This country is doomed

[HappyFace2025]

While the vote in Gorton and Denton may be described as a 'protest' vote the strength of both the Greens and Reform performance is something to worry all of us not just Labour.

Link r3 the beheading threat?

that may be the case for "some" Muslims. Not any of the m=Muslims I know. And quite far from the "any" Muslims that were originally thrown about.

There are extremists in all directions. I generally not agree with anyone of them, nor do I take their views of representative of an entire spectrum of people.

They’re not the Gaza party- but why is Gaza even a threat? It’s literally a smoking hole in the ground at the minute- surely it’s normal that people think that’s wrong

Have you never heard of the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru or Sinn Féin then ?

Think they might have been referring this

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/01/09/i-was-threatened-with-beheading-says-mp-ousted-over-gaza/

There seem to be other results for threats against mps so not sure

😁I try.
I'm a wee bit concerned about the excitement over nuclear fusion when I hear that helium is lost through atmosphere to space. I can foresee an issue with wanging hydrogen together and consequently losing a vital constituent of proteins (structural & functional), carbohydrates (structural & functional), fats (more structural than I'd like but also functional) & of course water, from a relatively closed system, without a decay chain replacing it. But as you say, in the short term, all we can do is try to contribute (subjectively) positively, or perhaps 'first do no harm'.

I can't think of another country in the world whereupon the idea of reducing taxation and illegal immigration (particularly when it's generally accepted as out of control) would be loathed.

I suspect the majority of people looking down their noses at Reform voters whilst whooping for the Greens have no in depth knowledge of either parties policies. For those who do, for every unwise Reform policy I'm confident there is an unwise Green policy that can be referenced. And anyone calling Reform 'extreme' right wing is essentially admitting that they are clueless to actual extreme right wingism.

I'm politically homeless, as it were. My preference would be a house full of independent MP's; for all I know it would be challenging, I'd still give it a go.

I think I'm just sick of seeing people being judgemental about the voting choices of others. I suspect it's just pomposity, a faux moralistic elitism from people who are probably on the bones of their arse.

If fusion is to become a reality then losing hydrogen isn't something to worry about. Fusion could produce a huge amount of energy from a small amount of fuel.

Helium as a by-product is a good thing. We're running short on it. https://www.earth.com/news/global-helium-supply-running-low-race-is-on-to-prevent-the-next-shortage/

Hmm. Northern Ireland doesn't exist!

I think there is some confusion over the priorities of the pro Gaza MPs and ‘support Gaza’. The Gaza MPs ran on a platform of only catering to Muslim priorities. They operate on their religious beliefs and not on representation of the variety of views of all their constituents.

There are many instances where ‘Muslim priorities’ are not compatible with our society.

They are projecting to be fully in charge of Birmingham (which some are already calling the Islamic centre of Britain) in the next election. That will not be good for non Muslims.

From an interview with Ayoub Khan (who was found to have falsely accused an opponent of electoral fraud in 2010):

At the next general election, in 2028 or 2029, Khan sees all Labour MPs in Birmingham being at “very high risk” of losing their seats.

“I’m fairly confident that we could see the loss of Shabana Mahmood, Tahir Ali, Jess Phillips, Liam Byrne and even Preet Kaur Gill. I can certainly see Independents getting those seats,” he claims.
Many Muslim candidates have run on a Gaza-Green ticket at local elections. Green councillor Mothin Ali, upon winning his ward in 2024, shouted “Allahu Akbar” and said the result was a “win for the people of Gaza”. (He later apologised.) But there are key political differences between the Green Party’s social liberalism and the more conservative views held by some of the Independent Alliance MPs.

The Greens have long been proponents of LGBTQIA+ rights, for example, and were early proponents of same-sex marriage. Asked if he supports that, Khan says: “My personal opinion as a Muslim is well-known. You only have to look at what other Muslims believe, what’s taught.” He adds that he would not dictate what people do in their personal lives.

