Timing

[cromwell]

Sparked by something Meds said.
Timing has a lot to do with success in politics, hasn't it?
John Major won an election in 1992 because the Tories had knifed Margaret Thatcher. Major was out of the way recuperating from having his wisdom teeth out whilst all the Heseltine bloodletting went on - nice timing.
The in 1997 Tony Blair won a massive majority in the election. But really, Labour could have been led by Mickey the Monkey and they would have still won. The Tories had been in for 18 years and the national mood was very much "let the other lot have a go". Blair got lucky; if John Smith had been alive Blair would be a minor figure in political history.
Then Gordon Brown; he was going to be a great Prime Minister. When Blair finally stepped down, Brown stepped up - and walked straight into the global financial crash of 2008. Unlucky timing!
Conversely Cameron walked into the Tory leadership and into a minority government in 2010, after Labour had been in for 13 years and the Brown government had been torpedoed by him calling an ordinary Labour voter a bigot. Lucky Dave!
Then Johnson gets the job after the May had contrived to lose the Tories parliamentary majority.
And he walks into Covid. Oh dear.
I don't know who will win the next election but I'm not sure that they will like having to deal with the situation that they inherit!

[Workingman]

Timing eh? Without much effort I could make out a good case for no party, except maybe the Greens, wanting to win the next general election, but I cannot be bothered.

Since I turned 18 I have voted in every election when I have been eligible but the time is right for me to abstain at the next GE as it has become a pointless exercise. Populism has overtaken from policies. I will not even do a NOTA as spoiled ballot papers are counted, and that would make it look as though I give a fig: I don't!

[TheOstrich]

The quotation "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" comes to mind.

I was speculating elsewhere that our Jeremy could have made a better fist of the Covid crisis than BoJo. But had Jeremy got it, and the outrageous crisis had been, say, Kim letting one off, or some other world catastrophe, we might well have wanted Boris at the helm than the Hard Left. As you say, Crommers, it's all down to "fortune" .....

I've not voted for quite a while now. Reality dictates I no longer have a dog in that fight (if in fact, to be honest, I ever did).

[Suff]

Ossie, Corbyn couldn't have won without a coalition. Timing? Brexit and Covid in a divided Government? It is bad enough as it is, that timing could have been a real catastrophe. I'm not sure how much you would have liked Sturgeon pulling the strings and the voice coming out of Corbyn?

[cromwell]

I've not voted for quite a while now. Reality dictates I no longer have a dog in that fight (if in fact, to be honest, I ever did).

I feel increasingly like this Os. For years it has not been a question of which party wildly enthuses me, more a case of who I dislike the least. I have always voted in a GE (and most other elections) but next time I don't know if I will bother. You always end up feeling let down.

[Workingman]

I've not voted for quite a while now. Reality dictates I no longer have a dog in that fight (if in fact, to be honest, I ever did).

I feel increasingly like this Os. For years it has not been a question of which party wildly enthuses me, more a case of who I dislike the least.

And that's the big problem. I'm a Remainer / Rejoiner and you guys are Quitters / Leavers.

If we all feel the same and will not budge what hope is there?

Will it be decided on the streets or in the ballot box? I really am worried.

[cromwell]

It may be the streets WM. Increasingly amongst the young there is an attitude of no toleration of anyone else's point of view.
Plus the top police are obviously very partial about which rules they enforce re street protest, depending on whose protest it is. XR shutting down Leeds city centre for five days? They look the other way. Ant-vaxxers in London? The police get stuck into them.
Things could also change as the demographic of the country changes. But if it changes into becoming even less tolerant than we are now then that isn't going to be good.

[Suff]

And that's the big problem. I'm a Remainer / Rejoiner and you guys are Quitters / Leavers.

I am so misunderstood. I am for Brexit. I am also FOR re-joining the EU under ALL rules, with NO exceptions. That means transaction tax on London, Schengen, the Euro, full budgetary control of the EU over UK fiscal deficit and all the rest of it.

But here is the point. Only and I mean ONLY, if the people vote for it and that all of these issues are open and above board on the table when they do.

The main reason I was for Brexit in the first place was the fact that the EU and what it wants and really is, is hidden from the UK people. If the people of the UK want that; then I see no reason why they should not have it.

My assessment is that the people of the UK, at least 75% of them, don NOT want this. Therefore we should stop everyone lying about it, start telling it exactly as it is and then, should the people of the UK want that, then go join it.

[Workingman]

I only used Remain / Quit as ONE example of the issues that divide us. It was not an invitation to reopen the B argument.

We have the IndyRef thing in Scotland, the North / South divide, the wealth / poverty gap and so on separating us.

When / if the jobs situation goes the way many predict and there are millions of us on the breadline things will go to the streets. The improvements and introduction of automation, robotics and AI meant that many jobs were going to be lost starting in the next few years and going forward. The timing of Covid and Brexit combined has brought those things closer, probably by decades.

Under the old system we at least had time to take steps to mitigate some of the worst outcomes; that breathing space has gone. The baby steps of not conforming have manifest themselves on the beaches, at raves, street parties, no masks, no social distancing, not dispersing when the pubs shut, etc.and they are only over a few pandemic rules. I will not take much of a push for things to turn into (violent) protests once economic and real freedoms are curtailed.

[Suff]

Sorry I won't re-open it.

Anyway, I'm for a separated Scotland if only so I don't have to hear about how much money we get and don't deserve. But, not under Sturgeon! She lost my vote.

You also missed another trigger.

Right now the fantasy is that you can pay everyone not to work, let businesses go bust, borrow till the cows come home and nobody will have to pay more taxes and there will be no Austerity.

When that one comes home to roost, there will be blood on the streets.