I am so full of admiration for Charlotte Nichols’ courage in talking about this - particularly awful that as a woman in public life she will have had to consider first how people might use this information against her, especially online. Hope she has all the support she needs.
Good article here by @jamesbreckwoldt.bsky.social, even if I am someone who tends to lean towards bottom-up explanations for most social changes, both those I agree with and those I don't.
I'm reminded of that (probably apocryphal) quote from Alexandre Ledru-Rollin, a leader of French Revolution:
The US strikes on Iran are extremely unpopular with the public, and only getting more so as time goes on.
Green Party say 'Hannah Spencer won't be silenced' and hit out at 'angry men' after Piccadilly Gardens violence
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater...
@willcooling.bsky.social's point that Farage is a very 'european' style politician is perceptive, and his weakness under FPTP is something I wrote about last January.
Making yourself someone others want to vote *against* is fine in a PR system, but is a serious weakness under FPTP.
This was a thoughful analysis of Farage's place in British politics and the difficulty of predicting Reform's success long term.
It reminds me that after my upcoming piece on the Grns and LDs, I must get around to writing my own piece on Farage's potentially splintering hold on the British right.
Quite possibly, which could throw up some really wild results.
There's a a few 2005/2010 Lib Dem seats that could see a resurgence for the Libs, or coastal Con seats that are primed for Reform to eat the Tory vote whole.
So much could rest on Labour's ability to shore up its vote.
Yeah there's only one Buckinghamshire!
The moment I realised just how much trouble the Cons were in was when I went hiking on the Jurassic Coast last year. Got off at the train station in a lovely Dorset village, extremely Tory coded.
I checked the local council results, and it was firmly Lib Dem.
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/2024-general-election-marginality/
I think it's been forgotten just how dire the Tories' position is, 121 seats is by no means their floor.
I was doing some research last night, and came across quite a few Con seats that have tiny majorities versus Labour or the Libs in the SE/SW.
6/20 of the most marginal seast are Tory held!
If the Tories do die as a party of government, this will largely be why.
Their brand has always been 'tough but competent', or words to that effect. They don't have the ingrained loyalty based on values that Labour or the Liberals/Lib Dems have (outside of a few specific parts of the South East).
At that point they're already up to 9-10% from 6% at the GE though.
I do think without Polanski they wouldnt be doing quite so well, but I agree with @mariosrichards.bsky.social that this is primarily about Labour's electoral weakness (and decisions, had Burnham been chosen I think he'd have won).
Yeah I think it's been forgotten that the Green vote was trending upwards before Polanski.
He's definitely worth a few % by himself, but the Green's position was noticeably improving before he became leader.
The main thing that's changed since then is that more Lab voters have gone Grn than LD.
This has a lot of historical precedent, even the 1920s Labour government's under MacDonald were (arguably fatally) concerned with balanced budgets and 'sound money'.
“The day will come when the Joybells will ring again”: London Transport poster, 1944, by Anna Katrina Zinkeisen.
The Prime Minister has got a modest bounce in reduced overall disapproval, from his position on the US attack on Iran. (His position on the crisis more popular than his govt)
Despite gap in approval, still in a near tie (+1 on Badenoch, -2 to Farage) on PM choices
www.opinium.com/resource-cen...
Genuinely a big issue for the Tories is that the (honestly not uncommon) centre-right liberal described here flipped to the LDs in 2019/2024 and isn't coming back.
For me, the best breakup song ever written is Goodbye Stranger by Supertramp.
And that's in large part because it *wasn't* written as a breakup song.
On the other hand, my other top picks (Tears Dry On Their Own by Amy Winehouse and Never Forget You by the Noisettes) were written as breakup songs.
Note that the electoral side is that important given how awful this proposal is but... I am sure the sight of sobbing children being handcuffed and dragged onto planes will boost the Government's standing with the progressive voters we're losing.
Fuck. This.
To be clear I do think inequality is a problem, one that we should be looking to tackle.
But by itself that won't get us out the mire the British economy is trapped in.
Since 2008 we (and Europe) have been trialling a stable, low growth economy.
And as it turns out, that makes everyone miserable.
While inequality remains high by both historical and global standards, it's not been rising for a while, so it's not really possible to blame it for the malaise of the last 18 years.
I'm now more convinced then ever that low and stagnant growth is the main reason for our economic issues since 2008.
Alex Kingston is such a joy. I must rewatch the 11th Doctor's era.
One thing I really value about living in the UK is the fact that we are a high trust, broadly tolerant nation.
It's one of those little things that helps grease the wheels of everything else good about your society.
(Plus the often discussed on here issue of middle-to-higher earners paying into benefits that they themselves aren't able to claim because they're capped at a certain income level.
I do think we need to consider "fairness" as a social as well as economic issue when rebuilding the social contract).
I also don't know what definition we're using of 'wealthy' here. Even most people in the top 20% of earners are using public services first, especially with school fees having gone up massively in the past 20 years.
You have to be genuinely rich to have Bupa as your first port of call.
Agreed, not least because inequality in the UK has been stagnant for about 10 years (it's still high mind, but not increasing).
A lot of it is to do with stagnant wages, stagnant economy since 2008, lower prospects in white collar work, lack of housing, all the stuff you'd expect tbh.
Sharon. Have you been watching Bridget Jones again?
I prefer Warhammer Fantasy as a setting, and I think I remember Khorne as the big bad in Mark of Chaos and Nurgle in Vermintide 2, but mostly you get some form of chaos undivided as the main villain.
As you say Slaanesh is pointedly absent aside from in Total War: Warhammer.
Interesting, I mostly played 40K stuff as a teen in the 2000/2010s, so I remember Khorne as the big bad in Dawn of War, then Nurgle in Dawn of War 2.
I think there were bloodletters in Space Marine 1, but I haven't played 2.
Is Tzeench that common? I always remember Khorne being the default chaos villain in games, then Nurgle got more popular later
But I definitely agree with your overall point, and Orks often have their kookiness and humor potential foregrounded, while their more homicidal tendencies take a back seat
(One & Two intrinsically understand that not being able to explain why the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42 does not put them in a great position vis-a-vis the public who expect something grand and visionary)
