A Political Thread

[General Melchett]

Probably am alright!

I was lucky that my parents understood the value of education. Too many don't - in fact - too many aren't fit to be parents at all.


As for the real reason for the comment - its half tongue in cheek - in 30 years time when most menial tasks in the developed world are automated - what do those with very little in terms of education do?

McDonalds? Sure that'll be robots.
Sweep the streets? Robots.
Empty the bins? Robots.
Drive taxis? Robots.

etc
etc
etc

Yes, you can point to the past and say people got jobs servicing the machines that took away the jobs and to a degree that is true - but these are going to be highly complex machines which will be subject more to software updates - walking out of school with no GCSEs and no trades means your pretty much unemployable - for life.

The prospect of a major war will sky rocket as unemployment increases due to AI, technology etc. social unrest increases, countries start to fight over resources. Wealth will be very poorly distributed with a bigger gulf between the mega rich at the top and everyone else. How will the US cope with being knocked off it's perch by China. Hopefully it's not all bad and that AI can be used to detect invisible bastardry on the rugby pitch.

 

[Which Tyler]

Wrong board

 

[Dai Yorkshire]

it seems 7 members of the labour party have resigned as MOP is labour starting to creak.

 

[ncurd]

About bloody time these MP's have been hounded by Labour 'members' for challenging the leadership for trying to steer a course through Brexit on their beliefs. I hope more follow and I hope Tory MPs also follow if they do this could be an Earth shattering moment in British politics.

I suspect it will end up being a damp squib.

 

[Thingimubob]

it seems 7 members of the labour party have resigned as MOP is labour starting to creak.

While it makes for bad PR for Corbyn / good headlines for his opponents, it would need significantly more to properly break off for it to be realistically more than an annoyance for Corbyn. I think bar Chuka Umunna, pretty much all of them are fairly irrelevant back benchers and all.

From what they've said they seem to be anti Brexit, but comes across far more about playing party politics than them actually wanting to do anything about Brexit - if more start splitting off then we'll see.

Either way I do hope Corbyn takes note of this and starts to change his tune a bit, and starts being a better leader of the opposition - the Tories are the ones benefiting from this...

 

[ncurd]

While it makes for bad PR for Corbyn / good headlines for his opponents, it would need significantly more to properly break off for it to be realistically more than an annoyance for Corbyn. I think bar Chuka Umunna, pretty much all of them are fairly irrelevant back benchers and all.

From what they've said they seem to be anti Brexit, but comes across far more about playing party politics than them actually wanting to do anything about Brexit - if more start splitting off then we'll see.

Either way I do hope Corbyn takes note of this and starts to change his tune a bit, and starts being a better leader of the opposition - the Tories are the ones benefiting from this...

Nah these guys aren't playing party politics they are about to get absolutely shat on by the hard left. You only do this if you simply cannot work with them any longer. Corbyn was a irrelevant back bencher remember.

As to Corbyn his initial reaction is ******** and he's had years to listen and he refused and blocked any attempts to show real leadership over Brexit.

In a statement, Mr Corbyn said: "I am disappointed that these MPs have felt unable to continue to work together for the Labour policies that inspired millions at the last election and saw us increase our vote by the largest share since 1945."

"Labour won people over on a programme for the many not the few - redistributing wealth and power, taking vital resources into public ownership, investing in every region and nation, and tackling climate change."

"The Conservative government is bungling Brexit, while Labour has set out a unifying and credible plan."

"When millions are facing the misery of Universal Credit, rising crime, homelessness, poverty, now more than ever is the time to bring people together to build a better future for all of us."

 

[General Melchett]

We have a broken two party first past the post political system. We saw back to back self harm protest votes first with Brexit and then people voting Labour purely out of protest against the Tories. Many people (especially pro-remain and young people) voting for Labour had no idea what Corbyn stood for. To compound matters we have split Tory party which has grown a tumour in the form of the ERG. That split has since extended to the country.

In theory, people should be flocking to the Lib Dems as the progressive and sensible option but they continue to vote for the same shower that their parents and grandparents voted for in spite of how much of a mess they make of things. We have a very ineffective and flawed form of democracy.

 

[Thingimubob]

We'll see I guess! I completely agree with their views on Brexit and am continuously frustrated by Corbyn's unwillingness to do what his party membership wants him to do.

