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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/23 12:41:53
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Regular Dakkanaut
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So....exciting times for UK Labour and those of us on the left of the party!
Thoughts?
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/23 12:52:22
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Morphing Obliterator
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Off the top of my head, Corbyn's actually more left-wing than the others, so I really hope he gets the position. The UK needs a strong left-wing party again, so there's actually a credible alternative to the Conservatives. (This coming from someone who tends to be on the right in regards to the UK political spectrum)
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See, you're trying to use people logic. DM uses Mandelogic, which we've established has 2+2=quack. - Aerethan
Putin.....would make a Vulcan Intelligence officer cry. - Jihadin
AFAIK, there is only one world, and it is the real world. - Iron_Captain
DakkaRank Comment: I sound like a Power Ranger.
TFOL and proud. Also a Forge World Fan.
I should really paint some of my models instead of browsing forums. |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/23 20:09:20
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Bryan Ansell
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Blair has stuck his oar in. against going to the left. So that means you should deffo go that way.
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/23 20:17:01
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Decrepit Dakkanaut
UK
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I like him better than the other candiates, he has genuine convictions and sticks with them, rather than following the way the wind blows or what the spin doctors suggest
but (and here's the problem)
I'm certain he's less likely to win a general election than most of the others because he's too obviously left wing
(Labour don't just need the centre, they need some of the right too now Scotlands gone at least for the next election or two)
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/24 13:03:44
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Growlin' Guntrukk Driver with Killacannon
Scotland, but nowhere near my rulebook
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It's interesting watching not one, but two political parties implode at the same time. Now all we need is for the conservatives to get into a proper civil war over Europe and we're complete.
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/24 13:48:04
Subject: Re:Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Rampaging Reaver Titan Princeps
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He'll be a laugh for sure. The kindest thing I can say about him is he's the closest thing to a left-wing Farage
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/26 16:21:20
Subject: Re:Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Assassin with Black Lotus Poison
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zedmeister wrote:He'll be a laugh for sure. The kindest thing I can say about him is he's the closest thing to a left-wing Farage
How is comparing someone to Farage in any way a kind thing?
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/26 16:34:03
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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[MOD]
Anti-piracy Officer
Somewhere in south-central England.
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Graphite wrote:It's interesting watching not one, but two political parties implode at the same time. Now all we need is for the conservatives to get into a proper civil war over Europe and we're complete.
The Liberals have been exploded. Labour seems to be imploding. If the Conservatives wham splode over Europe, which they likely will (they did under Major) then we will have only the SNP left. Automatically Appended Next Post: Mr. Burning wrote:Blair has stuck his oar in. against going to the left. So that means you should deffo go that way.
Bliar was in retrospect possibly the worst thing to happen to Labour for decades. Whilst he seemed to be very popular, he was wafted into power in large part by a natural revulsion against the Conservatives, but he never used his massive majority to do any of the things that were promised, such as reforming the House of Lords. However he did move the party to the right and this seems to be how they think they have to win elections.
Now the Conservatives have got in by the slimmest majority they are boldly striking left and right in their crusade to roll back the welfare state, also doing daft stuff like HS2 while reducing investment to the rest of the network. (Blah, blah, blah... make your own list...)
If the Labour Party is to act properly as the "loyal opposition" they need to present an alternative view. That means moving a bit to the left, which also might help recapture some of Scotland for them.
Therefore I think Corbyn is a good thing.
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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/07/26 16:39:19
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/26 17:09:56
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Lord Commander in a Plush Chair
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Doommongers are saying he shouldn't be allowed to win because he can't win an election. That's all they're interested in now, winning, even if it means just copying the Tories. Corbyn was the only candidate to vote against the welfare cuts. The rest either backed the Tories or abstained out of cowardice. No wonder people feel they've got no real choice in government and increasingly vote for the fringe like Farage.
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/26 17:36:34
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Battlefortress Driver with Krusha Wheel
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OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
(Labour don't just need the centre, they need some of the right too now Scotlands gone at least for the next election or two)
Why?
