ForenSix Opposition - Politics in the Soon To Be Former UK in Autumn 2020

Probably the single biggest reason the LibDems are in favour is that, without Brexit, they have literally nothing else to make people take notice of them again.

As somebody in the clutches of the benefits system I'm all for anything that doesn't feel like being panopticoned 24/7 and I'm guessing I'm not the only one who feels like that

I mean the other thing that might work would be the state literally guaranteeing a job in what is otherwise likely to be a lengthy period of high structural unemployment.

Unfortunately there aren't any difficult challenges happening right now that might require the government to hire millions of people for essential work.

lol the government could literally hire people just to work on infrastructure and bread and butter stuff like that, but they won’t because they don’t want to

I honestly believed they'd have to do something to create work, I guess there's a slim possibility they might still find their hand forced, maybe the relentless pressure from the opposition will push them to it

When Sunak said “I can’t save every business or job - no chancellor could” I thought well ok, but a chancellor with a bit of imagination and the will to use it would come up with something to minimise damage to the economy and protect ppl’s livelihoods (not necessarily jobs) that was a little stronger than £10 off burgers and 22% to keep “viable” people on another 6 months

(Dodds ain’t it)

Seems the Trafalgar Square covidiot protests are now weekly? lol London really needed yet another factor helping the epidemic along.

Someone start a rumour there are 7 BLM protesters hanging out there, they’ll be dispersed and fined by teatime

In years to come historians are going to be horrified that the government merrily encouraged millions of people to put themselves and others at risk of chronic long-term illness, fucked-up neurological shit, or death in order to "help out" an economy that wouldn't adequately help them out if they were unable to work.

A prominent discussion of the pros and cons of UBI was written by ...

John Lanchester!

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v41/n14/john-lanchester/good-new-idea

in order to "help out" an economy

Good thing there's no connection between unemployment and the ability to completely isolate in order to prevent the spread of the economy-destroying pandemic. Not gonna be any Tory-unpalatable side-effects from 1m+ extra unemployed, I'm sure.

Every day a new low.

EXC: Keir Starmer has begun sending personalised letters to attract former major Labour donors who left under Jeremy Corbyn

Among those who have received them is David Abrahams, the Newcastle property developer who donated more than £650,000 to the party under Tony Blair pic.twitter.com/ZqujEcbDJI

— Eleni Courea (@EleniCourea) September 26, 2020

Also, Jesus this is scathing and worse than I expected

You're a laughing stock, @Keir_Starmer. Get a grip or get out!

"If this was a drinking game and you drank every time he said 'I support the government' you'd be like passed out by now, wouldn't yer?" #Gogglebox (1/2) pic.twitter.com/LGdky3tyGP

— The Agitator (@UKDemockery) September 25, 2020

"Keir's gonna turn around and go 'well, to be honest Boris is right, I am great at hindsight and I support everything he says.'" #Gogglebox (2/2) pic.twitter.com/Yvo3HmP0I4

— The Agitator (@UKDemockery) September 25, 2020

Yes. He's bad, isn't he?

So much worse than I expected and every day he’s worse.

I do have some very practicable and realistic suggestions on how he could be "improved", but I got banned for posting them last time!

Fond as I am of many of the Goggleboxers it wasn't exactly an incisive critique, but it's probably another step along the road to Kieth's unshakeable public image as a bloviating fence-sitter

Actual lol

xp

It doesn't especially matter if it's incisive or not, it's in the apolitical mainstream now and it wasn't before.

No one on mainstream TV has really bothered to try and satirise Starmer yet and, even if it's shit and unfunny, there might be a compelling reason to start doing so.

As I said, a step towards his public image being fixed to waht we already know. It's possible that a boring empty vessel of a manager might hold some attraction to a section of the electorate after Boris's Wild Ride so even that mightn't kill him, just needs to take a few tips from Blair's shirtsleeves fake passion playbook. Obv if every unfunny light entertainer spends the next four years calling him a boring cunt it'll provide some gentle lulz, at best

But I'd be happier if people were calling him a racist and a billionaire's stooge, obv

One odd thing about the interview clips was that at moments his old voice / accent seemed to be coming out - the very bizarrely different one from the McDonald's legal case video?

As linked by stet but this teaching guidance really is desperate, laughable, contradictory, unenforceable fascist horseshit

pic.twitter.com/VzIvz9CBqp

— tetrapod (@pancake_puns) September 25, 2020

I agree.

This relates specifically to "personal, social, health and economic (PHSE) education"?

We didn't have that when I was at school. Very odd collocation and seems typical of how overcoded and overdetermined these things now are.

Jesus Christ

BREAKING: Boris Johnson has asked former Mail editor Paul Dacre to run thr broadcasting watchdog Ofcom. Charles Moore is close to a done deal to be BBC chairman https://t.co/rlQmfcDSGq

— Tim Shipman (@ShippersUnbound) September 26, 2020

fuck

i'm starting a "please help me emigrate" kickstarter if anybody's feeling flush

i’m feeling flush with something alright

I agree. Just when you think things can't get any worse - they do.

jesus christ.

moore is a climate change denier, a covid denier... eton, trinity college...

fuck

fuck, this is really bad

It's almost as if nothing matters

9 cops injured at the anti-mask protests, crickets from the usual lot

Charles Moore, famous for never paying his TV license - is not having a license still a sacking offence for BBC staff?

Outrageous that an avowed Keir Starmer supporter should be appointed chair of the BBC https://t.co/5xoXoIgjzP

— John Rentoul (@JohnRentoul) September 26, 2020

JFC this reply.

ghoulish humour?

Usually he's more into dusty capes rather than ghoulish japes

Look, unlike the rest of us John can take the long view.

especially in a mirror

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtNswOMmmFw

> is not having a license still a sacking offence for BBC staff?

Surprising numbers of BBC staff, or perhaps the more vocal ones, don't have a TV and therefore don't need a licence

They’ll need one if they watch iPlayer live too ofc

Meanwhile this looks like an absolute disaster in the making even before you consider the talk of forcing students to stay in their accommodation for Christmas.

Look as long as everyone does what they're told then oh ffs

‼️footage of lee house last night who were forced to break social distancing measures for a fire drill. they were encouraged to congregate outside in the courtyard all together. the university failed to establish a safe protocol for fire drills. this was not the fault of students pic.twitter.com/7OUOvVTGk3

— pollockprisoner (@pollockprisoner) September 26, 2020

we had the fire engine around yesterday (toast-related) and the fire-people stood about 4 ft apart either side of the only way in and out of the building.

(don't get me started on the people who set off the communal fire alarm and then just sit in their flats ignoring it. that's twice now)

I remember my year in halls '98/'99 every other night someone would spray lynx on a smoke detector around 2am and the siren would go off, and two fire engines would turn up and we would get a bollocking from the firemen, we never did find out which prick was doing it, cannot imagine if we had been dealing with covid at the same time

The fire alarm in our halls went off on average once a week, astonishing that the university hadn't seen that coming.

Never had a single fire alarm when I was at university. Pretty sure they didn't have smoke detectors and none of us would have known the evacuation procedure anyway.

Here were the biggest Labour poll leads in 2019:

+10 (Panelbase, May 2019)
+10 (ComRes, April 2019)
+9 (Hanbury Strategy, May 2019)
+9 (Kantar Public, May 2019)
+9 (Panelbase, April 2019)
+9 (OnePoll, April 2019)
+9 (Hanbury Strategy, April 2019)

just a bit of a cooler after reading some excitable melts with short memories declaring they can't remember how long it is since once single pollster gave Labour anything near a 3 point lead.