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"And it brings us to Starmer’s leadership campaign — that is, the means by which he won the confidence of sufficient Labour members to place him in the position of potential prime minister. Last week, it was reported that Starmer is likely to abandon the party’s commitment to raise income tax on those earning more than £80,000 a year: that is, the top 5% of earners. Yet, during the leadership campaign, Starmer issued a document known as the 10 Pledges. The first of those pledges — still live on Starmer’s website — under the heading “Economic justice”, is “Increase income tax for the top 5% of earners”, driving it home with a final flourish: “No stepping back from our core principles.” Such was the Starmer campaign’s emphasis on this pledge that one of his key aides personally rang me up to underline its cast-iron nature."
Suck it up...
But whatever happens next, ask yourself truthfully: if you care about Johnson’s dishonesty but dismiss Starmer’s, then do you really care about dishonesty at all, or do you just resent being on the receiving end of it? And when you answer — unlike Britain’s two leading politicians — try to be honest.
[Post edited 31 May 2022 20:54]
"They break our legs and tell us to be grateful when they offer us crutches."
Politicians .....never believe them! on 22:43 - May 31 by MattinLondon
Unfortunately we don’t. Lefties who’d rather smear a Labour politician because he’s not as left as them and consequently allowing the Tories to retain power. Enablers who voted for Brexit and, in time, erode workers rights - the same rights they state that they hold dear.
Workers' rights are so 1970's....keep up! Oh and the Tories have been in power ever since in case you missed it!! But the EU will save us all!!
"They break our legs and tell us to be grateful when they offer us crutches."
Politicians .....never believe them! on 22:55 - May 31 by BanksterDebtSlave
Workers' rights are so 1970's....keep up! Oh and the Tories have been in power ever since in case you missed it!! But the EU will save us all!!
You and your cynical one dimensional bull s**t won’t save anyone. But as long as you can make some point about someone who may or may not do something at some point in the future which may or may not happen, then it’s all good.
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Politicians .....never believe them! on 23:05 - May 31 with 628 views
Politicians .....never believe them! on 22:37 - May 31 by BanksterDebtSlave
Or you can learn from experience.
Or not learn, seemingly. Anyone who thinks this is currently as good as it can be is a fruit loop. There are (almost literally) countless ways things have got drastically worse since 2010. With no evidence whatsoever that a return to even the dastardly’Blue Labour’ wouldn’t change anything. We’re not going to get an idealistic nirvana whoever ends up in number 10, so let’s just go for the best we have to choose from rather than propping up the worst.
Politicians .....never believe them! on 23:03 - May 31 by MattinLondon
You and your cynical one dimensional bull s**t won’t save anyone. But as long as you can make some point about someone who may or may not do something at some point in the future which may or may not happen, then it’s all good.
Let's just carry on with drip....drip...drip then.
"They break our legs and tell us to be grateful when they offer us crutches."
Politicians .....never believe them! on 23:05 - May 31 by Swansea_Blue
Or not learn, seemingly. Anyone who thinks this is currently as good as it can be is a fruit loop. There are (almost literally) countless ways things have got drastically worse since 2010. With no evidence whatsoever that a return to even the dastardly’Blue Labour’ wouldn’t change anything. We’re not going to get an idealistic nirvana whoever ends up in number 10, so let’s just go for the best we have to choose from rather than propping up the worst.
I have no problem with honesty that the choice is between sh1t and sh1tter but let's not delude ourselves that it is more than that. I can see a certain appeal from a middle class perspective though.
"They break our legs and tell us to be grateful when they offer us crutches."
Politicians .....never believe them! on 21:33 - May 31 by BanksterDebtSlave
Be sure to add rolling back anti demonstration legislation to the list of things he (they) will definitely not do!
Can we also add 'taking money from the openly repressive Iranian government' and 'defining the Russian government' the list of 'things Starmer hasn't done' list?
[Post edited 31 May 2022 23:50]
I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
Politicians .....never believe them! on 22:37 - May 31 by BanksterDebtSlave
Or you can learn from experience.
And do what exactly?
It's all fine and dandy criticizing what there is available, (most of us agree on that to some extent at least), but to hark on without offering any solutions just makes it sound like egotistical ramblings.
We know the incumbents are utter trash and we know Starmer has already torn up his own list of pledges. What do you suggest other than voting for one of the other parties available?
Starmer has said he wants to get Labour in first and foremost. Whether he can be trusted beyond that who knows.
And yes we deserve better than only the option to vote for someone less worse than the other and it stinks that's all there is. But aside from setting up your own party...
There's not much to be gained from crowing how you're so more enlightened than everyone else if you're also not in a position to change it.
