T_i_B
T_i_B's JournalWhen this is all over
We will need to have a constitutional convention to overhaul the British Constitution.
Lack of checks and balances has resulted in the British Constitution being completely broken by bad Conservative politicians.
Some major issues have come to light for the government
One is that people spend more money when they work in an office as opposed to working from home.
When I'm in the office I spend more on transport and food. If the papers weren't such a steaming pile of crap then maybe I might have considered buying one of those as well. There's also more opportunity to nip out to the shops to buy other things rather than buying stuff online. Some people also socialise straight after finishing at work. All this adds up to a lot of economic activity (especially in Central London) and the loss of this is hurting a lot of people.
This is a major reason why the press is so shrill on this point. They are losing a big chunk of their readership. To be honest I wish they would admit this point when shrieking about the supposed evils of working from home.
The second point is that this is having a dramatic effect on how and where people shop. Not just the move to buying online but also where I live it is very noticeable that people are keeping to the suburbs and out of the city centre.
The future looks very bleak for town centres. High Street retail is doing really badly and town centre living with it's lack of space is looking a lot less attractive than it used to. And homelessness, which is already a big problem in town centres is going to be an even bigger problem going forward.
That picture would get you an instant lifetime ban...
.... On the local community Farcebook group where I live. Partly because the admin is a Tory activist who works for a local Tory MP!
Needless to say that said local community Farcebook group does tend to be quite right wing as a result. Local community Farcebook groups often show off the best in local communities but they also frequently show off the worst side and I don't think this is always an accident.
Nevertheless, you can clearly see from these things how Tory voters are thinking at present. They are just as concerned about Coronavirus and social distancing as anybody else. And somebody trying to stoke up anti lockdown sentiment in such places will be sure to get a very hostile reception from all sides of the political spectrum.
I respectfully disagree
I don't buy into Coronavirus conspiracy theories or pillory Johnson every time he addresses the nation. I also think that the government has an unimaginably difficult job with this crisis. However, I do think that other nations governments have handled this better and the comparison to President Fart sets a very low bar.
The government has spurned cooperation with EU countries to a wholly unnecessary degree. The "herd immunity" strategy didn't work. The British government has often dithered in making unpleasant but necessary decisions and advice has often not been clear enough.
I was especially unimpressed with the way the government threw the hospitality sector under the bus by telling people not to go out but refusing to close bars and restaurants. And then announcing that they were closing restaurants at 5pm on a Friday night!
Once upon a time....
.... The Daily Telegraph used to be a pretty good newspaper. Always right wing yes, but it used to be well written and have good reporting of the news.
Those days are gone. Every time I read anything from the Torygraph at present on any subject it's cringingly bad.
Hmm...
Barry Gardiner is an atrocious politician who clearly doesn't have the slightest clue about his current policy brief or any desire to learn about his current policy brief. He is clearly the worst choice.
I'm not a fan of Thornberry at all and I certainly don't think she will do anything to stop the current hemorrhaging of Labour votes in traditionally Labour areas.
Lisa Nandy comes across as another Caroline Flint. Which is not what's needed at all. We need a leader of the opposition who will actually hold the government to account over the disastrous project to leave the EU.
Long Bailey is being portrayed as the "continuity Corbyn" candidate, which will be a blessing for her in this contest and a curse outside of the Labour Party. I don't find her especially inspiring to be honest.
I like a lot of what Clive Lewis has to say, but he has had sexual harassment allegations made against him, which will be used to attack him.
I agree with a lot of what Jess Phillips says, but she does come across as being extremely full of herself, and the Momentum wing of the party hate her guts.
I like some things about Kier Starmer, but there does seem to be a lot of people inside and outside the Labour Party with a grudge against him.
Labour's problems go much deeper than Corbyn
As disastrous as his leadership has been.
And everything I've seen from Labour since the election has seemed to be focused on people from one faction blaming the other factions. (see Caroline Flint for a particularly heinous example of this) Nobody seems to realise how much of a turn off the obsession with internal factional issues really is.
Labour has taken people in a lot of places for granted and failed to connect with voters. That's the first issue that needs addressing. In South Yorkshire / North Derbyshire Labour totally failed to grasp that people have moved on from the coal mining era. An error that Labour would be very likely to double down on if Ian Lavery were to be elected leader.
With Labour in such a weak position now they need to work with other opposition parties, which they moved firmly away from under Corbyn.
One issue that should be a major concern to all progressives is that whilst Britain is still horribly divided, it's no longer on class lines as such. The divide these days is much more generational, and with Britain having an ageing population that puts the Tories at a major advantage.
And yes, Corbyn himself was a major turn off, as was much of Labour's policy platform. The thing I learnt from this election is that in a choice of the worst government of all time and the worst opposition of all time people will always choose the governing party as they at least are a known quantity.
It's not the only issue
I've been saying for some time that Labour has major problems in areas like Bolsover. Not just strong anti EU sentiment but also demographic changes (Bolsover itself is becoming something of a retirement town) and a few issues with Labour themselves.
I now have a Tory MP again
Labour ran a poor campaign locally and their vote has collapsed.
I don't think much to the incoming MP Miriam Cates, although I did note some people referring to her as "Boris's girlfriend" or even worse still mistaking her for Jennifer Accuri!
Demographics play a large part here
The UK has an aging population, with a large proportion of the population being over 60. The elderly are very susceptible to backward looking, reactionary and at times bigoted politics. And it's the elderly who are the most likely to vote in elections.
The OAP block vote is an enormous part of British politics at present, it's been a major factor in the rise of UKIP, the Tories ever rightward drift, the Tories moving away from being a party of trade and free enterprise, Labour's decline in old coal mining areas with an aging population and of course the 2016 referendum and subsequent disastrous project to leave the EU.
There are other factors that have exacerbated things such as the failure of political parties to attract and recruit the best and brightest people but the massive OAP block vote is a major factor, and how it splits between the Conservative party and the Brexit pity party will define the general election.
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