Next general election - who to vote for

Toko Black

Dude...the media!

And again, let's focus on the problems in the Labour party and Corbyn's lack of leadership rather than the sh*t show that is Brexit and Teresa May's wonderful "leadership" that does have a direct impact on what this country is and what it will become!

Kotatsu Neko

Which media company does Margaret Hodge work for!

Or any of the various Jewish groups which have criticised Labour and Corbyn?

We can't do both?

BobbyMac

This is the Political section after all, naturally we all know these things when we discuss and vote
feel free to actually discuss the racism in the party with specific examples. At the moment you aren’t doing that.

Ruudfood

The focus on Jeremy and Boris ensure they remains in the media headlines and heavily discussed on the social media.

Meanwhile Theresa gets very little attention except in the more conservative newspapers.

...And what percentage of the population reads those?

Ruudfood

I strongly believe a considerable amount of that shift in definition and perception is down to the pervasive influence of the US culture/media/political commentators - through TV, films, books and of course more recently through the internet.

For a considerable portion of the US right, even supporting the NHS would mark you down as a closet communist.

EarthRod

John Mcdonnel is, when he thinks he isn't being recorded, honest about being a marxist -                                
That should terrify everyone. Marxism is a deadly ideology which directly lead to the mass starvation and death of millions of people. It is for all intents and purposes identical to fascism.

pcaddy

Yep it's taken 8 years of austerity for a modest £2bn surplus in 2018 whilst the national debt has soared by 75%

                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                               

I'd argue that when interests rates where low along with material costs like steel & concrete that was the time to stimulate the economy and invest in cost conscious infrastructure rather than sell large chunks off the Royal Mail/RBS/National Grid on the cheap (and the dreadful Hinckley Point deal)

You can call it an increase in public spending in NI (already the highest subsidised part of the UK prior), I'd call it a bung to keep the Tories in power after a catastrophic election calculation where they even turned on their base

EDIT the extra £1.5Bn should have resulted in increased Barnett consequentials for Wales & Scotland, it didn't

fluxo

Boris Johnson! Do I need to say more?  Well, ok...

“...the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies”.
"No doubt the AK47s will fall silent, and the pangas will stop their hacking of human flesh, and the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief..."

2 quotes from 2002! It took him 6 (SIX!) years to apologise. But that doesn't stop him from becoming foreign sercretary, does it?  

No. Why? Because he's Eton-educated, bumbling Boris and it's just a "gaffe" or a "social faux pas".  So the UK media will sweep it under the carpet while the status quo of institutional racism is allowed to continue unabated because, hey, what are those poor Indians and Africans going to do, eh?

But because there are more Jews than Africans in positions of power in the media and business, here and in the US, they can drive the narrative and keep banging the drum about Corbyn and anti-semitism.

Here are more examples of racism in the Conservatives from May 2018 alone: EIGHTEEN Tory Councillors and Candidates were suspended for racism or abuse last month alone | Evolve Politics

Going back to my original point, neither racism nor anti-semitism are acceptable but people need to read around the (mainly right-wing) mainstream media.

fluxo

Not as significant as being in surplus overall. You can exclude chunks of spending to make the government’s finances look better than they are, but you’re not fooling anyone by doing so.

BobbyMac

Who am I trying to fool? I've said clearly it's on day to day spending.

It's clearly significant as we haven't run a surplus on day to day spending since 2002!