General News Thread

[Finnegan]

 

10 hours ago, Voll Blau said:

Come on now, poorly composed Facebook memes are a very valid reason.

 

Poorly composed Facebook memes mass produced by Russian bot farms*

 

[AKCJ]

Mad how many "worst PM ever" or "most hated man in Britain" shouts i'm seeing.

[Robo61]

47 minutes ago, DJW1 said:

If PR ever gets introduced (I think Burnham is in favour), it MIGHT boost voter turnout. It is the fairest way of deciding elections. If it was in use in the UK the current government might well be a Lab-LD-Greens coalition

People can´t trot out the line "I´m not voting because they´re all the same" when the choice ranges from the Greens to Reform

I couldn't agree more,  I have voted in every election of any sort since 1979 and not once has my vote made any difference as I live in one of the safest Tory sits there is.  I'd love to see PR but fear there is not time to implement a new form of voting before the next election.  I may though have the opportunity to vote tactically to keep Farage out next time,  so at least may feel my vote counts even if holding my nose.  Every cloud etc.

[Finnegan]

4 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Mad how many "worst PM ever" or "most hated man in Britain" shouts i'm seeing.

 

It's a good example of what Labour are going to have to deal with to win an election, though. It isn't a fair fight but they're going to have to get used to it now and find a solution. 

 

I half joke about Russian bot farms but there are a phenomenal amount of bad actors on social media that are going to be very pro-Reform and very anti-Labour in the run up to the next election, not to mention the fact they've got to contend with every media outlet that Murdoch or his friends own. 

 

A lot of people don't actually follow political news, they just read social media posts and tabloid headlines that flash up on their phones. 

 

They'll just absorb and parrot what they see on their screens and the overall majority of it is designed to either be explicitly or at least covertly pro-Reform. That's just the reality of the political world at current and it's the game Labour need to realise they're in. 

 

[bovril]

11 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Mad how many "worst PM ever" or "most hated man in Britain" shouts i'm seeing.

Cognitive dissonance. People who have consistently voted for decline over the past 16 years need to convince themselves it was't their fault. 

[leicsmac]

9 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

It's a good example of what Labour are going to have to deal with to win an election, though. It isn't a fair fight but they're going to have to get used to it now and find a solution. 

 

I half joke about Russian bot farms but there are a phenomenal amount of bad actors on social media that are going to be very pro-Reform and very anti-Labour in the run up to the next election, not to mention the fact they've got to contend with every media outlet that Murdoch or his friends own. 

 

A lot of people don't actually follow political news, they just read social media posts and tabloid headlines that flash up on their phones. 

 

They'll just absorb and parrot what they see on their screens and the overall majority of it is designed to either be explicitly or at least covertly pro-Reform. That's just the reality of the political world at current and it's the game Labour need to realise they're in. 

 

 

6 minutes ago, bovril said:

Cognitive dissonance. People who have consistently voted for decline over the past 16 years need to convince themselves it was't their fault. 

And therein lies the problem with the human condition and ego. 

 

People don't like being wrong or being pointed out that they're being manipulated. Even when they are and they are. 

 

And that applies across the spectrum of political beliefs. 

[Finnegan]

8 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

 

And therein lies the problem with the human condition and ego. 

 

People don't like being wrong or being pointed out that they're being manipulated. Even when they are and they are. 

 

And that applies across the spectrum of political beliefs. 

 

Well yeah, there's already a laugh emoji reaction on what I posted above and there's nothing particularly funny about it at all

 

It's objectively proven fact, you can go and watch one of a bunch of credible mainstream documentaries or read any number of peer reviewed studies on Russia's use of social media to promote politicians friendly to them in Nato countries and to try and create division. 

 

But it's easier to dismiss it as a conspiracy theory and silly paranoia than it is to admit you're being duped by the "news" you're reading on social media. 

 

[davieG]

1 hour ago, DJW1 said:

If PR ever gets introduced (I think Burnham is in favour), it MIGHT boost voter turnout. It is the fairest way of deciding elections. If it was in use in the UK the current government might well be a Lab-LD-Greens coalition

People can´t trot out the line "I´m not voting because they´re all the same" when the choice ranges from the Greens to Reform

We had a vote in 2011 via Con/Lib coalition but it failed miserably probably because it was the wrong version

Wiki

Choice Votes %  Yes 6,152,607 32.10%  No 13,013,123 67.90% Valid votes 19,165,730 99.41% Invalid or blank votes 113,292 0.59% Total votes 19,279,022 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 45,684,501 42.2%

 

 

The referendum concerned whether to replace the present "first-past-the-post" system with the "alternative vote" (AV) method and was the first national referendum to be held across the whole of the United Kingdom in the 21st century. The proposal to introduce AV was rejected by 67.9% of voters on a national turnout of 42%. The failure of the referendum was considered a humiliating setback for Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who had acquiesced to the Conservative offer of a referendum on AV rather than proportional representation (PR) as part of the coalition agreement.^[1][2] The referendum was linked to the ongoing decline of his popularity and that of the Liberal Democrats in general.^[3][4]

[leicsmac]

4 minutes ago, davieG said:

We had a vote in 2011 via Con/Lib coalition but it failed miserably probably because it was the wrong version

Wiki

Choice Votes %  Yes 6,152,607 32.10%  No 13,013,123 67.90% Valid votes 19,165,730 99.41% Invalid or blank votes 113,292 0.59% Total votes 19,279,022 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 45,684,501 42.2%

 

 

The referendum concerned whether to replace the present "first-past-the-post" system with the "alternative vote" (AV) method and was the first national referendum to be held across the whole of the United Kingdom in the 21st century. The proposal to introduce AV was rejected by 67.9% of voters on a national turnout of 42%. The failure of the referendum was considered a humiliating setback for Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who had acquiesced to the Conservative offer of a referendum on AV rather than proportional representation (PR) as part of the coalition agreement.^[1][2] The referendum was linked to the ongoing decline of his popularity and that of the Liberal Democrats in general.^[3][4]

Yeah, it was at the wrong time, and executed in about the worst possible fashion. 

 

I think a vote on PR would stand a much better chance today.