bojo is king, brexit is on, stuff is fvcked, tomorrow starts here -- new govt new thread new battle

see the full adoption of “virtue signalling” which iirc originated with Neo-Nazis? To say both that caring is weak and insincere, reinforces existing attitudes and obviously benefits the status quo enormously.

don't get me wrong i don't think voodoo psychology is really the answer to any question of political strategy, what i'm suggesting is that the pointless of psychoanalysing the electorate cuts both ways and shd be a more important factor in how not to waste time on your own campaign than worrying about what the enemy are saying

sorry, in short: appeals to morality are useless

I know Tom's writing a little and I don't particularly like his deployment of theory, nor his basic analysis. This passage:

"In 2017, the Tories ran as an unambiguously pro-Brexit party, which sought to deliver Brexit as if doing so would be good in-and-of itself: they lost their majority. But in 2019, the Tories won in a landslide by promising to deliver Brexit simply in order to get Brexit done. Previously, the Tories had been the party of Brexit, but they had never quite been the party of the Brexit “Fuck You” (hence, in part, why they were defeated by the “Brexit Party” at the EU elections earlier this year). Now they are: they offer their supporters nothing."

Don't forget what was achieved in 2017 despite everything, or what happened in the two years before the 12th December.

From upthread but this is where I agree w...plax maybe? That an opportunity to be more 'pro-business' was missed.

Pro-business is, or can easily be, 2019 speak for pro-worker. Framing the nhs as a charity receptical can only work in the short term, and when that runs out...

Better to frame it like roads, or boxing

Tories in 2019 ran like a parent putting their foot down.

You don't have to like your parents to do what you're told

No big deal, just Asa Winstanley lamenting that leadership candidates might actually see anti Semitism as a problem to take seriously 😒 pic.twitter.com/hrLMnX8qtT

— Natalie Sedacca (@nataliesedacca) December 17, 2019

voted against the welfare bill and knew Williamson was an oxygen thief, she'll do for me.

hnnnggggghhhhh

Boris Johnson made his ministers repeat campaign lies about the NHS in unison during his first cabinet meeting since the election.

In a call-and-response exchange that resembled a school teacher addressing his pupils, Mr Johnson repeated widely debunked claims made by the Conservative Party about investment in the health service.

“How many new hospitals are we going to build?” the prime minister asked his cabinet.

“40!” they replied, ignoring the fact the government has only put in place funding for building projects at six hospitals by 2025.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, admitted in September that the other 34 projects, which are expected by 2030, have only been promised £100m of “seed funding” so far.

The £2.7bn allocated for the six hospital projects will fund extensions to existing buildings, as well as new buildings on separate sites.

“How many more nurses are we going to hire?” he asked to replies of “50,000” from his ministers, despite Mr Johnson publicly admitting that the figure was inaccurate during the election campaign.

Pretty sure the pledge to build any new hospitals lost them a million or so votes anyway. A real howler as far as the base reckon.

Tonight 'The Brexit Storm Continues: Laura Kuenssberg’s Inside Story' airs on the beeb.

https://www.standard.co.uk/stayingin/tvfilm/the-brexit-storm-continues-laura-kuenssberg-inside-story-a4315626.html

This review makes it sound like it's not even worth to hate-watch it :-/

Interesting piece from, once again, Dan Hancox on, once again, Wetherspoons
https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/tim-martin-wetherspoons-long-read-brexit-remain

The new intake of @UKLabour BAME MPs-Breaking glass ceilings together✊ pic.twitter.com/PA2DWhGTmI

— Sarah Owen (@SarahOwen_) December 17, 2019

What the fuck is Dan Hancox talking about? every proper pub regular that I know thinks Spoons is tolerable at best, there's more atmosphere on fucking Pluto than there is in the average Spoons.

Probly popular in places where all the good pubs have shut I guess

OTM. Generally full of sad lonely old drunks ime.

... more sad lonely old drunks than usual, that is.

sign of good pubs tbh

I'd say the only other pubs in Town are quite moribund and likely places to get stabbed or murdered or witness a Paedohunter citizens arrest, but then again someone crashed a car right through the window of the local Whetherspoons last year. By some miracle there was a few cuts and bruises and spilt pints of cheap Carling but no serious injuries.

If I'm gonna be sad lonely old drunk I'll at least do it somewhere with sport on the telly

sign of good pubs tbh

Not really.

Central London Wetherspoons tend to be as ridiculously busy all day as they are gigantic. I've avoided them more and more since 2016 and persuaded a few friends (people who tend to prefer 'proper' pubs anyway) to do same in the last year for meetups desite the convenience, cost and choice. For what little good it does...

I still won’t go to them because the idea of giving that man my money is repugnant.

