UK Politics Thread 🇬🇧

[TheAlbionist]

how did civil rights in the USA happen?

through voting?

the UK order is even more established (though less violent) than the norms in the USA were at that point.

Again, a fair point if we're talking changing the fundamentals underpinning British society. Nobody currently able to win a UK election has any sort idea and you're right, that's the sort of thing that has to be forced rather than voted for usually.

But it IS also useful to have a government in power who thinks twice before trying to bundle asylum seekers onto planes and fly them to Rwanda without due process or doesn't immediately rush to prorogue Parliament because they can't get a stinking bill through the House.

In 43 years I've never lived under a government who I trusted to fix the fundamentals of our society (I've only been offered something that looked anything like it once), but I have experienced first hand the difference working under Labour (11 years to date) and Conservative rule (14 years to date) and I've preferred life under Labour every time. It's not much, but it is something.

 

[null]

Again, a fair point if we're talking changing the fundamentals underpinning British society. Nobody currently able to win a UK election has any sort idea and you're right, that's the sort of thing that has to be forced rather than voted for usually.

But it IS also useful to have a government in power who thinks twice before trying to bundle asylum seekers onto planes and fly them to Rwanda without due process or doesn't immediately rush to prorogue Parliament because they can't get a stinking bill through the House.

In 43 years I've never lived under a government who I trusted to fix the fundamentals of our society

that is what the people should want.

now that gringodom is realising the truth of the matter they have shifted in the wrong direction.

maybe from the rubble of this mess something better will rise.

i doubt it though which is why i am no longer there.

(I've only been offered something that looked anything like it once), but I have experienced first hand the difference working under Labour (11 years to date) and Conservative rule (14 years to date) and I've preferred life under Labour every time. It's not much, but it is something.

possibly.

 

[merklman]

Labour reacted to getting busted in 2010 by giving us a proper candidate with a proper manifesto, so maybe the electorate abandoning them has worked at times... but the establishment immune system couldn't allow it a fair crack at being elected so it gained us nothing.

Real change would've been Corbyn as Labour lead, who was seen as a bit of a joke socialist candidate came about 2000 votes away from being PM. Then for the next election cycle he was competently smeared for being a Russian stooge . And now, Starmer has succeeded in purging all the left leaning Labour politicians. Why are we surprised that Starmer is basically a tory

 

[null]

wozniak and voting ..



timestamped 55s

 

[88m3]

John “Paddy” Hemingway, Last Surviving Pilot of the Battle of Britain, Dies at 105

A fighter pilot in a vastly outnumbered Royal Air Force — one of the “few” hailed by Churchill — he took to the skies to help stave off a Nazi land invasion of Britain.

www.nytimes.com

 

[nahnah]

This labour party behaving like scummy little Tories shock.

 

[Heimdall]

Listening to Liz Kendall on Peston atm



He just said this was more about making savings than getting people into work, since she couldn't put a number on how many people these reforms would actually get into work, which sounds about right...

I wonder if this is a result of the constraints they put on themselves (re: not raising taxes, I can't remember what their other ones were) or if they would have done this regardless. The way these guys are moving, they probably would have done this anyway

‘Not just about cuts’: Liz Kendall says benefits changes will help people find jobs

Welfare secretary visits Northampton centre helping out-of-work people develop skills, saying it is part of new approach

www.theguardian.com

Keir Starmer to unveil drastic disability benefit cuts despite opposition

Changes could deny benefits to people who need help to wash or to remember to go to the toilet

www.theguardian.com

Keir Starmer will unveil drastic cuts to disability benefits on Tuesday, despite deep opposition from Labour MPs and poverty campaigners, and warnings from economists against making kneejerk savings to hit fiscal targets.

In the government’s most controversial move yet, it will announce a package of changes expected to affect some of the UK’s most severely disabled people.

The measures could deny benefits for people who need some help washing themselves, preparing food or remembering to go to the toilet, as ministers attempt to overhaul the welfare system and balance the books.

However, Downing Street has denied the plans to cut between £5bn and £6bn from the welfare bill were purely the result of the UK’s difficult fiscal situation, arguing there is a “moral and economic case” for reforming benefits.

