Last week, Labour won two by elections in formerly safe Conservative seats in Tamworth in Staffordshire and Mid Bedfordshire, in both cases Labour overturned huge Conservative majorities. In Tamworth the Conservatives had won 66.3% of the vote at the general election in 2019, making it one of the safest Conservative seats in England. In Mid Bedfordshire the Conservatives had won 59.8% of the vote at the 2019 general election. Conservative constituencies don’t come much safer than those two, or at least, they didn’t.
The highlight of the evening as the results were announced was Andrew Six Chips Bowie, who has a razor thin majority of 843 in his West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine constituency, desperately try to spin the results as being nothing much to worry about and continuing to insist in the face of all the evidence that “on the doorstep” people are grateful for what the Conservatives are doing. That’s certainly a novel way of interpreting a door being slammed in your face. Andrew’s levels of delusion are off the charts, even for a Tory.
Another delusional Conservative is the Tory immigration minister Robert Jenrick who said on the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg Show on Sunday that the Conservatives could be trusted with the economy and that they would make “sensible decisions”. Oh really? Forgotten Liz Truss and her kamikaze mini budget already have we? Speaking about the recent protests demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Jenrick said: “If someone is spreading hate they have no place here and they should leave.” Quite. That’s advice that most of his loathesome parliamentary party should heed, most of all his immediate boss Suella Braverman who gave a hate filled speech to the Conservative party conference channelling Enoch Powell and that Nigel Farage whom senior Conservatives recently said would be welcome to join the Tory party. And not forgetting the editorial staff of the Daily Express and Mail newspapers.
The Conservative candidate in Tamworth, Andrew Cooper, had come under criticism prior to the vote for sharing an offensive tweet about people in poverty, he then delayed appearing with the other candidates for the announcement of the result, candidates receive prior notice of the result from the returning officer and the graceless Cooper was obviously angered that he’d lost a seat that he must have believed was a shoo-in. Then like the petulant and entitled man child that he is and as such is so emblematic of the modern Conservative party, the bad loser stormed off the stage immediately after the results were announced while the victorious Labour candidate was still thanking her campaign team.
What a shame, Cooper would have been perfect as a Tory MP, nasty, bitter, full of himself and oozing with entitlement.
The Conservative vote simply evaporated. The low turn out in both seats suggests that Tory voters simply stayed at home, and we must hope that in this instance ‘home’ is merely a euphemism for a deep dark well from which they can never escape.
These results mean that there is now no such thing as a safe Conservative seat and the Tories are not simply looking at defeat at the next general election, they are staring at the very real possibility of annihilation. On Sunday it was reported that the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is considering standing down as an MP so that he will not have to face the humiliation of doing an Andrew Cooper at the next General Election, boundary changes mean that Hunt’s seat is no longer as securely Conservative as it once was.
Following the devastating results one Tory MP told the Observer newspaper that for the Conservatives the next general election will be about minimising the party’s losses not trying to secure a victory, saying: “There is nothing Rishi can really do now other than try to look competent and hope for the best. You can’t admit that it is now just about minimising losses … you can’t go out and say that, but that is where we are.”
Although Labour is now loudly demanding an immediate general election, that is the very last thing that Sunak is going to agree too. It’s now looking more likely that he will cling to power as long as possible in the increasingly diminishing hope that something will come up to save the Conservatives’ skin. That also works in the SNP’s favour as the longer that Scottish voters are exposed to the reality of Starmer’s Labour party, the less appealing it becomes and the more obvious that the ‘change’ which Starmer promises is in reality no change at all.
The right wing control freakery which is the true face of Keir Starmer’s flag waving ‘non-nationalist’ party became starkly apparent this week as over a dozen local Labour party office bearers resigned in protest over Starmer’s gagging order on any discussion or debate about the situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip. Of course the horrendous attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians, including women, children and the elderly should be unequivocally condemned, but anything other than full hearted and uncritical support for the extreme right wing authoritarian Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu is strictly forbidden in the Labour party even as Israel embarks upon a brutal collective punishment of the entire population crammed into Gaza, one of the most densely populated territories in the world, a territory whose borders are sealed, leaving innocent civilians caught up in the war with nowhere safe that they can flee to.
Over the weekend Amnesty International said said that the fact that both the UK Government and the Labour party are refusing to condemn Israel’s “clear” breaches of international law is diminishing the gravity of the human rights violations committed by Netanyahu’s government.
The Labour party under Starmer has already adopted Conservative policies wholesale and ditched anything that might appear even vaguely left wing. And in international politics this tragic war has revealed a Labour party in lock step with the Tories and the Pentagon. Starmer has denied ever saying that Israel had the right to cut off water and food supplies to the people of Gaza, even though there is video evidence of him doing just that.
In an interview with LBC on 7 October, the Starmer was asked what a “proportionate” response to the Hamas attacks would look like, he replied that responsibility “lies with Hamas” and that Israel “has the right to defend herself”. Interviewer Nick Ferrari then asked: “A siege is appropriate? Cutting off power, cutting off water?” Starmer replied: “I think that Israel does have that right. It is an ongoing situation.”
