The Tories have failed to do anything of any significance with it. ...
Well that at least is something to be thankful for. Just think of some of the dreadful things they could have done with it if they and their party discipline had been even moderately competent.
Are you both talking about the same thing? TurquoiseTastic, do you mean you saw party political broadcasts as 'suggested videos' to watch next? Or were they inserted into the middle of the views you saw in the way a YouTube adbreak would be?
The latter. I select my astronomy or chess video and it (often) shows me two ads before I can start watching. At the moment one of the two ads is very often a Labour PPB. I can "Skip" after 5 seconds.
Yes that's what I assumed and I wonder whether @Gamma Gamaliel was talking about the former.
Yes, you are right. I was thinking about the former.
I've had ads pop up in the middle of YouTube videos but have pressed 'skip' before really noticing what they were for. I'll pay more attention next time to see whether I can work out what the algorithms are doing.
It's easier to suss that out on FB I think.
I'm not sure you've done anything 'wrong' to attract attention from the Labour algorithms as it were, but you must be seen as a target voter for some reason.
@Telford - no, the Conservatives haven't 'kept the country together' at all. If anything they've divided it.
Brexit was the most divisive thing imaginable. Not to mention all the swingeing cuts to infrastructure and essential public services.
How anyone can claim anything positive from the last Conservative administration is beyond me. Why do you think so many regional Conservative groups have felt the need to rebrand themselves as 'Local Conservatives'?
If the central Conservative apparatus was really effective then surely they wouldn't feel the need to do that?
Our local Conservatives tried to distance themselves from the central Tory government for some considerable time. Some, to their credit, were outspoken critics of Johnson, Kwarteng and Truss.
Others, to their shame, remained compliant and complicit.
I'm not sure you've done anything 'wrong' to attract attention from the Labour algorithms as it were, but you must be seen as a target voter for some reason.
Are chess players known to be Labour supporters?
I assume it's a combination of demographic profile and whatever else @TurquoiseTastic may have consumed via all of Google's platforms - including search.
They have kept the country going through difficult times since early 2020.
The Conservatives have done their share of making the times more difficult than they needed to be. I don't think that's an achievement.
They have supported Ukraine in their war with an aggressive Russia
Ukraine is on the back foot again for now. The Conservatives' support clearly hasn't been sufficient to outweigh the obstacles to support from the US instigated by Trump.
A lot of prominent Conservatives have gone out of their way to be positive about Trump.
Absolutely. They wasted billions during the pandemic. They caused lives to be lost due to dallying and listening to their right wing. They pandemic could have been handled far, far better.
Supporting Ukraine? Any government would have done the same.
These Tories have had 14 years to build this country. Instead, like Thatcher, they’ve sold off our assets and pandered to the rich, stripping out the NHS, education and social services. The poverty gap is wider than it has ever been. It’s a disgrace. (And don’t pull the jealousy card out - my family are amongst the rich, as it happens).
Why? because their MPs need none of it - they go private all the way. They simply can’t even see the need.
If we're talking just the first half of 2020 then the government was faced with the same external crisis as every other nation in the world. Yes, the response was better than some countries, worse than others ... and, every government in the world could have done better.
The UK government faced greater problems as a consequence of their own failure to invest in health and social care. Provision for a respiratory pandemic that had been standard under previous governments was stripped back, lack of training for medical and care staff and the management (not just local hospitals, but all the way upto the Cabinet Office) meant no one knew what to do; plans for moving patients out of hospitals to create space for an expected influx of sick were dusted off and found to be unworkable because the care sector wasn't able to cope (even before the pandemic, provision in the care sector to allow people who no longer needed to be in hospital somewhere to go was already a major problem) and the improvised solution freed hospital beds but was a disaster for care homes; sufficient stores of PPE in hospitals, care homes, GP surgeries etc that had been part of pandemic provision had been eroded to practically nothing, and the urgency to get more in resulted in both great cost as regular suppliers struggled to meet demand, and a market for scammers to supply inadequate or non-existent items opened up which sank a lot of government money into buying crap - often from mates of senior Conservatives.
And, when the pandemic arose the government failed to act in a decisive and timely manner. There was a lot of money spent on isolation of people coming back from China, that was maintained even after it was clear that the pandemic was already spreading through Europe without extending that measure to everyone coming into the country. The lock down that was needed was delayed for a couple of weeks, allowing the PM to have a party and host a ball for Conservative Party donors, and for thousands to be infected at Cheltenham. Johnson himself toured the country aiding the spread of the virus as he ignored PPE requirements (and, of course, contracted the virus himself). And, of course, the rules that were set were not followed by his own staff - including Dominic Cummings driving upto Durham despite being potentially infected, and parties at No 10 that we all know about. Lockdown was then eased back too soon, reintroduced too late and generally failed because of this. Then there was "eat out to help out" which was just a disaster waiting to happen. The centralised track and trace programme was totally inadequate for the task, created as an ad-hoc replacement for existing local government expertise in outbreak tracking, the money would have been far better invested in expanding existing, proven local government run schemes - especially during the lockdown periods where travel outwith local areas was reduced and a national scheme wasn't really needed anyway.
