UK Politics in General

Derek wrote:

Severelius wrote:I wonder if 'proxy war with France' was "exactly what everyone knew they were voting for" in 2016...

If watching the UK get absolutely rinsed by France was on a ballot, I'd sure as hell vote for it.

Same.

EVERYTHING WOULD BE BETTER IF PRINCESS DIANA WAS HERE.

LOCKDOWN FLOUTERS WILL BE HANGED AND THEIR BODIES DONATED TO FOOD BANKS

Don't be silly.

The Tories would never donate to food banks.

They very much do. The largest food charity organisations recieve substantial government funding.

The issue isn't one of comic-book villains who want to see people starve: it's that reliance on food charity might become normalised, that UK governments are too comfortable treating the symptom, rather than the causes of instability.

Anyway, wheeling Patel out was a smart move. Blame bad people rather than bad policy. It nearly always works.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55814751

2019: UK ranked 2nd out of c. 190 nations in terms of pandemic preparedness and "health security".

Today: UK surpasses 100,000 deaths. Highest death toll in Europe, and one of the worst hit nations in the entire world.

How was their interpretation of the data so wrong? This was a catastrophically bad estimation.

I don't know. Perhaps Brexit just sucked up all the oxygen. There's been a few civil servants and health advisors and such who've gone on record stating that the official line has been bunk for the last few years, and that the UK had developed serious deficiencies which were being overlooked. Hell, apparently the renewal of virus contingency plans and training were delayed for years in favour of no-deal planning.

Derek wrote:... but that doesn't help with people outright denying the existence of a threat.

There's definitely been some wishful thinking here at least. They eased restrictions too rapidly the first time round, then actively encouraged people to start mixing (and spending) again. It was all very premature, and many people thought so at the time. The "we'll see off Johnny foreigner's virus by Christmas" mentality was a bit too strong.

As for general population, government polling currently indicating that 80% will very likely take a vaccine, so it looks like uptake will be high enough to cut transmission. The remaining 20 are presumably split between unsure and refuse, I haven't checked.

So unpopular sex pest Alex Salmond has launched a new, also pro-independence political party in Scotland with plans to contest the upcoming Holyrood election.

Because I guess some people got tired of UK and Scottish politics apparently not being stupid and convoluted enough as it is? What is it with the weird urge in recent years of people nobody likes trying to launch whole new political parties to try and 'claim' political ground that's already claimed?

Severelius wrote:What is it with the weird urge in recent years of people nobody likes trying to launch whole new political parties to try and 'claim' political ground that's already claimed?

The ground very much has already been claimed. The Alba Party, as I believe it is named, will be an entirely "list" party (i.e: they won't stand constituency MSPs, only party list MSPs). The reason given for this is that Salmond wishes to obtain a "supermajority" for independence in the Scottish parliament through tactical voting, and have multiple parties advocating for independence so as to strengthen the claim to a referendum. They're asking supporters to vote SNP for their constituency MSP, and Alba for their regional list choice. I'm told that, in theory, this could sustain an SNP victory whilst increasing the number of MSPs supporting independence.

Problem is, as Stephen Bush points out, this sort of choice already exists in a very established and well liked political party, namely the Scottish Greens, who are supporters of independence. So... eh?

More snarky brainmush on Scottish politics:

We all, of course, know that the SNP are a fundamentally racist party, since they hate the English. Leavers, however, are not racist at all, and any insinuation that they are is slander and out of touch liberal nonsense.

Also, Sturgeon should immediately resign. I know you think it matters that she was cleared of breaching the ministerial code, but it actually doesn't. She should still resign. Sturgeon is short and we think that she's unattractive, so this seems reasonable. Priti Patel, however, who admittedly did actually breach the ministerial code, should not resign, since she is a lot better looking and is #toughoncrime.

Snark over.

No wait, there's more:

In other news: Are we all ready to kiss the flag? The Union Jackoffs are massing. Don't look at the law'n'orda bill, don't look at the blatant corruption, just keep your eyes on the flag. Everything will be all right.

Marmaduke wrote:

Severelius wrote:So unpopular sex pest Alex Salmond has launched a new, also pro-independence political party in Scotland with plans to contest the upcoming Holyrood election.

Because I guess some people got tired of UK and Scottish politics apparently not being stupid and convoluted enough as it is? What is it with the weird urge in recent years of people nobody likes trying to launch whole new political parties to try and 'claim' political ground that's already claimed?

Yeah, that’s what the Scottish independence movement needs, the vote splitting. Well done, Alex.

Do you ever wonder why you didn’t get into politics? I do. Because you clearly don’t need to know what you’re doing to be an MP. Have you convinced yourself you’d be as great as I’ve convinced myself I’d be?

I daresay the only reason I have never considered any form of 'caeeer' in politics is because, as I have no doubt proven on here multiple times, I am incapable of dealing with criticism without going to pieces.

Plus... public speaking. Not great for someone with a speech impediment. And I just know I'd instinctively end up swearing in the House of Commons and being constantly ejected from the chamber.