there's an election

[Super_horns]

What took them so fucking long?

Needed a 3rd re-count but delayed it till this evening,

 

[Veggie Legs]

First time watching QT in a while. That Isabelle Oakshotte, hardly a shock she worked for the Mail is it.

She's an awful person.

Highlight for me was the audience member who said we haven't had any public sector cuts.

 

[Aber gas]

First time watching QT in a while. That Isabelle Oakshotte, hardly a shock she worked for the Mail is it.

Fit tho

 

[.V.]

Fit tho

The conflict is strong in me.

 

[Aber gas]

The conflict is strong in me.

I have this odd attraction to right wing asshats tbh. Renegade has tried to coach me out it before but still I persist.

 

[.V.]

I have this odd attraction to right wing asshats tbh. Renegade has tried to coach me out it before but still I persist.

I feel your pain.

 

[Aber gas]

I feel your pain.

Not May though. Gosh no.

 

[Aber gas]

Since it's Friday and we're talking about absolute sorts. I'd make Angie Rayner toast of a morning.

 

[.V.]

Not May though. Gosh no.

No one mentioned May. Sounds like you're protesting too much to me mate.

 

[.V.]

Since it's Friday and we're talking about absolute sorts. I'd make Angie Rayner toast of a morning.

I see Angie and raise you a Priti Patel.

 

[Aber gas]

No one mentioned May. Sounds like you're protesting too much to me mate.

My dude. Even the depth ms of my depravity don't go that deep. Just no

 

[Abertawe]

I'd go hard on both Isabelle & Angela.

 

[claret50]

 

[Renegade]

Fit tho

That person is too much though - defending the Mail simply because people buy it, ignoring the salacious partisan content within it. Because, populaity = good, right? Absolute c***. I actually forgot we had discussed her before and thought "she looks nice" before she opened her horrible, horrible mouth.

I enjoyed the eastern European fella that blamed Corbyn for doing too well in the election, as though it was his fault that the country now has a minority government, despite Theresa May calling the election. Where do they find these people?

 

[TheMinsterman]

That person is too much though - defending the Mail simply because people buy it, ignoring the salacious partisan content within it. Because, populaity = good, right? Absolute c***. I actually forgot we had discussed her before and thought "she looks nice" before she opened her horrible, horrible mouth.

I enjoyed the eastern European fella that blamed Corbyn for doing too well in the election, as though it was his fault that the country now has a minority government, despite Theresa May calling the election. Where do they find these people?

Bloody foreigners, coming over here, criticising our politicians for not laying down and taking it so foreigners access to the UK can be restricted for ideological purposes.

 

[Renegade]

Probably posted a few days ago, but if it was, I missed it. Best moment of the campaign:

Well, apart from Greg Knight.

 

[Ian_Wrexham]

Not surprised the pig is a tory tbh. Hope the prick falls into a heffalump trap on his way home from the pub.

 

[silkyman]

Probably the one who fucked Cameron.

 

[silkyman]

Still... I'm pleased that the media spent so much of the election hammering home that Corbyn had links to Irish terrorists and that Farron was a religious fanatic with potentially homophobic views.

That's a bullet dodged and no mistake.

 

[Notwal]

Few highlights for me.

Nick Clegg's face.
Pat McDonald enjoying himself more than Theresa May despite losing to her by 26k votes.
Penistone and Stocksbridge remaining Labour in the face of a strong Tory campaign there albeit only just so work to be done there next time.

I live in Penistone, and I'm a (very recent) Labour Party member...Angela very much ran a damage limitation campaign, and was really quite negative...https://twitter.com/lawtoncs14/status/873436703050129408...I received that letter the day before polling day, it actually annoyed me that she would send out such a letter, maybe that's why she has a reduced majority?

 

[silkyman]

Worth a read on why the DUP link might well be fucking Northern Ireland right in the ear.

https://twitter.com/jackbern23/status/873277922429325314

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

One thing i have just remembered this morning is this election has totally f*cked up Murdochs attempts to take over Sky fully having been by pure chance 'delayed' until after the election (i'm sure in hope a large tory majority would have killed that Ofcom investigation)

such a shame for him, cracking that Mail, Sun and express have really had to backtrack like mad

 

[HertsWolf]

I feel your pain.

Nudge nudge

 

[HertsWolf]

Worth a read on why the DUP link might well be fucking Northern Ireland right in the ear.

https://twitter.com/jackbern23/status/873277922429325314

Good read, that.

Here's an idea. Hear me out to the end though. Why not just have normal politics in Northern Ireland rather than just bigoted sectarian fucks?

 

[HertsWolf]

Still... I'm pleased that the media spent so much of the election hammering home that Corbyn had links to Irish terrorists and that Farron was a religious fanatic with potentially homophobic views.
That's a bullet dodged and no mistake.

Yes, but they are keen on cheddar cheese and pineapple on a stick.

 

[Benji]

This is a wonderful recount of our election. http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-book-of-jeremy-corbyn

 

[Captain Scumbag]

Sorry for the belated response. Yesterday was very trying. Part of my coping strategy involved building a toy fort in the living room (with my 3-year-old, I hasten to add) and pretending politics didn’t exist. This took up most of the afternoon and evening. Anyway…

You omit to mention that in 1997, Blair won with 43% and in 2001 wth 41%. Heading backwards... 1992 (Kinnock - left) 34%, 1987 (Kinnock-left) 31%, 1983 (Foot-left) 28%...

