Free as a Dodo: UK Politics Welcomes 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

wow, that looks like an absolute mess

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ex0Jz5NW8AUjucp?format=jpg&name=large

what an Easter special line-up from hell with -with Taki sandwiched between Baddiel and Ed Davey!- and a resurrection image - I wouldn't what they think they are resurrecting?

Is James Mumford, a "public thinker" no less, related to any of Mumford & Sons?

he used to be, now he'll be running as an "anti-woke" candidate in the next London mayoral election after this one.

lol or maybe not - I thought he might be that arse that got thrown out of the mumfords!

Mumford demonstrates an admirable ability to zero in on things too often missing from political conversations ... A plea for nuance and ambivalence, in a world that often seems to be in danger of mislaying both. * John Harris, Observer

this is all I need to know about the cunt

it's a bit like the Aesop fable, the more wankers like this talk about "nuance" then the less nuanced and more reactionary I become in dismissing them as total waste in about 3.6 milliseconds

So who wants to play a game?

Apprently there is no institutional racism in the UK. But there must be SOME explanation for the clearly evident racial disparity that shows up in all aspects of our lives...#TryNotToBeRacist!

— Dr Peter Olusoga (@PeteOlusoga) March 31, 2021

that's a brilliant, angry thread

Just saw well-known bell-end David Goodhart, who I suspect was involved in the report, say that there are proportionally more Pakistani origin people living in the poorest areas of the country, but in terms of actual numbers there are more white people living in those areas. I mean...

Every single person not actually involved in the report I've seen interviewed about it has comprehensively trashed it. The Beeb have obviously been desperately ringing round trying to get someone on to be a little more conciliatory but no luck so far.

Ignorant question: Is Olusoga a common Nigerian name or is that guy related to David?

it's his brother I think.

Alba updates:

Alex Arthur, boxer. a fucking idiot who has posts about AIDS patients, not needing a COVID vaccine because he's not fat and unfit, and stuff about gypsies is a candidate.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh is the number one candidate in central Scotland. for viewers not in scotland: she has previously been a member and candidate for the tories, briefly a member of labour, and an SNP MP. Not against the GRA but a Salmond loyalist (and seemingly an opportunist) who worked on his RT show. also got in a bit of bother with borrowing money from a trust in her professional life as lawyer.

George Kerevan and Craig Berry - members of the left-wing Common Weal group within the SNP have defected to Alba. Kerevan is a boomer trot who in the IMG and was briefly an SNP MP. Why they think a party lead by Salmond is going to help them advance a left-wing agenda god only knows.

If you don't have a lot of time and want to discover why Labour lost Scotland to the SNP from 2010 onwards, this one tweet will explain all https://t.co/LxvRyxO5CZ

— Stephen Smith (@SteveNickSmith) April 1, 2021