Thread 43 Sunak - Seriously Scapegoating

[DuncinToffee]

Buckle up for the local elections 🍿

Previous thread here
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5059786-thread-42-sunak-ping-pong-with-the-enemies-of-the-people?page=40

No agree @RafaistheKingofClay but it maybe means that the campaigns about ULEZ and public safety are more potent because people did not vote for Labour. That was also an element in one of the by elections last year in London because a lot of ULEZ.

We will see tomorrow!

I think we will drive ourselves mad speculating. It's Friday night and we can chill out for now! 😀

Norfolk PCC gone red!
Genuinely didn't see that coming, Rural Norfolk has always been true blue.
Although to be fair, Norwich was also voting for the City Council, which has always been Red, with Green stripes. The County only had the PCC to vote for, which many people can't be bothered turning out for.
But the map's gone Red!
I may be limbering up for the GE night drinks right now.

Michael Gove's election agent, Steve Dorsett ...has lost his seat on Woking council.

He was standing for Pyrford ward and lost it to the Lib Dems.

https://x.com/mikeysmith/status/1786464546405613679

There is also a thread in AIBU where someone is upset that someone she thought was a decent person is involved in the Reform party. She is being told by the ‘know what a woman’ is brigade that Reform is not right wing.

Liz Truss is a Norfolk MP, isn’t she? She’s high on my drink list.

"She is being told by the ‘know what a woman’ is brigade that Reform is not right wing."

Erm isn't that the point of Reform? - the Conservatives are basically socialists etc etc blah.

No, Reform are "common sense".

Not in any way strange or extreme

Liz Truss?
She's one of the one's vying for top spot on my drinks list.
Hard to call: the area's v Blue, but, there's a local True Blue standing against her as an Independant, plus she wasn't wanted in that part of Norfolk when she was first parachuted in there by Con Party HQ, so who knows? Fingers crossed.

I'm thinking , for the GE night, may have to use shot glasses with a low alcohol wine, in order to avoid alcohol poisoning.

One fly in the ointment: the Cons have massively more money, and will spend it on all sorts of devious online campaigns.
I've hesitated to say this on these threads, for fear of sounding preachy, but hey, here goes.

I have long beeen of the opinion that we (largely) get the democracy we deserve.

Loathe the Governments we've had , but don't do anything about that? Except complain. Don't complain. Act.

If it's important to you, and right now it's nothing short of vital, then do something.

Donate. Money if you've got it. ( Cause the Con Party has mega Corporate donors)
Time, if you can spare only a few hours, phone banking, or delivering letters.

If you can find a party you can believe in, fantastic, If you can only find a party likely to defeat the Evil Ones, that will do.

It's not won yet.
And we all need that GE night SO bad.
(Sermon ends)

Lib Dem's taking control of Dorset has cheered me right up.

x.com/lewis_goodall/status/1786483172957442336?s=46&t=Uw4lJNwxFZFnX0Xs3doHYg

And Tunbridge Wells of all places.

And Tunbridge Wells of all places.

I'm disgusted, I tell you.

😭

I dare say we'll all be seeing some of this;

https://goodlawproject.org/update/villains-assemble-tories-forced-to-reveal-links-with-election-dark-ops-firms/

😂
(Am old fashioned with my emojis I know!)

^ this

Which does rather explain why it's been so "quiet" on that particular front on here...

I'd like to say that surprises me but .....

And things will get dirtier as the GE looms.

And probably worse once Labour are in and they need to claw back voters.

Yep, I mean little things like rape and equality in the workplace and violence against women don't matter much when you can be all about the gender woo. I take considerable pride in being the 'wrong' kind of feminist. Don't get me wrong, I think the Cass report was bloody brilliant and a huge step forward, but other things matter just as much.

Completely agree. The vibe on that board has changed back to how I remember it 10 years ago. Much more diverse in the issues it's got being posted about.

Wrt the elections - impressed at T Wells - have connections there and it's generally true blue, but as with many areas with money, the poverty of the surrounding areas impacts them. They are not idiots and can see this is why and, albiet reluctantly, have realised they have to be part of the change. As we have said, there are no centralists left in the Tories. The majority of families I know who live there have experienced needing A&E in the last 10 years and seen how reliant they are on NHS despite having private health insurance.

Ah, it's all been done before;

Yep, I mean little things like rape and equality in the workplace and violence against women don't matter much when you can be all about the gender woo.

It’s perfectly possible to care about all these things. But it’s remarks like this that keep me off these threads nowadays.

Last year 1,436 trials of all offences in the Crown Court were adjourned on the first day due to the absence of either a prosecution or defence advocate, a 20 fold increase on 2019 when 71 trials were similarly adjourned. Of those 252 were trials of sexual offences adjourned due to no prosecution or defence advocate being available while just 16 sexual offence trials similarly adjourned in 2019.

It is no wonder that on average last year trials of rape defendants on bail concluded 18 months after first being charged, 80% longer than the 10 months on average it took for similar rape cases’ trials to conclude just 5 years earlier. This brought the total wait on average for a rape case with a bailed defendant to conclude from first reporting of the allegation to the resolution of a trial to on average 5 and a half years, for those cases concluding in 2023.

Trial dates are now being booked for mid 2026 which, assuming those listings are not further postponed, will mean many rape cases will have waited well over 2 years from charge to completion bringing the total delay to over 7 years from police-reported allegation to case completion.

Whether there will be sufficient criminal barristers left in 2026 to prosecute or defend those rape trials when their listing falls due depends on decisions by government today on funding for counsel so that justice can be done today, tomorrow and the days, weeks, months and years ahead.

Rape complainants will have no choice in the matter.

#FundRasso
#FairTrials

x.com/thecriminalbar/status/1785982619831689320?s=46&t=Uw4lJNwxFZFnX0Xs3doHYg

Vote however you like. I'm not on MN to persuade anyone. I'm here for the company.

But don't suggest the justice system works for victims right now.
Do I think Starmer will listen to cries from police/court staff/barristers/solicitors/prison staff?
Yes.
Do I expect him to wave a magic wand?
No.

But understanding the system is key to everything else.

You can. But I’m not sure that all the people on MN do. Especially those that say they are still voting Tory because they can’t vote Labour because of their stance on the issue.
Although I wonder whether part of the issue is the MN demographic. Mixed in with some issues around being in an echo chamber for whom this is also the most important issue and dissenting voices being shouted down.

Which is why some might be surprised if Labour shrug it off as not being an important electoral issue because they’ve calculated the single issue voters on this aren’t that important to help them win an election. I suspect they may be making a similar decision about their position on Gaza and Brexit.