like the queen this thread will never die: in which we ALL resign (ourselves to disgusting miseries to post-boris politics 2022)

can still fuck people over on a local level, including independent candidates

that's true in some constituencies. I'm just posting from a purely selfish perspective from an area where the independent candidates are fashbol gammons and the Labour candidates are pure garbage.

this is a problem if the british state's record on implementing any kind of "universal" programme (carrot or stick or both) is taken seriously. this will be a win for white supremacy among other things and it won't be limited to voting

I haven't voted since 2017 (yes I know boris is my fault) and I don't plan to in future but the more long term project of normalising ID requirements more generally is a serious concern to me

having said that of course there is no one worth voting for, parliamentary politics is theatre, we've never lived in a democracy anyway, etc

I tried to get a driving license when the tories were chatting shit about voting fraud and Universal Credit was looming over the horizon a few years back but couldn't find anyone important enough to be a signatory for me and then give up. Didn't need it for UC, showing my bank card and then signing into my account on my phone did the trick. But they can always make it more difficult.

An acquaintance of mine actually works in polling booths at elections, and I'm reliably informed that voter fraud is as much of a fiction as you'd imagine. Wonder if Starmer will reverse this crap if he ever gets in?

holy shit calz do you need a witness to get a driving license as well? I was flabbergasted enough that UK citizens need "someone of good standing" (i.e. a member of the middle classes) to sign off on them getting a passport

even if you feigned serious illness to try and trick your GP into signing your photo and DVLA form - you might be waiting a long time to get an appointment. This "person of good standing" thing is so 19th century.

I haven't voted since 2017 (yes I know boris is my fault) and I don't plan to in future but the more long term project of normalising ID requirements more generally is a serious concern to me

― your original display name is still visible (Left), Friday, 4 November 2022 bookmarkflaglink

I've got this film called "Children of Men" to show you sometime.

Hope this is the beginning of the end.

From the RMT- strikes suspended next week. Could we finally be looking at a breakthrough after six months? pic.twitter.com/pBtGMAPB4O

— Dan Bloom (@danbloom1) November 4, 2022

there's a list of allowable countersigners and it is kind of ridiculous, but maybe you'll have luck with:

dentist (this worked for me)
pharmacist
social worker
licensee of a public house
(but not a doctor, oddly)

https://www.gov.uk/countersigning-passport-applications/accepted-occupations-for-countersignatories

i'm sure it also said 'graduate' once upon a time, before every tom, dick and harriet went to university.

also, you don't need it countersigned for a renewal as long as you are still recognisable from the previous one.

i need to do this, my last one expired in 2018

I am selfishly pissed off that the strikes have been cancelled as it means I will need to commute into London instead of working from home for most of next week, which will cost me about £70

passport did say something like "graduate" at one time, i've signed for friends back in the day

It used to be really hard to register to vote in Ireland, i had to fill out a paper form and bring it down to my local Garda (police) station with my passport and proof of address. This year, though, they finally updated the procedure and you can actually do it online. I just checked the register and I’m still registered at my parents despite not being eligible to vote in 12 years in Ireland - that was the flip side of it being so difficult to get on, it was really hard to get removed! After the procedure being so difficult for so long, it was great to see the government finally try to simplify it.

I don’t expect Starmer will give a shit about making it easier for anyone to vote. He’d rather appeal to authoritarian Facebook dads than anyone concerned with values of actual democracies.

I think you can also get your MP to sign a passport form. Might be an interesting protest if enough people tried it.

ACE funding cuts are devastating for London: Gate, Hampstead and Donmar Warehouse theatres cut entirely. Its orchestras are all losing cash, Royal Opera loses £3m annually, National Theatre £1m, South Bank nearly £2m, Camden Arts Centre, ICA ... a dark day for arts in the capital

— David Sanderson (@dmcstimes) November 4, 2022

46 years.

This is what the UK has been told since Callaghan’s “that option no longer exists” speech which ushered in monetarism- a doctrine which 46 years later still strangles the country. The fact is the State *can* fix the socio-economic problems of the UK, politicians choose *not to* pic.twitter.com/qdeoSSFkvw

— Mr Demos of Pnyx (@gem_ste) November 5, 2022

Painfully true and yet here we are and how can it be stopped?

Welcome to Charity Labour

What Nigel Farage says today, the Tories say tomorrow and Labour legislates on the day after https://t.co/NjJRUZdRgK

— Jack Saundrs ❤🖤 (@jack_saundrs) November 6, 2022

Vote White Supremacy

And..

As nurses vote for historic strike action, let's recognise the immense contribution that people from around the world have made to the NHS.

Our health service would not exist without an international workforce. They deserve our full support.https://t.co/V9TO4SBSU1

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) November 6, 2022

i'm sure they'll have the full backing of the party founded by trade unions

Cannot tell you how disgusted I am by that. Every day a new low, every single day!

http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7783/assets/ac48297e-8d6f-4584-92ef-7b2259446a35.png

His wife works in the NHS! Would love to be a fly on the wall at her workplace.

look, having a kindler, gentler machine gun hand is the old politics

NEW 🚨 | Staggering rises in hate crime since 2012.

