Westminstenders: Frozen

[RedToothBrush]

Boris Johnson was empty chaired by C4 with a block of ice.

The Conservatives went mental and have threatened to look at C4 broadcast remit.

This is illiberal and anti democratic.

Journalists are supposed to hold power to account on behalf of the public. If MPs don't turn up then they can't be held to account.

They have a duty to show. It's not good enough to avoid scrutiny because it might make you look bad. That's the whole point.

The contempt with which Johnson holds the press and public is reprehensible and you should be concerned whatever your political alligence. It allows corruption to fester without consequence.

And to then threaten C4 because they do their job in line with their responsibility as a broadcaster is alarming.

This is how authoritarian dictators work.

Why didn't his son ask, "Why are they called Conservatives when they smash everything?"

But none of this is true, people like him don't catch buses, they are for the plebs.

All I know about Albania is that there was a dreadful, culturally biased Simpsons episode set there.

All I know about Albania is that there was a dreadful, culturally biased Simpsons episode set there.

All I know about Albania is that there was a dreadful, culturally biased Top Gear episode set there.

#VoteLabour2019
@JeSuisFuckstick
·
20h
30 years ago, Lenny Henry was campaigning for families going hungry in Africa. 2019, he is now having to campaign for our kids. 1 in 4 children are going to bed hungry in the UK.
It's a scandal. #GeneralElection2019

twitter.com/i/status/1201123027972440065

Albania never came up in my history or geography lessons at school, so I'm limited to very basic - & ideosyncratic ! - general knowledge (feel free to correct any errors):

Part of Greek, Roman, Byzantine empires
Ottoman occupation led to the Muslim minority today
Iskanda Bey (middle ages) a former Janissary, who had many victories against the Ottoman Empire
King Zog (early 20thC)
WW2 conquest & occupation by Mussolini, with puppet King Victor Emmanuel
Post-war communist takeover, with 10s of thousands of their opponents murdered, rule by Enver Hoxha
1956 split with the USSR, because of USSR de-Stalinisation - mainly because Hoxha wanted to keep his ruthless grip on the country
Alliance with China, who gave them financial & political support
Hoxha died mid-1980s
Communism overthrown early 1990s
Mostly unstable govt since then, with many Albanians leaving for wealthier countries, especially within Europe
Member of NATO, applied to join EU, but members wary after expense / rightwing regimes in existing EE members

I'm never sure what to put for ethnicity on diversity forms

It will be a cold day in hell before I complete one of those. We start with the fact I will never allow myself to be defined by other peoples labels, and work our way up. I didn't agree with them when I first saw them in the early 80s, and I still don't.

The only reason you could shove that question as far up the collective arse of whoever is asking is because there will be an existing blockage where they can stick any questions about sexual orientation that when in beforehand.

If it makes me a tinfoil hatter, then so be it, but I humbly suggest that nothing bad would happen if nobody ever filled out those forms again. The only acceptable answer is "human" (I'm with Dawkins ...)

Exactly DGR i loathe them with a passion.

It's all bollocks anyway. I mean sorry to single you out prettybird but WTF are "Scottish" or "Huguenot" genes? Pretty sure being a Protestant in 17th-c France instead of a Catholic didn't alter your DNA.

Sooz Kempner
@SoozUK
·
15m
A random man on #VictoriaLive just emphatically said he was sick of the Westminster establishment, he wanted the "Westminster swamp drained" and then he was asked how he'd be voting next week and he said "Conservative". SO THERE WE ARE.

Westminster swamp drained

Where have we heard the drain the swamp mantra from?

Trump is going to have to keep his mouth/twitter shut while he's here the chance of fucking up the Tory campaign must keep some of them up at night

Just hearing very similar here on Radio London, makes me weep with frustration/despair & not a little bit of anger

'Random Man' I wonder how random?

Are we going to get the Russian report before the election?
Are we going to get a BBC whistleblower?

Dark times.
Word on the ground sounds a lot more positive than the media spin, tho

Random Man' I wonder how random?

Not very would be my guess.

Hugh Grant (the last British PM to win a winter election - if you recall) is out canvassing for a whole load of remain mps/ candidates. He's working cross party and with independents. So in the spirit of that - here's that link again

comparethetacticals.com/

check who is best placed to unseat/ stop a tory in your constituency and vote for them.

I am on night shifts for most of December and feeling pretty bleak about this winter, morale is so low
But there are a lot of people out there fighting in the face of extreme lies not only from the tories but also our disgraceful press and I thank every one of them. tories don't have many people on the ground at all of course. Just huge, huge amounts of money and the media cowed or servile...
real david and goliath stuff.
cmon brits, do me proud...

has anyone seen any tories out in public with any kind of positive response? Or any tories out in public at all? Am I living in a bubble here or is the media deliberately misrepresenting?
Or are the "general public" not the same as "the voters"?

DP has a tory voting mate. Got canvassed by labour yesterday. "Gave them a piece of my mind, idiots"

Then "of course i have to vote for labour because I'm not insane, but I didn't tell them that"

All his 30something right leaning mates are saying same. Think there is a real generational thing going on here. I don't really have mates like that, but DP has many old friends from childhood like that. He says none of them are voting tory this time

But according to the polls apparently tories aren't going to lose a single seat?!

Some of my more gullible older relatives have started telling me they think the papers are lying. It's hard not to shout "REALLY?!" Marks a big shift, though

I haven't seen any positive responses to Tories. I haven't seen any Tories - but we live in a Labour bubble and everyone I know votes Labour - so I can't be much help with your question squid4.

Interested to know what other people are experiencing and seeing ...

My Tory BIL and Tory MIL are not voting Tory this time - if that is any help. I think others older members of the extended family are though.

Definitely the more conscientious Tory voters in our family have had second thoughts this time.

Just had our local Tory candidates postcard through the letterbox.

Took me a few minutes to realise he was actually the Conservative candidate as it's not mentioned anywhere on the card. The only clue is a tiny "Conservatives" logo by the address.

I've just rescoured the entire thing and the word "Conservative" only appears once - in that logo.

DW has just commented that unlike all the other parties literature (3 copies - me, DW and DS), there's only one - addressed to me. A casual conclusion would be that they aren't wasting money on women, or people with foreign names (DS has a very un-Anglo Saxon name). And on the data available, I certainly can't exclude that as a working theory.

How bout this one squid

Will Goring
@willgoring
· Dec 1
Replying to @HackedOffHugh
He’s definitely rattled. He’s my local MP and he turned up on our doorstep last week. Never seen him before. He told us that If we voted Labour we would lose our house. Really weird conversation. Voting Labour of course

No Tory presence at all here, either in person or posters, leaflets, etc. The MP is either complacent about his 14k majority or wants to be defeated. I’m pretty sure it’s the former.

There's a video going round of matt hancock being really mocked and heckled in his safe tory constituency

All I see of labour is huge crowds gathering for corbyn?

there's also this which is the best thing I've seen all week

twitter.com/MrMichaelSpicer/status/1200402140616908800

I am in a very safe Tory seat. I have had one Tory leaflet so far, no canvassers. They are pretty complacent here. LDs are energised & active due to local govt gains recently. Lots of leafleting & candidate is out and about.I think they hope to reduce Tory majority. Strangely I have not seen a single conservative placard, poster.

Is there a very real possibility that when politicians lie so easily and blatantly to the public, the public will repay in kind when given the opposition ?

It's impossible not to harbour a hope that come December 13th when all polling has shown to be bollocks, and Boris is using the side exit, he will be ranting to the remaining sycophants They lied ! The bastard public lied to us !

There must be some historical parallels ... I wonder what they teach us ?