The UK Politics and EU Referendum thread - merged

[DaveShoelace]

Have any other parties ran on a campaign of free University for all in the last 20 odd years? It strikes me as one of the few things that would get younger voters to turn up.

[arbboy]

Surely having a general election bang in the middle of exam period isn't going to help get the young vote out right?

[aaron1867]

Have any other parties ran on a campaign of free University for all in the last 20 odd years? It strikes me as one of the few things that would get younger voters to turn up.

His tuition fee pledge is something that didn't appeal to me at all, as I don't believe in it at all. I believe that in fact tuition should just be cheaper, not free. However, this tuition thing is quite relatively new isn't it? It wasn't something I ever heard him speak of all that much. 75% though, if they get anywhere near that then they must surely be stopping the train

[Doobs]

Have any other parties ran on a campaign of free University for all in the last 20 odd years? It strikes me as one of the few things that would get younger voters to turn up.

Lib Dems were allegedly scrapping tuition fees in 2010.  Realpolitik caught up with that.

[BigAdz]

this is blood curdlingly embarrassing

i could hardly watch

the little clasp of dermot's hand when he realises he's got her is delicious

could be home secretary on Friday...(Diane, not Dermot)

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/06/watch-diane-abbotts-disastrous-turn-sky-news/

The Tories have hidden Leadsom and Hunt all campaign.

Why haven't Labour done the same with Abbott?

labour have hidden McDonnell too (apart from week 1)

I find the Abbott thing baffling.

It, her potential to be home secretary in the current security environment, might cost them a lot of votes

not saying Boris etc aren't liabilities either but Abbott? chairing cobra? come on...what IS Corbyn thinking of?

His dick is doing the talking one would imagine from 40 years ago!  You only have to have watched this week on a Thursday night for years after QT with Brillo and Choo Choo when Abbott was on there and Choo Choo struggled to keep a straight face at times with some of the nonsense Abbott used to spout.  It is mind bending she could actually have one of the top 4 government jobs next week.

She literally couldn't come across as any less competent, just horrible to watch on a human level. She appears to have literally no clue.

She loves playing the race card/woman in politics card/i am from poor hackney card all the time on TV but the reality is without all of these things she wouldn't be anywhere near where she is now in her career if she was a white, middle class, middle aged man educated privately.  She has used all of these factors to get where she is, as well as sleeping with the boss 40 years ago.  She is a classic example of giving women/ethnic minorities/working class people jobs they are not educated and qualified to do because of political correctness.

Oh come off it.  If anyone loves playing the race/political correctness card it is you.

As I have said before, both front benches are as weak as I can remember.  Both May and Corbyn are pretty low down in the best leader lists for their parties.  Liam Fox and David Davis have had positions at the top way too long.  Andrea Leadsom seems to be devoid of any talent.  I could go through the labour front bench pretty easily too.  Abbott is just one of many.

Not sure I get this.

Arbboy isn't in office. Abott is, and as Arb says, she has clearly stayed in this position for all the WRONG reasons.

[Doobs]

this is blood curdlingly embarrassing

i could hardly watch

the little clasp of dermot's hand when he realises he's got her is delicious

could be home secretary on Friday...(Diane, not Dermot)

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/06/watch-diane-abbotts-disastrous-turn-sky-news/

The Tories have hidden Leadsom and Hunt all campaign.

Why haven't Labour done the same with Abbott?

labour have hidden McDonnell too (apart from week 1)

I find the Abbott thing baffling.

It, her potential to be home secretary in the current security environment, might cost them a lot of votes

not saying Boris etc aren't liabilities either but Abbott? chairing cobra? come on...what IS Corbyn thinking of?

His dick is doing the talking one would imagine from 40 years ago!  You only have to have watched this week on a Thursday night for years after QT with Brillo and Choo Choo when Abbott was on there and Choo Choo struggled to keep a straight face at times with some of the nonsense Abbott used to spout.  It is mind bending she could actually have one of the top 4 government jobs next week.

She literally couldn't come across as any less competent, just horrible to watch on a human level. She appears to have literally no clue.

