But given labour aren’t saying how they would handle things actually they have from the beginning. On sm, in the few msm communications they’re able to access - people saying they’re being silent are maybe unaware of the fact that a lot of the msm simply don’t report what labour are saying.
Opinion is something which is largely created by the media so you have some awareness there yet seem to have forgotten the lack of reporting aspect.
Other parties have commented and said how they’d have done things differently too yet that is very rarely reported in msm.
but they (press) also rely on revenue from people buying their product
You really think the less than £1 per paper is where they make their money?! That’s incredibly naive! No they make their money from the advertisers they sell print space to! The “consumers” who buy the papers are actually part of the product they sell.
so they tend to be a good barometer of what they think people want to hear so they tend to be a good barometer of what ADVERTISERS want to hear, which is generally big business, this is a major reason why the press is heavily skewed towards Tory and capitalism.
but I don't know how labour can attract their votes. they really need to return to their working class roots which even with corbyn as a supposedly wc leader they didn’t do...because he’s not really working class! And neither is starmer!
Labour is SUPPOSED to be the party of the “labourers”, the grafters and it’s LONG since lost sight of that!
In addition the woke crap and trampling of women’s rights needs to go! They lost a lot of voters due to that (though not as many as due to Brexit)
Brexit I feel if they’d had the guts to come out as the anti-Brexit party given tories clearly defined themselves as pro (even though not all the Tory party are) given almost half of voters voted against Brexit that I think would have given them a significant boost in voters, because those of us who DIDN’T vote for or want Brexit really had nobody out of the major parties to vote for!
Frankly if they have any sense for the next GE they’ll have the guts to be pro Europe, but I think they’re too scared! Yet they really have little to lose by doing so!
One other point is that the debate about other things rather than brexit/covid like school funding, state of prisons, nhs seems to have been forgotten completely again not by labour or by other parties it’s just not being reported. It may not be their main concern at the moment but they haven’t forgotten completely.
Scotland was never a deciding factor to be fair uk wise this is true...
However
They waste their votes on snp who will never be in power shows you have no understanding of how Scotland is run! They’re in power up here and this has a significant effect on not only devolved matters but they use their powers on these matters to impact and mitigate the effects of non devolved matters - eg bedroom tax - not really an issue up here as it’s mitigated by discretionary housing payments which are administered via local councils and funded by Scots govt there are good reasons Scots vote snp and it’s far from just independence! You’d be mistaken to assume that.
I think also people are possibly falsely confident? That Scotland won’t gain independence as Westminster won’t allow it, I think post Brexit there’s a distinct possibility of Scotland applying to the eu for support in unilaterally deciding to and becoming independent. The effects of Brexit on Scotland will likely (and has already for many) motivate more Scots to want independence
Plus something might actually get done then up here about our crappy standards for schools, hospitals, police etc. these may be deteriorating in quality up here but I have lived all over Uk and have many friends/relatives that work in these areas and have worked in them myself in both Scotland and England and while it is disappointing that there are starting to be problems in Scotland ime and from what I’m hearing from my people in England it’s still better up here.
Dd has just started in the education system in England (after school) and has already had several tutors comment very positively on her knowledge gained from doing subjects like modern studies and her ability to debate.
When I’ve discussed what dd is learning at various stages with my English “counterparts” they’ve commented that we’re at least a year ahead up here, 2 of my friends are maths based primary teachers and they’ve commented several times that there are areas taught in Scots primaries that aren’t taught in England until 2nd or 3rd year of high school.
So don’t be so quick to criticise Scotland, I’m not saying it’s perfect! But there are definitely areas where it’s better than england.
Why are England so reluctant to let Scotland go? it’s not out of concern or kindness, just sheer greed. exactly!
This nonsense that Scotland is a drain is just that! If it weren’t Westminster and especially tories would be MORE than happy to wave us off!
double whammy really as lots of elderly Conservative voters dying will be lost votes I actually think - and have said elsewhere, that it’s because care home residents generally DON’T vote was why they were willing to throw them under the bus
BUT
You’re right that they’ve forgotten that those people have loved ones who possibly do vote!
Sometimes it feels like they are ashamed of their working class roots.
Sadly I agree with this. I’ve had discussions on here with people who don’t even realise that’s what the Labour Party was originally created for and by - the unions, which was essentially how the working class had organised themselves as a group at that time. Comments like “labour party shouldn’t be letting unions have a say” when anyone with a modicum of knowledge of the history of the Labour Party would know how ridiculous a comment that is!
There’s also a LOT of misunderstanding about what unions are, what they do, how they support their members.
If a country only has 1 party in power for most of the time, is that real democracy? I would say no, our voting system definitely needs overhauled but won’t be because it suits those who have the power to change it!
It’s like Stockholm Syndrome on a mass scale. totally agree it’s quite bizarre
I think it was a vote against Corbyn rather than a vote for BORIS yes I think that’s true. Especially when pro Tory people are STILL using corbyn as a reason why people shouldn’t vote labour when he’s no longer even leader!
At the last election Corbyn spoke a lot about benefits but I can’t remember him speaking about jobs. (He maybe did it that’s the overall impression I got) he did talk about job creation. And this was included in the manifesto too.
Tory party constantly bang on about getting people off benefits yet despite this and despite supposedly being the party of business AND the party in power they do sod all about job creation.
I find it interesting the same people who abhorred the voluntary sharing of sovereignty within the EU from which the UK could withdraw hate the idea of Scotland leaving the UK union voluntarily and love the British Empire's involuntary subjugation of millions/billions. it’s a mass case of cognitive dissonance really
It’s called giving them enough rope to hang themselves.
I agree
If they went on the attack viciously now they’d be seen as unpatriotic in the extreme.
@meridathebold excellent post at 1159
@alexthelittlecat - various reports about his actions while a banker including just prior to and during the global financial crash of 2008. He made a lot of money out of that situation possibly by contributing to it! And as I said in earlier post and as @fatcatthincat expands on he is a true blue Tory with Tory “values” of stamping on the poor, sick and disadvantaged - despite his apparent sympathetic public persona in the briefings.
@BovaryX don’t expect him to be Marxist, but there are Tory mps who aren’t as stringent about stamping on the least well off and have a modicum of social conscience - a rarity admittedly but they do exist. Sunak is most definitely not one of these.
We saw this before with “nice boy” Rory stewart who also misrepresented himself.