General Election 2024

Who got your vote?

  • Labour

    Votes: 147 54.2%
  • Conservative

    Votes: 5 1.8%
  • Lib Dem

    Votes: 25 9.2%
  • Green

    Votes: 48 17.7%
  • Reform

    Votes: 11 4.1%
  • SNP

    Votes: 5 1.8%
  • Plaid Cymru

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Independent

    Votes: 8 3.0%
  • UK resident but not voting

    Votes: 18 6.6%
  • Spoiled my ballot

    Votes: 3 1.1%

  • Total voters
    271
  • Poll closed .
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Problem with spending is you can't guarantee a return. You know you'll get one but what it is is anyone's guess until it happens. So if you set yourself a short term fiscal target based on debt to GDP over a 5 year period you basically only have a very short time to gamble on what to spend your money on before any economic headwinds or failed investments mean you've to either stop spending or scrap your target.

Even that first small window of opportunity requires guts in order to actually spend your money. If you think Starmer and co have guts and know what would represent a strong investment then I think you've a very positive frame of mind.
I am trying to remain wildly and unreasonably optimistic until the election..
 
Frankly hes a traitor to the working class and 20 years of successive governments ignoring that voice is directly what led to brexit and the current surge in support for idiots like Farage, without the cultural, social and financial shock of mass immigration we would still be in the EU without a shadow of a doubt.

Spot on.... also Blair had his eyes on the Presidency of the EU after he left office, so he was not going to rock any boats.
 
Spot on.... also Blair had his eyes on the Presidency of the EU after he left office, so he was not going to rock any boats.


Traitor to a class he never belonged to? He was just savvy enough to see that Tony Benn style Labour was a disaster and power would only come from centrism. This country always does best when the fringes of both parties are marginalised and extinguished.
 
Traitor to a class he never belonged to? He was just savvy enough to see that Tony Benn style Labour was a disaster and power would only come from centrism. This country always does best when the fringes of both parties are marginalised and extinguished.

Actually it did best post war under Attlee but there you go. He would be regarded as a loony lefty now thanks to the awful standards of modern politics. The country did alright for some under Blair, not so alright for others who now are far more disillusioned and likely to listen to the far right. Centrism breeds extremism because it's not really "central", it's actually generally economically right.
 
Actually it did best post war under Attlee but there you go. He would be regarded as a loony lefty now thanks to the awful standards of modern politics. The country did alright for some under Blair, not so alright for others who now are far more disillusioned and likely to listen to the far right. Centrism breeds extremism because it's not really "central", it's actually generally economically right.


Are you saying that there wasn't universal agreement on the welfare state? The conservatives accepted and supported it. The 1950/51 election was a crucial loss for labour as the result was very close. If they had managed to hold on they would have reaped the benefits of 1950s economic prosperity and fashioned Britain into a socially democratic nation along the lines of Sweden.

Attlee would never be thought of as loony left.
 
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Are you saying that there wasn't universal agreement on the welfare state? The conservatives accepted and supported it. The 1950/51 election was a crucial loss for labour as the result was very close. If they had managed to hold on they would have reaped the benefits of 1950s economic prosperity and fashioned Britain into a socially democratic nation along the lines of Sweden.

Attlee would never be thought of as loony left.

A guy who nationalised 20% of British industry wouldn't be thought of as loony left? Come off it.

Look at the horrified protestations every time someone suggests benefits shouldn't go down or we should invest in social housing "we can't afford to feed and house scroungers". That's literally the opposite of what Keynesian economics tells you - you can't afford not to.
 
A guy who nationalised 20% of British industry wouldn't be thought of as loony left? Come off it.

Look at the horrified protestations every time someone suggests benefits shouldn't go down or we should invest in social housing "we can't afford to feed and house scroungers". That's literally the opposite of what Keynesian economics tells you - you can't afford not to.

The public supported that stance. It's a lot more subtle than just saying someone who nationalises industry is a raving Marxist. He also supported the formation of NATO and working closely with the US. He lost the middle class because of austerity and rationing, hardly lefty politics. Most people today support re-nationalisation of things like rail, water and power.

Thatcher was vilified for destroying the mining industry but she was only continuing a long-running policy. Nobody closed more pits than Wilson in the 60's and 70s and Attlee closed his fair share too. If you want to see a raving lefty loon just look at Viscount Stansgate or Anthony Wedgwood-Benn, or actually Tony Benn as finally he decreed. Nuttiest socialist of all who would have decimated our economy if he hadn't been held in check.
 
A guy who nationalised 20% of British industry wouldn't be thought of as loony left? Come off it.

Look at the horrified protestations every time someone suggests benefits shouldn't go down or we should invest in social housing "we can't afford to feed and house scroungers". That's literally the opposite of what Keynesian economics tells you - you can't afford not to.

I read something the other week that said that 9% of the UK's economy was nationalised at its height, compared to something like 2% today. You wouldn't know it if you listened to the debates.
 
