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Recent political stuff:
- The vote to see if Britain should adopt Alternative Voting has failed.
- Lib Dems lose lots of councils and councillors, whilst Labour make the majority of the gains in England.
- The Scottish National Party do really well in the elections.
A link to the BBC politics page containing relevant information.
Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 3rd 2023 at 11:15:30 AM
*eyeroll*
"Yup. That tasted purple."
United Earth
Y'all should get your hands on this episode of Absolute Power. Stephen Fry and John Bird eviscerate MRA while happily taking their money.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
... "Michael Dougan" is just one letter away from the name of this character.
@Tommy R 01 D
Well, if there's a diversity project happening, I guess Paul Flynn could be Welsh Secretary as well as being Shadow Leader. 
I know plenty of people who live in the constituencies of Paul Flynn and Owain Smith's. They're both very good MPs who try to help their constituents as much as they can and have a lot of respect as a result. I can't remember who Smith supported in the leadership contest last year, but I remember Flynn did not support Corbyn. Smith's constituents are shocked that Smith supported the coup, but Flynn has made it clear that, while he doesn't think Corbyn's leadership material, he also doesn't like the coup. It's hard to know how he voted in the secret ballot as a result.
He's been teasing Nadine Dorries on Twitter. She mocked him for becoming Shadow Leader of the House. In response, he told her that she should be getting her chance soon.
And for anyone who doesn't know who Paul Flynn is, here is a clip from his recent speech at the dispatch box.
Flynn does a lot with the Petitions Committee. He's on record as wanting the referendum petition discussed in the Petitions Committee this week (or next week, I'm sure which one). He's not a fan of the narrow margin of the victory and seems to want the result overturned by MPs. Although he is a Remain supporter, his concern seems mostly focussed on the result being too narrow. I get the impression he felt a supermajority-style referendum should have been held to make the result (whatever the result) unambiguous.
edited 1st Jul '16 3:35:30 PM by Wyldchyld
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I don't know why I watched that whole video, considering I don't live in the UK or understand how it's politics work at all, but I did, and it was interesting and informative. I still don't understand UK politics though.
edited 1st Jul '16 3:56:07 PM by CDRW
I was thinking they might have Anderson all three roles and call him Shadow Secretary of State for Devolution or something like that. I suppose a smaller team could challenge stereotypes about left-wingers and big government (and of course cabinets have been getting rather oversized in recent years so anything to reign that in is good) but on the other hand the holding of multiple jobs by so many people is what you'd normally expect from a short-term caretaker administration rather than a permanent front-bench team. Combined with the fact that they're hardly on the top set of players anymore - a lot of the new shadow ministers are newbie MPs whom nobody has yet heard or else long-time backbenchers who ought to be retired note and the Labour benches are starting to resemble those war documentaries where they show cities defended by skeleton crews of teenage conscripts fighting alongside their grandparents.
Ironically, It may turn out to be something Labour actually needs... some time down the line.
Young unknowns getting blooded in the field early alongside those not wedded to the spin machine? Could develop the big names for the future.
Although, it's rather the trial by fire. -_-
That's what always happens in a revolution. Any private might find a marshal's baton in his backpack. We'll get a few decent politicians out of the mess who've learned from Corbyn, and with luck, one of them will succeed him when he dies or retires.
I've thought of a new problem - you know how the Labour party was always criticised for being too London-centric and dominated by urban socialites, well:
- Jeremy Corbyn - Islington North, London
- John McDonnell - Hayes & Harlington, London
- Emily Thornberry - Islington South & Finsbury, London
- Diane Abbott - Hackney North & Stoke Newington, London
Kate Osamor, the new Shadow for DfID, is also London (Edmonton). Four of the five most recognisable members of the Shadow Cabinet have constituencies within a short walk of one another. The exception is Burnham who represents Leigh, in Manchester, but if he goes of to be Mayor then it's a London only club at the top.
edited 2nd Jul '16 2:29:17 AM by TommyR01D
Pronounced YAK-you-luss
Remember that all signs indicate that the New Labour drones dropped into northern safe-seats are going to get eaten by their own CLPs. Tristram Hunt already got a vote of no confidence from his. That should create a window of opportunity for Labour's parliamentary representatives to start coming from more diverse backgrounds.
What's precedent ever done for us?
United Earth
One thing that annoys me about Americans roleplaying Brexiters: they keep trying to affect a PR accent, when one would expect a Brexiter to have an accent from OopNorth of at least some form of Cockney... Is that a trope, "All Brits Are Posh"?
edited 2nd Jul '16 3:29:27 AM by TheHandle
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
V
Maybe.