Labour's relentless drive to the right is one of the central reasons that Scots were alienated by Labour and led to their all but annihilation from one of their former heartlands.
Millions of people no longer vote, in the general election 34% of registered voters didn't. How many of them were looking for a real left wing party, one that actually wants to promote economic equality? One of those non voters was me, I would have voted SNP if I was home but as I live in England I just didn't bother.
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My PLog
Curently: DZC
Set phasers to malkie! |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/26 17:40:19
Subject: Re:Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Rampaging Reaver Titan Princeps
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A Town Called Malus wrote: zedmeister wrote:He'll be a laugh for sure. The kindest thing I can say about him is he's the closest thing to a left-wing Farage
How is comparing someone to Farage in any way a kind thing? 
Kindest I could think of. The rest of my thoughts about him I'll keep to myself. He divorced his second wife because she wanted to send their son to grammar school instead of a comprehensive and Corbyn is Grammar school educated which is a nice bit of irony to add. Suffice to say, if the million to one chance happens and he got in, then good god we'd be in trouble.
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/26 18:53:00
Subject: Re:Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Dakka Veteran
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Neither his politics nor his personality are remotely similar to Farage's. I have no idea what you're on with. Automatically Appended Next Post: Silent Puffin? wrote: OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
(Labour don't just need the centre, they need some of the right too now Scotlands gone at least for the next election or two)
Why?
Labour's relentless drive to the right is one of the central reasons that Scots were alienated by Labour and led to their all but annihilation from one of their former heartlands.
Millions of people no longer vote, in the general election 34% of registered voters didn't. How many of them were looking for a real left wing party, one that actually wants to promote economic equality? One of those non voters was me, I would have voted SNP if I was home but as I live in England I just didn't bother.
If the scots switched to the SNP because they were left-er than labour, then Corbyn may just be left enough to win them back.
If they switched because of nationalism, then the future doesn't look so bright.
Either way, I'd rather see a Corbyn headed labour party lose than see the tory-lites winning.
Speaking as a lefty myself here - we're living in interesting times.
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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/07/26 18:56:41
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/27 10:52:56
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Dakka Veteran
Derbyshire, UK
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I think its pretty much a certainty that the Scots switched to the SNP because they were left-er than Labour rather than nationalism. The election was only a few months after the independence referendum after all. I expect a lot of them would return to Labour if they thought they were actually a party of the left any more.
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/27 14:47:51
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Stone Bonkers Fabricator General
We'll find out soon enough eh.
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OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:I like him better than the other candiates, he has genuine convictions and sticks with them, rather than following the way the wind blows or what the spin doctors suggest
but (and here's the problem)
I'm certain he's less likely to win a general election than most of the others because he's too obviously left wing
(Labour don't just need the centre, they need some of the right too now Scotlands gone at least for the next election or two)
I don't agree. 16m people stopped voting through the Thatcher & Blair years, and a lot of them will be "traditional" Labour supporters, those are the people Labour needs to win a UKGE and they won't get them by appealing to the right. They won't get right wingers by appealing to the right either, because their message of "We're Tories, but not quite as bad honest!" sounds like "We're Tories, but not quite as good" to Tory-sympathetic swing voters - the Observer did polling recently that thoroughly sinks the key marginals/35% "strategy", because those Tory-sympathetic swing voters who backed Blair(who, by the way, inherited a party who's vote share would have beaten the Conservatives at the last GE and lost huge chunks of it at every election he stood in, so hardly the saviour his Blairite disciples paint him as, indeed even Milibunglers very-very-slightly-more-left-than-Nu Labour platform generated the first increase in Labour's vote share in England since the 90's) aren't interested any more; they say they will wait and only vote for Labour again if & when the rest of the electorate puts them in power first and they "prove" they can be trusted to run the economy, ie to act like Tories.
