The General Election in the UK, 2024

[Stavros]

Sunak looked like a drowning rat in the rain

A washout in every sense. Was there no expert on hand to advise his boss to stay inside? All that money they spent on a No 10 Press Centre, rather like all those Brexit projects that cost hundreds of millions of pounds that have never been used.

[Stavros]

"I think the timing of this general election has quite a lot to do with me"...

yes, comrades. the truculent, no-nonsense interrogator of politicians far and wide; the bruiser; the scorcher; the he-who-cannot-be-tamed scourge of socialism; flag bearer of Brexit freedom from the chaos and dictatorship of Brussels; the honorary because honourable President of Reform UK; the one, because there can only be one, Nigel Farage.

And no, he is not going to stand as an MP. With a salary at GB News to match the salary (and expenses and perks) he once received from the European Parliament, would you?

[Stavros]

The insinuation behind this comment is that Labour is soft on Muslims, only the hard core who voted for a rank idiot like George Galloway may have made a gesture, but have achieved absolutely nothing; and those who continue to vote against Labour are unlikely to make a difference outside of a few constituencies, if that.

But if there is a hard core of Muslims who 'don't share our values' -the same person singling out Muslims, could have referred to the White English people who also don't 'share our values' -the ones who would prefer dictatorship to democracy, who don't want the rule of law in its present form, who despise Jews as much as Muslims, who want a 'Fortress Britain' rather than a democracy open to global trade.

Tired old drivel not based on facts, the sign of a desperate party about to be shunted onto a disused railway line.

"Some British Muslims “want to challenge” fundamental British values, a Foreign Office minister has said.Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the “vast proportion” of British Muslims were “peace-loving, community-minded people”.
But there was a “very small proportion” that wanted to challenge the “values that we hold dear in the UK”, she added."
Government minister says some British Muslims do not support UK values (yahoo.com)

[Stavros]

Labour is finding it hard to deal with Dianne Abbott, but she isn't making it easy for Keir Starmer either. Abbott was the first Black woman to be elected an MP, and ever since 1987 has been the target of sickening abuse. At the time, Abbott was one of three Black MPs, all Labour, the others being Paul Boateng, and Bernie Grant. Such was the vile abuse that they were subjected to, that -I was living in London at the time- I once saw graffiti on a stairwell in the Underground that read 'Who will kill Bernie Grant?'. Grant died of a heart attack in 2000 aged 58.

My view, which isn't worth much, is that at the age of 70 and not being in the best of health, Abbott should retire. She has some sort of legacy to look back on, though some will argue that in policy terms she achieved little, being on the Labour left that lost out to Blair and 'New Labour' in the 1990s. It was a low moment when she led the chants of 'Oh Jeremy Corbyn' at a Labour Party conference -she used to live with him- the point being that the left when I was in the Party were supposed to be against 'Personality Cults'.

I don't think it will change the result, and it doesn't look good, but I wonder if this minor issue has resonated with those sad people who never wanted Dianne Abbott in public life at any level -because they haven't gone away, and never left, and are always dreaming of their moment coming back, now that Brexit is 'done with' -and not it seems, something anyone wants to discuss in detail in this election.

[Stavros]

If you want to know why Richard Tice has been replaced by Nigel Farage as leader of Reform UK-

"Richard Tice has said “How do we turn on the rocket boosters” in this campaign. “We can go from fifth gear, through to sixth gear – this is a fossil-fueled car by the way – to seventh gear. But what about eighth gear?”"
Nigel Farage to stand in Clacton at general election after taking over as leader of Reform party – UK politics live | Politics | The Guardian

Farage said last week he would be campaigning in the US for Mr Trump. The reaction was so bad, he has had a vision, if not when travelling to Damascus, but Clacton-on-Sea, though the press conference announcing his attempt to save Britain from Economic, Social and Moral Decline was held in London, not by the seaside. He has also calculated that this time, disaffection with the Conservatives is so strong, he might actually win the seat, and it is possible he might this time.

He has what he has always wanted -a headline slot on the political equivalent of Britain's Got Talent. Let's just hope he doesn't try to swap his magic act for singing Nessun Dorma.

[Stavros]

More on this: Reform UK is a private company that has registered as a political party -usually it is the other way round, enabling political parties to sell merchandise, etc.

Who is behind Reform UK other than Tice and Farage? This link tells you -watch out for 'Chakrit Sakunkrit', the Thai citizen...then there is Turning Point UK (hmmm isn't there is Turning Point USA?). The sums might not be at the same level as the billionaires bankrolling Trump (for their purposes, not his) but the same sort of Businessmen who think Climate Change is a hoax, and are appalled by 'wokery' and so on. Read on
Reform UK Limited: The Political Business Brought to You by Billionaires – Byline Times

The Economist, in spite of its irrelevance to most things), is not impressed
Britain’s Reform UK party does not exist (archive.is)

However, in both cases, they maybe underestimate the potential for Reform UK to win seats in the House of Commons. Farage has looked at the scene, and as he said yesterday, thinks the Conservative Party has ceased to exist, and is now just four factions fighting among themselves. He might say the Republican Party no longer exists, being a quasi-religious cult for Donald Trump.

Because he sees a fatal weakness on this side of the political aisle, Farage smells blood, and like a Jackal or African Painted Dog who waits for the lion or the leopard to kill prey before stealing the carcass, he thinks he can not only defeat Conservatives in their seats, but place Reform UK as the primary 'Conservative' opposition to a Labour Govt.

