Identity politics makes it worse. Division and segregation. It does nothing but fuel hatred and suspicion.
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When it comes to voting in an election you either vote for the same party all the time or leap around like cat on a hotplate.
The one thing you can’t do is treat it like a pick and mix.
The yanks last time round were between a rock and a hard place. If I was a yank I’d have voted Trump purely as I have a complete mistrust and dislike of the Clintons, who seem to be like most American politicians just in it for themselves.
I’ve always voted the same way as I wouldn’t trust the others in any way, shape or form, largely due, I admit, to what I experienced in my childhood and the almost blanket power handed to trades unions and the buffoons running them at the time (we still have similar today), which IMO was an insult to the people who struggled to get better conditions and formed the precursors of trades unions in the 18th Century.
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People choose news outlets which agree with their world view and protest strongly against those who don’t. That’s why news services like the Daily Mail, The Guardian or any of the Tabloids still survive, they are all politically skewed but that’s what people want. “I’m a racist, but it’s ok because the Daily Mail agrees with my view point”* or “I don’t understand how economics work why can’t we just tax the rich and give me more free stuff, the guardian thinks it’s a good idea too”**
You remember the protests in the run up to the election where all the lefties were buying towns out of the Daily Mail and having bonfires so that no one could read it. (Not sure they understand Article 9 or 10 of the ECHR unless it’s them who is being stifled).
*i’m not actually a racist
**I do understand how economics works
The term racist is one that is banded around with gay abandon by people because it’s what they hear others say. There are only a very, very few hardlined racists around at any one time, mostly the people branded as such are those who see immigrants coming into the country and being given things and speak out. But I’d bet they all have friends who are of different ethnic extraction and spend good times with them and in time will become friends with the new immigrants. I don’t like the way people come into any country and get given things, when people born there go without as they don’t fill exacting eligibility criteria. I think this is wrong on all levels. I bloke I worked with has been trying to get to Australia to live near his only daughter, but he has to tick so many boxes and he said I’d be better off just turning up on a beach somewhere as I’d get in much easier than doing it the official way.
I and others were branded a racist at work by the cleaners as we voted ‘Leave’ in the EU referendum.
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in the central belt of scotland,
It does seem to be since the independence referendum you are defined by who you voted for with the EU referendum just making the division even more wider…
The problem we have is we no longer have REAL politicians who represent the people. In my opinion parties at present
Labour do what Unite tell them
Tories do what big business tell them
Lib Dems only interested in Europe and being in a european superstate
SNP destroying the UK
Greens, a protest part interested in making the world greener and more PC
until we get politicians who are properly interested in the people before the party interest, we will continue to have this merry go round!
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It doesn’t help that party leadership candidates have never or don’t seem to have had real jobs that people can relate to.
IIRC Corbyn worked for a newspaper after leaving school and then became a union rep and councillor in London and various protest / polifical groups
May worked in banking before coming into politics,
Cable various govt departments
Apart from May working in a bank, the others are not things that people would identify with as real jobs. You see people working in banks, you don’t see govt gnomes day in day out.
But then there are a lot of graduates who join parties in research roles or similar and end up getting nominated for seats and eventually get into Parliament.
One of the things that galls me are councillors. These should be spare time activities that people do, not jobs as they fast become detached from what is really going on.
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MML… that I’m a “‘New’ User Of the Month”
I havent been new for a long, long time!
It snowed this morning.
Granted, fleetingly, and at more than 600m at about 6am this morning, but did snow…
It has been horribly cold all day - lumpy, cold rain with a cold, brisk breeze and some cold, watery sunshine thrown in for good measure.
If you want to know why this makes me laugh, well, despite all the challenges of keeping my utterly brain-dead and often suicidal sheep alive over the winter, I love winter.
We gave up on sheep for this very reason!! Glad to hear they are still as brain dead as ever!!! Lol
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We should have gone to Goats…
The Scottish Blackface have proved hardier than their desire to die than the old flock - Shropshires, Kerry Hill and Eppnyt Hill - and they’ve saved us a fortune in winter fodder, but they are, sadly, still sheep…
The Belted Galloway’s have been brilliant, they are really easy to work with, and they cope amazingly with the winter, even up on the 600m land - we’ve had a good calf rate out of them as well and we think we’ll get a decent price for them when they go to market next spring.
I think we’ll ditch the sheep in a few years, we’ve been fortunate with this herd but as you know every year is a knife edge in terms of the price you get for them. we see Goat as being an increasing market, they’ll cope with the conditions and yield, and we won’t have to shear the buggers.
The revelations that people put money into offshore accounts / tax havens, is this really news? Who cares, other than some Guardianista / other politician trying to avoid the potential limelight of recent days.
Everyone I know who works for themselves pays an accountant lots to find ways to not pay tax. It should be our duty to keep as much of our money for ourselves as possible.
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Non payment of car tax and risen massively since they did away with the old tax discs and I bet this will mean less with MOTs and insurance.
I would laugh. But look at how much time money and effort that was wasted that could have been used more productively.
This money isn’t free. It’s my tax money.
It’s a shame we can’t opt out of society and stop paying for all this crap.
They should put all of the tax on fuel instead, and spend the money saved on checking VED directly on checking and enforcing insurance and MOTs.
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I’ve thought this for years, but it seems far too simple and doesn’t need to employ hundreds if not thousands of paper shufflers. The unions wouldn’t like that.
Insurance and MOT are all registered online now, as far as I’m aware, so no need to have people physically checking.
I’d sooner have Mr Plod catching scumbags like the ones who recently ransacked a friend’s house, rather than sitting in a car waiting for some poor hapless soul going a bit faster than they should and might have forgotten to get their car taxed etc.
I pay more than enough for my fuel thank you!
Stop punishing me for other people. Punish the people doing the crime.
Maybe if the police stopped wasting money on “diversity budgets” and painting cars they could spend that money on, you know, actual police work.
Vehicle Excise Licence is nothing to do with the Police it’s administered and enforced by HMRC, you know since it’s a Tax.
Taxation is theft.
Why can’t I opt out of society.
You can, just emigrate to somewhere else
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Why should I have to move, just to be taxed by them.
Tax sets you free.