For the first year of his leadership of the Labour Party, I had only heard Kier Starmer said (on podcasts, on radio... I'm a British comedy nerd), never written.
"sweeping the Labour Party to a landslide win after 14 years of rule by the Conservatives" and , yep, it was right in the middle of the summer of '16 that the Brexit vote passed and I recall thinking "thank god we haven't gotten that crazy here yet . . . " Not knowing the insanity we were about to plunge ourselves into in the fall.
I'm not British and we Americans have a political crisis of our own, but since I can actually walk and chew gum at the same time, I wanted to analyse this a little.
First and foremost, this isn't a "win" for Labour, it's a loss for the Tories. For such a sweeping landslide, Labour picked up relatively few votes since the last election. Most of the defectors voted Reform or Liberal Democrat.
For those who are unclear on that, Reform voters are the ones who were pissed off at the Tories because they weren't weird and sadistic ENOUGH. And the main thing that distinguishes Liberal Democrats from Labour seems to be...well, they're not Labour. Both parties are alternately described as Center or Center Left. Liberal Democrats are often described as Britain's progressives, except they seem to like Neoliberalism and have formed a coalition government with the Tories in the recent past. Labour, on the other hand, was specifically formed to promote old-school, the people own the means of production socialism, which of course they no longer talk about and their last star was Britain's version of Bill Clinton. It is really, really hard to tell between the two from where I sit, but they insist that they're very very different.
Point is, the only mandate Starmer seems to have us "don't be a Tory." Fair enough. Labour has a solid majority, they don't have to worry about keeping squishy MP's from bolting or maintaining working ties with other parties, just in case. Starmer has a free hand and plenty of time, as long as he doesn't fuck up too badly.
His first priority is “fix everything the Tories fucked up.” And if British voters are anything like their American counterparts, if he doesn’t do that overnight, they’ll soon be calling to bring back Sunak or the head of lettuce.
They can call for it all they want, but only Parliament can force the issue before the statutory five years, unless Starmer (or a successor) decides on another vote himself. His majority is pretty big, he can afford defections and by-election losses. He’ll have time to work unless he screws up bigly. As long as he makes good choices, five years will be long enough to show progress.
The thing is, fix Tory damage, HOW? Not that finding ways to fix it is hard, but the exact measures were never really discussed as an electoral issue, so there's no public mandate for the “how,” and some people are gonna get butthurt no matter what Starmer does.
Conservatives fuck everything up and then the libs come in to clean the mess. Conservatives blame the libs for the problems they created, and complain that the mess isn’t being cleaned up quickly enough, while doing everything in their power to hinder the process. I guess it’s the same in the UK as it is in America.
I am not confident that Labour is going to protect trans rights, especially given the fact that Starmer has promised to hold hearings with JK FUCKING ROWLING about trans rights.
That would be like having Jimmy Saville over to discuss children's rights.
That 'being shitty to trans women' thing is the only thing I know of to Starmer's discredit. Alas, it's pretty f*cking serious discredit.
Talk to some science boffins about that, please. Oh, and while you're up, could you abolish all religion, but especially christianity? That would sure improve things generally.
Bit problematic in Old Blighty, where the Church of England is literally a state religion, with the King or Queen as its titular head. Disconnecting THAT relationship would be an excellent first step, but it’s inherently intertwined with the whole monarchy thing so would open a whole different can of worms.
Oh. My. Gosh! Larry! LARRY!! Larry the CAT!!! I am one of Larry's biggest fans. PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE WONKETTE, PLEASE PUT UP A REGULAR "NICE TIMES" POST ABOUT LARRY, AT LEAST ONE PER MONTH. We in Larry's World want to know what Larry thinks about UK politics, culture, the new PM, ANYTHING, really. I really, really, really don't like Xitter (the X is a "sh" sound). I despise Phony Stark. So, I really would rather we get Larry news NOT from Xitter. TYSM! 'kay thnx, bye!
What is the deal in the UK? I mean, here it’s because republicans know they’ve lost (at least for now) the fight over “being shitty to gays and lesbians” and trans women are the last group they can get away with being shitty to. But what’s the reason for it in the UK?
fox off Cons:
https://twitter.com/Number10cat/status/1579588065282379776
For the first year of his leadership of the Labour Party, I had only heard Kier Starmer said (on podcasts, on radio... I'm a British comedy nerd), never written.
Said by *British people*
I thought his name was Kia Stahma.
I'm also a British politics of the 80s-90s nerd.
I was so sure Kier was going to pull a Neil Kinnock. Even more than the US Dems, Labour is a master of pulling failure from the jaws of victory.
https://youtu.be/Mn7_qoWDzmY?si=R8baU4oOXovLlsj9
"sweeping the Labour Party to a landslide win after 14 years of rule by the Conservatives" and , yep, it was right in the middle of the summer of '16 that the Brexit vote passed and I recall thinking "thank god we haven't gotten that crazy here yet . . . " Not knowing the insanity we were about to plunge ourselves into in the fall.
I'm not British and we Americans have a political crisis of our own, but since I can actually walk and chew gum at the same time, I wanted to analyse this a little.
First and foremost, this isn't a "win" for Labour, it's a loss for the Tories. For such a sweeping landslide, Labour picked up relatively few votes since the last election. Most of the defectors voted Reform or Liberal Democrat.