Starmer is now denying that his words meant what they clearly meant and insisting he did not say he believes Israel has the right to cut off essential supplies to Gaza. Starmer is now cracking down hard on any dissent within his own party, which promises a strongly centralising government in the Conservative mould. There will be no safeguards put in place for the devolution settlement and the Über-Unionists of Labour appear set to continue the assault on the Scottish Parliament begun under the Tories.
Meet the new boss, the same as the old boss.
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Wee Ginger Dug 
Do you ever wonder where the National Front of the 70s went?
they’re now form the Government at Westminster.
2 – “REBUILD armed forces” is another.
I can hardly read that. What’s the 5th promise? It looks like “SCRAP oven scones act” to me. I didn’t know we had an oven scones act.
The logo is very similar to the new Labour jaggy union jack logo too. But hey! what party manages to deliver ALL of their promises.
Pledge 5 SCRAP overseas aid and I agree the Labour party are looking more and more like the National Front each passing day.
They just couldn’t stretch though to “Putting Britain First” but were close.
They can’t say which country they’re putting first. It’s really England but they can’t say that openly. If asked they would say “Britain” but Britain isn’t really a country. It’s a state made up of four countries, But they can’t say “Putting the state first” either! Too Big Brotherish.
I think they really wanted to put “Britain First” on their card but couldn’t as another party already have that name so they had to make do with just the logo.
“Britain First is a far-right, British fascist and neo-fascist political party and hate group formed in 2011 by former members of the British National Party (BNP).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britain_First
Humza Yousaf today on the ghastly situation i Gaza which neither the Tories nor Labour seem concerned about.
https://x.com/STVNews/status/1716419305582031042?s=20
You think the UK government helped us during the pandemic? we’re paying for it now aren’t we
Food Fuel Petrol Diesel Motor Insurance Motor tax all through the roof
They had to claw back the money they spent plus the money they squandered somehow and we’re paying for it now aren’t we
Truss, Sunak, you couldn’t slip a keycard between both of their policies, they’re exactly the same, and remember folks not even the Tory members wanted Sunak at all, he lost to the woman who was thrown out of office, and now what we have is a dictator inserted into the position of Prime Minister that not one living soul in any country of this UK voted for, not even the members of his own political party
Will Sunak win the next general election? of course he won’t because it’s highly likely he won’t be the one standing, but his party probably will when they slip in the next new shiny version that they can sell
Remember who the Tory party members actually wanted as their candidate but the parliamentary party screwed her out of the running to slot in Truss?
It’s King Charles’s Brittanic loyal red white and blue sword carrier, and I’m having ten bob on it
My theory is that they knew we hadn’t spent much for 2 years under lockdown so we would all have some spare cash which the boards of all the companies decided to recoup through higher prices.
Alcohol consumption went up, takeaway delivery went up, supermarket shopping actually went up, Amazon and other online shopping companies sold more than ever before, petrol and diesel sales barely dipped from normal
Motor insurance has in some cases doubled this year, road tax is set to increase by a higher percentage than ever before and we all know the price of fuel at the pumps of which over 70% is direct UK government tax
England is the car theft capitol of Europe and Scotland and Wales are paying for it
So am I the only person that wasn’t partying and driving around the countryside for 2 years under lockdown!?
I’ll admit to getting my groceries delivered and keeping Mr Amazon busy.
More or less the same here. I did sometimes click n collect for variety! 😀
No partying or driving round really. I’m obviously a very boring person…
Not at all! Like me, you obviously had more interesting things to do than shopping 😊
Like painting a wall to watch it dry?! ROFL
I just watched BBC Scotland highlight the Covid enquiry with images of Nicola Sturgeon initiating the first lockdown with the BBC then going on to talk about the *suffering* of people of the *after effects* of the pandemic
I’d just point out that in order to suffer *after effects* you must be alive
Some of the me me me folk might want to reflect on that wee important point
Aye, well summed up Paul. We are entering the endgame of the UK now.
The absence of BBC / British media coverage of the anti-war protests in Scotland since Starmer’s support for Israel committing war crimes in Gaza etc is because the London regime fears what happened under Blair will happen under Starmer too. As per my previous comments at the tail end of the last thread, Labour must win Scotland with comfortably over 40% of the vote to even start suggesting they have some sort of Scottish mandate, and only then for reserved matters. Over the coming months, we will witness the BBC become the most blatantly biased regime mouthpiece as it desperately tries to make this happen. We’ve all seen the changes since the 2021 >50% for Yes parties on a record turnout, with any sense of impartiality gradually melting away. Soon, the last of the subtleties will vanish and it will not be the classic lying by omission etc, but simply outright lying Trump style. Watch and see. Iranian state TV etc will look on and blush.
The entire future of the regime depends on Starmer’s Labour winning England and Scotland. We have been sold the story since 2010 that Scots have ‘only been voting SNP to protest against the Tories’. That our support for indy is likewise coming from this, and that when Labour returns to No. 10, it will all die away as ‘Scotland can and does get the government it votes for sometimes, just like all regions of Britain do’.
