Anyone else feeling politically homeless and disillusioned with UK politics?

[Twister11]

Is anyone else finding the current political situation in the UK quite depressing? I used to be an active Labour supporter and I was very keen on the idea of a Labour government. But the last two years have completely taken away all my enthusiasm. The latest scandal with Keir Starmer in the Commons today is absolutely the last straw for me. I know no party or government is without its flaws but this feels beyond the pale. I don’t know how to vote in the locals. I guess maybe green although I don’t like the local candidates or some of their positions. Just feel politically homeless and disillusioned and a little scared for the future because nobody seems to be able to run the country in a decent way. Thanks for reading my vent if you’ve got this far.

Well they couldnt be prepped to go to war as we havent got any ships to sail them to the Gulf in TBF.

They will let you down. They always say one thing and do another. I think we need to stop voting for lesser of the evils. Look at the US. Some of them did the same and even Trump was slightly better in his first term and he’s done everything many republicans voted against!

"Deeply Uncomfortable" thats a bit extreme.... i couldn't care less what other people wear or do, so long as it doesn't impinge on the general workings of society.

Do you think you speak for everyone?

I've listened to Muslim women (R4) who do not consider the face coverings at all oppressive.

Most of them have grown up brainwashed from birth to accept it and see it as virtuous.

More broadly on womens rights, almost 3 women a week are killed in the UK each week, vast vast majority by white so called "Christian" men.

Whataboutery at its absolute finest. Well done Alexandra!

Regarding war and defence, I would prefer we focus on cybersecurity and modern day war fare (drones, tech, some air defence) and submarines. We do have some of the best universities in the world. And our diplomacy civil service is still pretty good.
Starmer should not have made a political appointment to the US just because the US tends to do these things. It is better we stick to what we are good at, that is an apolitical civil service. I hope they learn from this.

I think the problem with face coverings and cameras and modern surveillance is a complex one.
Let’s assume every modern society is moving to facial recognition and Iris technology, which they are. Muslim or not, they will have to adapt to the laws of the day.
The police aren’t up for policing on the streets anymore and confronting people, neither are persons working in shops.
Progress is in technology spotting criminals, subject to cyber security issues as there is a real danger of faking footage.
If the rule of law and majority ends up demanding the camera tech, then the religious minority view cannot be allowed to trump the majority.

I really think this is what we are fundamentally confronting now: tolerance is extremely important. However, minorities cannot trump the majority values nor be played off against other minorities.
Civil liberty was meant as a protection against a controlled authority like the State. Not as a protection against other individuals including larger minorities like women.

I think the problem is that instinctively the British don't historically like banning things. Under our law, everything is allowed unless specifically banned (unlike on the Continent where the opposite is true). So we are squeamish about not allowing someone to express themselves by their dress. And we are a religiously tolerant society (although a Burka is cultural not a religious requirement). So it's a tricky thing.

In our area we don't have policies if you see what the political parties put out; we have "the other parties did it/will do it worse".
I have absolutely no idea what the parties who have put propaganda through our door are standing for.

All I know is that one of them says they're the only party that can possibly beat the current party that's in and the other has published some extremely to the point of fraudulent statistics to discredit the others. Tbh I'm not surprised about the latter, because it was my most common vote until last election when they got a new head whom I heard saying that it was a good policy to put out lies about the other parties, because no one remembered any apology even if they were forced to make one.

Anyone spotted a policy in the wild this time?

I want to see:

1. Positive politics: I don't care if you think the others will do worse. I want to know what you are going to do to make things better
2. Moral politics: MPs and local councillors must stand behind their decisions and not be able to hide behind they "had to vote that way because the party told them".
3. Unpopular politics: Taking action because it is good for the country as a whole, not because they think it will get the votes
4. Strong leading in politics: None of the wishy-washy "I'll do this - oh no, not popular so I won't".
5. Honest politics: All ministers should have to answer for their actions.

One of the problems is not only have we not have a strong leader for the time, I think even more importantly we haven't had a strong opposition leader for decades. In order to needle the party in power into doing what is needed, there needs to be a strong opposition who will be stepping on their toes and pushing the party that is in.

Although I've thought for a long time that a good MP would probably answer the question "would you like to be a MP?" with something less polite than "hell, no".