UK General Election 2024

[dosxuk]

Of course I regret what I said. Christ, I’m not a racist. I’ve had Muslim girlfriends. It was typical chaps-down-the-pub talk.

I think he mean to say "Christ, I'm not a racist. I just like to say racist things to people on the street. But when did that ever make someone an actual racist?"...

 

[507021]

We still haven't had anyone knocking on the door yet, but we finally had our first leaflets on Wednesday: Labour, Liberal Democrats and Reform.

 

[YorkshireBear]

We've had the labour MP round in Rothwell. Came during tea so was ushered away fairly quickly. We have now had 8 labour leaflets a lib dem leaflet a reform leaflet but nothing from any other party no Tory leaflet or greens.

 

[Busaholic]

Reform supporters are at it with conspiracy theories again, this time, they are claiming that the idiot who said shoot the immigrants was racist, claimed that he was an actor hired from Channel 4 to try and destroy reform UK's reputation. I find that to be a lot of rubbish. You can't defend someone who makes appalling and horrific comments like that. If you can, it just sure what a vile and nasty person you are.

Maybe he is an actor: there again, maybe his hiring was done by the Reform Party, having given permission to Channel Four News to accompany their canvassers, knowing the explosive result would go viral and bring Reform more votes among the sort of people they want to nattract. Don't forget, Farage has access to all the ways Bannon and others have 'played' all those tens of millions sucked into the Trumpian view of the world.The one sure thing is that Channel Four didn't commission 'Andrew Parker'.

 

[Kaliwax]

Maybe he is an actor: there again, maybe his hiring was done by the Reform Party, having given permission to Channel Four News to accompany their canvassers, knowing the explosive result would go viral and bring Reform more votes among the sort of people they want to nattract. Don't forget, Farage has access to all the ways Bannon and others have 'played' all those tens of millions sucked into the Trumpian view of the world.The one sure thing is that Channel Four didn't commission 'Andrew Parker'.

Farage is a highly intelligent individual he is great at manipulating the media and public to his advantage

Yvette Cooper hasnt knocked on my door yet, she and Tracy Brabin did during the mayoral elections though.

 

[edwin_m]

Maybe he is an actor: there again, maybe his hiring was done by the Reform Party, having given permission to Channel Four News to accompany their canvassers, knowing the explosive result would go viral and bring Reform more votes among the sort of people they want to nattract. Don't forget, Farage has access to all the ways Bannon and others have 'played' all those tens of millions sucked into the Trumpian view of the world.The one sure thing is that Channel Four didn't commission 'Andrew Parker'.

I'd think all the closet deplorables would already have heard the dog whistles before this happened. This might push some right-wing people not sharing those particular views back to the Tories, just as Farage's Putin remarks could.

I also agree with something one of the political podcasts said, that they reckoned Farage was spending too much time with Trump and beginning to think that those tactics will play well in the UK. With our electoral system somewhat less biased and the really extreme right being less manifest here, I don't believe they will.

 

[nw1]

Farage is a highly intelligent individual he is great at manipulating the media and public to his advantage

Is he though? The Putin and Tate stuff were monumentally stupid things to say (from the point of view of Reform success) and will surely cause people to switch away from Reform, particularly Conservative/Reform floating voters.

 

[brad465]

Farage is a highly intelligent individual he is great at manipulating the media and public to his advantage

Yvette Cooper hasnt knocked on my door yet, she and Tracy Brabin did during the mayoral elections though.

Cabinet/Shadow Cabinet Ministers usually don't do much in their own constituencies during a GE campaign as they're needed to support campaigns in other constituencies, especially marginal ones.

This year however, a number of Tory Cabinet members are having to campaign heavily in their own constituencies as they are in danger, most especially Jeremy Hunt and even Sunak to an extent (although some of this will be to avoid more national gaffes). This is a reason why Mel Stride and Laura Trott seem to be doing all the broadcast media rounds in the campaign, the others are too busy fighting for their own survival.

