacancies, so we would need 90,000 to get the numbers they are suggesting. Same with the police, when you cut 21,000 then recruit 20,000 you are still 1,000 short.
2050 is too late for carbon emissions. 2030 is probably too late for the lower lying areas (Norfolk, Lincolnshire, etc).

Perhaps they could look at sorting Universal Credit so someone that was underpaid by 2p didn't receive a sanction over Christmas, or several people didn't commit suicide when the election results were announced.

Maybe they shouldn't be asking private companies to look at taking over paediatrics, oncology and other services in the NHS.

If a liar lies, and tells you what you think you want to hear, is it still a lie?

 

People committing suicide because of the election result !
Where did you get that information/facts from ?

 

What a bizarre thing to have put in a post. What does he expect, the Tory government to resign because they won and some very unstable people were so upset they deemed it necessary to end it all?

Wow!!

 

Nope. I am aware now, of 3 people committing suicide because they couldn't face another five years under the financial situation they find themselves in. These are all anecdotal, but one (found yesterday) was made redundant in late November without any redundancy and was still waiting for his first benefit payment - so zero income for over month. Another was a disabled person on the night of the 13th because they had been taken off disability benefits and was facing eviction while being physically unable to work.

These are not unstable people, these are people that have been deprived of any form of income and hope for the future and can see no other option.

 

Happy feckin New Year. Christ on a bike gerra grip.