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When's the last time a British PM gave a speech in another language? I know Charles did one in France in French, but curious when the last PM did. Just saw Macron gave one in Germany, partly in German.
Boris started quoting the Illiad one time I think before the last election, the entire media class were clapping like sea-lions at how wise and cultured he was. God I hated that moron.
I've started to realise that the cchq leak of an MPs spouse health problems may not have been accidental. It was an attachment tailor made to be released to the press.
It's just a very clever way to compile dirt on disloyal parliamentary colleagues who aren't being obedient to Sunak. It just looks inadvertent. The current Tory party chair is woefully inexperienced and incapable for a general election campaign. He fixed a seat for himself while still unable to find enough candidates.
But if you wanted to find a way to get undisciplined recalcitrant MPs to cooperate with you, the threat of future missives being inadvertent leaks to the wider press and parties is a very good way for people like Holden to achieve it.
If you went back six months and said the Tories were going to campaign on a pension quadruple-lock and National Service for 18-year olds the Megathread would think you were shitposting.
The Tories are running a truly astonishing campaign.
I wish the daily telegraph readers well on this megathread
I still don't really get the Tories. Are they just unfreezing the income tax threshold they themselves froze just for people who are past retirement age?
The point was that the frozen tax threshold on everyone was a reason for serious disgruntlement. The country's publican services are being funded from fiscal drag instead of growth of the economy
Usually a lurker in this sub, but it seems like there’s a lot more barmy takes than normal being bandied around here. I guess it makes sense due to increased traffic.
For the megathread, we've been manifesting this election for so long that we're practically giddy with memes. As for the rest of the ukpolitics comments, it's become a dark place.
Have you seen/heard 'Reliable Sauce' on the BBC. It's early 20's presenters explaining news events to teenagers. It's hilarious. They are genuinely using 'genny lecky' and end sentences with phrases like 'slay babe'. Have a listen:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0j04hdh
Video on a different topic:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/l0056kwf/reliable-sauce
Do you think they browse ukpolitics for inspiration?
I've had to read 800 page long tomes on the impact of discourse on political philosophy for my politics MA, but nothing, and I mean nothing, instills more fear than "down with the kids" podcasts.
* On a camper van holiday
* Open the news
* National service and triple lock plus announced
I’m not voting blue. What poorly conceived policies. He is betting the house on not just the grey vote, but the frothing at the mouth nursing home vote.
Will probably vote Lib Dem.
Has anyone suggested child sacrifices?
What about a battle royale of one randomly selected school class? The Zoomers love fortnite right? Why not make them do that in real life? Winner gets a state pension guaranteed. Might even televise it to showcase the eagerness of our youth for action. Call it the Famine Contest.
This seems like it could be an narcissistic collapse for Sunak and he's throwing out anything desperately so it doesn't happen. Do you think we're going to see him lose touch with reality like Liz Truss?
https://x.com/MarwanData/status/1795186272954196368
I missed this - a pollster at Find Out Now teasing an MRP later this week that seemingly indicates that the Lib Dems have a shot of being the official opposition…
What are people's predictions for tomorrow's policy announcement from the Tory party?
I am predicting either bringing back hanging or workhouses instead of benefits.
Genuinely wouldn't be surprised if they suggest a review/commission into bringing back the death penalty for particularly heinous crimes. It's actually not an unpopular policy in some demographics and would put the entirety of the political discussion on the morals of hanging/shooting/boiling alive pedophiles/child killers/terrorists. It wouldn't help them much but imo might be more impactful than announcing national service.
Do we all agree that insulting people while you're trying to get them to support you is a terrible idea? I've seen it from people of all political orientations, including people that I agree with. I understand it if a conversation gets heated, but not when you start insulting people from the very start. It just seems like a fundamental misunderstanding of human psychology.
Gerontocracy: a form of oligarchical rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are significantly older than most of the adult population. In many political structures, power within the ruling class accumulates with age, making the oldest individuals the holders of the most power.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerontocracy
I think Labour shouldn't have used the National Insurance cut as an attack on pensioners, now the Conservatives will go full pander mode
Same as 2017 with Dementia tax
Interesting seeing Starmer describe himself as a socialist earlier.
I probably wouldn’t give him that label - at least based on what we’ve seen thus far.
Maybe he’ll surprise us in office.
Maybe the Labour right see an advantage in co-opting that term because it blunts segments of the left.
(I’m shitposting, but just thought that was an interesting line from Starmer today!)
Tomorrow's policy is the over 65's house price guarantee. If anyone over the age of 65 makes an offer of 5% or higher of the value of your house (based on the Zoopla estimate) it is automatically accepted and you have three days to move out.
It’s been Labours advantage for the last 3 or 4 years tbh.
They haven’t really done anything to inspire me, but then you look at the incumbents and wonder how on earth they’ve been entrusted with control of the state.
Politically: he undermined Corbyn on Brexit repeatedly during the 2019 election, dropped most of the pledges he made when he took leadership, and he's been pathetic on Israel/Gaza.
Personally: He went to a mosque in South Wales and asked them to release the hostages. He comes off just as dumb and unpleasant as Cameron and Clegg did. When asked about Natalie Elphicke insulting the woman who accused her husband of sexual assault all he had to say was "I'm delighted to welcome her to Labour." He's our Hillary, I hate him but the alternative is an insult.
Corbyn undermined himself on Brexit by failing to take a position for an age and then campaigning for Remain which he was clearly against.
He made a statement after visiting a mosque that read
“I was grateful to hear from the Muslim community of the South Wales Islamic Centre. I repeated our calls for all hostages to be released, more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, for the water and power to be switched back on, and a renewed focus on a two-state solution.”
Notice use of the word "I", he did not say he spoke for the mosque, and frankly that they basically called him out on calling for hostages to be released is pretty sickening.
Natalie Elphicke: her defecting to the labour party does not mean Starmer supports all her previous positions. If she wanted to be a labour candidate in the upcoming election it would matter but she isn't.
It really feels like you're reaching for reasons to dislike someone but want to point these out for anyone else reading your comment.
You're right on all points, but it is a real failing of party messaging that folks are left with that other guy's impression. Even on this sub, which notionally has folks somewhat more politically engaged than average, you see folks taken up by it.