Xps - re: the attitude the guy talks about in the article, believing climate change, homelessness, kid on hospital floor etc are all fake.

His diagnosis is otm and there's a lot to be said about this.

One thing is - they're using our strategies against us, right? It used to be that they'd post immigrant scare story memes on Facebook and we'd say this isn't factual because it wasn't. Somehow the areseholes have picked up this response and now use it against things they don't want to see whilst still fucking believing in actually fake shit. Like we think of Fake News as something Trump would shout but in reality the phrase was first used against him.

The trouble is anything viral only seems to go viral amongst people who already agree with it

The new Chairman of the Independant review into @Conservatives racism writes for Spiked - see below for their “hierarchy of hate” theory pic.twitter.com/D4NxAZ5Aso

— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) December 17, 2019

wow, when even a centre-right pol like Warsi has the measure of how racist Spiked is, yet the BBC loves 'em.

oh and obv the Tories need to investigate their investigation into party racism..

Warsi will be pushed beyond her limit eventually, already seen her sheepishly admit in interview that she's sick of the Islamophobia in her party but she's too economically right wing to go anywhere else. Just hope she really lets rip when she finally snaps.

as much as she doesn't give a flying fuck about ppl on poverty wages in her dad's local bed factory - I almost feel sorry for her these days.

there's more atmosphere on fucking Pluto than there is in the average Spoons.

my local spoons is in a magnificent, and only lightly refurbished, art deco cinema, complete with a balcony filled with original seating, and it's still completely soulless and antiseptic

it is kinda remarkable how they can make every location feel like a doctor's waiting room, i dunno how they manage it

Best thing about Spoons is the running memes about having to climb up the North face of the Eiger to get to the bogs, impressive they build that feature into such varied locations

no dogs policy at spoons is bollocks, you can't even sit on the benches outside with yr mutt

spoons advantages: cheap, usually a decent selection of ale, no music. not somewhere i'd relish having a session, but have certainly nipped in for a quick one before.

I'm going to take some time off from this thread, as I'm taking a some time off from uk politics in general (a luxury i have, seeing as i don't actually live in the uk) for the sake of my mental health.

good luck, uk. i'll be back to moan in a month or two

take it easy jim, be well

Yeah I'd rather talk about pubs than politics myself right now

Let’s all move to Blue Saturday

spoons in Cambridge is a bit like this video:

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/trinity-hall-crescents-wetherspoons-rant-14639989

dear god the flashbacks

take care Jim <3

Six minutes in LauraK's doc and ehhhh.... Also, *why* broadcast this *after* the GE? This is not your job! Your job is to hold them to scrutiny, to show "us all" how useless people like BJ, Cummings etc are. Not that it's newsworthy but she made this for her, not for the people, that much is clear. This isn't journalism, it's a vanity project.

that's the last line on her cv iirc

https://i2-prod.examinerlive.co.uk/incoming/article15736895.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/1_wetherspoonscrash.jpg

I think this designated driver might be literally taking the piss

Why would I care, right? It's just so infuriating because

a) She's a shit, shit journalist, and being one myself, doing political writing myself, she's just a disgrace for the occupation
b) Half of all Western European media just parrot back whatever it is LauraK belches out. Because it's the ~BBC~. I've heard one too many GE reports in the media here that just copy/paste her takes, however bad.
c) all journalists - myself included - are bad.
d) the end (I wish)

I watched half. She can Fuck off.

Yes yes I fucking hate-watched it till the end. LauraK ends with; "Someone texted me BJ as PM would either last 10 minutes or 10 years. You know what? This could only be the beginning." Twinkle in her eye, nudge nudge wink wink. This is sub-standard anything, partisan propaganda broadcasting. At prime time. Tell me where I can complain and direct my anger because bloody nora

Take care Jim.

And the entire media are sitting on a story about him that’s not gonna come to light because of family omertà which would by rights have him in jail. We all know a version of it and ARGH his disgusting entitlement is the cherry on top of this whole shit sundae.

Also, fuck the PLP. They must know too, and they fill up bulletins with insults to a good man who could have kept him out if they’d all stuck together like Labour members wanted.

Lol

trying to give a chill explanation of the british media’s treatment of left wingers to a first time CLP attendee pic.twitter.com/5S57zZO6Dd

— e (@scenicpasture) December 17, 2019

You've mentioned this before. Is there no way you could get that story out in the world without the compromised suffering because of it? Is there really no way anyone can get this story out?

xp

It requires someone going public who refuses to, for various reasons, thus cannot be ‘stood up’ as journalists say.

Also it looks like Starmer’s making his leadership pitch, and it’s a good one that stays classy and above the factions.