PMQ - Boris v Starmer - Spider And The Fly

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Bognor Seagull

Active member
Dec 2, 2011
890
Individual PMQs, you're quite right, but there is a slow, inexorable accumulation that turns itself into its own narrative. We're nowhere near that yet, although there is a heightened attention on things now for obvious reasons. As many have pointed out, a sparse parliament and our grim setting plays well to Starmer's style, and not to Johnson's bluster. The real pivot moment will come when parliament is packed again, and whether Starmer can sustain his momentum and adapt to the new circumstances. He's clearly got the upper hand currently, and Johnson's absence this week was a recognition of this. That changes the dynamic of how each of them approaches the next and future PMQs.

As to your other post, I'm not convinced that everyone is entrenched in their position. For all his faults and strategic ineptitude, Corbyn wasn't dreadful at PMQs (the public actually got a chance to hear him speak for a start), but he rarely laid a glove on his opposite number and, unlike Starmer, never showed that he could think on his feet. That's a nuanced reading of things, whereas Starmer has just been mightily impressive, which is why this thread has attracted so much interest.

Back to your initial point, this hasn't fed through to the public yet, as a poll released today still shows comfortable approval for Johnson's handling of the crisis (crises often have this rallying effect, especially as he's still getting the sympathy vote). You won't be surprised to think that I find this bizarre and unwarranted, but it's not surprising when you're aware of what previous polls have indicated (plus factor in rallying and sympathy).

I actually feel sorry for our Brighton & Islington lefties - trying to hang onto a crumb of supposed comfort.
If the LibDems got their act together - Labour would become even less relevant than they already are, unless you are a recent immigrant

Covid19 has gripped the UK to such an awful degree due to decades of unfettered immigration, propelled to ever greater levels by successive governments, to brow beaten by the left wing rabble rousers to protect its own citizens. I'm not saying immigrants caused the outbreak, but our once worryingly big population of 60m in the 80's is now rapidly soaring towards 80m, this is the real issue. This tiny slab of land cannot support that amount of densely packed in people, it's the great unsaid but blatantly obvious !! Is it therefore any wonder that a virus has caused such carnage, the majority of the public, the silent majority, have been crying out for years for a crack down on the sheer weight of numbers streaming in, time now for the government to act !! Just to reiterate the appalling state of our immigration policy, last year, a record year, non EU immigration topped 260k, these are people who have no right to come here, but still they come ! Enough is enough !!!

Sort it out Boris. Get Brexit done. Labour will be finished.
 


Mellotron

I've asked for soup
Jul 2, 2008
32,479
Brighton
Individual PMQs, you're quite right, but there is a slow, inexorable accumulation that turns itself into its own narrative. We're nowhere near that yet, although there is a heightened attention on things now for obvious reasons. As many have pointed out, a sparse parliament and our grim setting plays well to Starmer's style, and not to Johnson's bluster. The real pivot moment will come when parliament is packed again, and whether Starmer can sustain his momentum and adapt to the new circumstances. He's clearly got the upper hand currently, and Johnson's absence this week was a recognition of this. That changes the dynamic of how each of them approaches the next and future PMQs.

As to your other post, I'm not convinced that everyone is entrenched in their position. For all his faults and strategic ineptitude, Corbyn wasn't dreadful at PMQs (the public actually got a chance to hear him speak for a start), but he rarely laid a glove on his opposite number and, unlike Starmer, never showed that he could think on his feet. That's a nuanced reading of things, whereas Starmer has just been mightily impressive, which is why this thread has attracted so much interest.

Back to your initial point, this hasn't fed through to the public yet, as a poll released today still shows comfortable approval for Johnson's handling of the crisis (crises often have this rallying effect, especially as he's still getting the sympathy vote). You won't be surprised to think that I find this bizarre and unwarranted, but it's not surprising when you're aware of what previous polls have indicated (plus factor in rallying and sympathy).

This. To suggest that Starmer hasn’t been battering Johnson so far would be disingenuous to the point of slight childishness.

Even a number of the Tory papers have acknowledged the dynamic shift. Only really the Express who are hilariously carrying on and pretending everything is going great.
 
