General Election 2019

The FT was kind.

The Telegraph was fucking ridiculous!

The Telegraph was fucking ridiculous!

This really shocked me.

Yes it's a conservative newspaper. But I'm sure it was never the rabid disseminator of propaganda it is now. It now sits alongside the Mail and Sun in terms of journalism. In fact that's harsh as even the DM still has some quality investigatory journalism.

People keep trying to argue for single issue post rationalisations. Please stop.

Not sure I've read anyone here argue for them. The closest to a single issue post rationalisation has been the people arguing against anyone highlighting JC's failings.

They let Johnson spout his anti EU rubbish cos it sold for years.

I've been shocked by the Times too recently. Shockingly low editorial standards at points.

Yep:
http://twitter.com/extremelysquid/status/1205672748598513664

Wearing two mismatched left shoes is odd though.

It certainly is. @Cycliste wore mismatched shoes all day once and only noticed after she'd finished work and went home. And she's adorable, so I'm not going to hold it against Diane Abbott, who was no doubt rather busy at the time.

Before he was for the EU.

On Brexit.

Indeed, part-way through the election campaign it’s clear the Labour leadership recognised that this issue was hurting the campaign and pivoted to Leave-voting constituencies in the North and Midlands, while keeping arch-Remainers like Emily Thornberry and Keir Starmer out of the media spotlight. This, unfortunately, proved too little, too late.

Once Labour was successfully manoeuvred into backing a second referendum, the electoral logic of this position was to try to capture the disgruntled middle classes, who form the social base of the second vote/Remain bloc, and to hope that working-class communities that had voted Leave in the referendum could be won over with promises of a brighter material future under a Labour government. In order to pursue this strategy, Labour had to try to make the election about everything but Brexit, but this was a naïve strategy that never stood a chance.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/why-we-lost-how-we-win

I agree with the brexit analysis. The battle should always have been for the post brexit agenda, not to stop brexit.

Going to Sedgefield to piss on Blair is a level of petty I can understand if not support

I agree with the brexit analysis. The battle should always have been for the post brexit agenda, not to stop brexit.

That's impossible though - the only way to fight Johnson's "it'll free Britain to soar like an eagle" bollocks would be to outdo him in hyperbole - which if it was successful would be exposed as soon as it was put into action. Tell the truth and being the only party being honest would get you written off as project fear writ large.

They probably did the only thing they could, which was to totally refuse to engage with what Brexit actually means.

That's impossible though - the only way to fight Johnson's "it'll free Britain to soar like an eagle" bollocks would be to outdo him in hyperbole - which if it was successful would be exposed as soon as it was put into action. Tell the truth and being the only party being honest would get you written off as project fear writ large.

They probably did the only thing they could, which was to totally refuse to engage with what Brexit actually means.

Not sure that's true. They could have made the point, less hyperbolic, difficult to swallow for many I agree, that Brexit will happen, we follow the mood, with the caveat that don't expect immediate gain. But we will honour the referendum. Corbyn was/is always a Eurosceptic, like many left leaning folk, on account of what they see as power vested in an undemocratic elite. Apart from many other areas where one might distrust him (not I , I should add) it came off as half hearted London-centred remain behaviour.

Apols for the poor quote/tech understanding. For clarity, my point starts at "Not sure..."

https://medium.com/@DrDanEvans/reflections-from-the-doorstep-e4337513d909

This is provoking some reactions.

Not sure that's true. They could have made the point, less hyperbolic, difficult to swallow for many I agree, that Brexit will happen, we follow the mood, with the caveat that don't expect immediate gain. But we will honour the referendum. Corbyn was/is always a Eurosceptic, like many left leaning folk, on account of what they see as power vested in an undemocratic elite. Apart from many other areas where one might distrust him (not I , I should add) it came off as half hearted London-centred remain behaviour.

But then none of their manifesto could happen - they'd have to tell the electorate that they would preside over a Labour version of austerity. Not a chance that that message (as honest as it would be) would win any votes.

https://bit.ly/2tjeAuU

Also worth reading

Edit - Accidentally replied to dammit.

32 pages, is there a meme version?

But then none of their manifesto could happen - they'd have to tell the electorate that they would preside over a Labour version of austerity. Not a chance that that message (as honest as it would be) would win any votes.>

I don't see the immediate connection between following what seems to have been the will (lied to or not), with a Labour version of austerity. If you think that a leave vote means decline, sure, but clearly a lot of the people don't feel that, right or wrong and given that economics is hardly an exact science the smart move would be to go with it

I see The Morning Star are getting quoted. If avid reader Corbyn had followed their advice and gone for a "People's Brexit" Labour might not be in the mess it is now. Morning Star the voice of reason.

Smart move is dishonest, and it’s what Johnson did. I thought the point of Corbyn was that he had integrity?

He does. No doubt. So he should have stuck to his Euro scepticism. That would have been both smart and true.

And totally out of step with the party.

I think everyone is forgetting that the NEC set the policy

For sure and a good point. I don't blame Corbyn for the loss.

https://medium.com/@DrDanEvans/reflectio­ns-from-the-doorstep-e4337513d909

This is provoking some reactions.

Socialists still talk so much about class and the class system...of course this guy is a sociologist so that's extra reason to talk about it, but how many people actually identify as a certain class anymore? Clearly not many. You can't act like 'how could you vote Conservative when you're working class?' to someone to whom the thought that they might be working class doesn't cross their minds!

Left wing thinking is woefully out of date, still engaging with potential supporters as if they belong to one oppressed mass, while these individuals carry on in what they perceive to be their own separate destinies.

That's the reaction it provoked in me anyway...