The Political Thread

[Modern Panther]

Didn't George Washington believe there was no future in political parties? 

What we desperately need is for people to become more involved in politics and in defining the parties.  Join up, tell your MP what you want, remind them that they work for you.  Politics has become the realm of eccentrics on television, changing the world to the shape that suits them while quietly sowing the lies "they're all the same" and "nothing will every change". 

[Professor Bear]

What we desperately need is for people to become more involved in politics and in defining the parties.  Join up, tell your MP what you want, remind them that they work for you.

Americans tried that and literally millions of new voters signed up to be Democrats, and when it was clear they were going to vote for Bernie Sanders, the Democratic party used every trick in the book to drive them away, vilify them and make them feel unwanted, right down to accusing them of crimes and open hostility at political rallies - even now, Sanders is vilified for the slightest of offences real or imagined (he recently jabbed his finger at someone to punctuate what he was saying and this means he hates women, apparently) and the American left runs with it.  See also: Labour's increased membership, Brickgate, "Corbyn caused Brexit", etc.
Nor is this confined to the left - American conservatives who felt the GOP were going too far under Trump tried to bring it up at their regular town hall meetings, only to be denounced by representatives as ignorant liars - the "death panel" clip doing the rounds on social media is a prime example.

Proles need to be silent and know their place.  If nothing else, it'll be good practice for the coming police state.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Us Scots. Whit we like, eh?

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

I'm reading all these comments about how the left is so unorganized, but I'm sitting in Nothern Ireland where the recent snap election produced massive losses for the right* and massive gains for the left**. Too bad our wee country is so insignificant that these results have barely registered on most British news oulets.

*The Unionists
**The Fenians***

***Fair enough, they're responsible for a helluva lotta death, unlike British political parties such as........nope, I've come up blank****

****Tu quoque

[CalHab]

Us Scots. Whit we like, eh?

I'm looking forward to two years of journalists who know f-all about Scotland and its politics telling me what I should think. Not to mention two years of lovely comments BTL on every newspaper website. Whee.

[Modern Panther]

Day one:

Telegraph - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/nicola-sturgeon-liar-traitor-head/?WT.mc_id=tmg_share_tw

"Treacherous Queen of Scots has miscalculated"

My favourite bit is when the SNP are socialists who are subsidized by hard working Londoners.

[Mikey]

I'm reading all these comments about how the left is so unorganized, but I'm sitting in Nothern Ireland...

It struck me after the EU Referendum it was probably the first time a lot of people in GB had experienced truly devisive politics - when you see the result of a vote and realise half the people you know have an entirely different outlook, seemingly incompatible with your own.

[CalHab]

Day one:

Telegraph - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/nicola-sturgeon-liar-traitor-head/?WT.mc_id=tmg_share_tw

"Treacherous Queen of Scots has miscalculated"

My favourite bit is when the SNP are socialists who are subsidized by hard working Londoners.

Bloody hell. I've never been a fan of the Telegraph but I thought they were a little bit better than publishing Katie Hopkins level columnists.

[The Legendary Shark]

On the plus side, I can start using the phrase "Irn Bru Curtain" again :-)

[IndigoPrime]

The Telegraph piece was actually worse for a while.

[Old Tankie]

Employment up, unemployment down, yep it's all going pear shaped.

[Steve Green]

Depends on the job.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39196056

[Jim_Campbell]

Employment up, unemployment down, yep it's all going pear shaped.

Record number of people on pernicious, inequitable zero-hour contracts, so many people now self-employed that the Tories want to hike the NI rate out of 'fairness' despite the self-employed being ineligible for many benefits open to traditionally-employed people.

These figures are built out of low wages and job insecurity. What a triumph.

(Not to mention under-employment — two people on 20hrs a week and both wanting 40hrs are functionally equivalent to one working person and one unemployed, but the figures only show two working people.)

[IndigoPrime]

Quite. Employment stats alone are not an indicator all is well. There have been other stats for years now showing that among the G20, the UK has some of the worst wages/wage growth. And everything Jim says about zero-hours/self-employed.

Still, that seems rosy compared to what's currently happening in the Brexit committee, with David Davis basically admitting that he has no idea what's going to happen. "A bad deal is better than no deal," we've been told. Has that been quantified? Nope. So the reasoning? "Sometimes in business you know a deal is better even when you don't have the numbers."

We are all fucked.

[TordelBack]

I'm intrigued. I know it's only the Telegraph, but how can a democratically elected minister, operating within the existing political mechanism, and calling for a plebiscite under that system, possibly be construed as a 'traitor'? I can see how our own various armed insurgencies over here could be called treasonous (from most PoVs they were), but it does make you wonder if they weren't on the right track if ANY move towards secession or independence can be equally considered treason.

Anyway, you would think after Jo Cox people would have apply a bit more moderation to their hyperbole.