General Election, June 8th

[bovril]

Now I doubt I have much in common with posters like DT or Thracian but at the same time I can't stand this quasi-religious belief that progress and modernity is always necessary even if it's often at the expense of traditional communities and industries. There were a lot of things that were better in the old days, certainly when I look at my parents the old adage that they had "never had it so good" rings true. Call it what you like, 'neo-liberal economics' or the 'Chicago school', people are sick of stagnating wages, rising inequality, homogenisation and americanisation of culture and a disgustingly materialistic mindset. So Thracian's post about 'mass-culture' ring true, even though I don't agree with so many people of his generation who have decided to reverse this by voting Brexit and then the Conservatives. But it's their choice.

[Samilktray]

57 minutes ago, DANGEROUS TIGER said:

To the young people of today, the 1950s will seem like a another age. For us "Oldies" it was an era of childhood that seems like yesterday. From waking up to ice on the inside of the window, washing in tin baths in front of a coal fire, and spoonfuls of cod-liver oil, home life was a million miles away from today.

 

I have wonderful memories of train rides (steam trains, with the distinctive smell of steam and soot),  short trousers, many cobbled streets, the smell of iodine put on bumps and bruises, and kiddies from all backgrounds playing happily together ,. our games would be simple, and boring to kids of today, but they remain happily implanted in my memory, The was so much more open spaces, that became the wild West, or the jungles of Africa. There were our little gangs, that had hideouts, and a girl member to keep it clean.

 

Televisions were a luxury, and as such were far more enjoyable if you had a friend whose parents had one, so we could watch our favourite cowboy, or maybe Muffin the Mule, or Billy Bunter.. The smell of home cooking was awesome. Saturday morning meant the pictures, and for sixpence ( around two and a half pence in todays money) we would have three hours of entertainment. Indoors we would play board games, play with  "Dinky" cars, and read the masses of comics that were around then, swopping with one another.

 

School days meant a breakfast of home made porridge, bread and dripping, or syrup on toast. Believe it or not it tasted wonderful to me. Sunday lunch was usually roast beef, the cheapest meat in those days!

 

Most of the people in the streets would leave a door unlocked when at home, so that any neighbour could just walk straight in for a cuppa, and long conversations would ensue, often to the clicking of knitting needles, making my next school jumper. On school days you woke up quickly when the jolly old feet met cold lino, and there was no central heating.

 

Memories of the war still lingered, with the bomb sights to play hide and seek in, Rationing was still quite common, and I well remember cutting my coupons out of the sweet rationing book, really excited about getting the two ounces worth that were allowed per week.. We still had a fair deal of horses and carts, delivering such things as ginger beer, milk, fruit and veg, and of course the rag and bone man, I loved to dash out and give the horses a carrot, or drop it into the nose bag they would wear. The postman, the milkman, and telegram boy, all wore smart uniforms, which looked very impressive. As kids we would go from door to door, collecting unwanted newspapers, that we would sell to the fishmonger for a "tanner"

 

I could really write a book, about life then, if I had the time, and what I have mentioned is just the tip of the ice burg. We had great respect for adults, whose life was generally bloody hard, compared to most today. Mum's had to hand wash, and use a hand mangle, unless you were rich, and cook for the family, as the only instant sort of food I remember was fish and chips. Vacuum cleaners were a luxury most people I knew could not afford. The radio was usually all most of us had for light entertainment, although watching for the chimneys sweeps brush to appear coming out of the chimney pot, always amused us kids.

 

The war  years brought communities close together, and this remained until the mid sixties. People would help out others, if they could, and life was so much slower, to the point of being serene. The multiple number of leafy lanes, with no cars racing down them, remain so memorable., with the sweet smelling flowers that covered the banks. Everything was so much slower then. Even the dogs couldn't be bothered to chase the cats.

 

Every one I ever saw in my childhood was white, and even at college many years later, because they were not  there. They were in this country in vastly smaller numbers, but I never encountered any of them. There were; none at my places of education, which is why so many people take exception to my talking of the good old days, where they challenge me on race, as if this was the reason. They didn't experience life then, which was sixty years or so ago, and quite frankly they don't care, which is their misguided prerogative, and attitude. Life was honest, fresh and free for me.

 

It was not all sweetness and light, for I lost my entire family in an accident (Mum, Dad, and two older sisters), spending a few years in a children's home, until I was adopted, after which life became rosy once more.