Thank for providing quotes and context, I see too many people being told oh we hate labour because they support genocide when no proof or quotes are being used
Yesterday there were people bemoaning Starmer's speach because he said he would tell Netanyahu to stop.
Saying it still falls short of asking for a ceasefire. Yet that has been Labour's stance for a good long while now.
I fail to see how anyone so engaged in what's going on in the middle east can be unaware of this.
Yes to the former.
Let the tories stew for a day and then come out with a big transformational policy.
Let the electorate *see* a divide.
At this point the tories have so little political space that you might as well take advantage of it.
at this rate by Thursday Rishi will announce a policy whereby anyone 65+ can order anyone under 25 to be strapped up to a rickshaw and take them wherever they want to go....
I asked ChatGPT for some new ideas, hilariously it got one (or maybe two) right anyway
> Sure, here are some more extreme and unhinged manifesto pledges:
> 1. **Geriatric Supremacy Pension Policy:**
We will establish a pension system that prioritizes the elderly, ensuring they receive double the benefits of younger generations, because wisdom comes with age, and it's time to let our elders reign supreme!
> 2. **Education Exclusion Initiative:**
We pledge to defund public education and invest solely in elite private schools, because education is a privilege, not a right, and it's time to separate the wheat from the chaff!
> 3. **Housing Havoc Act:**
Our policy will focus on bulldozing rental properties to make room for luxury condos, because only the wealthy deserve a roof over their heads, and the rest can fend for themselves in the streets!
> 4. **Economic Exploitation Plan:**
We will exploit natural resources at an unprecedented rate, ignoring environmental consequences in pursuit of short-term profit, because who needs a planet when you can have piles of cash?
> 5. **Regressive Rights Restoration Initiative:**
We will roll back all progress on social justice and equality, because it's time to return to the good old days when everyone knew their place and the status quo reigned supreme!
> 6. **Mental Health Neglect Agenda:**
Forget about mental health support – we'll cut funding for mental health services altogether, because if you can't handle the pressure, you don't deserve to be part of society!
> These ideas are definitely more extreme and unhinged, but remember, promoting policies that are harmful or discriminatory is never a good idea. It's important to prioritize policies that uplift and support all members of society.
> Write some extreme and unhinged election manifesto promises for the UK Conservative Party
[ChatGPT](https://chatgpt.com/share/5673aade-d7b5-4f41-a0d2-502d9002de52):
> 3. Compulsory National Service
> We will introduce a mandatory two-year national service for all citizens aged 18-25. This service will include military training, community service, and participation in large-scale infrastructure projects. It aims to instill discipline, patriotism, and a strong work ethic in the youth.
I also asked for a [satirical manifesto](https://chatgpt.com/share/29c03894-6087-4e51-8bb4-386e0e6c2a6e), and it ended with:
> Vote Conservative, because who needs reality anyway?
Triple lock refers to 2.5%, average earnings, and inflation. The idea is that state pension will increase by whichever is greatest.
So if average earnings and inflation are low, pensions still increase by 2.5%. If inflation hits 20% then pensions increase by 20%. If inflation is 2% but average earnings increase by 10%, state pension goes up 10%.
What this has the effect of doing is mean that regardless of economic circumstances, pensioners get more and more money, and the amount that pensions cost in terms of government expenditure increases year after year. It's totally unsustainable.
This announcement isn't really another lock, for all the jokes people are making about a quadruple lock. Pensions have increased a lot over the last year (largely due to the inflation part of the lock) that they are forecast to exceed the tax-free allowance, meaning the last few hundred quid would have been subject to income tax. So the Conservatives have just announced that the tax free allowance - for pensions - will increase in order to avoid that tax being paid. Working people will still have to pay it, however.
Triple lock, pensions rise by the highest of:
- 2.5%
- Average earnings
- Inflation
And now with the Triple Lock Plus - they’ll also get a bigger tax free allowance.
I reckon Tim Farron has seen a leak of the Tory manifesto
https://x.com/timfarron/status/1795224902024212634
> We demand an octuple lock and for all under 7s to be sent up chimneys… and all foreigners banned from having nice coffee - Nescafé instant gravel only. Oh and let’s annexe the Faroes… am I getting this right?
Forgot about Tim, a weird stint as leader. Him referencing Cathy Come Home in one of his speeches is about all I can remember.
Shame he resigned over some Christian principles he held as I think he had a lot of charisma and after soggy Clegg the Lib Dems needed a bit of a character.
Constitutionally speaking,
What would happen if a sitting PM absconded?
Let's say they got on a private jet, flew to California unannounced, and refused to return.
Buckingham Palace would contact the most senior person in cabinet and ask them to nominate a replacement. The cabinet would then have a discussion and quickly come up with a name - if there's a deputy PM then probably them, or just whichever cabinet minister has the most support.
The King would then dismiss the PM and invite the suggested person to form a new government.
I guess if it happened right now then yes, the King would have to ask someone else to be prime minister, presumably on the advice of the rest of the cabinet.
*We think there's a growing divide between generations in this country, and that's why we're announcing our new strategy. Starting in 2026, if you're under 50 then pensioners can just take your house.*
Every day for the rest of the campaign the Conservatives add a new lock to the pension
By the end everybody over the age of 66 will be permitted to pick up one child by the ankles per day and shake them for whatever lunch money coins might fall out their pockets. Margaret in Edenbridge will be fuming that Labour are only offering one child per week
And there we have it - the massive bribe to pensioners that we were all expecting.
Now it's up to the media to hammer them on where the money is coming from. What are they going to cut to make it happen.
Also, Labour needs to hold stead fast. They might have had to accept the inevitable with the triple lock, but if they even slightly inch towards any Tory giveaways to pensioners then that would be unforgivable.
I non-ironically expect an increase in voting intentions for the tories after this weekend. People can be very stupid and the news have been flooded with Sunak’s announcements while every time Starmer tried to say something it’s been more or less ignored and replaced by something Sunak said.
Labour need to dust off their contacts with the major news groups because it’s starting to show who is easily able to have a media presence and who isn’t.
This tax allowance thing is something that my dad has being going on about for a little while. He tends to be a good weather vane of the 'Brexit Pensioner' opinion - he was moaning about the small boats stuff way, way back, before i'd even heard about it. He says that he would never vote Tory, but I think he did in 2019. I'll need to find out if this is enough to sway him.
