I’m simply asking why someone saying things he largely agrees with turns Davy off. And I don’t think most working class people care. Jones is reviled by both nationalists and liberals and they can’t be the tail wagging the dog. And I’m not trying to go madly in support of him. He just isn’t the reason why people don’t vote Labour.
But I don't think Davy is alone in not liking Jones. Jones may have plenty of "enemies" in the centre and right of politics but he also appears to divide many on the left too. It is a sad fact that, in the modern age, it's not just the message but who, and how, that message is delivered. Obviously the right have a lot of MSN on their side but I honestly don't think that is in play here. Jones has a lot of media access, both main stream and social, yet his popularity is mixed, even on his "own side". My view of him, for example, is simply based on how he presents himself, both online and real life. I think it's hugely damaging to the message if it is presented by someone who is disliked by those that would otherwise support what is being said. I think these are the kind of things that Labour need to consider when they wonder why the polls are not showing them streets ahead of, what is, a woeful government.
What's happened to Lisa Nandy? I used to quite like her but on Tv yesterday morning she came across as an aggressive, straight-answer-avoiding, sour puss.
Likewise. The main question about the rail strikes, and her support/ lack of. I wonder if she disagrees with the party line and is under orders. Or just knows that without union support any leadership bid is futile.
I thought she did really well. It’s not the Labour Party’s job, particularly when not in Government, to tell unions to moderate their demands. Not unless you want the Labour Party to intervene every time you ask for a pay rise. It’s clear that the Government is happy to let this strike go ahead, they’ve done nothing to try and resolve it. It’s up to them to have the plans for supporting people to ride out the cost of living crisis and for the future of the railways.
Totally agree but politically the Tories are doing a great job in turning this on Labour. The Labour spokespeople are saying the right things about nobody wanting the strikes to happen and it's up to the government to intervene but, ultimately, Labour can't criticise the unions and that will always be their Achilles heal. For me the strikes are a failing of the unions, the railway management and the government but it's Labour who, unfairly, will be most damaged from them imho.
There isn’t an easy way for Labour. Defend the strike, they are irresponsible, condemn the strike, they are out of touch with working class roots etc. That’s just tough really and let’s face it, haters gonna hate. Any attempt to secure more money and resources for working class people is going to be met by contempt from the press for Labour. Sometimes you have to just ignore it and not always assume it plays well for the Government.
Just seen Grant Shapps interviewed on Sky News regarding the rail strikes. Every time I see a cabinet minister, I think they have to the most incompetent member of the regime, then I change my mind when I see the next one........
Grant Shapps has been in Government for much of the last 12 years and his one enduring philosophy appears to be don’t blame Grant Shapps.
Yes, the "Transport Minister has no role in getting involved with major national dispute causing nationwide transport disruption" defence.
GS kept parroting the script that the average salary of a train driver is £59K, all railway workers is £44K (wouldn't mind seeing that one fact checked), and nurses is £31K. All that highlights to me is the appalling damage to the pay of NHS "heroes" after 12 years of Tory austerity. The salary of train drivers is probably where it should be in relation to other jobs such as airline pilots.
Fact check here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/61840077 Insane to equate the role of train drivers and airline pilots. Their journey times, disruption on their daily life and exposure to radiation and the impact of time zones are completely different. But also the fact that planes are a lot more complex than trains, involve much more danger and require much more skill (especially at take off and landing) and can harm not those just on board but also thousands on the ground. It’s like questioning why a surgeon is paid more than a seamstress. If train drivers were paid a quarter of what pilots are paid, it wouldn’t be unfair.
It’s still a big responsibility moving hundreds, even thousands of people at high speed, given what can go wrong. Find it bizarre that you won’t recognise that. Pilots certainly have more skill, though planes also pretty much fly themselves these days.
I did not equate the roles, I said "in relation to". My assumption (admittedly without detailed knowledge) is that a captain with a major airline would be paid £75K - £100K. In that context the pay of a train driver makes sense to me. I don't disagree that a modern 'plane is more complex than a train, but against this there are always two people qualified to fly on board and a train driver could potentially have more than a 1,000 people in their care.
Fair play to him - he's realised they can't keep blaming the last Labour government, so might as well move on to the upcoming one.
O Owen Jones is an ideologue who may occassionally say something of worth. Otherwise there is nothing to like about him, unless you agree with him, so why it is assumed that someone should like him because he once wrote a book about chavs, when the rest of his life (thinking about it, the majority of the book as well) he has spent talking down to said 'chavs', telling them it is terrible how racist and hateful they are, is difficult for the rest of us to appreciate. I cannot say it is surprising or outrageous, because it is just another case of the non-sequitor illogic we are used to from the left. "He really has your interests at heart, if you could only figure it out." I've said it before. The left keep making this type of condescending, patronising argument because it makes absolute sense to them, because of their belief that they are the vanguard. But to the people it is targetted, who see them simply as human beings like the rest of us, it is just a sign that the left are a bunch of self important elitists who do not understand why the world does not conform to their ideologies, and probably never will.
Exactly my thoughts on her. I thought she might make a good interim leader whilst the party recovered, using it as a chance to prove herself. Unfortunately she seemed to think that what she really needs to do is more of the same old...
So that's teachers, NHS and Royal Mail all discussing going on strike. I've never looked at joining a union but after todays strike I have.
...and the next ******* **** to get a peerage is... drumroll... ******* Dacre. I ******* kid you ******* not.
It is rough on kids, with exams being stressful enough, to deal with this, though most may get a nice drive in instead for once. But there can’t be many kids taking the train to school and that’s usually a choice. I heard one parent complaining on the news that their child would have difficulties getting in from Tunbridge Wells to their school in London and I thought why? Why put a kid through that every day?
One group of benefits recipients are going to coin it in though: https://news.sky.com/story/downing-...orkers-to-accept-real-terms-pay-cuts-12637877 10% rise in state pension = not inflationary > 5% rise in either private or public sector salaries = inflationary Got it?
Getting the big calls right: https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1539195414842331137 https://twitter.com/RussInCheshire/status/1539260920693772289
Jonathan "Won't Someone Think of the Veterans" Gullis there: https://twitter.com/Haggis_UK/status/1539211930828668928 Proof of the old adage in product design: "We made it idiot-proof... Then someone built a bigger idiot".
