THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

Farage! I’d forgotten about him. He’s rocked up at conference this week, under the guise of a GB News reporter, and basically set the agenda, as he’s been doing for years. He’s single handedly ruined this country. Ruined it. If it weren’t for him we wouldn’t have had Cameron running scared within a party that old Nige’ was no longer a member of. Seriously doubt that we would've had Brexit at all if it weren’t for him.

Sunak was actually asked this week if he’d welcome Farage back into the party. Being his usual noncommittal self, he said that the Conservative party was a wide church, only for Farage to swiftly say that he’d never return to the fold. When pressed if he’d reconsider if Braverman were leader, he helpfully replied “At least I’d believe in some of the policies”. He’s shaped Conservative party policies from the outside for years. Talk about playing the long game. I wouldn’t be surprised if he were to try his hand for an eighth time, only this time wearing a blue rosette.

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For those that like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like.

Apologies Dan long answer incoming. Fellow TCR members may wish to skip this post....

Starting with the middle ground, politics in Northern Ireland isn't split along grounds of 'The left' and the 'The right' but divided by the constitutional question of is Northern Ireland part of the UK or should it be part of a United Ireland. It is very very very rare for someone to change their position in this particular question and those that don't tend to have a strong view are often considered the middle ground.

Sinn Fein are an incredibly well oiled political machine. Their messaging and branding is consistent, their representatives always toe the party line and over the last decade they have done a great job at creating a new image for themselves as the progressive socialist option in Ireland (despite not always delivering on these promises). Consequently their popularity has never been higher, especially with the younger generation of voters and this trend looks like it is set to continue. The are now the biggest party in Northern Ireland having pulled voters away from the other Nationalist parties such as the SDLP and the traditionally neutral parties such as the Green Party (who are all but wipped out now in NI sadly). Brexit undoubtedly helped their cause as it has destabilised the foundations of the Good Friday Agreement and heightened tensions that many hoped were a thing of the past. 12 years of Tory austerity has also helped especially as the Irish economy looks strong at the minute dispelling many long held arguments that a United Ireland is financial unfeasible.

Having said all this they are still Sinn Fein, a Nationalist pro reunification party with links to a troubled past. There are many communities that will never vote for them or even tolerate them being in politics for many different reasons. I myself have never and probably will never vote for them as a matter of principle. I personally have a lot of respect for the political journey that Martin McGuinness in particular went on. The day he met the Queen and they shook hands was monumental. It symbolised that dialogue and politics were better tools than violence and conflict. It showed the world that forgiveness in the name of peace was possible and that all relationships, given time and effort can be made to work.

All this being said whilst their are families who still do not know where the bodies of their loved ones were buried after the IRA abducted them I simply cannot bring myself put an X in the box beside Sinn Fein. Not while they still have active members who might know those answer to these questions (Mr Adams in particular).

Despite what I've said above it would disingenuous of me not to mention that there are some very capable politicians in their ranks who do seem to genuinely care about improving the lives of their constituents and communities. I can totally understand why people are voting for them and expect them to be the leading parties in Government North and South of the border very soon.

Thanks for that, that was a really interesting post! I guess younger voters don't have the same historical grievances with SF that their parents and grandparents understandably do, so SF can gradually move forward through the generations over time.

The point about SF being the biggest party in NI is a fascinating prospect - do you think in that situation, the DUP would dig their heels in even more and refuse to be part of a power-sharing agreement in which they didn't hold the First Minister role?

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It's Pete's train set, and we should all feel honoured to be granted the privilege of paying to play with it.

"Shut the fuck up, you sausage!"

I'll never vote Tory for as long as I live I've been that angered and frustrated by the government in the last decade or so.

Unfortunately my constituency has been staunch Tory for as long as it has been a thing other than a couple of times in the 1920's so my vote tends to have not made any difference. This time around though with Nadine Dorries cocking around and then resigning a change is hopefully in the air, though as others have said I'm really not sure if I like any of them.

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Cuboid of bum fluff

Emotionally, I agree with this. But I don’t think the facts support it. The problems we face (NHS, public infrastructure, housing, transition to “green” etc) is so costly to fund that even a hugely increased tax base couldn’t cover it. And Britain is, unlike many continental countries, culturally against higher taxes. Long term, economic growth helps of course but you have to ask a strategic question: if we want a sustainable future, that surely means we have to wean ourselves off of growth and accept that we need a new paradigm, one of zero growth?

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I don't need your ill-informed, half-baked, idiotic opinions. I have plenty of those myself.

I rarely rarely engage in politics talk but seeing as this thread has (bar the odd one or two) been a sensible read.

Ideologically I am a conservative voter. Or too put it more accurately historically would be an conservative voter. Today I dont really recognise that particular party and would find it hard to vote for them. As it stands I havent voted for them in years as my constituent MP was Dorries and I just couldnt do it. I have always voted for MRLP if they have a candidate or occasionally the Green party. I am aligned to neither of those and only do so to utilise my hard earned but mainly pointless vote.

As you may be aware we have a pending by election and its an interesting dilemma as to which way to go, noting the successful candidate will have to stand again in 6 to 12 months I would imagine.

For the conservatives we have a guy who has/is serving as the PCC and has done a decent job and does appear to be a genuinely decent guy. I dont doubt locally he would be a good MP and with the 20000+ majority that exists here he may well get in again this time.

For Labour we have a guy who may or may not live in the area, its seems a bit unclear. I have met him and he seems a decent guy if not a bit identikit candidate who arrived with a full PR team around him with some sort of voter modelling document. He couldnt answer much about local issues and even less about national policy. I need a bit more than 'they had a party' as a policy.

We have a woman for the lib dems who has canvassed hard and personally. Seemed to understand the local issues and actually had a few answers, particularly about policy and was clear about what she had voted for and against locally.

Its a difficulT choice to make as if I want the conservatives out, i will probably have to vote for the lib dems candidate as voting labour would split the vote I think and make it almost certain that the conservatives get in again. This might well happen anyway so I am minded to give the guy a go and expect the party will be out of government in 6 to 12 months anyway.

Rishi’s high tax, high levels of state spending, government, isn’t right wing. Quite the opposite.

Nor is paying 8 million per day to provide free accommodation for people who probably should not be here.

Fiscal decisions in isolation are not a representative indicator of a parties ideology.

Highest tax burden as a percentage of GDP since the war is not indicative of a right wing government.