Is Keir Starmer right?

[AdamRyan]

Today he called the Conservatives "the political wing of the flat earth society" following Liz Truss' comments about the deep state in the US.

I am a big starmer fan, so want to sanity check my opinion, which is that the Conservatives seem to have bought into a lot of conspiracy theories recently, such as "no go" areas in Birmingham, London being "controlled by Islamists", the civil service being run by transactivists as well as Truss' comments.

Or do you think this is a smear and the Conservatives are being reasonable?

If I had a third option I'd also include a "meh - not interested" option for people

Video for people who want to listen to what Starmer said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-68418502?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=65df29c746578322549bdd92%26Watch%3A%20Starmer%20says%20Tories%20are%20%E2%80%98political%20wing%20of%20flat%20earth%20society%E2%80%99%262024-02-28T12%3A52%3A33.349Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:091e6916-4b3d-4198-adef-cf8a7b9e76bb&pinned_post_asset_id=65df29c746578322549bdd92&pinned_post_type=share

YABU - the Conservatives are not getting sucked into conspiracies, this is a smear

YANBU - the Conservatives need a large consignment of tin foil ASAP

I think that’s a gross exaggeration. It’s a very strange percentage.

Believing that trans people should have a place in society is not the same as claiming the earth is flat.

Personally society already spends too much time prioritising penises, its boring to have a whole debate constantly framed around a comment starmer didn't even make. And this is a thread about the Tories being batshit. "Everyone pushes conspiracy theories" is quite an apologist stance to take.

Believing that trans women are women is the same as believing the world is flat. Trans women do have a place in society. They don't have a place in women's sports, prisons, shortlists, and they certainly shouldn't have a place representing women.

Believing the Tory Party can fix the UK or give a shit about women isn't quite believing in a Flat Earth, but it's close.

The Flat Earther's have it by a nose.

Oh. And do you think people who believe in a god are like "flat earthers"? What about ones who believe in homeopathy?

Oh, I know. What about people who think a shadowy cabal of transactivists have captured Britain's public institutes and turned them into trans factories, in order to break down traditional family life and turn us all into an insect eating proletariat as part of the great reset? That's a popular one apparently.

‘London being "controlled by Islamists" - strongky agree some areas of london are also no go areas.’

What do you mean? I have lived and worked in London for decades. I have no evidence it’s run by ‘Islamists’. I do not even notice it. What am I missing? It doesn’t affect my local area (I don’t live somewhere posh), my Tube journey to central London or the work I do in a hospital. I need to know how the Islamists are controlling me.

I still want to know where the no-go areas are in London so I can pop round. Can someone enlighten me?
I've lived and worked here for 40-odd years and I've never heard such nonsense.
This is usually said by people who've never been to London.

i cant even begin to think of these people as anything other than sickos

What a convincing viewpoint.

"No go areas" is Trumpian rhetoric. Now there's a real "sicko".

no go" areas in Birmingham - i stongly agree these exist

Name one

what does this even mean?

My quote is being taken out of context here. I had used the op's post and added my thoughts at the end. I didnt say that London was being ran by Islamists. I have amended below, hopefully, this makes it more clear -

no go" areas in Birmingham copied from op.
My view - i stongly agree these exist
London being "controlled by Islamists" copied from op
My view - strongly agree some areas of london are also no go areas.

Im shocked some people living in London say there are no 'no go' areas. I lived in London for a decade and moved out a few years ago. There are many areas i believe are unsafe and would feel very uncomfortable walking through myself particularly in the dark. I think if you live in a big city and can seriously not name one area that is best avoided then either you have lived a very blessed life and are genuinely unaware of the potential dangers or maybe you have grown up in rougher areas and city dangers are hardened into you and more normalised. Every town and city has good and bad areas across the country, but in my experience, bigger cities have more extreme versions of both ends of this spectrum.

My view - i strongly agree these exist

But not so strong you want to name them ?

Righty ho.

I am imagining your arguments will contain a lot of "you know who I mean ..." with pointed looks. And you start sentences with "I'm not -- but ...."

This makes no sense.

’London being "controlled by Islamists" copied from op
My view - strongly agree some areas of london are also no go areas. ‘

So you disagree that London is controlled by Islamists? Why not say that then? Why say you ‘strongly agree’ that London has no go areas when the poster didn’t say that.

Of course there are parts of any city I would not choose to go to. But not because of ‘Islamists’.

It’s pretty obvious to anyone of reasonable intelligence and comprehension skills what it means. I’m assuming you fall into that category so you’re being disingenuous.

@Shutting the op was talking about no go zones so i replied on that basis.

Seemed like word salad and buzzwords

Word salad and buzz words

Very much like Hunt on the Laura Kuensberg show this morning

Lee Anderson was booted out of the party... but Liz Truss turned up at an event with him... should she face some form of consequences too?

Jeremy Hunt: "That's a matter for the Tory Party... what he said was wrong... people know where the Tory Party stands."

x.com/Haggis_UK/status/1764222567542345901?s=20

Areas that are a bit rough and not necessarily safe to wander about in if you aren’t a local have always existed everywhere. It’s not the same as a ‘no go area’ and isn’t a result of people’s religion.

You still haven't said where these no-go areas are? Not wanting to walk through somewhere in the dark doesn't make it a no go area. Most towns and cities can feel sketchy after dark of you're a woman.
Not walking through somewhere in daylight might...and I can't think of anywhere in London like that.

It means adamryan is making a ridiculous caricature of people who think gender ideology has too much influence over many institutions, in the hope that readers will then take valid criticism of those institutions less seriously.

Id consider areas i dont feel safe to walk about in as no go areas, these are literally areas i would not go to - apologies if im missing something but how else would you describe a no go area?! As you suggest, id agree these areas could be majority populated by brits or by other races.

I’d describe it as an area that’s a bit rough…nobody is stopping me going there. I might go in daylight, or with friends, but not alone, or not in the dark. They aren’t ’no go’, which implies somebody stopping you.
The point is, people use ‘no go area’ as a racist shorthand for areas that are a bit too Muslim for their liking.

@cardibach ah well fair enough. I totally disagree. A no go area for me is one that id be frightened to walk about in. Not sure how anyone could physically stop you entering any neighbourhood unless they had some form of border control so that seems like just as an extreme definition but at the other end of the scale to those you refer to.

@Woollyewe i promis3 you, it’s used by the islamophobic lot and implies nobody not Muslim is ‘allowed’ due to this fictional ‘Islamist control’ stuff.
I agree, it’s nonsense bit doesn’t happen. It can’t happen.

@cardibach but to suggest that there are not areas generally in big cities which are pretty much completely inhabitted by other races is false. I dont think all areas that i class as no go zones are inhabitted by ethnic minorities but some definitely area.