General Election 2024

[UndercoverElephant]

The above quoted remark about hitler is another good reason, in my view, to avoid them.

Reform as an actual prospect for governing, at the moment, are non-starters. They do not have the systemic capacity to vet candidates adequately, so they have no way effective means of filtering out people who just aren't suitable even for their own purposes. This is a problem for all tiny parties, as Reform still is. They have very little in the way of local associations or existing elected persons, so no pool of reliable opinion to judge potential candidates.

For me this doesn't matter much at this point in time, precisely because they are currently a vehicle for political transformation and not seeking actual power (yet). Farage has said this -- his goal is to destroy or takeover the tory party, not to win the election.

[Potemkin Villager]

So they are basically a bunch of neo fascist nutters who you think will do grand job changing the face of UK politics for the better?

[UndercoverElephant]

So they are basically a bunch of neo fascist nutters who you think will do grand job changing the face of UK politics for the better?

I think they are a necessary part of a process which will change UK politics in a direction that it inevitably must change in. "Better" would need to be carefully defined. It could be deemed "accelerationism", the moral value of which is highly debatable. If things must get worse before they can get better, is it not better if they get worse more quickly?

[clv101]

It could be deemed "accelerationism", the moral value of which is highly debatable. If things must get worse before they can get better, is it not better if they get worse more quickly?

Indeed! One of the worst case scenarios would be to somehow, find a way of keeping the show on the road for another 30 years.

[UndercoverElephant]

It could be deemed "accelerationism", the moral value of which is highly debatable. If things must get worse before they can get better, is it not better if they get worse more quickly?

Indeed! One of the worst case scenarios would be to somehow, find a way of keeping the show on the road for another 30 years.

Yes. Or in this specific case, we are going to need to get real about the future of migration sooner or later, and the sooner we do so the better, even if the process itself is horrible.

[UndercoverElephant]

FT: Tory ads warn voters of Labour landslide as election bid falters

https://archive.is/1PrmW

The Conservatives have begun warning voters online that Labour could win with a landslide in the July 4 UK general election, sparking accusations that the ruling party is in effect conceding defeat.

Tory social media advertisements published since Friday have been urging people against voting for the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK, warning that backing those smaller parties could give Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer a “massive majority”.

Another Tory ad said voting Lib Dem or Reform would “hand Keir Starmer a blank cheque” and leave “nobody holding [sic] to account on your behalf”.
The recent shift in Tory messaging online, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s re-election bid has faltered, has also been reflected in the party’s on-the-ground campaigning, according to Conservative figures.

“There has definitely been a pivot on the doorstep, so our candidates are telling people that we can’t give Starmer a blank cheque. That we need to have a strong opposition,” said one former Tory cabinet minister.

Another Tory candidate added: “My point has been that we are fighting to win, but even if we don’t, we need an effective opposition so we need to hold seats like mine. When people realise that Starmer may have an unassailable majority, they get quite nervous.”

[Mark]

Which is why I don't think Labour will get anywhere near a 415 majority.
Many Tories will still hold their noses and vote Tory, despite the shambles they've become...

[mr brightside]

An elderly relative who had served his country with distinction, went so far as to say "those who refuse to fight for their country, do not deserve the protection of that country. Killing them should not be a crime"

Complete lack of understanding IMHO. It's not an unwillingness to fight for their nation, it's an unwillingness to take the life of another person. Human beings on the whole are not wired up to kill each other.

[clv101]

FT: Tory ads warn voters of Labour landslide as election bid falters

https://archive.is/1PrmW

The Conservatives have begun warning voters online that Labour could win with a landslide in the July 4 UK general election, sparking accusations that the ruling party is in effect conceding defeat.

Tory social media advertisements published since Friday have been urging people against voting for the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK, warning that backing those smaller parties could give Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer a “massive majority”.

Another Tory ad said voting Lib Dem or Reform would “hand Keir Starmer a blank cheque” and leave “nobody holding [sic] to account on your behalf”.
The recent shift in Tory messaging online, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s re-election bid has faltered, has also been reflected in the party’s on-the-ground campaigning, according to Conservative figures.

“There has definitely been a pivot on the doorstep, so our candidates are telling people that we can’t give Starmer a blank cheque. That we need to have a strong opposition,” said one former Tory cabinet minister.