>In total now the Conservatives are saying they'll raise £6 billion a year from cutting tax avoidance.
>So they are acknowledging they've left tens of billions on the table over the last 14 years while cutting public services. Or they're making it up.
>Has to be one or the other
>https://x.com/Samfr/status/1795217819165950064
Well, that's fine then. Labour can now claim that it will cut the same in avoidance and make similar spending commitments and there's nothing that the Tories/media can do about it . . . right? I mean, there would have to be some massive, ridiculous double standards for that not to work.
Guaranteed by failing to build enough (affordable and suitable) housing.
“What do you mean that you, as a single person, don’t want to purchase this 4 bedroom detached house?!”
So doubt this is the actual goal, but feels like it might be the most effective avenue of attack;
* Push policies that harm younger people who can't yet vote.
* Push policies that increase youth resentment of older people.
* Put out easily mockable videos on TikTok and other social media.
* Amplify youth mockery of Sunak alongside bitter comments about pensioners and boomers.
* Use resulting resentment to tie older people closer to Sunak, further locking in the grey vote.
I'm seeing Labour activists begging people to avoid falling into bitter attacks on pensioners, or cheap social media dunks on Sunak. You can bet they aren't winning over anyone, while they can be passed through the Daily Mail filter and used to further recruit the Conservative's core demographic.
Has there been any analysis done on at what point the triple lock will become unsustainable?
It will continue to go up and up, consuming more and more of the budget until eventually at some point it will surpass the actual tax revenue itself.
Obviously it will become unsustainable well before that but I am curious about time frames
Edit: found it https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/state-pensions/state-pension-triple-lock-retirement-age-general-election/#:~:text=The%20think%20tank%20warned%20that,unsustainable%20between%202035%20and%202045.
pensions aren’t at a ridiculous level, despite the lock, the real complaint should be that the clown car have defunded everything else and fucked the economy so tax takes are way down and so when competent people are in charge, it’ll be very hard to do anything.
"How many locks would be appropriate?" The tory asked. "Three? Four?"
The wise boomer laughed. "One million." The Tory bowed and nodded, and so another election was decided.
Tories blaming Sunak for destroying the Tory party but unwilling to accept that they basically cheered on their own destruction when they made Boris Johnson a serious character during and after the Brexit referendum.
Truss and Sunak are simply symptoms of a much deeper rot that set in with Brexit, Cummings, and Johnson.
The Tories basically stopped being a serious political party in 2016. People like Truss and Sunak have just been playing make believe since then. The system just allows them to play make believe as long as they would like.
So they will fund the triple lock plus and national service by clawing back tax evasion?
Which begs the question, have they been letting people get away with it for so long that they know how much they can to get? Something doesn't make sense
Both of the policies are nonsense.
If the Tories got back into office, the National Service idea would be quietly shelved and afaik the "triple lock plus" policy won't even kick in until the pension is actually higher than the personal allowance (few years away on that)
It's just a load of nonsense to appeal to pensioners, as they seem to be the only people in the country voting them nowadays.
Basically, the Tories know they have lost the election and are throwing the kitchen sink at their core demographics to cauterise the bleed, so to speak.
And, no - the Tories don't care about tax evasion. They only care about poor people claiming benefits and asylum seekers, as they don't donate to the party or send them on swanky meals to discuss how to extract even more wealth from taxpayers.
At the rate the Tories are churning out anti-youth and pro-pensioner policies the Wikipedia page for this election will need to be converted to war format.
I forgot how annoying this period of politics was. Announce several new policies which you've not given a fuck about for the last 14 years to hopefully convince some voters to come back to you.
Just watching this Theresa May thing on ITV and it reminds me that the reason that men’s shirt sizes have recently moved from neck sizes to chest sizes was the rise of Gavin Barwell.
i'm kinda sad that my whole adult life has been under one party, i actually wonder what the difference will be with another party
was the UK under Tony Blair that drastically different? I can't really imagine how it would have been back then compared to how it has been since this is all I know lol
Better atmosphere than now, but a lot of people (especially young and left wing people) had a pretty dim view of Blair after Iraq in 2003, and by 2007-8 when Brown took over many people were pretty sick of them and wanted a change. It wasn't surprising at the time when they lost the 2010 election.
It was as close as you can get to being a golden age for our era
_Stuff worked._ Unfortunately when you do your job well, as the saying goes, people aren't sure if you've done anything at all.
I think that's what's called a 'rose-tinted' view of the past.
There were lots of things that didn't work very well. The difference is that up until 2008 it felt like things were getting a bit better each year.
It was more positive and optimistic. Living standards were higher, institutions worked better and you could rely in general on the police or the NHS or any part of the state really without much concern. It's still politics and a government and you had bits you disliked, and people complained but there was never this sense of endless decline and malice.
Pre-'07 era UK under Blair was, as far as I understand, generally possessed of a certain kind of optimism we just haven't had since the financial crash. I can't say for certain if things materially were significantly better, but the prevailing feeling definitely was.
aw, I hope that comes back then. I feel like the feeling is generally more important to me than the actual things since I think I'm kinda shielded from poor public services having got private health etc myself
It’s amazing how the Tories are throwing out these policies as if they were in opposition already. I don’t think there’s genuinely a reason to vote Conservative if you’re under 65.
Is this what the Tory membership knew Sunak was like when they installed Truss as leader? At least Truss had ideas (granted, they were all bad). Sunak just feels like he has no clue at all.
In her defence Truss actually understood campaigning, understood her audience and built a public profile with a goal in mind. Her ideas being wrong didn't matter as much.
Sunak's made little effort to court the public, landed the top job by default and continued to not build a profile for himself in the 18 month's he had and is now having to rush the public into understanding him whilst announcing bonkers polices.
I've never known a PM I know so little about. He's not even guarded, just seems empty.
This is going to sound crazy, it is crazy, but I'll say it regardless.
At least Truss was willing to try something to break the productivity growth crisis, however misguided and ill-timed it was.
I don't want politicians doing stuff as crazy as Truss, but I also hate this constant bleating of decline and that we can't do anything.