Finally, the NHS did a fantastic job despite the government. In treating people, and later in distributing the vaccines. The vaccines themselves were developed by international collaboration, and in particular the first vaccines used in the UK with a lot of support from the EU institutions (oh, the irony that we could benefit from the EU even after we'd left). I never understood why the government managed to take credit for the vaccine roll-out.
As a volunteer during that vaccine roll-out it irked me to hear people in the queues giving Boris credit when it was clear that behind the scenes the real heroes of the hour were the NHS.
I was impressed by their resourcefulness, their capacity to adapt and respond to changing circumstances and their good humour and resilience in the face of tremendous pressure.
I'm not saying central government didn't have a role or play its part. A government of any stripe would have played its part and that with a range of results, good, bad and indifferent.
But whilst the vaccine roll-out was a success in my view, there were plenty of botched elements in the Conservative handling of the pandemic and of everything else we might care to mention during their administration, from HS2 to 'levelling up' and much, much else.
To say they've distinguished themselves in any way other than getting themselves out of bed in the morning is risible.
I don't know any Tory supporting chess payers but that's probably because of the circles I move in.
Also I agree entirely with Boogie and Alan. Having recently spent a week in an NHS hospital with dangerously variable blood pressure, I have nothing but praise for all the staff I saw. Despite the resource issues they dealt with every day. Lots of very good and dedicated people.
In general, I wish there was a more politically positive attitude towards spending a greater proportion of the GDP on public services. We need to discourage the notion that we can expect to get more for less.
Last week I reeived communications from the two candidates for my constituency who seem least likely to lose their deposits.
From our erstwhile Labour MP seeking re-election there was a glossy card. On one side were four photographs featuring the candidate at various events, including one of her walking alongside the party leadership (Starmer, Rayner, and Reeves). The backgroud to the montage featrued a union jack in the corner. On the other side, half was taken up with address, etc, (but my name was not included). The other half was a message from the candidate. This started with knocking the Tories. It went on to mention one actual policy (breakfast clubs for children) with no details. Then a plea that the said member if re-elected, and being a current member of the shadow cabinet, would be in the Cabinet in government with the same portfolio and would have some infuence on policy. When did the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport have any influence on anything that mattered?
From the Green Party Candidate was an official election comunication - a single folded sheet in an envelope (but it did have my name as well as address). The sheet was only printed on one side. Message mostly knocking the Labour party in general and the voting record of the local Labour MP in particular. No policies at all indicated (OK, their manifesto will be produced in the near future, but one might have thought that the co-leader of the party might have some idea of what was to come).
Why waste money on communications that communicate nothing?
Last week I reeived communications from the two candidates for my constituency who seem least likely to lose their deposits.
From our erstwhile Labour MP seeking re-election there was a glossy card. On one side were four photographs featuring the candidate at various events, including one of her walking alongside the party leadership (Starmer, Rayner, and Reeves). The backgroud to the montage featrued a union jack in the corner. On the other side, half was taken up with address, etc, (but my name was not included). The other half was a message from the candidate. This started with knocking the Tories. It went on to mention one actual policy (breakfast clubs for children) with no details. Then a plea that the said member if re-elected, and being a current member of the shadow cabinet, would be in the Cabinet in government with the same portfolio and would have some infuence on policy. When did the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport have any influence on anything that mattered?
From the Green Party Candidate was an official election comunication - a single folded sheet in an envelope (but it did have my name as well as address). The sheet was only printed on one side. Message mostly knocking the Labour party in general and the voting record of the local Labour MP in particular. No policies at all indicated (OK, their manifesto will be produced in the near future, but one might have thought that the co-leader of the party might have some idea of what was to come).
Why waste money on communications that communicate nothing?
Simply to remind you that they're still in the land of the living, I guess, in which case they've succeeded...
Isn't the Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport the person who among other things is responsible for making sure the media is behaving itself?
Ok - maybe saying that the Secretary of State has any influence over the media is a bit strong.
Isn't the Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport the person who among other things is responsible for making sure the media is behaving itself?
Ok - maybe saying that the Secretary of State has any influence over the media is a bit strong.
Well, quite...
BTW, are any of you planning to watch the TV debate tomorrow evening (I think that's right) between Starmer and Sunak?
Sunak has, apparently, been practising by using Oliver Dowden as Starmer in a mock-up preparation.
Well, it is rumoured that the *debate* may get personal.
Given that Sunak has absolutely nothing positive to offer, this would not be surprising, but Starmer is a lawyer, after all, and no doubt experienced at dealing with courtroom nonsense...