She loves playing the race card/woman in politics card/i am from poor hackney card all the time on TV but the reality is without all of these things she wouldn't be anywhere near where she is now in her career if she was a white, middle class, middle aged man educated privately.  She has used all of these factors to get where she is, as well as sleeping with the boss 40 years ago.  She is a classic example of giving women/ethnic minorities/working class people jobs they are not educated and qualified to do because of political correctness.

Oh come off it.  If anyone loves playing the race/political correctness card it is you.

As I have said before, both front benches are as weak as I can remember.  Both May and Corbyn are pretty low down in the best leader lists for their parties.  Liam Fox and David Davis have had positions at the top way too long.  Andrea Leadsom seems to be devoid of any talent.  I could go through the labour front bench pretty easily too.  Abbott is just one of many.

Not sure I get this.

Arbboy isn't in office. Abott is, and as Arb says, she has clearly stayed in this position for all the WRONG reasons.

Writing something in capitals doesn't make it true.  Arbboy is clearly just guessing why she is on office and so are you.  Neither of you is close the Labour front bench or Jeremy Corbyn. 

As others have said, there isn't a hige talent pool willing to sit on the Labour front benches with Corbyn/McDonnell.  She has more experience of politics than most of the others and  a lot more TV experience than all I guess.  Obviously this isn't showing in this interview.  Sure she probably isn't the best candidate, but that doesn't mean she is only there because she is black/woman/slept with Corbyn.

[BigAdz]

this is blood curdlingly embarrassing

i could hardly watch

the little clasp of dermot's hand when he realises he's got her is delicious

could be home secretary on Friday...(Diane, not Dermot)

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/06/watch-diane-abbotts-disastrous-turn-sky-news/

The Tories have hidden Leadsom and Hunt all campaign.

Why haven't Labour done the same with Abbott?

labour have hidden McDonnell too (apart from week 1)

I find the Abbott thing baffling.

It, her potential to be home secretary in the current security environment, might cost them a lot of votes

not saying Boris etc aren't liabilities either but Abbott? chairing cobra? come on...what IS Corbyn thinking of?

His dick is doing the talking one would imagine from 40 years ago!  You only have to have watched this week on a Thursday night for years after QT with Brillo and Choo Choo when Abbott was on there and Choo Choo struggled to keep a straight face at times with some of the nonsense Abbott used to spout.  It is mind bending she could actually have one of the top 4 government jobs next week.

She literally couldn't come across as any less competent, just horrible to watch on a human level. She appears to have literally no clue.

She loves playing the race card/woman in politics card/i am from poor hackney card all the time on TV but the reality is without all of these things she wouldn't be anywhere near where she is now in her career if she was a white, middle class, middle aged man educated privately.  She has used all of these factors to get where she is, as well as sleeping with the boss 40 years ago.  She is a classic example of giving women/ethnic minorities/working class people jobs they are not educated and qualified to do because of political correctness.

Oh come off it.  If anyone loves playing the race/political correctness card it is you.

As I have said before, both front benches are as weak as I can remember.  Both May and Corbyn are pretty low down in the best leader lists for their parties.  Liam Fox and David Davis have had positions at the top way too long.  Andrea Leadsom seems to be devoid of any talent.  I could go through the labour front bench pretty easily too.  Abbott is just one of many.

Not sure I get this.

Arbboy isn't in office. Abott is, and as Arb says, she has clearly stayed in this position for all the WRONG reasons.

Writing something in capitals doesn't make it true.  Arbboy is clearly just guessing why she is on office and so are you.  Neither of you is close the Labour front bench or Jeremy Corbyn. 

As others have said, there isn't a hige talent pool willing to sit on the Labour front benches with Corbyn/McDonnell.  She has more experience of politics than most of the others and  a lot more TV experience than all I guess.  Obviously this isn't showing in this interview.  Sure she probably isn't the best candidate, but that doesn't mean she is only there because she is black/woman/slept with Corbyn.

WHEN DID I SAY CAPITALS MEANS SOMETHING IS TRUE, Im just highlighting the point.

Show me a good interview with , must be loads of material out there, surely?

If there isn't, I think it is a pretty fair assessment to agree we aren't too far from the mark. She is totally inept, and she is always popping up the the "right" sort of shows to suggest, in more than just a coincidental way, she keeps her job as she fits the bill from an equality standpoint, not through ability.

