Jump to content

UK Politics - Taking the Land Rover to Heaven


Fragile Bird

Recommended Posts

40 minutes ago, Werthead said:

I'm not sure what the DUP's play is here. They are in a semi-strong position (at least as can be expected) and it seems they've decided to endanger that for no readily apparent reason. They're not going to magically change the demographics that make their long-term (or even medium-term) prospects look dim, and they're not going to force either the EU or the UK government to redraw the Brexit agreement (the UK government having reverted to its old standby of forgetting that Northern Ireland exists now it doesn't need their votes to prop them up) and they're not going to force the UK government or Sinn Fein or anyone else into regressive moves to strip rights from minorities in Northern Ireland.

As far as I can tell, this is going to be an effective protest vote that makes them feel good about themselves but changes absolutely nothing.

Meanwhile, the clock continues to tick down to Irish reunification and the point at which unionists in Northern Ireland have to agree to accept the inevitable or resort to blowing things up from the other side of the demographic and democratic fault line.

I cannot fully grasp the Unionists complaints. I gather they were content pre Brexit, and consider themselves loyal Brits. The rest of Britain has written them off as inconsequential and Brexited. Why not join someone who actually can help you, as in ROI?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Werthead said:

I'm not sure what the DUP's play is here

They simply want what modern right wingers commonly seem to want, ie to never have to bow to that tinpot dictator called ‘reality’. 

Seriously, it may seem insane that the DUP expect to get their agenda through while offering little or nothing to SInn Fein in return, but many of these guys remember the good old days when that was more or less how things worked. They want to have their fiefdom where they can be good Brits with no differences from the mainland except the ones they choose. They want to have their cake and eat it too and while intellectually they may know they can’t, they still want It. 
 

ETA: it’s worth adding to the above that stubborn intransigence as a negotiating tactic is culturally pretty baked in to the DUP, so there’s that too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, maarsen said:

I cannot fully grasp the Unionists complaints. I gather they were content pre Brexit, and consider themselves loyal Brits. The rest of Britain has written them off as inconsequential and Brexited. Why not join someone who actually can help you, as in ROI?

They weren't content as they could see the demographics turning decisively against them, but they also did not consider it an imminent issue and any reunification vote was likely way off in the 2030s or even beyond. Brexit has brought it into sharp focus that that is not the case, and a reunification vote could be held much sooner (though Sinn Fein are aware that the numbers are on a knife's edge, so would likely only push for a vote later in the decade rather than sooner).

There actually is a reasonable contingent of Northern Irish who are secular or Protestant and whose families were Unionist back in the day, but now consider it a fairly reasonable option to join the RoI from purely an economic argument (just as there are a small number of Catholics or secular Northern Irish from a Republican background who, at least pre-Brexit, felt the status quo was fine as it meant not rocking the economic boat). They are pretty small though. There's also a small number of people from both communities who think that Northern Ireland has developed culturally apart from either the UK or RoI and would be in favour of full independence, though they are not particularly numerous either.

As the recent riots have shown, however, there has been a widespread failure to integrate the two communities (the old community walls are still up and attempts to remove them have failed) and the old beliefs are still firmly in place. There are hardcore Unionists who consider being part of a united Ireland an existential threat, some who believe their lives would be in danger (though those I think are in the minority) but certainly most who believe their culture and identity would be under threat. They will literally never consider joining the RoI to be a viable option, to the point of renewing violence (with minority support and no prospect of success, but y'know, that never stopped the IRA for several decades, though their arguments were that they had the majority support of the entire island of Ireland, which was not really true either).

I've heard various schemes being cracked up to forestall the inevitable, including re-partitioning Northern Ireland even further (based on support for the political parties and general demographics, that would probably mean driving the border through the centre of Belfast, which would be ill-advised), but that way leads complete insanity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A new Scottish Political party (Scottish Family Party, and yea they’re transphobic, homophobic etc) has been delivering leaflets all over Scotland. So peolle have been rearranging the letters on Twitter :) . The initial instigator got blocked by the party. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

A new Scottish Political party (Scottish Family Party, and yea they’re transphobic, homophobic etc) has been delivering leaflets all over Scotland. So peolle have been rearranging the letters on Twitter :) . The initial instigator got blocked by the party. 

 

Art.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

“I don’t mind paying for leaflets but I resent being asked to pay to literally wipe the prime minister’s baby’s bottom.” - Unnamed Tory donor after being asked to pay for Johnson and Simmond's nanny. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How times have changed.  A new poll has the Conservatives 17% ahead in Hartlepool, another has them 17% ahead in the West Midlands mayoralty, and 26% ahead in the Tees Valley mayoralty.

Yet, if there were by-elections on Thursday in seats like Chingford, Kensington, or Wycombe, Labour would probably win them pretty easily.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Meanwhile in Scotland: Boris Johnson has a wonderful plan to save the Union, which he unfortunately can't tell us any details of until after the election. But he promises it's great.

At the same time, the Tories are launching a final push which doesn't even mention Johnson or Douglas Ross, their putative leader, but instead is penned by and features a huge photo of Ruth Davidson, who's actually standing down from the Scottish Parliament to become a Baroness instead.

If Douglas Ross lasts until the end of the year I'll be surprised.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

I see the Waitrose Tommy Robinson (lol) is going after the NHS hating vote now.

#VoteBinface

 

 

Hard to get into university when you’re expelled (for bullying) from one’s private school before sitting one’s A-levels.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

Hard to get into university when you’re expelled (for bullying) from one’s private school before sitting one’s A-levels.

It was so disappointing when it was revealed that this guy who played a Nazi in the ITV Island At War wasn't acting -- well, wait! he was acting, because he played good Nazi. Gads, it was the ultimate incarnation in his black leathers of the archtypical Nazi, but good, you know?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401019/

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

Hard to get into university when you’re expelled (for bullying) from one’s private school before sitting one’s A-levels.

I wasn’t paying attention to this and finally decided to look up this Fox guy.

Oh shit. He’s one of my favorite characters in Inspector Lewis. 
 

Oh well, people go off their rockers now and then. :crying: 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

I wasn’t paying attention to this and finally decided to look up this Fox guy.

Oh shit. He’s one of my favorite characters in Inspector Lewis. 
 

Oh well, people go off their rockers now and then. :crying: 

Inspector Lewis, a more than pleasant series, beating out MORSE all to heck, and a lot of that due to Lewis's very different manner with his second, has been ruined forever by this guy.

An actor has every right to not be what he plays, but the viewer has every right to be spoiled for a fictional character revealed to be so opposite from by the knowledge of the real life person.  We can say differently, and even try to not react to this knowledge, but one cannot.  Rotten, so ROTTEN, for Kevin Whately, who was great in every way throughout the Morse borderline abuse of his character in that series, and then coming into his own with Lewis.  Loved Whately in Lewis, and was so happy for him,

Eff Lawrence.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...