I'm kind of stunned by the collective amnesia about Brexit. Is it a media thing or is it just too horror-triggering a catastrophe to mention in polite company? Anyway the whole European project appears to be in jeopardy, almost as much as the American project. Putin & co. must be licking their lips. These people (including Starmer) seem profoundly stupid. It's fucking unbelievable.

Well, you're part way there with it being a media thing. Yes, the media being largely owned by anti-eu billionnaires has no wish to raise the brexit disaster. The BBC is controlled by supporters of the Tory party, and since it was the Tory party who implemented the brexit disaster from pitiful start (Cameron) to ludicrous end (Johnson), they won't mention it either. Tories and Labour are both terrified of "the right" like rabbits in a headlight, and both think salvation lies in making more and more "right friendly" decisions, such as "never even mention brexit again".

I cannot emphasise enough that the present labour party under Starmer has an almost magical ability to either avoid making any decision, or else make inexplicably wrong and feeble decisions. This results in an almost policy-free approach to the election. Starmer is being gifted this election because the tories have imploded and their support is now split between the right and the extreme right, with the extreme right having Farage and reform to vote for. One of the wrong and feeble decisions the labour party has made is to never mention brexit. 

Yes. It's mind boggling. It's insane. It's the patient complaining of headaches and dizzy spells sitting amongst puzzled doctors, none of whom will mention the axe in his skull.

Edit: This was meant to be @ Chyron. I am out of practise.

I think Starmer's plan is to slowly and quietly to undo brexit. Which is probably the right way to do it if it's going to be done. Making it a live political issue just empowers Farage and he's already empowered enough.

I agree that the EU's starting to crumble. And I blame that mainly on their outsourcing foreign policy to Washington. An EU that stands any chance of surviving the century needs to put its own interests before those of the US, not the reverse. The US blowing up Nord Stream should've been seen as an act of war against the EU.

But an EU that's both self-harming to keep the US sweet and doesn't work to the appreciable benefit of the everyday people of its member states has no future.

Personally I *really* don't want brexit to be an issue again. It prevented any real politics from happening for like a decade. The EU is a big complex thing and honestly I think anyone who's unquestioningly either for or against it is deluded. There's *quite clearly* good and bad to it. Ultimately I don't care whether we're in or out, I care far more about industrial policy, fiscal and monetary policy, foreign policy, housing etc.. Some of what I'd want would be easier within the EU, some without the EU.

If Starmer quietly undoes brexit then fine, I'm cool with that, so long as he does it in a way such that Farage just looks like a whiny nit-picker when questioning it. The anti-democratic nature of that bothers me a bit but at this point I don't fucking care, I just don't want brexit blocking us from doing actual politics for another fucking decade. 

 

voting day! I have done a vote. I am sure my droplet in the bucket of centre-left policy support will make a difference. *sad trombone continues*

Most of my votes over the years were cast for losers.

I've never voted for a winner. Continuing that this year with the Greens.

I also voted for a bunch of losers, although technically they are on course for a landslide win.

 (dance)

Went to bed around 2 this morning. We had intended to stay up and listen to the results as they came in. Unlike previous years, once the exit poll had made the outcome clear, it was so dull that we gave up. My wife, who has become more left wing and radical than me, started to listen to results again at 3:30. Sadly she didn't realise her Bluetooth headphones hadn't connected so she woke me up too. Up at 6:30 to get son's stuff ready for work. Absolutely knackered and, frankly, the boring story of my night is more interesting than the election.

Local candidate Becky Cooper won. She's about the only thing keeping me in the Labour party. The East Worthing and Shoreham seat also went to Labour which is a bitter pill for Carl Walker who did all the donkey work to overturn a big Tory majority and was then barred from standing. Some right winger from Lambeth was parachuted in; a young boy who's done plenty of dirty work for Keir as Lambeth council chief whip, getting his more left wing colleagues barred and suspended.

PS he's so committed to East Worthing and Shoreham that he stayed on as a Lambeth councillor throughout the election.

Christ. Well at least it (the national result) bucks the global trend. Amazing the tories fluffed it so badly. Now they're trying to horn in on some Trump action.

Yes, that is the story. The tories fluffed it badly. They grew accustomed to getting away with whatever they wanted, took their eyes off the job, and I don't believe they have done any actual government for several years.

Incidentally, I doubt the fragrant Nigel Farage will do any work in his constituency, so the good electors of Clacton are no worse off than they were before, the outgoing tory member, Giles Watling being a "socialite" and luvvy of the right-wing persuasion, more accustomed to pissing it up in the Garrick Club than dealing with his constituents' problems.

"they have done any actual government for several years"

Ir will be interesting to see if Starmer can continue to colour inside the lines as he has thus far managed.

Well, yes. His lines circle aound things like "listening to people with different opinions", "governing for all", but curiously his instinct is to censure, expel and disempower those he disagrees with. Rachel Reeves recently commented that there's no place in the labour party for people who don't share our views. She said this while 1) criticising a long-standing labour centerist who looks to have had his social media accounts hacked and 2) just after welcoming an ex-tory extreme-right-wing MP who wished to join.

The only interesting thing about the election is basically nothing has changed. The Tory vote got split, that's it. Aside from that no one's vote share changed much. Labour got less votes than they did in 2019.

The Greens getting four is nice (though largely a product of the same thing).

And a handful of pro-palestinian indies winning in safe Labour seats is notable.

But yeah, very dull election. Didn't even get excited about big Tories losing seats cos it doesn't really mean anything.

It didn't really buck the global trend, we're just at a different point in the cycle. Think Biden getting in first time, or Macron's last election. Next up: Fuck-all improves for anybody, so things slide rightwards.

That's my expected outcome anyway. Weird tiny bit of forlorn hope that the Green gains and the likes of Corbyn winning and maybe even Lib Dems having room to attack from this side means there's enough pressure from the left to stop it being a total flop, but I'd almost rather not suffer the disappointment when it doesn't.
Alternative fun prediction: Reform Racists and Tory failures demand a change to Proportional Representation and we finally get to do that.



My extremely safe Labour seat remained so; my vote for the local Green at least helped get her deposit back and they did better than Reform here  :-O~~~

Uninspiring centrist fails to build sufficient political support [from billionaires, CEOs, and other power brokers; 'grass-roots' don't count for shit] to enact necessary changes to stave off massive economic dislocation and desire for a fascist who can 'get things done.' With assorted, hostile state actors sticking their oar in to make sure confusion, paranoia, and anarchy prevail.

The polls were right (for my constituency), and Labour won by a comfortable margin. Seems to have been a similar story in various places across Scotland. Bad night for the SNP.

My first vote in my new constituency (Keighley and Ilkley).
Voted Labour
Stayed Tory

Was projected to change hands in the lead up but I didn't believe the polls. Stayed Tory by a decent margin in comparison to the rest of the UK.

Ilkley is very Tory.
Bradford Council is Labour led and is generally seen as bad. Easy attack line.

Are we neighbours now!? I was quite shocked by Keighley not swinging the small amount it would have needed to flip, since it has been such a marginal seat in recent elections.

(I consider getting rid of Philip Davies in Shipley an acceptable alternative)