@Telford - no, the Conservatives haven't 'kept the country together' at all. If anything they've divided it.
That's not what I said.
Brexit was the most divisive thing imaginable. Not to mention all the swingeing cuts to infrastructure and essential public services.
How anyone can claim anything positive from the last Conservative administration is beyond me. Why do you think so many regional Conservative groups have felt the need to rebrand themselves as 'Local Conservatives'?
But you asked me ??
If you already knew the answer, why did you ask me ?
Ok, @Telford I'll accept it was something of a rhetorical question. You did say that they'd 'kept the country going through difficult times since 2020' and I am genuinely interested to know how you think they did that when their track record looks pretty poor to me.
Here's another question. If they'd made such a good job of it, why have so many regional Conservative groups re-branded themselves as 'Local Conservatives'?
Why aren't they proudly trumpeting Westminster success rather than seeking to distance themselves?
And in the interests of balance, I'm told that some regional Labour groups have also done this in times past, so it's not unprecedented nor a phenomenon restricted to any one political party. I wouldn't be at all surprised if others have done this at some point.
@Ex_Organist - why indeed? Political parties have to put out something and unless they've got a good track record locally they will tend to resort to name-calling and slagging off the opposition. I'm never convinced that's a good tactic and can alienate people. 'They're all the same ...'
I think the timing of this election has caught a lot of people off guard too. We were fortunate as we would have issued something round about now anyway, as is our wont.
That doesn't necessarily increase our chances, of course and the poll projections are not that good for my particular group.
The reality, though, is that most party political literature at local and regional level is produced by volunteers, many of whom have never been involved in communications more generally.
Thing is, whatever political party we represent we 'can't win' as it were.
We've already had Labour criticised for making underwhelming promises in some places, the Conservatives for making over-egged moon-on-a-stick promises they know darn well they can't deliver.
I've seen one piece of Labour literature so far and met their Parliamentary candidate who, impressively, was out canvassing on my street. It was a 'calling card' affair and their main leaflet has yet to arrive. Ours are being printed. I've not seen anything from the Conservatives or The Greens so far. Reform are putting up a candidate hereabouts but I've not seen anything from them other than letters in our local paper.
I'm something of a connoisseur of party political campaign leaflets and could do a compare and contrast critique when I get the full set.
Other than at a national level most of them are produced on a wing and a prayer and by hard-pressed volunteers who juggle that alongside everything else.
So it's hardly surprising that most party political flyers aren't going to win any design or BAFTA awards.
Ok, @Telford I'll accept it was something of a rhetorical question. You did say that they'd 'kept the country going through difficult times since 2020' and I am genuinely interested to know how you think they did that when their track record looks pretty poor to me.
The Country is still going.
Here's another question. If they'd made such a good job of it, why have so many regional Conservative groups re-branded themselves as 'Local Conservatives'?
Why aren't they proudly trumpeting Westminster success rather than seeking to distance themselves?
Did it do them any good at the recent local elections ?
Ok, @Telford I'll accept it was something of a rhetorical question. You did say that they'd 'kept the country going through difficult times since 2020' and I am genuinely interested to know how you think they did that when their track record looks pretty poor to me.
The Country is still going.
Here's another question. If they'd made such a good job of it, why have so many regional Conservative groups re-branded themselves as 'Local Conservatives'?
Why aren't they proudly trumpeting Westminster success rather than seeking to distance themselves?
Did it do them any good at the recent local elections ?
Possibly not. ‘Conservative’ had become a more toxic brand than they had realised, and it couldn’t be cured by adding the word ‘Local’ to their name or by playing down their links to the party of government.
Ok, @Telford I'll accept it was something of a rhetorical question. You did say that they'd 'kept the country going through difficult times since 2020' and I am genuinely interested to know how you think they did that when their track record looks pretty poor to me.
The Country is still going.
I think you failed to finish that sentence. "The country is still going to the dogs".
I think the fact that the country is 'still going' is a testament to the resilience of the millions of ordinary people who keep it going despite the best efforts of Our Glorious Leaders to break it. Case in point: the NHS, but I could think of many others.
Ok, @Telford I'll accept it was something of a rhetorical question. You did say that they'd 'kept the country going through difficult times since 2020' and I am genuinely interested to know how you think they did that when their track record looks pretty poor to me.
The Country is still going.
I think you failed to finish that sentence. "The country is still going to the dogs".
I think the fact that the country is 'still going' is a testament to the resilience of the millions of ordinary people who keep it going despite the best efforts of Our Glorious Leaders to break it. Case in point: the NHS, but I could think of many others.
The NHS....So far this year I have seen 2 consultants and 2 other specialists. I have had one dental appointment and am going back later in the month. We get all our free prescriptions from the chemist and we have even had a doctor come and see us at home.