But with mid term ‘send the SNP a message’ polling having 70% opposed to an English Labour UK government and 50% for independence first thing tomorrow at the proposition of a guaranteed Westminster Labour win (according to the media), even with the SNP finance investigation and Sturgeon resignation wind Labour’s sails, this looks like a forlorn hope.
The regime will get over more incredibly desperate as voting day approaches. You will never have seen anything like it. The BBC etc’s reporting ahead of 2014 will seem positively neutral and balanced by comparison. The problem is that the average soft No will not fail to see this and understand what’s going on. Already Starmer is at war with the actual Scots in/who vote for Scottish Labour (who are generally on the left, pro-devo, respect the right of Scots to choose and are softest Nos), who are beginning to resign in significant numbers at his hard-right Tory approach. He will keep saying one thing to them in his ‘letters’ etc, then another to Tory voters on the TV, and the traditional Labour vote will see right through him. At least Blair got into No 10 before he really got going on his betrayals. Starmer hasn’t even got the keys yet.
Excellent summary of the current horrific political situation. Reading the words of our new MP Michael Shanks an outrider already for his Master down South. All our energy resources will go as usual down south and the costs of such resources based here remain sky high. Nae bother to Michael and his pals at the moment.
The Scottish Parliament will be ‘slimmed down’ says Michael although he does not describe the realities of this proposal but it doesn’t sound promising for the Scottish people.
Re Bowie’s comment: not only are tories not happy but Starmer’s increasingly torylike party is attracting folk like Anna Soubry! Who’d believe it!
Anna Soubry claims to have been a Trade Union rep IIRC. A bit less swivel eyed than most Tories but not exactly a socialist so Labour should suit her fine.
The Strawbs have a lot to answer for.
Eh?
It’s a song – Part of the Union.
Chorus:
“Oh you don’t get me I’m part of the union
You don’t get me I’m part of the union
You don’t get me I’m part of the union
Till the day I die, till the day I die.”
Ahhhh I see. Thx IUTBE
Yes, as IUTBE says. And there’s also this by Matt McGinn sung by Hamish Imlach.
https://www .youtube .com/watch?v=-2ei_VHyDTA (remove spaces)
Three things you need to know about Sir Kid Starver :
1. He is a liar .
2. He is a liar .
3. He is a liar .
Once you understand this then his behaviour since becoming the leader of the New Tory Party makes sense .
What is increasingly difficult to understand is why anyone in the party formerly known as Labour who has been deceived by this thoroughly principle -free individual would continue to vote for him !
The fact that he appealed to Tory voters to join him at his recent propaganda-fest – and had every confidence that many would do so – simply shows where on the political spectrum he currently lies .
( There’s that word again – you can’t talk about him without it dominating the conversation ! )
When he talks about bringing ”Change” what he means is a ”Change” of leader for Tory Britain . He is the ”Change ” !
And we’ll get no change out of him *Boom Boom*!
And in some nice news today, Nicola Sturgeon passes her driving test, first time of course
Give her a toot if you’re oot and aboot
Toot toot!
Now the media will be vehicle chasing after her causing all sorts of mayhem and carnage in their never ending pursuit of wreaking havoc.
Maybe PS will step up to the mark and arrest them for dangerous driving activities…and leave the ex-FM in peace to drive harmlessly around the countryside.
That’s good but…..because of all the creeping restrictions that have been placed on driving licences. Oor lass will hay’ty pass another test afore she gawns aff tourin Scotland unless she taks a tent. Aye nae caravan, or caravanette with that licence, so Marie an awe the Sandra’s ‘ll need their ain tents, if they’re gaun.
Finally the BBC is forced to mention this story.
https://archive.ph/5xId0
Fifteen Scottish Labour officers resign over Gaza policy
Fifteen Labour officers have resigned over party rules about responding to the conflict in Gaza.
Nine officers in a Glasgow ward, including a Labour peer, and six in Edinburgh stood down.
The Glasgow Kelvin officers accused Scottish Labour of “stifling democracy” after a motion calling for an end to military action was ruled out of order.
Scottish Labour said it condemned Hamas’s actions and the collective punishment of Palestinian people.
In Glasgow’s Kelvin Labour Party, chairman Jim Mackechnie and Labour Peer Baroness Bryan resigned alongside seven others including the secretary, policy officer and trades union liaison officer.
They had submitted a motion urging Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar to call for a cessation of Israeli military action, the establishment of a humanitarian corridor and the release of hostages.
Sarwar must be under huge pressure. I wonder if he went to Friday prayers? He seems to have gone to ground news-wise after the kid Starvers infamous Gaza interview.
9 resigned 4 days ago, and the rest 2 days ago. STV reported it immediately. BBC is burying it with a politics story about, erm, the floods.
Soon Starmer will be asked on the telly about whether he’ll back sending arms etc to Israel and if not, he must be an ‘antisemitic Hamas supporter’. So he’ll back more killing to get the keys to No. 10 and his pockets lined.
