Tag Archives: Ruislip

The news in tweets: Sunday, July 23, 2023

‘No more Green New Deal’ is what we can see on the banner – and that is exactly what Keir Starmer is offering as he panders to the fossil fuel firms in his relentlessly grubby bid for power.

Tories AND Labour throw green policies into the fire – but who is most responsible?

Let’s make a few connections.

Energy minister Grant Shapps has unilaterally decided that the environment can burn, and to this end has announced that he’ll extract all the remaining fossil fuels from the North Sea in the name of “energy security”:

If we’ve learned anything from the state of the environment lately, it is that there is no security in energy generated from fossil fuels. As Richard Murphy states, the planet is burning and the Tory response is to stoke the fire.

Now let’s go over to the party formerly known as Labour, where leader Keir Stürmer is trying to dictate to London Mayor Sadiq Khan that he should “reflect on” (ditch) the Ultra-Low Emissions Zone that keeps more heavily-polluting traffic out of the centre of the capital because it was the issue that lost their party the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election.

This is idiotic for several reasons. Firstly, Stürmer’s STP (Substitute Tory Party) should not have lost because of ULEZ, which is a Conservative policy. It was imposed by Boris Johnson – the former MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, whose resignation triggered the election – so all Stürmer’s candidate had to do to counter criticisms of his party and mayor was point this out.

Secondly, we know this didn’t happen because people with non-polluting cars, who would not have paid the charge, were complaining about it on the doorstep. Perhaps they didn’t like being told it was nothing to do with them, but it’s more likely that they simply weren’t told that at all.

Thirdly, the ULEZ is not something Khan can unilaterally change; it was imposed on London by the Department for Transport when it was being run by… oh yes! Grant Shapps.

So Shapps is magically facing in two different directions at once.

And Stürmer is apparently being dishonest about the reason his party lost the election.

It’s all very well saying, “We lost because of the ULEZ”, but if his people didn’t actually defend themselves on it, that’s their fault.

Doesn’t it seem more likely that it is an excuse that is being inflated to hide a different reason for the loss.

What could that reason be?

That’s not his only blunder…

Also:

Call me a scaremonger if you like, but it seems to This Writer that the most logical reason his party lost in Uxbridge and South Ruislip is Keir Starmer himself.

Keir Mather: fact and fiction about the new, Starmerite MP for Selby and Ainsty

And on that subject…

Apparently he was a researcher for former Tory MP Matthew Parris.

Forgive me, but I question whether that’s the right sort of grounding for a person who now represents the party that is supposed to support working people.

The Tory government has decided that saving the lives of disabled people who have to live in high-rise tower blocks is too expensive

How many hundreds of billions of pounds have they given to their friends and donors in return for absolutely nothing at all?

Sunak’s doublespeak: he wants you to think his theft of your rights is something you have demanded

Standing ovation for Mick Lynch after speech about the ‘stench of corruption’ in Tory government

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The news in tweets: Saturday, July 22, 2023

Keir Mather: is this Red just another Blue?

By-election fallout 1: new Labour MP falls at the first hurdle

Labour’s newest – and youngest – MP, Keir Mather, has made his first contributions to national politics. Here he is being introduced to the nation:

A fresh start for the people of Selby and Ainsty? It sounds good – but is it just words?

After all, the very first thing he did was endorse Keir Stürmer’s decision to continue the Conservative policy that limits child benefit to two children:

So he 100 per cent supports a Conservative policy. And this is the change we need?

This Writer doesn’t think so – and I see that many others agree with me.

Here‘s Steve Walker: “Sir Kid Starver’s clique’s stranglehold on candidate selection is why we’re getting this privileged, fresh-from-the-petri-dish vapid Stepford Wife candidate parroting this miserable shit. People with character, integrity, principles and a capacity for critical thought need not apply.”

Mrs Gee #UpTheWorkers tweeted: “This is what Unite union members’ money is helping into Government.” To Sharon Graham, the union’s general secretary, she added: “There is not a cat in hell’s chance these people can be pushed left once elected. The time is now. Make them come up with policies for trade unionists/working class people if they want our money/votes.”

