After five turbulent years of Conservative governance, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has set July 4th as the date for the election, months ahead of when it was expected.
I think you are misapplying your own prejudices here. The suggestion that Labour Mayors support Hamas because they are Muslims is unfounded and ignoble of you. The Gaza War is a very minor issue in this election...although most Brits, while certainly Antisemitic are appalled at the Israeli Government for the horrors it is bringing to civilians in Gaza and for its general disproportionate response to the appalling Hamas acts of October 7th.
Moreover, you mischaracterise why Labour are polling so strongly. While I agree it has little to do with an enthusiasm for Kier Starmer and his policies (which many wish were MORE radical and progressive, not less), neither is it just "voter fatigue"! Here is a list off the top of my head why the vast majority of people here are not going to vote for the Tories this time...or possibly ever again:
• Economic stagnation following a disastrous austerity programme
• Growing inequality
• Tax breaks for the richest instead of wealth taxes to invest for growth
• Massive increase in poverty levels, fuelled by cruel cuts in benefits to the poor
• Cutting overseas aid from the promise of 0.7% GNI…and using the shrunken budget for refugees in the UK rather than overseas development
• And then crashing the economy in 2023 creating a cost of living crisis
• Failure to deliver on social care promise
• Lack of investment in our crumbling infrastructure - railways, schools etc.
• Misspending our military budget)…so we now have brand new aircraft carriers without the planes to protect them!
• Public services, across health, education and the criminal justice system on the brink of collapse
• Undermining institutions - judges, teachers and schools, the BBC etc etc
• Failure to build the houses we desperately need
• Failure to support better insulation of existing housing
• Failure to invest in renewables…and banning of inland wind turbines!
• And now rowing back on net zero promises, starting new oil and coal exploitation
• Pollution of our lakes and rivers
• Clinging to our unfair first past the post electoral system
• Stoking a culture war, yet failing to call out blatant racism and Islamophobia - indeed taking money from those guilty. (Incidentally, multiculturalism in the UK is not the failure that you suggest)
• PartyGate…the hypocrisy of Boris partying against his own lockdown rules while the Queen mourned alone her dead husband
• Undermining democracy by proroguing Parliament and now gerrymandering of constituency boundaries
• Brexit lies
• Needless Covid death levels after locking down too late
• Procurement corruption during Covid and cronyism throughout their tenure
• Failing to sort out the post office and infected blood national scandals
• Cruel, expensive and ineffective Rwanda policy
• Threatening to ignore or leave ECHR…because they wanted to break international law unhindered.
In fact, I am amazed that 20% of the British people say they will vote Tory despite this extraordinary record of Government failure. I guess that the Murdoch and other foreign-owned and controlled propaganda rags we euphemistically call "newspapers" still have some sway!
I definitely appreciate the additional information, Stephen. However, I can't help but wonder whether the people currently running the country are responsible for all those shortcomings, and indeed whether another government could correct them. That being said, and recognizing the complexity of running a country, in today's climate I'd be unwilling to vote for a party that supports Hamas and that allows Gazans to pour in. I become more and more convinced that radical/true Moslem leaders and their followers are committed to destroying all non-Moslems. Jihad is alive and well and insidious.
First of all, I am an opinion writer, not a journalist, so I share my opinions with readers and let them react according to their opinions, and then we dialogue. We share our personal prejudices -- what motivates us -- and we seek common ground or, if there isn't any, we agree to disagree.
I agree with all of the reasons that you give for voter fatigue with the Conservatives. In Canada we have a similar situation, voter fatigue with a Liberal Government that is trailing the opposition Conservatives by 20% (see my previous article Canada: A Hobson's Choice).
Internal polls in Gaza indicate that Gazans support Hamas to the tune of 90% --a dangerous fact if the UK is to allow tens of thousands of Gazans in, as proposed by many Labourites. I do not support immigration by those who seek to destroy my culture and its institutions, as expansionist Islamists want to do. Nor do I support politicians who enable them, as the mayor of London who has reportedly instructed police to arrest those waving British flags and leave those waving Palestinian, Hamas, or ISIS flags in peace to do their thing. I will never support Islamism or politicians who enable it. If that is ignoble of me, I accept it as a badge of honour. I look forward to hearing your vies. Cheers and all the best!
