Politicians and Comedians

[pastoralguy]

Basically destroy the social nexus outside of the M25 - remember Thatcher was willing to see Liverpool decline to nothing

Which of her cohort commented that 'prosperity in the south at the expense of the North was a price worth paying'?

[Maclintick]

As Johnny Rotten sagely put it, "we know - and we don't care".

I forget where this 80s lyric originated (Billy Bragg ?) - "In The Papers, Same Old Story - Every Picture Sells A Tory"...Plus ça change...

[eighthobstruction]

....I winced when I heard Jo Brand deliver the 'acid' oneliner....and thought the host [Victoria Coren Mitchel] should have asked her for another answer as that one was bound to be problematic....and no doubt this was a recorded show and the BBC could have edited it out or second-taked (as they do on HIGNFY)....goodness there was already a fuss when some people condoned or partially condoned the milk-shakes thrown on various Brexit ******les....

Boris?????....once again not about us - all about Conservative Party....

[Dave2002]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/13/jo-brand-investigated-met-police-bbc-battery-acid-joke/

[eighthobstruction]

....well I wouldn't read the DT under any circumstances....in fact you could burn down the DT offices and I wouldn't mind....Oh whoops

[Conchis]

I complained to BBC Radio today about repeated references to a candidate called 'Boris' when all the other candidates were identified by their FULL names.

I'd make the same suggestion to people on this thread: if you don't like the c***, don't call him by his 'familiar' name: you know it's only what he wants you to do (besides, his pals call him 'Al').

[Conchis]

It somehow doesn't seem fair to exempt Corbyn from condemnation. He continues to be a hopeless leader of the Opposition with a fudged position on Brexit.

Sadly, Johnson will probably call a' 'khaki' election over Brexit in October and massacre Labour.

Any other Labour leader would have defeated Theresa May's shambolic shower in 2017 and all this would be behind us now.

[Richard Barrett]

If Johnson really is handed the poisoned chalice, it will be interesting to see how many of those Tories who said they wouldn't support him under any circumstances mysteriously fall into line. As for elections, clearly if the Tories thought they could win one they would have called it by now, whereas in fact that is very transarently the last thing that they want, and that almost certainly isn't going to change if Johnson becomes leader, besides which under general election circumstances his vacuous and mendacious bluster is going to be under a degree of scrutiny it's never had before.

[Dave2002]

....well I wouldn't read the DT under any circumstances....in fact you could ......

What about the Grauniad, then? https://www.theguardian.com/culture/...ry-acid-remark

[MrGongGong]

Basically destroy the social nexus outside of the M25 - remember Thatcher was willing to see Liverpool decline to nothing

As someone who does live outside the M25 I would suggest that this is far from the truth

If you live somewhere were "artists can afford to live" you will find that there are many connections going on

[MrGongGong]

It somehow doesn't seem fair to exempt Corbyn from condemnation. He continues to be a hopeless leader of the Opposition with a fudged position on Brexit.

I didn't realise we had an "opposition" ?

and i'm STILL arguing with random people who seem to think that everything is going to be wonderful...... one of these exchanges included someone telling me that the UK had no cultural connections with the rest of Europe. The idea that Britain (or rather England) is some kind of cultural Galapagos is very popular these days.

[ahinton]

If Johnson really is handed the poisoned chalice, it will be interesting to see how many of those Tories who said they wouldn't support him under any circumstances mysteriously fall into line. As for elections, clearly if the Tories thought they could win one they would have called it by now, whereas in fact that is very transarently the last thing that they want, and that almost certainly isn't going to change if Johnson becomes leader, besides which under general election circumstances his vacuous and mendacious bluster is going to be under a degree of scrutiny it's never had before.

Spot on. Whilst so much is being made of the massive lead that Johnson currently has over his competitor contenders, it is surely obvious that, even if he does "win" this "race", it will be of little consequence fot the future unless vast numbers of people are prepared to vote Conservative at the next GE, whenever that might be; the Tory party's showing in the local government and EU elections as well as the Peterborough by-election speaks eloquently for itself in demonstrating that it has not suffered anything like such a drubbing in living memory.