Anas Sarwar will be hiding in one of his new private dentist practices
Don’t get over excited.
They resigned from their bonus grabbing post/positions in the labour party. Which they will slide back into when they think the public have stopped looking.
They did not resign from the (kid on)labour party.
Their idea’s of democracy and freedom of speech only extend to labour awful-ishals(sic) and not to you or me, or ony o’ Jock Tampson’s Bairns.
An’ their Values ‘n’ Prince-i-pals(sic) definitely do not extend to Scotland……er North, north, north brittanium.
Incidentally, it’s now 200+ days / coming on seven months since PM – former CEO of the SNP – was released without charge.
2 years and 3 months have passed since Operation Branchform began in July 2021, but still no crime has been reported as having occurred by Police Scotland.
Is it not time for a *FFFM* Free the former First Minister campaign or petition
Chris Hedges of The Real News interviews Norman Finkelstein on the Israel Gaza war. Some interesting parallels with the fight to end slavery, the native American Indian wars against the white settlers and the aftermath of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Both of Finkelstein’s parents were in concentration camps, the only members of their families who survived.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0aemeCbRTk&t=5s
It was interesting to note the Tamworth and Mid-Beds voting figures had much the same pattern as the Rutherglen by-election (aside the SNP no show), the Labour vote barely moved the needle in %age electorate, and Tory vote was decimated.
The combined Tory+Labour+LibDem vote barely scraped 32 and 39% respectively from 60-70% previously, Westminster politics is in trouble, not just the Tories…
The media and political spin over “swing ” is yet more nonsense, it’s not so much a Labour landslide as a slow muddy trickle of disinterest, with a distinct earthy aroma.
With the Tories in trouble and Labour stuck, all the SNP need is to get a head of steam up for the next GE to make it downright embarrassing…
Let’s compare Starmer to…
https://archive.ph/WUyMT
David Cameron: Israeli blockade has turned Gaza Strip into a ‘prison camp’
David Cameron used a visit to Turkey to make his strongest intervention yet in the intractable Middle East conflict today when he likened the experience of Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip to that of a “prison camp”.
Although he has made similar remarks before, his decision to repeat them on a world stage in Turkey, whose relations with Israel have deteriorated sharply since it mounted a deadly assault on the Gaza flotilla, gave them much greater diplomatic significance.
Cameron’s comments, in a speech to business leaders in Ankara, prompted the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to issue another strong condemnation of how Israel dealt with the flotilla.
Erdogan likened the behaviour of Israeli commandos, who shot dead nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists, to Somali pirates.
Cameron’s criticism of Tel Aviv came when he called for Israel to relax its restrictions on Gaza. “The situation in Gaza has to change,” he said. “Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.”
The blockade began in 2005. Gaza is not an independent state. It is the responsibility of Israel ensure the welfare of the people of Gaza under international law, as it is the UK government’s with respect to people of the ‘occupied territory’ that is the North of Ireland.
The west had better wake up to the fact that at the moment Israel is risking the security of every western country over their refusal of a drink of water
You don’t need to know who’s right or wrong good or bad or whichever side anyone supports, denying water to drink is criminal under any law, war or no war
What’s frequently not understood in Europe is Gaza’s water supplies are undrinkable, it’s only used for showering etc.. Gaza’s drinking water is entirely bottled outside Gaza and shipped across the border by truck – Shut down the crossings and 2m+ people very quickly run out of potable water.
A further connected misunderstanding is Rafah which although officially a crossing with Egypt, is essentially controlled by IDF.
One of my german engineers during a flare-up which closed Erez had to be routed via Rafah to catch his flight out via Ben Gurion – Nothing on land or sea from or to Gaza moves without IDF’s say so.
Shameless
This is a snap of a very detailed map of the Isreal’s Gaza strip prison camp (to quote David Cameron) from the UN OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), hosted by wiki. Link:
https://tinyurl.com/36uj5e9c
Since the blockade began in 2005, it’s become completely encircled, with massive concrete walls topped by watchtowers etc. The ‘tunnels’ you hear about are how people get food and other goods into the 2 million people imprisoned in the strip. Also how some get out to see family on the outside world. The two ‘crossings’ mentioned in the news are not border posts, they are prison entry / exit gates, and what goes in/out is strictly controlled.
Based on Israeli estimates of 50,000 Hamas + Islamic Jihad fighters, that would make 98% of those imprisoned in the Gaza strip civilians.
For all the young people under 25, being in an Israeli prison 5 miles wide and 25 miles long is basically all they’ve ever known.
One interesting piece of history on Erez (Beit Hanoun) is that an industrial zone was built there in the 1970s to take advantage of Gaza’s horrendous unemployment.
Despite being a highly successful enterprise, it was summarily demolished prior to Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, investors and workers alike thrown on the scrapheap, ostensibly for security reasons…
All that’s there now is a high security complex bristling with technology and some not very pleasant border personnel with a huge burr up their arse…
The mask slipping to show the British nationalist racist in Starmer.
