meregreen Posted June 8, 2021 Share Posted June 8, 2021 9 hours ago, HanoiVillan said: It's not gerrymandering though. Gerrymandering means politicians - or their parties - picking their own lines. In the UK, the Boundary Commission chooses the boundaries. The next question is 'are the parameters set by the government for the Boundary Commission unfair', and I don't think so particularly. The idea of equalising constituency sizes is messy, but it does follow a basic principle of democratic fairness, that one vote should not be worth more than another. It is true that the government may be slightly advantaged by population growth in the English countryside and the opposition slightly disadvantaged by population decline in the south Wales valleys, but it's not unreasonable to update boundaries to reflect where people actually live. On the other point you made, about ID nonsense, I agree with you that they're talking about bringing it in, but I'm not sure how far they'll go with it (I'm not sure they realised when they started pushing the idea that the main group without photo ID are pensioners). Time will tell I guess. The Tories are Gerrymandering though. Prior to this review it was necessary to base the boundaries on population within constituencies. Various methods were used as not all adults were on the electoral rolls.The Tories through research found that narrowing the criteria would benefit them electorally. People should in my opinion always register to vote and use it. But the fact that in Labour voting areas a higher percentage do not exercise that right , should not exclude them from representation on equitable terms. The only reason the criteria was changed, was to benefit the Tories. That’s gerrymandering in my book. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Follyfoot Posted June 9, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted June 9, 2021 17 hours ago, HanoiVillan said: On the topic of constituency boundaries: The West Midlands maps can be found here: https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/review2021/2021-06-08_Initial_Proposals_Mapbook_West_Midlands.pdf (very large pdf) Several W Midlands constituencies see no changes at all: Burton / Cannock Chase / Sutton Coldfield / North Warwickshire / Nuneaton / Coventry NW / Bromsgrove / Worcester / West Worcestershire. Wyre Forest also sees no boundary changes, but will now be called Kidderminster. From the maps, the main oddities are that Stourbridge has become weirdly shaped, taking in Netherton and other areas Dudley-side of Merry Hill; Blackheath has been removed from Halesowen and Rowley Regis (now Halesowen, and probably much less competitive) and added to a new 'Smethwick and Rowley Regis' seat that also eliminates Warley; Selly Oak is awkwardly split across two constituencies; and Walsall seems to be going down to only one seat, though I haven't checked how different the actual boundaries are there. The central areas of the map are areas that you are not allowed to drink in, the areas outside of this,such as the Shires etc you are allowed to drink in with the rest of you Vilers mate 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Ah, I see Johnson has flown to Cornwall to talk about climate change. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted June 9, 2021 Moderator Share Posted June 9, 2021 Good Law Project 2 - Government 0 Thread The days when Government Ministers resigned when they were found to have broken the law, especially in their role as Government Ministers, seem a long way off now 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 You wouldn't need to see which thread I was posting this in to know which party this honourable member belongs to, would you? And I emphasise "member". Quote A Nottinghamshire MP has compared footballers taking the knee to Nazi salutes. Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clarke-Smith voiced his opinions this week in a lengthy Facebook post comparing the anti-racism gesture to footballers performing the Nazi salute during a 1938 match against Germany in Berlin. It comes after fans booed players ahead of England's match with Romania on Sunday - but boss Gareth Southgate said the team would continue to take the knee throughout the Euro 2020 matches. In the post titled 'why politics and football don’t mix' on June 6, the MP wrote: "Following the 1936 Berlin Olympics being used as a propaganda exercise and under a great deal of pressure from both the FA and Britain’s ambassador at the time, the players were encouraged to join the hosts in making the Nazi salute prior to the match. "Reluctantly, they agreed and for many years since it has been a great source of shame for many of those involved, including the Football Association. "The point here is that regardless of the original intention, the mixing of politics and football had disastrous consequences..." https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/notts-mp-hits-out-england-5502142 Between this prick, Lee Anderson (boycotting England games because of the knee, problem tenants should be forced to live in tents...) and Ben Bradley (forced vasectomies for the poor, and school meal vouchers may as well be substitued for cash to brothers and crack dens), Nottinghamshire seems to have the cream of the crop. At least they're local enough that they can arrange a carshare to the word removed of the year awards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted June 9, 2021 Moderator Share Posted June 9, 2021 Ah the old politics and sport shouldn't mix mantra. Tell that the now freed Black population of South Africa. The ANC have always acknowledged that the Cultural and Sporting Boycott of South Africa was an absolutely massive factor in the collapse of the Apartheid regime And how he equates the shame of an England Team doing Nazi salutes to taking a knee to support racial equality is mind bogglingly dumb Nottinghamshire is all the fault of Scargill and Thatcher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meregreen Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Human rights and racial equality, is not Politics, it’s Human rights and racial equality. The guys a moron. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhatAboutTheFinish Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 9 hours ago, meregreen said: Human rights and racial equality, is not Politics, it’s Human rights and racial equality. The guys a moron. I’m sorry, there are a probably a million reasons to get behind the cause but pretending that it isn’t politics is not one of them. People should accept that it is hugely political and back it anyway. Sure we hope that the topic is above party politics, but to say that human rights and racial equality is beyond the scope of politics is potentially dangerous, grossly inaccurate and is a huge disservice to some of the greatest politicians and statesmen that the world has ever known. