The 2017 General Election campaign

[butchersapron]

Thanks for writing this post. I've given up being the other face of doom/hope on here. No matter what - something is in the air and we better make the most of it.

The problem is that the argument will be that this happens because and through the labour party. Where is the breakout? It captures people into it's parliamentary orbit. It's defined by it.

 

[MochaSoul]

DexterTCN I'm not clicking on that Hillsborough denier scumbag's site any more than I'd buy or read the Sun. I've told you that before.

For others who don't know, here's a taste of what he's like:

A blog detailing his transphobia: WEEKLY WANKER #017: WINGS OVER SCOTLAND

And on Hillsborough:

View attachment 108767 View attachment 108769 View attachment 108770 View attachment 108771

So don't post links to the scumbag and expect decent folk to read it. If you want us to know what he's said, you'll need to provide a précis.

Wow! I had absolutely no idea. Thanks for that, Danny.

 

[MochaSoul]

The nuke debate was one of the things that depressed me most in this election. Just seeing all those people who seemingly equate nukes with safety, rather than killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people - we're so fucked

I explained the whole thing to my mum, added the austerity thing and the logic in spending money on nuclear bombs while people have to go to foodbanks, and, [rhetorically] asked in the end: "Even if a nuclear bomb hit your country how can be moral a retaliation in the same coin knowing millions of innocent people would suffer for decades for the actions of those at the top?". I could have died when she replied "Cátia you need to stop being so black and white. Morality doesn't always trump pragmatism."
Seriously! The woman doesn't stop going on about her land from which she had to run because of a civil war which could be said to be the pinnacle of civility next to a nuclear war.
So, yeah... we're ever so fucked!

 

[SpookyFrank]

I'm going to go and vote after work. I haven't gone all Anarchists for Corbyn or anything, but it's a bit of a psychological act really (I haven't been doing anything political for a while, so in that vacuum voting seems like the only thing left). We've also been struggling to get my Dad a vote in his care home - just about managed it on time - so I'd feel pretty low not doing it myself, again, without abandoning my basic idea that it's blind alley and there's no real future with the Labour Party. Just hope there's a bit of energy after the election to go and start building something with regard to class politics, however defined.

My dad is not able to vote because he's stuck in hospital after a routine operation went sideways yesterday. Thankfully he was in an NHS hospital so although he needed a second emergency surgery all the resources were on hand for this eventuality and he's likely to recover pretty soon.

I can't help but think though that this is exactly the sort of situation which could easily cause fatalities in a piecemeal, half-privatised NHS. My dad's operation is exactly the sort of routine procedure private providers will want to bid for. These private hospitals won't have a full range of specialists on hand, nor emergency facilities, and so may be unable to respond to unexpected complications.

Not sure why I'm posting this here, but it all just feels like a bad omen. Another five years of the tories butchering the NHS (they're already planning for this, the documents proving it are out in the public domain) and instead of a sore, grumpy but ultimately OK dad the very same situation might leave me with no dad.

Basically I've got the same thought ringing through my head over and over again: the tories are gonna win, and many more people are gonna die needlessly

 

[Red Cat]

Obviously not irl, but been meaning to start a thread about what are people going to do post-election for political organising, and whether this whole process has changed what they'll do or not.

My position (not my politics) on what to do has slowly been shifting for a bit, and last year it solidified, and I'm pretty sure what I'm going to work on for the next period of time. (Just need to find people to work with now...).

One of the only things I'm excited about re: this election is that there does seem to be a shift in politics somewhat, here's hoping we can come out of it stronger in the coming years whatever the result tomorrow.

I hope so too. I'd hope that seeing something shift politically, albeit in the context of parliamentary politics, gives people a greater sense of agency that can be used for other ends.

I still don't know what to do though.

 

[SpookyFrank]

I explained the whole thing to my mum, added the austerity thing and the logic in spending money on nuclear bombs while people have to go to foodbanks, and, [rhetorically] asked in the end: "Even if a nuclear bomb hit your country how can be moral a retaliation in the same coin knowing millions of innocent people would suffer for decades for the actions of those at the top?". I could have died when she replied "Cátia you need to stop being so black and white. Morality doesn't always trump pragmatism."
Seriously! The woman doesn't stop going on about her land from which she had to run because of a civil war which could be said to be the pinnacle of civility next to a nuclear war.
So, yeah... we're ever so fucked!

Not convinced that unleashing thermonuclear armageddon could ever be described as a pragmatic response to anything.

 

[Nine Bob Note]

trump pragmatism

There's two words I never thought I'd see together

 

[QueenOfGoths]

Sadly this was not me. I would have added "fucking" as well

Graffiti painted on walls of Maidenhead Conservative Club

 

[Pickman's model]

Sadly this was not me. I would have added "fucking" as well

Graffiti painted on walls of Maidenhead Conservative Club

there's a handy map if you want to visit them

 

[belboid]

Time for some late door knocking. It's about time those students got out of bed.

 

[MochaSoul]

Not convinced that unleashing thermonuclear armageddon could ever be described as a pragmatic response to anything.

