DEM not gonna CON dis NATION: Rolling UK politics in the short-lived Cleggeron era

I think its mentioned somewhere further up this thread, but I unintentionally met a very drunken failed Tory councillor for Tooting at a pub a few months ago, who proceeded to obnoxiously and repellently hassle a female friend before describing the (Indian) Labour MP for the district as "that fucking N*****". Not saying the Labour dudes are much if any better, but these low-level Tories really struggle to keep their inner shitheel-ness from surfacing...

apparently on the radio show this guy was responding to, y.a.b. was talking about how british politicians had no right to speak out about the stoning of women in iran because they supported the illegal, imperialist, etc adventures in iraq and afghanistan. so i don't think he was just randomly wishing stoning upon her.

i've stopped being surprised by how stupid public figures can be, but im kinda surprised you can get arrested over this. of course the tories throw him under the bus.

ah strike out 'apparently', that's exactly what she said. we should also remember the opium wars before condemning chinese human rights abuses. also the common room is getting really untidy and will you vote for me as union rep?

Mayne, don't you ever get bored of responding to "complex situation is complex" polemic with "OMG, student radical politics, LOL" ?

Never mind, don't answer that, I forgot where I was for a second.

wow, it would be great if Wise never came back. in fact, if anyone has to suffer and be lost to the tragic carnage of the Middle East right now, let it be him.

― the pinefox, Monday, 15 September 2008 11:32 (1 year ago)

^^^ arrest this man for incitement to violence against dennis wise.

that's exactly what im not doing. im saying it's complex. she's saying, british politicians, because of this country's past, cannot ever make judgements of the conduct of other countries.

im saying that no-one out there in the world of state-actors is clean.

on the chinese thing in particular i think she's just challopsing really.

xpost

oh in context that isn't so bad actually. everybody's stupid

reinstate that tory dude i'd say

Tory dude is a barrister, I'm sure he'll be fine.

Well no, because I haven’t hired a personal photographer. This is someone working for the Government and this is someone who is going to save the Government and the taxpayer a lot of money.”

can't wait till the labour leadership contest is over and they really start sticking it to the coalition

They need to give the ConDems time to come up with some unpopular policies first tho, something that will cause controversy and outrage amongst their own natural supporters.

Once Clegg starts breaking manifesto promises the Lib Dems will split right down the middle, can't see a guy like Cable turning into a Thatcherite running dog overnight.

something that will cause controversy and outrage amongst their own natural supporters.

Defence cuts, dude.

I mean, we all know that not being able to defend the Falklands against the Argy junta is going to cause considerably more uproar than a few scroungers on the breadline, right?

I had my sarcasm tags on.

The only peeps that will get truly upset by defence cuts are likely to be true blue Tories, and those guys will drag themselves out to vote on shattered limbs if need be. Plus let's see how much defence they actually cut - the armed forces are more or less at their feasible minimum now, I thought.

Yeah it's more than I didn't think it was deserving of sarcasm just yet.

Has there been an opinion poll lately? I know they don't mean shit but general disgruntlement appears to have stepped up a notch or five in the last few weeks.

What's worrying is specifically what hm joked about. I'm sure there's a good deal of disgruntlement around at the moment. Her Majesty's Opposition shd probably think about focusing that and challenging the ConDems now, rather than hoping it hasn't evaporated in 4 years' time.

My guess would be that Emily's eye isn't really on the ball what with just becoming a father and all. Of course, that doesn't seem to have hampered Cameron given that he spent most of this summer dealing with either a new baby or a dead father.

Has there been an opinion poll lately?

http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/uk-polling-report-average
The latest average is Con 39, Lab 38, Lib Dem 13.

YouGov/Sun results 11th Nov CON 40%, LAB 40%, LD 10%; APPROVAL -8

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/nov/12/lib-dems-tuition-fees-clegg

wonder if these guys still want that recall thing

Good work by the Guardian newspaper there, who did they urge us to vote for in the General Election again?

And who remembers the Lib Dems are the party of progress? Or does that belong on the Rolling UK Comedy thread? Sort of a Bullingdon Club pic thing going on there, can be pulled out at any time and guaranteed a surefire reaction.

READ MY LIPS!

NO RISE IN... is that a squirrel over there?

