Quote: Gussie Fink Nottle @ 9th May 2015, 9:38 PM BSTNot sure about this article.
Seems a bit like someone gloating, to be honest.
Really? I think it overstates a few things, but is very, very close to the truth. There is certainly a good case to be made that there's near no future for the kind of policies Labour have been peddling of late.
Quote: Aaron @ 9th May 2015, 10:05 PM BSTReally? I think it overstates a few things, but is very, very close to the truth. There is certainly a good case to be made that there's near no future for the kind of policies Labour have been peddling of late.
I am new to Mr O'Neill.
Am I right in thinking that he describes himself as a left wing atheistic libertarian, that he wrote for the main journal of the Revolutionary Communist Party, that he opposes legislation on race relations and same sex marriage, and that he has been a member of the Australian Centre for Independent Studies which promotes free market economics? If so, it is hardly surprising he thinks that social democracy is dead. It appears to be the only strand of political thought he doesn't personally hold simultaneously.
Not a clue. I'm new to him too. Doesn't mean he's not right on this one.
Quote: Aaron @ 9th May 2015, 10:18 PM BSTNot a clue. I'm new to him too. Doesn't mean he's not right on this one.
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2003/dec/09/highereducation.uk2 
Quote: Aaron @ 9th May 2015, 10:05 PM BSTReally? I think it overstates a few things, but is very, very close to the truth. There is certainly a good case to be made that there's near no future for the kind of policies Labour have been peddling of late.
I'm not sure.
As said, I agree with political correctness playing a major part in that party (which by now has become an oppressive force all of its own).
I can also see how the Blairite middle class thing is a factor.
That said, the left will always be run by an educated elite. You don't want a pub landlord running a party.
That said, there needs to be an understanding of ordinary people that is founded on more than polls and focus groups.
Miliband was a busted flush. His team were morally and intellectually bankrupt careerists. And some of the policies seemed to have been the product of focus grouping kindergardens.
But as for the bigger picture, the political left is never going to go away.
The ancient Romans already had one.
Something that essential doesn't cease to be because some party didn't do well in an election.
In a globalised world with giant multinationals operating and some individuals amassing vast personal wealth, there will be a continued need for a voice on the left.
But Labour needs to work out what it is for. Whether it is a movement of the people for the people. Or whether it is to be a vehicle to launch politicians to positions of privilege and power.
I still say, if Labour can find someone worthwhile to lead them and can shed those zeros who hitherto oversaw things, then there may be a much faster turnaround than you can imagine.
Politics seems to have turned very volatile as of late. Look at UKIP. Look at the SNP. Such swings were hitherto unimaginable.
If we are entering such a period of volatility then it can work as much in Labour's favour as in anyone else's.
Especially as Labour will still have a party machine on the ground.
To think of it, this may in fact also be the case for the LibDems.
Quote: Gussie Fink Nottle @ 9th May 2015, 6:57 PM BSTAlex Salmond is an ass for demanding a new referendum for Scotland already.
Alex Salmond is a Scot.
Quote: A Horseradish @ 9th May 2015, 7:07 PM BSTJust because people reject a small change doesn't mean that they don't want a big change instead.
Anyhow, here's today's quiz question. Who is the leader of the Lib Dems? I only ask because we now have Dave Cameron as Tory Leader, FIVE women leaders - Harman (Temp, Labour), Bennett (Green), Sturgeon (SNP), Wood (Plaid Cymru), Evans (Temp, UKIP) - and a gap left by a bloke who reneged on tuition fees and PR and was going to sacrifice his party's policy on EU if he could still be Deputy PM.
If the leader has to be an MP then....
Quote: Chappers @ 9th May 2015, 11:07 PM BSTAlex Salmond is a Scot.
I see the Union is alive and well with Chappers about.
Quote: Chappers @ 9th May 2015, 11:08 PM BSTIf the leader has to be an MP then....
If the leader has to be an MP then.........it is one of just half a dozen.
The seventh has stood down and the eighth has already ruled himself out.
Here's four of them now, seeking some sort of alliance with UKIP -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iukUMRlaBBE
Hey Gussie, I'm a bit bored with the fpolitics now fmate.
None of themf people are any good now in fmy opinion.
Did I ever tell you about the time I was standing next to the Chancellor when he shat his dungarees?
Of course PC has killed Labour. Many fed up voters have gone over to the pleasingly anti PC UKIP, including me. When Thornberry tweeted from Tweetington of an English white van man's house she revealed the extent of the Labour party's problem.
It's riddled through with PC, you can't say a word in any Labour run council offices or chambers that is deemed unPC for fear of being labelled racist or sexist or whateverist. It's pure Stalinism, say only what you're allowed to say or you'll be outed.
That is why one of their councils was taken over after effectively sanctioning mass under age gang rape. That is how dangerous PC is.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 10th May 2015, 9:11 AM BSTOf course PC has killed Labour. Many fed up voters have gone over to the pleasingly anti PC UKIP, including me. When Thornberry tweeted from Tweetington of an English white van man's house she revealed the extent of the Labour party's problem.
It's riddled through with PC, you can't say a word in any Labour run council offices or chambers that is deemed unPC for fear of being labelled racist or sexist or whateverist. It's pure Stalinism, say only what you're allowed to say or you'll be outed.
That is why one of their councils was taken over after effectively sanctioning mass under age gang rape. That is how dangerous PC is.
As for the tweeting Labour woman; to be fair, she is said to have tweeted many pictures of houses from around the constituency she was canvassing. White van man's house was one of them. This was the one picked up by the media. In isolation it looked condescending and arrogant. But when seen in context, it wasn't really as it was presented.
That said, I couldn't stand the woman. So my heart hardly bled for her.
I think the article Aaron pointed to likened Labour to a metropolitan, middle class affair precisely because of its obsession with political correctness.
I agree that PC has become a scourge. I too have used the word stalinist from time to time when it comes to this particular societal cancer.
But it must be said, political correctness has entered all politics, including the Conservatives.
However, is anyone going to have the nerve to stand up and declare that we do not need the same amount of women as men in parliament, that we do not need perfect representation of the 'lgbt community' (I hate that term) in the house of commons, or that being white is not somehow racist in itself?
Until such a time as someone at the top of the political class actually takes this on, it will continue to grow and grow.
But then who will dare? Who wants to be deemed a racist, sexist caveman who picks on minorities? For that would be the way they would be misrepresented.
(Much like that Labour woman with her house photo.)
The truth is that political correctness is the new norm in all politics.
It is one of the primary reasons why we all hate them so.
Quote: Gussie Fink Nottle @ 9th May 2015, 11:11 PM BSTI see the Union is alive and well with Chappers about.
Bugger!
Maybe I'd better leave then.
Well well well. Curiouser and curiouser.
UKIP just refused Farage's resignation. He remains leader.
"One more pint! One more pint!"
Quote: Aaron @ 11th May 2015, 3:48 PM BSTWell well well. Curiouser and curiouser.
UKIP just refused Farage's resignation. He remains leader.
Weird, is that possible?
Anyway with the other resignations, I think the resignees, might as well stand for re-election within the parties as there ain't much other choice is there ?