Free as a Dodo: UK Politics Welcomes 2021

someone I follow on twitter has just had their account suspended for the nth time for posting material suggesting that Ian Austin shags dogs!

They were so sure of Saudi Paul that they had the PaulWilliamsMP handle waiting for him

only just heard of this guy and ok he seems like a total knob but what can I hate the Labour party. They brought antisemitism into my life. possibly mean?

For what it’s worth I hate the Labour party. They brought antisemitism into my life. They were led by a person who hates 🇬🇧 and eschews our natural allies in favour of despots. And the party is still populated by the worst types. I’d always voted Labour. I’ll never be “won” back

— leekern (@leekern13) May 7, 2021

they couldn't have parachuted a less electable candidate into Hartlepool if they tried. They are either extremely thick or it's part of some incomprehensible self-sabotage plan

xp

oh he's that comedy writer prick who worked on the last Borat movie. Hilarious guy no doubt.

Now it's Helen's time to shine

Helen Pidd

Those who are arguing Labour needs to move to the left to win seats may want to consider the result in Clay Cross North in Derbyshire, which has just gone Conservative for the first time.

Derbyshire county council leader Barry Lewis (Con), tweeted that he “never did imagine” it would be possible to push Labour into second place in the ward, for so long a Labour stronghold.

Clay Cross was home to Dennis Skinner, the Beast of Bolsover, who lost his parliamentary seat to the Tories in 2019. Clay Cross is a totemic area for the far-left, thanks to the defiant stance taken by its Militant-dominated Labour council in the 1970s. One of Skinner’s brothers, David, was among those taken to court for refusing to implement the Housing Finance Act, which forced councils to increase rents to a level comparable to the private sector.

When was this?

What happens here is he replaces Dodds with Reeves; Wes and Jess get more airtime; and his backroom staff is refreshed to include more Progress people. The leadership crisis goes away, because he’s surrendered the machinery of the party. https://t.co/ONV4tC0zKS

— Elvis Buñuelo (@Mr_Considerate) May 7, 2021

I heard Shed 7 have hired a new drummer and a new bassist.

this is the tweet the BBC have decided to share on their liveblog

If you are one of the massive slice of the public who is older, or a car driver, or a home owner, or voted for Brexit, you would think the Tories care about you and Labour doesn't. Until we change that those people will increasingly not vote for us and we will not win.

— Luke Akehurst (@lukeakehurst) May 7, 2021

If the brains trust think replacing low visibility so-called soft-left shadow cabinet members with more stridently awful ones like Reeves/McShitter is going to turn around their fortunes then the only plan they really have is waiting for the tories to implode, which isn't looking very likely at the moment.

It is classic "like the Tories but with better PR" shit to be followed by "look we made a SureStart and built some rental hospitals why isn't everybody middle class yet?"

Picture a sensible shoe stamping on a human face forever

Maybe hold our own Olympics every year

This is otm

This was the primary horror for them in 2017, which offered the terrifying prospect of a younger, more metropolitan, more ethnic voter base that could be built on and added to. Because a coalition like that would have no interest in or need for e.g. Stephen Kinnock.

— Flying_Rodent (@flying_rodent) May 7, 2021

No foreigners no sports just James Bond and The Queen throwing Yorkshire puddings at actors dressed as NHS staff for 10 hours a Mendes/Boyle joint

That Flying Rodent quote is absolutely otm, unfortunately the PLP has no interest or need for those voters either

He's lost the dressing room: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/07/humiliation-hartlepool-smalltown-detective-di-starmer

That Flying Rodent quote is absolutely otm, unfortunately the PLP has no interest or need for those voters either

― Chickpeas, Scamps and Beeves (Noodle Vague), Friday, 7 May 2021 bookmarkflaglink

Thing is loads of them will still turn out for Lab in 2024, which is why the racist taxi driver that Luke the Nuke loves will not be 'won back'

"The Tories have once again caught Labour with the Offsite Trap"

yet even more thermonuclear brilliance from the incomparable.... ..

Lord Adonis tells BBC that candidates in next Labour leadership race should not be restricted to members of the House of Commons 👀

— John Stevens (@johnestevens) May 7, 2021

Bring back Tony's prog-rock mullet!

he needs help

xp yeah they’ll elect Lord “Walney” or Lord Austin

Having said that, I would acknowledge this, and I think it is a broader and frankly more interesting point, that Brexit attitudes - the sort of cultural or social values or outlook that we associate with Brexit, rather than the issue itself - are still present in voters in Hartlepool, and elsewhere in northern England. And that’s something the Labour party has got to understand and to come to terms with.

In a sense it’s Brexit values, or a cultural set of attitudes, that have overlain the economic interests, or the class identity, that people have in a constituency like Hartlepool. And the Labour party is not making that cultural connection with those people.