Another Tory candidate added: “My point has been that we are fighting to win, but even if we don’t, we need an effective opposition so we need to hold seats like mine. When people realise that Starmer may have an unassailable majority, they get quite nervous.”

Ha great, I suggested they should do exactly that.

[UndercoverElephant]

https://www.libdems.org.uk/cannabis#:~: ... g%20people

The Liberal Democrats want to introduce a legal, regulated market for cannabis.

The UK’s outdated cannabis laws are causing harm. Criminal drug gangs are doing enormous damage to our communities and the lives of young people.

The “war on drugs” waged by Labour and the Conservatives hasn’t stopped the supply of harmful drugs. All they’ve done is concentrate power in the hands of organised crime gangs.

Liberal Democrats would restrict sales to over-18s only, from licensed retailers with strict limits on potency and THC content.

Welcome to reality, BDU. Cannabis is not the scary thing you think it is. Labour needs to change their policy on this, and I suspect at some point in the not too distant future they will.

[Ralphw2]

The official boards for the local Tory party candidate (I have seen 2 in this formerly safe tory seat) have the word conservative in small letters right at the bottom. The boards are in hedges positioned so that the party name is obscured by the hedge foliage.

[RevdTess]

I now live in the Rutherglen constituency that went back to Labour from the SNP in the by-election last year. Polls have Labour on about 47%, SNP on 32%, Tories on 7% and Reform around 2%. I'd vote Scottish Green but no candidate here, so I think I'll be voting SNP because they're at least willing to mention the B word. Labour are utterly uninspiring under Starmer and their main selling point seems to be that they won't do all the increasingly evil, stupid and desperate things that the Tories are promising. Promising not to do things is hardly going to get the blood going, especially if it's just a temporary reprieve before everyone forgets and the Tories/Reform sail back in in five years.

I can't decide if I want Reform to conquer the Tories or not. On the one hand, many of them seem to be complete MAGA-style nutters with a tenuous grip on reality, but on the other hand, they're massive fans of PR and if the scales ever tip in that direction then I could be pretty confident that they'll always need to be in coalition with more centrist groups to hold power. Heck, I'd even vote Tory if PR was in their manifesto. I'll never understand how govts can be allowed to hold absolute power for 5 years with 60% of the population having voted against them.

Reform's manifesto is 'a story of two halves': Half of it I think 'great, if only Labour or Tories would do this'. The other half I think I'd rather emigrate to avoid. Like someone else said, I don't think Reform are going away while they have a charismatic leader. More likely the dam bursts and all remaining Tories go over to them. Pretty sure most of the remaining Tory MPs will prefer Reform's policies anyway.

It's wild how incompetent Tory electioneering has been. Or maybe not, given how incompetent their delivery in govt has actually been. Oh for the halcyon days of John Major and Ken Clarke

[UndercoverElephant]

Tory rolling average poll rating has now dipped below its lowest point under Truss for the first time, and heading sharply downwards.

[UndercoverElephant]

https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics ... -landslide

Tories’ own Facebook ad warns that Lib Dems may win more seats than them

The Tories have been accused of giving up on the election and instead focussing on depriving Keir Starmer of a landslide majority.

The Tories’ own Facebook election adverts now suggest the party is more concerned about remaining a credible opposition party to Labour, and abandoning hopes of winning the election.

The Conservative Party is currently spending around £2,300 on four adverts, which include a graph suggesting the party could fall to just 57 seats, its worst result in its near-300-year history.

Meanwhile they warn Labour could win 490 seats, with the Liberal Democrats becoming the official opposition with 61 seats.

Up to 200,000 Facebook users so far have seen the advert, which aims to warn those flirting with Reform UK not to let Keir Starmer win a landslide majority.

The ad VoiceOver warns: “The more votes for Reform, the LibDems, or anyone else, will hand Labour 100 extra seats, giving Keir Starmer the largest majority Labour have ever had”.

Circling the plug-hole now.

I am not convinced this will be effective. I think the people who are planning to vote for other parties have already accepted that Labour is going to have an enormous majority, and the difference between 300 and 400 is not relevant for their power over the next term. What this is really about now is the long-term survival of the tory party.

[Potemkin Villager]

Of the "big" three party fantasy manifestos the tory one is the most trussian
in cynically trying to appeal to unenlightened self interest.

This is how politicians, reacting to collapse, behave.

Yet to hear the B word mentioned.