Afternoon music
Battles past
Tweets seen
Polly Toynbee represents a certain bloc of voters, though a small one; the “Labour”/LibDem bien-pensants of Blackheath, Hampstead, and Highgate who actually read not only the Guardian but also Observer, who mock the poorer British people concerned about, inter alia, migration-invasion, crime, and houses given to useless migrant-invaders and/or other blacks, browns and feral white hordes while real British people suffer.
That bloc either went to Oxford or Cambridge, or failing that to Durham University or Exeter, and want their children and grandchildren to go there (before joining the BBC, Foreign Office or maybe SIS, or becoming barristers, solicitors or doctors). Oh, and of course profess “liberal” values that are rooted not really in philosophy or ideology, but more in family trust funds, high salaries, and ownership of houses…
For as long as I can remember, Polly Toynbee has been the standard-bearer for that bloc, and wrong most (90%+) of the time.
Anyone who votes “Labour” imagining that it will be better or even much different from the Sunak misgovernment has not been paying attention.
From the newspapers
In terms of cultural degeneracy, the UK has now outstripped the Weimar Republic. If and when the UK has a real government, a massive cultural (and other) purge will be unavoidable.
More tweets seen
I have not seen any tweeter or other explain why the one-time Melissa Hadjicostas changed her name to the absurd “Jack Monroe”. God knows why; I don’t.
More from the newspapers
“The Tories are facing electoral oblivion in the red wall as a shock poll reveals they will lose every single seat.
Polling from Electoral Calculus, shared with The Independent, reveals all 42 red wall seats held by the Conservatives are set to return to Labour at the next general election.
The scale of the rebellion against the government appears to in part be driven by the spiralling cost of living, with a separate analysis seen by The Independent showing the crisis is having a devastating impact on Tory-held seats in the red wall.
Almost two-thirds of voters believe the economy to be one of the top three issues facing the country, putting it significantly ahead of health and immigration, YouGov polling shows.
…while the economic figures “underline” the struggle in voters in those areas for the Conservatives, the prospect of the party holding on to power in the general election is already “not likely”.
Nationally, Electoral Calculus predicts a landslide Labour victory, winning around 460 seats, with the Conservatives reduced to just 90 seats.”
[The Independent]
A loss of the 42 “Red Wall” seats (which seems almost inevitable after the total collapse of the Government’s credibility on immigration and health) cannot be prevented even were the economy overall to improve. Any such improvement is unlikely to trickle down (to coin a phrase) to most of the people in those 42 areas.
In theory, the Conservative Party could lose all 42 “Red Wall” seats and still have a Commons majority of 35-40, but in reality the Government’s standing is so damaged across the country that the best that they can hope for, and at present even that seems unlikely.
Not that there is —or will be— much enthusiasm for Labour under Starmer, Reeves, and Yvette Cooper, but there is really no reason why one-time Labour voters who voted Con in 2019 would go out and vote Con in 2024; none at all. Indeed, there is little incentive even for long-term Conservative Party voters to do so. That being so, Labour may well triumph by default.
Late tweets
Almost twice the area of Hyde Park.
Late music
Ian Robert Millard 