I have serious issues with what he said / the situation in Gaza and I’m a agnostic, fair skinned freckly celt, but we are all Jock Tamson’s bairns, from Scotland to Gaza, to the other side of the planet.
https://archive.ph/LFwbb
Furthermore in your ‘clarifying’ interview with the media you said “some Muslims” had taken an issue with your rhetoric. Ending the occupation of Palestine, ensuring Palestinians human-rights are upheld and that a free Palestinian state becomes a reality is not a Muslim issue, it’s a human-rights and humanitarian issue that unites hundreds and thousands of working class people of all backgrounds, faith and no faith, trade unionists and people of conscience.
I think the wee tele printer that controls the words inside Starmer’s head needs new remote operators or a new implant, this particular model’s systems are malfunctioning, or somebody’s delivering the wrong instructions on how to act like a human being
[…] Source […]
Starmer won’t reform the house of Lords so apparently Anas Sarwar is going to have strong words with him about this dastardly Uturn
In political terms that’s what’s called “we’ll embrace this from our lands in the South and condemn it from our lands in the North
These Labour party insult to people’s intelligence tricks are so old and tired
Sarwar want’s a Lordship every bit as badly as does Starmer, it’s the freebee nirvana reward for England’s politicians from Scotland
Sarwar will have strong backing for his desire to reform the House of Lords from …
Lord FFS ( make mine a treble ! ) , Lord McConnell ( don’t crease ma kilt ! ) , Lord Haughey , Lord Reid , Baroness Riddell , Lord Robertson ( watch the skies ! ), Lord Watson ( put those matches away ! ) , Baroness Adams ( what …pay back illegal expenses ! ) , ………. not enough room here to list all those stalwarts of the People’s Party who will be champing at the bit to end their sinecures in the House of Horrors !
While Starmer supports the starvation of children in the UK never mind Gaza…
https://archive.ph/A6tKg
Scotland sees ‘by far the lowest rise’ in destitution levels in UK
The UK has seen a “shameful increase” in destitution, though Scotland has had “by far the lowest” rise in the numbers suffering from this, a new report has found.
Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found that across the UK, there were an estimated 3.8 million people suffering from destitution – with this including more than one million children.
According to the report, rising levels of destitution mean almost two-and-a-half times as many people are suffering as there were in 2017, with nearly three times as many youngsters affected.
Rates of destitution – where people are not able to afford to meet their basic needs to stay warm, dry, clean and fed – were highest in the London borough of Newham, it found.
While Glasgow City Council was ranked 26th in the 30 local authorities with the worst rates of destitution, it had dropped 16 places from the previous report in 2019.
The report found that at a regional level, London had the highest destitution levels in 2022, followed by the North East and the North West of England, and then the West Midlands.
The regions in the south of England had the lowest rates of destitution, with both Wales and Scotland having rates comparable with the Midlands.
While destitution had increased in all regions of the UK over the period 2019 to 2022, the report found Scotland’s position had improved “with by far the lowest increase since 2019”.
It added: “This may be indicative of the growing divergence in welfare benefits policies in Scotland, notably the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment.”
The UK story from ITV. This is what Starmer wants to copy.
https://archive.ph/bVL78
‘This will kill me’: Destitution doubles in five years with 3.8 million unable to meet basic needs
OT but an interesting podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHSyZ_1rt5M
The Scotonomics team are producing a lot of excellent work, it’s hard to keep up. The blurb notes that “Timothy Mitchell is a political theorist and historian. His areas of research include – the place of colonialism in the making of modernity”
The Indy podcast ladies, Fiona and Marlene have made another interesting podcast. This time they interviewed Prof Alf Baird on his theory that the Scottish “cringe” is a form of internalised colonialism that holds us back from voting for independence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-GppegK-yI
Mitchell’s take on coal and democracy and the destruction of both for political ends in the UK, was the most clear-headed explanation I’ve heard for the the politics behind energy, and goes a long way to explaining the UK’s continuing destructive trajectory.
Thanks for the Indy podcast update, will watch later…
Another U turn on something we have in Scotland.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/25/labour-u-turns-on-promise-of-scottish-style-right-to-roam-in-england
Makes you wonder what Scottish Branch would do if they ever became government in Scotland
As per the article, the wealthy Tory landowner lobby had words with him about letting the serfs roam too far beyond the workhouse walls.
This is what happens when you are dishonest like Starmer.
The aftermath of his ‘Quick, find me some Muslims to be photographed with for my social media accounts!’ attempt to weasel his way out of backing acts of genocide being perpetuated against the people of Gaza.
https://archive.ph/sZoCX
Starmer ‘gravely misrepresented’ meeting, say Muslim leaders in Wales
Keir Starmer has been accused of having “gravely misrepresented” a meeting with Muslim leaders in Wales, amid anger among some in Labour over his remarks on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Labour leader visited the South Wales Islamic Centre in Cardiff on Sunday. In a statement on Tuesday evening, the centre apologised “for the hurt and confusion” caused by hosting Starmer, and said the intention was to highlight the suffering of people in Palestine.
