The "terrifying threat from Labour"

[BigWordAtlas]

I know that Tory HQ staff often come on here and post, and will be doing even more so at the moment.

I also know that Kier Starmer has done a terrible job in gender critical thinking, and members like him, Rayner and Lammy are currently an absolute shitshow when it comes to the rights and protections of women and children. I'm not looking forward to the battle we'll face after the election to reverse the damage that's been done and to protect those rights, and fully bring down all the MRA policies that have formally or informally kicked in over the last few years.

But does anyone else feel like the absolute barrage on here in the last few days about the Holy Bloody Handmaid Terror that will be Labour's government is a bit... overblown? A bit Tory HQ-flavoured? They're absolutely panicking at the moment and will do any kind of astroturfing they can to chip away at votes, particularly in swing constituencies like mine.

No party is perfect, and Labour is currently far from perfect for me and my children. But realistically, I have to vote Labour where I am if I want to keep a Tory candidate out. I hate their gender ID policies, but this nail-bitten tone of total and complete apocalypse (and yes, I've heard posters use that word in this context) feels unhelpful and not really equipping anyone to improve things after the GE. They made me feel extremely anxious until I just hit a wall with the frantic language, and now I'm feeling much more pragmatic and ready to fight with Labour on this stuff, rather than against them and allowing another party to get in.

So AIBU to feel that most of these posts are at least seeded by Tory HQ, rather than actual Labour voters like me?

<hard hat donned>

This is SO not the place for this discussion but this is actually a bit of an outdated way of seeing it. It came from the progressive gay movement, the ‘Born This Way’ ideology, which was used to make gayness palatable, ‘they can’t help it’ etc. You can see why people then thought transness could be treated the same way. Unfortunately that led to an obsession with ‘proving’ that trans people exist ‘medically’ which brought up a load of dodgy shit about ‘male and female brains’ and ‘how do you know you’re a man/woman outside of how you’re treated by the world’.

in reality, sexuality is a spectrum. Some people are born gay or straight of course, but I think it’s becoming more generally accepted that sexuality can change and be situational and I’d personally guess that’s the case for more people than not.

I imagine some people are born longing to be in the world as a different gender to the one they’re presenting as. And for some, it comes with time or changes. Personally I’m all for it, I love the idea that we’re heading for a world where ‘male’ and ‘female’ are nebulous and changeable, and from a gender politics perspective I can’t see how thatll do anything other than destroy the patriarchy which is what I want. But obviously on here, I’m going to get immediately screamed at about prisons so yknow.

@Melisha what do you mean because it's an actual thing?

Fear has always been the Tories’ chief propaganda weapon. Remember the “Labour’s Tax Bombshell” posters and this

Oh God GIVE ME BORING. For me, politicians should be reliable, the people focused on sorting out my bin collection efficiency, city sewage processing, etc, you know the boring stuff that nevertheless makes our lives better day to day.

I don't want them making me laugh down the pub or entertaining me, because while they're showboating doing all that, they're not sorting out the bins are they?!

Other countries came out of it more quickly because they didn’t pursue a ridiculous austerity programme like the Tories did here. So it’s down to Tory policies.
Things were better for ordinary people under Labour. The NHS was ranked No 1 for one thing….

I completely agree with you OP, although in most cases those planted posts have backfired. The one about Keir Starmer claiming expenses proved hilarious in the end....

It's this. Tory Austerity.

We've had 15 years of next to no wage growth, next to no productivity growth. It's investment that drives productivity. Stop spending, no bloody wonder your economy stagnates.

Just to kick the trend - my husband and I are high earners who disagree with VAT being applied to private school fees. I also opposed the self-ID proposal (put forward by a Tory government, for those that don’t remember).

We both voted Labour this morning, because we believe it is what’s best for the country.

No party will 100% align with your values. But for us, a reformed Labour Party offers help to rebuild and improve this country after 14 years of corrupt Tory rule. Improved infrastructure and government services improve life for all of us, whether directly through use or indirectly by creating a more civil society.

We live in a democracy, where individuals can vote for whoever they like across the political spectrum from Greens to Reform. I would just urge that when voting, consideration is given to what is best for the country, whatever your conclusion might be.

I agree. Starmers Labour Party is the only hope to get our country back on track.

It's really not about numbers with the education thing.

The principle is important here. Peeople are so short sighted, it's like there is no effort to think about what this could look like 20 years down the line.

One principle here is that we do not tax education. It is a good to society and individuals. If we leave that principle behind, there is nothing to say it won't affect other kinds of education. That will now be a possibility.

The second is that we do not try and create a situation where we consider only state education normative - everything else is suspect. I think it should be really obvious why we don't want that kind of thinking to take hold, it is the best tool authoritarians could ask for. And it begins to drive a wedge between parental rights and the rights of the state to intervene.

The state provides a service to the people in providing free education. Purposefully trying to make it harder for people to access other forms of education - which is the whole purpose of this measure - is a dangerous precedent.

Why does applying VAT make private ed look ‘suspect’?
You are making stuff up.

I’m just watching Kier go into Downing Street

Jimmy Carr really hit the nail on the head when he said about Kier Starmer…

‘There’s an Asda in the Midlands who is missing a store manager’

He might be a decent bloke but he’s totally not a leader

Good old Jimmy and his jokes.

@cupcaske123 oh god, are you one of them who gets offended by comedy?

By rape jokes, yes. Also can't stand misogyny.

Bernard Manning fan are you?

Depends what you value in a leader. I for one am done with shiny, rich,privately educated leaders with silky smooth lies off pat who base decisions on their popularity in their party and deals for mates, who preside over corruption and arrogance with zero interest or care for the lives of average voters.

I’d rather have decency and an Asda store manager any day. Clearly a significant part of the country feels the same.

@Mycatsmudge I wouldn't worry about that re voting age. I think that could back fire