So if they continue down the path of Tories-with-a-smile policy triangulation they're signing their own death warrant, as the section of the populace they would need votes from to win an election won't vote for them until after they've already won an election.
Folk like to paint Corbyn as a nutter, but from what I've seen he's a principled and intelligent guy with a policy agenda that is consistently popular with the public; renationalisation consistently garners majority support, substantial majority support in the case of rail & post. Categorical opposition to Trident only commands a plurality, but more qualified opposition whether to renewal full-stop or the terms of renewal has a much broader base. Austerity is deeply unpopular, but the combination of a supportive media and a supine Labour response has convinced many voters that either it's necessary despite its utter repugnance, or that there's no point voting for Labour if they're not actually going to fight their corner; a strongly articulated argument against austerity and its myriad flaws, failures and contradictions would go a long way to addressing both groups.
Further, speaking as a Scot who voted Yes in the referendum and for the SNP for the first time in a UKGE this year; a Corbyn-led Labour party actually acting like the Labour party, assuming they have the talent and activist-base remaining to translate that into a reasonable prospect of electoral success, would push me right back to Don't Know come the next referendum on independence, and I suspect would do the same for a lot of other folk. Whether I'd vote for Labour at a GE again is of course further contingent on the Scottish branch office sorting itself the feth out and dropping the petulant baby/ SNP BAAAAD! routine(step one: get that bumbling bint Dugdale out on her arse and align with Corbyn's policy agenda), but even if Scotland keeps returning a huge block of SNP MPs that needn't damage Labour's chances of forming a government if they drop this ridiculous "SNP are dangerous! *veiled references to 1930's Germany*" routine popular among a certain strand of Labour MPs, & also grow a fething spine and challenge the Tory press when they rave that Scottish MPs having an actual say in the running of the country would be some unimaginable atrocity against democracy - plenty of SNP voters & members would be happy to see a proper Labour party working with them where policies align. Realistically if you're a Unionist of any political stripe, you should be quivering with joy at the prospect of a Corbyn-led Labour party since, long term, showing folk there's at least some credible opposition to the neoliberal privatisation/austerity agenda at the UK level is the only thing that's going to prevent Scotland going; the argument was lost by Yes overall last time round, but it's a generational issue now, and not to put too fine a point on it the demographic that's most strongly Unionist isn't going to be around much longer in the numbers necessary to win it for No again - the only way that's going to change is if you can convince younger, less affluent, and left-wing voters that the UK isn't a lost cause, that Westminster isn't so mired in coke-snorting, kiddie-fething corporatist shills as to be unsalvageable; that's certainly not going to happen if Labour double-down on the Tory-lite strategy.
IE, the strategy for securing the Union is very much similar to the strategy, IMO, for returning Labour to an electable state.
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I need to acquire plastic Skavenslaves, can you help?
I have a blog now, evidently. Featuring the Alternative Mordheim Model Megalist.
"Your society's broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No, lets blame the people with no power and no money and those immigrants who don't even have the vote. Yea, it must be their fething fault." - Iain M Banks
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"The language of modern British politics is meant to sound benign. But words do not mean what they seem to mean. 'Reform' actually means 'cut' or 'end'. 'Flexibility' really means 'exploit'. 'Prudence' really means 'don't invest'. And 'efficient'? That means whatever you want it to mean, usually 'cut'. All really mean 'keep wages low for the masses, taxes low for the rich, profits high for the corporations, and accept the decline in public services and amenities this will cause'." - Robin McAlpine from Common Weal |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/27 18:16:25
Subject: Re:Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Battlefortress Driver with Krusha Wheel
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Crystal-Maze wrote:
If the scots switched to the SNP because they were left-er than labour, then Corbyn may just be left enough to win them back.
If they switched because of nationalism, then the future doesn't look so bright.
Both are true, it is certain though that if Labour were actually acting like a real Labour party they would have a lot more than 1 Scottish MP.