 

Apart from the latte, I would love to experience my life back then, I will forever love my life in the fifties, and reminisce on an era that forever more, will remain, my England. .I dare say you might think that life then must have been as awful as it was hard, but to me my memories are worth more than gold..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That sounds absolutely shit tbh

[Buce]

57 minutes ago, DANGEROUS TIGER said:

To the young people of today, the 1950s will seem like a another age. For us "Oldies" it was an era of childhood that seems like yesterday. From waking up to ice on the inside of the window, washing in tin baths in front of a coal fire, and spoonfuls of cod-liver oil, home life was a million miles away from today.

 

I have wonderful memories of train rides (steam trains, with the distinctive smell of steam and soot),  short trousers, many cobbled streets, the smell of iodine put on bumps and bruises, and kiddies from all backgrounds playing happily together ,. our games would be simple, and boring to kids of today, but they remain happily implanted in my memory, The was so much more open spaces, that became the wild West, or the jungles of Africa. There were our little gangs, that had hideouts, and a girl member to keep it clean.

 

Televisions were a luxury, and as such were far more enjoyable if you had a friend whose parents had one, so we could watch our favourite cowboy, or maybe Muffin the Mule, or Billy Bunter.. The smell of home cooking was awesome. Saturday morning meant the pictures, and for sixpence ( around two and a half pence in todays money) we would have three hours of entertainment. Indoors we would play board games, play with  "Dinky" cars, and read the masses of comics that were around then, swopping with one another.

 

School days meant a breakfast of home made porridge, bread and dripping, or syrup on toast. Believe it or not it tasted wonderful to me. Sunday lunch was usually roast beef, the cheapest meat in those days!

 

Most of the people in the streets would leave a door unlocked when at home, so that any neighbour could just walk straight in for a cuppa, and long conversations would ensue, often to the clicking of knitting needles, making my next school jumper. On school days you woke up quickly when the jolly old feet met cold lino, and there was no central heating.

 

Memories of the war still lingered, with the bomb sights to play hide and seek in, Rationing was still quite common, and I well remember cutting my coupons out of the sweet rationing book, really excited about getting the two ounces worth that were allowed per week.. We still had a fair deal of horses and carts, delivering such things as ginger beer, milk, fruit and veg, and of course the rag and bone man, I loved to dash out and give the horses a carrot, or drop it into the nose bag they would wear. The postman, the milkman, and telegram boy, all wore smart uniforms, which looked very impressive. As kids we would go from door to door, collecting unwanted newspapers, that we would sell to the fishmonger for a "tanner"

 

I could really write a book, about life then, if I had the time, and what I have mentioned is just the tip of the ice burg. We had great respect for adults, whose life was generally bloody hard, compared to most today. Mum's had to hand wash, and use a hand mangle, unless you were rich, and cook for the family, as the only instant sort of food I remember was fish and chips. Vacuum cleaners were a luxury most people I knew could not afford. The radio was usually all most of us had for light entertainment, although watching for the chimneys sweeps brush to appear coming out of the chimney pot, always amused us kids.

 

The war  years brought communities close together, and this remained until the mid sixties. People would help out others, if they could, and life was so much slower, to the point of being serene. The multiple number of leafy lanes, with no cars racing down them, remain so memorable., with the sweet smelling flowers that covered the banks. Everything was so much slower then. Even the dogs couldn't be bothered to chase the cats.

 

Every one I ever saw in my childhood was white, and even at college many years later, because they were not  there. They were in this country in vastly smaller numbers, but I never encountered any of them. There were; none at my places of education, which is why so many people take exception to my talking of the good old days, where they challenge me on race, as if this was the reason. They didn't experience life then, which was sixty years or so ago, and quite frankly they don't care, which is their misguided prerogative, and attitude. Life was honest, fresh and free for me.

 

It was not all sweetness and light, for I lost my entire family in an accident (Mum, Dad, and two older sisters), spending a few years in a children's home, until I was adopted, after which life became rosy once more.

 

Apart from the latte, I would love to experience my life back then, I will forever love my life in the fifties, and reminisce on an era that forever more, will remain, my England. .I dare say you might think that life then must have been as awful as it was hard, but to me my memories are worth more than gold..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for that, it was interesting.