‘Free mixing’ between men and women in some public spaces is another issue that has been raised by socially conservative Muslims such as Maheen Kamran, an 18-year-old elected as a Lancashire councillor in May. She told PoliticsHome her area could have “segregated areas, segregated gyms, where Muslim women don’t have to sacrifice their health”.

www.politicshome.com/news/article/ayoub-khan-lots-of-mps-in-talks-over-joining-independent-group

My theory is that the muslim voters seek to dominate the Greens from the inside like the Tras did with gender woo. They will remove gender woo and replace it with completely pro Gaza.

It would be interesting to watch when that shit hits the fan.

In the constituency only 28% are Muslim.

That means 72% are non Muslim.

I doubt we'll ever have a breakdown of figures in terms of the religion of people who voted or not, but given that Greens won around 50% more votes than the nearest rival, AND the points raised here about Muslims potentially not liking some of the Greens policies, maybe - just maybe - this win wasn't just about Gaza?

Of course I have. Not the same at all.

I was threatened with beheading, says MP ousted over Gaza stance
Kate Hollern reveals she endured ‘very distressing’ few weeks on general election campaign trail
Kate Hollern, who represented Blackburn from 2015 to 2024, lost her seat to Adnan Hussain by 132 votes
Credit: Instagram: katehollern4blackburn
Dominic PennaSenior Political Correspondent
09 January 2026 1:50pm GMT
A former Labour MP who lost her seat to a pro-Palestinian independent has said she was threatened with beheading before the general election.
Kate Hollern, who represented Blackburn from 2015 to 2024, said she had endured a “very distressing” few weeks on the campaign trail in the run-up to the vote 18 months ago.
Ms Hollern lost her seat to Adnan Hussain, one of five independents elected to the Commons on a pro-Palestinian ticket, by 132 votes.
Muslim voters deserted Labour in their droves after Sir Keir Starmer refused to back an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in the war that followed the Oct 7 attacks on Israel.
In an interview with Aleeza Isa, an independent Blackburn journalist, Ms Hollern said: “In fighting elections for 30 years, I have never experienced harassment, intimidation and bullying as I did at that election, and the weeks running up to it were very distressing.
“At one point I was told I was going to be beheaded. At another point I was told that I worshipped a false god.
“The tension was building, but it always does – but when somebody tells you you’re going to be beheaded and you see a picture of yourself on social media covered in blood, of course it worries you, of course it does. And when people are screaming at you that you have got blood on your hands, it is quite intimidating.”

Exactly. I’m part of the working class north and I’m done being told my neighbours are my enemies.
People are absolutely fed up of being skint, not being able to get a docs app, food prices going up, bill etc etc this has nothing to do with immigration/muslims or whatever else reform are peddling.

Just for context, in the 2019 election, 80% of Muslims voted for Labour. Thats 3 million votes.

Labour won the 2024 election with 10 million votes.

The voter turnout/use of postal votes within the Muslim community is unbelievably high. Within the general population voter turnout is approx 40-50%. I think the overall turnout in Gorton/Denton was 47% which was reported as high, presumably because if a motivated section of the population. Use of postal votes will have also helped, being simpler to organise coordinated voting.

I doubt it was that much about Gaza. More to do with Labour and who knows if Burnham had run it.

You think not being able to get a GP appointment has nothing to do with mass immigration?

We've been talking about it at work in the break. It's been suggested that men have hijacked their wives' postal votes and deliberately arranged postal votes for that purpose. Surely not!

I don’t really know where to start with that question, I don’t think they’ve actually thought through the consequences of many of their policies. Take their opposition to ‘private landlords’ and their policy to ban them. I agree that the system needs to be improved, but currently around 12 million people live in private rentals, that’s roughly 5 million homes. How is this going to be achieved? Are they planning on forcing private landlords to sell their homes to their local council/housing association, or are they simply going to build five million houses? Where would the money come from to pay for that, and where would all the skilled builders/trades come from ? Just one example of idealistic policies that would be almost impossible to achieve.

Would you vote for a party who want to reduce defence spending and have open borders?

So just her word for it then?

I was very disappointed with Zach Polanski's victory speech. It was all about having a go at Labour.
He never referred to Reform. He never spoke of Green policies. It was all about doing better than Labour, which I thought was a shame

No. I think it’s underfunding the NHS. In my local surgery, they’ve just made GPs redundant- how is that to do with immigration?

Indeed.