Still not going back there.

 

Interesting that Labour's vote seems to be holding up well (and UKIP not doing brilliantly) in the big cities. It's the towns near them - the likes of Rotherham - that UKIP are really making headway. Ironic given their uber-Thatcherite manifesto and the fact that many of these places really suffered in the 1980s. For Labour at least that has to be the main thing now - assuming UKIP don't rapidly tack left economically they just have to keep stressing how awful their policies are outside of the obvious vote winners.

 

Meanwhile Trafford seem intent on recreating a 1950s General Election on miniature scale. 33 Tory, 27 Labour and 3 Lib Dem now with Labour probably having the highest vote share again.

 

Imo it's because many cities, especially Manchester and Liverpool, did quite well out of the last Labour government, because of all the "regeneration" and especially all the public-sector jobs that were created. People are angry there at the moment because of the cuts and how shitty the economy is, but because they had a relatively good situation in the recent past, they're willing to still give "the Establishment" (namely Labour in most cases) a chance.

 

OTOH, Labour really didn't do anything at all for most working-class towns away from big cities, especially old mining towns. Because people in places like that feel like they've been left to rot away, neglected both by government policies and all the mainstream politicians' rhetoric and obsession with southern/"middle" England, and that as opposed to some of the big cities it's been like that for as long as they can remember, many have completely given up on "the system" altogether. I might be naive, but I still truly believe that anger about immigration is more of a symptom of people's fury about the situations they're in, it's not the actual root cause (and despite the middle-class Guardianistas' sneering on Twitter about how anyone who votes UKIP must be bigoted and/or stupid, ANY humanbeing's natural reaction when plunged into an unfairly depressing situation is to try and find a scapegoat).

Imo it's because many cities, especially Manchester and Liverpool, did quite well out of the last Labour government, because of all the "regeneration" and especially all the public-sector jobs that were created. People are angry there at the moment because of the cuts and how shitty the economy is, but because they had a relatively good situation in the recent past, they're willing to still give "the Establishment" (namely Labour in most cases) a chance.

 

OTOH, Labour really didn't do anything at all for most working-class towns away from big cities, especially old mining towns. Because people in places like that feel like they've been left to rot away, neglected both by government policies and all the mainstream politicians' rhetoric and obsession with southern/"middle" England, and that as opposed to some of the big cities it's been like that for as long as they can remember, many have completely given up on "the system" altogether. I might be naive, but I still truly believe that anger about immigration is more of a symptom of people's fury about the situations they're in, it's not the actual root cause (and despite the middle-class Guardianistas' sneering on Twitter about how anyone who votes UKIP must be bigoted and/or stupid, ANY humanbeing's natural reaction when plunged into an unfairly depressing situation is to try and find a scapegoat).

I don't know who you're following on Twitter but virtually everyone I've seen who fits that description is saying the same thing.

 

Regeneration definitely doesn't need quotations marks either.

I don't know who you're following on Twitter but virtually everyone I've seen who fits that description is saying the same thing.

 

Regeneration definitely doesn't need quotations marks either.

 

#Whyimvotingukip was trending the other day with people essentially congratulating themselves for being morally superior to UKIP voters.

 

And it's one of those thinktank-ese words which I dislike, so quotation marks it is :P

Edited May 23, 201411 yr by Danny

#Whyimvotingukip was trending the other day with people essentially congratulating themselves for being morally superior to UKIP voters.

 

And it's one of those thinktank-ese words which I dislike, so quotation marks it is :P

I think it was more sniping at people who were clearly so proud of it that they were using the hashtag seriously. UKIP trolls on Twitter annoy a lot of people, there's a lot of difference between them and their average voter.

Imo it's because many cities, especially Manchester and Liverpool, did quite well out of the last Labour government, because of all the "regeneration" and especially all the public-sector jobs that were created. People are angry there at the moment because of the cuts and how shitty the economy is, but because they had a relatively good situation in the recent past, they're willing to still give "the Establishment" (namely Labour in most cases) a chance.

 

OTOH, Labour really didn't do anything at all for most working-class towns away from big cities, especially old mining towns. Because people in places like that feel like they've been left to rot away, neglected both by government policies and all the mainstream politicians' rhetoric and obsession with southern/"middle" England, and that as opposed to some of the big cities it's been like that for as long as they can remember, many have completely given up on "the system" altogether. I might be naive, but I still truly believe that anger about immigration is more of a symptom of people's fury about the situations they're in, it's not the actual root cause (and despite the middle-class Guardianistas' sneering on Twitter about how anyone who votes UKIP must be bigoted and/or stupid, ANY humanbeing's natural reaction when plunged into an unfairly depressing situation is to try and find a scapegoat).

