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[Iduno]

In his yearly speech, Putin warned the world that anyone who turns against Moscow, can count on a 'disproportional, fast, and heavy' Russian response.

He told his fellow countrymen that their counrty is being threatened by foreign nations that 'keep provoking Russia for no reason'.
Adressing 'foreign provocateurs', he added that they 'will regret their actions like they have not regretted something for a long time'.

Sounds like the same line the US always trots out. And why a lot of European countries "need" to keep out foreigners. &c.

You don't know much about Europe do you?

Eh...

[Loud Whispers]

In his yearly speech, Putin warned the world that anyone who turns against Moscow, can count on a 'disproportional, fast, and heavy' Russian response.

He told his fellow countrymen that their counrty is being threatened by foreign nations that 'keep provoking Russia for no reason'.
Adressing 'foreign provocateurs', he added that they 'will regret their actions like they have not regretted something for a long time'.

But he's already doing unprovoked chemical weapons attacks, cyberattacks on civilians in UK, already doing salami slicing invasion in Ukraine...? The threat only works if you're not already carrying it out

[Starver]

Probably nothing to do with a potential "Falklands Bounce"[1], but the Local Elections (traditionally the "vote perversely, just to protest against things where it least impacts the things you're actually for" cycle in the electoral calendar) seem to be swinging towards Conservatives and away from Labour. Currently it seems to be deNOCing in favour of the Tories and one grab from Labour, but that full-swing was only where the Old Red Wall was already crumbled in the General elections. (Even if I might have expected the electorate to no longer feel the need to bloody Labour's nose again.)

I'm mostly keeping an eye on Holyrood, where I think it matters significantly more, maybe also Wales, but no results at all just yet on there, and I'm wary of the predictions.


[1] Apart from a bit of boat-barging[2] by the French fishermen, and "We're going to send a GUNBOAT!" by our respective navies, somewhat stood down[3] again.

[2] Not entirely unlike in the Cod War. Is anyone dubbing this the 'Langoustine War', yet? Someone will...

[3] No need for an Operation Black Buck to startle the enemy while we assemble our Task Force, it seems!

[Duuvian]

I know next to nothing about UK politics. Am I reading it right that in a very simplified way and in my own ignorant sense, the party more likely to be seen as less favorable in Scotland and possibly Wales may be facing popular campaigning for those areas leaving the UK while trying to hold that Union together? Does Labour or one of the myriadly more than 2 choices stand a better chance to work with those national parties to avoid a split if that were a voter's goal?

I don't know enough of the subject to have an opinion myself as of yet. Last time I was very mildly in favor of union with the UK for Scotland, though it is none of my business whatsoever. I was also mildly anti-Brexit in that I figured it may be more trouble than it's worth overall but I don't really know what it means as well as people over there.

[Starver]

It's... complicated?

Though the same people who were saying that it was the UK's absolute right to quit from Europe, whatever other Europeans think, also say that Scots shouldn't be allowed to even ponder quitting the UK, unilaterally. (This group, within and without Scotland, crosses traditional party lines but currently the working class seem to be persuaded to abandon the party that ought to be exactly suited to them and favour the one that created their industrial wastelands.)

This is just one element of other (and mutually-)contradictory issues, and I think you're at least in the right area of understanding (as I understand your understanding). I'm not sure there's server-disc enough to hold the full set of details involved.

[hector13]

I’m rather gobsmacked that the conseratives are doing so well in England. Boris is having a bit of a crisis what with having three separate inquiries into how he paid for the £200k renovations for his flat, the wasting of public cash in a pandemic building a press room for £2.6m and a yacht for the dearly departed spouse of the queen costing upwards of £200m, various ministers have been embroiled in their own controversies and not been ousted or even ostensibly punished in any way.

Y’all like your cronyism down there.

[Loud Whispers]

I’m rather gobsmacked that the conseratives are doing so well in England. Boris is having a bit of a crisis what with having three separate inquiries into how he paid for the £200k renovations for his flat, the wasting of public cash in a pandemic building a press room for £2.6m and a yacht for the dearly departed spouse of the queen costing upwards of £200m, various ministers have been embroiled in their own controversies and not been ousted or even ostensibly punished in any way.

Y’all like your cronyism down there.

Boris is as unpopular as ever, however his taint hasn't tainted the Tory brand yet. I wonder if it's because the Prime Minister is a lot less executive than say a President, but it's probably more a factor that:
1. Brexit Brexit Brexit
A lot of former labour-always voters switched sides when labour supported the EU, and they haven't turned back. There isn't a eurosceptic alternative at the polls either the same way there was pre-2015. This causes the conservative voting oriented population to be condensed into one party.

