Writer: Have I Got News For You; Mark Steel's In Town; What The F*** Is Going On?; Lead Balloon; Bad Move; Spitting Image. Political views are my own (or yours)
Blimey! At the risk of blowing my own trumpet, look at my prediction before the exit poll was out. I got it EXACTLY right with 412 seats Labour; 72 seats Lib Dems; 4 seats Greens. (And to think some of you scoffed at my narrative over these last 18 months!)
#GeneralElection2024
This is the work of the nudge unit. Ignore the words. Red means STOP. Green means GO. The subliminal message is to encourage people to break the lockdown. The government's real aim is still herd immunity, whilst avoiding the blame for the deaths that occur as a result.
#StayAlert
Seriously, as a
@UKLabour
member, I really think we need to reciprocate and stand down in Caroline Lucas's constituency. And I would happily see us stand aside in another target seat of the Green's choice as well. We need to unite in an anti-Tory alliance.
#ProgressiveAlliance
The Green Party have stood down in Chingford and Woodford Green to give
@faizashaheen
a clear run at unseating Iain Duncan Smith.
@WFRGreens
have done something pretty amazing and politically selfless here!
The very first question Yvette Cooper was asked on Radio 5 Live this morning: "What would Labour do to stop the boats?"
I'll repeat that for the back of the class: "What would Labour do to STOP THE BOATS!"?
A three word slogan sets the agenda and the BBC falls in line... (1/4)
Losing my patience with Covid deniers now. I'd expect it from right wing Trump/Farage morons - but if somehow you think of yourself on the left and you're denying the experience of doctors and nurses who are risking their own lives to save us, you really need to wake the fuck up.
I've made a formal complaint to the BBC (see below). Their decision to suspend Gary Lineker but not Alan Sugar is a clear breach of their duty to be impartial.
#BBCBias
Please consider making your own complaint here:
"The government seems complacent"
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says he has written a letter to the prime minister asking why advice on coronavirus "is different to that given in almost every other European country"
My prediction: The Tories will be wiped out on Thursday. Labour will win by a landslide - but with fewer votes than Corbyn got in 2017.
If that happens, Starmer will have persuaded fewer people to vote for him. He will simply have played the undemocratic FPTP system better. (1/2)
Interesting to see so many Corbyn supporters disagreeing over who to back for Leader and Deputy Leader. It's almost as if... wait... hang on... maybe Corbyn supporters weren't part of a cult after all and it was just right wing bullshit amplified by useful idiots in the Guardian.
Here's an idea - organise a General Strike, with the key demand being an immediate General Election. The new Prime Minister wasn't elected by us. Let's demand democracy!
#RMT
#CWU
#Unite
#Unison
I despise
@Keir_Starmer
with every ounce of my being. Just when politics needs to be cleaned up, he is one of the most cynical, dishonest, unprincipled chancers ever to have disgraced the political scene. See the next two retweets with his views on PR as one small example...
"... 'Stop Food Poverty' 'Cut NHS Waiting Lists' 'Stop Dumping Shit In The Sea'?"
Once you accept that 'Stopping The Boats' is the issue, you're never going to win.
And so you risk losing to a racist Tory Party desperate to save its own skin.
Shame on the BBC and Labour. (4/4)
It's the same as asking during the 2019 election "What would Labour do to Get Brexit Done?"
It accepts that THIS is the issue, THE problem that needs to be solved - and it uses the Tories' own wording, thus adding weight to it and legitimising it. It's appalling journalism (2/4)
If you're on the left of the Labour Party, a word of advice (given to me by someone who doesn't identify himself as being on the left...) The left has won. Don't rise to the bait. Let the right shout into the void. Their only hope is to sow division. Ignore them. Focus elsewhere.
The question is not "Why did Corbyn sack Owen Smith?" The question is "Why did Owen Smith choose to say something that he knew would get him sacked in the run-up to the local elections?" Was he worried that the polls were too favourable or something?!
Solidarity with
@MichaelRosenYes
who is constantly subjected to vile (and often antisemitic) bullying on here for daring to express his opinions on antisemitism. Disgraceful personal abuse and targeted harassment of a thoroughly decent, principled (and talented) human being.
Corbyn sounding statesmanlike at
#PMQs
. Johnson sounding chastened, on some level clearly aware that the whole Tory ideology of selfishness and greed has been exposed as the immoral, inadequate mess that it is. He's desperately hoping we'll forget once this is over.
We are sleepwalking into fascism, and the deliberate demonisation of a democratic socialist like Jeremy Corbyn has played a major part in legitimising the rise of these Trump-backed goons. Shame on everyone who's fallen for it...
Claims and counter-claims about who was buried where. One thing is for certain. Jeremy Corbyn would not knowingly commemorate or lay a wreath at the grave of a Munich terrorist. If you can’t accept that, you either have an agenda, or you’ve lost your ability to think rationally.