Argh. Don't even go there. It was particularly galling because I'd just come back home from having changed this lad's mind about the tragedy of Osama Bin Laden's death. When he shook my hand and said he'd never thought of a trial that way it made my evening. I ended my conversation with my mum with "Forgive her god, she knows not what she says!". Thank goodness she's not a vote here either.

 

[JimW]

Sadly this was not me. I would have added "fucking" as well

Graffiti painted on walls of Maidenhead Conservative Club

It's just the local council providing some helpful signage to help people identify the various services available in town.

 

[kabbes]

Still another 4.5 hours of being able to dream. Make the most of it, people.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

According to my facebook timeline everyone is voting, and 95% are voting corbyn, with about 5% Green. And every other post is someone pleading with everyone else to get out there and vote, so hopefully that message at least is sinking in.

Had a bit of a dilemma in the polling booth, but think I ended up doing the right thing and following the logic of my campaigning through to it's slightly odd conclusion. Basically get the lib dems out if they're not going to be part of the solution they're part of the problem, so tactical voting it is.

Echo chamber. Mostly because I suspect your aren't friends with Tories.

 

[Mr.Bishie]

Tory cunt Simon Kirby made an unexpected appearance in Whitehawk (Brighton Kemptown) today, the vacuous fuckin cunt! Not been spotted for months then turns up in Whitehawk, one of the most impoverished areas in Brighton. Hope he loses his seat to Lloyd Russell.

 

[Mr.Bishie]

Still another 4.5 hours of being able to dream. Make the most of it, people.

My minority Lab bet's coming in at 10/1!

 

[Vintage Paw]

Echo chamber. Mostly because I suspect your aren't friends with Tories.

I wonder that for the majority of people that's less true on facebook than it is on twitter. On facebook (unless you have an anonymous fake name account) there are all your school friends, your colleagues, your family, as well as likeminded folk you choose to be friends with. It'll vary of course, but there's less of an echo chamber effect on fb than twitter.

 

[kabbes]

I wonder that for the majority of people that's less true on facebook than it is on twitter. On facebook (unless you have an anonymous fake name account) there are all your school friends, your colleagues, your family, as well as likeminded folk you choose to be friends with. It'll vary of course, but there's less of an echo chamber effect on fb than twitter.

I bet there's still not a great deal of demographic diversity.

 

[Teaboy]

Blimey. I've just had a call from the tories asking me whether I've voted yet. I've never had a call from them in the past, they must be going through the phone book or something, desperate times.

 

[Orang Utan]

I wonder that for the majority of people that's less true on facebook than it is on twitter. On facebook (unless you have an anonymous fake name account) there are all your school friends, your colleagues, your family, as well as likeminded folk you choose to be friends with. It'll vary of course, but there's less of an echo chamber effect on fb than twitter.

school friends? colleagues? i must be doing Facebook wrong

 

[Voley]

Still another 4.5 hours of being able to dream. Make the most of it, people.

Frankie Boyle's with you on this, kabbes:

 

[Orang Utan]

Frankie Boyle's with you on this, kabbes:

there must be a foreign word for this emotion

 

[Teaboy]

My minority Lab bet's coming in at 10/1!

To the nearest thousand how much do you stand to win?

 

[Nine Bob Note]

Covfefe

 

[rekil]

Blimey. I've just had a call from the tories asking me whether I've voted yet. I've never had a call from them in the past, they must be going through the phone book or something, desperate times.

Waste their time and resources by telling them you need a lift to the polling station?

 

[Mr.Bishie]

To the nearest thousand how much do you stand to win?

I'm keeping the fuckin dream alive, ok?

 

[Teaboy]

Waste their time and resources by telling them you need a lift to the polling station?

Ah shit. Forgot about that. Would have been hilarious to see them turn up to give a lift (to a perfectly able person) 50m round the corner to the polling station.

 

[free spirit]

Haven't you been campaigning for the Greens?

ah yes, I can't campaign against a Green candidate or I'd be kicked out of the party, but voting is an entirely different matter.

We've also been campaigning to pick up pissed of lib dem votes as there's a proportion of them who still won't vote Labour, but are pissed off enough to vote for us as their protest vote against the lib dem tactics..

I started off the campaign thinking that it didn't really matter that much if it was lib dem or labour here, as the lib dems had said they'd not support a tory minority government. That changed when they also said they'd not support a Labour minority government, then sent out mountains of campaign material saying to vote lib dem to stop labour / corbyn.

It's been an odd election, around here we've stood down in 2 constituencies and actively leafleted in part of one of them to swing the vote behind Labour. Then in my constituency we're standing but most of our support has swung to Labour, and we've struggled to get any enthusiasm for the campaign. Mostly we've been standing now because there's an all out council election next year that we stand a good chance of winning some seats in on 2nd preference votes, and if we didn't stand now that probably wouldn't happen. Also if we didn't stand it wasn't really clear which if any of the other 2 parties would have benefited the most from it, it could well have benefited the lib dems more.

Labour this time around is a very different kettle of fish to 2015 when they were a tory lite, austerity supporting party

 

[Nine Bob Note]

Ah shit. Forgot about that. Would have been hilarious to see them turn up to give a lift (to a perfectly able person) 50m round the corner to the polling station.

Funnier if you walked straight into the pub/shop next door

 

[Fez909]