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

I Fucking Love Centrism

I didn't quite mean Momentum per se being shambolic but more the whole organisation/team behind Corbyn - Momentum probably stands in for that in the minds of people who are not quite paying attention, which is most of the country - so it's easy for opponents to make political capital out of blurring the lines.

ppl similarly made political capital out of blurring anti-EU sentiment into more general xenophobia - the solution is not concern trolling and trying to fearfully preempt these confusions but to speak confidently & positively and address them if and when they pop up. its really the only viable strategy given that there are a million different ignorant conflations going on in the minds of voters

The idea that you could in the end WIN is to me connected to the evangelism deems talked about.

I think it depends how you defined winning. So for example with the Jamaica 50 flight I would say the right won. Climate change may be another

i assume Fred meant that there's never an end point that could be called a win and if so i broadly agree, every small victory should only be the platform to make further demands

lol

Constituency school visits almost always hit the nail on the head. Today no exception:
Child - 'do you know Boris Johnson?' Me- 'yes' Child - 'wow. when did you last meet him' Me - 'er, yesterday' Child 'really! How was it?' Me 'er, er, er...great, it was just great'.

— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) February 14, 2020

I took it as there isn't an end point but that kind of attitude is lazy and complacent when every small win by the right is rolled over into a point in which life becomes intolerable for almost all but the elite.

battles being won in a seemingly endless bitter war

Just like the Blood War.

They’re really gonna do this eh? pic.twitter.com/iVwcmd7aXJ

— Socialist Dad (@shirleymush) February 14, 2020

the more of this kind of stuff coming out between now and the vote should focus some wavering voters to the immense pressure and expectations that will be on Starmer from the worst people associated with the party. And his record of being a steady career pol wouldn't suggest he is not capable of wandering off the well beaten track or telling perps from right wing pressure groups (that are running his campaign) to get fucked.

Even these people who are backing him now just see him as a short term fix UI for their ultimate goal of a mildly centre-right Labour completely eradicated of the Left. They might have learned a bit since they were "fucking useless plotters"

tbf i don't know how much rejoining is a big deal to the Blairites, it was only a stick to beat Corbyn with, they'll probably not see it as worth pursuing with any intent if that represents a threat to their election chances

meanwhile anybody who gives one fuck what AC Greylag thinks about anything is a lost cause in every area of life

I don't think anybody knows how the new intake in party membership are going to vote. if there was some data on it Starmer's team would have hacked it by now.

I'm waiting for another membership poll, still think this might end up being a much tighter competition than that last YouGov poll suggested. But if it isn't and ends badly, then firstly I'll be joining the politically homeless and then actual homeless as well soon after probably!

i think i am finally lost to electoralism.

i will be reading jacques camatte in my cabin in the woods if anyone needs me

meanwhile anybody who gives one fuck what AC Greylag thinks about anything is a lost cause in every area of life

I knew I should have gone with AC Fish

More than 100 people have sat at the cabinet table during a decade of Tory rule.

But look at the churn: not just 10 housing ministers but 9 culture secretaries, 8 chief whips & 6 Northern Ireland secretaries

This brilliant interactive by @Dan_Clark5https://t.co/mMb84C3DHr pic.twitter.com/bZYPXQTbzZ

— Matt Chorley (@MattChorley) February 14, 2020

they have a bigger staff turnover than a Sports Direct warehouse. I was lolling at this graph earlier that showed the two most experienced ministers in the current cabinet is 1. Gove and 2. Truss. Talk about survival of the weakest!

tbf i don't know how much rejoining is a big deal to the Blairites, it was only a stick to beat Corbyn with, they'll probably not see it as worth pursuing with any intent if that represents a threat to their election chances

Rejoining? nobody gaf about rejoining. the only people who gaf abour rejoining are people with expenseive notebooks with nothing written in them and even they cba

this is a time for liifting weights

I hope that doesn't mean Tom Watson is rejoining

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EQw4RE3WsAAZHge?format=jpg&name=large

China: lol shall we show you how to modernise your 2nd world infrastructure without it taking 20 years, so called Great Britain.

CLP nominations over; Thornberry misses getting on the ballot by two nominations.

I'm so fucking gutted for her!

New RLB video.