Looks like Darren Rodwell will be standing in Barking despite an outstanding harassment claim against him with NEC saying they are boxed in in terms of time:
In fairness to @Telford, it's the Tories we have to thank for the hundreds of Food etc. Banks which have sprung up in recent years. Labour never provided half as many.
Ok, @Telford I'll accept it was something of a rhetorical question. You did say that they'd 'kept the country going through difficult times since 2020' and I am genuinely interested to know how you think they did that when their track record looks pretty poor to me.
The Country is still going.
I think you failed to finish that sentence. "The country is still going to the dogs".
I prefer not to run down my country.
I'm not, I'm just commenting on the government that's been running down your country. Unfortunately that foreign government in London has also run down my country.
The NHS....So far this year I have seen 2 consultants and 2 other specialists. I have had one dental appointment and am going back later in the month. We get all our free prescriptions from the chemist and we have even had a doctor come and see us at home.
I would wish bad healthcare on no one, so it's good that you've received adequate care when you needed it, unfortunately due to the policies of the government that you've repeatedly voted for, others haven't been as lucky.
It was a Tory government which first imposed a charge for some prescriptions, as Wikipedia explains:
Charges on medications were introduced in 1952, by the Conservative government of Winston Churchill, at a rate of one shilling per prescription.
There were exemptions for people in receipt of National Assistance or War Disablement Pension, children under 16 or at school, and venereal disease patients.
I am, however, glad (in a way) that I'm ill enough, and old enough, to be exempt from prescription charges...
It's also worth remembering that it was the Labour government of Clement Attlee which originally set up the NHS. Tory candidates in the forthcoming election seem to be finding it hard to come up with any similarly positive achievements by their party.
@Ex_Organist - why indeed? Political parties have to put out something and unless they've got a good track record locally they will tend to resort to name-calling and slagging off the opposition. I'm never convinced that's a good tactic and can alienate people. 'They're all the same ...'
Locally the Green Party have done useful things, like campaigning to get rid of our unwanted (and in my view anti-democratic) directly elected mayor.
Every ward in this constituency elected Green Party councillors in the recent local elections.
Ok, @Telford I'll accept it was something of a rhetorical question. You did say that they'd 'kept the country going through difficult times since 2020' and I am genuinely interested to know how you think they did that when their track record looks pretty poor to me.
The Country is still going.
I think you failed to finish that sentence. "The country is still going to the dogs".
I prefer not to run down my country.
Me too. I love my country. That’s why I can’t wait to see the the back of the Tories
Ok, @Telford I'll accept it was something of a rhetorical question. You did say that they'd 'kept the country going through difficult times since 2020' and I am genuinely interested to know how you think they did that when their track record looks pretty poor to me.
The Country is still going.
I think you failed to finish that sentence. "The country is still going to the dogs".
I prefer not to run down my country.
I'm not, I'm just commenting on the government that's been running down your country. Unfortunately that foreign government in London has also run down my country.
It's long passed time to get our countries back.
Scotland gets a shedload of money from the UK and they can even raise their own money through taxation. They should spend it better
The NHS....So far this year I have seen 2 consultants and 2 other specialists. I have had one dental appointment and am going back later in the month. We get all our free prescriptions from the chemist and we have even had a doctor come and see us at home.
I would wish bad healthcare on no one, so it's good that you've received adequate care when you needed it, unfortunately due to the policies of the government that you've repeatedly voted for, others haven't been as lucky.
Where did you get this information? I have not voted for a successful candidate since 1979.
This is off topic a bit, but if Boris had not been forced to step down because of Partygate, Liz Truss had never become PM so there was no disastrous mini-budget, and Boris was leading the Tories into this election, would the Tories have had a good chance of winning this election? Or would the cost of living crisis, the economic aftermath of Brexit, and the ongoing damage caused by austerity over a decade ago have made it almost inevitable that the electorate would be sick of 14 years of Tory rule? Could Boris with his populist style have succeeded in getting Labour voters who switched to the Tories because of Brexit and Corbyn to stick with the Tories even after Brexit was "finalized" (barring the Northern Ireland mess) and Corbyn was no longer Labour leader? I worry that Boris might have succeeded in building a lasting populist movement whose supporters voted not on their economic interests but rather on culture war issues and a hatred of the left and the supposed elitism of progressives (ignoring Boris' own elite background of course). The Tories have tried to do just that since Boris stepped down but Truss and Sunak have not been able to step into the role of buffoonish crazy-haired demagogue that seems to be what performs best as a populist leader in the US, the Netherlands, and elsewhere.
