"we'll change the things that need changing and that's all we'll change": the paSUKification of post-brexit politics 2021

Dunno whether to post this on here or in the UK Comedy thread, but I have recently discovered that Alistair Campbell's daughter has a stand-up act, and judging by the panel show she was on it's entirely anecdotes about her dad being a wild and crazy guy and angry tirades against Jeminy Crumbyn (v topical); the benefactors of nepotism used to be more circumspect about this kind of thing?

she was on As Yet Untitled the other week, kept talking about her dad without saying who he was.

Yeah that's where I encountered her, for most of it I thought she must be the daughter of some old school comedian but then she starts talking about having her dad take her to Question Time (making one comment for the "die hard Question Time fans", an alarming concept if there's ever been one) and her lecturing her dad and John McDonnel on labour divisiveness (and then everyone stood up and applauded). Slightly salvaged by Babatundé Aléshé looking just as miserable having to listen to her as I was.

This sounds appalling.

The @LibDems smashing the blue wall 👊🔶 pic.twitter.com/PZ7QipQGZl

— Dominic Buxton (@DominicBuxton) September 19, 2021

oh gosh I'm going to end up looking up a clip of Campbell's daughter now on the panel show now just to experience the horror first hand.

It was bad enough when they became politicians and journalists, but comedians? Come sweet death, take me now.

If only more of them became comedians

Ayesha Hazarika went the route of failed political advisor>failed stand-up comedian>presenter on right-wing talk radio. Maybe it's not family nepotism keeping her in jobs, but it sure helps to be from a posh background and be a vocal critic of the left.

Rachel Connolly had a good piece on the LRB blog a while back about the awful wave of comedy nepotists.

https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2021/april/funny-voice-videos

omg I didn't know Will Hislop was a thing, this should never have happened.

does he look like a self-satisfied thumb, like his dad?

no he's got a full head of hair it seems, but lol that won't last

but self satisfied looking .. check

I believe the term these days for the likes of Will Hislop is spiritually bald

Well now

Who knew Boris Johnson used to get his climate change info from, anti-vaxxer, Piers Corbyn. 😲 pic.twitter.com/B1OgQjx4gS

— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) September 20, 2021

I think BJ actually admitted consulting Piers in his capacity as a climatologist/weather eggspurt in an interview a couple of years back and was even quoting him iirc. But his rep then was more as Jez's oddball brother rather than arch anti-vaxxer nutjob and conspiracy theorist etc. Even though he was probably talking the same shit back then

*Blasting 'This is the End' at ear-splitting volume*

Current figures suggest that Labour's 199 MPs comprise just 0.05% of the membership.

If the Electoral College is re-introduced, that same 0.05% of members would then have **33%** of the votes in a future leadership election. Utterly absurd. https://t.co/ZtSIQzpU2Q

— Stats for Lefties 🏳️‍⚧️ (@LeftieStats) September 20, 2021

Kieth willing to open himself up to a leadership challenge from the (lol) right that he will certainly lose would be a win to him really. That was the whole point and ultimate aim of his leadership project as soon as he realised he was massively unpopular and a complete dud with the electorate he's aged about 15 years. Hence the embarrassing display when he won B+S by 120 odd votes, he knew he could at least finish off his project then. And that was the last chance for even a melt soft-left candidate to realistically challenge him before they re-introduced electoral college.

I think if the Unite leadership went to the right this would pass. Don't know if it will now

that sounds like good news, can the Unite vote be decisive here?

Don't know really. I think that was the calculation during the Unite leadership election.

forcing people to work from home at a time of rapidly increasing electricity bills, i feel, might become a bit of a Problem that needs addressing

— 𝔐𝔞𝔤𝔫𝔢𝔱𝔰 🧲 (@PerthshireMags) September 20, 2021

Unite’s Sharon Graham has urged Labour MPs to publicly speak out against a return to an electoral college for leadership elections: pic.twitter.com/BackkZlNap

— Sienna Rodgers (@siennamarla) September 21, 2021

just imagining how much bullshit Unite's response would have been if Coyne won.

lol, Pimilico Plumbing has been sold for £100m to some giant US equity fund. That seems like peanuts really, but plumbing companies don't have many physical assets beyond a yard, an office, a fleet of vans and a Rod Stewart wig.

