General News Thread

[Tommy G]

3 hours ago, CornwallFox said:

I think it's a little different. 

As a rabid left winger, I would say what's common in the left is to believe everybody should be treated equally no matter who they are. 

 

Ideas of stuff like what a real woman is, exactly what pronouns to use etc, aren't really left wing. They are a very small group that is indeed on the left, but which gets huge amounts of airtime to create the controversy the media wants. 

 

The right, certainly online, seems very 'as one' in there beliefs. See all the outrage over theb ethnic make up of ads these days currently - what an absolute non issue but it seems like 95% of the right are aligned and will find excuses for the reform racism that's gone with it. 

 

If I've got this wrong, and the right isn't as together as that, then I'd be interested to hear from somebody on the other side. 

Starmers policies have been as far from the left as possible tbh - treating people equally? A bit like pulling the winter fuel allowance and attempting to cut financial support for disabled people, which thankfully didn’t pass. 

[ClaphamFox]

3 hours ago, CornwallFox said:

I think it's a little different. 

As a rabid left winger, I would say what's common in the left is to believe everybody should be treated equally no matter who they are. 

 

Ideas of stuff like what a real woman is, exactly what pronouns to use etc, aren't really left wing. They are a very small group that is indeed on the left, but which gets huge amounts of airtime to create the controversy the media wants. 

 

The right, certainly online, seems very 'as one' in there beliefs. See all the outrage over theb ethnic make up of ads these days currently - what an absolute non issue but it seems like 95% of the right are aligned and will find excuses for the reform racism that's gone with it. 

 

If I've got this wrong, and the right isn't as together as that, then I'd be interested to hear from somebody on the other side. 

This is a good point: modern identity politics has very little to do with the traditional left-wing values. The problem is, many people these days who regard themselves as being left wing clearly believe inequality is primarily about the marginalisation of narrow 'identity' groups rather than being driven by economics and class. And these people tend to be the loudest on social media and university campuses, etc. 

 

[Zear0]

4 hours ago, bovril said:

Ricardians are all very silly people. 

Best right back we've had for donkeys

[CornwallFox]

23 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Starmers policies have been as far from the left as possible tbh - treating people equally? A bit like pulling the winter fuel allowance and attempting to cut financial support for disabled people, which thankfully didn’t pass. 

Not many labour voters would say his policies are from the left.

 

Disability benefits have been cut and cut under the Tories yet only now their supporters have grown hearts....

 

Seriously though, are you up for an honest discussion on the winter fuel payment? Like what's the issue there? It stayed in place for the poorest and went for the rest. I would agree that the level chosen as the cut off could have been higher, but it was fairly obviously chosen at pension credit level so that administration would cost zero. Do you think WFP should have stayed for all? Is there anything that we're allowed to not give pensioners or are they untouchable? 

Genuinely interested in your views and whether there's a middle ground that would work or not. 

[CornwallFox]

13 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

This is a good point: modern identity politics has very little to do with the traditional left-wing values. The problem is, many people these days who regard themselves as being left wing clearly believe inequality is primarily about the marginalisation of narrow 'identity' groups rather than being driven by economics and class. And these people tend to be the loudest on social media and university campuses, etc. 

 

This is a really interesting point. 

There is a real issue in this country of young, white men being left behind. 

Tends not to be talked about on the left but it's something that I think drives quite a bit of what happens on the right. 

I don't understand why the left don't talk about inequality in a way that brings that group in, rather than making them feel outside. I think that's really at the heart of why labour and the left are seen as having abandoned the working class - they've stopped talking to them. 

The left should want to eradicate all forms of inequality and factors that can remove opportunity. That could be colour, sexuality, gender etc. But it could also be engrained economic hardship and low expectation, and that's something felt right across society, and particularly in relation to the group mentioned. 

There's got to be a better way of talking to ordinary people so they don't see other groups being singled out as needing help, when they also need help but aren't mentioned. I think that's basically the issue. 

[Wymsey]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7v8rqmz16zo

 

[Foxdiamond]

33 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

Not many labour voters would say his policies are from the left.

 

Disability benefits have been cut and cut under the Tories yet only now their supporters have grown hearts....

 

Seriously though, are you up for an honest discussion on the winter fuel payment? Like what's the issue there? It stayed in place for the poorest and went for the rest. I would agree that the level chosen as the cut off could have been higher, but it was fairly obviously chosen at pension credit level so that administration would cost zero. Do you think WFP should have stayed for all? Is there anything that we're allowed to not give pensioners or are they untouchable? 

