Tories slammed for anti-democratic election changes after shock London Mayor poll
Tories slammed for anti-democratic election changes after shock London Mayor poll
The Tories 'can't win a fair election in London'
If you ever needed proof that the FPTP system is abused then this is it.
The Bedford mayoral election which happened after they changed these rules, resulted in the first Tory mayor there by only a handful of votes. They would never have won under STV.
I cannot understand how Starmer can promote himself as the alternative who has the country's interest at heart. it is very evident it is not.
By what measure are FPTP countries "Democratic"?
The power to change the ruling class doesn't belong to the people.
They are not FPTP are easy for those with cash to manipulate. This is not democratic equality in any way shape or form.
At this point does it really matter whether the next government (or mayor) is Labour or Tory?
I can't tell them apart on any major policy. They have "stylistic" differences but there's now nothing of substance that differs.
What's left is politics of personality. And more austerity.
If from someone's vantage point they can't tell the difference between Labour and the Tories, I'd question their vantage point. If one stands far enough off to the left, then boring centrist moderates and radical right-wing extremists may both be quite far away from where you're standing and perhaps end up looking almost close to one another - that's an optical illusion caused by perspective though, rather than a statement of reality. (For completeness: I'm neither a Labour nor Tory voter but I can still pretty clearly tell the difference!)
Also this is about the mayoral election, and Sadiq Khan has charted a course in office that's quite distinct from Labour nationally - for my money, he's by far the best senior Labour politician active at the moment.
Your analogy is only an analogy. Certainly, on issues I consider important Tories and Labour hold the same positions at the moment. For instance, many people are in utter poverty in this country. We have friends who both work and have to make decisions about whether they pay their extortionate rent or feed their kids. No one in the UK should have to put up with that.
And what do we hear from Labour? Nothing about rent comtrols, nothing about free school meals, nothing about raising the minimum wage to a genuinely living wage, nothing about taxing the excessively wealthy (or anything about redistributing wealth in fact). All we hear from Labour is that they will - like the Tories - “Grow the economy”. I’m sure you heard Rachel Reeves caught out on LBC recently by having her former words about the need to tax the wealthy.
Labour - with SIR Keir - are part of the Establishment and exist to make sure that the excessively wealthy and those with inherited wealth maintain their power and economic position.
That’s not an “optical illusion”, that’s looking at things very clearly in broad daylight. Perhaps your “moderate” postion where you can accept a country where half a million children live in destitution/extreme poverty is the vantage point that needs to be examined.
They're essentially going to manage the economy the same way, yes
They'll be quite different on social issues, civil rights and foreign policy, mostly because they won't be burdened by the political necessity of defending fifteen years of mess.
Risky Sunak can't afford to go back too hard on those errors without angering his own party, and no party leader in living memory has been more scared of their own MPs and party membership.
It’s a shame that Labour can’t articulate what the differences in things like civil rights and foreign policy actually are.
Can you actually tell me a single major policy where Labour fundamentally disagrees with the Tories? (Not vague “We will just do things better” promises. Though I’ve no doubt Starmer and co will run a Tory economic policy better than the Tories.
I think this piece by John Rentoul is worth considering: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/labour-conservative-party-starmer-sunak-election-b2275775.html