General Election - 4th July 2024

[bluenova]

I accept what they say ref Covid and Ukraine but thats all they have - the trot the excuses out but don't offer any creative way of fixing things other than raising taxes, denying they are raising taxes and saying Labour ( who are not the Govt ) will raise taxes - they are not a serious Govt

You reap what you sow.

For years they blamed Labour for 2008 - despite it being a global problem that had a negative impact on almost every country in the World, and put almost every Western economy into recession.

I notice Truss never gets added to that list, either.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

I don't doubt that Cameron has a bit more ability than many Tory MPs, but they put one of the most important roles in Government in the Lords, where MPs are less able to challenge what he does.

And why did they do it? Not for some huge altruistic reason - for the sake of the country - they did it because they were so far back in the polls, and we're desperate to save the Tory party.

Bear in mind we're also talking about someone who walked off whistling at the first sign that being PM was difficult, rather than sticking around and trying to actually argue for a less destructive version of Brexit.

And his biggest contribution to public life in the years between wandering off, and being brought back? That just happened to be the Greensill lobbying scandal, where he tried make money off the back of his Government contacts during Covid.

Can’t argue with much that you’ve said there mate. My point was that to bring someone in via those circumstances, as an exception, isn’t the worst thing in the world, if you’ve got no other worthwhile options, especially for Foreign Secretary when the world is so unstable atm.

About him resigning, I would say, however, that he couldn’t hang around after the Leave vote. There is no way the ‘victors’ would have allowed him to deliver an attenuated version of Brexit, given he (poorly) led the Remain campaign. Their levels of paranoia about May demonstrated that. I think once he’d lost he accepted that resigning was the only course of action available to him, which would have hurt him terribly. So I don’t think it was an honourable or brave thing to do, but it was practical and realistic. He was completely done and his authority shot.

 

[East Level 2]

Reeves mentioning closer ties with the EU in certain areas (FT) but not rejoining.

We had the chance but the rabid loonies in the Tory party rejected softer Brexit deals in favour of the shit=show we currently endure. Do Labour know the EU are open to closer ties without re-joining?

 

[remember arthur mann]

Guto Harri, I think.

Looks different from when fronting Blondie.

 

[bluethrunthru]

If this was Labour they would be all over it - this was NEVER meant to be a serious policy it was just red meat thrown out to the base

 

[Vic]

I accept what they say ref Covid and Ukraine but thats all they have - the trot the excuses out but don't offer any creative way of fixing things other than raising taxes, denying they are raising taxes and saying Labour ( who are not the Govt ) will raise taxes - they are not a serious Govt

The number of pensioners paying tax is because of final salary private pensions now denied to the next generation of pensioners. Which is why you have to be of pensionable age to find any sort of serious support for the Tories. Oh wait, they've increased pensionable age...

 

[west didsblue]

We had the chance but the rabid loonies in the Tory party rejected softer Brexit deals in favour of the shit=show we currently endure. Do Labour know the EU are open to closer ties without re-joining?

I suspect the range of deals that the Tories rejected due to the influence of the ERG will still be available as it will help EU exporters as much as it will help us. It will obviously mean closer alignment with EU rules but the reality is that we’re staying reasonably aligned anyway because moving away from them has a detrimental effect on trade. Might as well formalise it and remove some of the barriers to free trade. The Brexiteers who still believe in it will be spitting feathers but fuck em.

 

[Bodicoteblue]

If this was Labour they would be all over it - this was NEVER meant to be a serious policy it was just red meat thrown out to the base

Quote of the week at the end there…….
‘I don’t want to mislead’!!!!
What’s your name this week grant??

 

[Brewster's millions]

We had the chance but the rabid loonies in the Tory party rejected softer Brexit deals in favour of the shit=show we currently endure. Do Labour know the EU are open to closer ties without re-joining?

The EU are not interested in substantially closer ties unless the UK signed up fully to a customs union and/or EEA membership. I would think that the recent EU election results would make them even less willing to budge.

They are a few isolated areas which need to be resolved from the actual trade deal. One relates to chemical regs, which Reeves highlighted in her FT interview. Another quite important one which Reeves surprisingly didn’t mention relates to rules of origin on electric batteries in the auto sector. The EU kicked the can down the road for a couple of years here recently but both the EU and UK would benefit from a fuller renegotiation.

Essentially though Reeves is just talking this up because she’s trying to get away from the view of her being Jeremy Hunt’s continuity candidate, presumably to boost her standing within her own party.

 

[Bluemanc100]

If this was Labour they would be all over it - this was NEVER meant to be a serious policy it was just red meat thrown out to the base

Don’t you think that some sort of “citizenship” course or national service, call it what you like, would be a good idea in this country?

There are lots of young people with zero respect for themselves let alone others and this just might be the best thing that anybody has suggested.. IIRC I worked with some German colleagues in the recent past who did some sort of National Service and they were all for it..

It doesn’t even need to be arms bearing, that could be optional.. the service element is the key thing, learning about respect and giving something to society.. they could use the manpower to help with community projects while giving those who take part some vital life skills…