To not get the visceral levels of hatred people have for Keir Starmer

[LastChristmasigaveyousomesocks]

I’m not suggesting he’s the greatest prime minister ever. I’m not even suggesting he’s good at all. But some people really, really passionately hate him.

He is a bit insipid and doesn’t have much charisma but overall he seems like a decent enough bloke who perhaps lacks the political skill and acumen he needs. He’s out of his depth basically.

But that’s not a reason to actually despise someone is it?

When did we get to a point where we can’t just disagree without painting the other person as the devil incarnate?

She destroyed the industry the Victorians created and which made the country wealthy. Shipbuilding, steelworks, mining all gone and had no strategy for replacing them hence laying waste to huge areas of England and Wales. North Sea oil revenues were pouring in at that point and instead of investing in deindustrialised areas and creating new jobs she squandered the money on tax cuts. As if that wasn’t enough she privatised everything in sight and created our current housing crisis by selling off social housing. The mess we’re currently in is directly attributable to Thatcherism and no such thing as society.

They've been in the general vicinity for longer. My friend told me this sometime towards the end of last year. Asylum seekers are not the only issue in the country, but they are one.

🎯

Ooh nice drip-feed there after your claim was blown out of the water.

0/10

Who do you think, PM-wise, is ‘thick as mince’?

The industries were naturally declining due to economic conditions. Countries change and economies change with them. I like tax cuts. I like to keep more of the money I earn.

We needed quite a lot of the privatisations. No reason on earth the government should own an airline.

What? This person from Crowborough told me about their direct experience. I feel sorry for them.

The industries were naturally declining due to economic conditions.

They weren’t. The world still needs ships and all kinds of industries need steel. In any event, even if you were correct, there was a responsibility to invest in the regions where jobs were lost to create new ones, particularly at a point when the country was awash with money. Norway created a sovereign fund with its oil revenues, the UK had the opportunity to do the same but myopic Thatcher used the money to bribe people like you to vote for her.

Bin men strikes. Waste piling up in the streets
There were shortages of basic goods like toilet rolls etc.

Heatwave or no, it’s not an excuse. Standpipes in the street for ages.

I stand corrected, it was gravediggers striking - bodies left unburied.The Winter of Discontent ring any bells?

Heres a more comprehensive list:

• The Winter of Discontent (1978–79):Widespread strikes across the public sector, including garbage collectors (binmen), hospital workers, and gravediggers, caused immense disruption, resulting in uncollected rubbish and significant public service shutdowns.
• Other Major Disruptions:
• Dockers' Strike (1970): A major strike affecting shipping and trade.
• Firefighters and Municipal Workers:Various strikes throughout the late 70s impacted emergency services.
• Bread Strike (1977): Industrial action by bread delivery drivers caused shortages and panic buying.

Context for the Unrest:

• High Inflation: Rising prices led to a decline in real wages, fueling worker demands for higher pay.
• Union Power: Trade unions held significant sway, often challenging government economic policies.
• Economic Strain: The combination of strikes and inflation led to a, at times, paralyzed economy and a "three-day week" to manage power cuts.

Are you implying that our country and its economy was in good shape in the 70s?

PP would probably say Liz Truss. Whilst her economic policies were atrocious, she's not stupid. She just made a careless mistake in a job.

She's Oxford educated and had a successful career in the private sector. She was decent enough at times as a minister.

In what way was her account ‘blown out of the water’ ?

Does anyone have any sympathy for the women and girls directly impacted by this or does that get in the way of the virtue signalling? What happened to ‘believe her’?

Tend to agree with this

It fills me with happiness seeing how Thatcher planned for the strikes and broke the unions.

I was there. I remember it. I don't need a chatGP generated list!

I think you need to read my response again. I haven't denied what did happen, but challenged some of your slightly exaggerated claims.

Can't say I remember a loo roll shortage. I do remember we were only allowed to buy one bag of sugar for a short time. Ditto bread shortage for a short time. The early days of Covid were much worse in terms of shortages (and a thousand times worse in terms of panic buying).

One can have sympathy for women and girls who are harassed, abused and worse at the same time as being wary of people posting unverifiable anecdotes on social media. Especially in the context of their other posts on this thread. One of which has been deleted for hate speech.

The UK manufacturing industry was on a long term decline. The UK economy was changing and the world was changing. We exported services and imported goods. The UK still has niches in higher value manufacturing.

Regarding a sovereign wealth fund the UK gov at the time used oil receipts in a time of heavy fiscal pressure. Also the revenues fell drastically after they peaked.

Ok cool. What did I exaggerate?

I was quite little but I remember how stressed my parents were about it and the shortages/strikes. Yes loo roll was a problem. Our water was off for ages and mum had a small baby. Maybe other areas of the country got pick of the deliveries that hit through the dock strikes and Cornwall lost out as usual.

Fair enough re: loo roll, it may have varied according to area. I am sure I would remember it otherwise.

Guess what happened to Rhiannon is just an "anecdote".

Being wary of unverifiable anecdotes online is fine, but that's not what you originally said, is it? You said that another PP voicing suspicions that men hadn't been in Crowborough long enough to behave in the way they were being accused of was 'blowing a claim out of the water' - though I'm not sure why only being in a place for a week means that men can't hiss at women and girls they see out in public. In what way is that 'blowing a claim out of the water'? You're talking as though strong evidence was provided that completely disproved the story rather than someone saying 'I doubt they've been there long enough to do that'.

Talking about 'slightly exaggerated claims'...!

If you mean Rhiannon Whyte, of course not. Why would anyone in their right mind say that?

My friend is from the area and told me about his experiences late last year. Seeing then deliver drug parcels, and treating his wife and daughter horribly.

To not get the visceral levels of hatred people have for Keir Starmer

I have been giving this some further thought, and without wishing to over-intellectualise matters, I have concluded it’s easiest to put this way; if people do feel ‘visceral hatred’ towards Starmer (I personally don’t), then perhaps it’s because the bloke is simply a massive wanker.

You didn’t answer my question.

I don’t know who has been deleted but I didn’t see any hate speech from that poster. Some PPs are extremely sensitive to reading things they don’t like so I tend to assume the deletion was to be on the safe side.

I did answer your questions.

But to be clear, if a woman tells me she has been harassed or abused by a man my starting point is that I will believe her.

But that is not what happened in this instance. Chickenpet offered a second and third hand anecdote. Even then, I would have been inclined to believe him/her, but the wider context makes me rather doubtful. As does his/her deleted post. I can't say 100% either way, though. And nor can you.