UK Politics Thread

It is remarkable just how bad Labour are at politics.

They've postponed the WFA conference vote, which just looks terrible. It's like they've never heard of the term "optics".

It's genuinely remarkable how badly they're managing this. The below would almost make you laugh if it wasn't so depressing.

Getting schmoozed by the likes of lobby groups such as Salmon Scotland -- dodgy af and notorious for their [industry's] deplorable environmental record and the deleterious effect their barbaric salmon farming methods are having -- mere weeks after Sarwar gnashing his teeth about the Scottish Government allegedly having to divert funds from various green initiatives in order to arrange pay deals to avoid the public sector strikes threatened by various Labour Unions. Aye, well done guys.




    

It would be a nice change to have good alternative to the tory filth and only got in because they are not tories aka Labour.

If this was in the original allegations I haven’t seen it, but if not, the latest FFS moment is Starmer taking £20K in donations for accommodation fees so his son could study for GCSEs without press intrusion. The accommodation is supposed to be Lord Alli’s luxury pad.

I can’t tell where the £20K is being dug up from, to me maybe that’s the commercial potential of the length of stay but I think he’s basically been offered a stay at his rich mate’s place.

Maybe the "they're all the same anyway" brigade were on to something after all...

Defo for some things. I'm unconvinced that putting a "friend's" son up in salubrious surroundings is the same though

I dunno. Lots of these stories are driven by media outlets with a specific interest in making us think they are all the same.

This is where the rules are a little bit naff. Son couldn't focus on studies during the general election campaign at home with reporters camped out, so was given access to a secure and quiet place to do so, at a swanky London apartment not otherwise in use. Sounds reasonable to me... But it's reported as a £20k donation.

I mean, if we were mates with Starmer, and the son was staying at our house while we happened to be away, I guess it would have to be put down as a £5k ish donation too, but that's just as bonkers (and insane London prices).

I would say the bad optics that are endlessly carried by the God awful communication just makes endless fuel for the never ending fire. Sure some of it is manufactured and some of it is entirely of Labour's own making. It's so dumb.

If aimed at me for raising it, nar, I’m quite aware of the Tories and their profligacy for both bending expenses and worse, handing out billion dollar contracts to besties.

This is optics against the winter fuel stuff for one, which I’ll clarify my stance on shortly, and the fact this isn’t a level playing field. If they are out to get you, you don’t give them the ammunition, as somebody else commented before more eloquently. *Especially* after *that* inauguration speech which was ‘duty’, ‘public service’ etc etc.

There’s also the reality that corporations and the super rich are still operating as basically pirates and avoiding tax most of us can’t through PAYE.

Pensioners - I used to do benefit advice and the two anecdotal trends I observed were that the really broke ones didn’t get help with Pension Credit etc until somebody like me approached them on a campaign. The other trend was that a large proportion didn’t like talking about money because they are always basically bloody squirreling it away. I also saw many apparently being manipulated by grown up offspring into trying to play funny buggers with their home ownership etc, some no doubt were complicit in it.

I’m happy if the broke group will still get help but am not happy that there’senough done to try to find those who have slipped through the net. The ones with multiple savings accounts should not get free heating off the sweat of my brow because they’d give me nothing and call me a dole dosser the minute I was unemployed, which I probably see in my near future.

However a large percentage of the public just views all pensioners as precious old dears who must be protected at all costs. Probably because they don’t want British Gas getting at their inheritance 😂

Precisely Jambo, the naïveté is fucking annoying. They are our one chance to avoid yet another 20 year stretch of blue bastards and they are fucking it up.