 

[YorkRailFan]

The DUP have published their manifesto:

Our Policies | Democratic Unionist Party

Official local and international policies of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Discover what we stand for and give us your views.

mydup.com

The DUP remains committed to reform of the House of Lords. We believe it should be a smaller chamber, with a majority of its membership elected.

Why not have all of the membership of the House of Lords elected and not just the majority?

Lowering the rate of corporation tax in Northern Ireland has been a longstanding DUP policy.

An interesting take, (Republic) Ireland is notoriously a base for Apple due to low taxes, looks like the DUP wants NI to be similar.

Our MPs have campaigned extensively for a solution which allows the reinstatement of duty-free shopping for flights between NI and the EU.

I personally feel that the lack of duty free at an airport improves the airport experience.

The only rail policy I could find in their manifesto:

There are clear synergies between the All-Island Rail Review and the Union Connectivity Review and the latter recommended that the Government provide funding and major project expertise for the purposes of delivering specific recommendations of cross-border rail. We will work with the Government to take forward this workstream in a way that promotes growth, jobs, housing and social cohesion for communities in Northern Ireland and right across the UK.

 

[Kaliwax]

Is he though? The Putin and Tate stuff were monumentally stupid things to say (from the point of view of Reform success) and will surely cause people to switch away from Reform, particularly Conservative/Reform floating voters.

I suppose your right in that context but Farage and Anderson will try and come up wth some horrible rubbish to try and get people back on their side. As I think there's quite a fan base, who will vote for Reform no matter what Farage says, because they are that gullible.

 

[bspahh]

https://x.com/LukeTryl/status/1806661607386124399 is a tweet from Luke Tryl of the More In Common pollsters with these histograms of voting intention by alcoholic drink preference.



They previously had a table with the voting intention by preference by preferred biscuit

voting intention

Digestive

Chocolate digestive

Hobnob

Chocolate hobnob

Custard cream

Bourbon

Jammie Dodger

Party rings

Maryland cookie

Oreo

Garibaldi / “Squashed fly” biscuits

Rich tea

Other (specify)

None of the above

Don’t know

Conservative

28.22%​

30.17%​

25.27%​

22.35%​

27.26%​

27.20%​

24.15%​

17.85%​

24.46%​

17.99%​

20.97%​

28.93%​

27.90%​

27.36%​

43.87%​

Labour

44.47%​

42.19%​

45.37%​

49.58%​

46.55%​

49.36%​

48.56%​

55.30%​

50.16%​

55.71%​

39.34%​

43.64%​

36.18%​

39.26%​

28.82%​

Liberal Democrat

10.01%​

9.05%​

10.53%​

8.66%​

8.26%​

7.77%​

8.93%​

8.11%​

5.07%​

7.04%​

10.75%​

7.03%​

16.99%​

6.78%​

8.77%​

Reform UK

10.68%​

10.36%​

11.50%​

12.33%​

8.98%​

7.06%​

11.51%​

6.14%​

10.92%​

7.70%​

16.15%​

11.40%​

12.01%​

6.97%​

0.00%​

The Green Party

3.77%​

5.28%​

4.25%​

3.45%​

4.35%​

6.20%​

4.03%​

11.85%​

6.49%​

7.89%​

6.62%​

4.73%​

5.02%​

14.39%​

18.54%​

Scottish National Party (SNP)

2.06%​

1.84%​

1.74%​

2.29%​

2.56%​

1.33%​

1.50%​

0.75%​

1.02%​

2.64%​

2.46%​

2.53%​

0.92%​

3.19%​

0.00%​

Plaid Cymru

0.46%​

0.43%​

0.54%​

0.57%​

0.75%​

0.77%​

0.00%​

0.00%​

0.21%​

0.00%​

0.00%​

0.74%​

0.00%​

0.00%​

0.00%​

Another party

0.32%​

0.68%​

0.81%​

0.77%​

1.29%​

0.30%​

1.32%​

0.00%​

1.66%​

1.04%​

3.71%​

1.00%​

0.98%​

2.05%​

0.00%​

Unweighted N

368

778

273

392

364

296

212

91

281

271

88

218

92

43

11

Sherry is the only drink where voting Conservative was more popular than Labour. "Don't know" was the only preferred biscuit where voting Conservative was more popular than Labour.

