UK General Election 2024

[takno]

Presuming people are claiming the young Rishi had Sky TV, despite claiming not to. But several people have posted reasons here why the photo must actually have been taken after he left home, if indeed he lived there at all.

It all seems like a bit of a weird response to me. I come from a reasonably upmarket area in a reasonably well off city, and while I'm 5 years older than Sunak, hardly anybody I knew had Sky, even by the time I left uni. If that's the only thing Sunak can think of that he couldn't have as a child in the 80s and 90s then his life must have been pretty privileged.

The main thing I got from the picture is that it never previously occurred to me that his parents owned a pharmacy, rather than just working in one.

 

[Gloster]

Whether that is where he lived and when he lived there doesn’t really matter, although it does keep the idea going. What is going to be the point for most people is that if Sunak thinks that not having Sky TV shows that he knows about having a difficult time when young and that he understands people who are struggling, he really doesn‘t get it. He should have said it in a Yorkshire accent.

I didn’t see the interview or whatever it was last night, but did he try to blame the doctors for the NHS’s problems? It is never a good idea to pick on the doctors or nurses.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

This attitude are part of the reason a large number of trans people get attacked and many commit suicide. Its disgusting. Do you also think gay men are pretending and its just a phase? Do you think disabled people are putting it on ?You have no idea what anyone else's life is like.

When I have I said I support violence against anyone? I haven't, and I would politely ask if you could retract any inference that I have. I have also not said anything at all in this discussion about gay men or disabled people. The opinions that you seem to be ascribing to me there are absurd and nothing like what I actually believe. I would likewise ask you to retract what you are implying in your post there. There is a World of difference between on the one hand someone choosing to live their life in the way that they wish (which in general, as long as the person is not harming anyone else, I would say is great - and that fully encompasses people living according to their own sexuality), and on the other hand someone expecting/seeking to compel other people to treat them as something that they are not (for example, a man expecting to be placed alongside women in a women's prison - which, to try to get this back on topic, is what I would presume is the kind of thing the Tories are getting at when they talk about biological sex in their manifesto).

 

[Falcon1200]

On what grounds are you proposing it is okay ban some women from women's jails? What test will you administer to decide?

That is a perfectly valid question, one applicable to the point made earlier on whether, and how, transgender women should be barred from using female facilities such as toilets; And a question to which I do not have a simple answer, if indeed there is one. But what absolutely cannot, ever, be allowed to happen is a person with male physique and male genitalia, who had used those attributes to rape, I repeat rape, women, being incarcerated in a female prison on the strength of now declaring themselves to be a woman; Which is what a gender self-ID law, demanded by you, would and (indirectly) has led to.

The white inmate wouldn't have any inherent physical advantage over almost all of the other inmates that MtF prisoner would have in a Women's prison

Indeed, a very different situation from a male-bodied inmate in a woman's prison.

 

[AlterEgo]

That is a perfectly valid question, one applicable to the point made earlier on whether, and how, transgender women should be barred from using female facilities such as toilets; And a question to which I do not have a simple answer, if indeed there is one.

So you admit you have no answer and no real position on the matter, other than:

But what absolutely cannot, ever, be allowed to happen is a person with male physique and male genitalia, who had used those attributes to rape, I repeat rape, women, being incarcerated in a female prison on the strength of now declaring themselves to be a woman;

What about a man who has raped only men? Should they share a prison with other men, the sole target of their sexual crimes? Or do you think men ought to be able to somehow physically resist being raped in prison? (Clue: there are about 100 sexual assaults or rapes reported in men’s prisons every year, and that is just scratching the tip of the iceberg)

Which is what a gender self-ID law, demanded by you, would and (indirectly) has led to.

That is quite expressly *not* what a Self-ID law would do. You would need to amend the Equality Act.

The Lib Dems are proposing a Self-ID law so that trans people don’t need to get medical validation or a panel of strangers to tell them how they identify, essentially rendering it barely more hassle than changing your name. Now there’s something that could be the root of a lot of harms and crime isn’t it - people changing their name. Even criminals can! No paperwork is needed to do this, and only a brief statutory declaration is required to change your passport, driving licence, and so on, erasing your old name. How many times have we seen someone who has changed their name commit another offence?

 

[Howardh]

The Lib Dems are proposing a Self-ID law so that trans people don’t need to get medical validation or a panel of strangers to tell them how they identify, essentially rendering it barely more hassle than changing your name. Now there’s something that could be the root of a lot of harms and crime isn’t it - people changing their name. Even criminals can! No paperwork is needed to do this, and only a brief statutory declaration is required to change your passport, driving licence, and so on, erasing your old name. How many times have we seen someone who has changed their name commit another offence?