 

I grew up in the sixties and can identify with some of what you experienced, though Beecham had ruined the railways by then.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

He literally annihilated the rural railways, which to all intents and purposes was the death knell of the steam age.. It's nice to see that private enterprise, appears to have re invented that sort of travel, which has a considerable amount of support, and is making money.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Buce]

7 minutes ago, DANGEROUS TIGER said:

He literally annihilated the rural railways, which to all intents and purposes was the death knell of the steam age.. It's nice to see that private enterprise, appears to have re invented that sort of travel, which has a considerable amount of support, and is making money.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I actually had the pleasure of experiencing some of the old steam engines while travelling in India, which is where a lot of them ended up after our railways were modernised.

[Guest]

Thing is, none of it is coming back. The old England has gone, and primarily because Americanisation has killed traditional shops and society does not exist in the old way. With that in mind we need to see how we can fix what's going wrong today and build a new, better, modern society.  

[Facecloth]

 

[Foxxed]

Overall, I suspect the stench of death that wafts over Labour's old economic and geographic heartlands of Middleborough and Copeland will be blown over the whole country by the government wishing either to protect its 2015 majority against election fraud seat rerun losses, fight against its own unpersuaded hard destructive brexit MPs with fresh Tory MPs of loyalty unknown, bank its electoral support before further high prices and low spending indicators pop up, or simply to deal a death blow to the dying opposition.

 

The highest ever and lowest ever polls for the Tories and Labour respectively don't help me think differently. And the explosion of the high turnout, highly Tory over 65s electorate neither. Nor the fact the much smaller younger electorate consistently fail to vote significantly. Nor the fact the siphoner of Tory votes, UKIP, have agreed not to contest tight Tory seats. Nor the how Corbyn is polling worse than 50 years of failed Labour and Tory leaders. Nor how Labour have lost their old Welsh and Scottish support. Nor the movement of bremain Labour votes to the Libs in Labour-Tory marginals. Nor the Corbyn fans who say it is not about winning elections and it'll forever be the media's fault (mimicking the deranged false consciousness marxist excuse) and only the complete destruction of absolutely everything that blair touched will lead to a better tomorrow.

 

The Tories should totally clean up, a bigger majority than ever before, with the Tories directing government policy, with the Tories and rifts within being the only effective opposition, with the Tories claiming dominion of popular political thought. Tory legislation occasionally opposed by Tory factions then ultimately approved by Tories. Some Tories sometimes hear a Corbynite claim it's about the movement and fighting blair rather than elections and power but soon turn back to a law being passed by another Tory. One state. One party. Scattered fragments of the rest.

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Foxxed said:

Overall, I suspect the stench of death that wafts over Labour's old economic and geographic heartlands of Middleborough and Copeland will be blown over the whole country by the government wishing either to protect its 2015 majority against election fraud seat rerun losses, fight against its own unpersuaded hard destructive brexit MPs with fresh Tory MPs of loyalty unknown, bank its electoral support before further high prices and low spending indicators pop up, or simply to deal a death blow to the dying opposition.

 

The highest ever and lowest ever polls for the Tories and Labour respectively don't help me think differently. And the explosion of the high turnout, highly Tory over 65s electorate neither. Nor the fact the much smaller younger electorate consistently fail to vote significantly. Nor the fact the siphoner of Tory votes, UKIP, have agreed not to contest tight Tory seats. Nor the how Corbyn is polling worse than 50 years of failed Labour and Tory leaders. Nor how Labour have lost their old Welsh and Scottish support. Nor the movement of bremain Labour votes to the Libs in Labour-Tory marginals. Nor the Corbyn fans who say it is not about winning elections and it'll forever be the media's fault (mimicking the deranged false consciousness marxist excuse) and only the complete destruction of absolutely everything that blair touched will lead to a better tomorrow.

 

The Tories should totally clean up, a bigger majority than ever before, with the Tories directing government policy, with the Tories and rifts within being the only effective opposition, with the Tories claiming dominion of popular political thought. Tory legislation occasionally opposed by Tory factions then ultimately approved by Tories. Some Tories sometimes hear a Corbynite claim it's about the movement and fighting blair rather than elections and power but soon turn back to a law being passed by another Tory. One state. One party. Scattered fragments of the rest.

The Tories are definitely going to win an absolutely huge landslide  majority. Every other British party is in a complete state - Labour have a leader that will never be seen as electable (even if I *might* vote for them), the lib dems haven't recovered from coalition and their new leader isn't inspiring enough, the SNP are going t slide now the scottish polls are showing nobody wants independence and UKIP have no reason to exist any more.  

 

Only probem for the Tories is if the economu falls in the next five years (huge credit issues and an over inflated housing market means its possible). Also if Brexit goes wrong they will be blamed. 

