General Election 2017

[PauloBarnesi]

15 minutes ago, Amsterdam_Neil_D said:

The newspapers influence reduces everyday I would guess.  People have worked them out I think and even the most horrid Tory must be embarrassed to pick up the Daly Mail,  maybe they wrap it up in Razzle these days ?

Depends where you live I guess; people in Surrey probably wouldn’t notice a thing.

[MakemineVanilla]

23 minutes ago, Amsterdam_Neil_D said:

The newspapers influence reduces everyday I would guess.  People have worked them out I think and even the most horrid Tory must be embarrassed to pick up the Daly Mail,  maybe they wrap it up in Razzle these days ?

To misquote H L Mencken - No one in this world, so far as I know ... has ever lost money by overestimating the depth of the bitter resentments of the great masses of the plain people.

[Straggler]

1 hour ago, Amsterdam_Neil_D said:

There is something in the Newspaper thing I think.  I never see young people reading papers these days and it's seems there is a certain type of voter who, no matter what, does what their newspaper orders them to do.  These people reduce in total every day though as time catches up with them and the Tory vote decreases.  The 65+ vote is amazing.

But the number of 65+ is growing not shrinking. With more people living longer that isn't going to change any time soon. Also assuming people bring their political leaning through from their youth to their old age is a mistake. Becoming a parent changes how you think, becoming a pensioner changes your priorities, getting older on average (all these are an average) makes you less keen on change. You can't rely on the Tory vote simply dying out, the bucket is not emptying it is overflowing. The only real solution is for the young as they did in the last election to get out and vote. That lobby on its own if consistent can shift politics significantly over the long term.

[mjmooney]

1 minute ago, Straggler said:

Also assuming people bring their political leaning through from their youth to their old age is a mistake. 

Is it? I have a group of friends that I've known since our teens and twenties, now in our sixties. All left wing Labour supporters, then and now. Plus a couple of right wingers - who were right wingers back then. I only know one person whose views have changed - and he's gone from Tory to Labour. 

[tonyh29]

Seems May isn't the first lame duck PM to try and do a deal with the DUP ... wonder if the DUP were evil in 2010 or are they like Murdoch and only evil when in bed with the Torys  

Edited June 13, 2017 by tonyh29

[PaulC]

7 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Is it? I have a group of friends that I've known since our teens and twenties, now in our sixties. All left wing Labour supporters, then and now. Plus a couple of right wingers - who were right wingers back then. I only know one person whose views have changed - and he's gone from Tory to Labour. 

I know many people who have changed parties. Many classed themselves as trotskyists in their student days and now vote Conservatives. If you start off left you often move further right as you get older when priorities change but it doesnt happen the other way around around too often. 

[tonyh29]

3 minutes ago, PaulC said:

I know many people who have changed parties. Many classed themselves as trotskyists in their student days and now vote Conservatives. If you start off left you often move further right as you get older when priorities change but it doesnt happen the other way around around too often. 

As the QI show once said ... what's the first thing labour voters do if they come into money  .... vote conservative 

and as we all know Stephen Fry only speaks the truth

 

Edited June 13, 2017 by tonyh29

[PaulC]

2 minutes ago, tonyh29 said:

As the QI show once said ... what's the first thing labour voters do if they come into money  .... vote conservative 

and as we all know Stephen Fry only speaks the truth

 

That is so true. The only person i know who hasn't is my brother who still is a member of the British Communist party. A dying breed. 

Edited June 13, 2017 by PaulC

[Straggler]

31 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Is it? I have a group of friends that I've known since our teens and twenties, now in our sixties. All left wing Labour supporters, then and now. Plus a couple of right wingers - who were right wingers back then. I only know one person whose views have changed - and he's gone from Tory to Labour. 

I did say on average. The proof is in the voting figures of the over 65's. If they had voted Tory all the lives there would never have been a labour government. I'm similar to you in that I've held on to very liberal views my whole life, but the voting statistics puts people like us in the minority. It is still a very large minority, but a minority none the less.