 

[edwin_m]

After the events of the last few years they ought to do one for preferred cake.

 

[JonathanH]

This is a reason why Mel Stride and Laura Trott seem to be doing all the broadcast media rounds in the campaign, the others are too busy fighting for their own survival.

While Sevenoaks seems to be one of the few seats which is anticipated to return a Conservative MP in all of the current polling, Central Devon is much more at risk.

 

[Gloster]

I have not seen more than a brief excerpt of Sunak’s comments about the insults from Clacton, but it struck me that he got the balance slightly wrong. He really should have said that such language is totally unacceptable in a civilised society and then, possibly, added that he was personally upset by the fact that his daughters would have been aware of the comments. The way he did it comes over, not massively but a bit, as ‘it is all about me’, rather than the wider view that such language is abhorrent in general, which is how he should see things as a PM.

 

[AlterEgo]

I remember once using the “p” word he used when I was about 12 and I was ashamed in myself for weeks afterwards. We learn from our mistakes, I hope.

The P-slur was common in the playground in the 90s - it was known to be a dirty word but I would be surprised if kids these days are using it. I hope not.

The P-slur and the AIDS-related homophobia at school that everyone participated in are things I hope never return.

 

[Kaliwax]

Why do right-wing parties insist on bringing us back to the past? Was the 1950s as good as the generation made out to be? You still had rationing in the 50s, the disabled got sent to those horrible asylums where they were treated horribly. Homosexuality was still illegal, racism was a big thing. Horrible working conditions in the mines and in factories Teachers physically beating Kids up at school, the teachers my family had at school back in that era, were abusers, and the teachers got away with it, because kids didn't get believed. People were still living in slums. Capital Punishment was still a thing, and I'm sure back then innocent people got hung for something they didn't do. We should be going forward not backwards.

I had a member of my family back in the 1950s she one of the last women in the country to get the death penalty, it was proven she did her crime though.

 

[Gloster]

Why do right-wing parties insist on bringing us back to the past? Was the 1950s as good as the generation made out to be? You still had rationing in the 50s, the disabled got sent to those horrible asylums where they were treated horribly. Homosexuality was still illegal, racism was a big thing. Horrible working conditions in the mines and in factories Teachers physically beating Kids up at school, the teachers my family had at school back in that era, were abusers, and the teachers got away with it, because kids didn't get believed. People were still living in slums. Capital Punishment was still a thing, and I'm sure back then innocent people got hung for something they didn't do. We should be going forward not backwards.

I had a member of my family back in the 1950s she one of the last women in the country to get the death penalty, it was proven she did her crime though.

Ah, but they didn’t suffer most of those disadvantages and those that they did, “Well, it didn’t do me any harm. Teach these youngsters how lucky they are. Baaaaah...” They have moved from being the sufferer, if they actually were (‘Sky TV? We didn’t even have BBC2!’), and don’t want anyone challenging their privileges, so they denigrate anyone who might (they think) endanger their position.

 

[dgl]

Why do right-wing parties insist on bringing us back to the past? Was the 1950s as good as the generation made out to be? You still had rationing in the 50s, the disabled got sent to those horrible asylums where they were treated horribly. Homosexuality was still illegal, racism was a big thing. Horrible working conditions in the mines and in factories Teachers physically beating Kids up at school, the teachers my family had at school back in that era, were abusers, and the teachers got away with it, because kids didn't get believed. People were still living in slums. Capital Punishment was still a thing, and I'm sure back then innocent people got hung for something they didn't do. We should be going forward not backwards.

I had a member of my family back in the 1950s she one of the last women in the country to get the death penalty, it was proven she did her crime though.

And that's why they want the 1950's back, pure hate and nothing else.

