sadoldgit

Apparently a lady Labour supporter in her 70’s has been assaulted and left with cracked ribs whilst out canvassing. In a separate incident a 72 year old Labour activist suffered a broken jaw following another assault.

Not once have I said that Brexit is a left/right issue. The phrase “high jacked by the right” has been mentioned by Tory MPs. Johnson says and does whatever he needs to in order to be the leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister. Moderates from your party have been culled. Let’s see what happens if Johnson manages to get a working majority but I think you and Wes will be delighted with the way the new Government pan’s out.

Why do you think so many ex Tory politicians think that their party has been “hijacked” and moved to the right? You seem to think this is something I have made up but it is coming from your own party members. Alt Right supporters such as Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins are supporting Johnson. You discount comments from people like Hammond because they are “Pinkos. ” Why have moderates either left the party by their own will or be forced out if the party wasn’t moving in a direction they were not happy with? The Labour Party has moved further left since Corbyn became leader. The Tories have moved further right since Johnson/Cummings became leader. You constantly say yourself that the “pinkos” i.e. moderates, are being kicked out of the party.

I started out with Ted Bates and then The Big Man, so I was spoiled in my early years of supporting the club. Without a doubt, they are both club legends. I do think you can overdue the statue thing and would leave it at Ted. It would be good to do something for Lawrie Mac though.

So you don’t think that I have formed a view based on my conversation with him, along with articles I have read and other feedback in the media from other Tories who have also said that the party is lurching to the Right (including many senior and long standing party members)? Funnily enough Duckie, a great many people are saying the same thing. You have a view about your party. So do others, and it doesn’t mean that yours is the right one.

I really have no idea what is going to happen. Both of the main party leaders are clearly unliked by large sections of voters but I think that Johnson’s stance on Brexit might just swing it his way. Whether he gets a workable majority remains to be seen. There has been a huge surge in people registering to vote. For the sake of the NHS and a more humane future for this country, I hope that the surge represents a desire to keep Johnson out of no 10.

Gabbi and Ramirez both scored in the 2-1 win by Sampdoria on Sunday.

Just recently I was talking to a neighbour who said he usually voted Tory but wasn’t going to this time because he doesn’t like Johnson and thinks they have moved too far to the right. Only one person, but if a Tory says that perhaps your view that it is “pony” is not shared by other moderate Tories? I have no doubt that they will pick up votes from people who just want to see “Brexit done” (even though it will take years to finally sort it all out) but once Brexit is settled, let’s see where the Tory party stand then.

Is this something that has been said recently or are your referring to a quote from Peymana Assad four years ago?

Strip out Get Brexit Done and there is very little to appeal to those of the middle ground in the Tory Party as they lurch to the right and alienate the moderates.

Let’s not pretend that more people are exposed to the front page of The Guardian and the Mirror than the Sun, the Express, the Mail, the Telegraph and the Times. By the way, there have been many articles in The Guardian giving Corbyn a hard time recently so he can only really rely on the support of one national newspaper.

This won’t find its way over the front pages of the right wing press though will it. Dom will have to lock Karl, Tommy and Katie away in the cellar with Jacob until after the election.

Obviously we don’t know the result of this election yet, but given the majority of the country did not vote Tory in the last election, that gives quite a lot of weight to the people like me.

There has been a bright yellow mini doing the rounds with a big “Bo llocks To Brexit” sign on it. It was recently stopped by police, the driver shouted at and instructed to remove the sign before he was allowed to proceed. A while back there was a court case where the word “bo llocks” was found not to be obscene. Complaints have been lodged about the policeman and his conduct is being investigated.

Personally I couldn’t give a toss if a deadline has been missed. So long as we get the right people in the right jobs in time to try and do something useful in the January transfer window I will be a happy bunny. Oh, and a decent coaching set up soon would be good too please.