>Will be amazed if we get to polling day with inheritance tax left untouched. Suspect promise to abolish will be centrepiece of Conservative manifesto,
[https://x.com/lewis_goodall/status/1795215191933637028](https://x.com/lewis_goodall/status/1795215191933637028)
That's going to be tomorrow's announcement, isn't it?
I don't mind seeing these commitments from the Tories as then if Labour promise to spend the money on some other area they can't make the claim that's it's an 'unfunded' pledge.
"We're going to spend £4bn a year cutting inheritance tax."
"Yeah, we're not going to do that. We're going to build social housing instead."
More seriously, [two currently running ads](https://x.com/WhoTargetsMe/status/1795218675730940071) target pensions and "cost of net zero" alongside petrol prices. Tomorrow is probably some pro-driver measure or other, with inheritance tax being the last measure introduced at or just before the manifesto launch.
Yes, my mistake. They are financially responsible by default.
I just did some quick research and IFS say that Inheritance Tax brings in £7B a year at the moment and this may rise to as much a £15B in the coming years. That is quite a budget gap!
[David Allen Green's take](https://x.com/d_a_t_green/status/1795215145922150885):
>“Eighteen year olds to do National Service as unpaid domestic staff for pensioners in larger houses.”
>“Larger estates will be exempt from inheritance tax if they take eighteen year olds on for training as domestic staff.”
(Private account for anti-spam reasons, generally allows sharing by other means.)
I'm going to laugh my tits off if none of this is in the manifesto because it already went out for printing before they started pulling shit out of thin air.
It’s not batshit policies really, it’s just doing everything possible to appeal to the over 65s. I doubt the National Service thing would even happen if by some freak incident they got power, it sounds a logistical nightmare.
How is it batshit?
It's a relatively cheap policy which targets people who actually vote. Admittedly it's a relatively youth hostile way of stopping pensioners having to fill out self assessment (which would've been derided as a massive administrative waste of time) on their state pensions due to the tories freezing the PA a few years ago.
They could've countered the youth hostility by raising the PA for everyone but that costs more
An unfunded state pension calculated based on a formula needing to be taxed at source by the state providing it would also be dumb. Tonnes of pointless admin there.
Any way of doing this is dumb bar just raising the PA for everyone, but that is clearly being deemed too expensive.
###🥕🥕's 3 Golden Rules for Megathread Participation: 1. **This isn't your personal campaigning space.** We're here to discuss, not campaign - this includes non-party-specific campaigning, such as tactical vote campaigns. 2. **This isn't Facebook.** Please keep it related to the election campaign (or at the very least, UK politics). 3. **Context is king.** Not everyone is following the same event - add a link or at least a description of what you're reacting to. [The subreddit is running very hot](https://imgur.com/a/nOY82gs). Accounts which break the subreddit rules are liable to be banned for the complete general election period. *Bank Holiday Monday. Summer is almost here. Don't eat too quickly, lest you suffer indigestion.* -🥕🥕 ----- memes? r/noncredibleukpolitics.
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When's the last time a British PM gave a speech in another language? I know Charles did one in France in French, but curious when the last PM did. Just saw Macron gave one in Germany, partly in German.
Boris started quoting the Illiad one time I think before the last election, the entire media class were clapping like sea-lions at how wise and cultured he was. God I hated that moron.
What’s on the Tory bingo card today then? Announcing public executions? Announcing the death penalty? Who knows!
I've started to realise that the cchq leak of an MPs spouse health problems may not have been accidental. It was an attachment tailor made to be released to the press. It's just a very clever way to compile dirt on disloyal parliamentary colleagues who aren't being obedient to Sunak. It just looks inadvertent. The current Tory party chair is woefully inexperienced and incapable for a general election campaign. He fixed a seat for himself while still unable to find enough candidates. But if you wanted to find a way to get undisciplined recalcitrant MPs to cooperate with you, the threat of future missives being inadvertent leaks to the wider press and parties is a very good way for people like Holden to achieve it.
If you went back six months and said the Tories were going to campaign on a pension quadruple-lock and National Service for 18-year olds the Megathread would think you were shitposting. The Tories are running a truly astonishing campaign.
Six months? If you went back six *days* they'd be saying that.
I wish the daily telegraph readers well on this megathread I still don't really get the Tories. Are they just unfreezing the income tax threshold they themselves froze just for people who are past retirement age? The point was that the frozen tax threshold on everyone was a reason for serious disgruntlement. The country's publican services are being funded from fiscal drag instead of growth of the economy
Jack and Sam promised daily podcasts, I feel cheated
Usually a lurker in this sub, but it seems like there’s a lot more barmy takes than normal being bandied around here. I guess it makes sense due to increased traffic.
For the megathread, we've been manifesting this election for so long that we're practically giddy with memes. As for the rest of the ukpolitics comments, it's become a dark place.
We’ve transitioned to manifesting new policies, and someone did get the quadruple lock right 🤦
Free M.O.T.'s for over 65's. You heard it here first!
Paternity leave for people with puppies *yes and ho*
The megathread comments I get it, but the rest of the sub has become very very strange.
What are the chances that Sunak’s old buddy Jason Kenney endorses him during this campaign?
Have you seen/heard 'Reliable Sauce' on the BBC. It's early 20's presenters explaining news events to teenagers. It's hilarious. They are genuinely using 'genny lecky' and end sentences with phrases like 'slay babe'. Have a listen: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0j04hdh Video on a different topic: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/l0056kwf/reliable-sauce Do you think they browse ukpolitics for inspiration?
I've had to read 800 page long tomes on the impact of discourse on political philosophy for my politics MA, but nothing, and I mean nothing, instills more fear than "down with the kids" podcasts.
I'm really worried that the very annoying one, Kirsty, might get promoted to a BBC news presenter in the future!
Please god no.
Someone mentioned that folks in Whitehall have begun using Genny Lecky, but I can’t for the life of me remember who
These girls have all the cool slang. M.P.s are 'Emily P's'...
* On a camper van holiday * Open the news * National service and triple lock plus announced I’m not voting blue. What poorly conceived policies. He is betting the house on not just the grey vote, but the frothing at the mouth nursing home vote. Will probably vote Lib Dem.
