bren2k wrote:I can never understand what it is about Diane Abbott that gets people like you so exercised - particularly when you support a party that includes such dullards as Nadine Dorries, Boris Johnson, Gavin Williamson, Dominic Raab and Michael Gove; all either incompetent, opportunist or just thick as mince, but they never seem to be vilified in quite the same way as Abbott.
I wonder why...?
Is it because she's repeatedly shown herself to be a mumbling, blithering idiot? Because she's repeatedly demonstrated racist views? Because she called on the IRA to defeat the British State? Because she consistently fails to back our police force, preferring instead that they are spat at and often have to undergo weeks of medical tests as a result? Because she was the first to criticise the hugely successful tactic of bringing down motorcycles? Because she has a history of dodgy financial dealings in Parliament (granted, she's not alone), because she's a blatant hypocrite (children's schools). And yes, because the idea that this person is so close to a Cabinet position is genuinely concerning.
I mock her because she's a fool. I detest her for her poisonous views. Got it?
But you think it's because she's black. And people wonder why the loony left are ridiculed.
BTW, I criticise and mock plenty of politicians - and have done on here for years. It says plenty about you can't help yourself but to pick out a black politician for the purposes of implying racism. You and Bullseye. And not for the first time, iirc. Perhaps when one is losing the debate one looks to more sinister accusations.
And it shows you haven't learned. For decades any criticism of immigration was shouted down as racism and xenophobia. That refusal to listen to people's genuine concerns built into a palpable anger and resentment that contributed enormously to the growth of UKIP and ultimately the Brexit vote. Indeed, only when UKIP exploded in popularity did the main parties start to even utter the word immigration. Yet here we still are, the slightest opportunity to seize on someone's colour of skin and the left draw the race card.
Quote:On the wider issue - spinning this delay as a bit of statecraft from Mrs May is quite the reach; pulling the vote because you know you're going to lose is somehow ok, whereas voting again on a matter that now has much more detail and clarity, is a betrayal of democracy?
That's precisely what it is. May already knows the EU won't budge - she's been talking to them for months. She's calling the bluff of everyone opposing the proposed deal: if she somehow wins some of the concessions people are calling for (especially on the backstop) she may get the deal through Parliament. If she doesn't it becomes clear that Labour's ridiculous position of 'Corbyn can negotiate a better deal' is a fallacy - so what policy will they choose that week?
Westminster is all statecraft and politicking. The headline 'May seeks concessions' is partly true, but the strategy behind it is more complex. Don't be so naive.
Speak for yourself, I was very clear on the EU and my reasons for voting Leave; they haven't changed.
Quote:As for the Labour position - it seems quite clear to me; they can't reverse Brexit for obvious reasons, so they're looking at the wider issues of dealing with poverty, homelessness, NHS and schools, and that requires them to be in power - hence the push for a GE; and to criticise the opposition for wanting to be in power is perverse - that's the whole point isn't it?
At the expense of throwing the country off a cliff edge? Because that's a very real possibility right now and Labour will be the party doing it, simply to increase their chances of an early shot at government. Yes, there are opponents in every party, but Labour has the numbers to make it count.
