Thread 22 Starmer - Running up to local elections

[BIossomtoes]

Here we go. Previous thread.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5305431-thread-21-starmer-casting-nasturtiums?page=40&reply=143731831

Ah. Good old common sense. That's a real hark back to UKIP.

One of my neighbours is standing for Reform. He seems a decent bloke, as far as a neighbour you occasionally have a very brief exchange with in passing goes. Not enough to persuade me to vote for him instead of the team who have actually proved themselves to be passionate about our area and whose values align with my own far more closely.

It's usually code for rolling back equality legislation.

We don’t have local elections. Our area is a trial for the new system of devolved (or something governance) instead of being separate county councils.

Hasn’t stopped our current Tory run council closing a local outdoor education centre and relocating a local school just before it happens.

it’s no coincidence all the consultations were moved forwards from June to before May 1st if you ask me.

They ignored what the constituents said anyway.

When he says 'stop blaming others' does he mean 'stop blaming immigrants for all the country's ills'?

I don't know it could be, or it could mean other parties blaming each other. The Lib Dems leaflet blamed the local Tories for the "chaos that we inherited".

I imagine we need to stop blaming men, specifically white men. Poor marginalised things.

https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3lngszelaxk2h

Keir Starmer hosted at a St George's Day [eve] event in no 10 last night. He spoke of much to be proud of in England - sport, music, literature, food and landscape - and the diversity of a country where he could be PM, from a working-class background, as could Rishi Sunak - "an English Hindu".

A bit more digging on my neighbour as I knew he was in the local rag a few years ago on behalf of his particular trade association and I came across a forum for that trade when commenters pointed out that he is self declared in that role, is constantly spouting nonsense and is known conspiracy theorist. A conspiracy theorist standing for Reform. Who would have guessed?

Well no one else was in power for the entire 14 years up until July 2024. The lib dems were in with them for a few years but that before it all truly went to shit.

There comes a time though when that excuse wears rather thin. The Lib Dems are in now in my area and I'm more interested in what they are doing than what they think the local Tory councillor did or didn't do.

8 months is not 'there comes a time' unless you're spectactularly impatient.

I’ve postal voted Labour purely because the Conservative candidate’s leaflet had 2/3rds of a page dedicated to utter bollocks about what Labour have done/will do (on a national scale). Both Labour and Conservative local candidates and incumbents are pretty decent people who work hard to solve the issues affecting their constituents and I believe in voting for local issues in local elections. So it was a toss up between Labour and Conservative - at least they both published their very local addresses, unlike Reform and Green. It would have been a tougher choice if the Cons hadn’t used Bingo phrases like “In the pockets of the unions/Labour’s woke crime agenda”
I do hope the Cons candidate knocks on the door so I can tell him that
Reform are out and about with bobs on. I took great delight yesterday in walking in my front door with the dog just as they approached - they knocked, the dog barked, I refused to open the front door in time honoured MN fashion. It’s the little things

2dogs I agree with you about not blaming others and it’s needs to stop. The same as I didn’t like how the Tory’s blamed Labour after 14 years in power or how they blamed asylum seekers in hotels for being there when it was a political choice to stop processing them and paying for them to stay in hotels.

So yes, in theory “stop blaming others” is a promise that would attract me. However I very much doubt how this is done through Reform would align with my political views one bit.

And that’s the difference. Anyone can say “I’ll do things differently”. What I’d want to hear to how and what they would do differently and why. How they would improve things rather than blame someone else for the fact they are failing.

And what you’ve posted about your Reform candidate wouldn’t meet that test for me. It wouldn’t if it was Tory, LD or Labour leaflets and I’ve voted for all those parties in the past.

The Conservatives felt free to blame Labour for austerity for multiple elections.

All political reference to 'commonsense' makes me think of the wonderfully commonsensical Esther McVey and all that she achieved in her role as Minister for Commonsense.

And in answer to the earlier question about Jenrick campaigning for Badenoch's job, the weekend Telegraph pretty much confirmed as such. He apparently launched 'a grassroots charm offensive' by visting all the local Conservative groups. Personally I doubt he ever stopped campaigning. There must be more murals to paint over somewhere.

I would imagine an awful lot of in fighting if there ever was a Reform-Tory coalition.
Not much of a balance though is it -
121 Tory
and
4 Reform.

My brother campaigns for Reform. That's enough to put me off the whole party for life😁

It would be like tipping small bag of cats into a larger sack of cats.

To be honest, the Lib Dem leaflet has also said what their priorities will be but not how they will implement them. I do usually vote for Lib Dem locally as our councillor was very good at getting things done but he's retired now and I haven't seen the new candidate.

I think the Tories were still referencing the 1979 winter of discontent well into this century.

As for Esther McVey, well it is common sense not to leave pre-school children alone whilst you go off for a meal on holiday, but if your friend does it, you are happy to support a PR operation to deflect criticism.

Have I understood this right? An attack on Esther McVey for supporting Kate McCann? With an attack on the McCanns themselves wrapped up in it?

Seriously? Jeez.

No local elections here, so no Reform leaflets to deal with.

Meanwhile, I see some parts of MN are indulging themselves in a bit of casual homophobia vis-à-vis the stupid rumours about Starmer's sexuality. Remember how that was trotted out a while ago? He is a secret Muslim too. Or something.

I reckon Badenoch will be toast on May 2nd.

Absolutely. Or maybe warm, dried out but still floppy bread with burnt bits around the edge because "toast" would imply that she had achieved something and achieved it competently.

I don't want to derail or out anyone but it was common for “baby listening services” in Mark Warner and similar companies. I worked for one. You walked around the hotel listening at doors and called parents of baby/ child was making noise. Parents would be in hotel dining room and you got a free dinner in exchange for the duty. Obviously in hindsight it seems a daft thing but I think the parents just did what was offered by hotels anyway or certainly they may have been at other resorts offering it?

Plus I’ve spoken to both parents socially through ds sport many times and they are normal people. I may have been sat next to GM when ds won his gold last week

Whatever the rights and wrongs of their decision they’ve been punished massively for it and knowing what went on in holiday resorts as a standard service I can’t condone Easter McVeys stance on this but do think the way she worded it wasn’t the best.

I think this is another one of those public debates where it’s not black and white. I shudder now to think that could have happened where I worked and was on duty that evening. It haunts me to think that this was actually “normal” at one time.

I dont know what the connection is between McVey and the McCann family. I am not going to google it. But a child being kipnapped and possibly murdered wouldn't be a topic I would ever want to reference.

I'll stick to rolling my eyes at the use of the word commonsense by any politician ever. It rarely works as anything other than obfuscation.