[ajthefox]

Newsflash: Child of the 50's claims "It was better in the old days.."

 

In other news: The sky is blue and Jeremy Corbyn has again shown himself up to be an absolute fvcking flannel having turned down a chance to show he has the bollocks to lead his party and at the very least attempt to claw back some desperately needed credibility. 

[Spiritwalker]

31 minutes ago, Foxxed said:

Overall, I suspect the stench of death that wafts over Labour's old economic and geographic heartlands of Middleborough and Copeland will be blown over the whole country by the government wishing either to protect its 2015 majority against election fraud seat rerun losses, fight against its own unpersuaded hard destructive brexit MPs with fresh Tory MPs of loyalty unknown, bank its electoral support before further high prices and low spending indicators pop up, or simply to deal a death blow to the dying opposition.

 

The highest ever and lowest ever polls for the Tories and Labour respectively don't help me think differently. And the explosion of the high turnout, highly Tory over 65s electorate neither. Nor the fact the much smaller younger electorate consistently fail to vote significantly. Nor the fact the siphoner of Tory votes, UKIP, have agreed not to contest tight Tory seats. Nor the how Corbyn is polling worse than 50 years of failed Labour and Tory leaders. Nor how Labour have lost their old Welsh and Scottish support. Nor the movement of bremain Labour votes to the Libs in Labour-Tory marginals. Nor the Corbyn fans who say it is not about winning elections and it'll forever be the media's fault (mimicking the deranged false consciousness marxist excuse) and only the complete destruction of absolutely everything that blair touched will lead to a better tomorrow.

 

The Tories should totally clean up, a bigger majority than ever before, with the Tories directing government policy, with the Tories and rifts within being the only effective opposition, with the Tories claiming dominion of popular political thought. Tory legislation occasionally opposed by Tory factions then ultimately approved by Tories. Some Tories sometimes hear a Corbynite claim it's about the movement and fighting blair rather than elections and power but soon turn back to a law being passed by another Tory. One state. One party. Scattered fragments of the rest.

This is the most disillusioned I have ever felt with politics, as a country we seem to

be moving further to the right. We are in real danger of becoming a one party state

and that is not good for any of us. Even the Welsh are turning to the Tories as they

seem to want a hard Brexit. 

[Foxxed]

29 minutes ago, toddybad said:

The Tories are definitely going to win an absolutely huge landslide  majority. Every other British party is in a complete state - Labour have a leader that will never be seen as electable (even if I *might* vote for them), the lib dems haven't recovered from coalition and their new leader isn't inspiring enough, the SNP are going t slide now the scottish polls are showing nobody wants independence and UKIP have no reason to exist any more.  

 

Only probem for the Tories is if the economu falls in the next five years (huge credit issues and an over inflated housing market means its possible). Also if Brexit goes wrong they will be blamed. 

I suspect even if Brexit does go tits up the anger present in the referendum will be, again, directed to Brussels and our neighbours. I doubt people will ever accept they were led down the garden path by angry economic dreamers.

[Strokes]

52 minutes ago, Facecloth said:

 

 Imagine if Corbyn had said that.

[Webbo]

Zac Goldsmith selected for Richmond for the Tories, the w@nker.

[Guest MattP]

"Thigh flashing" Esther McVey selected for the Tories in Tatton, to say I'm delighted is an understatement. Get her back in the cabinet. 

[Strokes]

1 minute ago, Webbo said:

Zac Goldsmith selected for Richmond for the Tories, the w@nker.

 what a tit.

[Sharpe's Fox]

4 minutes ago, MattP said:

"Thigh flashing" Esther McVey selected for the Tories in Tatton, to say I'm delighted is an understatement. Get her back in the cabinet. 

Heidi Allen mate

[Webbo]

 

How you doing?

[Sharpe's Fox]

Fvcking grim that have some class lads her eyes gone gammy

[Webbo]

Conservative, ample breasted, what's not to like ?

[bovril]

1 minute ago, Webbo said:

Conservative, ample breasted, what's not to like ?

You kind of answered your own question.

[Sharpe's Fox]

Think you've got to be of an age

[Webbo]

Just now, bovril said:

You kind of answered your own question.

You prefer flat chested women?

[Strokes]

Just now, bovril said:

You kind of answered your own question.

You don't like ample breasted?

[Strokes]

1 minute ago, Sharpe's Fox said:

Think you've got to be of an age