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/27 20:26:24
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Joined the Military for Authentic Experience
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I've been obsessively reading about this for a while because your politics is much more interesting than my own currently.
What absolutely baffles me is that the Guardian, which I have always seen as being really really left wing to the point of damaging their own credibility, are quite Anti-Corbyn. This makes no sense to me when he is obviously the only really left wing person in the race and the rest are all soulless blair clones of one form or another.
Is Blair really that popular with the british centre left? It's all pretty fascinating. I'm rooting for mister Corbyn anyhow, about time ye got to have a credible left wing, even if it is just in opposition. I wish our own left would get their act together.
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/27 21:04:31
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Dakka Veteran
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Da Boss wrote:I've been obsessively reading about this for a while because your politics is much more interesting than my own currently.
What absolutely baffles me is that the Guardian, which I have always seen as being really really left wing to the point of damaging their own credibility, are quite Anti-Corbyn. This makes no sense to me when he is obviously the only really left wing person in the race and the rest are all soulless blair clones of one form or another.
Is Blair really that popular with the british centre left? It's all pretty fascinating. I'm rooting for mister Corbyn anyhow, about time ye got to have a credible left wing, even if it is just in opposition. I wish our own left would get their act together.
Conventional wisdom at the moment seems to hold that Corbyn would be unelectable, and thus guarantee another 5 years of tories, which is why the Guardian isn't a fan of him.
Our right-wing newspapers have even been recommending that their readers pay the three quid to join the labour party in order to vote for Corbyn, because they think that he's so unlikely to win a general election.
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Why must I always choose beween certain death and probable death. |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/27 21:06:19
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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[MOD]
Anti-piracy Officer
Somewhere in south-central England.
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The Guardian isn't really, really left wing. It is somewhat left wing but it looks more extreme because the bulk of the British press is right wing.
Bliar won an election big time and totally pissed away the chance he had.
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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/07/27 21:06:54
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/27 22:12:06
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Battlefortress Driver with Krusha Wheel
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Crystal-Maze wrote:
Our right-wing newspapers have even been recommending that their readers pay the three quid to join the labour party in order to vote for Corbyn, because they think that he's so unlikely to win a general election.
Which would be absolutely hilarious if he wins the next GE, which is certainly not outside the bounds of probability.
I realised today that I will only have 2, possibly 3, more governments to endure in the UK. Unfortunately I then get the prospect of Irish governments which are arguably even less responsive and trustworthy than the Westminster 'elite'.
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My PLog
Curently: DZC
Set phasers to malkie! |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/27 23:10:41
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Decrepit Dakkanaut
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I'm secretly hoping that the current Government will slash Defence spending enough that we can convince Canada or one of the Scandinavian countries to invade and peacefully occupy. That said, is there anything left to slash from our current military, consisting of a few blokes wielding various gardening implements, and a Border Collie named Jeff? I suppose we could lay a few of the guys off, but if Jeff goes we're all but defenceless.
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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/07/27 23:11:07
Mandorallen turned back toward the insolently sneering baron. 'My Lord,' The great knight said distantly, 'I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen. Thy beard, moreover, is an offence against decency, resembling more closely the scabrous fur which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than a proper adornment for a human face. Is it possibly that thy mother, seized by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat?' - Mimbrate Knight Protector Mandorallen.
Excerpt from "Seeress of Kell", Book Five of The Malloreon series by David Eddings.
My deviantART Profile - Pay No Attention To The Man Behind The Madness
"You need not fear us, unless you are a dark heart, a vile one who preys on the innocent; I promise, you can’t hide forever in the empty darkness, for we will hunt you down like the animals you are, and pull you into the very bowels of hell." Iron - Within Temptation |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/27 23:19:56
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Battlefortress Driver with Krusha Wheel
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Defence spending has been locked at 2% GDP. I have no idea what good it will actually do though given that the armed forces can no longer act independently, are just about big enough for a defence force and heavily dependent upon reservists.
