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Do you think there will be a Deal or No Deal?


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Dobba

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When people say this government is very right wing, if we ignore the no deal Brexit situation (which isn't inherently left or right), what's the logic behind this?

The policies announced this far e.g. increasing teachers salaries to £30k starting, reintroduction of Nurse/Midwife bursaries, extra investment in new schools, funding for hospital upgrades, broadband upgrades etc seems far less right wing than previous administrations (plus spend on police and prisons which is generally standard centre right).

This is from a Libertarian so definitely not a Johnson fan.
I can do you a cracking deal on Tower Bridge.
 

finneh

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They’re trying to buy an election. As soon as that is won, based on their track records you can expect a sell off of public services the likes of which we’ve never seen.
isn't that just bribery for a forthcoming election? Whether the spending actually happens is another thing.
Your question is evidence of why those announcements were made. They're pre-election policy announcements wait until you see the actual manifesto. As for brexit not being left or right that's ridiculous.
All your replies are of course legitimate.

However it doesn't actually answer the question of why anyone would see them as a significant lurch to the right?
 

MadMike

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They’re trying to buy an election. As soon as that is won, based on their track records you can expect a sell off of public services the likes of which we’ve never seen.
Also, the terms "very right wing" and "very left wing" are sometimes used not to describe a party's economic policies, but other policies pertaining to the expression of nationalism, authoritarianism etc.
 

fergieisold

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Boris Johnson did make the letterbox and bank robbers comment, though. That's what people took issue with, and that's the statement that the Labour MP was explicitly making reference to.
He made the comment in a light hearted joke while defending their right to wear whatever the hell they like! Is comedy dead? By all accounts they do look a bit like letterboxes and bank robbers!
 

Abizzz

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When people say this government is very right wing, if we ignore the no deal Brexit situation (which isn't inherently left or right), what's the logic behind this?

The policies announced this far e.g. increasing teachers salaries to £30k starting, reintroduction of Nurse/Midwife bursaries, extra investment in new schools, funding for hospital upgrades, broadband upgrades etc seems far less right wing than previous administrations (plus spend on police and prisons which is generally standard centre right).

This is from a Libertarian so definitely not a Johnson fan.
If everyone in the government is very right wing how can the government be something else? The PM, the leader of the house, all other ministers, aren't they all known to be right wing?
 

hobbers

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All your replies are of course legitimate.

However it doesn't actually answer the question of why anyone would see them as a significant lurch to the right?
Because a lot of people fail to separate brexit from everything else.

If you ignore Brexit, a Borris led tory party would probably be the same brand of "liberal conservatism" as Cameron.
 

finneh

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Also, the terms "very right wing" and "very left wing" are sometimes used not to describe a party's economic policies, but other policies pertaining to the expression of nationalism, authoritarianism etc.
Surely that's a bit tenuous given that both of those features have been facets of both the left and the right historically?

If everyone in the government is very right wing how can the government be something else? The PM, the leader of the house, all other ministers, aren't they all known to be right wing?
Historically I thought Johnson was generally centre right (Brexit aside)? Laissez-faire, liberal attitude to immigration, pro extra government spending etc.

Because a lot of people fail to separate brexit from everything else.

If you ignore Brexit, a Borris led tory party would probably be the same brand of "liberal conservatism" as Cameron.
This is my thought. On paper Johnson seems far more centrist than Osbourne for example. Seems strange that people believe he's even right of Cameron let alone Osbourne or Farage.
 

Pexbo

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When people say this government is very right wing, if we ignore the no deal Brexit situation (which isn't inherently left or right), what's the logic behind this?

The policies announced this far e.g. increasing teachers salaries to £30k starting, reintroduction of Nurse/Midwife bursaries, extra investment in new schools, funding for hospital upgrades, broadband upgrades etc seems far less right wing than previous administrations (plus spend on police and prisons which is generally standard centre right).