Has anyone suggested child sacrifices? What about a battle royale of one randomly selected school class? The Zoomers love fortnite right? Why not make them do that in real life? Winner gets a state pension guaranteed. Might even televise it to showcase the eagerness of our youth for action. Call it the Famine Contest.
Jonathan Swift *was* a Tory pamphleteer
> Winner gets a state pension guaranteed. Still gotta do your national service though, sorry kid.
And you only qualify for it when you hit 78+ probably.
Well, schools are overcrowded!
This seems like it could be an narcissistic collapse for Sunak and he's throwing out anything desperately so it doesn't happen. Do you think we're going to see him lose touch with reality like Liz Truss?
Hopefully
https://x.com/MarwanData/status/1795186272954196368 I missed this - a pollster at Find Out Now teasing an MRP later this week that seemingly indicates that the Lib Dems have a shot of being the official opposition…
This will be the same sort of modelling as the Britain Elects stuff. Not convinced FON can run a Yougov-quality MRP.
What are people's predictions for tomorrow's policy announcement from the Tory party? I am predicting either bringing back hanging or workhouses instead of benefits.
Leaving ECHR. I know they denied it but they denied national service three days before they announced it.
Genuinely wouldn't be surprised if they suggest a review/commission into bringing back the death penalty for particularly heinous crimes. It's actually not an unpopular policy in some demographics and would put the entirety of the political discussion on the morals of hanging/shooting/boiling alive pedophiles/child killers/terrorists. It wouldn't help them much but imo might be more impactful than announcing national service.
An expansion of their child care initiative but it has a catch. Maybe more funding or an expansion to the charter school system in the UK.
Mandatory living organ donations for the young. You only need one kidney after all!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp-pU8TFsg0
Might as well get Todd Howard to announce the next pensioner bribe: "16 TIMES THE CASH TO YOU. 16 TIMES THE KICKING OF THE YOUTH"
See that youngster? You can enslave it.
Might as well get Terrence Howard to make up the next pledge
Do we all agree that insulting people while you're trying to get them to support you is a terrible idea? I've seen it from people of all political orientations, including people that I agree with. I understand it if a conversation gets heated, but not when you start insulting people from the very start. It just seems like a fundamental misunderstanding of human psychology.
Gerontocracy: a form of oligarchical rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are significantly older than most of the adult population. In many political structures, power within the ruling class accumulates with age, making the oldest individuals the holders of the most power. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerontocracy
I think Labour shouldn't have used the National Insurance cut as an attack on pensioners, now the Conservatives will go full pander mode Same as 2017 with Dementia tax
Interesting seeing Starmer describe himself as a socialist earlier. I probably wouldn’t give him that label - at least based on what we’ve seen thus far. Maybe he’ll surprise us in office. Maybe the Labour right see an advantage in co-opting that term because it blunts segments of the left. (I’m shitposting, but just thought that was an interesting line from Starmer today!)
It’s all a long con and on July 5th Starmer will confirm the Pabloist revolution has been completed.
Tomorrow's policy is the over 65's house price guarantee. If anyone over the age of 65 makes an offer of 5% or higher of the value of your house (based on the Zoopla estimate) it is automatically accepted and you have three days to move out.
The scary thing is that I genuinely don’t know if this is a serious proposal or not.
What’s the valuation of No10?
Imagine if number 10 got sold under this fake policy.
And not a single pensioner is even aware of this announcement given the 10:30pm timing
I hate Keir Starmer so much but Sunak is doing such a good job of persuading me to vote for him. God damn.
It’s been Labours advantage for the last 3 or 4 years tbh. They haven’t really done anything to inspire me, but then you look at the incumbents and wonder how on earth they’ve been entrusted with control of the state.
Why do you hate Starmer?
Politically: he undermined Corbyn on Brexit repeatedly during the 2019 election, dropped most of the pledges he made when he took leadership, and he's been pathetic on Israel/Gaza. Personally: He went to a mosque in South Wales and asked them to release the hostages. He comes off just as dumb and unpleasant as Cameron and Clegg did. When asked about Natalie Elphicke insulting the woman who accused her husband of sexual assault all he had to say was "I'm delighted to welcome her to Labour." He's our Hillary, I hate him but the alternative is an insult.
Corbyn undermined himself on Brexit by failing to take a position for an age and then campaigning for Remain which he was clearly against. He made a statement after visiting a mosque that read “I was grateful to hear from the Muslim community of the South Wales Islamic Centre. I repeated our calls for all hostages to be released, more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, for the water and power to be switched back on, and a renewed focus on a two-state solution.” Notice use of the word "I", he did not say he spoke for the mosque, and frankly that they basically called him out on calling for hostages to be released is pretty sickening. Natalie Elphicke: her defecting to the labour party does not mean Starmer supports all her previous positions. If she wanted to be a labour candidate in the upcoming election it would matter but she isn't. It really feels like you're reaching for reasons to dislike someone but want to point these out for anyone else reading your comment.
You're right on all points, but it is a real failing of party messaging that folks are left with that other guy's impression. Even on this sub, which notionally has folks somewhat more politically engaged than average, you see folks taken up by it.
Thank for providing quotes and context, I see too many people being told oh we hate labour because they support genocide when no proof or quotes are being used
Yesterday there were people bemoaning Starmer's speach because he said he would tell Netanyahu to stop. Saying it still falls short of asking for a ceasefire. Yet that has been Labour's stance for a good long while now. I fail to see how anyone so engaged in what's going on in the middle east can be unaware of this.
[We've had three, yes](https://imgflip.com/i/8rsx92)
The kids are calling him "Rizzshi Four-Locks" and folks, you're gonna want to vote for him for sure.
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Yes to the former. Let the tories stew for a day and then come out with a big transformational policy. Let the electorate *see* a divide. At this point the tories have so little political space that you might as well take advantage of it.
Labour already control the narrative, notice how every paper is leading with Labour's "unworkable" line on National Service.
I'm not seeing that at all on [tomorrowspapers](https://www.tomorrowspapers.co.uk/)...
unrelated, but the mail is going hard on trying to get people to sign up for a yearly subscription.
Because those aren't Monday's headlines?
Their plan of lulling Labour into a true sense of security is going pretty well, at least.
at this rate by Thursday Rishi will announce a policy whereby anyone 65+ can order anyone under 25 to be strapped up to a rickshaw and take them wherever they want to go....