Looks like there's a pro-EU Demonstration in London today — they're hoping Parliament overturns the result of the Referendum.
Well, if that happens there will be Riots and a loss in legitimacy for Parliament.
The BBC: A third of voters think Brexit won't happen - poll
Britain voted by a margin of 52% to 48% to leave the EU after 43 years - and the contenders to replace David Cameron as PM have all vowed make it happen. But 22% of people polled for Newsnight said they don't know if it will, while 16% believe the UK will stay in the EU. Ipsos MORI interviewed 1,077 people between Wednesday and Thursday.
The poll also suggests almost half of voters - 48% - agree there should be a general election before Britain begins Brexit negotiations so that people can vote on plans for life outside the EU. It comes after US Secretary of State John Kerry suggested the UK might not follow through with its decision to leave.
The vast majority of those interviewed said they would not change their vote if the UK held a second referendum on EU membership. But 5% of Leave voters said they would now change their vote compared to just 2% of Remain voters.
Results also show that more than half of voters do not believe their current government and MPs reflect the views of the British public towards the EU - including 67% of Leave voters. And 59% of respondents said they were not confident in Britain's political leaders to get the best possible terms for Britain - rising to 76% of Remain voters.
Quizzed on two of the most contentious issues of the campaign - free movement and membership of the single market - marginally more voters favoured the UK continuing without restrictions on migration in return for continuing to trade in the single market. A total of 42% of respondents said Britain should continue to allow EU citizens to live and work in Britain in return for access to the single market - including 18% of Leave voters. But 38% of those polled said losing access to the single market would be a price worth paying for new curbs on immigration.
The overwhelming finding of the poll was that most voters are sticking to their positions - 83% of Remain voters now feel less hopeful for the future of the UK, compared to the 80% of Leave voters who are now more hopeful.
Interviews with adults aged 18-75 across Great Britain were conducted online. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population, and to the estimated relative vote share of this group in the EU referendum.
edited 2nd Jul '16 5:19:11 AM by Greenmantle
Keep Rolling On
So that's what this does
There's really no specific accent for a Brexiter though. Oop North isn't more valid a Brexit accent than Devon or Welsh or even Scottish. There were Brexiters all over the UK.
Louise Mensch has been on Real Time With Bill Maher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJvj2bth8t0
edited 2nd Jul '16 5:34:26 AM by TommyR01D
Lies, lies, lies, lies, lies. -_-
V
Like all politicians on the Left, Centre and Right?note 
edited 2nd Jul '16 8:03:17 AM by Greenmantle
Keep Rolling On
United Earth
@Brexiter accent: the most brexit-intensive regions were those Thatcher broke and nobody bothered to repair, right? So, mostly Northern England and Wales. Conversely, very few Brexiters in Scotland, North Ireland, or London. I didn't mean "an accent a given Brexiter could conceivably have", I meant "an accent that is typical of or associated with Brexiters". It may come along with a small brick house, a St. George's Cross flag, and a white van.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Er, Scotland would be top of the list of "places Thatcher broke and never bothered to repair". There's a reason people had literal street parties here to celebrate her death.
Only the mining communities have a bigger claim, though Scotland's industries took a serious battering from her policies too, which is why in places like Glasgow she's hated with a passion seldom seen elsewhere.
So that's what this does
Interestingly, Leave consulted a hypnotist to get the result they wanted.
Interesting because, if you read Scott Adams' blog, he's a trained hypnotist who insists that Trump must have been doing the same thing, because the techniques he uses are so closely related to hypnotists' techniques.
http://www.scottishparliament.tv/Archive/Index/68d413aa-e9b0-492b-a70c-28653b665836?categoryId=bf9e61cb-72e1-4999-a17b-da31bb452edd&parentCategoryClicked=False&pageNumber=1&orderByField=ScheduledStart&queryOrder=DESC
Two months after its election HM The Queen has opened the fifth Scottish Parliament.
So if the posts to #MarchForEurope are any clue apparently people exercising their democratic right to protest is a bad thing.
"Yup. That tasted purple."
(Avatar by Coffee)
Protesting's well and good, but there was a referendum, so going "let's annul that" smacks of "democracy is good as long as I get my way".
democracy worldwide is going to the dogs, developed, liberal, or undeveloped or illiberal, democracy is dying in favor of mob rule.
As we celebrate various 100 year anniversaries of WWI, we fail to understand we're backsliding back toward at least that, if not WWII..
Remember Fathers4Justice?
Turns out they were as MRAish as they looked in hindsight.
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