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UK Political Era |OT1| Dis United Kingdom

Maledict

Maledict

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,090
Motorcycle Dork said:
I've haven't journeyed much to the south-south of London frankly, but Croydon is at the ourskirts and is one the least deprived boroughs.

Notably there was pushback of ULEZ there. Bare in mind of the demographics that can influence the mayoral and general elections.


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Croydon is a borough of two halves. The wealthy south pushed back at ULEZ, but thats not where Croydon station is or the town people think of as Croydon. Croydon centre and north is effectively an inner London borough and has some extremely high levels of deprivation. It's also extremely, extremely, Labour. Like ultra solid seats.
 
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Aero

Aero

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,793
Tygre said:
Plenty of people (generally the poorest) still have to work on Bank Holidays. Plenty of people (generally the poorest) still have dependents to care for on Bank Holidays.

Making voting easier and more attractive to the disenfranchised is not going to be helped by holidays they don't get to take.
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Then don't make voting compulsory if it's not any easier for those people to vote and there will now be some sort of fine or punishment for not doing so.
 
Temascos

Temascos

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,549
Started to check on the elections in my area, it's just for a mayor and police commissioner. I don't get the point of the latter, especially when they're all just promising "More police on the streets", like, literally all of them.
 
Maledict

Maledict

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,090
Temascos said:
Started to check on the elections in my area, it's just for a mayor and police commissioner. I don't get the point of the latter, especially when they're all just promising "More police on the streets", like, literally all of them.
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They are utterly pointless. One of the dumbest policies the coalition implemented. Complete waste of money that just obfuscates responsibility.
 
Yesterzine

Yesterzine

Member
Jan 5, 2022
8,095
Aero said:
Then don't make voting compulsory if it's not any easier for those people to vote and there will now be some sort of fine or punishment for not doing so.
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Really silly question.

What if on polling day I'm outside the country? On holiday?

Presumably the answer is "Postal vote" but would that mean someone who had to leave after the deadline for work gets fined?
 
bremen

bremen

Member
Sep 22, 2020
1,530

View: https://twitter.com/Samfr/status/1780347562941108528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1780347562941108528%7Ctwgr%5E5b1e929c3eb77cbaad8ec0d182ef927ed84dfaea%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rllmukforum.com%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcoremodule%3Dsystemcontroller%3Dembedurl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FSamfr%2Fstatus%2F1780347562941108528%3Fref_src%3Dtwsrc255Etfw257Ctwcamp255Etweetembed257Ctwterm255E1780347562941108528257Ctwgr255E300436dce676c9fd93f6b00907562763deebafdb257Ctwcon255Es1_26ref_url%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fgallifreybase.com%2Fgb%2Fthreads%2Fliverpool-fc-in-crisis-part-99.260360%2Fpage-8169
 
Motorcycle Dork

Motorcycle Dork

Member
Jun 24, 2019
6,398

UK rental costs rise at record 9.2%

Official figures highlight impact of higher borrowing costs on landlords and tenants

The jump in average private rents in the year to March marked the biggest annual percentage change since the Office for National Statistics began collecting data in 2015. It compared with a rise of 9 per cent in the 12 months to February.
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...But the 9.2 per cent rise highlighted how increased financing costs have hit tenants, because of landlords withdrawing properties from the market or passing on the cost of higher mortgage payments.
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If you have subscription or savvy ways to navigate the net, do look at that chart.

The changes of mortgage payments have fallen since the summer of 2023, where as private rent changes (which are the increases) have skyrocketed since 2021.
 
Zaph

Zaph

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,119
Not really politics, but the absolute state of our legal system:

www.bbc.co.uk

Hugh Grant settles privacy case against Sun publisher

Hugh Grant says he could have faced a bill of up to £10m if he had gone to court, even if he had won.
www.bbc.co.uk

"But the rules around civil litigation mean that if I proceed to trial and the court awards me damages that are even a penny less than the settlement offer, I would have to pay the legal costs of both sides.
"My lawyers tell me that that is exactly what would most likely happen here. Rupert Murdoch's lawyers are very expensive. So even if every allegation is proven in court, I would still be liable for something approaching £10 million in costs. I'm afraid I am shying at that fence."
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No surprise, another gotcha favouring the deepest pockets. Likely took note of the (relatively) low damages Harry was awarded.
 