 

As far as my family goes, ex-mining town thats pretty much been ignored since the pits were closed, ain't that the truth. Things have picked up a bit over the decades but when i go back I hear a large proportion of new accents walking around the dead town centre - and they aren't British accents. Employers will always go for cheaper, better educated, more reliable workers, and the locals, who can get by pretty well on benefits plus "undisclosed top-ups" (if they have children), prefer not to work minimum wage which only compounds the problem and the UKIP attitudes.

 

I don't have an easy answer, and it seems nobody does, given the mountain of debt. Speaking for myself, I'm struggling to keep up a full-time job and care for my parents (who both require attention, dementia and physically disabled respectively) and keep an eye on unemployed and depressed friends. I can't reduce my hours any further as the workload is horrendous and backlogged already (there are no longer colleagues to fill-in in local government, if you're not there work sits and waits and builds up, and my role is a government required vital record-keeping annual return type of job so it's not likely to be deleted ever).

 

Meanwhile perfectly capable educated young graduates and school leavers are sat idle at home, unable to find work and getting depressed just as I did in the 80's for years on end. What would help me? Early retirement without taking a hit on my pension, or job share without taking a hit on my pension (it's not gold-plated, nor is my wage) and that would free up a job for someone younger leaving me time to properly care for others and actually have a bit of a life for myself.

 

Unfortunately it's cheaper to pay someone who's 21 peanuts for living at home with their parents than it is to let me retire early and become a carer, so both of us end up depressed and stressed, and society gets ever more pissed off at ineffective governments that don't to seem have answers either.

 

Answers to these problems, if you have any, please forward to the leaders of the respective parties.....

 

 

I know "job creation" is probably one of Danny's most hated phrases but if the job market were more favourable to young people it would open the door for legislation to allow people like yourself to retire more easily.

The count has concluded in council elections in Northern Ireland (we like to take things slowly over here). Unsurprisingly, the DUP and Sinn Fein finished 1st and 2nd, albeit with a lower notional no. of councillors each. UUP finished 3rd with an increased amount of seats, followed by SDLP, Alliance Party, and Independents. The biggest shock was TUV (a very right-wing unionist party who make the DUP look like the Hippy Dippy Party) gaining 13 councillors. Other parties that gained seats were PUP (a left-wing unionist party with links to the UVF), the Greens, UKIP (won 3, which I am rather sad about), People Before Profit (a socialist party), and NI21, who only ended up with 1 councillor due to controversy in the run-up to the vote about alleged sexual misconduct by the party leader.

Worrying news coming out of France - far-right party Front National looks like topping the poll over there with 25% of the vote.

That's been predicted for some time but it's depressing to have it apparently confirmed.

And even more worrying news from Greece, where Golden Dawn, an actual Neo-Nazi party, are looking like coming 3rd with 10% of the vote.

Germany looks like it might be one of the very few countries where the two traditional mainstream parties actually come out on top. Otherwise, it looks like populist outsiders fighting the status quo are going to do well almost everywhere.

Edited May 25, 201411 yr by Danny

It speaks volumes about how much people dislike the status quo across Europe

Eek -- apparently UKIP might beat Labour in WALES.

Do UKIP have much popularity up in Scotland?

The polls have only been closed 20 minutes and we already have a clear winner in the Most Ridiculous Statement contest as the UKIP spokesperson declares "We occupy the centre ground".

Germany showing what a competent centre-right leader can do.

 

The consolation in Greece being that the polls were topped by Syriza.

Do UKIP have much popularity up in Scotland?

They're not as unpopular as those who also claim 'omg Scotland has nothing at all in common with England' like to think but a seat is only a very remote possibility all the same.

The bbc says they'll get a seat but it's below the greens currently. Our count won't be finalised until tomorrow as the western isles are so f***ing backwards they won't count votes on Sundays.

They're not as unpopular as those who also claim 'omg Scotland has nothing at all in common with England' like to think but a seat is only a very remote possibility all the same.

Maybe not so much of a remote possibility now...

The bbc says they'll get a seat but it's below the greens currently. Our count won't be finalised until tomorrow as the western isles are so f***ing backwards they won't count votes on Sundays.

Couldn't they have sent them to somewhere more progressive?