frankPodmore

frankPodmore, 22 days ago

It’s funny how cosplaying is seen as this weird niche nerdy activity… unless it’s as an athlete.

Although, having said that, we do have the term ‘full kit wanker’ in the UK, for anyone who buys the whole kit (not just the t-shirt, scarf or hat). Because, you see, there’s an acceptable quantum of cosplaying.

frankPodmore, 22 days ago

Good point. As a man, I neither clothe nor groom myself, these being baffling, feminine activities. (For the curious, I wear a single beige tunic and wash myself in rainwater.)

frankPodmore, 22 days ago

If you can access her computer, you could mess with the autocorrect settings and replace common phrases with Christmas carols. Like, change her name to ‘Santa Claus’. Or change ‘Kind regards’ (or whatever she signs off emails with) to ‘Jingle bells’, etc.

frankPodmore, 24 days ago

Would be funny if he did a Theresa May, just came out and said fuck all then carried on like nothing had happened.

frankPodmore, 24 days ago

They really have looked at a few people on Twitter thinking it was kinda funny/cool to see her carrying a sword around and interpreted that as an actual organising principle. Stupid, stupid, stupid. This is what happens when you have no material political analysis and just surf around on vibes.

frankPodmore, 24 days ago

When people say that elements of the left actually prefer opposition, this is what we mean.

Labour is doing such a great job of winning over voters that they’ve won over an actual Conservative MP. This is what winning the argument looks like. But, for the Morning Star, winning arguments is a sign of failure!

Normally at this point, the Star and its fellow-travellers will say something like, ‘We shouldn’t “win the argument” at the cost of becoming indistinguishable from the Tories!’ But this guy crossing the floor proves that Labour aren’t indistinguishable from the Tories: If they were, what would be the point of defecting? He could just stay in the governing party rather than making the difficult personal and professional decision to join with an ‘indistinguishable’ Opposition.

frankPodmore, 25 days ago

He’s standing down at the next general election anyway, so this isn’t about saving his seat.

frankPodmore, 28 days ago (edited 28 days ago)

I really can’t see Labour ever jumping into bed with the Tories. It’d be electoral suicide and not only in Scotland; it’d be potentially damaging in Wales and many university towns in England, too.

A Lab-Lib Dem coalition is a maybe, but there probably aren’t and won’t be enough of them for it to be worth it.

frankPodmore, 28 days ago

Any SNP MSP who didn’t back him would lose the whip, presumably, so it’d have to be someone either already suspended, very Alba-leaning (or Green curious?) or who’s planning on retiring anyway.

frankPodmore, 28 days ago (edited 28 days ago)

I don’t think this is true? As far as I know, there was just one council (Aberdeen) where any Labour councillors formally joined a Conservative coalition, and they were all suspended and so are no longer members of Scottish Labour. There may be others where there’s confidence and supply agreements short of a formal coalition, granted.

I’m not sure how much local agreements can tell us, anyway. There are several councils with formal Lab/SNP coalitions, [EDIT: I was wrong about this, see discussion below!] but I don’t think that makes a Lab/SNP coalition in Holyrood very likely!

frankPodmore, 28 days ago

Turns out I’m out-of-date with my info!

You’re right, there aren’t currently any Lab/SNP or any Lab/Con coalitions, and I guess all those Aberdeen former-Labour councillors lost their seats, as well as their membership of the party, which is a good cautionary tale for any Labour politicians considering a pact with the Tories.

frankPodmore, 28 days ago

Aside from my obvious reaction of:

https://slrpnk.net/pictrs/image/fb496c1f-160d-40b7-b422-55e9c0e32d72.webp

… Does anyone know the actual rules governing VONCs in Holyrood?

frankPodmore, 28 days ago (edited 28 days ago)

Thanks! And what happens if he loses? Election or new leader?

frankPodmore, 28 days ago

Please, I can only get so sickos.jpeg

frankPodmore, 28 days ago (edited 28 days ago)

The conservatives are unlikely to support an earlier election as they are set to lose many of their seats.

This is probably true. Do you think it’s likely, though, that the Conservatives will want to be seen propping up the SNP, when that would strongly encourage unionist voters to split even more towards Labour and the Lib Dems?

EDIT: Turns out the Conservatives are going to table a VONC, so clearly they think it’s a risk worth taking. Leads us into the whole question of whether Labour will want to be seen backing a ‘Tory’ motion, though!

EDIT 2: Labour and the Lib Dems will back the VONC, voting against Yousaf. So it comes down to the Greens, Ash Regan and perhaps any other quite mad SNP MSPs who don’t mind losing the whip or their seats.

frankPodmore, 1 month ago

It’s similar but it retains the constituency link, which many people feel is important.

frankPodmore, 1 month ago

I think for this to be at all practical, there would need to be some sort of minimum threshold and/or maximum number of legislators, yes.

frankPodmore, 1 month ago

Yes, I think there would have to be some kind of threshold. Otherwise I could stand as a candidate, vote for for myself and have a seat in the legislature where I wield my one pathetic vote!

frankPodmore, 29 days ago

I didn’t know that about the EU Parliament, very interesting.

frankPodmore, 1 month ago

Yes. It’s obvious what you’re trying to build up to with your faux-naive questions, but your second question is irrelevant. Doing something illegal does not waive your human rights, and the right to asylum is a human right. The UK cannot legitimately deport asylum seekers to Rwanda without assessing their claims. Violating someone’s human rights is inhumane.

frankPodmore, 1 month ago

Whatever you think about it, they do have that right. Most people who currently arrive in small boats have their claims recognised as legitimate under UK law. This also means that your characterisation of them as having economic or sinister intentions is a lie.

They’re not safe in France because France’s asylum system is also in very poor shape. They are mostly people living in temporary camps, unable to find work and relying on charity. This is not the same thing at all, obviously, as most French people living in France, and is not safe for them. Furthermore, there is no compulsion for refugees to stay in the first ‘safe’ country they reach, although in fact most do.

Even if everything I said above was false (which it isn’t), the British government could afford to fix the problem far more cheaply by investing in processing the claims more quickly. Processing asylum claims quickly would remove the incentive to pay people smugglers and thus break their business model. Instead, the government is spending huge sums of money - more than would be required to process those claims - on this policy. Even if it does work, it will be more expensive than just processing the claims, quickly.

frankPodmore, 1 month ago

That’s not the same thing, then, is it?

frankPodmore, 29 days ago

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, it was the police trashing the camps that I was thinking of when I was talking about the conditions there being unsafe.