 

[Kaliwax]

Ah, but they didn’t suffer most of those disadvantages and those that they did, “Well, it didn’t do me any harm. Teach these youngsters how lucky they are. Baaaaah...” They have moved from being the sufferer, if they actually were (‘Sky TV? We didn’t even have BBC2!’), and don’t want anyone challenging their privileges, so they denigrate anyone who might (they think) endanger their position.

I also forgot that generation wanting youngsters to do national service, even though they never did it either!

 

[Kite159]

So far this election campaign, I've received nothing from any of the parties for the enlarged "Romsey & Southampton North" seat until today when the Postie delivered unaddresssed leaflets, addredded but unnamed leaflets and an named letter for all the parties, including the independent person.

Bit strange how I received nothing until less than a week and getting something from all of them. Would be useless for those whom vote via post as chances are the majority of people with a postal vote would have voted by now to take into account any postal system delays.

 

[Kaliwax]

I haven't voted yet, but I just sent an email to all of my candidates telling how things are from a disabled person and saying no one cares about the disabled, a very blunt straight to point email

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The Greens were on TV tonight wanting public ownership of the railways, to bring fares down.
They don't seem to realise that there is no correlation between nationalisation and cheap fares - far from it.
What they really mean is more subsidy for the railways, which seems unlikely to me in the present financial situation.
It's worth remembering that the last Labour government invented the "RPI+x%" fares accelerator.

 

[Bayum]

So far this election campaign, I've received nothing from any of the parties for the enlarged "Romsey & Southampton North" seat until today when the Postie delivered unaddresssed leaflets, addredded but unnamed leaflets and an named letter for all the parties, including the independent person.

Bit strange how I received nothing until less than a week and getting something from all of them. Would be useless for those whom vote via post as chances are the majority of people with a postal vote would have voted by now to take into account any postal system delays.

But wanting to take advantage of reminder through the post closer to the event? If you received something third week in, likelihood as an uncertain viewer is that you’ll soon forget about them.

 

[Busaholic]

Is he though? The Putin and Tate stuff were monumentally stupid things to say (from the point of view of Reform success) and will surely cause people to switch away from Reform, particularly Conservative/Reform floating voters.

Whether Farage is very clever in terms of IQ is debatable at least (a master at Dulwich College who'd had charge of him over a period of time thought not) but he's cunning and devious with plenty of contacts from his dabbling in the Establishment that he claims to abhor .With the Putin/Ukraine stuff at least he knows exactly what's he doing: a poll done by BMG Research for the i newspaper published yesterday, although showing the Reform vote down from 18 to 15% also revealed 13% of them blamed both Ukraine and Russia for the war with another 12% blaming the West entirely. Sometimes the parallels between Farage and Galloway come into clarity!

My apologies I can't do links, but I have the physical newspaper in front of me.

 

[bspahh]

Whether Farage is very clever in terms of IQ is debatable at least (a master at Dulwich College who'd had charge of him over a period of time thought not) but he's cunning and devious with plenty of contacts from his dabbling in the Establishment that he claims to abhor .With the Putin/Ukraine stuff at least he knows exactly what's he doing: a poll done by BMG Research for the i newspaper published yesterday, although showing the Reform vote down from 18 to 15% also revealed 13% of them blamed both Ukraine and Russia for the war with another 12% blaming the West entirely. Sometimes the parallels between Farage and Galloway come into clarity!

My apologies I can't do links, but I have the physical newspaper in front of me.

I think its this story:

Reform support badly hit by Farage Russia claims, poll suggests

Exclusive poll for i shows Reform has slipped by three points since last week

inews.co.uk

Reform support badly hit by Nigel Farage Russia claims, poll suggests
Exclusive poll for i shows Reform has slipped by three points since last week

You need to register for more detail. Reuters also reported on the BMG poll.