It also expressed “dismay” over Starmer’s social media post about the visit, which said: “I was grateful to hear from the Muslim community of the South Wales Islamic Centre. I repeated our calls for all hostages to be released, more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, for the water and power to be switched back on, and a renewed focus on a two-state solution.”
In response, the South Wales Islamic Centre said: “We wish to stress Keir Starmer’s social media post and images gravely misrepresented our congregants and the nature of the visit.
Starmer is totally biased.
People are voting Labour in the rest of thei UK to get rid of the Tories,
How any voters think voting Labour will get Independence is a mystery. Independence supporters need to get out and vote. A higher turnout.
To cheer people up. I don’t say things unless I think I have decent reason to.
You will recall this plot showing how long term rising support for indy correlates directly with increasing disinterest in taking part in British elections, as evidenced by polling certainty to vote (CTV) results.
I have also said that the pattern seen in the falling SNP share is that all the other parties have gained proportionally, like the ‘missing’ SNP share has been divided up between them based on their own relative shares. That makes no sense though, and suggest no swing has occurred, but instead, former SNP voters are not responding to polls or are saying they are not sure they will vote if they do respond. This would be supported by baseline Yes hitting the 50% Rubicon; makes no sense that SNP share falls while Yes remains high unless something else is going on.
Well, plot up CTV vs SNP share for UKGE polling and it’s stark. There has been no swing to Labour or anyone else (only the Greens have actually benefitted here). It is entirely due to SNP voters not responding to polls or saying they are not sure they’ve vote in a GE. It’s
This is why Labour think they are on a winning streak, but it’s a myth. It’s all down to SNP voters not wanting crappy deck chairs on the British Titanic, and if that’s all the SNP are offering too, then the electorate will let Labour have them by not voting.
The SNP need to offer a route to indy; do that and they will get the electorate out to back them. As Kevin Costner move character once said ‘If you build it, they will come’.
Over to you Yousaf and co.
Oh, and if a lot of SNP voters are not responding to polls (not just they are but saying they are uncertain to vote), then Yes will shoot up too if they do.
Remove 2014 weighting on top and….
So don’t be despondent. All is not what it seems, but Yousaf needs to get his finger oot.
Labour do NOT “think they are on a winning streak”, they absolutely know they’re not.
They and their media helpers are desperately trying to con the public into believing they are, which is floundering…
Fair point
It does highlight the giant lie by the British regime’s media that there has been some sort of large ‘swing to Labour’. There has been no swing. None. Zero, zip, zilch. It’s all due to the above highlighted effect. Former SNP voters are not answering polls or, if they do, are saying they are not certain to vote as things stand. All the sub-40 SNP polls to the left of the graph we’ve had recently are due to low CTV numbers / low response rates. It’s why in Scotland, weirdly, the Tory vote edged up as the SNP went down while in the rUK it didn’t move. This isn’t SNP to Con, it’s scotch mist. Entirely CTV / response related from all the evidence in hand. The r2 value would be almost 1 (perfect correlation) if it was not for standard variance and differing polling methods.
That should scare the bejesus out of the British nationalists, as polls could suddenly move sharply to the SNP/Yes has happened in all recent elections to varying extents (when they have been lower in the polls due to setbacks). The only exception is 2017 when the effect was the same but the other way around as the election was 100% all about England and so the SNP share fell as CTV fell from highs as the day approached and we ended up with the low turnout that cost them seats.
The SNP need to make the GE about Scotland and not about Britain. Scots are not interested in Britain.
They’re certainly plumbing the depths of the propaganda game, but it’s not just in Scotland.
I’d previously observed on the Rutherglen by-election where Labour barely moved the dial in terms of %age voters roll despite a boost from tactical voting by Tory support.
Looking at the same %age for the Tamworth and Mid-Beds by-elections, back over say the last 5 GEs starting from the latest –
Tamworth : 16.44, 15.23, 23.01, 17.11, 20.83.
Mid-Beds : 15.02, 15.98, 21.81, 11.37, 10.66.
That is Labour’s resurgence with the most unpopular Tory government in recent history ?
The only ‘swing’ in reality is from the corpse of Westminster politics….
SNP need to hammer them in the next GE to slam that point firmly home that Scotland is not amused.
The voter apathy which dominated the recent Scottish and English by-elections and was the clear winner (63%, 65% and 56% ) might not be a typical ”mid-term” reaction to sitting governments , as many of the pundits would have us believe .
”Change” is the New New Labour buzzword , Sir Kid Starver is the man who will bring about that change . So the voters will know exactly what they are getting – will they ?
What ”Change” is in the offing ?
”Fiscal responsibility ” is on the lips of every Labour shadow minister when asked about spending commitments but no hard and fast pledges ( Ha! Ha ! ) are being made . Voters are simply to ‘trust’ Labour to be responsible with the nation’s ( sic ) finances .
But , given his track record since becoming leader how can anyone put their ‘trust’ in Sir Kid Starver ?
