The Doctor

🎵thiiings, cannot get better🎵

of those you'd expect it'll end up being Badenoch given the way she kept getting talked up as leader when the knives were out for sunak a few months ago

he wasn't liked no, he was considered weak and ineffective up to 2017, and then became the biggest threat Britain has ever faced, not because he or labour under him changed but because the way he was reported changed. it went from "magic grandpa" to this sort of shit: Same happened to Johnson, he was teflon until he wasn't, and again with Sunak who went from being portrayed as superman to currently, and it will happen to Starmer, it's nothing to do with stepping away from the centre like Bilo suggested, it's whether or not you're useful to the robber barons this country is run in service to, if you're not the propaganda mill goes into overdrive. take the labour 2019 manifesto as a prime example - it was fully costed and how it would be achieved was clear, but everyone regards it as fantasy politics even now because that's how it was presented in coverage of that election.

trying to pretend his labour were despised in 2017 is what's absurd. he was up against a much stronger Tory party in 2017 than Blair faced in 2001 (unsurprising given Blair had been in power for 4 years, whereas corbyns labour were in opposition) but their (corbyn 2017, Blair 2001) popularity was similar.

sorry, but this is pretty massive historical revisionism. 2017 corbyn was comparable to Blair 2001 in terms of popular vote, it was specifically 2019 where he was about as popular as Rooney would be taking the Liverpool job, and a big part of that was the antisemitism allegations - despite not being any more antisemitic than the UK at large (we're talking about a country where Blairs labour ran attack ads against Howard for being Jewish, and where the press crucified miliband with classic "dual loyalties" antisemitic allegations), if you read the papers you'd think he was going to open Auschwitz the moment he took power, because that suited the press, and this has been a consistent theme over the last 5 years - Boris was the man, your charming uncle, right up until the aftermath of COVID. he didn't change at all, but the press coverage of him did, because he'd outlived his usefulness. same with Sunak, from the BBC portraying him as Superman to now, his politics haven't changed, whether he's useful to the likes of Murdoch and Dacre did. If Truss wasn't in and out quicker than the average Watford manager she'd likely have faced the same. this is the issue Starmer will also face and why is not be surprised if he didn't last to 2029 - the kid gloves have been on for now in terms of press coverage, but once Sunak is gone, how long is Starmer useful to them before the propaganda machine goes into overdrive and he's killed off.

id be shocked if that was the case. the biggest problem is that all the economic talk from Starmer and Reeves is a continuation of austerity, which means there won't be significant improvements to people's material conditions. that then leaves them being wildly unpopular and creates very fertile ground for the far right, akin to the gains that the likes of Le Pen and AfD are making.

they will get seats, not a huge amount because of the way fptp works (small parties need a huge national swing to gain a few seats compared to the bigger parties). the threat with reform is that they replace the Tories as the main right wing alternative to labour (particularly if the Canada 1993 level Tory wipeout being predicted occurs) and so are more placed to gain significant inroads in 2029

yep. no shot by a scottish player so it's 0xG still. classic FM-ing, 0 shots to 20 odd, 1 goal for the 0 shots. Just ignore the 4 in the other end.

god bless Rudiger. 3 more of those please champ.

it's being implemented next season isn't it?

record defeat in the euros is by a 5 goal margin right? Record breakers baby

double jeopardy rule only applies for genuine attempts to win the ball and not in the case of serious foul play. It's for stopping sending offs for fouls that would be yellow at most if not the denial of a goal scoring opportunity, given a penalty is a goal scoring opportunity anyway Nah, come off it. Scotland have got John "best coach in the premier league" Carver on our staff, it'd be worse.

Gonna give you some spoilers assuming your stream is 5 minutes behind. It's not gonna finish 2-0

hey, cowdenbeath wouldn't be outclassed this badly.

Porteous is such a ****ing tool.

did it last summer, the absolute trek between Pen-y-ghent and the other two is demoralising.

page 91 of the pdf version: "So-called conversion therapy is abuse – there is no other word for it – so Labour will finally deliver a full trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices, while protecting the freedom for people to explore their sexual orientation and gender identity." conversion therapy is abuse, that much is correct, it's generally recognised as torture for a reason, but that last line is important because basically no conversion therapist will say that's what they practice, they'll state that they offer "exploratory therapy", allowing their 'patient' to "explore their sexual orientation and gender identity rather than being told what it is in an affirmative model". So, a ban on conversion therapy that allows so called exploratory therapy is a paper ban only that still allows the actual practice to occur. page 99 "We will work to implement the expert recommendations of the Cass Review to ensure that young people presenting to the NHS with gender dysphoria are receiving appropriate and high-quality care." the Cass review was a stitch up, torn to shreds by every international body who work in this area, and was commissioned by the Tories to enable an attack on trans healthcare (don't take my word for it, take Bad Enochs: https://x.com/KemiBadenoch/status/1799509912143151611), and the recommendations it makes are the basis of the Florida laws that were just struck down as being obviously discriminatory and in violation of equal protection rights in Doe v. Ladapo.

while this may be true, power without principles is even worse. I also think there's not enough understanding that this election is not just about the next 5 years but the next 20. Labour are offering nothing but managed decline compared to the Tories crashing elevator approach. when things don't improve under labour, we know enough history and see enough contemporary politics in the us and mainland Europe to know what happens - reform and Farage end up in power. the technocratic centre not only won't stop fascism, they make it inevitable.

I'll rephrase: a lack of any good policies beyond not being Sunak. like, focusing down on the two areas which are critical to me: - a liveable planet for future generations; labour have drastically watered down compared to how they were talking in January and offer a pittance compared to the lib dems on climate, and at this point we cannot afford to half arse the response. - LGBT rights; labours manifesto sets out an aim to be worse than Florida on some aspects of this (enacting the Cass review, the basis of which has just been slapped down in the us federal courts - Doe v Lapado) and is incredibly contradictory (promising a conversion therapy ban but also enacting "exploratory therapy", which is just conversion therapy with a new badge slapped on it). beyond that it's a lot of austerity rebranded and utter contempt for disabled people. it's lukewarm slop from a party offering nothing good.

it'll change in two days, they're a party with zero principles under the spineless ham man, hence why they had to turn the manifesto into his photo album to cover up a complete lack of policies beyond "I'm not Rishi Sunak".

no, the notion that voting third party is a wasted vote is one pushed by the big two to try and preserve a two party system. is it going to result in your preferred choice getting in, no, but it gives the third party a base to work from to target down more seats where they are not that far off/gets the big two to lean more towards your positions to try and woo you back. like ****, UKIP I don't think ever actually won a seat in an election (rather than through defectors) but they were basically the most successful party of the 2010s, with their policies becoming pretty much the entirety of the Tory party platform because of the way key chunks kept splitting from the Tories to UKIP

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/zack-polanski-deputy-green-party-hypnotherapy-womens-breasts/ my "I watched a green party political broadcast and all I got were these massive tits" shirt is encouraging a lot of questions already answered by my shirt

tbf that deal fell apart at the last minute because of other factors, not least Rudkins ineptness.

this is the issue with the lib Dems generally tbh. like between them, labour and the tories, they're the only ones who aren't completely shit in terms of policies, but there's a pretty consistent fear of a clegging.

Southampton isn't actually abroad Nicola sturgeon has got a campervan full of hammers and would like to know your location