Starmer's vision quest

[briantrumpet]

I'm of the same mind at the mo. But a week in politics, etc...

Incidentally, there was an interesting thread from Freedman about the press's culpability (or not) in this, which he set as an either/or "Shouldn't we report on this?" Of course they should, but equally it rather overlooks the impression that some of them go beyond reporting/opinion and turn themselves into active agents in the whipping up of the frenzy (as lampooned by Chris Morris in The Day Today's 'War' segment) and become part of the 'story' itself. Egos and perceived 'importance' are part of the equation.

View attachment 13039

https://bsky.app/profile/samfr.bsky.social/post/3mehivs45wr2g

Right on cue, Campbell pitches in... and yes, I know he's biased, but he does know how the business works.

 

[briantrumpet]

Interesting that whilst much of the press required confirmation of a story eg two sources on record or with some documentary evidence, BBC political correspondents seem to be continually quoting what some MP has supposedly been texting them and from one/two text messages sumising the sentiment of Parliament.

Very easy for an backbench MP who wants to feel important to text a BBC political correspondent stirring things with no risk of his messages ever being associated with him/her.

I also think the reporters would know who to prod for an inflammatory comment. With such a large and still fairly diverse PLP (not reflected so much in the Cabinet), there are going to be a certain number who will gleefully stir the pot or wield the axe against someone who they think has sidelined them or their POV.

 

[Shortfall]

If your and your children complexion was such that the likes of reform could single you out as, in their view, not from here, your attitude to the possibility of a reform government might be a lot less sanguine.

I don't think I've shared details about my ethnicity or complexion on here. I understand what you're saying but I still question why so much of the focus on here is devoted to Farage and Trump. I really don't think the size of this scandal with Mandelson can be understated. He is alleged to have been furnishing financial traders with inside information that basically allowed them to bet against his own government and country. Keir Starmer might not have known about that until recently but he did know when he appointed him that he was a thoroughly dishonest person who had been sacked in disgrace multiple times previously and that he had a long and on going close personal friendship with a convicted paedophile. Frankly this makes the Profumo affair look tame in comparison and I wager there's a lot more to come. Of course it doesn't have to be the only topic of conversation, but to suggest (as some seem to be) that it's largely the product of the "right wing" press and media seems to me to be egregious to say the least.

 

[TailWindHome]

10% Goes imminently
20% Goes after byelection
50% Goes after locals
5% Stumbles on until unforeseen event 2027
10% Leads Labour to massive defeat 2029
5% Stands down as condition of Lib Lab coalition 2029

 

[spen666]

10% Goes imminently
20% Goes after byelection
50% Goes after locals
5% Stumbles on until unforeseen event 2027
10% Leads Labour to massive defeat 2029
5% Stands down as condition of Lib Lab coalition 2029

you've missed out
Leads Labour to stonking victory in 2029 with increased majority

 

[TailWindHome]

you've missed out
Leads Labour to stonking victory in 2029 with increased majority

I didn't feel the need to include probabilities proximating to zero

 

[spen666]

I didn't feel the need to include probabilities proximating to zero

b.b.b.b.bbut... he is doing a great job, so many on here keep saying so and apparently its only the evil media making people think differently

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

Right on cue, Campbell pitches in... and yes, I know he's biased, but he does know how the business works.

View attachment 13042

I think this is a fair perspective from Campbell.

 

[secretsqirrel]

I don't think I've shared details about my ethnicity or complexion on here. I understand what you're saying but I still question why so much of the focus on here is devoted to Farage and Trump. I really don't think the size of this scandal with Mandelson can be understated. He is alleged to have been furnishing financial traders with inside information that basically allowed them to bet against his own government and country. Keir Starmer might not have known about that until recently but he did know when he appointed him that he was a thoroughly dishonest person who had been sacked in disgrace multiple times previously and that he had a long and on going close personal friendship with a convicted paedophile. Frankly this makes the Profumo affair look tame in comparison and I wager there's a lot more to come. Of course it doesn't have to be the only topic of conversation, but to suggest (as some seem to be) that it's largely the product of the "right wing" press and media seems to me to be egregious to say the least.

In terms of scandalous behaviour I would rank the 4 mentioned as follows, in time honoured reverse order…

4. Starmer
3. Farage
2. Mandelstein

and the outright winner 🥁

1. Trump

It wasn’t a tough decision, Starmer isn’t very scandalous in the grand scheme of things, 2 & 3 are a close call. Trump trumps it.

 

[monkers]

I don't think I've shared details about my ethnicity or complexion on here. I understand what you're saying but I still question why so much of the focus on here is devoted to Farage and Trump. I really don't think the size of this scandal with Mandelson can be understated. He is alleged to have been furnishing financial traders with inside information that basically allowed them to bet against his own government and country. Keir Starmer might not have known about that until recently but he did know when he appointed him that he was a thoroughly dishonest person who had been sacked in disgrace multiple times previously and that he had a long and on going close personal friendship with a convicted paedophile. Frankly this makes the Profumo affair look tame in comparison and I wager there's a lot more to come. Of course it doesn't have to be the only topic of conversation, but to suggest (as some seem to be) that it's largely the product of the "right wing" press and media seems to me to be egregious to say the least.

It's because most people seem to know a grifter when they see one. Reform is filling up with past grifters from the Tory party which is reinforcing the suspicion.

Whether you get mentions for grifting seems to depend on which party they pretend to 'represent'.

For example, there is this grifter who manages to mostly avoid public scrutiny.

Cox’s lucrative work for Withers has sparked fresh criticism about his interests outside Parliament. The former attorney general has faced calls for an investigation after it emerged that he was paid to advise the government of the British Virgin Islands in an inquiry launched by the UK government into alleged corruption in the tax haven. During lockdown, Cox even voted remotely in the UK Parliament from the Caribbean islands.

Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden said: “It should be unthinkable for a member of Parliament to support the firms profiting from this practice. But Geoffrey Cox has form protecting corporations from democratic mandates, raking in huge fees for advising the British Virgin Islands – a tax haven.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/da...r Withers,climate commitments made at COP26.”

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

In terms of scandalous behaviour I would rank the 4 mentioned as follows, in time honoured reverse order…

4. Starmer
3. Farage
2. Mandelstein

and the outright winner 🥁

1. Trump

It wasn’t a tough decision, Starmer isn’t very scandalous in the grand scheme of things, 2 & 3 are a close call. Trump trumps it.

Starmer's can largely be placed in the category of incompetence, whilst the others are a right set of nefarious b********

 

[TailWindHome]

b.b.b.b.bbut... he is doing a great job, so many on here keep saying so and apparently its only the evil media making people think differently

Who says he's doing a great job?

 

[monkers]

Starmer's can largely but placed in the category of incompetence, whilst the others are a right set of nefarious b********

How many PMs have we had now in the last 10 years or so - are we still troubling to count?

We have a problem in that the office of PM is now illusionary. The puppeteers have control of the system. If the PM fails to maintain the illusion, then they must go. Starmer arrived with the puppeteers' ambitions - to increase GDP and drive down employer's costs - because that is what they require of him.

To think that the Conservatives, Reform, or Labour have the solutions is probably a mistake. There is a sense the public are beginning to take heed of the alternative message. But the American dream of civil war in the UK will likely only be played out at the ballot box.

 

[briantrumpet]

Not sure of the source, but it is a problem when voters disregard actual data. Makes it kinda hard to make good economic decisions.

 

[briantrumpet]

Who says he's doing a great job?

It's like that oft-repeated claim that the GTTO folk on Cake Stop were never going to criticise Starmer because we loved him so much.