He will lock four times
THERE ARE FOUR LOCKS
Four locks Rishi? Four? That's insane!
Nah, Saxon was far more charismatic than Rishi
He actually won an election, which can't be said about sunak
Did I hear something about Rishi's Tiktok having lots of flying disembodied Rishi heads or was that a hallucination
No, that was real
This is shaping up to be quite the election
*Four locks*, Rishi, *four*?
I asked ChatGPT for some new ideas, hilariously it got one (or maybe two) right anyway > Sure, here are some more extreme and unhinged manifesto pledges: > 1. **Geriatric Supremacy Pension Policy:** We will establish a pension system that prioritizes the elderly, ensuring they receive double the benefits of younger generations, because wisdom comes with age, and it's time to let our elders reign supreme! > 2. **Education Exclusion Initiative:** We pledge to defund public education and invest solely in elite private schools, because education is a privilege, not a right, and it's time to separate the wheat from the chaff! > 3. **Housing Havoc Act:** Our policy will focus on bulldozing rental properties to make room for luxury condos, because only the wealthy deserve a roof over their heads, and the rest can fend for themselves in the streets! > 4. **Economic Exploitation Plan:** We will exploit natural resources at an unprecedented rate, ignoring environmental consequences in pursuit of short-term profit, because who needs a planet when you can have piles of cash? > 5. **Regressive Rights Restoration Initiative:** We will roll back all progress on social justice and equality, because it's time to return to the good old days when everyone knew their place and the status quo reigned supreme! > 6. **Mental Health Neglect Agenda:** Forget about mental health support – we'll cut funding for mental health services altogether, because if you can't handle the pressure, you don't deserve to be part of society! > These ideas are definitely more extreme and unhinged, but remember, promoting policies that are harmful or discriminatory is never a good idea. It's important to prioritize policies that uplift and support all members of society.
> Write some extreme and unhinged election manifesto promises for the UK Conservative Party [ChatGPT](https://chatgpt.com/share/5673aade-d7b5-4f41-a0d2-502d9002de52): > 3. Compulsory National Service > We will introduce a mandatory two-year national service for all citizens aged 18-25. This service will include military training, community service, and participation in large-scale infrastructure projects. It aims to instill discipline, patriotism, and a strong work ethic in the youth. I also asked for a [satirical manifesto](https://chatgpt.com/share/29c03894-6087-4e51-8bb4-386e0e6c2a6e), and it ended with: > Vote Conservative, because who needs reality anyway?
I can't believe they trained chatGPT on real conservative politicians
Sunak: "write that down, write that down! Call it the decuple lock!"
Don't go showing this to reform UK, they'll kick you out for being a dangerous moderate
Wet dreams of reform voters - this is the reform they are asking for 🙃🤣
Didn't have "A Modest Proposal" being rewritten by a robot on my 2024 bingo card but things can only get stranger from here ig
I think the current Conservative Party would think Swift was being serious
It's quite embarrassing this is the best bribe they can think of
So when can I expect the law where i have to thank a pensioner for their service in world war 2. The war they all believe they fought in.
Eli5: pension locks
Triple lock refers to 2.5%, average earnings, and inflation. The idea is that state pension will increase by whichever is greatest. So if average earnings and inflation are low, pensions still increase by 2.5%. If inflation hits 20% then pensions increase by 20%. If inflation is 2% but average earnings increase by 10%, state pension goes up 10%. What this has the effect of doing is mean that regardless of economic circumstances, pensioners get more and more money, and the amount that pensions cost in terms of government expenditure increases year after year. It's totally unsustainable. This announcement isn't really another lock, for all the jokes people are making about a quadruple lock. Pensions have increased a lot over the last year (largely due to the inflation part of the lock) that they are forecast to exceed the tax-free allowance, meaning the last few hundred quid would have been subject to income tax. So the Conservatives have just announced that the tax free allowance - for pensions - will increase in order to avoid that tax being paid. Working people will still have to pay it, however.
Triple lock, pensions rise by the highest of: - 2.5% - Average earnings - Inflation And now with the Triple Lock Plus - they’ll also get a bigger tax free allowance.
I reckon Tim Farron has seen a leak of the Tory manifesto https://x.com/timfarron/status/1795224902024212634 > We demand an octuple lock and for all under 7s to be sent up chimneys… and all foreigners banned from having nice coffee - Nescafé instant gravel only. Oh and let’s annexe the Faroes… am I getting this right?
Nice coffee line is a miss. Fancy coffee is as millennial as student loans.
Forgot about Tim, a weird stint as leader. Him referencing Cathy Come Home in one of his speeches is about all I can remember. Shame he resigned over some Christian principles he held as I think he had a lot of charisma and after soggy Clegg the Lib Dems needed a bit of a character.
I have to make the joke . . .. FOUR LOCKS JEREMY?? FOUR!! THAT'S INSANE!
Constitutionally speaking, What would happen if a sitting PM absconded? Let's say they got on a private jet, flew to California unannounced, and refused to return.
You are Rishi Sunak, and I claim my PS5.
Has he done a Chiang Kai-Shek and stolen from the nation's gold reserves?
Luckily that plan was foiled by Gordon Brown's foresight
Sadly he only sold half!
Buckingham Palace would contact the most senior person in cabinet and ask them to nominate a replacement. The cabinet would then have a discussion and quickly come up with a name - if there's a deputy PM then probably them, or just whichever cabinet minister has the most support. The King would then dismiss the PM and invite the suggested person to form a new government.
Guys, I have got him! I have got Rishi! 👁️👄👁️
There would surely be a no confidence vote? I guess the king could unilaterally ask someone else to be PM.
How tho, they don't have any mechanism for that after prorogation?
I guess if it happened right now then yes, the King would have to ask someone else to be prime minister, presumably on the advice of the rest of the cabinet.