Motorcycle Dork

Motorcycle Dork

Member
Jun 24, 2019
6,398
www.theguardian.com

‘Rat bites and chronic asthma’: schools on frontline of UK housing crisis

Schools say increasing numbers of children are turning up sick because of dire housing conditions – if they turn up at all
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

'Rat bites and chronic asthma': schools on frontline of UK housing crisis

Schools say increasing numbers of children are turning up sick because of dire housing conditions – if they turn up at all

Nationally, 142,000 homeless children are living in places like commercial hotels, converted offices and dingy hostels, an all-time high, after rents and no-fault evictions have soared across the country.
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The letting agency who manages the property on behalf of the private landlord ignored the complaints about rats and mould. After months of emails and phone calls, Lothian was told that the family were being rehoused nearby. Moments after signing the new tenancy agreement, the family's current landlord rung up to say they needed to leave the property within 24 hours.
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Fuck landlords
 
Dangerman1337

Dangerman1337

Member
Jul 2, 2021
2,510
United Kingdom, The Wirral, Hoylake
Brotherhood93

Brotherhood93

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,806
The sheer amount of total wrong uns that end up getting elected as MPs is fascinating. What are their vetting processes? Or is it genuinely that these parties prefer having people who they might have dirt on?

Just done a check and since the last election I count 26 MPs who have resigned or been suspended due to inappropriate behaviour (bullying, harassment, sexual misconduct, racism, etc) and that's before you get on to stuff like the Owen Paterson lobbying scandal. That's 1 MP being caught out for dodgy behaviour every 2 months. Absurd even among a demographic where you kind of expect this to be more common.
 
Titantodd

Titantodd

Member
May 3, 2023
2,036
Is anyone keeping a running list of this now? I feel like we can do with a full total of Tory MPs who've resigned in disgrace/lost the whip/been told not to turn up in parliament/arrested.
 
bremen

bremen

Member
Sep 22, 2020
1,530
Titantodd said:
Is anyone keeping a running list of this now? I feel like we can do with a full total of Tory MPs who've resigned in disgrace/lost the whip/been told not to turn up in parliament/arrested.
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It would be easier to keep track of the ones who haven't
resigned in disgrace/lost the whip/been told not to turn up in parliament/arrested at this point!
 
Brotherhood93

Brotherhood93

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,806
Titantodd said:
Is anyone keeping a running list of this now? I feel like we can do with a full total of Tory MPs who've resigned in disgrace/lost the whip/been told not to turn up in parliament/arrested.
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Wikipedia has a list of defections, suspensions and resignations for the current Parliament

en.wikipedia.org

List of MPs elected in the 2019 United Kingdom general election - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

There are 55 in total (26 from the Tories) but this includes things like defying the whip and resigning due to winning mayoral elections so not all are due to controversy. It also obviously doesn't include any instance where the MP should have been suspended but wasn't.
 
Cocolina

Cocolina

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,997
They should leave the ancients and the nutters to Reform, but I hope they don't and further tear themselves apart.
 
ratprophet

ratprophet

Member
Jun 24, 2021
1,186
www.theguardian.com

Scottish ministers called ‘short-termist’ after scrapping carbon emissions pledge

Scotland is abandoning target to cut carbon emissions by 75% by 2030 in what climate campaigners said was a ‘reprehensible retreat’
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

Friends of the Earth Scotland, previously a supporter of Scotland's efforts to be a "world leader" on climate action, said this reversal was "the worst environmental decision in the history of the Scottish parliament".

...

Jamie Livingstone, the head of Oxfam Scotland, said the decision was a "reprehensible retreat caused by [the Scottish government's] recklessly inadequate level of action to date. With scientists linking deadly heatwaves in west Africa to climate change and Dubai drowning in a deluge of rain, the urgency of climate action couldn't be clearer."
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Koukalaka

Koukalaka

Member
Oct 28, 2017
9,332
Scotland
Soap

Soap

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,243
If those charges stick then I can't fathom how Nicola Sturgeon wasn't aware of them. I guess we will see what ill happen with the police investigation but I think it's disheartening seeing such a fall. At least with Boris and co. I expected and knew they would do something sleezy but this whole situation feels somehow worse. All this and the SNP/Green coalition ditching environmental policies is a bad time for the SNP.
 
Psychotext

Psychotext

Member
Oct 30, 2017
16,721
I found myself looking at tomorrow's papers only to see the usual suspects going on about Sunak cracking down on "sick note culture".

Fuck all the way off.
 
Motorcycle Dork

Motorcycle Dork

Member
Jun 24, 2019
6,398
TL;DR: Tories nationalise water and make public cover £15bn debt, then privatise it back again to appease rich friends.

www.theguardian.com

Thames Water nationalisation plan could move bulk of £15bn debt to state

Exclusive: Under Whitehall blueprint for water company some lenders could lose up to 40% of their money
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

Thames Water nationalisation plan could move bulk of £15bn debt to state

Exclusive: Under Whitehall blueprint for water company some lenders could lose up to 40% of their money

The contingency planning, which is at an advanced stage, reflects the deep concern in Whitehall about the state of a company that has become a symbol of the failure of privatisation in public utilities. It had no debt when it was taken out of public ownership in 1989.
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It was designed to fail. You cannot privatise a basic utility if there was no competition to be had.