Ally of Keir Starmer says of this intervention: “This will help other unions decide that they don’t want to be vassals of Unite anymore.”

it's amusing that they were trying to spin Graham's victory as a good result for Starmer only a month or so back

And what do you think that's going to do. V clear the course has been set and they'll do as much as they can between now and the next election.

I would like one of the journalists with access to Keir Starmer to ask a few serious questions about his various promises of unity, a common social programme, an end to internal faction fighting & so on after the evidence of recent months.

— James B (@piercepenniless) September 21, 2021

CONFIRMED: Keir Starmer is pushing for a move back to the electoral college for electing Labour leaders

As reported, it means ditching the 1-member-1-vote scheme. The default would be 1/3 MPs, 1/3 unions, 1/3 CLPs ... but TULO/Starmer may negotiate different make-up altogether

— Rachel Wearmouth (@REWearmouth) September 21, 2021

maybe Bush should do a fact-checking audit on Kieth and count his lies rather than counting phantom policies. Because he did deny this was on the cards a few months back.

Bastani going on about "hope lessons are learnt for the next 10-20 (hope it's the former)" provoked some grim lols, heating will be unaffordable for many this winter.

If I was going in to my first major conference as leader, having failed to set out any kind of agenda in the preceding 18 months, I probably wouldn’t want it overshadowed by a massive row over who gets to choose my replacement but credibility isn’t Starmer’s most pressing problem, I guess. It’s money. Donors need to be reassured that their investment is secure in the long term.

yeah OMOV was probably the only thing keeping the big donors away after Corbyn was finished off.

Just spoke to two key Starmer allies who are philosophical about early union opposition to electoral college

Even if it doesn't pass, coming close would demonstrate to the public that "everything that went wrong in 2015 is over"

getting a bit of early copium in like as if a defeat wouldn't make him look even weaker, perhaps this isn't going to go well for them.

In a parliamentary system, it’s politically sensible & more democratically optimal for MPs to have an important say in choosing the leader of their party. They are much more in touch with the electorate than party members.

— Sonia Sodha (@soniasodha) September 20, 2021

look, she spelled big business wrong

lol, why bother having an electoral college at all, in that case?

Wait, it's good to be in touch with electorate because they should define policy? What would be the most democratically optimal way of allowing them to do that, Sonia?

the impeccable logic here is when you become a member you are no longer a real person, you are now some kind of activist and out of touch with real people. But if you were drawing a huge salary and topping it up with gifts from property developers and enjoying gratis hospitality packages from bet666, then you are more in touch with real people.

Someone like Sonia Sodhu has no idea what or who real people are anymore, it's just guesswork.

2015 line is so fucked. Can you imagine saying this shit on the doorstep?

telling voters in the metropolitan cities that are still largely red that they were stupid to vote for them and telling swing voters in blue zones that Labour used to be shit but honest we're good now is inspirational stuff

telling voters in the metropolitan cities that are still largely red that they were stupid to vote for them

Telling them they're not going to be listened to anymore because they're not real enough to be real people.

I have recieved a number of emails from CLP delegates to conference who have recieved suspension of membership notices today.

Reasons for suspension will follow a week later - prob after conference.

They have incurred travel costs and accommodation to add to poor mental state

— Mish Rahman (@mish_rahman) September 21, 2021

I know I know I know but can you imagine the media coverage if they'd done this to the melts under Crumhorn?

it's almost hilarious how much of a lying bastard Kieth was in the leadership campaign, lol he didn't just take those wallets out of the membership's pockets - he took their shoes off their feet as well and left them looking like the most gullible dupes since that guy who got sold the Eiffel Tower for scrap metal!

xp, I may have missed it but I am not sure anyone other than the local press remarked on Kate Osborne being sent a dodgy notice of investigation. It’s extraordinary.

that's what friends are for

See here for the details. What is happening now is scaled up and with an even more malicious agenda. Permanently depriving members of a meaningful say in a party and driving many of them out. Who would take these people at their word? https://t.co/7j90PyRBCq

— Simon Vessey (@Simon_Vessey) September 21, 2021

one of the grown ups has yet to include an explanation to their reasoning on why OMOV is fine for the other two main parties but not the Labour Party without sounding incredibly condescending towards the electorate, or even just incredibly stupid.