2. Team Killing fucktards at Labour
The Tories actually increased their voteshare in formerly always-Labour areas. This is probably because the Labour party tried to adopt Corbyn's pro-working class policies without Corbyn, but the mantra of 'Tony Blair sucks' doesn't carry as true with voters when you're on a first name basis with Tony Blair. If they had thrown their support behind Corbyn instead of spending the last 3 years sabotaging the grassroots labour movement, the grassroots probably wouldn't be the barren wasteland we see today

Frankly it continues to disappoint me that we can have expenses scandals, panama leaks and 300k curtains paid for by political sugardaddies for 15 years in a row without civil servants and MPs getting the axe - it is disappointing that Keir Starner was unable to hold Boris's feet to the fire.

[Iduno]

2. Team Killing fucktards at Labour
The Tories actually increased their voteshare in formerly always-Labour areas. This is probably because the Labour party tried to adopt Corbyn's pro-working class policies without Corbyn, but the mantra of 'Tony Blair sucks' doesn't carry as true with voters when you're on a first name basis with Tony Blair. If they had thrown their support behind Corbyn instead of spending the last 3 years sabotaging the grassroots labour movement, the grassroots probably wouldn't be the barren wasteland we see today

Frankly it continues to disappoint me that we can have expenses scandals, panama leaks and 300k curtains paid for by political sugardaddies for 15 years in a row without civil servants and MPs getting the axe - it is disappointing that Keir Starner was unable to hold Boris's feet to the fire.

It's better to lose for a few years than get someone in who'll screw up your income from graft. Plus, enough voters think politics is a team sport and will forgive anything their side does. Same story around the world and throughout time.

[Grim Portent]

So up here in Scotland the SNP got 1 seat short of a single-party majority in our regional government, which is unsurprising because that's exactly what or electoral system is supposed to prevent. The Scottish Greens got 8 seats though, which means we're in basically the same situation as the past few years, with the SNP and Greens agreeing on most positions but with the Greens being more left-wing in terms of economics and more drastic in terms of environmental policy.

We also got our first female PoC MSPs, and our first wheelchair using MSP, and the highest ratio of female MSPs ever, so a few noteworthy things for Scottish politics.

[Starver]

Not surprisingly, those diametrically opposed to any further Referenda on the subject are seizing upon the "if we get an absolute majority, the population wants a chance of Independance" and turning it directly into "because there's no absolute majority nobody wants Independence, so shut up and do nothing about it".

Also, Conservatives (in particular) can't multitask, or so their interviews indicate. The only important thing is Coronavirus recovery (apparently) and many other things that have been called for 'will have to wait', and please change the subject. Obviously that includes anything that pains them. (Overlaps with "nobody's bothered about <latest thing Boris turns out to have done or not done>", a favourite reply by Boris himself, apparently omniscient.)

[hector13]

Also, Conservatives (in particular) can't multitask, or so their interviews indicate.

Relevant. Stellar argument from the leader of the Scottish Conservatives.

Also relevant is how he intends to be an MSP in Scotland and an MP in Westminster at the same time. Not sure if he intends to maintain being a football referee on top of that, too.

[Loud Whispers]

It's better to lose for a few years than get someone in who'll screw up your income from graft. Plus, enough voters think politics is a team sport and will forgive anything their side does. Same story around the world and throughout time.

I think the last 6 years are an exception to this rule; lots of team boundaries have been redrawn and look to be settling in new and strange ways

[MorleyDev]

Labour has historically been reliant on a voting alliance between socially liberal 'middle classes' and socially conservative 'working classes' agreeing on economically leftness, but in the modern world of being a service economy it seems that those two groups have drifted away significantly and Labour are running into the irreconsilable disagreements between the socially liberal and socially conservative.

As a result, they're support base is being worn away from both ends. Trying to thread that needle just means they lose voters to the conservatives, and they lose voters to the Greens and Lib Dems.

But politics in a first-past-the-post as one of the two main parties is realpolitik, finding the argument you're willing to stomach that appeals to the most people needed to get a majority rather than taking an active role in convincing people of your argument. And in that, this seems like trying to square a circle.

[Loud Whispers]

True that. It's like a mirror of what happened before when the Tories were bleeding to libdems and UKIP

And in anothe royal Prince gaffa, Prince Michael of Kent caught on video trying to sell access to Vladimir Putin, by undercover journalists pretending to be a South Korean gold mining company.

The prince, 78, has denied the claims. Lol. His Royal spokesman has delivered all this lovely prose about how he overpromised and was just blagging for a job interview, as there's no way he could've delivered any of his promises, least of all without cooperation from the foreign office. Which neatly sideseps the question of why a Royal would be selling anything at all!

[Iduno]

Anyone have comments about Israel kicking Palestinians out of their homes, attacking them for protesting, then attacking a mosque because they didn't have protestors to attack anymore?