Genuinely interested in your views and whether there's a middle ground that would work or not. 

I understand the WFP is clawed back if personal income is over £35000 a year before tax

[CornwallFox]

8 minutes ago, Foxdiamond said:

I understand the WFP is clawed back if personal income is over £35000 a year before tax

Is that since the initial change was backtracked on though? Recall there being a bit of a u turn but don't know the detail of what it was, when implemented etc. I thought the original plan, which I assume to be the point being made by Tommy, was WFP would only be for those receiving pension credit.

[Foxdiamond]

Just now, CornwallFox said:

Is that since the initial change was backtracked on though? Recall there being a bit of a u turn but don't know the detail of what it was, when implemented etc. I thought the original plan, which I assume to be the point being made by Tommy, was WFP would only be for those receiving pension credit.

I think this is the current position 

[Spudulike]

10 minutes ago, Foxdiamond said:

I think this is the current position 

It is.

 

I got a letter today from DWP saying that I was to get £100 WFA. Hooray 

 

Turned over the page to be informed that HMRC will be taking it back as I'm over the £35k threshold. Boooo 

[blabyboy]

The whole China spy case is in real danger of becoming another example of the Streisand effect.

 

Dancing on the head of a pin to define "enemy" at a point in time, yet describing all the traits of an enemy by listing all the threats and actions carried out in recent history.

 

... would've been a good episode for Yes Minister no doubt.

[Trav Le Bleu]

3 hours ago, Tommy G said:

Starmers policies have been as far from the left as possible tbh - treating people equally? A bit like pulling the winter fuel allowance and attempting to cut financial support for disabled people, which thankfully didn’t pass. 

This is the most un-labour labour government that I can think of. So much so that it's virtually indistinguishable from the previous government - which most people voted to replace, even many traditional Tory voters.

 

Which is just bizarre. It's kind of like the successive managers we've had at Leicester. No matter who we get, same old disasters

 

[Wymsey]

Reckon, after all of this, he might move to the US (like Harry and Meghan have done)..

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g7d39n6vgo

 

[Jon the Hat]

4 hours ago, Wymsey said:

Reckon, after all of this, he might move to the US (like Harry and Meghan have done)..

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g7d39n6vgo

 

We can only hope.  Certainly not sure that William wants him anywhere near Windsor.

Edited 28 October 2025 by Jon the Hat

[ClaphamFox]

6 hours ago, Wymsey said:

Reckon, after all of this, he might move to the US (like Harry and Meghan have done)..

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g7d39n6vgo

 

Not sure he’d fancy that given that the age of consent is higher in most US states than in the UK. 

[Zear0]

How much do I not want that job. 

 

 

[leicsmac]

4 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

How much do I not want that job. 

 

 

... and this one hurricane will release more energy, easily, than the entire nuclear arsenal of every single nation on the planet put together. 

 

The Earth is, often, awe-inspiring. And sometimes it's utterly terrifying.

[davieG]

[leicsmac]

58 minutes ago, davieG said:

... but apparently some people had "legitimate concerns"...

[Sol thewall Bamba]

At risk of hand grenading the thread the latest YouGov poll is eye opening. The centre/left spread equally over three parties and Reform way ahead. Haven't seen a more obvious election result since the last one!

[Trav Le Bleu]

1 hour ago, davieG said:

Saying "far right", however...

 

 

 

 

Plenty more. It's not exclusively a right wing thing, just an extremist thing.

[leicsmac]

30 minutes ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

At risk of hand grenading the thread the latest YouGov poll is eye opening. The centre/left spread equally over three parties and Reform way ahead. Haven't seen a more obvious election result since the last one!

Guess it depends on where the UK (and the world) is in three and a half years time.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

23 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Guess it depends on where the UK (and the world) is in three and a half years time.

It'll be a one issue election, I can't see much changing at all.

[leicsmac]

3 minutes ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

It'll be a one issue election, I can't see much changing at all.

That's what they got right about Brexit in 2019, and what they got wrong about it still being all about that five years later.

 

Funny how it only takes the Earth flexing its muscles (relatively) namely to really affect the political landscape. 

 

Who's to say that won't happen again in the intervening time? That it will happen is a simple matter of inevitability given how short sighted a lot of people are, it's just a question of when, and how big it will be this time. 

[izzymuzzet]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

Guess it depends on where the UK (and the world) is in three and a half years time.

Three and a half years ago Boris Johnson was still Prime Minister. There's a long way to go.