This is off topic a bit, but if Boris had not been forced to step down because of Partygate, Liz Truss had never become PM so there was no disastrous mini-budget, and Boris was leading the Tories into this election, would the Tories have had a good chance of winning this election? Or would the cost of living crisis, the economic aftermath of Brexit, and the ongoing damage caused by austerity over a decade ago have made it almost inevitable that the electorate would be sick of 14 years of Tory rule? Could Boris with his populist style have succeeded in getting Labour voters who switched to the Tories because of Brexit and Corbyn to stick with the Tories even after Brexit was "finalized" (barring the Northern Ireland mess) and Corbyn was no longer Labour leader? I worry that Boris might have succeeded in building a lasting populist movement whose supporters voted not on their economic interests but rather on culture war issues and a hatred of the left and the supposed elitism of progressives (ignoring Boris' own elite background of course). The Tories have tried to do just that since Boris stepped down but Truss and Sunak have not been able to step into the role of buffoonish crazy-haired demagogue that seems to be what performs best as a populist leader in the US, the Netherlands, and elsewhere.
It's an interesting counterfactual, isn't it? There are certainly a a group of Boris fans who think that the whole reason the Tories are in trouble is because Johnson is no longer the leader. The #BringBackBoris crew are still out there on social media. However, here's a few points:
1. The first big drop in Conservative poll ratings happened under Johnson.
2. The scandal after scandal after scandal was chipping away at their support. Whilst Truss was clearly a disaster, the continuation of a Johnson government had risks of different but equivalent failures.
3. Johnson himself is not as popular as his followers want you to believe. Whilst it's true that he has a personal following that is very enthusiastic, it's not a large following.
4. A big chunk of the '19 Tory vote was made up of two kinds of Brexit voters. Those that really wanted Brexit and those that were very fed up with the whole debate, and just wanted it done: they didn't really care about the outcome. Hence 'Get Brexit Done' was a very effective strategy.
5. Johnson handled Covid very badly. There may have been more cut-through from this and the enquiry if Johnson was still PM. Sunak got asked about his fixed-penalty notice by a member of the public who lost his mother the other day. This looked bad for him but I think the Covid mess is much more attached to Johnson personally.
6. I predicted two things in December '19* (in the context of many commentators predicting that the Tories would undoubtedly win in '24); 1) Johnson's administration could not last 5 years, and 2) the big damage to the country would be done in 5 weeks. Johnson was busy destroying himself when he was deposed by a party who decided that he was too big an electoral liability. The fact that they managed to move to bigger liabilities does not change this fact.
AFZ
*I cannot remember where I wrote this and would love to find it in case anyone doubts my honest.... hey ho.
Johnson was a good campaigner and that's why he enjoyed the backing and support of so many Conservatives who had grave doubts about his abilities (what abilities?) in other areas.
If he hadn't fallen over Partygate he'd have stumbled over something else.
If he had survived until now I think the Tories would still lose the upcoming election but not perhaps by as wide a margin.
Yes, he still has a substantial amount of support but not as much as his idolatrous and misguided worshippers claim.
Johnson consistently offered lies to his base, and for a time when things were going well it won votes.
But they were always going to turn to dust because they were always just lies.
To be honest, I doubt that there's any alternative universe where Johnson was still PM because he would have gotten bored and would have left to bleep his bleeps instead.
Johnson was a good campaigner and that's why he enjoyed the backing and support of so many Conservatives who had grave doubts about his abilities
He was a great campaigner based entirely on his personality, being “good old Boris”, but incapable of answering questions thinking on his feet. This was shown when he hid in fridge to avoid being interviewed when he saw a TV crew, and when he refused to take part in the live television debate with the other party leaders.
It turns out that any halfwit politician can be a great campaigner if they consistently lie, laze about and fail to do anything whatsoever to implement manifesto promises.
The American Confederacy was 'still going' right to the time that Generals Grant and Sherman drove it down by superior physical force. That does not mean it was well-governed, not by any means.
It is not 'running your country down' to recognise its faults and issues that need to be improved. This purblind form of 'patriotism' is, in fact, distinctly unhelpful. It's a bit like solving your personal problems with another bottle of whisky, and forgetting that they exist. For a time. If we all 'ran our country down' a bit more, maybe some of the clowns in Westminster might start to do something about our criticisms.
Johnson was a good campaigner and that's why he enjoyed the backing and support of so many Conservatives who had grave doubts about his abilities
He was a great campaigner based entirely on his personality, being “good old Boris”, but incapable of answering questions thinking on his feet. This was shown when he hid in fridge to avoid being interviewed when he saw a TV crew, and when he refused to take part in the live television debate with the other party leaders.
Of course.
I heard him speak some time before he became the Conservative leader and that was the impression I had then and one I retained.
Johnson was a good campaigner and that's why he enjoyed the backing and support of so many Conservatives who had grave doubts about his abilities
He was a great campaigner based entirely on his personality, being “good old Boris”, but incapable of answering questions thinking on his feet. This was shown when he hid in fridge to avoid being interviewed when he saw a TV crew, and when he refused to take part in the live television debate with the other party leaders.