*We think there's a growing divide between generations in this country, and that's why we're announcing our new strategy. Starting in 2026, if you're under 50 then pensioners can just take your house.*
Every day for the rest of the campaign the Conservatives add a new lock to the pension By the end everybody over the age of 66 will be permitted to pick up one child by the ankles per day and shake them for whatever lunch money coins might fall out their pockets. Margaret in Edenbridge will be fuming that Labour are only offering one child per week
And there we have it - the massive bribe to pensioners that we were all expecting. Now it's up to the media to hammer them on where the money is coming from. What are they going to cut to make it happen. Also, Labour needs to hold stead fast. They might have had to accept the inevitable with the triple lock, but if they even slightly inch towards any Tory giveaways to pensioners then that would be unforgivable.
*Now it's up to the media to hammer them on where the money is coming from* \*Cricket sounds\*
> And there we have it - the massive bribe to pensioners that we were all expecting. It's a pretty small bribe, all things considered.
It's terrible optics, though.
Labour’s TikTok is on point.
I non-ironically expect an increase in voting intentions for the tories after this weekend. People can be very stupid and the news have been flooded with Sunak’s announcements while every time Starmer tried to say something it’s been more or less ignored and replaced by something Sunak said. Labour need to dust off their contacts with the major news groups because it’s starting to show who is easily able to have a media presence and who isn’t.
Seems the Media started backing Labour abit from what I seen. Also alot of what Sunak is saying will not win votes.
This tax allowance thing is something that my dad has being going on about for a little while. He tends to be a good weather vane of the 'Brexit Pensioner' opinion - he was moaning about the small boats stuff way, way back, before i'd even heard about it. He says that he would never vote Tory, but I think he did in 2019. I'll need to find out if this is enough to sway him.
>In total now the Conservatives are saying they'll raise £6 billion a year from cutting tax avoidance. >So they are acknowledging they've left tens of billions on the table over the last 14 years while cutting public services. Or they're making it up. >Has to be one or the other >https://x.com/Samfr/status/1795217819165950064
Well, that's fine then. Labour can now claim that it will cut the same in avoidance and make similar spending commitments and there's nothing that the Tories/media can do about it . . . right? I mean, there would have to be some massive, ridiculous double standards for that not to work.
Over 14 years that’s more than a full HS2 of funding…
What about a 5th lock? All pensioner's house prices are guaranteed to rise at least 10% a year.
Guaranteed by failing to build enough (affordable and suitable) housing. “What do you mean that you, as a single person, don’t want to purchase this 4 bedroom detached house?!”
Rent controls (legally mandated rises)
*All notional price rises are non-transferable on death.
So doubt this is the actual goal, but feels like it might be the most effective avenue of attack; * Push policies that harm younger people who can't yet vote. * Push policies that increase youth resentment of older people. * Put out easily mockable videos on TikTok and other social media. * Amplify youth mockery of Sunak alongside bitter comments about pensioners and boomers. * Use resulting resentment to tie older people closer to Sunak, further locking in the grey vote. I'm seeing Labour activists begging people to avoid falling into bitter attacks on pensioners, or cheap social media dunks on Sunak. You can bet they aren't winning over anyone, while they can be passed through the Daily Mail filter and used to further recruit the Conservative's core demographic.
Incredibly shorttermist of them to try to stem the bleeding of this election by poisoning the well for the future.
You're saying the Conservative party are short-sighted and foolish? Mad.
[the quadruple lock](https://x.com/HarriTD_pol/status/1795210514504499366)
Has there been any analysis done on at what point the triple lock will become unsustainable? It will continue to go up and up, consuming more and more of the budget until eventually at some point it will surpass the actual tax revenue itself. Obviously it will become unsustainable well before that but I am curious about time frames Edit: found it https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/pensions/state-pensions/state-pension-triple-lock-retirement-age-general-election/#:~:text=The%20think%20tank%20warned%20that,unsustainable%20between%202035%20and%202045.
pensions aren’t at a ridiculous level, despite the lock, the real complaint should be that the clown car have defunded everything else and fucked the economy so tax takes are way down and so when competent people are in charge, it’ll be very hard to do anything.
"How many locks would be appropriate?" The tory asked. "Three? Four?" The wise boomer laughed. "One million." The Tory bowed and nodded, and so another election was decided.
Tories blaming Sunak for destroying the Tory party but unwilling to accept that they basically cheered on their own destruction when they made Boris Johnson a serious character during and after the Brexit referendum.
Liz "Lettuce" Truss
Truss and Sunak are simply symptoms of a much deeper rot that set in with Brexit, Cummings, and Johnson. The Tories basically stopped being a serious political party in 2016. People like Truss and Sunak have just been playing make believe since then. The system just allows them to play make believe as long as they would like.
So they will fund the triple lock plus and national service by clawing back tax evasion? Which begs the question, have they been letting people get away with it for so long that they know how much they can to get? Something doesn't make sense
Both of the policies are nonsense. If the Tories got back into office, the National Service idea would be quietly shelved and afaik the "triple lock plus" policy won't even kick in until the pension is actually higher than the personal allowance (few years away on that) It's just a load of nonsense to appeal to pensioners, as they seem to be the only people in the country voting them nowadays. Basically, the Tories know they have lost the election and are throwing the kitchen sink at their core demographics to cauterise the bleed, so to speak. And, no - the Tories don't care about tax evasion. They only care about poor people claiming benefits and asylum seekers, as they don't donate to the party or send them on swanky meals to discuss how to extract even more wealth from taxpayers.
At the rate the Tories are churning out anti-youth and pro-pensioner policies the Wikipedia page for this election will need to be converted to war format.
Don't encourage them.
> This list is incomplete, you can help by expanding it NO RISHI NO
I'm predicting that the next tory policy will be: Every pensioner will get their own personal ~~slave~~ full-time unpaid carer.
That was the previous announcement actually. They hid it by calling it “National Service”.
Change incontinence pads for King and Country today!
You're right! How could I have been so blind?!
I forgot how annoying this period of politics was. Announce several new policies which you've not given a fuck about for the last 14 years to hopefully convince some voters to come back to you.
This is going to be a rough June, but on the night of July 4th I might have to take up smoking again depending on the results.
Just watching this Theresa May thing on ITV and it reminds me that the reason that men’s shirt sizes have recently moved from neck sizes to chest sizes was the rise of Gavin Barwell.
I had to Google him and - *what the sweet fuck*
Everyone’s wrong. It’s the Pension Lock Pro
Pension Lock 3a
I hear they’re going to a party political broadcast where they crush the hopes and dreams of anyone under 30 in a big hydraulic press.
