Politics - UK - 2017

Ikoda

Ikoda

Well-Known Member
Thought I'd create a single thread to have a polite discussion about what's going on in the political world in the run up to the General Election next month, and any other general political discussions.

As a voter, personally... I have worries that the voters of this country don't seem to do any fact checking.
It's both surprising and scary just how much people rely on facebook etc for their news.
What is everyones thoughts on just how influential facebook has become of late?

Any other comments about the political landscape in 2017?

As mentioned, let's not attack each other. Decent conversations please!
 
I agree re: Facebook. In general it just seems to have made the younger (under 40) generation lazy. I've got some pretty simple people on my Facebook from school too and pretty much every day I see someone use Facebook as Google .. 'how do I ....?' 'What day is bin day? bank holidays have confused me lol' etc. I am sure a lot of the parties are already using social media as a large part to influence certain voters
 
Well I read somewhere that Trump spent $70 million on facebook advertising.
You can really drill down with fb ad to target specific people to help shift their vote.
I wonder if our parties will employ that? I can imagine the tories will.

I'm not entirely sure how many of the under 40 generation will even vote. I've seen people on fb say they won't as it doesn't make a difference and they don't feel the system represents them... :facepalm:
 
Ikoda said:
Well I read somewhere that Trump spent $70 million on facebook advertising.
You can really drill down with fb ad to target specific people to help shift their vote.
I wonder if our parties will employ that? I can imagine the tories will.

I'm not entirely sure how many of the under 40 generation will even vote. I've seen people on fb say they won't as it doesn't make a difference and they don't feel the system represents them... :facepalm:
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interesting and scary stuff here re FB data , and how it's used : https://www.theguardian.com/technol...eat-british-brexit-robbery-hijacked-democracy
 
The Tories are on the rise, even up here in Scotland, even in deepest, darkest Glasgow. I have friends who have 'turned Tory'. :eek: :spank:
 
balearic joe said:
And intelligence is in decline...

The £400 p/week Torys are very dangerous. Turkeys voting for Christmas springs to mind..
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Agreed.
I'm undecided how to vote at the next election. I've voted Lib Dem the last two GEs, this year was going to be no different.
But I'm in one of the ultra-safe tory seats. Labour might have a chance of toppling them. So I could vote tactically and vote labour... I do agree with some of their policies (a lot, actually) but am concerned where this funding etc is going to come from, and with Corbyn in general. But if he's got damned good advisors and listens to his civil servants, it may not be all bad.

I feel this could be the election that truly starts us down a road we'll likely not recover from for decades...
 
Ikoda said:
. I do agree with some of their policies (a lot, actually) but am concerned where this funding etc is going to come from, and with Corbyn in general
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Don't worry about the funding, there's plenty of cash floating about out there. And they won't be hitting you in the pocket unless you already have a shed load. I don't think corbyn is a problem at all. Anything he will want to do,he'll have to put it to a vote in the labour party,and parliament. May and farron are far worse than him.

Ikoda said:
I feel this could be the election that truly starts us down a road we'll likely not recover from for decades
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You're right here though. Maybe it's what the working class needs to wake them up. Just like in the 90s after 18yrs of those f***ing orrible cunts!
 
Ikoda said:
I do agree with some of their policies (a lot, actually) but am concerned where this funding etc is going to come from, and with Corbyn in general.
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this is a theme I'm hearing a lot at the moment. the media have conditioned ppl to think Corbyn is the antichrist, but when you actually examine the labour policies, they make a lot of sense.

For instance, one of the main concerns ppl have is his attitude to defense. But he's now come out and said he's not a pacifist, and would do what needed to be done re going to war, but that it would always be a last resort. Which to me would seem the absolute right way for a leader to be.

I hear so many ppl complaining about crap public services, cuts to this and that, and the growing inequality across the country, yet still blindly follow the line that the tories are strong and bloody stable.

I really hope ppl stop and think about exactly what is being offered by the main parties. The tories will most likely win, but every vote labour get will be a poke in the eye to tory ambitions to take the country to a place which will take generations to come back from.
 
DarrenW said:
For instance, one of the main concerns ppl have is his attitude to defense. But he's now come out and said he's not a pacifist, and would do what needed to be done re going to war, but that it would always be a last resort. Which to me would seem the absolute right way for a leader to be
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...onald-trump-theresa-may-defence-a7731411.html

Hitting out at Ms May’s foreign policy, he will add that “waiting to see which way the wind blows in Washington” isn’t strong leadership and “pandering to an erratic Trump administration will not deliver stability”.
 
it's just a total mess. A lot of people in my age group are torn on this - not my FB buddies who are 90% affluent hard lefties living in their Hackney bubble, bigging each other up, no I mean real people who aren't ideologically aligned and just want someone who appeals to common sense.

I think a lot of people would have read the Labour manifesto and thought yeah, cool - what's not to like? - but then thought, hang on, how are they actually gonna pay for it all? unless they're gonna raise income tax to 80% which would see the rich all board the next flight out of town (1970s Rolling Stones style). Good Riddance I hear you cry! - well not if they take their loot with them....

then people look at Corbyn and think - he probably does care about the poor more than any Tory does but then at the same time, does he care about the middle class and more importantly is he up to it really? - 4 hour sleeps, long tortuous summits where the Russians, Europeans and Yanks would run rings around him. then there's his dodgy past associations, the endorsement of Venezuela (probably the most desperate basket case in south america right now) and the IRA whilst they were bombing us to shit and you kind of think - hmmm...

the security angle is important too - can you imagine Corbyn dealing with a major incident? People expect a strong leader not airy-fairy lecture theatre platitudes about opposing violence - but he comes from that strand of woolly lefties that don't really connect to working class nationalism - they never have done, which is why the sane wing of Labour always called the shots and why he's only in the job by a fluke.

Am I being harsh? Well you could argue that anything is better than the Tories and if you're say young or disabled you have no reason to love the government. I respect that view but I don't think most people have that kind of solidarity with the young.

I make no defence of the Tory record which has been atrocious - but I think a lot of people will weigh them up against Labour and think SHIT or MEGA-SHIT - and they're the ones in the seats that matter

it's a shitter, but anti-tories need to come up with something better, more inspired than old school socialism because the world has moved on
 
Can we not redefine public services as "banks" so we can then bail them out to the tune of ~£800 billion? :eek:

Plus the national debt has ballooned by half a trillion under tories.

My big worry is they make public sector (NHS) look like failing and then outsource to private companies (seemingly us health companies are waiting in wings for this). If that happens many would struggle to get health insurance. Me for instance cannot get bupa cover for anything other than a paper cut due to preexisting conditions.

Shame lib dems not stronger as they seem more flexible in polices and not boxed in with left/right dogma labour/cons are.
 
the world has moved on.... to what exactly ? a world where corporations wield the power and media empires call the shots ?

and a strong leader ? One that dodges all contact with real ppl during a GE, and completely changes her tune on major issues (brexit) when she realised she had a shot at pm ?

reading what you've said, it looks a lot like you've fallen for the cliches the (mostly right wing) media have laid out (80% tax will never happen)

I'm not Corbyns biggest fan by a long stretch, but labour are offering a real alternative to what ppl seem to think is inevitable.
 
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