I think you have to reckon with the fact that most people don't pay much attention to politics, and unless the media makes a huge fuss about things like that (which they didn't at the time) they fail to cut through.
Comments
The Tories have failed to do anything of any significance with it. And some people of the hard-of-thinking persuasion want to give them another go.
Except he wasn't - trains in fascist Italy were not particularly punctual, apart from El Duce's own train.
Yes, you are right. I was thinking about the former.
I've had ads pop up in the middle of YouTube videos but have pressed 'skip' before really noticing what they were for. I'll pay more attention next time to see whether I can work out what the algorithms are doing.
It's easier to suss that out on FB I think.
I'm not sure you've done anything 'wrong' to attract attention from the Labour algorithms as it were, but you must be seen as a target voter for some reason.
Are chess players known to be Labour supporters?
Brexit was the most divisive thing imaginable. Not to mention all the swingeing cuts to infrastructure and essential public services.
How anyone can claim anything positive from the last Conservative administration is beyond me. Why do you think so many regional Conservative groups have felt the need to rebrand themselves as 'Local Conservatives'?
If the central Conservative apparatus was really effective then surely they wouldn't feel the need to do that?
Our local Conservatives tried to distance themselves from the central Tory government for some considerable time. Some, to their credit, were outspoken critics of Johnson, Kwarteng and Truss.
Others, to their shame, remained compliant and complicit.
Shame on them.
I assume it's a combination of demographic profile and whatever else @TurquoiseTastic may have consumed via all of Google's platforms - including search.
Ukraine is on the back foot again for now. The Conservatives' support clearly hasn't been sufficient to outweigh the obstacles to support from the US instigated by Trump.
A lot of prominent Conservatives have gone out of their way to be positive about Trump.
Supporting Ukraine? Any government would have done the same.
These Tories have had 14 years to build this country. Instead, like Thatcher, they’ve sold off our assets and pandered to the rich, stripping out the NHS, education and social services. The poverty gap is wider than it has ever been. It’s a disgrace. (And don’t pull the jealousy card out - my family are amongst the rich, as it happens).
Why? because their MPs need none of it - they go private all the way. They simply can’t even see the need.
The UK government faced greater problems as a consequence of their own failure to invest in health and social care. Provision for a respiratory pandemic that had been standard under previous governments was stripped back, lack of training for medical and care staff and the management (not just local hospitals, but all the way upto the Cabinet Office) meant no one knew what to do; plans for moving patients out of hospitals to create space for an expected influx of sick were dusted off and found to be unworkable because the care sector wasn't able to cope (even before the pandemic, provision in the care sector to allow people who no longer needed to be in hospital somewhere to go was already a major problem) and the improvised solution freed hospital beds but was a disaster for care homes; sufficient stores of PPE in hospitals, care homes, GP surgeries etc that had been part of pandemic provision had been eroded to practically nothing, and the urgency to get more in resulted in both great cost as regular suppliers struggled to meet demand, and a market for scammers to supply inadequate or non-existent items opened up which sank a lot of government money into buying crap - often from mates of senior Conservatives.
And, when the pandemic arose the government failed to act in a decisive and timely manner. There was a lot of money spent on isolation of people coming back from China, that was maintained even after it was clear that the pandemic was already spreading through Europe without extending that measure to everyone coming into the country. The lock down that was needed was delayed for a couple of weeks, allowing the PM to have a party and host a ball for Conservative Party donors, and for thousands to be infected at Cheltenham. Johnson himself toured the country aiding the spread of the virus as he ignored PPE requirements (and, of course, contracted the virus himself). And, of course, the rules that were set were not followed by his own staff - including Dominic Cummings driving upto Durham despite being potentially infected, and parties at No 10 that we all know about. Lockdown was then eased back too soon, reintroduced too late and generally failed because of this. Then there was "eat out to help out" which was just a disaster waiting to happen. The centralised track and trace programme was totally inadequate for the task, created as an ad-hoc replacement for existing local government expertise in outbreak tracking, the money would have been far better invested in expanding existing, proven local government run schemes - especially during the lockdown periods where travel outwith local areas was reduced and a national scheme wasn't really needed anyway.
Finally, the NHS did a fantastic job despite the government. In treating people, and later in distributing the vaccines. The vaccines themselves were developed by international collaboration, and in particular the first vaccines used in the UK with a lot of support from the EU institutions (oh, the irony that we could benefit from the EU even after we'd left). I never understood why the government managed to take credit for the vaccine roll-out.
I was impressed by their resourcefulness, their capacity to adapt and respond to changing circumstances and their good humour and resilience in the face of tremendous pressure.
I'm not saying central government didn't have a role or play its part. A government of any stripe would have played its part and that with a range of results, good, bad and indifferent.
But whilst the vaccine roll-out was a success in my view, there were plenty of botched elements in the Conservative handling of the pandemic and of everything else we might care to mention during their administration, from HS2 to 'levelling up' and much, much else.