For those who are unclear on that, Reform voters are the ones who were pissed off at the Tories because they weren't weird and sadistic ENOUGH. And the main thing that distinguishes Liberal Democrats from Labour seems to be...well, they're not Labour. Both parties are alternately described as Center or Center Left. Liberal Democrats are often described as Britain's progressives, except they seem to like Neoliberalism and have formed a coalition government with the Tories in the recent past. Labour, on the other hand, was specifically formed to promote old-school, the people own the means of production socialism, which of course they no longer talk about and their last star was Britain's version of Bill Clinton. It is really, really hard to tell between the two from where I sit, but they insist that they're very very different.
Point is, the only mandate Starmer seems to have us "don't be a Tory." Fair enough. Labour has a solid majority, they don't have to worry about keeping squishy MP's from bolting or maintaining working ties with other parties, just in case. Starmer has a free hand and plenty of time, as long as he doesn't fuck up too badly.
seems like tories pissed off both their racist/nationalist base AND the city.
stupid stupid.
honestly i am just so fucking jealous.
Be jealous of the outcome, maybe, but don't be jealous of what Brits had to go through to get there.
His first priority is “fix everything the Tories fucked up.” And if British voters are anything like their American counterparts, if he doesn’t do that overnight, they’ll soon be calling to bring back Sunak or the head of lettuce.
They can call for it all they want, but only Parliament can force the issue before the statutory five years, unless Starmer (or a successor) decides on another vote himself. His majority is pretty big, he can afford defections and by-election losses. He’ll have time to work unless he screws up bigly. As long as he makes good choices, five years will be long enough to show progress.
The thing is, fix Tory damage, HOW? Not that finding ways to fix it is hard, but the exact measures were never really discussed as an electoral issue, so there's no public mandate for the “how,” and some people are gonna get butthurt no matter what Starmer does.
It was a great night for the sensible party. The silly party has been in power far too long
Don't raise taxes. Just levy a sliding scale fee on being rich. It's no a tax! It's a fee!
Make beer cost the same % of income as the lowest paid worker in the UK, with a "fee"
So about £10,000 each for the richest fucks? Just a wild guess.
Conservatives fuck everything up and then the libs come in to clean the mess. Conservatives blame the libs for the problems they created, and complain that the mess isn’t being cleaned up quickly enough, while doing everything in their power to hinder the process. I guess it’s the same in the UK as it is in America.
I'd be happier about this if it were the old lefty Labour Party, but I'll take my jollies where I can get 'em. We have no joy in the US.
I am not confident that Labour is going to protect trans rights, especially given the fact that Starmer has promised to hold hearings with JK FUCKING ROWLING about trans rights.
That would be like having Jimmy Saville over to discuss children's rights.
Fuck JK Rowling with Hogwart’s castle.
Terfium Eliminatum!
That 'being shitty to trans women' thing is the only thing I know of to Starmer's discredit. Alas, it's pretty f*cking serious discredit.
Talk to some science boffins about that, please. Oh, and while you're up, could you abolish all religion, but especially christianity? That would sure improve things generally.
Bit problematic in Old Blighty, where the Church of England is literally a state religion, with the King or Queen as its titular head. Disconnecting THAT relationship would be an excellent first step, but it’s inherently intertwined with the whole monarchy thing so would open a whole different can of worms.
British Republicans are a far better species than the kind we have over here! They should be encouraged!
Oh. My. Gosh! Larry! LARRY!! Larry the CAT!!! I am one of Larry's biggest fans. PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE WONKETTE, PLEASE PUT UP A REGULAR "NICE TIMES" POST ABOUT LARRY, AT LEAST ONE PER MONTH. We in Larry's World want to know what Larry thinks about UK politics, culture, the new PM, ANYTHING, really. I really, really, really don't like Xitter (the X is a "sh" sound). I despise Phony Stark. So, I really would rather we get Larry news NOT from Xitter. TYSM! 'kay thnx, bye!
Dirtbag Jew-hating tankie George Galloway is out!
Farage in a trilby. Good riddance.
"being shitty to trans women" Regrettably, that does seem to be the centrist position in the UK anymore.
What is the deal in the UK? I mean, here it’s because republicans know they’ve lost (at least for now) the fight over “being shitty to gays and lesbians” and trans women are the last group they can get away with being shitty to. But what’s the reason for it in the UK?
Laurie Penny had a long attempt at an explanation: https://pennyred.medium.com/terf-wars-why-transphobia-has-no-place-in-feminism-60d3156ad06e
Return?
"...a more catchy name than “the Inflation Reduction Act”?"
I doubt they will introduce a bill called the IRA.
The name is plenty catchy, it just turns out that it's normally for an entirely unrelated act. From Birmingham.
He shares the first name of the actor who played astronaut Dave Bowman in "2001: A Space Odyssey."
Who also was one of the leads on The Starlost, a Canadian sci-fi series of staggering ineptitude. I liked the computer, though. https://youtu.be/6VEaU4G_e7k?feature=shared
He was named for the founder of the Labour Party.
Oh! :)
I asked my cat what Starmer should do and she said "meow." So Kier should meow a lot if he wants to stay in office.