That said, it seems that the likelihood that Boris takes over is reigniting already problematic fires within the Labour party and it would not surprise me if it, too, announces a leadership election soon, for all that good that it and its outcome won't do, whatever it might be. It does now look as though the two-party stranglehold is at last approaching its demise, although one obvious downside of this is that the possibility of four parties vying with one another and no chance either of any of them gaining a majority or of agreement to form a viable coalition in the absence of one will likely mean that nothing constructive can get done for the foreseeable future - which might be thought to be the question as to whether UK is any longer governable in a meaningful sense.

[Conchis]

Spot on. Whilst so much is being made of the massive lead that Johnson currently has over his competitor contenders, it is surely obvious that, even if he does "win" this "race", it will be of little consequence fot the future unless vast numbers of people are prepared to vote Conservative at the next GE, whenever that might be; the Tory party's showing in the local government and EU elections as well as the Peterborough by-election speaks eloquently for itself in demonstrating that it has not suffered anything like such a drubbing in living memory.

That said, it seems that the likelihood that Boris takes over is reigniting already problematic fires within the Labour party and it would not surprise me if it, too, announces a leadership election soon, for all that good that it and its outcome won't do, whatever it might be. It does now look as though the two-party stranglehold is at last approaching its demise, although one obvious downside of this is that the possibility of four parties vying with one another and no chance either of any of them gaining a majority or of agreement to form a viable coalition in the absence of one will likely mean that nothing constructive can get done for the foreseeable future - which might be thought to be the question as to whether UK is any longer governable in a meaningful sense.

Could you PLEASE stop doing this?


I don’t agree with your final paragraph. Labour is notably poor at regicide and there is no obvious candidate who a) wants the job and b) could do it in a way that would secure electoral victory. When the Tories ditched Thatcher for Major in December 1990, their polling shot up overnight, yet Labour did not replace Kinnock with a more electorally appealing candidate (there were a couple available) and the Tories went on to win in 1992.

You are somewhat older than me, so you should understand that people have been predicting the end of two party politics since the early eighties. It hasn’t happend and I don’t expect it to happen in my lifetime.

Beyond our own echo chamber on here, the British public ate stupid, sentimental and bovine. They think Trump is doing a good job (he isn’t, but they are impressed by his ‘tough talk’) and they long for a Trump of their own. These are teh numbskulls who will decide the country’s fate.

[ahinton]

Could you PLEASE stop doing this?


I don’t agree with your final paragraph. Labour is notably poor at regicide and there is no obvious candidate who a) wants the job and b) could do it in a way that would secure electoral victory. When the Tories ditched Thatcher for Major in December 1990, their polling shot up overnight, yet Labour did not replace Kinnock with a more electorally appealing candidate (there were a couple available) and the Tories went on to win in 1992.

You are somewhat older than me, so you should understand that people have been predicting the end of two party politics since the early eighties. It hasn’t happend and I don’t expect it to happen in my lifetime.

Beyond our own echo chamber on here, the British public ate stupid, sentimental and bovine. They think Trump is doing a good job (he isn’t, but they are impressed by his ‘tough talk’) and they long for a Trump of their own. These are teh numbskulls who will decide the country’s fate.

Could who please stop doing what?

I know that people have long been predicting the end of two-party politics but how else might you interpret the atrocious performances of those two main parties in the local government and EU elections and the poor performance of one of them in Peterborough?

I agree with you about Trump and the unwarrantable respect and admiration that he attracts among certain people in UK.

[french frank]

Which of her cohort commented that 'prosperity in the south at the expense of the North was a price worth paying'?

Might have been this? (my apologies to Norman Fowler, I misremembered):

"If higher unemployment is the price we have to pay in order to bring inflation down, then it is a price worth paying."

Norman Lamont

But there was another quote about the north which someone here referenced in their 'location'? Indicating that it was more or less beyond the radar of politicians in the south.