To say they've distinguished themselves in any way other than getting themselves out of bed in the morning is risible.
Also I agree entirely with Boogie and Alan. Having recently spent a week in an NHS hospital with dangerously variable blood pressure, I have nothing but praise for all the staff I saw. Despite the resource issues they dealt with every day. Lots of very good and dedicated people.
In general, I wish there was a more politically positive attitude towards spending a greater proportion of the GDP on public services. We need to discourage the notion that we can expect to get more for less.
From our erstwhile Labour MP seeking re-election there was a glossy card. On one side were four photographs featuring the candidate at various events, including one of her walking alongside the party leadership (Starmer, Rayner, and Reeves). The backgroud to the montage featrued a union jack in the corner. On the other side, half was taken up with address, etc, (but my name was not included). The other half was a message from the candidate. This started with knocking the Tories. It went on to mention one actual policy (breakfast clubs for children) with no details. Then a plea that the said member if re-elected, and being a current member of the shadow cabinet, would be in the Cabinet in government with the same portfolio and would have some infuence on policy. When did the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport have any influence on anything that mattered?
From the Green Party Candidate was an official election comunication - a single folded sheet in an envelope (but it did have my name as well as address). The sheet was only printed on one side. Message mostly knocking the Labour party in general and the voting record of the local Labour MP in particular. No policies at all indicated (OK, their manifesto will be produced in the near future, but one might have thought that the co-leader of the party might have some idea of what was to come).
Why waste money on communications that communicate nothing?
Simply to remind you that they're still in the land of the living, I guess, in which case they've succeeded...
Ok - maybe saying that the Secretary of State has any influence over the media is a bit strong.
Well, quite...
BTW, are any of you planning to watch the TV debate tomorrow evening (I think that's right) between Starmer and Sunak?
Sunak has, apparently, been practising by using Oliver Dowden as Starmer in a mock-up preparation.
Given that Sunak has absolutely nothing positive to offer, this would not be surprising, but Starmer is a lawyer, after all, and no doubt experienced at dealing with courtroom nonsense...
If you already knew the answer, why did you ask me ?
Labour 442
Conservatives 140
LibDems 48
Green 2
SNP 17
No predictions for Reform yet? Farage is standing for election in Clacton...
Here's another question. If they'd made such a good job of it, why have so many regional Conservative groups re-branded themselves as 'Local Conservatives'?
Why aren't they proudly trumpeting Westminster success rather than seeking to distance themselves?
And in the interests of balance, I'm told that some regional Labour groups have also done this in times past, so it's not unprecedented nor a phenomenon restricted to any one political party. I wouldn't be at all surprised if others have done this at some point.
@Ex_Organist - why indeed? Political parties have to put out something and unless they've got a good track record locally they will tend to resort to name-calling and slagging off the opposition. I'm never convinced that's a good tactic and can alienate people. 'They're all the same ...'
I think the timing of this election has caught a lot of people off guard too. We were fortunate as we would have issued something round about now anyway, as is our wont.
That doesn't necessarily increase our chances, of course and the poll projections are not that good for my particular group.
The reality, though, is that most party political literature at local and regional level is produced by volunteers, many of whom have never been involved in communications more generally.
Thing is, whatever political party we represent we 'can't win' as it were.
We've already had Labour criticised for making underwhelming promises in some places, the Conservatives for making over-egged moon-on-a-stick promises they know darn well they can't deliver.
I've seen one piece of Labour literature so far and met their Parliamentary candidate who, impressively, was out canvassing on my street. It was a 'calling card' affair and their main leaflet has yet to arrive. Ours are being printed. I've not seen anything from the Conservatives or The Greens so far. Reform are putting up a candidate hereabouts but I've not seen anything from them other than letters in our local paper.
I'm something of a connoisseur of party political campaign leaflets and could do a compare and contrast critique when I get the full set.
Other than at a national level most of them are produced on a wing and a prayer and by hard-pressed volunteers who juggle that alongside everything else.
So it's hardly surprising that most party political flyers aren't going to win any design or BAFTA awards.
Possibly not. ‘Conservative’ had become a more toxic brand than they had realised, and it couldn’t be cured by adding the word ‘Local’ to their name or by playing down their links to the party of government.
I prefer not to run down my country.
The NHS....So far this year I have seen 2 consultants and 2 other specialists. I have had one dental appointment and am going back later in the month. We get all our free prescriptions from the chemist and we have even had a doctor come and see us at home.
Reform predicted 2 seats but this was before Farage announced.*
AFZ
*I doubt it will make any difference.
https://x.com/AvaSantina/status/1797623187330805894
Although per Michael Crick's reporting they've been sitting on this for a few days:
https://x.com/tomorrowsmps/status/1796225349048488157
Obviously this contrasts with the somewhat different treatment of Russel-Moyle.