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 13 hours ago, Davkaus said: You wouldn't need to see which thread I was posting this in to know which party this honourable member belongs to, would you? And I emphasise "member". https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/notts-mp-hits-out-england-5502142 Between this prick, Lee Anderson (boycotting England games because of the knee, problem tenants should be forced to live in tents...) and Ben Bradley (forced vasectomies for the poor, and school meal vouchers may as well be substitued for cash to brothers and crack dens), Nottinghamshire seems to have the cream of the crop. At least they're local enough that they can arrange a carshare to the word removed of the year awards. East Mids Tories in general tend to be some of the most feral in my opinion. Andrew Bridgen is actually one of the better ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Flew to Cornwall to discuss climate change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Everything is a grand gesture photo op. He’s the ultimate Poundshop Churchill. More often than not, it will be flawed in some fundamental way that’s easily spotted if given 15 seconds thinking. Often, it will be that fuzzy tory grey area between incompetent and against the law. Cons 48 (+2) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meregreen Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 (edited) 10 hours ago, WhatAboutTheFinish said: I’m sorry, there are a probably a million reasons to get behind the cause but pretending that it isn’t politics is not one of them. People should accept that it is hugely political and back it anyway. Sure we hope that the topic is above party politics, but to say that human rights and racial equality is beyond the scope of politics is potentially dangerous, grossly inaccurate and is a huge disservice to some of the greatest politicians and statesmen that the world has ever known. I’m sorry but if I hear a fan shouting n*****r at a football match, I don’t pigeonhole that as Politics. Yes your quite right, some great Politicians in history have fought for and achieved great things in the civil rights arena, just as many non politicians have. I just feel that if the whole thing is labelled as Politics, it enables morons such as that Tory to claim it should be restricted to the Political arena. They’ve attacked the church under the same spurious claim for years. Politics encompasses much in the modern world, but things such as Human Rights involve far more than that. On reflection I probably should have said “not just about Politics”. Edited June 10, 2021 by meregreen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 7 hours ago, Genie said: Flew to Cornwall to discuss climate change Better than the M5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 So Hancock says there was never a national issue with PPE, kinda contradictory of the defence from himself and the rest of the cabinet about how they had to expedite all those contracts for their mates, ya know, to save all those lives that apparently were in good hands anyway because there was no shortage of PPE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 (edited) UK and US in complete harmony over Northern Ireland - Boris Johnson Such a shame the conflict is between the UK and the EU. UK: We’d like to have our cake and eat it US: Well of course, I don’t blame you. >>>><<<<< aligned. Edited June 10, 2021 by Genie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted June 10, 2021 Moderator Share Posted June 10, 2021 21 minutes ago, Genie said: UK and US in complete harmony over Northern Ireland - Boris Johnson Such a shame the conflict is between the UK and the EU. UK: We’d like to have our cake and eat it US: Well of course, I don’t blame you. >>>><<<<< aligned. You know it's johnson that said that and he might just not be telling the truth? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 On 10/06/2021 at 08:43, HanoiVillan said: East Mids Tories in general tend to be some of the most feral in my opinion. Andrew Bridgen is actually one of the better ones. There's a swathe of, in my possibly unfair opinion as I haven't been too exposed, racist towns in the East Mids. I moved to Nottingham almost a decade ago (wow) and whilst I think Nottingham is an absolutely cracking city, Mansfield, Newark, Retford, Worksop etc. (and the area in between them) are full of proper anti-foreign, England flag waving types. Also true heading out to Lincoln. No surprise whatsoever in the massive pro-Tory shift. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 I’ve done a little work in and around Wellingborough and also Retford. Now, every town has its nutters and threats, but those two towns have been particularly notable for having some quite nasty people wandering around. Like I say, any town can have a one off incident. Both those towns I’ve encountered noisy nutters of the threateningly racist variety a couple of times, too often for it to just be a random bad day. Geographically different, but Hanley (Stoke) has also had its moments more often than just ‘chance’ would suggest. Though it was only Wolverhampton where I was pursued relentlessly by a man who accused me of being a government spy AND potentially an alien spy, but most likely a benefits spy. The only thing he was sure about, I was a spy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, chrisp65 said: I’ve done a little work in and around Wellingborough and also Retford. Now, every town has its nutters and threats, but those two towns have been particularly notable for having some quite nasty people wandering around. Like I say, any town can have a one off incident. Both those towns I’ve encountered noisy nutters of the threateningly racist variety a couple of times, too often for it to just be a random bad day. Geographically different, but Hanley (Stoke) has also had its moments more often than just ‘chance’ would suggest. Though it was only Wolverhampton where I was pursued relentlessly by a man who accused me of being a government spy AND potentially an alien spy, but most likely a benefits spy. The only thing he was sure about, I was a spy. Were you “reading” a newspaper that had holes cut in it? Edited June 11, 2021 by Genie 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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