When faced with Boris Johnson as PM the extent of the Labour leader’s untruthfulness was obscured by the overwhelming awfulness of Johnson as a politician and a human being . Now that Johnson has departed the stage Sir Kid Starver has stepped out of his shadow and into the spotlight – and in that harsh light , the more we see and hear from him the more his many flaws are exposed .
The numerous ”pledges/promises” he made to become leader have been cast aside ; they had served their purpose . One by one he reneged on them . In a short period of time he has transformed himself into the next Tory leader of the UK and the New New Labour Party into a reflection of the present Tory Party .
His guiding principles ( don’t laugh ! ) are borrowed from Groucho ( but without the humour ) – principles are flexible and can be discarded to suit circumstances .
Unfortunately for Sir Kid Starver , the conflict in Israel/Gaza has focused many voters’ attention on his poor judgement . His ill-judged comments on the actions of Israel and his cack-handed attempts to extricate himself from a hole of his own making have shown him in a very poor light – a rabbit in the headlights rather than a former Human Rights Advocate on top of his brief .
His lack of principles are now being questioned , as they should be , by some in his own party .
Time enough for the voters to do the same .
The quandary for voters ( particularly in England ) is – who do you vote for if the leader of the Opposition is so untrustworthy .
I think the ‘change’ Labour is promising refers to their penchant for changing their policy on any given issue every couple of weeks.
Starmer isn’t a politician promising change, he’s a reality show contestant saying and doing whatever’s required to win the prize
He’ll marry anybody at first sight, eat an animal’s private bits or sit in Big Brother’s house for a month just to appear on next weeks Gogglebox
Simon Cowell could’ve invented him to win Britain’s got talent just so you could forget him the very next week after he doesn’t get the Christmas number one, then we move on to the next programmed contestant
English political parties turn on their own and replace them with the same person who looks different if it’ll make their parties more voter friendly at the drop of a hat,
then they get another Simon Cowell to build them another one that’ll promise to deliver the Christmas number one just like the last guy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67201465
Hamas-run health ministry: More than 700 killed in past 24 hours in Gaza
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says the total death toll from Israeli strikes has now reached more than 6,500 people since 7 October, including 2,704 children.
In the past 24 hours, 756 Palestinians including 344 children were killed in Israeli strikes, the ministry adds.
It said the southern region of the Gaza was heavily hit in the most recent wave of strikes.
‘Flee to southern Gaza so you are more concentrated, making for an easier target’ says the IDF it seems.
That’s coming on for 5 (6500) eyes for an eye (1400) now. One eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind, this is heading for a lot more than 5 for 1.
So how many innocent civilian deaths is ok for those who that support Israel continuing to attack? These people must have e.g. a number of dead kids that will be too many and they’ll say ‘No, that’s enough, stop now!’. It can’t be unlimited surely – they must have some sort of limit that will be just too much. Is it 3000, 5000, 10,000…? How many is ok for them?
In Scotland apparently two thirds of the population agree with Humza Yousaf and disagree with the English politicians, and the English politician they seem to disagree with most is Labour’s switch hitting Starmer
Once again in Scotland we have Starmers wee drone Anas Sarwar fire fighting his boss’s position to try to save Labour here by pretending to disagree with his lord and master, put it to a vote and watch Sarwar stick to Starmer’s leg like a wee coallie dug
I never did understand the hysteria about the over 30 point lead for Labour after Truss did her crunchie and screwed over the economy and interest rates, all you ever had to do was look at Starmer and see a buffoon staring back at you with glazed and glaikit eyes. He’s clearly someone who went for a brain transplant and the operation was interrupted halfway through by Covid. There’s nothing there, nothing at all.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/23879113.confusion-keir-starmer-disagrees-labours-gaza-gag-order/
If Starmer was gagged nobody would notice the difference.
What has been very noticeable over the least day or so as how all the ‘western’ Countries are all saying the same thing, ie Israel has the right to defend its self but there needs to be a ‘humanitarian pause’ to allow aid into Gaza and that the hostages need to be returned.
A quick look around shows that the UK, France, Germany, Canada, US, Australia and EU Parliament have all released statements saying the above (with some slight variations on the way the message is worded). Looks like the EU foreign ministers who are currently meeting are going to come out with the same sort of statement.
You would guess that the reason for this harmony in messaging is that the negotiators and diplomats who will be talking to all sides both formally and through back channels have feed back that neither Israel nor Hamas will agree to anything with the word ‘cease fire’ but will agree to stop hostilities if is is packaged as a ‘pause’.
The hope would then be that once there is a break it would lead to a more formal ceasefire.
From what I see, some western countries are saying similar about a ‘humanitarian pause’, which would be better than nothing, but certainly not all are holding back. Scotland is calling for a immediate ceasefire as is (the new centre-left government of) Spain for example.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/humza-yousaf-calls-gaza-ceasefire-145646590.html
Humza Yousaf calls for Gaza ceasefire
Scotland’s first minister says ‘every single government’ should be calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
https://www.politico.eu/article/pedro-sanchez-spain-humanitarian-ceasefire-gaza-israel-hamas-war/
Spain calls for humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza
Sánchez’ call is unusually direct while EU countries are still at odds over whether to call for a ‘humanitarian pause’ in the fighting.