Congratulations to the commentators who failed to pick a side at the last election and told us that a mild mannered socialist was as dangerous as a Tory Party which panders to racists and dances to the tune of alt-right white nationalists. This is on you:
Yvette Cooper of course blithely walks into the trap. She doesn't say "Yes, human beings drowning at sea is a tragedy, and we'll tackle that problem - but it's not the main issue facing the people of this country. What about 'Stop Food Shortages'? 'Cap Energy Bills'? ..." (3/4)
If you're an actual grown up, what do you think of nonsense like this? Aren't you embarrassed by it? Doesn't it tell you everything you need to know about the desperation and dishonesty of the attacks on Corbyn? The same salute was embraced by Nobel prize winner Malala Yousafzai.
Spoke to a young Labour Party member today who has left the party over the direction that Keir Starmer is taking it in. Reducing Black Lives Matter to a 'moment' was the final straw. All that hope and optimism that Corbyn inspired, now being crushed by unprincipled opportunists.
If Corbyn comes to power, the rich and powerful will withdraw their capital in an attempt to bring down the Government. Yet the idea of people withdrawing their labour in a General Strike to force a General Election is considered outrageous. You see how it works?
#OneRuleForThem
The Labour Party leadership's order to sing God Save The King at party conference is pathetic and shameful. I hope it's loudly booed by all those who rightly object to a party that was founded to promote equality praising innate privilege and the divine right of monarchs. (1/2)
He and his supporters (who have never had a problem with winning undemocratically!) will say "Who cares?" But ultimately this lack of popular support will come back to haunt Starmer and Labour in office. The danger is that the far right will then benefit, as in France. (2/2)
Dear
@UKLabour
. This is what happens when you offer people nothing - no hope, no change, no alternative. A single issue like ULEZ can beat you. A few hundred votes from the left-wing voters you spend all your time attacking could have won you this seat. You blew it.
#StarmerOut
Have been so impressed with
@Jacob_Rees_Mogg
@Conservatives
@itvnews
with interviews in the last few days. He really knows what he is talking about and puts it across in a calm and calculated manner!
Bit embarrassing for the BBC. Member of the EU negotiating team on 5 Live this morning praises Corbyn's letter setting out Labour's position on Brexit and implies that it could be the way forward (and that it could command a majority in Parliament). His point was swiftly ignored.
A prediction: In 5-10 years time, there will be two separate Labour Parties - and the socialist one will be polling well ahead of the centrist one. This is effectively what has happened everywhere else in Europe - it is only the lack of PR that has stopped it from happening here.
The Nick Boles proposal (Common Market 2.0) would have allowed Freedom of Movement. Corbyn compromised and whipped his MPs to support it. The Independent Group and the Lib Dems voted against. Just let that sink in. These people are nothing but unprincipled game-playing chancers.
The Corbyn supporters who I encounter in real life are passionate anti-racists who view anti-semitism as racism. If the Battle of Cable Street happened again tomorrow, we would be there (alongside Jeremy Corbyn) standing up to the fascists. Would some of Corbyn's critics?
In case you’re having trouble unpicking the twists and turns of all the latest political developments, here’s a handy guide: Jeremy Corbyn is essentially a decent human being; Theresa May is a callous, uncaring racist who thinks that foreigners are lesser people. Pick a side.
I'm off to canvass for
@jeremycorbyn
this afternoon. His seat will be one of the most important results on Thursday. Labour will try to spin their landslide victory as a rejection of Corbynism. But if he has literally beaten their candidate, that narrative will look pretty silly.
I’m not gloating about Labour’s abysmal performance - I’m absolutely furious. Will there be an ounce of humility from all those who assured us that, under any other leader, Labour would be 20 points ahead? Corbyn was never the problem - and Starmer sure as hell isn’t the answer.
Some people who claim to be against anti-semitism seem to think that
@MichaelRosenYes
is the 'wrong type of Jew'. I prefer to think of him as the right type of human being.
#Solidarity
I find this absolutely astonishing. There is a real prospect of a General Election in October, which most polls (except YouGov!) suggest could easily see a Labour/SNP majority. This could result in a socialist government enacting the biggest transformation of society since 1945.
Been watching repeats of Cheers during the lockdown. It really does stand the test of time. And what a great gag this is...
Frasier: Everyone, I'd like you to meet my date, Dr. Lilith Sternin, MD, PhD, EdD, APA.
Woody: Boy, it sure isn't spelt like it sounds.
I’ve seen this line of attack more than once today from the ‘definitely not a coordinated anti-Corbyn campaign’ team. The latest heinous crime is that Corbyn is boring. And, funnier still, uninspiring. Yes folks - he’s the world’s first ever uninspiring Messianic cult leader!
