[Youngian]

Sorry to repeat myself but find and watch the Greg Wallace "High Street Through Time" thing. Points out very succinctly that savings and convenience will always win out over personalised service and charming boutiques.

This documentary narrated by Sid James in the mid 60s accurately predicts why tatty but cheerful markets were dying as people turned to supermarkets and niche shops bringing food from around the world. Doesn't stop dozy gammon comments not getting the message

[davidjay]

Markets were replaced by shops were replaced by supermarkets were replaced by out of town supermarkets were replaced by Internet shopping.

[mattomac]

Ah but they will blame the council and parking.

[davidjay]

Ah but they will blame the council and parking.

And the Invasion.

[Oboogie]

Ah but they will blame the council and parking.

And the Invasion.

Comin' over 'ere, stealin' our town centres.

[davidjay]

Don't all yawn at once but there's another general election petition up and running. Starmer MUST resign now.

[The Weeping Angel]

Yep and it's brought out all the mentalists.

[mattomac]

5k signatures were recorded at 3-4am in the morning…. Chinny recon

And no Liz Truss proved that. Why none of these tossers cared was because her entire budget made them richer.

[davidjay]

2016 - "You lost, get over it."
2024 - "Let's take to the streets!!!"

[Bones McCoy]

2016 - "You lost, get over it."
2024 - "Let's take to the streets!!!"

2025 - cops knock a few heads in.

Come on, we've all fantasized about it.
* "You'll create martyrs" - They're always martyrs; not having a posh bank account, being caught lying and getting contradicted.
* "They'll get sympathy" ...
* etc...


What would Uncle Vlad do?
1. Select the targets carefully.
2. Vilify the target before and after - not a "family man" but a grubby grifter with a lengthy criminal record.
3. Make it look painful / inconvenient - pour decourager les autres.


#1 is hardly rocket science.
#2 the right has the size of infrestructure to do this (Meghan Markle - anybody?), do we?
#3 Kier managed this when he banged up the rioters.

[The Weeping Angel]

Then there's Daniel Hannan

[Abernathy]

Prexactly. No government has a “mandate” of any kind, other than to make decisions as the government that they have been elected to serve as. Even party manifesto commitments do not constitute any kind of “mandate”, though the right wing tabloids would have you believe that they do. The entire concept of a “mandate” simply doesn’t exist in the arena of UK politics.

We’re on “will of the people” territory again - which was also a load of old bollocks.

[kreuzberger]

Lord Hannan wants to discuss mandates? I don't think that that will hold water any better than Trump's nappies.

[davidjay]

I know we've always sad they believe they have a divine right to be in power but this is getting dafter by the minute. They'll be holding their breath until Starmer resigns next.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

They really don't like it up 'em.

[davidjay]

The thing that makes me smile most are the ones who truly believe that the king will have to dissolve Parliament when it reaches a certain number.

[Oboogie]

They're so excited about their 2 million signatures (which apparently are from all over the world - including some places which are uninhabited), have they really forgotten the 6 million UK citizens that signed the petition to withdraw Article 50 and cancel Brexit? We were ignored because the government had a mandate.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... signatures

[davidjay]

They're so excited about their 2 million signatures (which apparently are from all over the world - including some places which are uninhabited), have they really forgotten the 6 million UK citizens that signed the petition to withdraw Article 50 and cancel Brexit? We were ignored because the government had a mandate.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... signatures

That was different, though. IT JUST WAS!!!

[Oboogie]

The thing that makes me smile most are the ones who truly believe that the king will have to dissolve Parliament when it reaches a certain number.

To be fair, there's no reason that those signatories in Western Sahara (seriously) should know how UK democracy works.

[Youngian]

They're so excited about their 2 million signatures (which apparently are from all over the world - including some places which are uninhabited), have they really forgotten the 6 million UK citizens that signed the petition to withdraw Article 50 and cancel Brexit? We were ignored because the government had a mandate.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... signatures

Those 6m signatures don't count for shit either. I'd guess Cameron or a New Labour SPAD on a desperate day introduced this online parliamentary petitions.
Maybe their only use is to alert MPs about a genuine grass roots issue of concern that they haven't touched. Assisted dying for example.