General British politics discussion thread

Apparently Burnham's latest plan is to run in Manchester Rusholme and the local MP has supposedly agreed to stand down for him.

Sounded like a plan, until I looked at the local election results for that constituency. The Greens won every ward, in most cases by large margins. Of course, people don't necessarily vote the same in locals and byelections, but I wouldn't want to be betting my rocky road to No 10 on it.

Lab still took 31% of the vote in Manchester, 7% behind the Greens, so there must be better seats in the city for them. But MP's with a chance of re-election are obviously less likely to stand down.

Ok, but unless your argument is that conservative and right wing governments should never be in power

It very much depends on what one means by a "conservative" government. You know conservative governments weren't always the type that exist in the current sphere. Conservatism wasn't always about selling off state owned services and enriching a wealth class. What exists now on the modern right are more uber-capitalist in nature rather than merely conservative and by "modern right" I mean from the 80's onward where there's been a definite lurch towards crony capitalism, empty populism and the attainment of obscene wealth within a certain limited cohort of the already rich.

So yes, I'd very much like to see a situation where that type of government is never in power.

Oh yea, forgot about that.

Don't forget Emily Thornberry
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-30146196

Honestly, history tells us again and again that if you publicly show disgust at the very people whose vote you are courting, guess what, they won't vote for you. You utterly alienate yourself against a huge proportion of the public.

The 'Basket of Deplorables' speech from Clinton cost here the White House. Some people just don't learn.

but again British Rail was terrible

You keep saying that, do you have any evidence or is this just a 'feeling' of yours?

BR was in operation for 30 years and it's fair to say that towards the end of its existence it was often considered a poor service by many people. But that's what happens when you have a government who actively underfund a public service with a view to hocking it off.

In any case, what Britain has now is much, much, worse than BR ever was. So much so there were even Tories that were saying that it should be renationalised.

Ed Milliband has been mentioned as a sort of compromise left candidate if Burnham is still not an MP (and Rayner may not be everyone's cup of tea). However, following the HMRC decision I can't see her not standing.

Incidentally, it's quite likely Streeting will not get the 81 signatures he needs to start a challenge. If so, the left will probably hold off to give Burnham a chance to win a byelection, and nothing may happen for now (except Streeting leaving the cabinet of course).

Starmer may be as boring as beige, as dry as a bone, flat as a pancake and as uninspiring as wet sand, but at least he's a safe pair of hands. He is also dependable and trustworthy.

What would a change of Labour PM bring to the table anyway?

Imagine Angela Rayner as PM 😕

I don't think Rayner can go for it, even though out of that lot I wouldn't mind seeing her have a shot at the big job. Unfortunately all of that stamp duty bollocks has given her a black mark in a lot of people's minds. While the likes of Farage can get away with taking obvious bribes to the tune of millions of pounds.

Will Burnham give up something like being the mayor of Manchester to take up a job that's under enormous pressure every single day and for little reward? I'm not sure that he would. Plus there are a lot of Starmer loyalists that actively dislike him.

Wes Streeting can go under a bus.

Doing a totally sht job but he looks like someone who would be "a safe pair of hands" and that's more important than actually being one it seems.

If Rayner gets the job you can be sure there will be a massive increase in unfounded criticism from people who previously showed little interest in British politics.

It wasn't just about coal with respect to Thatcher. Her work destroyed the whole premise of industries supported by strong unions and this is a significant factor that led to zero hour contracts, the gig economy and the situation today where many service workers are heavily exploited and end up needing some form of benefits.

Do you still think that the UK can compete in heavy industry in today's world, honestly?
Do you think workers in China get paid more to make steel and cars than those of the UK?

De-industrialisation was going to happen regardless of Thatcher being in power or not.

What country doesn't need a strong leader who will do what needs to be done? And every economy wants to grow. That's the world we live in.

This is just whataboutery and doesnt refute what I am saying. The proof? The UK is about to have its 6th leader in 7 years. Is that an example of strong leadership?
Tell us again of all the u-turns done by Starmer and Labour.

Starmer had a chance of doing actual structural reforms, which may be unpopular but are needed. Instead they shat the bed, and pretended that it was business as normal.

The best thing the UK could do to get the economy running again is rejoining the EU. Is that what you think the UK needs? A leader who will advocate for re-entry?

Perhaps, in the long run its going to happen id say. But its too early after Brexit to be looking at this but closer ties to the EU is needed.