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Garry Nelson's teacher

Well-known member
May 11, 2015
5,257
Bloody Worthing!
I actually feel sorry for our Brighton & Islington lefties - trying to hang onto a crumb of supposed comfort.
If the LibDems got their act together - Labour would become even less relevant than they already are, unless you are a recent immigrant

Covid19 has gripped the UK to such an awful degree due to decades of unfettered immigration, propelled to ever greater levels by successive governments, to brow beaten by the left wing rabble rousers to protect its own citizens. I'm not saying immigrants caused the outbreak, but our once worryingly big population of 60m in the 80's is now rapidly soaring towards 80m, this is the real issue. This tiny slab of land cannot support that amount of densely packed in people, it's the great unsaid but blatantly obvious !! Is it therefore any wonder that a virus has caused such carnage, the majority of the public, the silent majority, have been crying out for years for a crack down on the sheer weight of numbers streaming in, time now for the government to act !! Just to reiterate the appalling state of our immigration policy, last year, a record year, non EU immigration topped 260k, these are people who have no right to come here, but still they come ! Enough is enough !!!

Sort it out Boris. Get Brexit done. Labour will be finished.

Well old son, you are certainly doing your bit to make the UK a less attractive place so more power to your elbow.
 


Gwylan

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
31,830
Uffern
That's quite a rant: now let's look at actual facts

I'm not saying immigrants caused the outbreak, but our once worryingly big population of 60m in the 80's is now rapidly soaring towards 80m, this is the real issue.

Current population is 66.65m - the population has grown by about 10m since 1981; at current levels of growth it will take about 40 years to reach, that's an interesting definition of 'rapidly'

This tiny slab of land cannot support that amount of densely packed in people

It's hard to quantify the amount of land that's built on but most estimate suggest somewhere between 90 and 95% of land is not built on. This BBC story from eight years ago suggests 2.27%, and the picture hasn't changed that much.

Just to reiterate the appalling state of our immigration policy, last year, a record year, non EU immigration topped 260k

You may want to look at what party has been in power for the last ten years: in 2009 (last full year that Labour was in government, net non-EU migration was 184,000. And you're out with your figures, net non-EU migration last year topped 280,000 - the highest figure since they've been recording numbers.

So, under the Conservatives it's risen by nearly 100,000. You seem mightily confused: if non-EU migration is your big issue, surely you'd be wanting Labour in.

You may also want to look at the reason why the immigration figures are so high. The simple fact is that we don't have enough kids -the birth rate is 1.79, 50 years ago it was 2.44 (the fabled 2.4 children). Once the number falls below two, we're not reproducing enough, the net effect of which is an ageing population (that 1.79 is bolstered by the birth-rate of immigrants who do tend to have a rate of 2). There are countries like Japan, with a birth rate of 1.43 and a long life expectancy, that are heading for big problems - which is why the government has started reversing its strict immigration policy,

If we cut immigration to near-zero and the birth rate keeps on falling, there'd be a pretty swift reversal of immigration policy.
 




hans kraay fan club

The voice of reason.
Helpful Moderator
Mar 16, 2005
62,763
Chandlers Ford
I actually feel sorry for our Brighton & Islington lefties - trying to hang onto a crumb of supposed comfort.
If the LibDems got their act together - Labour would become even less relevant than they already are, unless you are a recent immigrant

Covid19 has gripped the UK to such an awful degree due to decades of unfettered immigration, propelled to ever greater levels by successive governments, to brow beaten by the left wing rabble rousers to protect its own citizens. I'm not saying immigrants caused the outbreak, but our once worryingly big population of 60m in the 80's is now rapidly soaring towards 80m, this is the real issue. This tiny slab of land cannot support that amount of densely packed in people, it's the great unsaid but blatantly obvious !! Is it therefore any wonder that a virus has caused such carnage, the majority of the public, the silent majority, have been crying out for years for a crack down on the sheer weight of numbers streaming in, time now for the government to act !! Just to reiterate the appalling state of our immigration policy, last year, a record year, non EU immigration topped 260k, these are people who have no right to come here, but still they come ! Enough is enough !!!

Sort it out Boris. Get Brexit done. Labour will be finished.

Good grief. I assume this is a wind up. Nobody could be this thick.
 








Machiavelli

Well-known member
Oct 11, 2013
17,778
Fiveways
Under the fixed term Parliament act the latest date for the next election is Thursday 2nd May.