Kerry-Anne Mendoza suggested: “Do they breed these creatures in a little nest of pods somewhere? They all look and sound identical to me ‘Fiscal rules…blah blah…tough choices…blah blah…forensic…'”

She added: “A privately-schooled, Oxbridge graduate whose entire career consists of a brief stint at the CBI isn’t a political breakthrough for British working class youth. Keir Mather embodies exactly the opposite. Privilege seeking power. It’s embarrassing we have to point this out.”

Phil Gould tweeted in similar vein: “This is a New New Labour Nexus 1, a first-generation AI politician, programmed by the Tony Blair Institute. Empathy free, self-destructs after one parliament. One full charge lasts two PMQs or one full QT appearance (having to repeat programmed answers requires more power).”

Chris Williamson tackled the subject matter: “The new Labour MP for Selby and Ainsty backs the 2 child benefit cap citing the “economic mess” as justification. But that logic is flawed, Keir Mather. The government issues the currency so can’t run out money and can use taxes to control inflation. So there is no justification for leaving kids in poverty.”

And let’s not forget:

But then, what can you expect from a privately-educated Oxbridge graduate whose career consists of a stint at the Confederation of British Industry and a bit of time as a researcher for Wes bloody Streeting?

It seems his “career politician” credentials are proved by the following claim:

Still, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and Keir Mather has nearly a year and a half to prove his detractors wrong – or prove himself a puddinghead.

By-election fallout 2: Uxbridge and Ruislip Labour chair quits – because of Keir Starmer and not the election result

The chairman of Uxbridge and Ruislip Constituency Labour Party has quit his role and the party altogether – but he’s saying it’s not because of the party’s spectacular failure to win the constituency’s Parliamentary seat from the Tories.

David Williams said his problem is with the leadership of Keir Starmer. Here are his tweeted messages:

Fair enough – he didn’t want his resignation to have a negative impact on his (soon-to-be former) party’s performance, and rightly so because this could have been used by others to attack him.

As it was, he found himself having to re-fight an old battle with an out-of-her-depth BBC reporter.

Watch the interview and you’ll see that he made mincemeat of the false claims:

Why does this public sector worker get a 45% pay increase while the rest have to put up with real-terms cuts?

The King is getting a publicly-funded 45 per cent pay rise, it seems:

He’s a public sector worker – like doctors, nurses and teachers, and the discrepancy between what he can demand and what they are told to take has not gone unnoticed.

Fortunately, we have people who can turn it to advantage:

Yes indeed. Let’s see government pay negotiators explain this away – if they can!

Petition of the day: demand free school breakfasts for all

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Both Labour and Tories fail in two of three by-elections. Where are the calls for the leaders to quit?

It’s true – and was Labour under Mr Corbyn ever as far ahead in the polls as Keir Stürmer’s STP (Substitute Tory Party) is, even now?

To lose two by-elections, despite having a significant poll lead, suggests a significant divergence between what we’re being told about the Stürmer Party and the grassroots reality.

Let’s look at Labour’s losses, starting with Somerton and Frome, in Somerset. Here’s the result, with accompanying commentary by bakers’ union leader Ian Hodson:

Quite right. Only 1,009 votes? That’s just 374 more than Independent Socialist Rosie Mitchell.

Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats cleaned up, with more than 54 per cent of the votes cast in an enormous swing to that party from the Conservatives – their fifth-biggest since the war (by which I’m assuming commentators mean World War II).

This Writer has a few concerns about that. A (Liberal Democrat) commenter on This Site earlier this week strongly suggested that the only way to keep the Tory candidate out was to vote for his party. It’s a classic Lib Dem strategy – “never mind our policies, put us in to get them out” -and this time it seems to have worked.

It is a failing of the First Past The Post voting system that people believe they have to resort to this kind of tactical voting, not to get an MP with policies they want, but to avoid having one with policies they definitely don’t.

Well, the Liberal Democrats claim to support proportional representation. Let’s hope this one is joined by other MPs (not necessarily from the same party) who also believe in it. Then maybe we can get a government that does what we want, instead of one that works only for itself.

The Tory candidate came second with what is still a fair number of votes on a turnout of just 44 per cent – more than 10,000.  But second is not a win, and with 26,000 people who supported the Tories last time failing to turn out for them now, it is clear that Rishi Sunak needs to find a Brexit-level cause with which to inspire support.

