UK Politics for the Next 10 Years

Laugh ftw

I believe you have to do that or else do one of the others.

Eddie Izzard would have it "We laughed, we cried, we made love"

so...

shurely the options are tory or racist?

voted laugh, as someone who lives in a country that saw their labour vote ^ 3%

Erm...

Dear US Consulate:

About that Green Card that I tore up/burned/posted the ashes to you in a little black box saying "FUCK OFF AND DIE" - erm, can I have it back now, pls?

KTHXBYE

I have defacto emigrated, however the number of santorum donors in my zip gives me pause.

I'm working on my French btw.

out of the frying pan...

a) lots of countries speak French
b) compensations in France for crapness of government are higher than here

Anyway I'm not emigrating as I believe in making sacrifices for your country also staying where the lulz are

however the number of santorum donors in my zip gives me pause

Context, Ed, context...

i can post some more pics of the west of ireland if it helps

haha ned I was thinking the same thing

No 'rage' or 'attack', no credibility.

'be hopeful'. the left will have to regroup and rethink shit. of course, they could go all michael foot, but i don't think the tories are very formidable, and they haven't won swathes of the country the way thatcher did.

and tbh unless cameron goes to war with pakistan or something, i don't see that it'll be *that* much worse -- other than the recession -- than the last half-decade.

the worst thing will be that cunt george osborne being in charge. i will seriously vote labour if he's still alive during the election.

and tbh unless cameron goes to war with pakistan or something, i don't see that it'll be *that* much worse -- other than the recession -- than the last half-decade.

First four or so years perhaps not, although they'll embark on a fairly brutal and gleeful process of cutting everything under the sun other than the NHS and international development budgets. I'm not convinced Labour even if they magically won the next election would be able to avoid cuts altogether and there would probably be some very hefty ones, but the difference is the Tories *really want* to do it.

The issue is what happens during the second term (and there probably will be one) and things will have had the opportunity to deteriorate significantly by then. I think a William Hague period is borderline inevitable for Labour, what they want to do is cut out the Iain Duncan-Smith/Michael Howard period in the middle.

if labour have to be out of power (and it's inevitable) then the next 5 years wouldn't be a bad time to do that.

they'll embark on a fairly brutal and gleeful process of cutting everything under the sun other than the NHS and international development budgets. I'm not convinced Labour even if they magically won the next election would be able to avoid cuts altogether and there would probably be some very hefty ones, but the difference is the Tories *really want* to do it.

pretty much, yeah, a replay of the 80s. at GB's press conference on friday the spectator's guy asked that exact question: we have seen a leak saying you will cut (whatever), and you don't need to be an economist to see that they will have to. the tories will cut social security, i'd guess.

impossible to guess how long they will last. it depends on labour finding some kind of USP (eg 'social democracy'? lol j/k) to differentiate themselves, while also finding a marketable leader. ie not alan johnson.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2008/11/mandelsen-brown-415x275.jpg

under PR all three options would have gotten in, i feel

I can always go back to Scotland if Cameron is elected <------- Ray Winstone moment

traitor

Scots Bev Bevan Threatens to Leave England If Tories Elected

come anticipate the labour leadership mexican standoff with me.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/rachel_sylvester/article6975876.ece

ed balls is a menace as a minister and would be a disaster as party leader imho.

ed balls is a menace as a minister and would be a disaster as party leader imho

Repeat for each MP in the UK, each TD in Ireland and whatever you're having yourself locally.

well yeah but ed balls would be especially bad. charmless, thuggish, hypocritical clod that he is.

anyone else have a sneaking suspicion that it's just sub-editors voting for him?

Now that you mention it...

Seriously, how does Ed Balls get such traction? No-one appears to like him, no-one thinks his ideas are any good, nearly every other political player goes out of their way to undermine him every time he tries to pull anything, and he performs poorly every time I see him. Yet Brown seems to feel compelled to try to plot a course between the 'Balls way' and the 'everybody else' way.

he was gordon brown's special advisor from 1994, so he's one of the few people he sees as loyal and trustworthy, i imagine.

