Westminstenders: From Uxbridge to...? Part deux GE 2019 special.

[placemats]

New thread.

General election 12th December 2019. Results out on Friday 13th. Unlucky day for some.

So this election is unusual in that it will focus primarily on Brexit and referendums with domestic issues tagged alongside, for some parties.

No way. Is that for real? He can forget about Norfolk Woman’s vote, then.

Direction quotion from the BBC article.

FT link I messed up above for the Red Wall Article is here
t.co/S37jL0hweZ

No way. Is that for real? He can forget about Norfolk Woman’s vote, then.

I hate to say it - and I don't understand it - but I think a proportion of the female population will excuse this and vote for him.

@otto_english on why Farage hasn't announced all his candidates yet

"It took me ages to work out why Farage wouldn't name his PPCs .... and then it came to me. They were getting them all to delete social media accounts or clean them up. A huge number of the BP PPCs have accounts created this year."

Oh and the Head Russian Troll has now waded into Moggie Debate.

Not going to comment beyond that and recommend no one else bites too.

Yes, sadly mysoginism is not restricted to males.

I think the head Russian troll wading in suggests this isn't a 'dead cat' - it's a message to the anti-immigrant base.

On Tory dirty tricks, Radio 4 covered it about an hour ago. The journalist yes there is still one working in the BBC, who knew made the point that Conservative Central office when confronted with their own fake news simply repeated the tagline in response because social media is all about the noise. A journalist therefore faces the dilemma when confronting fake news that they simply enable the noise to reach more gullible ears. Same with JRM, the more we react, the more ears it reaches, Hadley is right (she usually is, one of my girl crushes). No idea how you fight this, no point appealing to the Head and the hearts are already engaged.

And worth remembering how Twitter went crazily anti-London after the Grenfell fire. Lots of weird people trying to say it was a proof of London bias that it was getting so much attention.

Those trolls have a great deal of hate in them. ☹️

It's interesting to contrast the two stories on Twitter tonight: Mogg & Bridgen inviting their base to eschew compassion and give their hatred full reign - even to the extent of surreptitiously revelling in the deaths of people they are permitted to view as sub-human.

And '#ToryStories', which invites you to stop feeling the silencing and isolating effects of shame (for being poor, needing the NHS, not coping with cuts to education, etc) and calling out to others to feel compassion but also to be brave and acknowledge the deep sadness so many of us feel in Austerity, Brexit-terrorised UK.

We really are at a crossroads with this election.

It couldn't be more explicit.

No idea how you fight this, no point appealing to the Head and the hearts are already engaged.

First person shouts 'Dead Cat Story' loudly on this thread and then we all make a pact not to comment further or give clicks to links in newspapers about it or to tweets about it.

Do not legitimise the story by being interested or talking about it.

Break the cycle.

Remember it's all about the clicks and if you talk about the Cat you aren't talking about the suppression of a report into Russian political interference by a government with lots of individuals who might have a Russian associated conflict of interest

Lewis Goodall@lewis_goodall
Been in Workington for less than ten mins when someone says: “this Workington man stuff. What a stupid southern idea. We’ve all been laughing about it.”

FWIW, DH had a colleague at his last job who thought the homeless should be rounded up and... Yes you work out the rest.

He was a highly educated, professional in a 'respectable industry'

And yes he was serious and not joking.

Warning: Includes a nauseating photo of BJ smooching a Russian industrialist

Anyone old enough to remember when the Tory media used to go nuts about Labour's alleged Russian sympathies ?

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/revealed-russian-donors-have-stepped-tory-funding/

Well-connected Russian oligarchs and companies heavily involved in lobbying for Russian interests have stepped up their funding of the Conservative party in recent months
....
Labour MP Ben Bradshaw said:
“Now we know one of the reasons Boris Johnson is suppressing the official report into Kremlin penetration of our democracy.
It's because of the substantial and growing links between Russian money and the Tory Party.
.....
Lubov Chernukhin. The wife of a former Russian deputy finance minister, Chernukhin has donated more than £450,000 to the Conservatives in the last year.

Former arms tycoon Alexander Temerko is another prominent Russian donor in Tory circles who has given money in the past year.

Temerko, who has spoken warmly about his “friend”d”_ Boris Johnson, has gifted over £1.2 million to the Conservatives over the past seven years*

and has reportedly admitted being involved in a Eurosceptic plot to oust May as Tory leader less than a year ago.

The foodbank I run has seen footfall go up 53% since the introduction of UC.

The stories I hear are heartbreaking.

We have also had clients who work ft who just do not earn enough to keep body and soul together.

I'm so sickened by JRM and ABs words.

There are simply no words of condemnation adequate enough.

iirc Frank Field has said UC is forcing some women to turn to prostitution, to feed their kids.

Labour has selected its parliamentary candidate for Warrington North.

Activist Charlotte Nichols will battle for the seat in the upcoming General Election.

Her Twitter profile bio says she is Jewish, a trade union officer and a socialist.

It also states she is based in London.

In an election where its very north v south and a lack of localism is felt very accutely and this sense of Londoners being out of touch with the north, just WHY have Labour imposed a centrally picked candidate and parachuted them in over a local candidate?

It boogles my mind.

I am veering more and more towards Labour. It won't make a blind bit of difference in my donkey in a blue rosette constituency, but at least it might work as some sort of constructive protest.

I'll be voting labour (tactical)
I do wonder if labour are struggling for candidates?
No labour candidate in my constituency yet...

I'm really warming to Labour.

If there's convincing evidence that lib dems will win here though, I will vote for them to keep tories out.

Jo Swinson makes it bloody hard work though. I just keep reminding myself that if lib dem do win here, it will more likely help Labour and there's no chance of her being in power anyway.

Somebody should remind Jo Swinson of the words that preceded

"...go back to your constituencies and prepare for government"

Another one realising that Labour moderated by Keir and co is probably the best option

Jo Swinson makes it bloody hard work though. Agreed.

How did she win the leadership contest over Ed Davey so spectacularly?

I'm still completely undecided and 'wish to remain, don't want Corbyn, can't bear Swinson but surely couldn't vote Tory'

In my 'super marginal' constituency of Warrington South many, many people that I speak to are of the same opinion, its going to be tight here for sure!