Boris/James Dyson

We have different memories of that too.
Blair was handed a huge shift in popularity due to the sleaze of Major’s government, who tried to pretend to be ‘family values’ whilst fornicating a their way through their term.

Whereas the modern Tory party, aided by its media team have decided that they can just treat sex scandals, lies and corruption as ‘normal’. And reading posts on here, it seems they’ve got away with it brilliantly.

Starmer has a job on his hands pointing out Johnson’s lies, when Johnson’s only response is an uncomfortable shuffle, because he knows no one cares.

 

I think he may start to cut through as this scandal unfurls. The sad reality of an opposition against a proven liar trying to avoid scrutiny, being propped up by a sympathetic media and tory donors that has an 80 seat majority... you aren't going to cut through that much until you start to meet people and talk to them more. the government have had huge amounts of airtime because of the pandemic. The opposition very very little.

Give it 18 months and see how things look then, there will still be plenty of time til the next GE.

 

true,the 1997 election was a huge victory and a promise of a referendum on our continued membership of the eu played a very big part in this outcome.

just thought i'd mention this seeing as brexit has managed to find its way into a tory sleaze thread

 

So you keep saying; and yet you’re the only person I have ever known mention it. No one I’ve ever met remembers this - I’m not denying it was in the referendum, I can’t be arsed to look. But I’m totally saying it wasn’t a significant factor.

I’ll go as far as to say... if it was a significant factor, then Blair welcoming a more federal Europe and not putting it in the next manifesto, and still maintaining a huge majority is nothing short of miraculous.

 

He is a populist, not a died in the wool "conservative". Brexit, big project spending, saving football, anything that gives him good headlines. That said it needs someone to sort out English football. I'm massively anti Brexit, but if he actually sorted it out, so we had a similar set up to Germany I'd at least give him credit for that. it wouldn't change my voting intentions though....

 

Bang right. I can't understand the eejits that claim to want Labour in power and yet diss those who have won elections, or are likely to make more appeal than the hard left.

 

Direct from Labour 1997 manifesto.

"We will stand up for Britain's interests in Europe after the shambles of the last six years, but, more than that, we will lead a campaign for reform in Europe. Europe isn't working in the way this country and Europe need. But to lead means to be involved, to be constructive, to be capable of getting our own way."

That doesn't sound like a promise of a referendum to me.

 

I think he’s all hot air regards that tbh and I don’t think his backbenchers and lords would allow him to go against money men .
Happy if proved wrong but don’t think I will tbh.

 

Dek, I think you are obsessed with Brexit we all know you voted for it and if it goes tit's up in this part of the country like it as in Northern Irland and the fishing villages and towns of the country will you then admit this sleaze is favours given to people like this Cretin Dyson because they pumped money into Johnsons Brexit. Thought I'd just mention this seeing as Brexit has managed to find its way into this Tory sleaze thread.

 

I assume you’ve not seen or signed this

https://action.labour.org.uk/page/8...xvQQyb36svNvry-2X0lDiY1-3sG5HEYLjn6gLIA0v9mNI

 

Made me feel lazy that

do we think it’ll make Dek stop peddling this lie though?

 

Yes I do keep mentioning it because the lying get promised one,
Maybe you don’t remember because you may not like the truth or maybe it’s because you choose not
https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2004/apr/20/eu.politics6
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15390884.amp

 

I’m not obsessed pal, I merely mentioned it because it was in a post in this thread
Time will tell if everything goes tits up

 

So...
When you said that Blair promised a referendum on staying in the EU prior to the election (which would in your opinion have been the reason he got a landslide).

What you meant was that Blair promised in a speech to the house that he would give us a referendum on the proposed future constitution of the EU*.

Now; you really don’t need me to point out that those 2 things are not the same do you?

* And I appreciate that there’s semantics, but that proposed change to the constitution (following disquiet all over the EU) didn’t actually happen.

So what you posted is untrue, Blair never promised a referendum on our EU membership prior to the election in 97, so he never lied about that, but it appears someone here has


Edit just to show how far from reality your beliefs about that referendum are:
The leader of the opposition at the time congratulated the PM on finally seeing sense (on not holding a referendum). So, not only was it a short lived policy for Labour, the Tories weren’t in favour of that referendum either.

 

The article is also dated 2004. Not 1997 or prior.

 

my mistake by the look of things, I’ll hold my hands up

The referendum promises were more about constitutional change rather than a direct in or out, either way, we never got a referendum offer from the Labour Party

however, in my defence, tony Blair was originally elected on a promise of a ‘withdrawal from the eec which has drained our natural resources and destroyed jobs’

 

IF that’s true, it strikes me that like every politician who gets close to the facts, then realised that the EU was actually the opposite.

It’s easy to sit on the back benches and dream of little England once more ruling the world, but the reality of free access to one of the worlds major markets is compelling (as we’re about to find out).

But once more; we’ve dragged a discussion of yet more Tory sleaze into a discussion not even about the current Labour leader, or the one before him, or even the one before... just to find an irrelevant counter point.

So Boris Johnson is a lying fraudster, but but but Tony Blair led you to believe he didn’t like the EU 25 years ago.

 

Aye nothing to do with a Vindictive, uncaring Thatcher Govt that saw the decimation of traditional industries, eg coal and steel just so she could attack the TU movement

 

That quote was taken from the labour party’s own election leaflet when they actively campaigned to leave the union..

 

There were so many reason why Blair trounced Major. So many reasons.