BenTheFox

The audience are asking questions about issues that concern them the most. Neither of them are successfully making a positive case. The campaigning is so negative from both of them. All what they won't do rather than what they will do. It's pathetic.

Can you really blame me for not voting for either of these pillocks? We need radical change in this country and we're not even hearing any policies from them, let alone a bold vision backed up with substantial policies. I despair, I really do.

My point wasn't that all Brexit voters were racist, my point was that if you did vote Brexit for racist reasons, you've ultimately been let down on that front because instead of immigration from the EU, we're now seeing far more immigration coming from countries where people are not white. I don't think that most Brexit voters were racist, but there's no doubt that there were racist Brexit voters. Let's face it, there was messaging from prominent Leave campaigners that were designed to appeal to people's bigotries. I'll point you to Nigel Farage's 'Breaking Point' poster with a picture of non-EU national on the move. I can't help but feel like you've completely got the wrong end of the stick. If you look a few pages back on this thread I openly criticised Labour's 2019 second referendum policy because it was a slap in the face to so many people in the electorate and sent out the message of 'no, you got it wrong. Have another go' . Cameron and Osborne's austerity certainly didn't help the case for remain, especially when they were heading the remain campaign. They can't turn around and say 'yeah, sorry. It's the policies that we've been implementing for the past six years as to why your life sucks. Vote for us'.

I do, sorry.

If we are going to throw away the manual and revert to experience and pragmatism, then surely David Moyes would be our first choice?

Apparently Cooper was going to sell his house in Kegworth but has now taken it off the market. He's at least being interviewed for the job. He wouldn't be my first choice but I'm not really fussed that he managed Forest. Our title-winning captain is from Nottingham and played for Forest and one of our ever greatest managers and his assistant were European Cup winners with Forest. Positives: No compensation Clearly built a good team spirit at Forest in their promotion season Managed to get the extra bit out of that Forest team to keep them in the league. Isn't completely glued to an ideology like Maresca was and will just do what he can to try and win games. Was capable of shithousing close home games in his first season in the premier league at Forest. Would probably prefer to work with a smaller squad and not having 26 players signed for him Proven that he can get a team promoted if we are relegated Negatives: His football at times at Forest was absolutely diabolical His away record in the premier league was very poor Nuno has a better points per game ratio in the premier league at Forest Even many of their fans who had been supportive of him felt that tactically he was out of his depth at this level and they got over the line through gusto and luck (us being dysfunctional certainly helped them too) There are some mediating circumstances at Forest. They were promoted with many loan players and I'm sure he will have wanted to keep many of them, and there's no way he wanted to sign all of those players. I also think if the club are serious of carrying on the possession football model, Steve Cooper doesn't fit into that whatsoever, so it would be strange.

If you voted Brexit because you thought there were "too many brown faces in Sainsbury's", as one person said on a national radio call-in show, you have now ended up with far more brown faces as a result of us leaving the European Union.

You're right, but it's just depressing.

I can understand why people in this country want less immigration. However, I do wish that political parties would be honest with the public about what the potential drawbacks of that would be. We have an aging population and a low birthrate. If they want to increase the size of the workforce whilst lowering the number of immigrants, it means that we need start having a lot more children and the issue with that is that we are generally having fewer children because we can't afford it. It also means that the retirement age will probably have to go up again. If people have been warned about the potential and still want immigration greatly reduced, then at least the public have made an informed choice.

Oh absolutely. One of their main policies is scrapping net zero and he has openly said that he wants the NHS to be become an insurance system. Definitely has the backing of dark money. Also, he is the star of GB News, which is backed heavily by the Legatum Institute, an investment firm based in the UAE. Right-wing populism is based on 'standing upto the elite'. The issue with it is the 'elite' that they are fighting isn't really the elite and they're just propagandists for the actual elite.

Seen some very right-wing people saying they think that Reform can win the election now that Farage is leader. It's funny how they think they're a silent minority. I understand that there are a lot of socially conservative people in this country, but people very easily forget that the Conservative Party themselves actually polled way better under Cameron 10/15 years ago when he was flogging his socially liberal 'big society', legalise gay marriage, 'hug a hoodie' thing whilst also killing poor people with austerity. Brexit and the 2019 general election really boiled a lot of people's brains.