[Doobs]

this is blood curdlingly embarrassing

i could hardly watch

the little clasp of dermot's hand when he realises he's got her is delicious

could be home secretary on Friday...(Diane, not Dermot)

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/06/watch-diane-abbotts-disastrous-turn-sky-news/

The Tories have hidden Leadsom and Hunt all campaign.

Why haven't Labour done the same with Abbott?

labour have hidden McDonnell too (apart from week 1)

I find the Abbott thing baffling.

It, her potential to be home secretary in the current security environment, might cost them a lot of votes

not saying Boris etc aren't liabilities either but Abbott? chairing cobra? come on...what IS Corbyn thinking of?

His dick is doing the talking one would imagine from 40 years ago!  You only have to have watched this week on a Thursday night for years after QT with Brillo and Choo Choo when Abbott was on there and Choo Choo struggled to keep a straight face at times with some of the nonsense Abbott used to spout.  It is mind bending she could actually have one of the top 4 government jobs next week.

She literally couldn't come across as any less competent, just horrible to watch on a human level. She appears to have literally no clue.

She loves playing the race card/woman in politics card/i am from poor hackney card all the time on TV but the reality is without all of these things she wouldn't be anywhere near where she is now in her career if she was a white, middle class, middle aged man educated privately.  She has used all of these factors to get where she is, as well as sleeping with the boss 40 years ago.  She is a classic example of giving women/ethnic minorities/working class people jobs they are not educated and qualified to do because of political correctness.

Oh come off it.  If anyone loves playing the race/political correctness card it is you.

As I have said before, both front benches are as weak as I can remember.  Both May and Corbyn are pretty low down in the best leader lists for their parties.  Liam Fox and David Davis have had positions at the top way too long.  Andrea Leadsom seems to be devoid of any talent.  I could go through the labour front bench pretty easily too.  Abbott is just one of many.

Not sure I get this.

Arbboy isn't in office. Abott is, and as Arb says, she has clearly stayed in this position for all the WRONG reasons.

Writing something in capitals doesn't make it true.  Arbboy is clearly just guessing why she is on office and so are you.  Neither of you is close the Labour front bench or Jeremy Corbyn. 

As others have said, there isn't a hige talent pool willing to sit on the Labour front benches with Corbyn/McDonnell.  She has more experience of politics than most of the others and  a lot more TV experience than all I guess.  Obviously this isn't showing in this interview.  Sure she probably isn't the best candidate, but that doesn't mean she is only there because she is black/woman/slept with Corbyn.

WHEN DID I SAY CAPITALS MEANS SOMETHING IS TRUE, Im just highlighting the point.

Show me a good interview with , must be loads of material out there, surely?

If there isn't, I think it is a pretty fair assessment to agree we aren't too far from the mark. She is totally inept, and she is always popping up the the "right" sort of shows to suggest, in more than just a coincidental way, she keeps her job as she fits the bill from an equality standpoint, not through ability.

Adz, here is Labour's front bench.

http://www.labour.org.uk/people/filter/c/shadow-cabinet

Other than Abbott, how many had you heard of 5 years ago?  I expect the vast majority of people would have struggled to name a handful, and quite a big chunk of them still couldn't. 

She is clearly one of the bigger names there.  A fair few of those appointments reek of desparation, and a fair few have only been in the posts a few months and haven't even been MPs much longer.

[titaniumbean]

not being a career shitbag isn't the most off putting thing for me.  can confirm have heard of literally no one there.


Abbot is a farce and I can't believe she could have failed upwards so hard without the use of the word diversity. Hope she does the honorable thing and quits politics to stop causing so much hurt to Labours chances.



Keir Starmer also seems very very competent and fills me with confidence. so swings and roundabouts.

[RickBFA]

Think its common sense to say the job would be better suited to a competent individually even if politically inexperienced rather than an incompetent veteran.

[kukushkin88]

not being a career shitbag isn't the most off putting thing for me.  can confirm have heard of literally no one there.


Abbot is a farce and I can't believe she could have failed upwards so hard without the use of the word diversity. Hope she does the honorable thing and quits politics to stop causing so much hurt to Labours chances.



Keir Starmer also seems very very competent and fills me with confidence. so swings and roundabouts.