To really make a difference though these breakaways need to get more Labour MP's onside, and most importantly start working towards a real cross party approach against Brexit. Until I see that I'll remain unconvinced at how much difference this will make.

 

[Reiser99]

At the moment I'm going to stay optimistic (incredibly hard to do) and wait to see if more MP's jump.

 

[Amiga500]

We have a very ineffective and flawed form of democracy.

edit: Was going to have a go at the electorate. But realised that is obvious.

The (majority of the) electorate are stupid. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different outcome, then I suppose they could be classed as insane.


But representative democracy is a load of balls. The likes of Liam Fox is not qualified for the role he finds himself in (and unfortunately he is one of the more qualified MPs - having once been a GP). A position where he can influence the opinions of those too stupid to know any better and shape policy through ignorance.

 

[ncurd]

God watching Labour eat their own at the moment.....its like they don't understand their rabid need for puritanical left where everyone steps in line has caused this.

Seen one person accusing Chuka Umunna of being right wing and conspiring against the party by trying to select council members that align with his views. I mean FFS this is why those on the center-left are becoming increasingly dispondant with Labour and they simply don't see what they are doing with the abuse.

This tweets sums it up

https://twitter.com/Rich_1337/status/1097440684653625344

 

[Amiga500]

Seen one person accusing Chuka Umunna of being right wing

I'd accuse him of being a corrupt wee crook.

Right wing? Maybe, maybe not. Even the term right wing is not really suitable to describe someone's views. Fiscally conservative? Socially conservative?


But yeah, feeding frenzy right now and all rationality has gone out the window.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

The Tories are gonna be in power for the rest of our lives, aren't they?

 

[Bada-Bing!]

The Tories are gonna be in power for the rest of our lives, aren't they?

Coalition or Minority Governments more likely. Brexit is The beginning of the end of both Conservatives and Labour as we know it.

 

[Amiga500]

The Tories are gonna be in power for the rest of our lives, aren't they?

Depends if the witch strikes a compromise deal at the 11th hour 59th minute 59th second. You could see ERG splinter off.

If she doesn't strike a compromise (which likely means hard exit), then all hell is gonna break loose anyway.

Hard to see how the party in govt responsible for taking the country through this would emerge unscathed.

 

[ncurd]

The Tories are gonna be in power for the rest of our lives, aren't they?

Depends if they follow suit and completely break down, they have to lose some wing of their party of the ERG or the Europhiles.

Sadly they are a lot better at holding ranks than the left.

 

[General Melchett]

Coalition or Minority Governments more likely.

This is the norm in many European countries where multiple parties are allowed to fight elections instead of the two horse race old boys clubs set up in the UK and the US.

At the moment the Tories and Labour have the luxury of gravitating between hard left/right and centre left/right positions. They should choose a position, stick to it and allow other political parties to enter the fray. It's a broken system.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

This is the norm in many European countries where multiple parties are allowed to fight elections instead of the two horse race old boys clubs set up in the UK and the US.

At the moment the Tories and Labour have the luxury of gravitating between hard left/right and centre left/right positions. They should choose a position, stick to it and allow other political parties to enter the fray. It's a broken system.

TBF Lib dems has a massive chance to join the club.

But shat the bed

 

[ncurd]

TBF Lib dems has a massive chance to join the club.

But shat the bed

Eh, back in 2010 the general feeling was they made the correct decision. I don't think anyone anticipated they'd

a) Fail extremely badly to explain what they were doing in goverment.
b) Get painted as Yellow Tories
c) As a backlash lose many seats to the Tories
d) Be so utterly wiped out in 2015 hell it was still a shock to most when the results came in.

Basically whilst the LD's leaders and members were ready for it the British public were not ready for coalition government and politics. Plus it didn't help in the eyes of many LD voters we aligned with baddies.

Honestly I don't think anyone would of given two hoots about tuition fees if they entered a government with Labour.

 

[General Melchett]

TBF Lib dems has a massive chance to join the club.

But shat the bed

With the right backing and leadership they could have gained ground but people don't vote for them because they think it's waste of time as they'll never gain power. All because of the two horse race/first past the post system.

In fairness Clegg did well on the TV debates (spoke sense, was measured and seemed like fresh alternative to the usual shower) and reached his Everest when he landed the Deputy PM role. He managed to get cabinet posts for Cable and Danny Alexander but the rest of his party didn't get invited to the party. There was always going to some kind of resentment plus the Tories were always liable to blame the Lib Dems when anything went wrong.