Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 9hI suspect he means that Labour down the years have had several battles with various entryist forms of the hard left that threatened the party’s existence and many on the left outside of Labour tend to accuse it of overcompensating but I think it’s understandable when you see how hard it is to fix! 020
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 9hBut don’t worry we’ve got AI up next to save us….maybe for your sanity (if you haven’t been exposed already) avoid the latest interview from the AI minister. Because that just about finished me off this weekend! 110
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 9hI was thinking this weekend I’d make a pretty good advisor for the pm on the basis that all I’d have is ‘stop using x’ and ‘stop listening to anyone who uses x’. 150
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 9hDo most Jews think Israel should exist? I think I’m pretty confident in my answer to that one. 120
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 13hAnd the other 20% is trying desperately not to laugh as they slowly learn all the swear words! 130
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 13hAgree completely. Only one of mine wouldn’t touch jam to save her life. When given jam sandwiches at an after school event the other day the complaints were long and vociferous. 010
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 14hDon’t think it’s the timing that bothered them. It was the idea they might have to pay more tax! 110
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 14hYeah as limited and fractious as we might view Starmer and the PLP behind him without it I don’t think it would have been fixable. 000
Reposted by Ian BoucherWill Cooling @willcooling.bsky.social · 14hFighting this flith is going to be agony for the Greens, much worse than it was for Labour, because there's no tradition or mechanisms for fighting entryism. And the way politics is evolving, you're not going to keep your seats as Greens anyway. You swerve the pain & may keep your seats as LibDems 1151
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 14hJust one where I could say ‘yeah I trust you know what you are talking about’ would be a huge relief but I actually can’t imagine that. It feels like an illusion. 010
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 14hOne grounded in evidence ideally. But there is little chance of that. 110
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 15hIt’s self inflicted at least in part though. Once you start casting glances in the direction of these folks then you end up in this place. 000
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 18hI think it’s this coupled to the right wing supporting parts of our media have decided they need talk her up as they fear she may be the only horse they have to back! Which leads to said sort of focus group analysis necessarily dominating the conversation. 120
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 21hWtf is he talking about? Do any of these people have the first clue what they are talking about when it comes to AI or is it politically always going to be viewed as ‘magic beans’? 100
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Polling at 17% and leader slipped into negative approval - going great! www.opinium.com/resource-cen...opinium.comVoting intention: 30 September 2026 - OpiniumSee the full data tables here. Following Andy Burnham’s first Party Conference as Prime Minister, Labour are leading in the polls, with their highest 2113
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Post Burnham speech focus group of wavering Labour voters from @luketryl.bsky.social I think sums it up. They like Burnham. A lot. They like his arguments till they hear opposing views. They don’t want to pay more tax at all! www.theguardian.com/politics/202...theguardian.com‘He feels more relatable’: Burnham’s conference speech wins praise from drifting Labour votersThe UK prime minister has earned his party a rehearing but the battle of public opinion is not yet won 000
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Im going to get my haircut as I reckon it will make me a millionaire using Tory maths! 110
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026This is a rare occasion where I think what was said is completely unacceptable on every single level and should be reported as such by every single media outlet in the land. I suspect it won’t be though. A disgraceful thing to say and the people in that room guffawing along equally hideous. 0284
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Labour - we need a proper consultation but our next manifesto will contain a pledge to fix the pipe and we will say how we can pay for it. Tories - we need to cut the pipe now. Reform - this is what happens when you have uncontrolled borders Green - we will fix it but must check it’s not a Zionist 2101
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Whenever I read things like this I go back to ‘Sunak was right’ on many Labour not knowing or understanding how to run a business and thus not understanding growth. Healey is a concern because his intellectual position seems inadequate to match AB’s ambition not because he doesn’t say growth enough! 000
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026‘A lot of Labour people’ is that really the case? i genuinely don’t know but if lots of actual Labour people think that I’m giving up. I can imagine a lot of the Starmer stans might try and peddle that as a line and on social media who knows? But real world nobody can truly believe that can they? 000