⬆️ 400% rise in some regions of England and Wales.
⬆️ 200% rise in racist hate crime.
⬆️ 6x rise in violent hate crime.

Criminals have never had it so good under the soft-on-crime Conservatives.https://t.co/T2SOOVCQMk

— Anneliese Dodds 💙 (@AnnelieseDodds) November 6, 2022

Fucking hell

https://t.co/7ahzmY3FeI

— Alexander Williams (@Floatinginwaves) November 6, 2022

Sorry, I meant the proceeding tweet (not least as a warning against diving into the article if you're feeling at all fragile)

Times has outdone itself with an article showing such a lack of self awareness that apparently people wanting not to be detained in a disease ridden camp and terrified for their babies are "intimidating" for the poor hard-done by guards, who're apparently the real victims here. pic.twitter.com/jNW0cS5iPL

— Daniel Sohege 🧡 (@stand_for_all) November 6, 2022

these poor, hard done by, and very sensitive private sector security management folk like this dickhead here. Need the implementation of high voltage electric fences and machine-gun guard towers with searchlights to make their working conditions a bit more less stressful seems to be the editorial line of The Times here. But I'm not shocked.

Not shocked at all. Human rights is such a load of shit.

This account from a "security manager" at Manston detention camp written up in the Times is one of the most disturbing things I've ever read about the UK asylum system.

"When the sun goes down at Manston, the crying and wailing begins"https://t.co/WG4Fj766Yf pic.twitter.com/7U9sOGLrYi

— Benny Hunter (@BennnyH) November 6, 2022

Just another take on the same piece posted by Andrew.

Always a very weird experience when I visited detention centres to see the jovial, bantering staff. Very good at both fulfilling and dissacociating from their role.

I tend to think the worst people are drawn to these jobs. This thug that used to live across the road from me was sacked from HMP Wakefield for a violent assault on an inmate. As soon I heard he had got the job my first thought was he was finally graduated into a professional thug with a salary now.

Good tweet.

That 'spirit of Twitter 2011' https://t.co/9Lf9ONxvHq pic.twitter.com/ZTNuZusPzx

— j (@jrc1921) November 7, 2022

(xp) Yes, you have to wonder about that. Having said that, sometimes when jobs are scarce ... I mean, I had an interview for a job with Rangers FC once!

The companies that run these centres - G4S, Mitie and the like - do all sorts of security work, I've seen them near banks and whatnot. Also I think I remember one of the smaller achievements of the Corbyn era was to kick one of these companies out from providing security at the Labour conference! No doubt they're back now.

Andrew Pierce, Daily Mail journalist.

Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party.

One of these people has publicly said nurses pay should not be cut in real terms. The other hasn't. pic.twitter.com/LlB0rzVGd2

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) November 7, 2022

I guess anything that keeps Gavin Williamson away from a position of power and influence is good, but I'm still finding it hard to give a toss about any of this

Sir Gavin Williamson has not apologised, friends of Wendy Morton say. https://t.co/XtPdnAMHzt

— Gabriel Pogrund (@Gabriel_Pogrund) November 7, 2022

The two-bit Tebbit, congrats to him for beating Suella B into 2nd place in the 'who'll be sacked from Sunak's cabinet first' race.

meanwhile Kieth takes a stand

WATCH: @Keir_Starmer tells Just Stop Oil protestors to "get up" and "go home" - stressing "I'm opposed to what you're doing, it's not the way to deal with the climate crisis."pic.twitter.com/B7BiAMFodG

— TLDR News UK (@TLDRNewsUK) November 7, 2022

hahaha god what the fuck does he think he’s doing

i assume it's for some kind of a bet

love to see how they'll wriggle into this jam

every new low replaced by another one just a few days later. seriously come the election not even the very worst of the daily mail/times/telegraph columnists will be able to convincingly argue that they see starmer as dangerous for the country and their interests. they'll still write the columns probably but their hearts won't be in it.

he would absolutely have been among those telling black students in the 1950s that they needed to file their grievances through the proper channels

pretty sure all Labour focus groups are now just the old lads in Wetherspoon's at half nine on a Monday morning

tracer otm
"by sitting at the front of the bus you are ensuring that the driver refuses to continue his journey and disrupting the working day of your fellow passengers, some of whom are black and are sitting in the designated area. you're putting livelihoods at risk. it's not the way."

Starmer just loves prison.

it’s like when the BBC’s current director general told staff that they could be sacked for attending demonstrations. people were like uh, so pride marches? we can’t do that? and he’s like, no, that’s a more settled issue and not party political so that’s fine. so what it comes down to: if acting for a cause takes personal courage then it’s not allowed but if corporate twitter accounts support it then you’re probably fine. that’s kier. he stands in full solidarity with anyone who has already successfully fought their corner.

The issue needs to be 95% settled in one direction so that he can agree with it. At that point the protests are almost not there anymore.

King Charles has died.

UK prime minister @RishiSunak has just been rushed out of the room by his aides during the middle of the launch for forests partnership at #COP27 pic.twitter.com/OQy9TYkqpX

— Leo Hickman (@LeoHickman) November 7, 2022