I'm still struggling. My impression was that the FTPA set parliaments at 5 years, and a quick search indicates this is the case, so it'd be Dec 2024 according to this criteria at least. Doing the search did reveal the below, however, which suggests that FTPA won't last this parliament provided, of course, that this parliament hangs around for sufficient time, which is looking increasingly unlikely.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/parliament-and-elections/the-fixed-term-parliaments-act/
 


Machiavelli

Well-known member
Oct 11, 2013
17,778
Fiveways
I actually feel sorry for our Brighton & Islington lefties - trying to hang onto a crumb of supposed comfort.
If the LibDems got their act together - Labour would become even less relevant than they already are, unless you are a recent immigrant

Covid19 has gripped the UK to such an awful degree due to decades of unfettered immigration, propelled to ever greater levels by successive governments, to brow beaten by the left wing rabble rousers to protect its own citizens. I'm not saying immigrants caused the outbreak, but our once worryingly big population of 60m in the 80's is now rapidly soaring towards 80m, this is the real issue. This tiny slab of land cannot support that amount of densely packed in people, it's the great unsaid but blatantly obvious !! Is it therefore any wonder that a virus has caused such carnage, the majority of the public, the silent majority, have been crying out for years for a crack down on the sheer weight of numbers streaming in, time now for the government to act !! Just to reiterate the appalling state of our immigration policy, last year, a record year, non EU immigration topped 260k, these are people who have no right to come here, but still they come ! Enough is enough !!!

Sort it out Boris. Get Brexit done. Labour will be finished.

:cry:
 


Bob!

Coffee Buyer
Jul 5, 2003
11,636
I'm still struggling. My impression was that the FTPA set parliaments at 5 years, and a quick search indicates this is the case, so it'd be Dec 2024 according to this criteria at least. Doing the search did reveal the below, however, which suggests that FTPA won't last this parliament provided, of course, that this parliament hangs around for sufficient time, which is looking increasingly unlikely.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/parliament-and-elections/the-fixed-term-parliaments-act/


From that, right at the start.

What does the Act do?
The FTPA sets a five-yearly interval between general elections. Scheduled elections take place on the first Thursday in May.
 






WATFORD zero

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 10, 2003
27,778
Two peas in a pod,Throw Richatd Branson in the mix and you've got a full house
Regards
DF

You need to keep on your toes Ppf, I think [MENTION=22671]Bognor Seagull[/MENTION] has been kicked out of his village and is after your job here. You saw off [MENTION=14132]Two Professors[/MENTION], and I'm confident you can see off this one :thumbsup:
 


D

Deleted member 2719

Guest
[MENTION=6886]Bozza[/MENTION]: this^, however, confirms your hypothesis

Not to worry you're part of that club too.

Now when you've finished tie-dying you're crocheted tank top with nettles, you need to open up your Red Pepper mag and look for some nice pictures of Sir SMARMER.
 




Acker79

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Nov 15, 2008
31,921
Brighton
I wonder if Dominic Cummings travelling across country when he should have been self-isolating will come up at the next PMQs... The current tory party line seems to be it was "justifiable and reasonable". Word for word from several ministers, as if trotting out a well rehearsed line. Not sure any have given a good argument about how his case is different to thousands of others.
 


SeagullinExile

Well-known member
Sep 10, 2010
6,193
London
I wonder if Dominic Cummings travelling across country when he should have been self-isolating will come up at the next PMQs... The current tory party line seems to be it was "justifiable and reasonable". Word for word from several ministers, as if trotting out a well rehearsed line. Not sure any have given a good argument about how his case is different to thousands of others.

Just seen him on the BBC. He really is an arrogant piece of shit.

I feel like ignoring lockdown now, afterall, the government seem to think it's ok.
 


Acker79

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Nov 15, 2008
31,921
Brighton
Just seen him on the BBC. He really is an arrogant piece of shit.

I feel like ignoring lockdown now, afterall, the government seem to think it's ok.

And many people would suggest that's their plan. Be so vague and inconsistent, break the rules themselves while claiming there's was a special case, so the people break the lockdown and they don't have to take responsibility for the further spread of the disease.
 


Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
Just seen him on the BBC. He really is an arrogant piece of shit.

I feel like ignoring lockdown now, afterall, the government seem to think it's ok.

The Tory motto has always been divide and conquer. Scattergun approach to advice, and then blame the public, as there will always be a section of the public to blame.
 




SeagullinExile

Well-known member
Sep 10, 2010
6,193
London
And many people would suggest that's their plan. Be so vague and inconsistent, break the rules themselves while claiming there's was a special case, so the people break the lockdown and they don't have to take responsibility for the further spread of the disease.

I've got no intention of breaking lockdown. It's just pissed me off immensely.
 


Acker79

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Nov 15, 2008
31,921
Brighton
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