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) - Support for Nigel Farage's right-wing Reform UK party has fallen ahead of a July 4 election, a poll showed on Thursday, after he said the West had provoked Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The BMG Research opinion poll for the i newspaper, carried out June 24-26, put support for Reform on 16%, down from a record high of 19% last week. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservatives were on 20%, up from 19% previously.
Keir Starmer's opposition Labour Party remained far ahead on 42%.
A separate YouGov poll conducted on June 24-25 reported a one point drop in support for Reform to 17%, with the Conservatives and Labour also down one point each on 18% and 36% respectively.
In an interview with the BBC aired last Friday, Farage said he stood by previous comments that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a consequence of the eastward expansion of the European Union and NATO.
The remarks by Farage, one of the country's most recognisable and divisive politicians, drew strong criticism across the British political spectrum, but he went on to repeat them again during campaigning this week.
Britain has been a vocal backer of Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion and polls taken earlier this year showed British public support also remained solid.
The dip in support for Reform could ease some of the pressure on the Conservatives after Farage's surprise entry into the election race threatened to divert right-of-centre votes away from Sunak's party.
"This is a glimmer of hope for the Conservatives as the Reform surge appears to have stalled," Rob Struthers, BMG Research Director said.
"However, the overall picture for Rishi Sunak remains extremely bleak ... Labour's lead over the Conservatives remains above 20 points. This leaves little doubt that the Conservatives are fighting to avoid a near wipeout next week."
Reform said on Thursday it had won the backing of former Newcastle soccer club owner John Hall, who has previously donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Conservatives and has now made a "substantial donation" to Farage's party.
Any hope that the Conservatives could narrow the gap on Labour in the final weeks has been tested after five people from the Conservative Party, including two candidates, were investigated over bets on the timing of the election.
London's Metropolitan Police said on Thursday it was investigating "a small number of bets" made on the timing of the election, with possible offences including Misconduct in a Public Office.
In a boost for Labour, the Economist magazine on Thursday gave it their backing. Under the headline "Keir Starmer should be Britain's next prime minister," it said while no party fully subscribed to the ideas it held dear, the choice was clear.
"If we had a vote on July 4th, we, too, would pick Labour, because it has the greatest chance of tackling the biggest problem that Britain faces: a chronic and debilitating lack of economic growth," it said.

 

[YorkshireBear]

The Greens were on TV tonight wanting public ownership of the railways, to bring fares down.
They don't seem to realise that there is no correlation between nationalisation and cheap fares - far from it.
What they really mean is more subsidy for the railways, which seems unlikely to me in the present financial situation.
It's worth remembering that the last Labour government invented the "RPI+x%" fares accelerator.

I think they state increasing rail subsidy in their manifesto. So they are at least aware it means more subsidy even if they don't say it on question time.

 

[nw1]

The DUP have published their manifesto:

Our Policies | Democratic Unionist Party

Official local and international policies of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Discover what we stand for and give us your views.

mydup.com

Are they still raving anti-abortionists and homophobes?

I am neutral about what nation state NI belongs to, but I dislike the DUP with a passion.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Are they still raving anti-abortionists

Very much so, this extract in their manifesto says it all:

DUP MPs continued to adopt an unequivocal and determined pro-life stance in Parliament, opposing the commissioning of, and funding for abortion services in Northern Ireland.

 

[edwin_m]

With the Putin/Ukraine stuff at least he knows exactly what's he doing: a poll done by BMG Research for the i newspaper published yesterday, although showing the Reform vote down from 18 to 15% also revealed 13% of them blamed both Ukraine and Russia for the war with another 12% blaming the West entirely.

Tactically as well as morally wrong in my view. This is something that satisfies the base who will vote for them anyway, and puts off those who might consider voting for Reform but will also consider other parties.

 

[Falcon1200]

Council tax is flawed in so many ways, but even though the poll tax riots were decades ago, nobody dares to talk about how to make things fairer. The current system doesn't work, unless you are a Government wanting to be able to shift the blame onto councils.

Council Tax is inherently unfair as it has no correlation to income; In my street for example one home has 4 adults working full time while another, of the same size, has 2 pensioners, the first home is however in a lower Council Tax band! AFAIK no party has committed to abolishing Council Tax altogether and replacing it with a much fairer local income tax, although IIRC the SNP did have reform in a past manifesto; But to be fair to them they are not alone in not wishing to grasp this particular nettle.