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

This is far worse than 2010. The messaging is weird and confusing.

oh yeah it's much more incoherent and all over the bloody place than it was during Ed's leadership.

At least Ed was kinda likeable.

Also they are spending way more time dealing with the membership when most ppl don't really care about that, so it's energy misspent. But they have even less ideas than 2010 so they are regressing even further.

I thought "message discipline" was supposed to be one of the stronger points of the Labour Right, since Mandelson became Kieth's de facto chief political adviser it seems to have got even worse.

agree it's weird the Tories haven't started throwing money at the pigs yet

also, do Labour right policy wonks

a) not understand how government spending works
b) understand it but think it doesn't play well with red wall thickoes
c) understand it but are ideologically committed to neolib economics
d) understand it but think the big bucks are to be made from neolib sponsors
e) something darker stupider and more nihilistic probably involving pwning the Trots?

Kieth: Labour need to stop talking to themselves.

then commits to endless purging and self-flagellating focus groups where he apologises to tory gammons for Labour not being racist enough for them

agree it's weird the Tories haven't started throwing money at the pigs yet

prob waiting for them to become enough of a mess that they can pitch a privatized vigilante force instead

maybe more to the point who is the economics guru in Kieth's cabal? at least Brown and EMil had economic thoughts albeit bad ones

Would've thought it would Dodds, but her turn at Shadow chancellor was obviously difficult given the circumstances. She appears to be more of a background guru than senior politician anyway.

before she got pumped she always seemed to be attacking the tories in a bad and unconvincing way, like for their "cavalier spending" and such + she was repeating that line about New Labour spending too much. But we all know Reeves is a much more stronger conviction austerity hawk

maybe so? I've never thought of her as offering any coherent theory tbh. i feel like the failure to think through and foreground Green New Deal has been the biggest political catastrophe Kieth has wrought, he'll fuck about with any stupid Radio 4 soundbite of the week rather than lay out a solid electoral offer that they can gather voters around and use to present themselves as recognisably different to the last 40 years worth of government

I don't think they even want to offer anything because that involves doing politics, which is hard work and makes you unpopular with the bbc and the right wing press. They just want to steady the ship (i.e get shut of anyone to the left of Dawn Butler) and sit it out until the electorate turns against the tories. Not being in power isn't so bad when you get an £80k salary and still plenty of opportunities for grift.

Looking forward to the howls of derision on this from the maxed out credit card Household Britain cartel

The government gave some staff in the NHS a pay rise yesterday, and then said that the cost must come out of existing NHS budgets. It refused a pay rise to the police. It’s as if they’re saying there is a shortage of money. There isn’t. A thread’s needed to explain that…..

— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) July 23, 2021

lol didn't mean to embed it again

CON 38% -6
LAB 34% +3
LD 9% +1
GRN 8% +2

latest yougov poll shows the dual benefits of Kieth going into self-isolation and his internet connection shitting out.

"as battle looms over tax rises"

🤔🤔🤔

Never celebrate early

(but...let's see if this continues)

it's actually very decent polling for a mid-term tory govt that are knee deep in corpses/cronyism/corruption + have done just about everything badly apart from the vacc rollout

Never celebrate early

― imago, Saturday, 24 July 2021 bookmarkflaglink

(but...let's see if this continues)

― imago, Saturday, 24 July 2021 bookmarkflaglink

🙄🙄🙄

the last Survation, who are much more reliable than YouGov had a significant drop as well. But the Murdoch press framing this as an effect of Sunak's DPT tax rises is probably very suspect .. I guess?

LJ thinks it's because ppl had enough of the Tories lol.

"Let's see if this continues"

Tories being ahead in opinion polls? Lol yeah that's going to continue alright

the Spectator wanker's take on the radio just now was that Kieth might need some serious stagflation and a recession to do his work for him. If he wasn't such a lily-livered melt he could make some political capitol from a worsening haulage/production crisis that is 100% down to the UK govt's incompetent Brexit negging. But as the Spectator wanker said his style of opposition is mostly "agreeing with with everything the Tories do in a slightly disappointed voice". That's what Kieth has done to me - I keep agreeing with right-wing commentators takes on how shit he is.

I did say previously that the tories are soft pedalling against him until the election comes at which point they'll go harder.

Truth is, they won't even have to do that.

put money on con-lib dem coalition next parliament imo

NEW: Sam White, who worked for Alistair Darling under Blair and Brown, to take over as Keir Starmer's chief of staff.

Completes New Lab reunion in his office: Matthew Doyle, Blair's frmr political director, director of comms. Deborah Mattinson, Brown's pollster, head of strategy

— Gabriel Pogrund (@Gabriel_Pogrund) July 24, 2021

Looks like things can only get better

strong “3rd place playoff” energy

This thread is really something:

Speaking at today's anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown rally in London's Trafalgar Square, former nurse Kate Shemirani - who was struck off in June - says Covid vaccines are "Satanic", citing "the pattern 060606". The graphine oxide single-molecule sheet "is a conductor", she adds. pic.twitter.com/t40TAHjnRd

— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) July 24, 2021

Their talking points are exactly the same as in other Western countries, but at least the UK's vaccine hesitancy rate is no higher than 13%, which is remarkable:

https://morningconsult.com/global-vaccine-tracking/

I suspect Boris Johnson and the right wing of the Tory Party are secretly disappointed that the British population is so compliant and is not a bunch of freedom-loving mavericks and individualists after all. Having said that, they do think everyone else should do what they're told while they personally should be allowed to do what they like - that's Boris Johnson to a tee.

According to press reports this morning 'Britain faces ‘decades of financial risk’ as £370bn pandemic bill mounts'. The headlines seem very familiar: they looks like debt paranoia. But is that true? A short thread....

— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) July 25, 2021

good thread here on the pro-austerity bullshit "ladening future generations with debt" narrative being spun by the govt, the opposition and our compliant media (including the Observer).

Former First Minister of Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster says she’s joining GB News ‘to bring Northern Ireland very much into the mainstream of UK politics’

jesus wept

She's not from GB though.

Mind you, one their 'star' presenters is some idiot from New Zealand.

ramping up the mainland campaign

Arlene has such a gentle, warm, friendly tone to her voice, ideal for daytime TV

not so much of a burr more of a grrr

She should try bringing the Unionists very much into the 21st century for a start

Apparently she's come pretty cheap, all she's asked for on the rider are these

https://mcvities.co.uk/img/prod/detail/club-orange.png

Saw a deliveroo driver do just this today and it looked like he fucked up his bike.

by “determined to make it through the flood” do you possibly mean “delivering groceries for an on demand app that pays poverty wages and penalises lateness such that you have no choice but to endanger your life like this” pic.twitter.com/JlSbvz2XMV

— Peregrine falcon fan (@nrgsrhc) July 25, 2021

Cases are really coming down. -15k yesterday.

Unless there is some other explanation this looks really, really good. I need to see that reflected in hospitalisations and deaths.

But bits and pieces such as international travel aside the end of the pandemic is getting nearer for the UK? Only thing that really could fuck this up is a new variant.

The Sunday week-to-week is 'only' down 10k - it doesn't and has never made sense to compare day-to-next-day - but yeah that is great news.

> Unless there is some other explanation this looks really, really good.

schools are out so none of the previous school testing is happening.

Schools broke on Friday?

Term dates vary. You’d expect another significant reduction next week, I guess.

Friday before last in London mostly

My understanding is that effect wouldn't explain the numbers - mind you, experts aren't sure what would explain the numbers.

we've all had covid

herd immunity!!!!!!