UK General Election 2024

[Pohjolas Daughter]

It was democratic in the sense of getting rid of the people who had no vote .

Stamps, I don't buy very often [Apologies to the USPS] though I've liked Twinings Earl Grey Tea for many years...though I'm normally mostly a coffee drinker.

PD

[Daverz]

This year Romania will have 4 rounds of elections: local, EU-level, parliamentary and presidential.

A very good friend I alluded to in another thread tries hard to convince me to vote for a specific party --- unsuccessfully, for three reasons:

(1) politically and economically, I lean toward classical liberalism; culturally, I lean toward cosmopolitanism; religiously, I lean toward liberal Eastern Orthodoxy, whereas that party is authoritarian, protectionist, nationalist and fundamentalist;

(2) I am pro-EU and pro-NATO, whereas that party is anti-EU and anti-NATO;

I assume these are Putin fans that don't believe that Putin will eat them.

[DavidW]

Hi all,

This thread is specifically about the UK general election, let us keep it on topic please.  This should not become a rehash of the European politics thread.  There is a reason it was locked so long ago.

[Irons]

1) Corruption is secret bungs given to your mates, it's using your position to gain unfair advantage, it's rigging the system in your favour etc. It's what the Tories have been doing, shamelessly, and increasingly seriously, as long as they have been in power. The Rayner issue is of a different type to this, not just of a totally different financial magnitude.

2) Rayner hasn't been found guilty of anything. The police are investigating because a Tory MP asked them to, just as they investigated Starmer when the same Tory MP asked them to investigate so-called 'Beergate.' As with Rayner the right wing press had a field day, as the accusations allowed them to propose that insidious 'all as bad as each other' line and thus take some heat off their beloved Johnson. Starmer, of course, was found entirely innocent (unlike Johnson). Let's see what happens with Rayner

Best to stay factual if that is possible, Rayner was not exposed by a Tory MP but by Lord Ashcroft. If you go around calling people "scum" expect reprisals. As we both know and so does Rayner she will not be prosecuted by the police, the HMRC is a different matter entirely. 

[Florestan]

Hi all,

This thread is specifically about the UK general election, let us keep it on topic please.  This should not become a rehash of the European politics thread.  There is a reason it was locked so long ago.

I don't remember any European politics thread. The one that was locked was about US politics. But I agree, sooner or later a thread about politics will get nasty and eventually be locked. 

[Luke]

Best to stay factual if that is possible, Rayner was not exposed by a Tory MP but by Lord Ashcroft. If you go around calling people "scum" expect reprisals. As we both know and so does Rayner she will not be prosecuted by the police, the HMRC is a different matter entirely. 

The Tory MP who asked the police to investigate Rayner was James Daly, the same MP who asked the police to investigate Starmer. As you say, best to stay factual.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/angela-rayner-council-house-james-daly-b2530174.html

[steve ridgway]

So far nearly 80 Conservative MPs have thrown in the towel and announced they won't be standing for re-election. Which suggests they don't expect to win.

BBC News

[Mandryka]

So far nearly 80 Conservative MPs have thrown in the towel and announced they won't be standing for re-election. Which suggests they don't expect to win.

BBC News

Any thoughts about why he decided to call an election now? I mean, it looks like he's got a death wish.

[steve ridgway]

Any thoughts about why he decided to call an election now? I mean, it looks like he's got a death wish.

The energy price cap has been reduced and is expected to drop further in July, inflation has allegedly dropped, the economy is allegedly out of recession, summer is generally less disastrous for the NHS. Things can only get worser .

[Todd]

As an American who knows nothing of UK politics, or UK politicians until they become PM, and assuming Sir Keir becomes PM, should I expect a new, bold, independent UK foreign policy?

[Luke]

You should expect him to engage more with Europe, at the very least. To try to rebuild all those idiotically burnt bridges without frightening the horses

[Mandryka]

As an American who knows nothing of UK politics, or UK politicians until they become PM, and assuming Sir Keir becomes PM, should I expect a new, bold, independent UK foreign policy?

No. He will continue to support Israel's actions in Gaza, he will supply them with the arms they need to do it. I expect he'll get on well with Trump.

[Todd]

No. He will continue to support Israel's actions in Gaza, he will supply them the arms they need to do it.

Will he maintain the current policy on Ukraine, will he continue membership in the Five Eyes, and will he continue forward with AUKUS?

[Mandryka]

Have a read of Boris Johnson's polemical article in the Daily Mail

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-13456697/Boris-Johnson-Keir-Starmer-dangerous-left-wing-1970s.html

You may need to clean it up with this

https://12ft.io/

Will he maintain the current policy on Ukraine, will he continue membership in the Five Eyes, and will he continue forward with AUKUS?

Not clear.

[Todd]

Have a read of Boris Johnson's polemical article in the Daily Mail

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-13456697/Boris-Johnson-Keir-Starmer-dangerous-left-wing-1970s.html

I confess that I do not know UK politics.  Who was/were the dangerous left-wing PM/PMs in the 70s? 

[Mandryka]

I confess that I do not know UK politics.  Who was/were the dangerous left-wing PM/PMs in the 70s?

Tony Benn, Harold Wilson, Michael Foot, Barbara Castle.
 

[Todd]

Tony Benn, Harold Wilson, Michael Foot

So, then, it goes Stalin, Mao, Benn/Wilson/Foot?  Is that right?  I mean, clearly Bojo is a trustworthy fellow, and all.

[steve ridgway]

I confess that I do not know UK politics.  Who was/were the dangerous left-wing PM/PMs in the 70s?

Harold Wilson? He let the country vote to join the European Economic Community .

[Todd]

Harold Wilson? He let the country vote to join the European Economic Community .

Oh, shit, then Wilson was merely just Satan in disguise.  I had no idea.

[Irons]

The energy price cap has been reduced and is expected to drop further in July, inflation has allegedly dropped, the economy is allegedly out of recession, summer is generally less disastrous for the NHS. Things can only get worser .

Or has he simply had enough? Going to lose anyway.