Free as a Dodo: UK Politics Welcomes 2021

Ah, Hilary Benn, responsible for the most ludicrous speech ever given in the Commons when he invoked the International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War to press the chamber to drop bombs on Syria. https://t.co/YYmkBtc1Zm

— Mr Demos of Pnyx (@gem_ste) March 28, 2021

Good idea to get some proven winners into the cabinet, er, hold on...

like mark posted previously "maybe if we give him a woman's name it might prevent the Freudian complex from occurring..."

of course Starmer's negative approval rating and Labour's dire polling should all be blamed on barely visible members of the shadow cabinet that haven't dared to say to boo to mouse in the last year lest they upset the rabid right of the PLP. But it shows that the so called soft left is not a meaningful faction within the party, because that would mean that they are willing to get into unseemly arguments and actually stand for something. Rather than getting sacked for doing nothing!

Josie Long
16h
Replying to
@GavinBarwell and @Keir_Starmer
It was lovely to campaign against you in 2017, and to help labour win your seat. A beautiful and uplifting day.

Gavin Barwell
13h
I suppose I should thank you. Thanks to your efforts I ended up with an even more amazing job.

Just checking in.

6 months ago the Labour Party launched a campaign to get front line key workers to put themselves forward as local candidates.

Yesterday they removed a BAME London bus driver who had been selected by members across the whole city https://t.co/P4dD1iTNYf

— Unite Politics (@UnitePolitics) March 27, 2021

Not sure about this one, he does seem to have made an antisemitic Facebook comment, please correct me if I am wrong on this, I would like to be wrong here.

The ace-with-the-mase reminding everybody why the soft left are not just friendless within the PLP tonight by saying: hey these cops are not behaving well but have a thankless task and any collateral damage to commercial property is just not on lads.

re 'appease the hard left' BS:

Presumably it is rationally self-interested for the bad MP to say that - lying to achieve political effects.

But the Observer writers are meant to be journalists, interested in presenting truth. They shouldn't present a statement like that without noting that it is demonstrably the reverse of the truth.

It's literally equivalent to quoting a Con MP saying 'We know that the UK government has handled this pandemic well - there's widespread acceptance of that' - and not querying it.

The fact that the UK's mainstream media is incapable of this is a big reason why we are where we are now.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/29/keir-starmer-year-labour-poll-ratings

for some rare balance the Graun have published another opinion piece by Moya Lothian-McLean (who previously wrote the Starmer is a wet wipe piece) today.

even the extremely foolish P🤡🤡l M🤡🤡🤡n has finally realised he might not have understood social democracy correctly from a Marxist viewpoint by enthusiastically backing this fraud last year.

Don't think I could cope with finding out Stoya is a melt as well

the painful disenchantment of finding out the court fool has clownshoes of clay can be hard to bear!

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/30/police-handling-of-sarah-everard-vigil-appropriate-says-watchdog

Well that's alright then, cheers for your time watchdoggers

Can’t even laugh at this anymore

Westminster voting intention:

CON: 42% (-1)
LAB: 32% (-2)
LDEM: 8% (+3)
GRN: 7% (-)
REFUK: 3% (-)

via @YouGov, 25 - 26 Mar
Chgs. w/ 19 Marhttps://t.co/OMMrgwgfCY

— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) March 30, 2021

Losing votes to the Lib Dems - do they even have a leader these days? Red faces all round. But not too red.

Finally back in training! Still got a few months before Gareth Southgate announces the squad for the Euros... pic.twitter.com/gxirATXReV

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) March 29, 2021

but he's just a nOrMaL BloKe with a wife and kids and yet everybody hates his guts for some inexplicable reason!

So he wants to play for England against Scotland in the Euros does he?

NIP will take votes from Labour in some places.