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My PLog
Curently: DZC
Set phasers to malkie! |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/28 00:23:53
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Stone Bonkers Fabricator General
We'll find out soon enough eh.
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As was argued often during the indyref, our current military is a joke in terms of spending and format, it exists for and excels in only two things; funnelling vast sums of money to cronies and supporting American foreign policy.
Loads of countries save a fortune on military hardware by buying off-the-shelf solutions except in cases of "sensitive" tech like e-war and targeting systems, but we have to be special snowflakes and have our own rifles, our own body armour, our own vehicle chassis etc etc, it's a huge waste, and it's all about protecting the interests of certain corporations and maintaining one of the few remaining pillars of our delusions of Empire(influencing the developing world through arms sales).
If it ever actually had to defend the UK from a technologically comparable or numerically superior force our military would crumble like a sandcastle at high-tide because we've somehow managed to get ourselves into a situation where we spend a grotesque amount of money on the military and yet fail to properly equip them; aircraft carriers with no aircraft to put on them & no men to man them, an island nation with a huge coastline and substantial ocean territory which includes oil & gas reserves yet we've scrapped our maritime patrol aircraft, not to mention that our leadership(and sadly much of the public) are so caught up in our own historical mythos that they'll joyfully spunk away billions on super-duper-high-tech deep-ocean vessels while belting out Britannia Rules the Waves and meanwhile our own coastal defences are so hilariously inadequate that our response to Russian ships having a nosey about off Aberdeen was to send a single ship, hurriedly manned, chugging up from Portsmouth to arrive over a day later.
Now personally I'm not a huge fan of military spending in general, it's high time we accepted the fact that we're not a globe-spanning colonialist power any more and restructured our armed forces and foreign policy accordingly, but even putting that aside for the sake of argument and considering the question from the orthodox PoV that 2%/GDP spending is good and/or necessary and that we need to maintain a reasonably substantial capacity for "independent"(aha) expeditionary deployments, both current and previous governments have a lot to answer for on their abysmal management of the armed forces.
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I need to acquire plastic Skavenslaves, can you help?
I have a blog now, evidently. Featuring the Alternative Mordheim Model Megalist.
"Your society's broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No, lets blame the people with no power and no money and those immigrants who don't even have the vote. Yea, it must be their fething fault." - Iain M Banks
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"The language of modern British politics is meant to sound benign. But words do not mean what they seem to mean. 'Reform' actually means 'cut' or 'end'. 'Flexibility' really means 'exploit'. 'Prudence' really means 'don't invest'. And 'efficient'? That means whatever you want it to mean, usually 'cut'. All really mean 'keep wages low for the masses, taxes low for the rich, profits high for the corporations, and accept the decline in public services and amenities this will cause'." - Robin McAlpine from Common Weal |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/07/28 08:50:50
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Dakka Veteran
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Avatar 720 wrote:I'm secretly hoping that the current Government will slash Defence spending enough that we can convince Canada or one of the Scandinavian countries to invade and peacefully occupy.
That said, is there anything left to slash from our current military, consisting of a few blokes wielding various gardening implements, and a Border Collie named Jeff? I suppose we could lay a few of the guys off, but if Jeff goes we're all but defenceless.
Well, Corbyn is intensely anti-Trident, so there's a big old bit he wants to slash right there.
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Why must I always choose beween certain death and probable death. |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/08/02 18:42:45
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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[MOD]
Anti-piracy Officer
Somewhere in south-central England.
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In latest news, Corbyn leads the polling for election.
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/08/02 19:31:07
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Drakhun
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Crystal-Maze wrote: Avatar 720 wrote:I'm secretly hoping that the current Government will slash Defence spending enough that we can convince Canada or one of the Scandinavian countries to invade and peacefully occupy.
That said, is there anything left to slash from our current military, consisting of a few blokes wielding various gardening implements, and a Border Collie named Jeff? I suppose we could lay a few of the guys off, but if Jeff goes we're all but defenceless.
