Rayvin

I'm not expecting Labour to saunter into power and immediately restore us to the EU. I am demanding truth. What concerns me about Labour, I suppose more than anything, is that they haven't learned their lesson from 2010. They are still running scared of the right wing press, amending policy in response to it, and attempting to ride of the coat tails of narratives they didn't create and don't believe in. As long as they do that, they will simply never be able to be as effective and convincing as the Tories can be over the long term. I don't think we have to be ashamed of the fact that we have the views we do. I don't think we are wrong. It depresses me that we have to go through this farce and it genuinely worries me for the future, because it means that the right is setting the agenda. As they did with Brexit and austerity. As for the GE, I'm not sure how I'd react if Labour lose but I guarantee you that it wont come down to my vote which will be utterly meaningless wherever I cast it, as it always has been. This is bigger than the next GE though - you said yourself this could run on for the rest of our working lives. When is the right time to try and improve that? How much of our lives do we waste placating idiots? I just can't man.

All that may be true, but I want to express my dismay for a moment at how powerless we are in all of this. For all NJS listed those Brexit surveys as a warning that it wasn't as clear cut as we like to think, 40+% of people want to rejoin. It should not be taboo or difficult for Labour to find a way to win on that platform. At the very least, we should feel confident that we have the power to create some movement on it. In fact, we could do it through a fucking electoral pact as the data appears to show. But the appetite isn't there, Labour dont want to do it. It isn't impossible, they just don't want to. They're sticking to the decisions they made on analysis of their electoral data and they're counting on the fact that people like you are too socially conscious to make a stand. They're not dealing with the real issues, they're just taking people like us for granted to try and woo the fuckwits who got us into this mess in the first place. We are informed, aware, and compassionate voters who are being told that we can't have the reality we want because we're not dangerously ignorant and can be trusted to make a sacrifice for everyone else. I reject this position fundamentally and deeply. It entrenches the malaise, the despair and the direction. Aside from anything else, as you said yourself, there are no big ideas. We need a fucking direction in this country, and we need it pretty urgently. We cannot keep accepting the bar lowering.

So none of this article was a big surprise to me because rightly or wrongly it was what I had assumed Labour's position to be, but with my views on this, how I can vote for them?

I'm confused, won't this torpedo Labours chances of winning the election? I like Lammy, he gets an incredible amount of bullshit from right wing fuckwits and stands up and is counted despite it. Grateful to him for doing so here.

Yep, we can just let the ammosexuals crack on. Shame for the US but what can we do really.

That's HMHM mate. C'mon Fish, you're better than this.

I really think we could manage this if Labour would just get out ahead of it. The Tories hammered down to 100 seats man. I mean you've just said you want a stronger LD here, and I agree, but if they got much stronger than this they'd be the second biggest party. We can dream indeed but at some point, surely, someone has to actually make this happen.

I just went looking for polls to see how Labour were doing and came across this utterly delightful spectacle: https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/blogs/ec_constsoc_20220523.html This is what the outcome looks like based on a proper electoral pact: Party 2019 Votes 2019 Seats Predicted Votes Predicted Seats Change CON 44.7% 365 33% 101 −264 LAB 33.0% 203 42% 393 +190 LIB 11.8% 11 8% 71 +60 Green 2.8% 1 2% 17 +16 Reform 2.1% 0 4% 0 0 SNP 4.0% 48 4% 48 0 Plaid 0.5% 4 1% 2 −2

I mean I agree, as I just said, I don't think it's actually working. People are genuinely starting to get pretty fucked off with Johnson, even amongst his 'base'.

They'll certainly try their best to pin it on Labour. I know it's not a complete metric for all Tory voters but I checked the Mail earlier and while plenty of them (all) still hate Labour, there is genuinely no love whatsoever for Johnson and this government. Plenty calling him out as a liar, and some starting to demand a new political system given the impossibility of voting for either party. I'm not sure how well any of their attempts to stick this at Labour's door are landing. Maybe people can understand the strike since actually, we are all suffering.

This sounds to me to be bang on the money. I think people like True Geordie can get away with this stuff because he's got the personality to go with it, and he's built up over years, diversified, really put together a pretty high end show. This lad on the other hand doesn't seem entertaining in and of himself, and that's ultimately what'll kill him - so I agree, either he has access which makes him watchable, or he has personality which makes him watchable. Without either, he's fucked - for exactly the reason you've set out, IMO.

Is he actually getting anywhere with that channel? I'm assuming that his long term angle is to pass some minimum threshold after which the club will kind of acknowledge him and give him access to players/whoever to a higher degree. But then equally, they seem to be doing a decent job of all that themselves anyway, I've seen a number of player interviews lately, straight from the club itself. Not exactly sure where this kid fits into all of it tbh, at least while he's so focused on the club itself. Maybe he could have some success speaking to younger fans on matchday experiences or whatever but that's about as charitable as I think I can possibly be in terms of his prospects.

Anyway aye - would be disappointing if we only came away with Pope and Targett. There is basically no chance of that happening though.

This is more the sort of stuff Bob gets mixed up in

Tbf to Bob, he's a regular in the guardian comment section - probably the most well known one from our fanbase - and he spends a lot of his time defending the club from all manner of bullshit. I do think he gets himself tied into knots a bit at times but he's put himself into a situation where he's pretty constantly under fire on the clubs behalf. So I kinda get it. And honestly he knows you're right too I would wager.

Agreed on all of that. And yes, but moving back to Newcastle soon, at last. As much as I would probably hop over the border again if there was an EU angle to it, I miss Newcastle and my friends there. Life is too short to be away from people you love.

Any economic pain is worth freedom and sovereignty mate Maybe you're right on the PR thing, that could be an interesting development. But then if I'm voting in it, I would still vote leave for the EU.

I was always under the impression that the SNP would do basically anything for another crack at independence. Giving us a final attempt to save ourselves by introducing PR before they disappear into the sunset would be an agreeable way for our relationship with Scotland to come to an end. A coherent electoral strategy for PR and coalition would inevitably bring me back into voting for whatever made that successful. A true left/centre alliance would be worth crossing some red lines for and would probably lock out the Tories for a generation if done well. Forever if it ended with PR.

The more I think about it, the more I think this window almost has to be a frustrating one if we are to avoid being seen as a Man City style entity. It's going to take clubs seeing us walk away from decent players because of them taking the piss, for this notion that we're easy money to be kicked off the table.

Yeah I'm kinda surprised by that but I can understand why we did it. Only slight annoyance is that I don't really think the other alternatives we've been linked with look particularly good - wonder who we'll move onto next. This may also help us secure Botman tbh, if Lille see we're not messing around.

Has there been any more talk about PR since one of the unions went into it? I was sort of hoping that might stack into a concerted policy shift but I've not seen anything further on it. Maybe they're just feeling it out with the public I suppose.

Aye he's done well everywhere I've seen him. Although I would say that the questioning has been so shocking that I'm tempted to argue he's had a fairly easy job in some respects. Morgan questioning him about thunderbirds was just bizarre.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61789443 Lynn Fitch, who seems to be an Attorney General in the US, has claimed she is empowering women by getting rid of Roe vs Wade. It will "remove the false choice between career and children. Women can have both" I had to read this several times to make sure I actually understood what was being said, it's that ridiculous.

Aye I mean, ours isn't that low tbh Would have raised some eyebrows if they'd put it up I think. I thought Ashley had been locking prices in place for years?

Yeah I think this is a far better outcome than Henderson so I'm pleased to see it. Not sure this is as key a position to cover as the club seem to have decided, but more depth is never a bad thing, and this is quality depth.