This is from a Libertarian so definitely not a Johnson fan.
Token promises they began making as soon as Boris got into power to make a grab for any leave leaning Labour and Lib Dem voters who might be struggling to vote Tory. They’ve been angling towards a general election from the moment he got in and with an obviously right wind cabinet on paper they knew they would have to make a few gestures for general public support.
 

finneh

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Token promises they began making as soon as Boris got into power to make a grab for any leave leaning Labour and Lib Dem voters who might be struggling to vote Tory. They’ve been angling towards a general election from the moment he got in and with an obviously right wind cabinet on paper they knew they would have to make a few gestures for general public support.
Again I can't see a reason to label the government right wing when everything they're saying is left of their predecessors. You could comfortably say you think they're lying, or that it's electioneering.

It's like someone saying they have £10m in the bank and someone else who did not believe them replying "you're poor". There's nowhere near enough info to make that jump.
 

MadMike

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Surely that's a bit tenuous given that both of those features have been facets of both the left and the right historically?
Correct, and? Authoritarianism is behaviour observed at the extremes. Are you saying that the Tories have become so socialist that they're verging on socialist authoritarianism? Surely not.

Historically I thought Johnson was generally centre right (Brexit aside)? Laissez-faire, liberal attitude to immigration, pro extra government spending etc.
Liberal attitude to immigration? Did you see the posters they used on the Leave campaign and fear-mongering they did over that?
 
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BobbyManc

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He made the comment in a light hearted joke while defending their right to wear whatever the hell they like! Is comedy dead? By all accounts they do look a bit like letterboxes and bank robbers!
Firstly, why did you originally challenge the accuracy of the statement when you evidently knew full well Johnson made those comments?

Secondly, never underestimate the importance of language. It was inevitable that a leading political figure using such language would only embolden bigots.

Islamophobic incidents rose by 375 per cent in the week after Boris Johnson compared veiled Muslim women to “letterboxes”, research has shown.

Monitoring group Tell Mama said the Daily Telegraph column written by the now-prime minister was followed by the biggest spike in anti-Muslim hatred in 2018, as his words were repeated by racists abusing Muslims on the street and online.

In the three weeks after the article was published last August, 42 per cent of offline Islamophobic incidents reported “directly referenced Boris Johnson and/or the language used in his column”, a report said.


Many were directed at visibly Muslim women who wore the niqab or other veils, who were called “letterboxes” and “ninjas”.

Online abuse reported to Tell Mama repeated the same words or incorporated them into pictures and memes that were sent to Muslims online.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...terboxes-burqa-islamphobia-rise-a9088476.html

I also worry about someone who would describe the comment that people wearing the hijab/burka resemble letterboxes and bank robbers as "comedy". Not because it's offensive, but because if that makes you laugh then your sense of humour must be pitiful. It's the sort of thing a few 12 year olds might find mildly amusing.
 

finneh

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Correct, and? Are you saying that the Tories have become so socialist that they're verging on socialist authoritarianism? Surely not.
Just to clarify I wasn't agreeing with the premise, I was merely stating that those facets aren't a specific left or right issue.

Liberal attitude to immigration? Did you see the posters they used on the Leave campaign and fear-mongering they did over that?
I'm going from what Johnson has said previously in his career.

The leave campaign is like any campaign (campaign not individual). They will say anything that they believe will increase their chances of winning.

The Labour campaign are likely say they can get a fantastic deal from the EU that allows restricted immigration with all the positives of single market membership. I'd be exceptionally naive to think Corbyn believed that.
 

Smores

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He made the comment in a light hearted joke while defending their right to wear whatever the hell they like! Is comedy dead? By all accounts they do look a bit like letterboxes and bank robbers!
Yeah let's all joke about the appearance of minorities HAHA just Bantz in it LAD LAD LAD.
 

SteveJ

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Well Johnson would know a thing or two about robbery.
 