Well, Corbyn is intensely anti-Trident, so there's a big old bit he wants to slash right there.
Personally, I like Trident.
Does help that I know a few ex-dolphins, who have some hillarious stories about how crazy the men who carry our nuclear armament are.
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DS:90-S+G+++M++B-IPw40k03+D+A++/fWD-R++T(T)DM+
Warmachine MKIII record 39W/0D/6L
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/08/02 20:13:11
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Lord Commander in a Plush Chair
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New Labour spent so long chasing the middle ground that an entire generation has grown up without a solid left wing alternative in government, and it got to the point where their left wing base that they've always taken for granted are either not bothering to vote or are looking elsewhere. I think a lot of the comments about Corbyn being unelectable are a bit hasty. He would at least stimulate some debate in this country unlike the other labour candidates who voted through the most recent wave of welfare cuts, it's clear they are Tory-lite.
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/08/02 21:01:15
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Assassin with Black Lotus Poison
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Howard A Treesong wrote:New Labour spent so long chasing the middle ground that an entire generation has grown up without a solid left wing alternative in government, and it got to the point where their left wing base that they've always taken for granted are either not bothering to vote or are looking elsewhere. I think a lot of the comments about Corbyn being unelectable are a bit hasty. He would at least stimulate some debate in this country unlike the other labour candidates who voted through the most recent wave of welfare cuts, it's clear they are Tory-lite. This. I grew up during the Blair years, basically. I've grown up pretty left wing, thanks to influences from my brothers and parents and then my own sense of what my ideal country would be like. I could first vote in the election which ended up giving us the Tory-Dem coalition. I voted Lib-Dem and initially thought it might be okay (though Labour-Dem would have been better), the Lib-Dems would be able to push through some left-wing policies, oppose the Tories on the tuition fee hikes etc. After all, if the Lib-Dems left the coalition, the Tories would struggle to govern as they would have a hard time getting the votes needed to pass bills if the opposition didn't want them to. The Lib-Dem policies, however, completely failed to materialise, they voted through the tuition fee increases, a complete betrayal of me and everyone else who voted for them with that as an issue they felt strongly about. That experience left me completely disillusioned with the whole process. The next election came round and there was no party for me to vote for. The Greens didn't have an MP in my area, Labour had completely become Tory-Lite, the Lib-Dems weren't ever going to get my vote again after their betrayal and I wasn't a millionaire and/or pensioner so the Tories had nothing to offer me. So I didn't vote. I live in a safe Tory seat anyway so my vote would amount to nothing anyway, thanks to our system.
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This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2015/08/02 21:51:40
The Laws of Thermodynamics:
1) You cannot win. 2) You cannot break even. 3) You cannot stop playing the game.
Colonel Flagg wrote:You think you're real smart. But you're not smart; you're dumb. Very dumb. But you've met your match in me. |
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![[Post New]](/s/i/i.gif) 2015/08/02 21:25:38
Subject: Corbyn, and UK Labour's leadership race
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Bryan Ansell
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Howard A Treesong wrote:New Labour spent so long chasing the middle ground that an entire generation has grown up without a solid left wing alternative in government, and it got to the point where their left wing base that they've always taken for granted are either not bothering to vote or are looking elsewhere. I think a lot of the comments about Corbyn being unelectable are a bit hasty. He would at least stimulate some debate in this country unlike the other labour candidates who voted through the most recent wave of welfare cuts, it's clear they are Tory-lite.
Its not so much they are tory-lite but that the ideology they think they belong to and live by has been diluted and polluted.
A party which delivered national healthcare and social security (the means to aid the working man and to ensure that the poorest were not left vulnerable). A leadership which wanted to get off the backs of the poor has become something which has been solely focused on becoming electable, by any means.
Corbyn, looks like a viable left wing candidate but the left wing is filled with even more pseudo intellectuals than the party itself, these same people have hampered Labour from the time of the '45 election and were a class whom Attlee and Bevan truly despised.
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