Rather than actually changing biological sex permanently, I prefer to be either at my whim. But I look totally different in "girl mode" than "boy mode" - so much so that people who have only seen me in one mode simply don't recognise me in another - that's happened more times than I care to remember(!); which is fine except that my photo ID is rendered useless; and even my railcard as it's in male name so I have to explain it's me if I'm in female mode. Basically we need space for two photos or have two id cards/passports; yes machinery can pick up your eyes/bone structure to verify at immigration (even then you have to pull your hair back a touch), but the human eye often can't.

 

[Sorcerer]

Corbyn has published his, well let's call it alternative to Labour, manifesto. No mention of HS2. But, unsurprisingly, renationalising bus and rail is in here.

x.com

x.com

Surprised there was nothing about lowering the voting age to 16.

As is typical of a Corbyn manifesto, it's rooted in good intentions but also somewhat sullied by ideology and naivety rather than pragmatism. Speaking out against wars across the world is all well and good, but in the case of Ukraine, Russia does not care what our current government think nor what the Americans think, so some random socialist MP from Islington isn't going to convince Putin to call off his invasion. Same with the ban on trophy hunting; he can ban the import of trophies from animal hunts but he can't stop it happening elsewhere in the world, and controversially, regulated trophy hunting has become a major part of conservation in sub-Saharan Africa (I don't like it either).

 

[birchesgreen]

Even if he wins his seat how he is going to implement all that?

 

[Falcon1200]

What about a man who has raped only men? Should they share a prison with other men, the sole target of their sexual crimes?

Unless each male-on-male rapist is to be accommodated in their own personal jail they have to share a prison with other men; However prisons should protect inmates from all forms of assault by other inmates (not easy I would hasten to add).

The fact that men can and do rape other men does not in any way justify placing male rapists, however they later choose to identify themselves, in female prisons, where a fair proportion of the inmates have already been abused to varying degrees by men.

 

[DoubleLemon]

When I have I said I support violence against anyone? I haven't, and I would politely ask if you could retract any inference that I have. I have also not said anything at all in this discussion about gay men or disabled people. The opinions that you seem to be ascribing to me there are absurd and nothing like what I actually believe. I would likewise ask you to retract what you are implying in your post there. There is a World of difference between on the one hand someone choosing to live their life in the way that they wish (which in general, as long as the person is not harming anyone else, I would say is great - and that fully encompasses people living according to their own sexuality), and on the other hand someone expecting/seeking to compel other people to treat them as something that they are not (for example, a man expecting to be placed alongside women in a women's prison - which, to try to get this back on topic, is what I would presume is the kind of thing the Tories are getting at when they talk about biological sex in their manifesto).

I will not retract it as I never claimed you did - its the attitude you have and that false claim that they are pretending that is a contributing factor to violence and high suicide rates. You double down on your "fact" they are not the sex they are. Its disgusting. thats all I am going to say as you are not worth it.

 

[Snow1964]

Labour have launched their manifesto

appears rather thin on info on railways, and probably going to be few who will be disappointed on here by things that appear to be not included

Labour will overhaul Britain’s railways. Fourteen years of Conservative neglect have failed passengers, businesses and taxpayers. We will put passengers at the heart of the service by reforming the railways and bringing them into public ownership. We will do this as contracts with existing operators expire or are broken through a failure to deliver, without costing taxpayers a penny in compensation. Great British Railways will deliver a unified system that focuses on reliable, affordable, high-quality, and efficient services; along with ensuring safety and accessibility. It will be responsible for investment, day-to-day operational delivery and innovations and improvements for passengers, working with publicly-owned rail operators in Wales and Scotland. Mayors will have a role in designing the services in their areas. There will be a duty to promote and grow the use of rail freight. Open access operators are an important part of the rail system and will have an ongoing role. Labour will also create a tough new passenger watchdog, focused on driving up standards.

Kickstart economic growth – The Labour Party

A Labour government will deliver economic stability with tough spending rules, boost growth, build 1.5 million new homes and create jobs.

labour.org.uk

 

[WesternLancer]

Labour will also create a tough new passenger watchdog, focused on driving up standards.

Isn't that the only new bit that has not been talked about before by the LP?

Lets hope the Rail Ombudsman is not their model for this...

Mind you, if 'keeping train interiors clean' was part of any TOC's delivery contract terms then it would be quite easy to wind a few up well ahead of the end of existing franchise contracts!

 

[AlterEgo]

Labour have launched their manifesto
appears rather thin on info on railways

Kickstart economic growth – The Labour Party

A Labour government will deliver economic stability with tough spending rules, boost growth, build 1.5 million new homes and create jobs.

labour.org.uk

It’s rather thin full stop!