This is our path to power. Let's take it together.#PathToPower pic.twitter.com/QC9gASqyRP

— Rebecca Long-Bailey (@RLong_Bailey) February 14, 2020

fp'ed her for that subliminal racism! (Salford Lads Club)

that hs2 statement may be the most magnificent geopolitical troll I’ve ever witnessed

I still haven't worked out if it really will be environmentally ruinous or if the protests are all pure nimby

I can't wait for the concept of being able to go from Manchester to Birmingham in half an hour - when I can't even afford a ticket from from fucking Batley to Leeds!

yeah I don't really understand why shaving 30 minutes off Brum to London is gonna kickstart an economic golden age either but I guess I'd read up on it if I gave a shit

maybe if CRCC build it I can build up travel points by spying for Xi

Brum to Shanghai by train I can get behind

I saw this map showing how much high-speed train network China have built domestically in the last decade, seriously it is probably not far off Brum to Shanghai in size

fascist surveillance state with chugging pacer trains that stink of piss>>similar with super futuristic Ridley Scott aesthetic and cool trains!

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/be806f578b822592f2fbab128480a4c110d5477a/429_702_2619_1571/master/2619.jpg?width=620&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=0665edbe3653780fbdeb7161350cc4c6

startling 21st century diorama of bigoted nazis

Fair Cop? Pure Filth

HS2 is stupidly named and not about speed really (though the ultimate London to Glasgow in a couple of hours would be good in a number of ways).

It's more about getting the express trains off the mainline so that you can run substantially more of the freight and local services which share those tracks rn. It's good not bad imo.

Having it in 5 years wld be better.

of course improved train infrastructure is good, but if the only benefit to poorer communities is the drip down economics of posh bastards with season tickets getting to work faster then i vote for hand propelled laurel and hardy train!

The idea is that the poorer/badly served areas along the route can now get many more stopping trains (right now they can't have many because they need to keep the tracks clear for fast posh bastard trains). Whether I'd trust the Tories to actually run those stopping trains (or at a reasonable price) is a whole other thing, but HS2 makes it at least possible.

I think a really important question that should be asked about this- and that everyone should be asking a lot more- is “How would a Palestinian feel watching this?”pic.twitter.com/0YuVGIprQw

— Socialist Dad (@shirleymush) February 14, 2020

Leaving aside Peston’s appalling framing, this is either incredibly sloppy or incredibly weak on RLB’s part. Going into a leadership election where none of the three candidates are able to push back against the idea that describing Israeli policies with discriminatory impact as racist is antisemitic is worrying.

I like the Hatherly article too, but I don’t understand this:

it wasn’t hard to throw at racists a load of pictures of Corbyn with Palestinians and Irish Republicans. I’m amazed and horrified that strategy worked as well as it did — given it’s not hard to find pictures of Tony Blair or Bill Clinton with Arafat or Adams, or indeed Ian fucking Paisley bantering with Martin McGuinness — but it’s simply not a strategy that is repeatable.

surely it’s very repeatable?? particularly given how well it worked, and how unregulated the internet is?

Its repeatable but I don't know with the same success rate

To go back to the psychology thing above, I think we're missing a crucial component. How to deal with bullshit effectively. Corbyn was always on the defensive. If you were watching and you didn't speak English you would still know he was losing. There's a deeper subconscious issue about being seen as able to stand up to bullies, standing up for yourself. Showing you are Solid. You can't be spending your time on defence

I'm not particularly convinced any of the candidates have the skills, intelligence or wit to deal with bullshit either tbf (Starmer has the turning circle of an oil tanker) but lets be real here Corbyn was poor when in defence

xxp

I watched some of the Jewish hustings livestream. RLB was under a lot of pressure over Corbyn's lackadaisical approach to Labour AS and Pesto was giving her the roughest time of them all and the other 3 were getting a lot of applause when talking about how much they quarrelled with Corbyn and what amazing friends of the Jewish community they all are. She was facing the most hostile crowd since the Nottingham one full of Blairite councillors and I was thinking maybe the pressure of the event got to her and maybe she might revise that statement at a later date?

part of me wishes just turn around and say idgaf about israel or palestine and neither do you lets be real here

The next few years is going to be a never ending conveyor belt of questions about corbyn to an ever dwindling audience.

xp lol

when I go into a coffee shop I just say give me a fucking coffee - none of that fancy shit. I don't take the side of mocha or latte or even know wtf they are - my politics are the same!

More seriously though....why prevaricate when asked shite questions? Just say "Yes it is" or "No it isnt"

I saw someone make the observation that RLB needs to start with just Yes/No answers and expand if asked not the other way round.

Seriously is the same few questions each time, put them to bed, move on. If the interviewer doesn't like it say ok outside lets settle this like men. RLB could surely knock this umbrella man over

surely it’s very repeatable?? particularly given how well it worked, and how unregulated the internet is?