My French in-laws are very impressed with Scotland here after seeing this on the news there.
The pattern seems to be, globally, right-wing parties supporting the IDF attacks or reluctant to condone what’s happening, while the centre to left are openly calling for an end to the killing to every extent possible, and immediately.
The main thing is that there is a cessation in the violence so that aid can get into Gaza and people in Israel are not facing rocket attacks. How that is achieved is immaterial. As mentioned above the consensus seems to be that calling for a ‘humanitarian pause’ is the best option for doing this.
Of course another reason for the unity is to stop the splits between the left and right being leveraged. Those who do not want peace will be particularity keen for there to be so much bickering between the left and right that nothing actually gets agreed on and the violence just continues. Its the oldest trick in the book if you don’t want something to happen, get people arguing amongst themselves. Thankfully the international community is not falling for that trick! Hence why you get left /center left wing Leaders / Governments like France, Australia, USA saying the same thing as more right/center right Governments such as Canada, Germany and the UK saying the same thing.
I appreciate that malicious forces always like to divide – totally agree there.
And aye, those who have not yet called for a full ceasefire (rather than just some sort of ‘pause’ in the mass slaughter innocent people) need to stop bickering and join the world (UN) in that, like the two western leaders I quoted have.
It’s a diplomatic minefield with most of the the region is up in arms about it (including inside Israel) and pockets of military conflict, there’s a very real danger of it getting out of control if they can’t give the Israeli government and IDF room to save face.
eg Sunak’s confirmation a malfunctioning Hamas rocket razed a hospital in Gaza to the ground is beyond preposterous, but highlighting Hamas has nothing even approaching that destructive capability would only inflame matters and back Netanyahu and the rest of the hard men into a corner.
The hospital wasn’t razed to the ground, blown out windows and pock-marked walls, but still standing. Nobody disputes that.
Yea it’s all about what you can sell, if calling it a ‘pause’ and taking the blame off for hospital is what it takes to get aid into Gaza then that’s what needs to be done . It might be an unpalatable solution to some, but far better than the alternative if aid continues not to get in.
Of course there is still domestic politics happening. It is not surprise that the UK & US who’s leaders have elections coming up that are very much going to be fought along left/right lines used their veto in the UNSC last night. The resolution would not of passed due to the number of abstentions even if they had not used their veto – that was used more for domestic purposes. Likewise Sánchez still needs to form a Government and will rely on support from the left to do that, his statement yesterday was as much about gaining that as it was anything else,
Sánchez still needs to form a Government and will rely on support from the left to do that
Unlike Starmer’s Labour, Sanchez’s socialists are the centre left. It’s not like he’d be looking for support from the right to form government. Short of any evidence he opposed a ceasefire and is just politicking, we have to assume he was just well intentioned like the world is being.
https://www.politico.eu/article/spain-election-socialists-strike-coalition-deal-far-left-sumar-alliance-pedro-sanchez-yolanda-diaz/
Spain’s Socialist Party (PSOE), led by outgoing Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and Yolanda Díaz’s far-left Sumar coalition on Tuesday signed an agreement to form a coalition government.
The deal includes a range of social measures, including proposals to regulate job cuts, raise the minimum wage and reduce working hours without decreasing salaries, according to Spanish outlet El Pais.
Unless you are going to argue that Yousaf is ‘looking to maintain Green backing for his coalition here’, and he’s not really behind the ceasefire?
“The main thing is that there is a cessation in the violence so that aid can get into Gaza and people in Israel are not facing rocket attacks”
Is it it aye
As genocide unfolds
Aye, the main thing is to completely stop the violence, not ‘pause’ it. No point quenching people’s thirst, filling their bellies and patching up their wounds just to then blow them to bits afterwards.
I don’t always agree with David Pratt but on this subject he is spot on.
The power of propaganda is depriving Palestinians of human rights
https://web.archive.org/web/20231026083813/https://www.thenational.scot/politics/23880018.power-propaganda-depriving-palestinians-human-rights/?ref=eb&nid=1302&u=a60e0e23c1cb42bde22067cc67201bf6&date=261023
How thorough BBC propaganda is. From a comment below the article:
Kate Adie once told me that during ‘The Troubles’, BBC reporters were told to use the word ‘wounded’ for ‘our side’ but ‘injured’ for republicans, to prevent any idea of equivalence.
UDA, UDF British Unionist terrorists = ‘Loyalists’
IRA Irish republican terrorists = ‘Irish republican terrorists’
Better from Biden.
https://archive.ph/Vas0b
Biden condemns retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday spoke out against retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. He also said he was redoubling his commitment to working on a two-state solution to end the decades-long Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Biden said the attacks by “extremist settlers” amounted to “pouring gasoline” on the already burning fires in the Middle East since the Hamas attack.
“It has to stop. They have to be held accountable. It has to stop now,” Biden said at the start of a news conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was being honored with a state visit to Washington.
A terrorist is a terrorist, be they Israeli or Palestinian; both should be condemned.