Starmer wouldn't be my first choice either but the way our system is laid out it's the only realistic current hope there is of ridding the country of the current mess.
Politicians .....never believe them! on 22:00 - May 31 by HARRY10
Poor righties, the desperation now just oozes out
Previously they had bleated the words written on the side of the barn wall
"No windfall tax... baa baa.... it will stop investment...baa baa....it will cause inflation.... baa baa...master knows best.... baa baa "
After months of this, there was a windfall tax - a massive u-turn by the shyster who seems to have been suffering from his own inflation over the years. Mind you it was barely a week since his last u-turn.
And a thought re the upcoming vote of confidence. Should Windbag not be defeated, even he would not be so stupid as to try and carry on. The opposition could then simply call a vote of no confidence, which Windbag would lose, as the opposition would only need 40 Tories to vote with them.
It would not bring the government down, but it would signal to the Parliamentary Tory party that trying to retain the walrus as some kind of roving hi viz jacket clad liar was a non starter.
So maybe the cap diffing righties on here might begin to accept the inevitable. The crane has been booked as has Pickfords. It just needs a few windows to be removed, before they can begin the process of winching his bloated form out of the building.
You don't actually know what you're arguing about at this point, do you?
I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
Politicians .....never believe them! on 22:06 - May 31 by BanksterDebtSlave
Sorry to break this to you Harry but your team's man Starmer is a rightie too....and his waistline seems to be expanding!
Mind you, your man Jezza hangs out with homophobes, antisemites, sided with the Brexit lot and helped the Tories to their biggest electoral win in half a century...
I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
Politicians .....never believe them! on 22:40 - May 31 by BanksterDebtSlave
So which of the governments in your life experience is it that gives you cause for optimism because my experience is that simply getting rid of those you most despise is a recipe for further disillusionment.
Whta's the solution then Banksy? It's all very well going 'boooooooooo' because nobody matches up to your ideals(and no-one will do that - your man Jezza is just as incompetent and happy to hang out with bigots and dodgy regimes as Tony Blair or Boris Johnson, btw) but at some point, you've got to stop playing sixth form edge lord and live in the real world.
[Post edited 1 Jun 2022 1:19]
I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
Politicians .....never believe them! on 01:12 - Jun 1 by BlueBadger
Whta's the solution then Banksy? It's all very well going 'boooooooooo' because nobody matches up to your ideals(and no-one will do that - your man Jezza is just as incompetent and happy to hang out with bigots and dodgy regimes as Tony Blair or Boris Johnson, btw) but at some point, you've got to stop playing sixth form edge lord and live in the real world.
[Post edited 1 Jun 2022 1:19]
This is the bit I'm struggling with.
I agree with some of what Bankster says and the majority of whom I've seen on offer don't match up to my ideals either.
Now what? Nothing's changed since I typed that. The earth hasn't moved. The TV is showing the same channel.
I don't feel I've shared anything you and most sane people don't already know.
Politicians .....never believe them! on 00:06 - Jun 1 by jeera
And do what exactly?
It's all fine and dandy criticizing what there is available, (most of us agree on that to some extent at least), but to hark on without offering any solutions just makes it sound like egotistical ramblings.
We know the incumbents are utter trash and we know Starmer has already torn up his own list of pledges. What do you suggest other than voting for one of the other parties available?
Starmer has said he wants to get Labour in first and foremost. Whether he can be trusted beyond that who knows.
And yes we deserve better than only the option to vote for someone less worse than the other and it stinks that's all there is. But aside from setting up your own party...
There's not much to be gained from crowing how you're so more enlightened than everyone else if you're also not in a position to change it.
Starmer wouldn't be my first choice either but the way our system is laid out it's the only realistic current hope there is of ridding the country of the current mess.
And, lest we forget, Jeremy Corbyn was quite happy to be paid to appear on Iranian state TV and turn out in defence of the Russian governemt(after the Salisbury assassination attempts) for free.
I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
Politicians .....never believe them! on 01:20 - Jun 1 by BlueBadger
Quite. None of is pretending that Keir Starmer(say) is The Answer, but he's a f**k of a sight better than what we have, right now.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Starmer isn’t the next Blair. He isn’t going to sweep into power with a massive majority.
He is a Kinnock. Somebody who is detoxifying the Labour Party and presenting it as a real alternative government.
Where he may succeed where Kinnock failed is that he is up against an absolutely woeful and incompetent Tory Prime Minister who believes in nothing other than what is best for himself. Politics aside, no one could say that about Thatcher.
If people are expecting Starmer to recreate a “things can only get better” movement, they will be very disappointed. If they want decency, principles and a steady hand on the wheel then Starmer is just the man.