Saw this and thought calzino might appreciate it:

When did we stop calling clowns Keith? pic.twitter.com/g1GvSTHkwc

— Pulp Librarian (@PulpLibrarian) March 30, 2021

(He may have me killfiled so pass it along lads, ok?)

so hang on, even the Pulp Librarian account hates Kieth now?

could be interesting

https://www.goodjobsfirst.org/news/releases/violation-tracker-comes-uk-highlight-corporate-misconduct

wow (tho not surprising really) - report on whitewashing is a whitewash

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/31/uk-an-exemplar-of-racial-equality-no-10s-race-commission-concludes

while overt racism does still exist in the UK, achievements elsewhere should make the country “a model for other white-majority countries”

the report is described as saying “the well-meaning idealism of many young people who claim the country is still institutionally racist is not borne out by the evidence”

was reading that in the voiceover from a 1940's Pathe propaganda reel.

I lol'd tbh

Sewell dismissed the claim that he was part of a “war on woke”. When this was put to him, he said:
No, I’m not a war on woke. If you ask me about taking the knee, look, I’ve got two bad knees

Great to hear that people experiencing institutionalised prejudice are just making it all up

it's been quite a week for reports

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/30/police-handling-of-sarah-everard-vigil-appropriate-says-watchdog

every now and then a part of the British state investigates itself and tells us it's fucking wonderful

— Owen Hatherley (@owenhatherley) March 31, 2021

Racist Prime Minister commissions report on racism, that's gonna work.

A few days ago Lammy was on LBC arguing with yet another white supremacist (just how do LBC keep finding these needles in their audience haystack??) about whether or not he was English. Regardless of Lammy's intentions, this situation itself seemed like institutional racism in a nutshell. It can't be proven in a report because it can 'only' be felt. The caller's racism is the only type conservatives recognise, not the situation itsef and the enabling of it by the institution (in this case LBC).

Keir Starmer has made excellent progress in his first year as Labour leader. Steady as we go!

— Barry Sheerman MP (@BarrySheerman) March 31, 2021

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jsBJUAb9C70/mqdefault.jpg

it's like rain on your wedding day

I WANT TO FUCKING SCREAM pic.twitter.com/1GhJwu4SVr

— aaЯjan (@aarjanistan) March 31, 2021

wait that's in the report?????

the fuck???!!

Increasingly strident and rightly so

WE WANT CHANGE!!!! #pimlicoacademy pic.twitter.com/7jAzaoRIjp

— tommy shelby (@adzinoo_) March 31, 2021

"It's sadly ironic that a report stating there is no institutional racism is a perfect example of institutional racism." stolen from reddit. sums it up imo.

That's a weaponised "however" if ever I saw one

STEPHEN A: Skip I want to ADDRESS this issue.
[BAYLESS nods]
You KNOW I am sensitive to the Holocaust
BAYLESS: Absolutely
STEPHEN A: BUT!

— replacing liquid skin with liquid smoke in EDC (@Hegelbon) July 25, 2014

!!!

Wait, what? pic.twitter.com/ViDeqHKBYF

— Davey Six-Toes (@HutchinsonDave) March 31, 2021

All of which reminds me, is Michael Gove dead? I can't remember the last time I saw him.

was he ever truly alive?

as an official government report the language used is unacademic and racist. it's pure trolling. luckily the fourth estate will be picking thru this and explaining why.

if anything it feels calculated to incite more protests

System finds system free of systemic problems

it is full-on white supremacist trolling

this is the best quote I've read so far from the report

"One highlight was @DizzeeRascal belting out his hit Bonkers. (3/3).

— Nadine White (@Nadine_Writes) March 31, 2021

i guess i shouldn't be as surprised by this but i really fucking am

i think what is maybe hitting me so hard is that they clearly feel no need to disguise any of this anymore

it's war. not a cold war, not a stealth war. that this comes literally months after some of the biggest global protests against racial injustice and police brutality, the pulling down of statues etc - i guess isn't a coincidence. it's a response. it's their response. 'you think there's a problem? go fuck yourself'

and saying "go fuck yourself" loud enough to cause a row to distract from other the things you might also incorrectly think are a problem