I thought it was interesting that this was coming out at around the same as this news:

Buy-to-let firms become biggest single type of business in UK, data shows

Four times more buy-to-let firms than fast-food shops now registered at Companies House as landlords switch set-up to cut tax payments

www.theguardian.com

Though this change is specifically due to small landlords forming limited companies, it was a little funny to me. The Renters' Reform Bill will (probably) be watered down to nothing, and this, let's say, loophole, has been left wide open, while they are going after the sick and/or disabled. An easier target, no doubt.

 

[Heimdall]

Incidentally, I have been enjoying Richard Murphy's videos 'lately'

Spoiler

He does not fw Rachel Reeves or Wes Streeting at all

Spoiler

Spoiler

I was particularly intrigued by his explanation of MMT, it made a lot of sense. And it is now a red flag when a politician speaks of taxpayers' money, which according to MMT, is a myth

He also outlines the reasons to tax in this comment.

It also got me thinking. Where do the calls to tax the rich fit into this? Well, if one of the purposes of tax is to redistribute income (reason 5 in the comment), and through various mechanisms of avoidance the rich have prevented this (exacerbating inequality in the process), they have also in some sense broken the social contract. It feels like kind of a weak reason, though I guess these mechanisms would also be preventing the government from reclaiming the money it has put into the economy (reason 2).

You may also ask why Mr. Starmer is chasing these nebulous fiscal targets...

 

[null]

I was particularly intrigued by his explanation of MMT, it made a lot of sense. And it is now a red flag when a politician speaks of taxpayers' money, which according to MMT, is a myth

Can you bullet-point explain what MMT means for deficits in your opinion?

Does it mean that any country can print its way to prosperity? Are you saying printing > borrowing?

Can you spell it out?

 

[88m3]

What We Know About the Closure of Heathrow Airport

A fire at a substation in London cut off power to one of the world’s busiest airports, causing travel disruptions globally. But some flights resumed Friday evening.

www.nytimes.com

 

[TheAlbionist]

What We Know About the Closure of Heathrow Airport

A fire at a substation in London cut off power to one of the world’s busiest airports, causing travel disruptions globally. But some flights resumed Friday evening.

www.nytimes.com

The thing that's getting me the most about this is that they don't have sufficient backup power to keep fukking Heathrow running.

They're not giving much detail but apparently it's enough to keep "essential services" running (I'm guessing keep the lights on and not much else) and it takes hours to bring online.

It doesn't surprise me tbh but it should. This country has been eaten from the inside out. We're being held up by matchsticks.

 

[88m3]

The thing that's getting me the most about this is that they don't have sufficient backup power to keep fukking Heathrow running.

They're not giving much detail but apparently it's enough to keep "essential services" running (I'm guessing keep the lights on and not much else) and it takes hours to bring online.

It doesn't surprise me tbh but it should. This country has been eaten from the inside out. We're being held up by matchsticks.

something doesn't pass the smell test to me either but I mean maybe they've hollowed out even the crown jewels like Heathrow like you said


I will say power grids are overtaxed all over the US from personal experience and it's honestly scary


I'd really think Heathrow would have 2 or 3 backups granted there are other airports that could pick up the slack in an emergency?

 

[TheAlbionist]

something doesn't pass the smell test to me either but I mean maybe they've hollowed out even the crown jewels like Heathrow like you said


I will say power grids are overtaxed all over the US from personal experience and it's honestly scary


I'd really think Heathrow would have 2 or 3 backups granted there are other airports that could pick up the slack in an emergency?

I've worked in IT for major financial institutions for most of my career - I'm genuinely struggling to comprehend it. Our contingencies have contingencies.

London has a bunch of airports around it - Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City and then you've got Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol within a few hours... but everywhere is running at like 90% capacity already and Heathrow is basically the hub of everything... if you have to make a connection in Britain, it's probably there.

It sounds like the whole thing just fell apart without the hub to me... we could lose Manchester or Bristol, maybe even Gatwick and just divert shyt around the country, but Heathrow is like losing the PDC on an NT4 domain

 

[DaRealness]

Birmingham council bin strike causes major disruption in UK’s second city

Residents are stuck in the middle of a dispute between Birmingham City Council and striking bin workers.

www.bbc.co.uk

I'd hate to be living in Birmingham right now, geez.

If this continues and they get a heatwave this year, they're fukked.

 

[null]

Birmingham council bin strike causes major disruption in UK’s second city

Residents are stuck in the middle of a dispute between Birmingham City Council and striking bin workers.

www.bbc.co.uk

I'd hate to be living in Birmingham right now, geez.

If this continues and they get a heatwave this year, they're fukked.

tradition ...