I wouldn’t say that the Tory manifesto is any less bonkers given that they have told us for the last 9 years that there was no alternative to austerity and no magic money tree and now, guess what? They have found a magic money tree! All Johnson has going for him is the “Get Brexit Done” mantra. Sadly enough people think it is that simple and that it will all magically just fall into place because Johnson says it will that we will be stuck with him for 5 years. Karma for laughing at the Yanks voting in Trump I guess. Neither are great candidates for PM, but you have to wonder why people think that Corbyn is worse than Johnson. As I have said before, turkeys voting for Christmas.

Indeed. You could insist on every piece of political party propaganda having to be fact checked by an independent body before release, but how do you control stuff released further down the food chain? There will always be stuff leaking out, I suppose it is then a question of ensuring anything inappropriate is taken down asap. As for abuse, anything that is illegal or that you couldn’t get away with saying to someone’s face should not be there. It’s a big job policing things like Instagram or Facebook. Do you just rely on people reporting abuse or do you police every thread as a responsible operator? I am on three local village FB groups. One is very small and, probably because of that, is easily policed, not that it needs it. The 2 others cover much bigger village areas and some of the abuse that gets thrown around on there is dreadful. The admin seem to let most things go and you have to wonder if bricks get thrown through windows as many of these people seem to live within a few hundred yards of each other. FB never step in. Maybe no one has ever complained but there should be a level of behaviour that becomes unacceptable to set standards and chat groups shut down if they constantly over step the mark. If you provide a social media platform for expression, you must ultimately be responsible for what happens on it.

I know, it’s crazy isn’t it? A guy I grew up with when I was a nipper but haven’t seen since 1964 has reconnected with me on Facebook. He is very pro Corbyn and, as you would expect, posts a lot of anti Johnson stuff. Strangely though he posts a lot more anti LibDem stuff. Tactically I don’t get it at all.

It’s not me you need to worry about Wes, it’s the hundreds of thousands of other floating voters out there

Wouldn’t it be great to see a complete overhaul of the electoral system here and a move away from the archaic Palace of Westminster into a more suitable and modern debating chamber? It will never happen though. We are and always will be slaves to our past. That’s why you have to laugh at the electioneering slogan “Unleash our potential.” The only thing we are good at is living in the past.

Where have I said a punitive rate of tax? I have just said that it is not unreasonable for them to pay a higher rate (over a certain threshold of course). I don’t think any reasonable person could argue against that given the number of people living below the poverty line in this country.

I should add...I know we often say that debate on here is pointless as no one will ever change their minds. However, I class myself as a floating voter since being let down by the LibDems allowing the Conservatives into power 9 years ago and the more I read here from the Tory supporters the more it makes me want to vote Labour.

I agree. I certainly don’t want to see the internet banned but there clearly needs to be a stronger regulation of the spread of lies/misinformation and greater control of abuse on social media.

I think that your last point sums the situation up perfectly. Money isn’t created in a vacuum and most people who accumulate a great amount of it do so thanks to others in society. Duckie mentioned Paul McCartney. He made a vast fortune from being able to write and perform popular music. That fortune came from those who paid to hear it. Most of us don’t have a gift that allows to makes vast quantities of money from doing something that most others can’t. Nothing wrong with that, but in a caring society it is not unreasonable to expect those with plenty to pay a bit more to help those who dont have so much to get by. That way we all benefit. Footballers in the Premiership earn crazy amounts of money for doing something most of us would do for nothing. Many of the people who help to pay their wages rely on food banks. How can that be right in what we are told is the 5th biggest economy on the planet? What is so wrong about closing tax loopholes so that big corporations have to pay the correct amount of tax in the countries in which they make their money? No one is suggesting that we go back to the dark days when tax rates were ridiculously high, but a person paying the same rate of tax who earns £15,000 a year as, say, someone who earns £70,000 a year is non-sensical and grossly unfair. What happens when we get to the point when people stop paying for SKY and stop going to football matches because they can longer afford it? Multiply that across the field of consumerism and a lot of very rich people will find that they are no longer very rich. Thatcher got it completely wrong and you certainly do not help the poor by making the rich richer.

Surely a “fair” system would involve paying what you can reasonably afford given your circumstances? As for what the Great British public think, if they think like you and Wes the rest of us are screwed.