By supporting the Conservatives. 😉
Of course the country is 'still going.'
The whole thing isn't going to grind to a halt simply because Sunak is in Number 10.
Although Truss and Kwarteng nearly crashed our economy.
If The Bank of England hadn't intervened in the nick of time, we'd have seen complete economic meltdown and collapse.
I don't think Conservative supporters realise how close we came to the abyss.
Either that or they cover their ears up and go 'La la la la! We're not listening ...'
Some of our Conservative town councillors turned Independent at the last local election.
Would they have done that if the Conservatives hadn't become such a toxic brand?
I don't under-estimate the Conservatives. They've still got a strong following hereabouts despite messing things up.
But they've hardly got anything to crow about.
It's long passed time to get our countries back.
I would wish bad healthcare on no one, so it's good that you've received adequate care when you needed it, unfortunately due to the policies of the government that you've repeatedly voted for, others haven't been as lucky.
Charges on medications were introduced in 1952, by the Conservative government of Winston Churchill, at a rate of one shilling per prescription.
There were exemptions for people in receipt of National Assistance or War Disablement Pension, children under 16 or at school, and venereal disease patients.
I am, however, glad (in a way) that I'm ill enough, and old enough, to be exempt from prescription charges...
It's also worth remembering that it was the Labour government of Clement Attlee which originally set up the NHS. Tory candidates in the forthcoming election seem to be finding it hard to come up with any similarly positive achievements by their party.
Locally the Green Party have done useful things, like campaigning to get rid of our unwanted (and in my view anti-democratic) directly elected mayor.
Every ward in this constituency elected Green Party councillors in the recent local elections.
Yes - Wales and Scotland are ahead of England in this respect...
Me too. I love my country. That’s why I can’t wait to see the the back of the Tories
Scotland gets a shedload of money from the UK and they can even raise their own money through taxation. They should spend it better
Where did you get this information? I have not voted for a successful candidate since 1979.
It's an interesting counterfactual, isn't it? There are certainly a a group of Boris fans who think that the whole reason the Tories are in trouble is because Johnson is no longer the leader. The #BringBackBoris crew are still out there on social media. However, here's a few points:
1. The first big drop in Conservative poll ratings happened under Johnson.
2. The scandal after scandal after scandal was chipping away at their support. Whilst Truss was clearly a disaster, the continuation of a Johnson government had risks of different but equivalent failures.
3. Johnson himself is not as popular as his followers want you to believe. Whilst it's true that he has a personal following that is very enthusiastic, it's not a large following.
4. A big chunk of the '19 Tory vote was made up of two kinds of Brexit voters. Those that really wanted Brexit and those that were very fed up with the whole debate, and just wanted it done: they didn't really care about the outcome. Hence 'Get Brexit Done' was a very effective strategy.
5. Johnson handled Covid very badly. There may have been more cut-through from this and the enquiry if Johnson was still PM. Sunak got asked about his fixed-penalty notice by a member of the public who lost his mother the other day. This looked bad for him but I think the Covid mess is much more attached to Johnson personally.
6. I predicted two things in December '19* (in the context of many commentators predicting that the Tories would undoubtedly win in '24); 1) Johnson's administration could not last 5 years, and 2) the big damage to the country would be done in 5 weeks. Johnson was busy destroying himself when he was deposed by a party who decided that he was too big an electoral liability. The fact that they managed to move to bigger liabilities does not change this fact.
AFZ
*I cannot remember where I wrote this and would love to find it in case anyone doubts my honest.... hey ho.
If he hadn't fallen over Partygate he'd have stumbled over something else.
If he had survived until now I think the Tories would still lose the upcoming election but not perhaps by as wide a margin.
Yes, he still has a substantial amount of support but not as much as his idolatrous and misguided worshippers claim.
But they were always going to turn to dust because they were always just lies.
To be honest, I doubt that there's any alternative universe where Johnson was still PM because he would have gotten bored and would have left to bleep his bleeps instead.
He was a great campaigner based entirely on his personality, being “good old Boris”, but incapable of answering questions thinking on his feet. This was shown when he hid in fridge to avoid being interviewed when he saw a TV crew, and when he refused to take part in the live television debate with the other party leaders.
It is not 'running your country down' to recognise its faults and issues that need to be improved. This purblind form of 'patriotism' is, in fact, distinctly unhelpful. It's a bit like solving your personal problems with another bottle of whisky, and forgetting that they exist. For a time. If we all 'ran our country down' a bit more, maybe some of the clowns in Westminster might start to do something about our criticisms.
Of course.
I heard him speak some time before he became the Conservative leader and that was the impression I had then and one I retained.
All form no substance.
I think you have to reckon with the fact that most people don't pay much attention to politics, and unless the media makes a huge fuss about things like that (which they didn't at the time) they fail to cut through.