Westminstenders: Dissolved.

[RedToothBrush]

Parliament has formally been dissolved. We are now officially in an election period including purdah and spending limits. Not that all the parties haven't got campaign material out already to bypass the rules, making the rules a complete farce. And the government has made some very dodgy adverts about the fund for towns, 90% of which just happen to be marginals.

The Tory Campaign has got off to an interesting start with a dead cat dog whistle against Grenfell where many well educated people lived (Inc an architect), privately owned their property and just happened to be white. And fast asleep. I'm not sure about you but I don't tend to have huge amounts of 'common sense' when I'm snoring.

Apologies have of course been made. In true Trumpian / Bannon style. But the whistle was blown and made its desired point to its target audience. Expect many more examples before we get to the end of this campaign.

Of course the same day it was made public that the government have blocked the publication of a report into Russian Electoral Interference. Which is in no way connected to the massive amount of donations the Tory Party has been receiving lately and who Boris Johnson hangs out with.

This election is all about breaking 'The Red Wall' and the Tories taking Northern seats. So everyone between Birmingham and Cumbria is going to be particularly fed up by 12th December at people from London coming out with ridiculous stereotypes, and telling them how to vote. We await Corbyn and Johnson adopting flat caps and vowels whilst drinking a pint of bitter or mild.

As usual we've had the candidate selection process throw up a few curve balls including forcing cabinet minister Alun Cairns to resign as Welsh Secretary on the day the tories launch their campaign. Its become very clear from the list of Tory MPs who aren't standing that the party has officially split and 'one nation conservatism' is merely now a slogan Johnson throws around to pretend that the hard right of the party hasn't slung out or forced out all the moderates. On the Labour side we have the usual rows at factions in local parties fighting or being really upset at a London candidate being parachuted in.

Farage isn't standing but the Brexit Party apparently is, despite calls for an electoral pact with the Tories. Whether local parties get the memo from Leave.eu and CCHQ we will find out in time. The LDs, Greens and Plaid seem to be consolidating a Remain pact in some seats but this still splits the vote with Labour which will be a problem in some areas.

Johnson is apparently standing in Uxbridge. This does leave us with the possibility he could yet lose his seat. Swinson's seat is also far from a safe one. Corbyn will likely be safe but Islington did back the LDs as the 1st Party at the Euros with the assistance of some very pissed off Labour members.

Nothing is certain about the next 6 weeks apart from the fact it will throw up some shocks and leave us all shouting at the telly at some point.

It can only be stopped by Revoke.

Parliament could pass a law requiring the PM to write the revoke letter. It won't, but the point is that a new parliament is not constitutionally bound to deliver anything decided by a previous government (with some obvious exceptions that don't apply here). Brexit only becomes binding upon the new parliament when we have actually left. Parliament can't reverse that.

I would add that that “lad banter” is now perpetuating itself in corporate culture as the millennials progress in their careers. I have heard stories from young women particularly those that are BAME that are shocking and they are struggling to challenge it, basically being told to “calm down dear”

If you don't vote, you lose the right to complain about any of the things a govt does. There is always a least worst option. You don't like any of them, and that's fine, but do the suggested ranking exercise and it'll be clear that some are worse than others. If you want a different option, well, this is still a democracy. Options can be created, parties can be joined and policies influenced. But if you don't vote because you're so principled? In my view that's the very worst option.

But I will vote. At present i will vote "None of the above ".

Jeremy Corbyn is an extremely popular constituency MP with a long track record of helping constituents and given that includes facing up to Camden Council (the only bureaucracy that has ever defeated me) that is quite an achievement. In that sense he really is magic grandad ( though I had even more magical Glenda come in to bat for us)

I might have to hold my nose and vote Labour if the Brexit Party presents a credible threat in my Labour Leave constituency. Or I might vote Lib Dem with a tightly held nose.
Or I will spoil my ballot.

@Emilyontmoor , I don't live anywhere near his constituency. That's a matter for you.

Emily, what sort of industries?

My experience is that sexist/racist banter has become much less acceptable in the last 30 years (I entered the workplace 33 years ago in 1986 and it was a different world then) - but I can imagine this depends on the corporate culture.

Spoiling a ballot is almost as bad as not voting at all in my book. But I'm glad to hear you're actively considering options bellini. It sounded earlier like you'd given up entirely.

Engineering is still pretty horrendous.
I started in 95.