However, forcing lenders to bear financial pain would be highly controversial, given Thames' creditors include some of the world's biggest asset managers, which lent to the company on the assumption that their investment carried the same gold-plated risk rating as government debt.
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Fuck em.

Whitehall and the regulator, Ofwat, were still optimistic that a nationalisation may be avoided, sources said.
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Water regulators and private companies were in cahoots.

While public corporations are known as arm's-length bodies, the move would ultimately allow the government far greater control and scrutiny of Thames' day-to-day operations, sources said, speeding up its reform and return to the private sector.
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Their plan is nationalise it temporary, have the public pay off the losses (again) and return to privatisation immediately. In spite of the private heads and shareholders of the company being the reason why it has failed.

The lesson to be learnt here is that Neolibs don't follow the tenants of capitalism if it hurts them.
 
IpKaiFung

IpKaiFung

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,382
Wales
What does "the tenants of capitalism" actually mean?

It's an inherently unfair economic mode of production where wealth accumulates in ever fewer hands, the private ownership of the means of production.

The neo-liberal project has been very much one of using the state as a tool to redistribute wealth back into wealthy hands following the Keynesian economics of the post war consensus.

This is how it's been for 40 years, public services get privatised, assets are stripped, private owners ask for a bail out, state steps in, repeat.

An exception to the formula has been the NHS, where governments have "encouraged" the NHS to outsource key services to private contractors instead of providing services in house as this is "more efficient" according to various flavour of Minister we have had in the past 40 years.
 
Motorcycle Dork

Motorcycle Dork

Member
Jun 24, 2019
6,398
IpKaiFung said:
What does "the tenants of capitalism" actually mean?

It's an inherently unfair economic mode of production where wealth accumulates in ever fewer hands, the private ownership of the means of production
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We know it is an unfair model, hence I am pointing out the hypocrisy of Neolibs.

In the supposed framework of Capitalism, if you manage a business badly, it's your responsibility to bare the losses. But in the UK, it does not work like that; private companies gets bailed out every so often and pass their losses to the public.

Buisnesses capitalise on the profits, and socialise the losses.
 
Timmm

Timmm

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,888
Manchester, UK
It really gets on my tits how normalised it has become to use pension funds as a justification for why the state has to step in and help out companies like Thames Water, as if they weren't taking dividends the entire time it was building up those debts in the first place.
 
Humidex

Humidex

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,255
Timmm said:
It really gets on my tits how normalised it has become to use pension funds as a justification for why the state has to step in and help out companies like Thames Water, as if they weren't taking dividends the entire time it was building up those debts in the first place.
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If there was any sense in the world, Macquarie Bank should be taken to the cleaners for what they did.
 
Bony Manifesto

Bony Manifesto

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,592
Psychotext said:
I found myself looking at tomorrow's papers only to see the usual suspects going on about Sunak cracking down on "sick note culture".

Fuck all the way off.
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Somewhat appropriately, I can see it going down like a bucket of warm sick. The plan is to no longer let GPs issue sick notes (sorry, 'fit notes'), and expand the privatised 'work capability assessment' system to everyone, not just those with long term illnesses. So presumably GPs will examine someone, determine that they have an illness that requires them to be off work, then refer them for a work capability assessment appointment, where they will be examined again (by people with limited-to-no medical training) and told that they're capable of work and will not be getting a sick note.

And as I mentioned, the long-term sick (which is the group Sunak is supposed to be directly targeting with this) are already having regular work capability assessments anyway, so nothing changes for them. This is just going to add hassle and stress for working people with short-term ailments.
 
Memento Mori

Memento Mori

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,867
Something which I didn't realise until I got my postal vote ballot papers today was when the tories brought in photo ID laws, they also changed the London mayoral election from AV to FPTP.
 
coldsagging

coldsagging

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,926

View: https://twitter.com/PlanB_earth/status/1781198119398502481?t=7aDAZksC5LPUABX6CkXJ0Q&s=19
Good piece.

Also mentions what's happening to Trudi Warner, a retired social worker facing up to 2 years in prison for holding a sign outside of court stating that jurors have a right to acquit based on their conscious. There's been protests outside every crown court in England and Wales doing exactly what she did in solidarity, I and a few others did a protest this morning. 100% of crown courts were attending in total which is amazing. No issues today and we made the press so I'm very happy.

Trudi's case has been deferred until this coming Monday and hopefully she'll face no further action.

I'm so glad I've got involved in direct action/protest the last few months. I've met some wonderful people and it's really helped with the feelings of helplessness and all round state of what-the-fuck.
 
Lashley

Lashley

<<Tag Here>>
Member
Oct 25, 2017
60,123
I see those on the sick are the new target for the media and tories after already targeting immigrants and the unemployed

Already a stigma against things like mental health, how will this help?
 
mere_immortal

mere_immortal

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,769
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