Why UK Labour lost? Part 5: Antisemitism
Originally posted onNick Kelly’s blog
International
uk politics
Why UK Labour lost? Part 4: Ooooh Jeremy Corbyn
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s blog
Why UK Labour lost? Part 3: Its Brexit innit
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s blog
Why UK Labour lost? Part 2: UK Labour’s Strange loyalty to First Past the Post.
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s Blog
Why UK Labour lost? Part 1: historical context
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s blog
Royal Move
It’s great to hear Prince Harry and Meghan quitting as senior royals and going off on their own. Maybe others in the Royal Family should think of doing the same.
Get out now
General Soleimani was visiting Iraq at the request of the Iraqi Prime Minister to discuss mediation between the US and Iran. Following his assassination by the US the Iraqi Parliament has voted to ask all foreign troops to leave the country. New Zealand’s remaining troops should bring forward their scheduled departure and leave immediately.
Goodbye 2019
Throughout the world 2019 was the worst year for the left since 1979. What will 2020 bring?
Why the Tories won the UK election?
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s blog
What Cheeto, Bojo and Scomo are up to
It has been a tough week for conservative leaders with Trump impeached and the evangelical magazine Christianity Today calling for his resignation, Johnson in the UK announcing voter fraud measures reminiscent of the American deep South, and in Australia Morrison being criticised for missing in action, upstaged by a 13 year old girl and pushing through protection for religious bigotry that Israel Folau would be pleased with.
The British Election result 2019
Democracy is a precious thing, and not something that can be taken for granted. Having an electoral system where every vote matters is crucial to creating a decent society. It is time that the UK started seriously debating electoral reform and how to improve its democratic systems.
How to counter angry boomer campaigns
The UK election was won not by Russian bots but by older voters with limited technical skills circulating poorly designed ads. What can be done in New Zealand to counter what is clearly a right wing campaign tactic?
Listening to left wing dissent
What stands out for me are the voices of the people who are saying actually, there were solid reasons for abandoning Labour, this is why I did. There’s something important here about really listening to dissent and being willing to engage with views that don’t make sense in the context of our own personal ideologies.
Is it better to deliver in Government or better to shine?
Let’s frame this in leftie terms: can you get in, do grunty policy moves, and stay popular?
Lefties on The Standard: UK election edition
A dedicated post on The Standard providing a discussion space for left-wing people only.
Free Broadband
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s blog
Brexit – sorry its not getting done anytime soon.
Can the Conservatives get brexit done by January 31st as they are promising in the election? The short answer is no. The slogan is catchy, and taps into public sentiment. But it is also pure unadulterated bullshit. If the Conservatives do form the next government these words will haunt them, especially Boris Johnson.
The Missing Millions
Millions of people and an entire region of the UK left out of polling calculations….
Bouganville and Brexit
The island of Bouganville has just had a vote towards independence from Papua New Guinea. The result has interesting similarities with the Brexit vote.
Pop Media Bullshit – another example.
It’s said that in times of war, the first casualty is truth. Well, since truth is taking such a pummeling these days, it follows that we are at war, no?
The NHS and privatisation
The NHS is well loved by the British public. It is seen as something which makes British society decent and civilised. That the NHS is now stretched and badly underfunded is seen as a national outrage. Fears of even further privatisation of the NHS due to a US trade deal has unsurprisingly made the NHS the number one election issue.
Crash ‘n Burn
A chuttering PM and…well, I guess being left speechless.
Northern Ireland’s precarious peace
On Friday, UK leader of the opposition revealed a leaked Treasury Paper which undermines the Prime Ministers claims that there will be no checks on goods moving between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. My earlier post on each of the party’s Brexit positions pointed out how critical Northern Ireland has been in the Brexit debate.
Can UK Labour do it?
Very unlikely. From the polls taken in the UK few hours ago, the Conservatives are in for an historic fourth consecutive term in Parliament.
The climate emergency and the UK election
The climate crisis is one of the greatest threats to life on our planet, and as Prime Minister Boris Johnson should have fronted this debate. By failing to do so, he has shown himself to be a weak and feeble leader. By not engaging on the critical issue of climate change, Boris Johnson has shown not only UK electors, but the world that he is a fool.
Scotland – does independence loom?
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s blog Scotland matters in the 2019 UK general election. Yet much of the electorate have little understanding of the […]
Right wing lies
New Zealand and the United Kingdom are both cursed with the right wing parties having the same advisors and similar means of campaigning
An Early Christmas.
Christian tradition dictates Christmas falls on the 25th of December. This year though, if we simply view Christmas through a lens of ‘good things happening’, then Christmas is coming early.
Youth and the aspirational centre
In 2017 UK general election, it was predicted that the Conservatives would win by a landslide. Why? Well the polls said so. The polls made various assumptions about turnout and which constituencies were marginal and likely to turn. Also commentators assumed that Labour under Corbyn had moved too far left, and could not win the centre ground and win. All of this commentary and analysis proved to be bullshit.
Time to become a republic
There are indications that Elizabeth the UK Queen may stand down from her office in the next two years. That may be the perfect time for Aotearoa New Zealand to cast aside constitutional provisions based on heredity and become constitutionally independent of the old country.
Protecting democracy
We need to normalise a political culture based on real relationships, where people can work through their beliefs and thinking about how they want society to be without being constantly bombarded with information and processes that are deeply anti-human.
Terror attack at London Bridge
With just over a week to go till the UK General Election, polls (which are questionable in reliability) show the race getting tighter. Expect lots of harsh word and dubious tactics. In all this, political operators shouldn’t forget that real people’s lives are impacted by events like terror attacks. Politicians from all sides need to think about their actions before trying to gain political points.
Immigration: we can’t keep succumbing to fear tactics
The folly of electoral pacts
Originally posted Nick Kelly’s blog One feature of the UK election has been various electoral alliances or deals done. This has mostly occurred […]
Economists support Labour forming the next UK government
One hundred and sixty three British economists have signed a letter to the Financial Times to say they believe that Labour should form […]
Social Media – A force for good?
Nick Kelly on the role of social media in the UK election.