Same old Tories, talk the big talk about small government and reducing the power of Whitehall and then go ahead and centralise even more power, plus they just hate local democracy (too many proles voting I suppose, can't trust 'em)

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v32/n22/ross-mckibbin/nothing-to-do-with-the-economy

It would be a mistake to think that this is a well-considered assault on local government. Rather the cuts are an assault on the means by which local government can discharge its responsibilities; this has been achieved primarily by reducing funding, but also by capping the council tax. If local government dies – which many Tories no doubt would like – it will be of starvation rather than murder. Nonetheless, the cuts, together with the further weakening of the LEAs as a result of Michael Gove’s education ‘reforms’, conform to a pattern of persistent Conservative attacks on the scope and autonomy of local government. Where this attack differs from its predecessors is that the Tories’ partners in crime are the arch-defenders of local government and community politics, the Liberal Democrats. The attack might not fundamentally reshape local government, but it might fundamentally reshape the Lib Dems.

Depressing stuff. Fuck it, I'm going down to Millbank to throw a paper cup off the roof.

Good article in Spiked addressing some of the issues around the Tories' dislike of the state. The programme it refers to was ridiculously simplistic and I did half think of ringing up/emailing Channel 4 to complain when watching it.

The latest film from serial offender of liberals Martin Durkin, on the perilous state of the UK’s finances, was witty but one-sided.

Didn't see the film but saw the trailer with Mark Littlewood *shiver* and that was enough. That guy really gives me the creeps, I can't help thinking "What would he have been doing in Nazi Germany?" whenever I see him.

oddly enough he'd always struck me as looking like a BNP dude

... and sounding like one, that nasal Estuary English voice

sadistic side-parting too

my god just as my ire towards torys and lib dems peaks again for the fifth time this month this labour MP goes and decides it's okay to insult traditional scottish dress and imply that all women should be made to wear skirts

the Observer has learned that defence firms are working closely with UK armed forces and contemplating a "militarisation" strategy to counter the threat of civil disorder.

The trade group representing the military and security industry says firms are in negotiation with senior officers over possible orders for armoured vehicles, body scanners and better surveillance equipment.

The move coincides with government-backed attempts to introduce the use of unmanned spy drones throughout UK airspace, facilitating an expansion of covert surveillance that could provide intelligence on future demonstrations.

wtf???

1)

The trade group representing the military and security industry says firms are in negotiation with senior officers
The trade group representing the military and security industry says firms are in negotiation with senior officers
The trade group representing the military and security industry says firms are in negotiation with senior officers

2) the police already have armoured vehicles and surveillance equipment

3) what are "body scanners" in this context?

all this mopping up makes cuts an expensive business.

Why is the NUS bothering with this "right to recall" thing with the LibDems? Surely they realise it's not going to legally stand up? There are better lines of attack... still, students I suppose.

also if they take down clegg then they will give the conservatives an extra mp (via hallam)

It's more that making a pre-election promise and then breaking it after the election doesn't actually break any rules even if the government ahs an outright majority. In a coalition it's virtually impossible. Right to recall will surely only work if an MP has either been breaking actual rules, Woolas style, or done something illegal?

Better off targeting the LibDem MPs who are never going to get into the government and hoping they get enough No votes to take the proposals down. There have to be enough of them - one reason so many Labour MPs voted for Iraq was that they had one eye on their future careers. There has to be a greater proportion of LibDem MPs without a hope in hell of making the Cabinet who might just think "fuck it".

But actually, they'll probably just keep going "wheee we're in government!" and do what they're told.

well yes, what the nus are suggesting it probably impossible from a legal pov.

Deluded of Tunbridge Wells:

Greg Clark, the decentralisation minister, has said that community groups need to have more power to stop assets disappearing. "For too long, people have been powerless as they watch community assets disappear," he said. Clark made his comments to coincide with the launch of a report from the thinktank ResPublica saying that community groups should have the right to take over public sector assets such as libraries, schools, hospitals and even prisons and police stations. "Public assets can and, wherever desirable, should become community assets, owned mutually or by individual shareholders or stakeholders in association with communities," ResPublica says. "These public goods can, if properly directed and organised, capitalise both civil society and the bottom 10% of society, which currently has negative net wealth."

He added that the upcoming Localism Bill would put flesh on the bones of the Report's recommendations by enshrining communities' 'right to know' about monies currently being disbursed by local authorities on managing community assets. This expansion of consumer rights in the private sector to community groups would, he went on to say, help the latter bid successfully to run these assets themselves, dismantling in the process entrenched local authority monopolies.

Prisons? Seriously?

Yes, we can!

Good way to cut the deficit by selling off everything to the bottom 25% of the population with their 1% of the liquid capital.