Tootfinder

Sounds like Streeting is likely to resign and make a move on the leadership. Leaked during the King's speech, which is interesting timing.
What's the funniest possible outcome?
Perhaps a four way contest without Burnham coz he can't get a seat in time, won on 26% of the votes by Starmer.
Making it obvious Starmer only holds like a quarter of the MPs in support, we keep the same lame duck now even lamer, all the challengers are rebuked, and even if Andy gets a seat later the contest is over and nobody has the stomach for another one.
Not a prediction, just musing on the most hilarious thing. Which is probably also the worst thing for the country.
#ukpol #streeting #starmer

Starmer is doing a thing about election results. Is he resigning?
He says the elections were tough, he lost brilliant representatives. He feels the hurt and takes responsibility. Not just for the results, but also for explaining how they'll do better in the years ahead.
Times are dangerous, opponents are very dangerous, if we don't get it right the country will be on a very dark path.
He takes responsibility for navigation in this dangerous world and for not walking away.
Oh right, he's not resigning then. 😦
He says he'll prove his doubters wrong. He's learned a lot! And realizes now we need a bigger response to this unordinary times.
Times demand serious progressive leadership he says, and Zack or Nigel can't provide that. [Citation needed] Only Labour can [Really, come on, citation needed]
He's pleased to be reducing NHS waiting lists and crime, and for some reason is pleased migration is coming down too.
He says he realizes that people don't think Labour cares about them. So that's something.
So his plan to fix things after this election is to talk more about why he's doing things instead of just saying what he's doing.
Right. Sure. That'll help.
He admits millions of people, like his sister, don't get respect or help and are held back because the status quo doesn't work.
He says he's fighting for them but, eh, perhaps he should be doing that thing where he says more about why and how?
He says we need a complete break to take control of energy and defense and fairness (he isn't resigning though, not THAT complete a break)
"Strength Through Fairness, Hope and Urgency" is his plan.
Three concrete examples of the plan:
Sure, about time, not like the Greens are against that.
Doesn't sound like he wants a re-join though, so not really sure what this means. The EU don't allow partial memberships or cherry picking benefits. Some kind of external heart I guess, an outside-body heart pump?
No. He's going to guarantee training or work placements to school leavers.
So in response to likely being unelected next time, he'll nationalize steel (now he's failed to find a corporate buyer anyway), is going to renegotiate with Europe (again, they have no better offers to give), and offer apprenticeships to education-leavers (who are still going to be mostly in debt by then).
Right.
Oh, and he's going to ban more marches too. Almost forgot that.
What a cock.
He did sound a bit passionate at least for a change.
#ukpol #starmer

In my ward the greens seem to have got about a third of the vote vs Labour with the rest. 2:1
Which is a big improvement. 300 or so neighbors to turn.
In the borough we've gone from unanimous Labor to about a third Green. Which is oddly proportional to my ward. Not really sure I understand the actual counting system with the three votes I had or if it's PR or not.
Nationally its awful for Labour but also worse for the country since outside London they lost mostly to the Reform (nee Brexit) party/private-company.
Conservatives seem irrelevant, even Lib Dems more important.
I've been casting doubt upon the idea of an imminent Reform government, saying it'd be unprecedented for Reform to go from one ever elected MP to 400 MPs in a single election. But these elections feel pretty close to that kind of swing.
Starmer says he'll stay on. He has no concept of what government should do other than give tax breaks to businesses to try to get economic growth, and crack down in authoritarian ways with increased surveillance and ID checks and prosecuting protestors.
He doesn't seem to realize that government can just do things, especially after Brexit. It can just pay people to build infrastructure owned by and giving profit to the state. It does not need private investment. Isn't that supposed to be the point of a Labour party?
So things will continue to get worse and Labour will continue to chase Reform policies (and so validate them). So Reform may well win.
There is one hope. Burnham could resign as mayor, a safe-seat MP could resign, and Burnham stands there. Assuming he wins he could then stand for leadership. And then if he wins and then actually does something despite the protest of the right wing of his own party, maybe things could get better.
That's a lot of conditionals. You'd want good odds to place a bet on that.
Or the greens of course. These elections have seen hundreds of new green councilors. The momentum is good. Probably take the council here next time unless that Burnham things happens.
So good for Greens, but better for Reform, and we could do with a Labour party which wasn't failing.
Oh well. Fingers crossed I guess. Few more years till the national ones.
#ukpol

One of the best things about Brexit is how we left a power-block in which we had a veto and a vote and a large soft power reputation and a real say in it's policy and outcomes.
And now, instead, we have to do whatever the mad king in America wants. Bomb whoever he wants. Let him store his weapons and his bombs here. Fly his airplanes on our runways. Pay whatever tariff on trade he demands, accept his hormone ridden meat and unsanitary chicken processes.
And we have less say in it all than Puerto Rico, much less than any actual full blown state.
We ceded control of the EU to Germany, just abandoned any say in what happens there for no reason at all, and are left begging treats from a powerful clown's table like a yapping little toy dog.
The final step down the power-escalator, from empire to now less say in world affairs than Austria or Finland which at least have EU voting rights and members in the EU parliament.
Now just airport 1, a runway which the US uses as it pleases and no say in anything.
What a move from England, absolute masterclass of dim witted self destructive spite. Couldn't hope for a better example. Textbook. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
#war #brexit #power #ukpol

UK Media is shrill over Zack Polanski pressing a retweet on a post wondering if some cops used excessive force.
Apparently police are so weak that someone retweeting about them using excessive force might stop them wanting to use any force at all! We'll be overrun with crime because the police will be too scared to do anything in case the leader of the 4th largest party retweets something mean about them.
This is very important they shriek, all in a panic, and surely shows that the Green party want criminals to rule the country.
#ukpol #media #green #zackPolanski