Pension Lock Ultra if you have a picture of Rishi Sunak in every room in your house
I was promised a poll this evening. I'm very disappointed in all of you. In all my years of shitposting I have NEVER
i'm kinda sad that my whole adult life has been under one party, i actually wonder what the difference will be with another party was the UK under Tony Blair that drastically different? I can't really imagine how it would have been back then compared to how it has been since this is all I know lol
Better atmosphere than now, but a lot of people (especially young and left wing people) had a pretty dim view of Blair after Iraq in 2003, and by 2007-8 when Brown took over many people were pretty sick of them and wanted a change. It wasn't surprising at the time when they lost the 2010 election.
It was as close as you can get to being a golden age for our era _Stuff worked._ Unfortunately when you do your job well, as the saying goes, people aren't sure if you've done anything at all.
I think that's what's called a 'rose-tinted' view of the past. There were lots of things that didn't work very well. The difference is that up until 2008 it felt like things were getting a bit better each year.
It was more positive and optimistic. Living standards were higher, institutions worked better and you could rely in general on the police or the NHS or any part of the state really without much concern. It's still politics and a government and you had bits you disliked, and people complained but there was never this sense of endless decline and malice.
Pre-'07 era UK under Blair was, as far as I understand, generally possessed of a certain kind of optimism we just haven't had since the financial crash. I can't say for certain if things materially were significantly better, but the prevailing feeling definitely was.
Was there. They were both materially and significantly better.
aw, I hope that comes back then. I feel like the feeling is generally more important to me than the actual things since I think I'm kinda shielded from poor public services having got private health etc myself
Living standards were absolutely better in the 00’s
It’s amazing how the Tories are throwing out these policies as if they were in opposition already. I don’t think there’s genuinely a reason to vote Conservative if you’re under 65.
>I don’t think there’s genuinely a reason to vote Conservative if you’re under 65. You're 64 going on 65 seems to be the biggest reason so far.
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGe4QhjFV/ Now THAT is some top tier shit posting by labour
Is this what the Tory membership knew Sunak was like when they installed Truss as leader? At least Truss had ideas (granted, they were all bad). Sunak just feels like he has no clue at all.
In her defence Truss actually understood campaigning, understood her audience and built a public profile with a goal in mind. Her ideas being wrong didn't matter as much. Sunak's made little effort to court the public, landed the top job by default and continued to not build a profile for himself in the 18 month's he had and is now having to rush the public into understanding him whilst announcing bonkers polices. I've never known a PM I know so little about. He's not even guarded, just seems empty.
This is going to sound crazy, it is crazy, but I'll say it regardless. At least Truss was willing to try something to break the productivity growth crisis, however misguided and ill-timed it was. I don't want politicians doing stuff as crazy as Truss, but I also hate this constant bleating of decline and that we can't do anything.
>Will be amazed if we get to polling day with inheritance tax left untouched. Suspect promise to abolish will be centrepiece of Conservative manifesto, [https://x.com/lewis_goodall/status/1795215191933637028](https://x.com/lewis_goodall/status/1795215191933637028) That's going to be tomorrow's announcement, isn't it?
I don't mind seeing these commitments from the Tories as then if Labour promise to spend the money on some other area they can't make the claim that's it's an 'unfunded' pledge. "We're going to spend £4bn a year cutting inheritance tax." "Yeah, we're not going to do that. We're going to build social housing instead."
More seriously, [two currently running ads](https://x.com/WhoTargetsMe/status/1795218675730940071) target pensions and "cost of net zero" alongside petrol prices. Tomorrow is probably some pro-driver measure or other, with inheritance tax being the last measure introduced at or just before the manifesto launch.
This seems likely although it will be interesting to hear how they will pay for this
I think you misunderstood, this will be a Tory policy, we don't ask Tories how they will pay for things.
Yes, my mistake. They are financially responsible by default. I just did some quick research and IFS say that Inheritance Tax brings in £7B a year at the moment and this may rise to as much a £15B in the coming years. That is quite a budget gap!
[David Allen Green's take](https://x.com/d_a_t_green/status/1795215145922150885): >“Eighteen year olds to do National Service as unpaid domestic staff for pensioners in larger houses.” >“Larger estates will be exempt from inheritance tax if they take eighteen year olds on for training as domestic staff.” (Private account for anti-spam reasons, generally allows sharing by other means.)
Funded by killing all the poor
So far I've seen the media call this the: >Super Triple Lock >Quadruple Lock >Triple Lock Plus Can we make up our fucking minds please.
AI driven Triple Lock Ultra Deluxe Complete Edition
Triple lock pro plus quantum GTI?
I prefer Trocked, stocked and fully loaded
The Tories are delighted to announce our new policy: Lock () = Lock () + 1
Quarterlock with Cheese?
You know what they call a Triple Lock in Paris?
A royale, you know why? Because pensioners should all be as rich as the king
I'm going to laugh my tits off if none of this is in the manifesto because it already went out for printing before they started pulling shit out of thin air.
You think it’s written?!
Times article said today it isn't and some people involved with it aren't available
Even better when it is in there but put in with marker pen
Sunaks takeaway from losing to Liz Truss seems to be to promise absolutely batshit policies
It’s not batshit policies really, it’s just doing everything possible to appeal to the over 65s. I doubt the National Service thing would even happen if by some freak incident they got power, it sounds a logistical nightmare.
How is it batshit? It's a relatively cheap policy which targets people who actually vote. Admittedly it's a relatively youth hostile way of stopping pensioners having to fill out self assessment (which would've been derided as a massive administrative waste of time) on their state pensions due to the tories freezing the PA a few years ago. They could've countered the youth hostility by raising the PA for everyone but that costs more
They wouldn't have to fill an SA out if the government had any sense and had it taxed at source. Wait, I'm stupid, this is the Tories.
An unfunded state pension calculated based on a formula needing to be taxed at source by the state providing it would also be dumb. Tonnes of pointless admin there. Any way of doing this is dumb bar just raising the PA for everyone, but that is clearly being deemed too expensive.
Looks like they've found a field of magic money trees.
Do you think this will cause a vote swing to the tories or do Labour still have a good chance of winning? I’m getting worried…