That makes him sound like Rasputin.

Ed Balls is a cat that really was gone.

xpost that's probably a better comparison the cicero/caesar one in the times piece. anyway:

http://www.abovethelaw.com/images/entries/animated%20siren%20gif%20animated%20siren%20gif%LATEST: Former cabinet ministers Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt to make statement on Gordon Brown's leadership after PMQs. More details soon ...http://www.abovethelaw.com/images/entries/animated%20siren%20gif%20animated%20siren%20gif%

damn, drudgesiren.gif is broken. more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6977685.ece

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1633/1246/320/DrudgeSiren.gif

Lord Mandelson seems determined not to be blamed for switching off what one friend calls “Gordon’s life support machine”. But there is no doubt that he has become increasingly disillusioned with Mr Brown. At breakfast in a stately home a couple of months ago a small child asked him why he continued to back the Prime Minister. “That’s the only toy I have to play with,” he replied archly

Calling bullshit on this.

30 years ago that small child could kick a ball in Downing St.

jeffrey archer writing?

so apparently the Tories are instigating massive social cuts, esp to something called the Independent Living Fund? A friend who's been living with AIDS for 20 years was posting suicidal thoughts as a result today.

yeah Morbs, these cunts are doing everything possible to make life unbearable for disabled people and the chronically ill, if they die it will just be that much less on the welfare bill

and tbh unless cameron goes to war with pakistan or something, i don't see that it'll be *that* much worse -- other than the recession -- than the last half-decade.

hey i miss and respect my retired comrade but this is an example of how you can underestimate just what callous scumbags we've got in charge now. not that i could bring myself to vote Labour at the time. but to quote Aneurin Bevan, never the leftiest member of the party, No amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin.

As I understand it, responsibility for the Independent Living Fund is transferring from central government to regional authorities who can choose to cut money or not. In practice, you'd expect a pretty significant proportion to do so. It looks like a way of squeezing the funding without direct blame being apportioned to the Tories.

The only hope at this stage is that they are becoming so toxic they'll spend another couple of election cycles out of power but the opposition is so ineffectual, even if they win, it doesn't look likely that they will do so with much momentum for change.

A fund to help disabled people live independently is to close, the Government has confirmed.

Work and Pensions Minister Esther McVey said the Independent Living Fund was "unsustainable", telling MPs she understood the "anxiety" of disabled people who received direct payments from the scheme.

In a written ministerial statement, she said the Government had received about 2,000 responses to its consultation on the future of the fund but had decided to close it nevertheless.

The Government will continue to honour current payments until 2015. From then, responsibility for funding will pass to local authorities, she said.

Ms McVey told MPs: "We have considered all views carefully and, while I do understand user concerns, I do not think the current situation is sustainable."

as i read it:
a) local authorities will assume responsibility for people currently receiving ILF payments
b) central gov will not give local authorities any money to enable this
c) central gov is currently cutting the existing funding it gives to local authorities
d) somebody please drive a truck full of explosives into the middle of Downing Street

"user concerns" fucking fuck

tbf users are mostly wasting this money on fripperies like being able to leave their homes or receiving intimate personal care

I am pretty sure the budget is being transferred more or less intact but, in practice, there is nothing to stop councils using it to paper over the cracks in funding for other core services, or simply cut council tax. D) seems reasonable.

i did think initial that there wd be a transfer of budget but i can't find quotes and the article up there seems to imply the opposite

This article seems to suggest a transfer:

Under the plans, the ILF's budget in England will be transferred to councils, and its funding in the rest of the UK will be delegated to the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to use as they see fit. Funding will be allocated to councils and governments in line with existing ILF expenditure in different parts of the country to ensure as much continuity of resourcing as possible

http://www.communitycare.co.uk/articles/18/12/2012/118784/disabled-people-face-care-cuts-on-abolition-of-independent-living-fund.htm

this is presumably that thing where they cut funding to local councils and devolve executive functions simultaneously so the councils are then forced to decide which low profile service can be defunded most surreptitiously

Ten years is looking pretty fucking optimistic right now.