This period is what matters, at least with respect to the point I was trying to make.

Blairism is a fascinating thing. Back in the mid-to-late 1990s it managed to sell itself as hopeful, progressive and exciting; in truth, however, it grew out of a rather jaded and defeatist outlook. It was basically an “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” response to the dominance of Thatcherism between 1979 and 1992.

The Blairite sect was comprised of people who experienced those four consecutive election defeats. They convinced themselves that Thatcher was a genuine revolutionary (true) and that she had changed the country irreversibly (not true). They convinced themselves it was impossible to win elections by pedalling ‘old hat’ socialism of the kind synonymous with Benn and Foot (and to a lesser extent Kinnock). So they gravitated towards Thatcher and made the changes they did. No doubt they felt vindicated when they won big in 1997 and 2001.

I think that Blairite outlook remained fairly dominant within the PLP until very recently (i.e. about 10pm on Thursday). They didn’t try to remove Corbyn because of any great personal animus against him. They freaked out because they saw him as the second coming of Michael Foot – an amiable, idealistic old duffer promoting a brand of social democracy that, in their view, couldn't possibly succeed.

That conviction rested a great deal on their reading of Labour’s electoral results between 1983 and 1992. One of their basic assumptions was that ‘old hat’ social democracy would get you, at best, about 35% of the vote, which was never going to be good enough. They were wrong of course. Political ideas fall in and out fashion depending on the course of events. And, as your well-observed point about the collapse of the minor party vote in England suggests, the political landscape can change quite suddenly too. But back in the early-to-mid 1990s, their assumption was reasonable. There were plenty of political facts and psephological data to support it.

Electoral results can be spun various ways. An ardent supporter of Mrs May (assuming there are any left) might point to the fact that she’s just achieved the highest vote share of any Tory leader since Margaret Thatcher in 1979, or the fact that the total Tory vote achieved in 2017 is considerably larger than what Cameron achieved in 2010 and 2015. Right now no one cares about that because in politics, as in so many fields of human endeavour, narrative matters a lot more than the totality of facts. She expected – and was expected – to secure her own mandate and significantly increase the Tory majority. She didn’t. Now her name is a byword for political failure. It beggars belief that she’s still in position, TBH.

But with Corbyn it seems churlish to put any negative spin on the results. Whatever metric you want to use – number of seats, number of votes, national vote share, increase in national vote share, etc. – it’s clear that he far surpassed expectation. He didn’t win, but no one expected him to. The hope among his supporters was that he wouldn’t lose by such a large margin that his position became untenable. The fact that he achieved that AND denied the Tories a majority (always the best consolation prize after a losing Labour effort) has made him a hero.

The 41% vote share is a game changer, I think. This time it wasn’t enough to win, but the design of our electoral system is such that a similar share (even a few percentage points less) could win next time. Your typical ‘pragmatic’ Blairite looks at that 41% and realises that Labour is electable on the sort of manifesto Corbyn just stood on. A central plank of Blairite ‘pragmatism’ has just been shattered.

Did the collapse of the minor party vote in England help? Of course. Did Mrs May’s uselessness contribute. Very heavily, yes. But that’s the landscape now, right? Is there any reason to think the third parties will recover any time soon? Mrs May seems determined to stay...

For most of my lifetime (the time I’ve been into politics, at least) there’s been a purist vs. pragmatist spat at the heart of the PLP. Until yesterday the pragmatist view reigned supreme, and largely because all the political facts from the previous two and half decades supported it. They don’t anymore.

Good luck with the job. I do hope it's as a new MP. I had a similar situation early last year and disappeared - to huge sighs of relief - for a long time, but I do hope you manage to get back to post regularly.

Thank you. The job is not in politics, thank fuck! Will definitely drop in from time to time. All the best.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

This is a wonderful recount of our election. http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-book-of-jeremy-corbyn

"And there was great murmuring among the elders. And they said unto themselves, Weep not. For the High Priestess doth but prepare the way. Cometh there not one who is greater than she?

And they said, Behold, for the hour of the redeemer is upon us. And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Prince of Peace. And they cried in one voice, Boris.

And the young people said, Oh, shit."

 

[Renegade]

Good read, that.

Here's an idea. Hear me out to the end though. Why not just have normal politics in Northern Ireland rather than just bigoted sectarian fucks?

You have just solved politics in Northern Ireland! Simply, our history won't allow it. We need another solution to get the NI Assembly up and running again - we are currently deadlocked and without a different system (than power sharing) or some concessions made by the DUP (preferred option), nothing will change. Pressure from the British government for DUP reform might progress the issue, marriage equality is inevitable in the developed world, the DUP needs to accept this point. An investigation into the RHI scandal is imperative - Arlene Foster is currently holding the country and its economy hostage. In time, the nationalists in the country will outnumber the unionists, the DUP would be wise to concede some civil liberties or it could get very ugly for them.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

Arlene is a cutie pie. My type of girl.