You include Mordaunt but not Braverman? If they take an absolute hammering but Braverman keeps her seat, she will probably be the next leader of the Conservative Party. She is a dangerous woman who I hope is nowhere near frontline British politics. If Mordaunt becomes Tory leader, I can live with that. At least she seems somewhat sane. My top five are: Braverman Badenoch Rees-Mogg Gullis Truss

Whilst that is 100% correct, they're also not offering substantive policies to address the issues that you've highlighted. They've backed themselves into a corner by committing to the same fiscal rules as the tories. This unfortunately shows the power not only of right-wing newspapers in this country, but the people that are now funding the Labour Party. What concerns me about this most is what happens if there isn't any improvement in people's material conditions under this Labour government. If the perceived centre-right and the perceived centre-left have failed, where do people turn? The story across Europe is that people are turning to the far-right.

That's the face he'll make when he sees Daka's first touch at his first training session at Seagrave.

Also, Reform winning 0 seats after having an entire TV station setup to champion their type of politics and them having been given so many slots on mainstream media outlets would be ****ing hilarious.

That would leave them to probably choose from either Braverman, Hunt, Shapps, the return of Truss or probably someone barely anyone has heard of to choose from as leader.

The biggest thing if they get destroyed will be who is left to pick from in terms of their next leader from their puddle. What if their high profile figures who have been tipped to be the next leader such as Braverman, Badenoch, Mordant etc. have all lost their seats?

Oh I definitely appreciate the strength of feeling against him. However, how does that explain 2.6 million fewer votes for Labour than in 2017?

The 2nd referendum policy was the most costly thing for them in 2019! I think Brexit is terrible, but the 'red wall' seats they lost in 2019 were leave-voting seats. Despite me never wanting Brexit, I never agreed with the concept of a second referendum where remain was an option. It was a huge slap in the face for people to be told effectively they'd got it wrong the first time and to have another go. I suspect many other remain voters felt the same way too. A second referendum where people get to vote on the type of Brexit they want on the other hand I could have gotten on board with. Ironically, this was an idea suggested by Jacob Rees-Mogg before the first referendum. I think Labour would have lost in 2019 even if they didn't have the 2nd referendum policy. Boris Johnson at the time was more popular in the country than May was in 2017 and their manifesto was a clear change from Cameron/Osborne's austerity (although I knew his levelling-up strategy was never going to amount to anything). Then you add Corbyn's personal unpopularity into this. Labour would have lost if there was no second referendum policy, but the scale of the defeat would not have been anywhere near as severe. It wasn't a single issue election, but Brexit was the biggest issue. There were many people that voted for Johnson for the reason that you've stated above, but Brexit was the biggest factor behind the scale of Labour's defeat.

You've still got to have some charisma as a leader though. Unfortunately, Ed lacked that in abundance. Sadly many people vote based on vibes.

Yeah, fair play. The thought him blubbing at 4am having lost his seat is beautiful.

A year or two ago I was very much of the opinion that everyone who wants rid of the tories should vote Labour or the biggest alternative in their constituency. A lot has changed in my mind since. I can't blame anyone who does vote Labour. If I lived in Suella Braverman's constituency for example, I'd definitely vote Labour. I don't want to revive Jeremy Corbyn in anything. I accept when there is a defeat that heavy, compromise is needed to win people over. My criticism of Corbyn is that he had some good policies but he was never the right person to lead the party and that the manifesto was a case of too much too soon. If Labour had someone like Andy Burnham leading the party with the most popular Corbyn policies (nationalising rail, mail and water for instance), I'd be all over them.

The Labour Party are offering me nothing at this point. My ideal scenario is a hung parliament with Labour as the largest party. People claimed that New Labour was tory-lite but at least under New Labour we saw huge reduction in child and pensioner poverty, the introduction of the minimum wage, the Good Friday Agreement (although I'll give John Major his due, he put in a lot of the groundwork), and big investment in education and NHS. It wouldn't take that much for Labour to win my vote. However, Starmer's Labour have ruled out scrapping the two-child benefit cap, wealth taxes, has massively watered down the deal for workers and has said that Israel had the right to cut off power and electricity to Palestine. I want to see big changes in this country and they're not offering anything. I want to see an end to the two-party system and if small parties can accumulate enough votes to scare the big parties, at least it could influence their direction. Think of the effect that UKIP had on the Conservative Party.

For clarity, I live in Gedling, a constituency that turned blue in 2019 having Labour since its inception. I'd be amazed if Labour don't win comfortably in Gedling this time around.

This is why I will be voting for the Green Party at the upcoming election. If I thought it was going to be close Id' vote Labour because getting rid of the Conservative Party is the most important, but I want to see some external pressure on the Labour Party from the left. The Green Party is far from perfect but I want the political debate in this country to shift and if there is electoral consequence to the left of the Labour Party, maybe they'll start actively seeking those votes.