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

get set for the country to be torn apart by the extremist demagogues of the Labour and Conservative parties now that there's no centre ground

There was an EDL candidate as one of the Independents. He got 29 votes.

Would you say that English Democrats are the EDL, but with spelling and grammar?

They are very odd. They market themselves as a Federalist SNP / Plaid Cymru style party that embraces people of all races as long as they self-identify as English then go and publicly sign joint statements with Russki Obraz, a Russian neo-Nazi group founded by a guy who was recently convicted of murdering two anti-fascist journalists.

Great: racists and bigots now have three voting options.

Better than having one with 33% of the vote.

Lol some close shaves for Labour then. The Ukip foster parents can fuck off now, I guess?

Think Rotherham council might have a few other lawsuits to worry about right now.

http://rogerhelmermep.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/helmer1.jpg
http://rogerhelmermep.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/helmer1.jpg
http://rogerhelmermep.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/helmer1.jpg

"Talk comes straight out of his mouth like a walking stick" - Kafka

seriously who gives a fuck that their neighbour receives benefits when millionaires are literally eating babies encased in gold for every meal

lots of people, sadly

Pretty glad the disabled are going to help out corporations to the tune of £2bn. It's great to see Britain open for Business again at last. How we can expect top businesses to invest while disabled people have the curtains drawn?

every drop of welfare drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the austerity

How come disabled people get to have curtains in the first place? Hardworking families can't afford curtains. Immigrants.

it's Christmas, what's more festive than starving beggars festooning the frozen streets?

i suspect if you did a survey on how many people think most recipients of disability benefits are malingering scroungers you'd be pretty horrified at the result

The corporation tax thing is just infuriating, that's just another £2bn that will be sat on/returned to shareholders and not invested, it won't make any difference.

pretty sure i heard a Tory on the radio the other day saying Corporation Tax is already disproportionately low but hey if this is the incentive employers need to create minimum wage unskilled jobs then it's a small price to pay

sorry, unskilled jobs that are so poorly paid that the state has to subsidise them just so employees don't starve or freeze to death inbetween ten hour shifts

why shd Asia keep all the sweatshops to themselves?

There's probably a point about midway through this parliament, probably after another recession, when it will become apparent that the coalition haven't actually dented the deficit despite causing a hell of a lot of pain in the process. Until that happens, it doesn't reall matter what Labour say as they'll only be greeted with responses of "zero economic credibility".

― Matt DC, Monday, September 26, 2011 10:10 AM (1 year ago)

^^^^
a good call

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/commercial/2012/12/5/1354742747449/George-Osborne-delivers-a-010.jpg

DIE VIOLENTLY NOW YOU FUCKING CUNTS

(sorry)

otm

xp

ie not the apology

dont apologise jed.

never apologise.

i mean seriously look at that picture. says everything.

it almost supersedes the thread opening picture ..

almost.

xpost.

AndrewLilico

Philosopher, Economist, Christian, Father of five, Whiggish Conservative, former opera singer, fan of West Brom and Yes. ConHome columnist

i suspect if you did a survey on how many people think most recipients of disability benefits are malingering scroungers you'd be pretty horrified at the result

True but there's something irrational going on there which has to do with fear and instability and uh, basically, leads to fascism

of course it's irrational, i'm suggesting that no political party ever lost votes by underestimating the irrationality, selfishness and plain mean-spiritedness of the electorate

Hopefully the Liberal Democrats will though

Wish that could be spun as something along the lines of '65 per cent of respondents demonstrably ignorant of true nature of benefits system'. I'm assuming it's because they've never used it themselves, and magically, everyone they know/are related to who receives benefits needs or deserves them.

It's almost as if the US GOP model of projection/lower-middle class resentment has been carefully tailored to UK needs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20621313

This is potentially significant, the public 'debate' around welfare has basically ignored the concept of working poverty in favour of pretending that pretty much the entire benefits bill goes to the unemployed, and I'm pretty sure a lot of the electorate believe that.

Obviously Labour have been pathetically slow to point this out, but still.

'65 per cent of respondents demonstrably ignorant of true nature of benefits system

That italicised bit I think is probably true.

No, I've noticed a talking-points drift towards pointing out the huge proportion of working poor receiving benefits. It's now being mentioned by reporters and presenters at the BBC rather than just being pointed out in heated debates by people like Owen Jones (or on Channel 4 editorially).

It does get mentioned but it's not in widespread public consciousness just yet.

as i said before, the Gov is effectively subsidising employers who pay wages below a level that employees can live on, and this is something that ought to be emphasised when "creating jobs" is used as an excuse for tax cuts for companies and their highly-paid execs

It's not really that straightforward - below-living wages precede the introduction of tax credits and most other benefits, and wages won't rise as a result of them being withdrawn given the number of people unemployed right now.

Obviously a big part of the problem is rent and I'll concede that a big part of the housing benefit bill really does go straight into the pockets of slum landlords but that's hardly the government's core concern here.

Never happier to be in a council flat with district heating than I am right now. People pay more for a room in a Hackney shared house, which is totally diabolical.

Housing benefit bill might actually go up as a result of these changes, they're forcing single people out of (relatively) cheap dwellings like studio flats into one bedroom flats, where the Housing Benefit allowable is almost three times as high - it's madness. Of course, what they're really doing is forcing them out of London and the South East.

65 per cent of respondents demonstrably ignorant of true nature of benefits system

... and how much it actually costs, particularly out-of-work benefits.

But, this is housing policy driven by people with two or three houses to spare after all

they're forcing single people out of (relatively) cheap dwellings like studio flats into one bedroom flats, where the Housing Benefit allowable is almost three times as high

Not disagreeing with you but can you explain how this works?

Well, in Islington, for instance, the council now has a limit of £88 per week for studio flats with shared facilities, £250 for one bedroom flats. Ergo get a one bedroom flat.

... the council are telling people to do that, sotto voce

They're now calling it a "strivers tax", wonder if that'll stick.

Try finding a £250/week 1BR flat in Islington that's fit for human habitation. Landlords who don't want to rent to social tenants just charge £300 and get a professional couple in.

1BR private rentals in my neighbourhood are £350-400 a week. Nobody should have to spend £15-20k annually on *just the rent*.

Try getting anything other than a cardboard box for £88/week in Islington!

I'm assuming rent control would finish off the UK economy?

home-owners and deadbeat landlords must be protected above all else.

Home-owners is a lot of people