 

[Howardh]

It’s rather thin full stop!

Considering from day one there's no money in the kitty there's not a lot they can do short-term. At least they aren't promising the earth and ending up delivering a small asteroid.

 

[SteveP29]

I live in Lichfield and work in Tamworth, if I was to use the bus or train, I'd be extending my 15 minute car journey into an hour and a half commute, is this an perfectly good alternative?

I've never driven, always used public transport.
I did ride a motorcycle for 10 years on and off (never got fully qualified, a story for another time)
When I still lived with my Parents, I worked on the outskirts of Sunderland, it was 8 and a half miles door to door.

Leaving the house to getting to work and return was an hour and a half each way.

Now I'm in Edinburgh, there is a very good bus service, my commute to work is now only 4 and a half miles, that still takes me 40- 45 minutes.

I accept that you couldn't have public transport that serves every single destination and therefore there will be walking etc or even changing between public transport modes for some journeys, but the sheer convenience of driving makes it the default among a vast number of people in this country

 

[geoffk]

Considering from day one there's no money in the kitty there's not a lot they can do short-term. At least they aren't promising the earth and ending up delivering a small asteroid.

The Green Party would put "money in the kitty" by introducing a wealth tax - they are the only party being honest about the need to raise taxes to avoid cutting public services. Of course the Greens are not going to win the election but maybe they will get more than one MP who will keep Labour on their toes!

 

[YorkRailFan]

Labour have launched their manifesto

appears rather thin on info on railways, and probably going to be few who will be disappointed on here by things that appear to be not included

Kickstart economic growth – The Labour Party

A Labour government will deliver economic stability with tough spending rules, boost growth, build 1.5 million new homes and create jobs.

labour.org.uk

No HS2...

 

[RT4038]

I accept that you couldn't have public transport that serves every single destination and therefore there will be walking etc or even changing between public transport modes for some journeys, but the sheer convenience of driving makes it the default among a vast number of people in this country

Of course! When I go to the office, 20 miles away, I go by walking and bus. It takes 2 hours each way and 15,000 steps. In the evening, when I go for a take away pizza (only half a mile) I go by car - I'm knackered from the commute and I don't want the pizza to get cold walking back.

On Saturday I may want to visit my friend 1.5 miles away to the south; the hardware emporium 1.5 miles away to the east; the farm shop 1.5 miles away to the west and the bowls club 1.5 miles away to the north. All eminently walkable individually, but together..... especially if the times don't match. Taking a bus to them all would take all day or maybe two days because the farm shop only has a couple of trips. Yes, I could change my life and get a friend nearer the bowls club or buy the food in the Hypermarket etc, but that is the added quality of life I have in using a car.

60 years ago we were more restricted in our lives (even if we didn't realise then because we knew no better) but once the genie is out of the bottle I have no desire to go back to an Amish like existence or solely relying on transport employees or their timetables.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

I will not retract it as I never claimed you did - its the attitude you have and that false claim that they are pretending that is a contributing factor to violence and high suicide rates. You double down on your "fact" they are not the sex they are. Its disgusting. thats all I am going to say as you are not worth it.

How sad. Personally, I always try to respect those whom I disagree with, because I recognise that each person's opinions reflect their own life experiences and perspective. I don't think I would ever say to someone 'you're not worth it' purely because they have a viewpoint that disagrees with my own, no matter how strongly. I'd like to think that I respect humanity and different people too much to take kind of attitude. I guess from what you've written above that you don't have the same standards

 

[Thirteen]

It all seems like a bit of a weird response to me. I come from a reasonably upmarket area in a reasonably well off city, and while I'm 5 years older than Sunak, hardly anybody I knew had Sky, even by the time I left uni. If that's the only thing Sunak can think of that he couldn't have as a child in the 80s and 90s then his life must have been pretty privileged.

The main thing I got from the picture is that it never previously occurred to me that his parents owned a pharmacy, rather than just working in one.

Sky didn't become big until the launch of Sky Digital in the late 90s, the analogue service still had a good number of subscribers in the early to mid 90s but it was still expensive so not having Sky when he was a kid isn't a surprise, his parents probably didn't think it was worth it especially since they were paying private school fees and if you have the choice between satellite TV and getting your son a good eduction, the latter trumps the former.

 

[takno]

The Green Party would put "money in the kitty" by introducing a wealth tax - they are the only party being honest about the need to raise taxes to avoid cutting public services. Of course the Greens are not going to win the election but maybe they will get more than one MP who will keep Labour on their toes!

