The Politics Thread 3.0

[Memento Mori]

Back to the Donald Trump hand book once more...

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry told Sky News earlier today that voters in Copeland had been taken in by false news reporting and that claims of Jeremy Corbyn being anti-nuclear are "fake news".

What?

What?

[Lotus]

Labour

While it is funny, it would be nice for us to have a competent opposition.

[Meep]

According to the corbynistas like Momentum they are starting a grass roots movement that will reconnect with Labour's heartlands. Well, how's that going for you? Miliband, you know that 'Blairite' guy who was so terrible and out of touch with ordinary people, held Copeland. Corbyn lost it. Make of that what you will.

Edit: wrong constituency

[Moggy]

"This isn't about Jeremy Corbyn," said the shadow chancellor. "This is about the position of the Labour Party for the future.

"We are in a difficult period over these last 20 months because of these leadership challenges and the divisions that have been sown within our party.

I agree with that. It's the Labour MPs that have made Corbyn have that low of an approval rating.

Yeah it's got nothing at all to do with Corbyn being a useless sack gooseberry fool that people don't want to vote for.

What's he done to be considered "a useless sack [of] gooseberry fool"?

I personally don't care how popular or unpopular he is; I hope he's leader at the next GE so I can see his party manifesto, the thing that really matters.

That said, I get a lot of people vote on GEs like it's a popularity contest.

He hasn't done anything.

That's why he's a useless sack of gooseberry fool.

[Moggy]

It must be awful to be part of a group that is demonised by the press, eh Nige?

[Lagamorph]

Hasn't ruled out a return to politics eh?
So going to become the head of UKIP for what...Third time? Fourth time?

[Rex Kramer]

We have a Tory party with a fairly slim majority but it certainly doesn't feel like they are ever under threat of not getting policy pushed through. The responsibility for that falls squarely on the shoulders of the leader of the opposition.

[Moggy]

Hasn't ruled out a return to politics eh?
So going to become the head of UKIP for what...Third time? Fourth time?

If it's the third time he'll claim it will last 1000 years.

[Denster]

According to the corbynistas like Momentum they are starting a grass roots movement that will reconnect with Labour's heartlands. Well, how's that going for you? Miliband, you know that 'Blairite' guy who was so terrible and out of touch with ordinary people, held Stoke. Corbyn lost it. Make of that what you will.

Corbyn held stoke.

[Lex-Man]

According to the corbynistas like Momentum they are starting a grass roots movement that will reconnect with Labour's heartlands. Well, how's that going for you? Miliband, you know that 'Blairite' guy who was so terrible and out of touch with ordinary people, held Stoke. Corbyn lost it. Make of that what you will.

Corbyn held stoke.

But Nutell did everything he could to loose. Once the Liverpool stuff came out it was over.

It's amazing that all our major parties have gooseberry fool leaders.

[Meep]

Well, I suppose May could be considered good in that she's for the moment fairly successful politically. Of course, she is still terrible when you consider how she is misleading the country and doing nothing to tackle our real problems.

[Rex Kramer]

If Nuttall hadn't parachuted himself in then they'd have probably won. Which makes it even more fantastic.

[DML]

Well, I suppose May could be considered good in that she's for the moment fairly successful politically. Of course, she is still terrible when you consider how she is misleading the country and doing nothing to tackle our real problems.

Give it 12 months and she'll be a bigger disaster than all of them. She's not had to do much yet.

[Dinoric]

Pretty sure that was clear well established fact that he is anti-nuclear.

Isn't it more that he's anti nuclear weapons not nuclear power?

[KK]

Sadiq Khan making friends in Scotland today...

[Shadow]

£18,600 doesn't seem that high though, especially not for two people. That's not even considering kids in the mix. How much lower could it realistically be?
Would be better if joint income were the criteria rather than individual income though.

A friend of mine is affected by this law. His wife is from Dominican Republic, but she can't live here because his income is too low.

In his specific circumstance, he's a pub landlord who had a bad year, meaning his profit for the year was a little under the requirement. The law completely ignores that he's a business owner and that in his case his business is also his home so he has significantly lower outgoings than someone with a regular job. He would also be in a position to employ his wife and ensure she has an income if she was actually allowed to live and work here.

It's just a silly law that doesn't take individual circumstances into account.

[Grumpy David]

Really interesting analysis into how the Tories won Copeland:

https://youtu.be/0oh83kiiMlw

[Knoyleo]

banana split ALARM



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39097019

Disability benefits should go to "really disabled people" not those "taking pills at home, who suffer from anxiety", a key Theresa May aide says.

No 10 policy unit head George Freeman said personal independence payments (PIP) reforms were needed to roll back the "bizarre" decisions of tribunals.

Mr Freeman, who is Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk and leads the Downing Street policy board, had been defending the changes in an interview on Pienaar's Politics on BBC 5 Live.

"These tweaks are actually about rolling back some bizarre decisions by tribunals that now mean benefits are being given to people who are taking pills at home, who suffer from anxiety," he said.

"We want to make sure we get the money to the really disabled people who need it."

He added that he and the prime minister "totally" understood anxiety. "We've set out in the mental health strategy how seriously we take it," he added.

Because strawberry float mental health, right? You're not really disabled if you're not missing a limb or something.

[Meep]

The idea that mental illnesses are less serious than physical ones is plain wrong. A man who uses a wheelchair and is psychologically normal is more able to work than man who can walk but has panic attacks whenever he goes out in public.

[Squinty]

I'm not surprised that is being said. Benefit reforms are usually about saving cash. Mental health doesn't really seem a priority to the UK government.

And I hate to be saying this, but if you only want to spend a certain amount of money on this then some people are going to lose out. I don't think it's right, this is an extremely important issue, but I can understand the thought process of prioritising people with a physical disability. They are basically trying to reduce their welfare budget. Mental health funding and money for sufferers is an easy cut for them to make.

It would maybe soften the blow a bit if they had adequate funding to attempt tackling this, but they don't. Austerity FTW.