Gotta be fake.
Undoubtedly Campbell is putting his SPIN on things here - just a question of if he is making the whole thing up as a Swiftian satire or if he has actually seen some Tory campaign memo to candidates and is exaggerating the tone of the memo.

If it's the latter then the memo will get leaked widely in the coming hours as it will no doubt annoy a lot of tory party workers.
 
I am trying to remain wildly and unreasonably optimistic until the election..
Not had the postal vote form arrive yet and my wife is quite worried we won't receive it in time. Not sure when the deadline is for postal votes, but with the election a week tomorrow, I imagine it's cutting it fine.
 
Not had the postal vote form arrive yet and my wife is quite worried we won't receive it in time. Not sure when the deadline is for postal votes, but with the election a week tomorrow, I imagine it's cutting it fine.
I got my postal ballot through on Wednesday last week (as a postal vote from overseas) and sent it straight back the same day. Given the amount of time they allow for overseas post it may well be middle of next week before they get all the UK postal ballots out.
 
I got my postal ballot through on Wednesday last week (as a postal vote from overseas) and sent it straight back the same day. Given the amount of time they allow for overseas post it may well be middle of next week before they get all the UK postal ballots out.
If it doesn't arrive tomorrow then I think we're screwed. Do loads of voters regularly miss out on voting because the ballot is sent out so late?
Fecking useless country with the shittiest version of democracy.
 
When did the union jack become the logo for the Labour Party? All the recent leaflets I've had all have a massive flag on them.
 
When did the union jack become the logo for the Labour Party? All the recent leaflets I've had all have a massive flag on them.

Weirdly conflicted about this. We have a tortured relationship with a flag and it’s understandable and weird at the same time.
 
Not had the postal vote form arrive yet and my wife is quite worried we won't receive it in time. Not sure when the deadline is for postal votes, but with the election a week tomorrow, I imagine it's cutting it fine.
This may not work for you, but you can hand it in on polling day at the station if it cannot be posted in time.
 
The public supported that stance. It's a lot more subtle than just saying someone who nationalises industry is a raving Marxist. He also supported the formation of NATO and working closely with the US. He lost the middle class because of austerity and rationing, hardly lefty politics. Most people today support re-nationalisation of things like rail, water and power.

Thatcher was vilified for destroying the mining industry but she was only continuing a long-running policy. Nobody closed more pits than Wilson in the 60's and 70s and Attlee closed his fair share too. If you want to see a raving lefty loon just look at Viscount Stansgate or Anthony Wedgwood-Benn, or actually Tony Benn as finally he decreed. Nuttiest socialist of all who would have decimated our economy if he hadn't been held in check.

He is saying Atlee would be thought of as loony left if he was around now, not then.
 


Where is the vomiting emoji when you need it?


I’ll make apologies for so many things that other won’t.

But this shit does my head in.

That woman is among the most toxic humans with a show in the country. She needs deleting from public life. I’d find it amazing if Rayner (who I genuinely am impressed by) didn’t know who she was.

Just ignore these people. They can’t hurt you. They’re racist no-marks.
 
He is saying Atlee would be thought of as loony left if he was around now, not then.

On what basis? Born into wealthy family, worked as a barrister, decorated combat veteran, vociferous critic of appeasement, served in coalition government with Churchill, supported decolonisation, especially in Palestine, supported NATO formation, promoted US rebuilding of Europe, sent troops to Korea. Yes he implemented huge social and industrial reform but none of his policies were particularly problematic with the right and the workers all benefited greatly from nationalisation.

You'd have to be extremely ignorant to call him a loony lefty compared to those who receive that label nowadays.
 
On what basis? Born into wealthy family, worked as a barrister, decorated combat veteran, vociferous critic of appeasement, served in coalition government with Churchill, supported decolonisation, especially in Palestine, supported NATO formation, promoted US rebuilding of Europe, sent troops to Korea. Yes he implemented huge social and industrial reform but none of his policies were particularly problematic with the right and the workers all benefited greatly from nationalisation.

You'd have to be extremely ignorant to call him a loony lefty compared to those who receive that label nowadays.

The overton window has shifted significantly since Atlee was in power. Have you read the 1945 Labour manifesto? If Starmer ran on that now he'd be labeleled Lenin reincarnate.
 
On what basis? Born into wealthy family, worked as a barrister, decorated combat veteran, vociferous critic of appeasement, served in coalition government with Churchill, supported decolonisation, especially in Palestine, supported NATO formation, promoted US rebuilding of Europe, sent troops to Korea. Yes he implemented huge social and industrial reform but none of his policies were particularly problematic with the right and the workers all benefited greatly from nationalisation.

You'd have to be extremely ignorant to call him a loony lefty compared to those who receive that label nowadays.

Calling the party Socialist and then calling for nationalisation of power, transport, iron and steel, would definitely be called loony left if Starmer had suggested it. Precisely why, when he flirted with some of this, he quickly shitcanned it when it got closer to election time.
 


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