Too early to give up @TheMShip . But they will need to work harder for my vote. Or there would need to be more Brexit Party peril locally.

My experience is more like @Mistigri. But I'm in academia. Misogyny and bullying is still common but it tends to be covert in that culture. The bald faced lads banter stuff would be very unusual.

I might take a punt on the Lib Dems getting enough seats to negotiate a second referendum but not enough to Revoke. But I fear what would be on the referendum paper and what damage it would cause the country to have another few years of this shit.

Hand wringing.

Cheers for that. Something that has destroyed my family is hand wringing and unimportant. Thanks for telling me my priorities are worthless and unimportant and I know nothing of the world.

We must think of that group of women and that group of children because they are more deserving than this group of women and children. You shouldn't tolerate Islamophobia and antisemitism but homophobia, well that's just fine and we need to suck that one up and be grateful we aren't all in the food banks. Jesus fucking wept.

The idea that the whole thing isn't being driven by executives in a boardroom in the US every bit as much as all the other neoliberal shit boggles my mind. Its part of the same movement. Its not a movement coming from the EU, its firmly an English speaking phenomenon. Its got better and sleeker pr but its still the same thing.

I find it interesting that Obama and Clinton have started to wake up to the authoritarian wokism as a real threat too. If they had thought about it a few years back, then damn straight we might not be in this mess now. It suited them to ignore it at the time. It's someone else's minor problem until its not.

The idea that it will burn out misses some real fundamental issues in how the movement has progressed at the speed it has. Once rules are changed its considerably more difficult to reverse because people double down on belief regardless of facts.

That is the issue though. The absence of checks and balances. I can follow that one through and how its undermining the principles of ethical research and concepts of consent. That has major implications for health care, particularly for the poor that go way beyond trans. The institutional capture of institutions by lobby groups are frightening in how they have concerned power and how they force complicity and silencing.

The idea that its a middle class issue only is crap. If safeguarding is compromised it affects everyone but the poorest and most vulnerable most.

It's a pincer movement in which you can choose your poison. One is more obvious and immediate but it doesn't negate the threat of the other nor lessen its potential wide ranging threat.

I was hoping that by the time we got to this point of this election that politicians would have identified this danger and started to quietly role back on it to avoid this situation.

I'm not going to quietly let that slide now. Not in an election campaign. I am actively waiting for voices to speak out and challenge the party lines on this and demonstrate this craziness. Candidates have an opportunity after next Thursday once their papers are in to demonstrate there is still an internal debate to be had to stop this insanity.

Damn straight I'm watching carefully.

My vote is up for grabs if anyone would like to seize the opportunity to show they aren't part of this shit show and they are willing to speak the truth to power.

The point is precisely that if the left and centre don't speak this truth then they leave it open to the far right to exploit that void.

Ultimately the failure to challenge bullshit is why we are here in every aspect of politics regardless of leaning. And that will lead us to an Argentina type of experience if that doesn't change whoever is in charge.

In short my message to parties is

PROVE ME WRONG.

I work for a big manufacturing company. All is not rosy and women are very underrepresented at higher levels - those women who do make it up the ladder are almost invariably childless. It probably depends a bit on where in the company you work (our divisional director is a very forthright lesbian woman) but it's a pretty supportive workplace for women and HR policies are generally good. I hate a lot about corporate HR but it does have its uses.

If safeguarding is compromised it affects everyone but the poorest and most vulnerable most.

This is absolutely true, but for safeguarding to be possible then it requires the state structures that enable safeguarding to be funded. And of course the ultimate aim should be to enact policy that reduces the number of vulnerable people needing safeguarding.

The prisons issue is a really good example of this. Of course men should not be allowed into women's prisons (and especially not rapey men with a history of being rapey). But the much bigger issue is what most of those women are doing in prison in the first place.

The only party promising a PV is labour.

Mind you, as you can't trust a lib dem, your vote could actually be for no deal, but you won't know that till they get some whiff of power.

^^This

Kevin Schofield
@PolhomeEditor
SCOOP: Labour's membership, which had dipped to 475,000, is now heading back towards half a million. Big boost for Jeremy Corbyn 5 weeks out from the election

Yep.
^ this

as you can't trust a Lib Dem

Are you saying that the LD supporters on this thread are not trustworthy?

Amen @RedToothBrush you put that so much more eloquently then I ever could.

The LibDems stance is Revoke if they get a majority never going to happen and if not, they will support a PV

I thought it was pretty clear but obviously not