I think I’ll stop buying British products given their vile views.
I think you are misapplying your own prejudices here. The suggestion that Labour Mayors support Hamas because they are Muslims is unfounded and ignoble of you. The Gaza War is a very minor issue in this election...although most Brits, while certainly Antisemitic are appalled at the Israeli Government for the horrors it is bringing to civilians in Gaza and for its general disproportionate response to the appalling Hamas acts of October 7th.
Moreover, you mischaracterise why Labour are polling so strongly. While I agree it has little to do with an enthusiasm for Kier Starmer and his policies (which many wish were MORE radical and progressive, not less), neither is it just "voter fatigue"! Here is a list off the top of my head why the vast majority of people here are not going to vote for the Tories this time...or possibly ever again:
• Economic stagnation following a disastrous austerity programme
• Growing inequality
• Tax breaks for the richest instead of wealth taxes to invest for growth
• Massive increase in poverty levels, fuelled by cruel cuts in benefits to the poor
• Cutting overseas aid from the promise of 0.7% GNI…and using the shrunken budget for refugees in the UK rather than overseas development
• And then crashing the economy in 2023 creating a cost of living crisis
• Failure to deliver on social care promise
• Lack of investment in our crumbling infrastructure - railways, schools etc.
• Misspending our military budget)…so we now have brand new aircraft carriers without the planes to protect them!
• Public services, across health, education and the criminal justice system on the brink of collapse
• Undermining institutions - judges, teachers and schools, the BBC etc etc
• Failure to build the houses we desperately need
• Failure to support better insulation of existing housing
• Failure to invest in renewables…and banning of inland wind turbines!
• And now rowing back on net zero promises, starting new oil and coal exploitation
• Pollution of our lakes and rivers
• Clinging to our unfair first past the post electoral system
• Stoking a culture war, yet failing to call out blatant racism and Islamophobia - indeed taking money from those guilty. (Incidentally, multiculturalism in the UK is not the failure that you suggest)
• PartyGate…the hypocrisy of Boris partying against his own lockdown rules while the Queen mourned alone her dead husband
• Undermining democracy by proroguing Parliament and now gerrymandering of constituency boundaries
• Brexit lies
• Needless Covid death levels after locking down too late
• Procurement corruption during Covid and cronyism throughout their tenure
• Failing to sort out the post office and infected blood national scandals
• Cruel, expensive and ineffective Rwanda policy
• Threatening to ignore or leave ECHR…because they wanted to break international law unhindered.
In fact, I am amazed that 20% of the British people say they will vote Tory despite this extraordinary record of Government failure. I guess that the Murdoch and other foreign-owned and controlled propaganda rags we euphemistically call "newspapers" still have some sway!
I definitely appreciate the additional information, Stephen. However, I can't help but wonder whether the people currently running the country are responsible for all those shortcomings, and indeed whether another government could correct them. That being said, and recognizing the complexity of running a country, in today's climate I'd be unwilling to vote for a party that supports Hamas and that allows Gazans to pour in. I become more and more convinced that radical/true Moslem leaders and their followers are committed to destroying all non-Moslems. Jihad is alive and well and insidious.
Hi Steve, a number of things.
First of all, I am an opinion writer, not a journalist, so I share my opinions with readers and let them react according to their opinions, and then we dialogue. We share our personal prejudices -- what motivates us -- and we seek common ground or, if there isn't any, we agree to disagree.
I agree with all of the reasons that you give for voter fatigue with the Conservatives. In Canada we have a similar situation, voter fatigue with a Liberal Government that is trailing the opposition Conservatives by 20% (see my previous article Canada: A Hobson's Choice).
Internal polls in Gaza indicate that Gazans support Hamas to the tune of 90% --a dangerous fact if the UK is to allow tens of thousands of Gazans in, as proposed by many Labourites. I do not support immigration by those who seek to destroy my culture and its institutions, as expansionist Islamists want to do. Nor do I support politicians who enable them, as the mayor of London who has reportedly instructed police to arrest those waving British flags and leave those waving Palestinian, Hamas, or ISIS flags in peace to do their thing. I will never support Islamism or politicians who enable it. If that is ignoble of me, I accept it as a badge of honour. I look forward to hearing your vies. Cheers and all the best!