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026This is nonsense. The governing body who monitor clubs financial statements accounts and spending had no idea. Plus Burnham’s time as mayor covers only about 9 months of period the charges relate to. 000
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Totally. They had no mission. No idea what legacy they wanted to leave. Indeed Starmer tried to at the end define his legacy as ‘winning an election’. Which is telling. Burnham has a mission - a real one - but lacks the conditions to make it viable. 040
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Partly wanting to be liked but I think in 2024 it was also a desperate attempt to not face the reality. Reeves did interviews where it was abundantly clear in hindsight that deep down she knew the reality but didn’t want to face it for fear it broke the ming vase. Live in the momentism! 150
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026And I think you have to bet on that or at least a scenario where things aren’t getting better. The past may not be a predictor for the future but I’d certainly not be betting on ‘blue skies ahead’! 021
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026The rules of the premier league were not intended to create a level playing field nor where they ever going to. They did the opposite. Man City breaking those rules is separate to the rules being absolutely dreadful if you care about competition. 000
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026I think fundamentally their problem is as simple as wanting to be a cost of living govt through a series of unpredictable crises being incompatible with ‘we need to fix the fiscal position now’. As soon as you say ‘we know people have had 20 years of hardship as a lab govt you are boxed in. 170
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Well indeed the second question is ‘and when’? 010
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026He’s already making that argument with ‘investing in success not paying for failure’ the bigger question as with anything is ‘how are you going to pay for it’? 110
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026You said the country’s broken just forgot to tax it….. 000
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Someone needs to urgently get hold of Hilton’s laptop - dear god! 000
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 02/10/2026I think it would be odd if Burnham’s intention was SV given his rhetoric about making everyone’s vote count…. 000
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 02/10/2026I object entirely to the idea that the game should protect the clubs who have benefitted most from the expansion of of investment in the game and also that there is a hierarchy of good and bad money. Man Utd’s ownership in the last two decades for example. 000
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Couldn’t disagree more with this. The premiership and clubs at its inception meant the game became primarily money driven. And instead of putting in rules to equalise competition the opposite happened. If Jack Walker wanted to help Blackburn compete why shouldn’t he without those rules in place? 100
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Yeah one of the things that has changed is people’s perceptions of certainty. Speak to people in the early twenties entering job market and they no longer in some cases anticipate home ownership and think climate change will make ‘retirement’ a redundant concept for example. 020
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Do we know why Toal hasn’t been involved with NI? 100
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 02/10/2026I mean there are parties not promising massive tax cuts or unfunded spending. Let alone the two combined. 100
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 02/10/2026It’s a generation thinking differently to how you and I did though. Very differently. I work with quite a few and some are quite direct that life is hard but they’d rather enjoy themselves as much as possible now than worry about retirement. Different mindset tbh. 120
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 02/10/2026There is no route to higher spending and lower taxes currently and the LDs are simply not credible. 101
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 02/10/2026This is true but the one promising a 17bn tax cut certainly is close to the bottom of the rung credibility wise! Especially considering they want to spend a lot of money. It’s nonsense politics. 000
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Beyond the ‘many can’t afford to live and contribute’ thing there is also I think a generational view that living a miserable life in your 20’s to hopefully mean you live a slightly less miserable one if you make 70 is not a good trade! 120
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 02/10/2026It isn’t they are talking about reducing the tax burden through a £17Bn income tax cut. That’s what they are offering. It is fantasy of course but only reinforces that they are not a credible party.  100
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 02/10/2026He’s the Bob Dylan of politics imo so that fits well. 000
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 02/10/2026The Lib Dem’s are currently a low tax party aren’t they? I mean they are currently offering tens of billions of tax cuts. 100
Ian Boucher @desolationrow5.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Almost like Burnham’s argument that things that take a long time to implement are ducked because of short termist political cycle view might be right? Not like Kemi to make an oppositional argument that vindicates the argument of her opponent is it? 0130