And it’s not about whether or not we’re in the European Union. It’s about broader social attitudes and a broader cultural outlook that people have, which the Labour party has got to understand and connect with once again if we’re going to stand any chance of winning back the support and votes of those people.

Would be fascinated to know what ‘Brexit attitudes’ Mandelson thinks are being undersold by Starmer / Ainsley.

I hate it when ilx just becomes links to tweets, but today I cannot resist

Labour source: Just because we have stopped pissing in the bath doesn’t mean people want to jump in with us straight away 🤣

— Liz Bates (@wizbates) May 7, 2021

bringing back blair would be like when dalglish came back for a season, it would be a complete disaster, but might finally make a load of cunts shut up and fuck off afterwards

"And it’s not about whether or not we’re in the European Union."

It is as paper-thin as that (excellent Lab vote in 2017 when we'd respect the ref).

The Tories need to grow that magic money tree now that Brexit has been delivered. It's whether the peanuts they chuck to these seats will be enough. Probably for one election.

How about the “Brexit attitude” of accepting the referendum result and working together for an anti-austerity future that puts public ownership and full employment at the centre of the conversation? Or would that be unacceptable to the finance industry?

itisamystery

How about the “Brexit attitude” of working people over unaccountable managers?

the crumbling shithole I live in got a decent chunk of that Towns fund from the Tories and there hasn't been any discernible improvement. Dodds turned up the other week campaigning for Brabin and made a short video in the town to make some point about this maintained decay but filmed it all in a couple of the prettiest parts for some strange reason.

It's a great phrase because it could mean 'taking more local control of decisions that matter most to people' or 'singing the spicy verses of God Save The Queen, not just the normal ones' and nobody ever asks you which.

Mandelson quote could be from any number of Actual Leftists on Brexit. of course it's not really about the EU but as long as everyone is terrified of sounding PC gone mad we have to put up with euphemisms like "brexit values"

A question. Did anyone on this thread vote Labour yesterday?

While there is much talk about losing right-wing voters to Cons, etc (which suits Labour Right in a way), I assume that they must have lost a very large part of their socialist voting base, to other parties or abstention. I don't feel convinced that the "younger / millennial / diverse / metropolitan / etc coalition" is going to vote for Labour anymore.

voted for the lab assembly list because the first person on it is momentum-endorsed; did not vote Khan or local lab assembly member

for my sins I voted Labour on one of the four ballots I had, as a long-shot chance to get rid of the twat who is bound to be re-elected as mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough.

Voted for that youtuber candidate cos I saw a poll that put him close to the lib dem vote and that'd be sweet- probably an outlier though. TUSC (remember them?) for both assembly seats. I'm all for the war on the motorist though, so I'll feel clowned if Khan doesn't get back in, but w/e

Abstention seems much more of a thing than moving to other parties, at least on the relatively sparse amount we've got to go on so far. xp

Scottish turnout is quite something, busting 70% in places.

^ xp lol me not specifying this was in London, the Default Place

Voted for two just-about-tolerably melty Labour councillors out of lack of other options because couldn't bear the thought of the ward going Tory.

We only had a Police Commissioner vote in Brighton for the whole of Sussex - this means there is no chance anyone other than Tory is getting in, despite the city leaning heavily green and labour.

I voted green first choice (sue me) and labour second, because there were no other options except a frankly quite insane independent candidate.

I didn't vote but the coalition (such as it is) could easily have been mostly won over again if the party hadn't decided that relentlessly shitting on them(us) to appease aging fascists is the way forward (actually I'm pretty sure they know it's not, they just hate us that much)

My votes were split between Womens Equality (LA, mayor 1st) and Labour (council, mayor 2nd pref).

voted 'green' in locals, the only other candidate was a tory. spoiled my ballot by writing 'blm' on the police commissioner vote. oh and re. that tweet the bbc shared/promoted i am older, a car owner and a home owner and i didn't even vote against brexit( nor did i vote for it) i am also not white, so no i don't believe that the tories care about me and never will do so fuck off luke akehurst.

what?

Cambridgeshire Result #LE2021:

CON: 28 (-8)
LDM: 20 (+5)
LAB: 9 (+2)
LOC: 2 (=)
IND: 2 (+1)

Conservative LOSE to NOC. pic.twitter.com/1YlWgeF924

— Election Maps UK (@ElectionMapsUK) May 7, 2021

didn't vote because DJ Smile wasn't running for organised crime commissioner

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E0yncaqX0AMzdie?format=jpg&name=medium

"then fuck it"

The most frustrating thing is that Starmer's leadership pitch - a more united party offering something like the 2017 manifesto delivered in a more media-friendly way - wasn't bad. It was, as I suspected, completely fraudelent, and people know when they've been lied to.

— Juliet. (@zinovievletter) May 7, 2021

I was never convinced he was anything other than a con-man on a mission to wreck the left. Not trying to say I'm Nostradamus or more observant than those that got their wallets inspected, but it seemed blindingly obvious from the beginning of 2020.