[MakemineVanilla]

40 minutes ago, tonyh29 said:

As the QI show once said ... what's the first thing labour voters do if they come into money  .... vote conservative 

and as we all know Stephen Fry only speaks the truth

 

It would probably be more accurate to say that better off Labour voters tend to move from solid Labour seats to a solid Tory seats because they want better neighbours. 

[Xann]

30 minutes ago, tonyh29 said:

Seems May isn't the first lame duck PM to try and do a deal with the DUP ... wonder if the DUP were evil in 2010 or are they like Murdoch and only evil when in bed with the Torys  

Still evil.

The tail end of Labour's evil cycle.

Then came the identity crisis and the drift into chaos.

Quite a lot's changed, hasn't it?

[dAVe80]

My mate Pat has been a leftie, since she was old enough to form her own opinion on politics. She celebrated 60 years in her union last week, and is still keeping the red flag flying high.

[Chindie]

I tend to lean slightly left, but not really out of self interest. I'm a demographic that basically doesn't benefit from any of the parties. I tend tend go left for the greater good. I might not benefit myself but everyone else will and that seems a good goal for society.

One day I'll be relevant to the parties, but I don't see much changing in my views. They haven't changed since I first became politically aware really, and I don't see that changing.

[hippo]

1 hour ago, tonyh29 said:

Seems May isn't the first lame duck PM to try and do a deal with the DUP ... wonder if the DUP were evil in 2010 or are they like Murdoch and only evil when in bed with the Torys  

Key word there is 'Try' - This time the deal looks a goer - hence is much more significant

[PaulC]

36 minutes ago, dAVe80 said:

My mate Pat has been a leftie, since she was old enough to form her own opinion on politics. She celebrated 60 years in her union last week, and is still keeping the red flag flying high.

Yes sounds like my brother 40 years in the union

[chrisp65]

1 hour ago, tonyh29 said:

Seems May isn't the first lame duck PM to try and do a deal with the DUP ... wonder if the DUP were evil in 2010 or are they like Murdoch and only evil when in bed with the Torys  

For me, and I could very well be on my own here, it's not really about the deal with the DUP.

The DUP exist, they'll be in parliament anyway, and they'll vote with the tories most often anyway.

It's more about the delicious irony of May's predicament. Her perpetual rolling embarrassment (no not Pickles). She warned against a coalition of chaos. and is now seeking a deal with a minority party to retain power. She warned us of the strange friends Corbyn had, and now she shakes hands with a party that has links with terrorists and the KKK. She told us the election was to get more power, she has less. She told us the tories were seen as the nasty party and that had to change. She now goes to the DUP for support, a party that thinks gay is a sin. Everything she touches turns to shit. To be honest, I'm a bit surpirsed the DUP are this willing to tarnish their brand by being associated with such a cluster **** of an omni shambles of a PM.

The DUP won't be changing any time soon, they have their demographic I don't claim to understand. But they are what they are.

It's the anti-midas touch of May that I'm laughing at when I take the piss out of her new found links with minor parties and terrorists. You should never ever under any circumstances be seen to associate with anyone that has ever been anywhere near any terrorist murderers. We all know that.

Hopefully, the tory party will see fit to keep her in post for a good long while. Really let people see what she's and they, are made of. 

 

[darrenm]

2 hours ago, mjmooney said:

Is it? I have a group of friends that I've known since our teens and twenties, now in our sixties. All left wing Labour supporters, then and now. Plus a couple of right wingers - who were right wingers back then. I only know one person whose views have changed - and he's gone from Tory to Labour. 

I've gone much further left as I've gotten older

[darrenm]

1 hour ago, Straggler said:

I did say on average. The proof is in the voting figures of the over 65's. If they had voted Tory all the lives there would never have been a labour government. I'm similar to you in that I've held on to very liberal views my whole life, but the voting statistics puts people like us in the minority. It is still a very large minority, but a minority none the less.

There hasn't been a left Labour government since 1979

[bobzy]

I still haven't heard a good policy from our government.  They're a **** joke

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

2 hours ago, MakemineVanilla said:

To misquote H L Mencken - No one in this world, so far as I know ... has ever lost money by overestimating the depth of the bitter resentments of the great masses of the plain people.

I don't know what that means ? Is that good or bad ?