Politicians .....never believe them! on 06:40 - Jun 1 by GlasgowBlue
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Starmer isn’t the next Blair. He isn’t going to sweep into power with a massive majority.
He is a Kinnock. Somebody who is detoxifying the Labour Party and presenting it as a real alternative government.
Where he may succeed where Kinnock failed is that he is up against an absolutely woeful and incompetent Tory Prime Minister who believes in nothing other than what is best for himself. Politics aside, no one could say that about Thatcher.
If people are expecting Starmer to recreate a “things can only get better” movement, they will be very disappointed. If they want decency, principles and a steady hand on the wheel then Starmer is just the man.
With the present political and electoral systems in this country (including financial backing for parties, media support, tribalism, etc.), we are forced into choosing the the lesser of two evils.
Starmer has flaws, but would it be preferable to keep Johnson in so as to prevent the former from leading the government (even as part of a coalition)? That is the stark decision - in a pragmatic rather than idealistic sense - we have to make at the ballot box.
It would be lovely if there were better candidates, more ideological purity, sticking to promises and so on. But electoral victory has to be engineered, in a climate where fewer people of voting age are politically or socially radical than at some other times in the short history of widespread suffrage*. Because the present lot aren't interested in reform which could lessen their own chances of keeping a hold on power (and raking in "donations").
* The young and even some of the old might be, but a lot of the middle aged are very conservative, with varying sizes of "C", or wilfully uninterested in anything beyond TV drama - the modern opium of the masses.
Politicians .....never believe them! on 23:25 - May 31 by BanksterDebtSlave
I have no problem with honesty that the choice is between sh1t and sh1tter but let's not delude ourselves that it is more than that. I can see a certain appeal from a middle class perspective though.
You sound like someone who can afford to wait for 'perfect', but also go on about 'middle class' perspective, all while voting for Brexit?!!!
Cake eat it and a cherry on top.
Has anyone ever looked at their own postings for last day or so? Oh my... so sorry. Was Ullaa
Politicians .....never believe them! on 09:17 - Jun 1 by Guthrum
With the present political and electoral systems in this country (including financial backing for parties, media support, tribalism, etc.), we are forced into choosing the the lesser of two evils.
Starmer has flaws, but would it be preferable to keep Johnson in so as to prevent the former from leading the government (even as part of a coalition)? That is the stark decision - in a pragmatic rather than idealistic sense - we have to make at the ballot box.
It would be lovely if there were better candidates, more ideological purity, sticking to promises and so on. But electoral victory has to be engineered, in a climate where fewer people of voting age are politically or socially radical than at some other times in the short history of widespread suffrage*. Because the present lot aren't interested in reform which could lessen their own chances of keeping a hold on power (and raking in "donations").
* The young and even some of the old might be, but a lot of the middle aged are very conservative, with varying sizes of "C", or wilfully uninterested in anything beyond TV drama - the modern opium of the masses.
As usual, sums it up succinctly.
That said, another way to approach a GE is to vote for the candidate you feel best represents your position locally. For me, that would be the Green candidate in my constituency (as of now).
The decision to be pragmatic in order to oust the Tories (vote Labour) or true to my politics (vote Green) is one that I take pretty seriously come election time.
Politicians .....never believe them! on 09:26 - Jun 1 by unbelievablue
As usual, sums it up succinctly.
That said, another way to approach a GE is to vote for the candidate you feel best represents your position locally. For me, that would be the Green candidate in my constituency (as of now).
The decision to be pragmatic in order to oust the Tories (vote Labour) or true to my politics (vote Green) is one that I take pretty seriously come election time.
'... is to vote for the candidate you feel best represents your position locally.'
Also my preferred approach and how the system was designed to work in the first place, before the modern ossified (and, to a large extent, ideologically divorced) party system came into existence. In a time when political groupings were fluid and MPs would group together based on the issues of the day*, rather than trying to force the structures of a century ago into the modern era and when crossing the floor** is seen as the ultimate betrayal.
* Even in the 18th century, a time of massive corruption and patronage, there tended to be a significant difference between government and opposition on the major issues, rather than simply claiming they can do the same job slightly better.
** As Churchill did - twice - as late as the first quarter of the 20th century, without thereby harming his career.
Good to raise this, Banksy. And I think many of the responses confirm Jones’s point re: accepting lies if they help your agenda.
We should have much better than both Johnson’s Tories or Starmer’s Labour. More honesty and integrity, yes, but really it’s the inadequacy of the ideas and policies that is the most worrying.
I don’t think the UK will survive much more of this pretense that these people represent the UK’s best interests rather than their own.
Pronouns: He/Him
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Politicians .....never believe them! on 09:47 - Jun 1 with 406 views
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