I've always felt Corbyn is maligned by the mainstream media, so I went to this - to hear him speak in a non-confrontational setting. What I learned is that he is flat, uninspiring, repetitive, dreary, inarticulate and vague. Bitterly disappointing and enraging.
We are living in a time when the Secretary General of the U.N. would be sacked from Labour's front bench for being too concerned about civilians being massacred...
#StarmerOut
I am deeply disturbed by the horrible situation and dramatic loss of life in several hospitals in Gaza.
In the name of humanity, I call for an immediate humanitarian cease fire.
When Starmer's Labour inevitably fails to deliver real change, the danger is that people will then turn to the far right. We need to build a left opposition, so that people have somewhere else to go. That battle starts now. Vote Green, Left Independent, SNP or PC.
#DontVoteLabour
To put it in cricket terms: It's Day Three of a Test Match. Labour are 50 runs ahead with 10 wickets in hand. They plan to bat on until they have a lead of 400 plus, and then declare. The Tories are shouting "Why don't you declare now, you cowards?!" Do you get it now, Eton boys?
One of the most deluded tweets I've seen for a while. I voted Remain but I'm astonished at the utter failure to understand the reasons that led people to vote for Brexit. Twenty years of smug consensus between Tories and New Labour left too many people behind. That caused Brexit.
Compare and contrast: On the one hand, a disastrous Prime Minister whose ego-driven bravado, political incompetence and ideological prejudices have led to over 40,000 deaths; on the other hand, Jacinda Ardern, whose prompt and sensible actions have saved many lives.
#BorisIsBack
I voted Remain. But this sort of cosy cuddling up to the people who shamelessly helped to cause so much despair and misery goes a long to explaining why Leave won...
Lovely to see so many people speaking well of Jeremy Hardy. He was indeed a tremendous person, and an honest one. I hope you'll do him the courtesy of heeding his words...
Just to clarify something, I’ve known Jeremy Corbyn for many years and he’s definitely not an anti-semite. Not even slightly. It’s just not how he thinks about humankind. Glad to help. Not entering a debate. If it makes you happy to think he is an anti-semite, you’ll continue.
If you're a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, you're welcome in Keir Starmer's Labour Party; if you're a friend of the oppressed, you're not.
#LabourStinks
#StarmerOut
Nigel Farage is an antisemite. If Boris Johnson rewards him with a knighthood, I trust that everyone who was so concerned about antisemitism in the Labour Party will condemn Johnson in the strongest possible terms. If not, why not?
My wife has been in hospital with a severe ear infection for over a week. I can report:
1) 95% of the people who work for the NHS are amazing.
2) These people are let down by underfunding and bureaucratic failures.
3) Immigration is the lifeblood of our NHS. We need more of it.
How can you watch this and vote Labour? Just don't. They'll win anyway. We need to scare the shit out of them by making their majority as small as possible. Without PR, we have no other option. Starmer and his Stalinist chums oppose PR.
#DontVoteLabour
“Honestly I’m so shocked right now, to be treated this badly”
Faiza Shaheen, who was set to stand for Labour, describes hearing that her candidacy had been pulled over liking a series of Tweets which she claims Labour said would frustrate its campaign
#Newsnight
Here's one example. Labour would definitely have won in Chingford if Starmer and his cultists hadn't ditched Faiza Shaheen. It is vital that Labour now loses this seat and others like it. I'd like to see at least 20 seats where Labour lose as a result of this appalling behaviour.
@David__Osland
@xtophercook
The central committee will consider membership applications from any comrade who is able to provide the canonical and dialectical reason as to why Robbie Williams doesn't love Karl Marx.
It's getting more desperate every day. They scoff about cults, and yet every waking hour is devoted to attacking Corbyn. Flailing around, trying to find a new angle as the previous one fails. For them, it's all about Corbyn. For me, it's all about electing a socialist government.
I can never work out whether the usual suspects are actually stupid or being wilfully ignorant, but it seems that they missed the whole point of the
#WeAreCorbyn
hashtag. It's a statement that it's not about Corbyn - it's about us. He is just the figurehead for our mass movement.
Now then boys and girls - if you see a fatuous hypocrite banging on about free speech when her own party has a long tradition of narrow-minded intolerance and outright censorship such as the homophobic Section 28, I want you all to shout "Nadine Dorries!"
#IntellectualPanto
Jim Murphy, the man who took Labour from 41 seats to ONE seat in Scotland, the man who blocked a Jewish woman's bid to stand for the NEC, has the arrogance to lecture about anti-semitism and leadership. This is when some on the Labour right make me sick...
Pathetic schoolboy debating stuff from Michael Gove. A vile opportunistic little man with no backbone, sliming his way across the political landscape.
#NoConfidenceDebate