If he is, then the Commons would give him a platform for his crypto-Fascist enterprise, because he sees himself as part of a European movement that contains Orba, Meloni, Wilders (though he can't yet form a Govt) soft on Putin and Trump -though one notes this trend has not taken off in Spain, and has had a setback in Poland.

Farage, like Boris Johnson, is a liar who dares you to find the truth, as has been done in this link
Reality check: how do Farage’s claims on immigration, economy and crime hold up? | Nigel Farage | The Guardian

It only scratches the surface, as Farage was in full throttle nonsense during the Brexit campaign when on Tv he claimed there would be no damage to trade because the EU needed the UK market, citing German car exports to the UK when exports to China were more than 20 times greater.

Ah well, we wait and see. Reform UK hasn't got 650 candidates, but we should not underestimate the appeal it has to a certain kind of voter. Farage might also/should also exploit the as yet not widely discussed plans a Labour Govt has to re-insert the UK into the Single Market, but that raises the question -can Farage win votes on Brexit if the majority of people think it was a mistake?

Still, it has thrown a spanner into the works and it is the Conservatives who are worried the most.

[filghy2]

Some folks just never learn

[Stavros]

How not to offer the public a clear view of what the parties want: get seven representatives to talk over each other in a 'debate'. What debate? Questions and answers that achieve little, other than to confirm existing positions: the Tories are not just losing, but know they are losing. Rishi Sunak as a leader is now competing with Liz Truss to see who can be more useless than the other.

Labour has a 'clear' plan which seems to mean Starmer saying one thing, Angela Rayner another. The only reason why the Nuclear Bomb has suddenly become an issue, is down to Putin making the usual gnomic threats from his Russian bunker, a gift for the Mail and the Telegraph who have been telling us for the last 45 years you cant trust Labour on defence. PS, a Labour Govt created Britain's Bomb -true or false?

The Greens are convinced they are in the ascendancy which means one, maybe two more seats in the Commons (we're on a roll!, plant based, of course), just as the Liberal Democrats are, well, Liberal Democrats, though they may do better than some think this time around, and their key policy, 1p on income tax for the NHS, is popular. The SNP is truly only interested in Scotland, ditto Plaid Cymru in Wales.

As for Nigel Farage, the usual megaphone of doom and crypto-racism. Yes, stop and search is the way to stop knife crime, only it must be 'colour blinid', like he's never had words with a London copper. Ask Leroy.

As for immigration, the banner headline in the Telegraph (these days a Brexit not a Tory paper) blares: "Farage Warns 'population crisis' is making Britain poorer" -with the usual stuff that doesn't join dots. Like fit and healthy young men who apparently are a drain on the NHS, that's the NHS they never use. You could see people as an opportunity not a crisis, but I guess that depends on whether or not they and we are colour blind and 'share our values'. There was a time when to be a Roman Catholic in this country was a sentence of imprisonment, possibly torture and death- gosh, haven't we done well since Gloriana?

Oh and Brexit -hasn't this made the UK poorer? Don't ask, don't tell.

In other words, they are long on rhetoric, short on solutions, as they say 'costed'.

GB Energy- Labour's way of repeating history, possibly the second time as farce, if not tragedy. In 1974 Tony Benn wanted the UK to own all its oil and gas, and insisted on the creation of the British National Oil Company, something Wilson let him do even though he retained the contractual arrangement with the independent oil companies that settled on a 51/49% deal. Benn was livid, but powerless to do anything about it (it was one of the causes of his own increasingly radical politics), and in any case Thatcher scrapped BNOC which achieved nothing anyway, unless you think employing thousands of people on quite nice salaries is not an achievement. And unless I am mistaken, the funding for GB Energy, is going to come from, yes you guessed it, North Sea oil and gas. At least one realist has his finger on the tap: BP's former boss, Lord Browne, wants that investment in alternatives to replace fossil fuels, implicitly supporting Starmer's 'vision'. It may even work. Or not.
Former BP chief executive backs end to new North Sea licences (energyvoice.com)

Speculation: rather than a party promising a and b and delivering neither, or a- or b-, maybe the less clear things are now, the better the outcomes in 5 years time?

[Stavros]

Farage in todays' Telegraph -why have the Conservatives found themselves heading into oblivion?

"If a party is elected for its conservative credentials, but governs from the social democratic Left, it should come as little surprise when once loyal supporters desert in their droves."

Social Democratic left?

It was Cameron's fault

"Fourteen years of David Cameron’s social democratic policies – remember how he styled himself “the heir to Blair” – have led the party into the electoral abyss"

-even though Cameron left Downing St in 2016. Yes, Farage gave Boris a chance, even withdrew Brexit Party candidates in the 2019 election but we woz betrayed!

"Since that time, immigration into the United Kingdom has rocketed to record levels. It’s truly astonishing. Since 2022, arrivals have run at one migrant every minute. This is a betrayal of the trust placed in the Conservative party by common sense Britons, and millions of voters now feel this very deeply and personally. There is no going back now."
Mark my words: Reform will be the next opposition, then government awaits (yahoo.com)

Vote Farage, get Trump? Note to historians: Mr Farage does not wear a wig.

[Stavros]

Farage again,
"Nigel Farage was left squirming this morning over his claim that Rishi Sunak “doesn’t understand our history and our culture”.The Reform UK leader made the comment after the prime minister left the D-Day commemoration early.2
Nigel Farage On The Rack Over Claim Rishi Sunak 'Doesn't Understand Our Culture' (yahoo.com)

No further comment needed, other than is anyone surprised?