MadMike

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Just to clarify I wasn't agreeing with the premise, I was merely stating that those facets aren't a specific left or right issue.
You don't have to agree with the premise. It is a thing regardless.

A socialist party that becomes more authoritarian and controlling, is one we say has moved to the far left. And a right party that becomes authoritarian, nationalist, racist is moving to the far right. You move too far on either direction and you get totalitarianism.

But you have to move to towards an extreme, and Tories have moved in that direction. They have PM that's called people piccaninnies while women in burqas were likened to bin bags ffs. It's being run by the campaign director of Leave, that chose to use these posters.
 

caid

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Current conservative government is blatantly right wing because they have a history longer than a couple of weeks ago when they made lots of nice election promises. Boris Johnson isn't, he's in favour of himself and nothing else. He's tied his cart to the hard right of the party though, so thats what your going to get from him for the time being.
And 'leaving brexit aside' is silly, its the only political conversation you've had in the last 4 years, what else is there talk about?
 

Guy Incognito

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Interesting article in the Prospect about the Brexit Fiasco. Worth a read.

https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/peter-foster-brexit-longread
Interesting.

For all of May's faults, she did put something on the table which many (including myself) thought would never happen. But parliament made sure it never saw the light of day. Now if she had bothered to do cross party consultations earlier and came up with some sort of consensus, we'd have made some progress.

As it is i dread another election...
 

JulesWinnfield

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And yet all the ERG members who rebelled on May was also essentially a vote of confidence.....

Interesting.

For all of May's faults, she did put something on the table which many (including myself) thought would never happen. But parliament made sure it never saw the light of day. Now if she had bothered to do cross party consultations earlier and came up with some sort of consensus, we'd have made some progress.

As it is i dread another election...
History will judge May's deal kindly I think - though a lot of what she did up to that point also made the situation far worse than it had to be, and her election campaign of no deal is better than a bad deal basically started off all the no deal rhetoric.

But her deal is really the best its going to get. The likelihood is Boris Johnson will win an election, and no deal will be enacted. It's just a matter of when.
 
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Ekkie Thump

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He made the comment in a light hearted joke while defending their right to wear whatever the hell they like! Is comedy dead? By all accounts they do look a bit like letterboxes and bank robbers!
No he didn't. He used them as epithets of ridicule and threat in order to emphasise as well as he could his position. IE that he finds the niqab/burka ridiculous and oppressive, feels businesses and people in authority should be entitled to ask for their removal during professional interaction but that a blanket ban would be counterproductive and set dangerous precedent.
 

Raees

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@finneh it’s one thing saying something pre election and to avoid scrutiny - it’s another to have it as actual policy and for it to be put into action.

This Tory government has been very right wing not just on Brexit but in terms of the way it has cut spending all over the shop knowing full well the poorest in society have been hit the hardest... not to mention the way they handled Grenfall which was symbolic of their utter contempt for people of a different race and social class to themselves.

We’ve had 9 years of Tory government to know their word means feck all. Left and liberal my ass.
 

Full bodied red

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And yet all the ERG members who rebelled on May was also essentially a vote of confidence.....



History will judge May's deal kindly I think - though a lot of what she did up to that point also made the situation far worse than it had to be, and her election campaign of no deal is better than a bad deal basically started off all the no deal rhetoric.

But her deal is really the best its going to get. The likelihood is Boris Johnson will win an election, and no deal will be enacted. It's just a matter of when.

Yes....I know I said I'd stay out of your thread, but -

Feck - I hope so !!
 

Kentonio

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Out of touch with what's happening today and only catching up now, but there was an article in thejournal.ie this morning with a tweet that said Cummings got pissed last night and was hounding Corbyn for an election.
Yup and today Boris has been calling Corbyn ‘frit’ and ‘chicken’. Because apparently our country is led by grown ups..
 

Adisa

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Blaming the Chief Whip when his CoS had been briefing about it for over a week. Cnut!