The UK is in limbo. A demoralised, debased, discredited, and largely defunct government is hanging on in office with what appears to be the sole aim of enriching its cronies for as long as might be possible before the careers of most of those now in office fade into thankful oblivion.
The most important political question of the day is, in that case, when should the general election be held? What do you think?
When should the general election be held?
- As soon as possible (78%, 217 Votes)
- May 2024 (15%, 43 Votes)
- Jnauary 2025 (4%, 12 Votes)
- October 2024 (3%, 7 Votes)
Total Voters: 279
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This comment by Bill Mitchell rings so true:-
“The government has not given way to the free market – it has just been reconfigured to become an agent of capital.”
https://billmitchell.org/blog/?p=61261
These are some of the principle reasons the rich really want to control government to minimise taxes and maximise subsidies and above all propagandise the lie government has no money of its own. The feeble minded British have put up with this nonsense for a very long time as a result the country is now in real trouble.
Good point Mr Schofield.
The problem is that all the parties (possible exception Greens) have been captured – body & soul. Thus, for UK serfs & slaves, there is no political choice, none.
“Feeble minded Brits”? – by design – the role of the UK’s mainstream meeja is exactly that – the cultivation of a an unthinking, compliant, passive population.
It has been very succesful over +/- a century. Evidence? Ragged Trousered Philanthropists – the latter chapters dealing with an election Libs vs Tories & absolutely no diff in policy – sound familiar?).
1984? Newspeak? we are there. e.g. “Woke” (the catch-all for fairness, justice, non-discrimination on the basis of skin, race, etc).
The Brits don’t “put up” with the nonesense, they swallow it & accept it. They always have, they always will, they are mostly, unquestioning slaves.
I agree Greens are not captured [by neoliberalism].
I have uttered at a Green Party national meeting – “If, and when the Green Party is large and has significant power I will probably not be a continuing member”. To shock and horror – because, by then, the political opportunists will have come aboard, but I live in hope, or with faith, as I have done so for the 54 years I have been an activist.
ASAP – not just to kick the Tories out, but to hold the SNP’s feet to the flames too. See which of the various strategies they’ve been flip-flopping between will actually be cleaved to.
I think you overestimate the extent to which a general election result might be linked to particular strategies.
I would disagree, since a GE is central to at least one of the strategies.
Oh come on….maybe 2% of Scots know that
I can’t see an election will make any difference. The ongoing looting will simply change overseers, that’s all.
Anything is better than keeping the overseers we have, surely.
If Starver keeps on the way he is he will have half the party MPs going independent in the next few months.
If everyone on here who thinks that tory1 and tory2 aren’t worth voting for and voted green at least the green party might stand a better chance. Oh, and persuade your friends and colleagues that a green vote is not a wasted vote.
Earlier this month, even I was surprised when Sunak stated that “nobody wants an election”. (I think polls suggested about 50% wanted one).
Did he really mean what he said?
If he did, it suggests he is so far divorced from reality he should never be allowed near government.
If he was lying, it is no improvement. When government cannot be trusted, an economy cannot function. It needs a reliable framework.
Perhaps he means that he needs another year (a) to sell off anything that moves, (b) to arrange lucrative jobs for departing colleagues, (c) to set up roadblocks to prevent the next Labour government from achieving anything
Off topic
I don’t want to suggest extra work for Richard, but should he consider writing entries for Wikipedia?
In the hope that Rachel Reeves might use them when she becomes chancellor?
🙂
If it’s held before the end of the year, then it’s likely Labour will have a largish majority. Based on Keir Starmer’s utterances, our decline will slow but not stop.
If it’s held next summer, then Labour’s majority will be smaller unless the Tory party continues with it’s self destruction.
If it’s held at the latest date possible, December I think, then who knows what will happen. Between now and then the Tory party could split, Labour could come up with some decent, well though out, detailed policies [I can dream], while the Lib Dems and the Greens could get together in a pact. The latter is the most likely as Labour shows no interest in an electoral pact. If the two of them do get together, then Labour could find itself in trouble in some seats, and the Tories could, unless they split, avoid a meltdown.
To paraphrase an ancient curse, ‘We live in interesting times’.
No we are at the end of days.
I am fealing too depressed this early in the morning.
I too wonder why LibDems and Greens don’t cooperate. As far as I can tell the LibDems are sympathetic to sound environmental policies and the Greens sympathetic to constitutional reform (PR) and better relations with Europe, with considerable overlap in other areas.
While their driving philosophies differ, the policy differences are small enough that they could easily agree to work together for a single candidate in winnable constituencies – and look like a credible alternative to the Tweedledum and Tweedledee main parties that could attract enough floating voters to stand a chance. For those of us without a party loyalty, the prospect of strong third and fourth parties in Parliament is attractive (leaving aside for the moment the Nationalist movements not an alternative for English voters).
Election as soon as possible. It seems as if this Tory govt is conducting a “scorched earth” policy, to make life as hard as possible for their successors. So the less time they have for these spoiling tactics, the better.
The question should not be WHEN, but HOW can the public democratically force a General Election when so few people want the current government to continue?
I hope that then next election happens AFTER the new water bills are issued next year – a reminder to us before we commit to whoever at the voting booth (not that it seems to matter anymore).
Whenever it it takes place the result will be a win by default because one tribe’s voters didn’t turn out. Currently I’d expect a win for Labour – a win for the Parliamentary Labour Party that is: Labour’s true constituency (many of whom don’t vote) will lose as they usually do.
I’m not sure it matters when it happens, but the sooner the present shower are ejected from the government benches the better. It will take a while for a new government to be quite so effectively destructive and frankly we could all do with a breather.
Many more people turn out to vote in General Elections than Local elections. It benifits the larger parties and skews political representation at a local level, particularly under first past the post voting systems. I think general elections should not be on the same day as Local Elections as it undermines decracy in local government.
Are you suggesting that you prefer fewer people voting for local councillors? That’s strange.