Award winning barrister, former Human Rights Lawyer and former Director of Public Prosecutions seems like good credentials for the Home Office.

[TightEnd]

The thing that worries me is that every time I see almost ANY politician interviewed on tv, the interviewer seems to know more than they do.

it really is the case that there is far more talent outside the cabinet/shad cab than there is in it, at the moment

[BigAdz]

this is blood curdlingly embarrassing

i could hardly watch

the little clasp of dermot's hand when he realises he's got her is delicious

could be home secretary on Friday...(Diane, not Dermot)

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/06/watch-diane-abbotts-disastrous-turn-sky-news/

The Tories have hidden Leadsom and Hunt all campaign.

Why haven't Labour done the same with Abbott?

labour have hidden McDonnell too (apart from week 1)

I find the Abbott thing baffling.

It, her potential to be home secretary in the current security environment, might cost them a lot of votes

not saying Boris etc aren't liabilities either but Abbott? chairing cobra? come on...what IS Corbyn thinking of?

His dick is doing the talking one would imagine from 40 years ago!  You only have to have watched this week on a Thursday night for years after QT with Brillo and Choo Choo when Abbott was on there and Choo Choo struggled to keep a straight face at times with some of the nonsense Abbott used to spout.  It is mind bending she could actually have one of the top 4 government jobs next week.

She literally couldn't come across as any less competent, just horrible to watch on a human level. She appears to have literally no clue.

She loves playing the race card/woman in politics card/i am from poor hackney card all the time on TV but the reality is without all of these things she wouldn't be anywhere near where she is now in her career if she was a white, middle class, middle aged man educated privately.  She has used all of these factors to get where she is, as well as sleeping with the boss 40 years ago.  She is a classic example of giving women/ethnic minorities/working class people jobs they are not educated and qualified to do because of political correctness.

Oh come off it.  If anyone loves playing the race/political correctness card it is you.

As I have said before, both front benches are as weak as I can remember.  Both May and Corbyn are pretty low down in the best leader lists for their parties.  Liam Fox and David Davis have had positions at the top way too long.  Andrea Leadsom seems to be devoid of any talent.  I could go through the labour front bench pretty easily too.  Abbott is just one of many.

Not sure I get this.

Arbboy isn't in office. Abott is, and as Arb says, she has clearly stayed in this position for all the WRONG reasons.

Writing something in capitals doesn't make it true.  Arbboy is clearly just guessing why she is on office and so are you.  Neither of you is close the Labour front bench or Jeremy Corbyn. 

As others have said, there isn't a hige talent pool willing to sit on the Labour front benches with Corbyn/McDonnell.  She has more experience of politics than most of the others and  a lot more TV experience than all I guess.  Obviously this isn't showing in this interview.  Sure she probably isn't the best candidate, but that doesn't mean she is only there because she is black/woman/slept with Corbyn.

WHEN DID I SAY CAPITALS MEANS SOMETHING IS TRUE, Im just highlighting the point.

Show me a good interview with , must be loads of material out there, surely?

If there isn't, I think it is a pretty fair assessment to agree we aren't too far from the mark. She is totally inept, and she is always popping up the the "right" sort of shows to suggest, in more than just a coincidental way, she keeps her job as she fits the bill from an equality standpoint, not through ability.

Adz, here is Labour's front bench.

http://www.labour.org.uk/people/filter/c/shadow-cabinet

Other than Abbott, how many had you heard of 5 years ago?  I expect the vast majority of people would have struggled to name a handful, and quite a big chunk of them still couldn't. 

She is clearly one of the bigger names there.  A fair few of those appointments reek of desparation, and a fair few have only been in the posts a few months and haven't even been MPs much longer.

I rest my case.

Just because you are a name, and make have made a worthy contribution at some point in the past, but talk drivel now, doesn't make you right for the job.


Oh shit, am I in the Arsenal thread again?......

[StuartHopkin]

Surely having a general election bang in the middle of exam period isn't going to help get the young vote out right?

Student night on a Wednesday in Nottingham, cant see any of them making it the next day!

[TightEnd]

Yikes, this ship has sailed...even Nicola is rowing backwards


Scottish independence voting intention:

Yes: 38% (-1)
No: 50% (+1)

(via @YouGov / 01 - 05 Jun)