The trouble with the Greens wealth tax is that they're pitching it at 2% for the wealthier. Current experience in Norway suggests that even the patriotic multimillionaires start to get itchy feet even at 1%. You can't tax wealth which has left the country with its owner, but that wealth is also much less available for investment in the country. Norway's proposal to solve this is a fairly extreme exit tax, which is very likely to be massively destructive to the Norwegian economy over the 20 year timeframe, since nobody is going to risk taking capital or risk into the country to start with. More needs to be done internationally to pull wealth into the taxation system, but I wouldn't even attempt to pitch more than half a percent as a unilateral tax.

Even wealth which remains in the country has lots of issues with liquidity. You can't make as many long term investments if you are going to have to take out 2% of the value out every year - that could easily be 20% before the investment has paid back a penny. Share options are also a problem - I was worth millions of quid on paper at one time, but I never actually realised a penny of that "wealth" - if I'd had to pay hundreds of thousands of tax over the couple of years that situation persisted I would now be be in massive debt. Obviously you could potentially address some of this by the government taking the tax in the form of illiquid assets, but that isn't going to do anything to address current government income issues.

 

[renegademaster]

What about a man who has raped only men? Should they share a prison with other men, the sole target of their sexual crimes

They'd get put on a seg ward, or should be anyway

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jun 2024 ==

! No paperwork is needed to do this, and only a brief statutory declaration is required to change your passport, driving licence, and so on, erasing your old name. How many times have we seen someone who has changed their name commit another offence?

Our current name changing system is dodgy, and has led to quite a lot of harm. In a lot of Europe its very hard to change your name and normally reserved for cases involving danger to life if its not changed. one poorly considered law doesn't excuse another

 

[telstarbox]

Have I missed it or does the Labour one not include the bus cap?

 

[SynthD]

Speaking out against wars across the world is all well and good, but in the case of Ukraine, Russia does not care what our current government think

I think it’s an answer to those who complain about people standing up for Palestine. The claim is why are you caring about these people but not those. Standard unresearched whataboutism.

 

[Busaholic]

How sad. Personally, I always try to respect those whom I disagree with, because I recognise that each person's opinions reflect their own life experiences and perspective. I don't think I would ever say to someone 'you're not worth it' purely because they have a viewpoint that disagrees with my own, no matter how strongly. I'd like to think that I respect humanity and different people too much to take kind of attitude. I guess from what you've written above that you don't have the same standards

Well said.

 

[Sorcerer]

I think it’s an answer to those who complain about people standing up for Palestine. The claim is why are you caring about these people but not those. Standard unresearched whataboutism.

Forgive me but I don't quite understand what you're referring to, can you possibly elaborate?

 

[Yew]

Considering from day one there's no money in the kitty there's not a lot they can do short-term. At least they aren't promising the earth and ending up delivering a small asteroid.

Indeed, the Labour manifesto does seem to be a comittment to the idealogy of austerity.

 

[Statto]

Sky didn't become big until the launch of Sky Digital in the late 90s, the analogue service still had a good number of subscribers in the early to mid 90s but it was still expensive so not having Sky when he was a kid isn't a surprise, his parents probably didn't think it was worth it especially since they were paying private school fees and if you have the choice between satellite TV and getting your son a good eduction, the latter trumps the former.

I remember sky started doing deals were you got the dish & set top box for free, if you took out subscription over a certain period, it was around £200 for the dish & box, & that was before you took out any subscriptions, which is why many didn't buy sky, but a lot of the upper class didn't buy sky because they saw it uncouth, & working class, not because of any financial restraints.

What helped was competitors, ITV launched their own digital TV platform, called On Digital before being relaunched ITV Digital (remember the ad campaign with Johnny Vegas & Monkey), however ITV Digital was short lived, ITV well overbid for Football League rights, & piracy of the ITV Digital viewing cards was rife, ITV Digital closed down 2002, & which ended up with Freeview replacing it.

 

[Gloster]

Indeed, the Labour manifesto does seem to be a comittment to the idealogy of austerity.

For the last couple of months Starmer and Reeves have, as is the custom, been allowed to examine the country’s books. It is possible that they have found that the last fourteen years of dishonesty, greed and mismanagement have left government finances in an appalling state and this time it is true that ‘there’s no money left.’

 

[RT4038]

For the last couple of months Starmer and Reeves have, as is the custom, been allowed to examine the country’s books. It is possible that they have found that the last fourteen years of dishonesty, greed and mismanagement have left government finances in an appalling state and this time it is true that ‘there’s no money left.’

Being fairly subjective terms, I doubt with much more (or less) dishonesty, greed and mismanagement than the previous Labour administration?