With the cost of living rocketing, standards of living falling, poverty rising, inflation high, health care likely to become a costly racket under increasing privatisation, utility forms raking in unwarranted profits and Tory MPs apparently in the pockets of the privateers, it seems unlikely that he’ll find it.

Ah, but if Tory support fell, support for the party that used to represent Labour absolutely imploded:

Fair enough, it seems that Labour was never likely to win a majority here, but the scale on which the electorate has withdrawn its vote should be enough to give even the most tone-deaf party leader cause to reconsider his approach.

It isn’t very many years since people all over the UK were clamouring to join Labour under Jeremy Corbyn, making it the political party with the largest membership in Europe. Now, not only have most of those members deserted Stürmer, but it seems most of the voters have done the same.

It seems clear that policy is the issue. Voters don’t want an alternative government that is only willing to offer the same policies as the current administration – that is not delivering value for our tax money.

If Keir Stürmer is determined not to change course, but to continue dragging his party to the political right, then he faces yet another loss at the polls in late 2024 or early 2025.

Labour did slightly better in Uxbridge and South Ruislip…

… but the bar here was much lower; Stürmer’s party needed only a 7.5 per cent swing in its favour to take the seat.

The fact that this didn’t happen is being blamed on the fact that Labour enforces the ULEZ – Ultra-Low Emission Zone – where drivers with the most polluting cars must pay a fee to travel:

But ULEZ was launched by a Conservative – the same Conservative whose resignation forced the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election to take place: Boris Johnson.

It beggars belief that voters in the constituency formerly occupied by the politician who introduced the ULEZ should vote for his party’s candidate in protest against it.

Still, Stürmer’s party is running with this excuse for all it is worth:

But the evidence of the doorstep may suggest something different – that it is Keir Starmer and his Tory policies, or lack of Labour policies, who alienated voters. My information is anecdotal – from people I know live there – but it seems to have swayed this commentator (apologies for the strong language):

And if the ULEZ is such a sticking-point, why did this happen?

The message seems clear: if he wants to win a general election, Keir Stürmer must offer the electorate a Labour Party, with clear Labour Party policies that put a huge amount of difference between it and the Conservatives.

If he can’t – or won’t – do that, then he should be made to make way for somebody who will.

Still, Stürmer can console himself with his sole victory of the three, in Selby and Ainsty:

It makes 25-year-old right-winger Keir Mather the UK’s youngest MP. But there is no readily-apparent reason for the victory.

If Labour had won the other two by-elections by a similar margin, then we could say it was indicative of the national opinion polls being correct. But Labour didn’t.

Instead, considering this has been a Tory safe seat since it was created for the 2010 general election, it seems this was a protest vote.

Mr Mather himself has set out to capitalise on his victory:

He may be helped in this by the unsavoury attitude of Tory MP Johnny Mercer, who compared his victory with having a member of the cast of old Channel 4 comedy The Inbetweeners in Parliament:

Mercer’s comments have been shown to be quite astonishingly tone-deaf. Here’s a good reason:

The verdict:

The UK’s electoral situation is much more volatile than we have been led to believe.

According to the polls, the Stürmer Party should have won all three seats easily. It didn’t. Tactical voting scuppered it in Somerton and Frome – but conversely propelled it to victory in Selby and Ainsty. Distaste – either for the party’s leader or its policies – killed its chances in Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

The Conservative Party is in deep trouble, no matter what. It lost two seats and only held onto the third by the narrowest margin, despite protests against Stürmer and his policies. Rishi Sunak has nothing to offer the public – his party is riddled with corruption and self-interest and will not help struggling citizens. It is amazing that he isn’t facing demands for his resignation.

And the Liberal Democrat win seems entirely due to protest voting. Its new MP – Sarah Dyke – will have to work very hard indeed to prove otherwise.

Meanwhile, other parties and independents are growing in popularity. The Green Party beat Labour in Somerton and Frome and the Liberal Democrats in Selby and Ainsty and Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

It seems likely that Independents may have fared much better if they had been given equal media exposure to the “Establishment” parties.

The lack of such exposure merely shows what a slanted playing field democracy in the UK has become.

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