[Youngian]

But there does seem to be a fair bit to be wary of there.

Addiction to gambling is as devastating as any other and the rates of addiction appear to be similar to drink and drugs. Don’t know how you’d prevent online gaming but the ubiquity of the advertising that followed deregulation served no positive purpose.

[Youngian]

I think the Green Party might have overstepped the mark a bit here. As Robert Saunders says, it's bollocks to talk like the British Parliament had a vote on ending the war. It was a vote on calling for a ceasefire that neither side wants.

I dunno, maybe this is how they get voters off Labour.

Why do British leftists have such an inflated view about this country’s power and influence over global events?
Think it was AJP Taylor who noted this in the 50s when CND believed the world would follow Britain’s moral example if it abolished nukes.
UK does still have diplomatic soft power in the hands of the right leader but they’ve already made up their minds that Starmer is a neoliberal imperialist war monger. So what’s the plan to make diddly squat difference to events, more demos?

Jeremy Hunt appears to have no such delusions

[Abernathy]

Well, Francine Bosco's (who she?) well-meaning cynicism notwithstanding, Jeremy Hunt is actually correct (did I really just type that?).

In practical terms, there is very little that UK politicians can do to try to bring about an end to the current bloodshed in Israel/Gaza. What can be done already is being done - the Shadow Foreign Secretary is currently heading to the Middle East for talks with both Israel's President Herzog and the Palestinian leader, which he describes as "hard diplomacy".

I suppose the closest parallel that I can think of was the campaign to end apartheid in South Africa. I was a member of the AAM, went on marches in that London, declined to buy Outspan oranges, and so on. Apartheid ultimately ended, of course, more through the efforts and sacrifices of Nelson Mandela, FW De Klerk, and many others rather than the campaign, but the influence of the campaign was nevertheless important. Apartheid was such a manifest injustice, supported by Margaret Thatcher, to boot. But it wasn 't really comparable to Israel/Gaza. And I don't recall any protests at the constituency offices of Labour MPs who were pro-apartheid - because there weren't any.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Why do British leftists have such an inflated view about this country’s power and influence over global events?
Think it was AJP Taylor who noted this in the 50s when CND believed the world would follow Britain’s moral example if it abolished nukes.
UK does still have diplomatic soft power in the hands of the right leader but they’ve already made up their minds that Starmer is a neoliberal imperialist war monger. So what’s the plan to make diddly squat difference to events, more demos?

Jeremy Hunt appears to have no such delusions

Hunt is right.

I dont know if the Greens think that. Might be just loose talk.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Re Anna Turley, I see she's done a variety of stuff, some unequivocally good, since she became an MP. Maybe she just needed a job for a while when she did that work for the gambling people. That does happen to MPs who don't get jobs found for them by Len McClusky and who don't have professional qualifications (she was a civil servant before she became an MP).

Turley will have a good shot at being in the Cabinet if she wins her seat back. So hope she didn't believe that nonsense.

[Youngian]

Wouldn’t mind turning Redcar into Atlantic City if I lived there. Could do worse than the American model of restricting gambling to destination locations where it becomes a cash cow for a much larger lucrative leisure experience for all the family.

[Andy McDandy]

IIRC the last Labour government had big plans for Blackpool in that regard.

[davidjay]

It was tried at Resorts World at the NEC. You'd hardly call that a roaring success.

[Youngian]

IIRC the last Labour government had big plans for Blackpool in that regard.

Brown put the kibosh on it.

[Bones McCoy]

IIRC the last Labour government had big plans for Blackpool in that regard.

Like a lot of American stuff, it doesn't scale down terribly effectively.

In these parts we have the Braehead shopping centre and beside it is a leisure complex which used to incorporate an indoor snow slope, bowling alley, various amusements, buffet food court and a cinema.

The snow slope just closed (energy costs).
It's been a while since I visited, but when I did most of the arcades were not operating, machines still there, but lights switched off - like some bizarre Scooby Doo theme park.

The bowling alley was still going, but most of the food outlets were boarded up.
Basically down to MacDonald's and Nandos.

All the dark dead space gave a really run-down feel, a little threatening for nervous types navigating through the dark sections to reach the cinema.


We have a national casino.
It's known as the square mile.

[Tubby Isaacs]

With Blackpool, it might have dovetailed nicely with what was already there, but probably not in Clacton.

I don't really get why Brown shut these down. Casinos are better than somebody going mad on their phone.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Son of the manse.

[kreuzberger]

Brown put the kibosh on this long before the cancerous impact of mobile / online gambling took hold. Thank Christ!

Places like Blackpool could actually be rejuvenated by universities, sweeping up the cheap, off season accommodation for students and providing a decent work/life balance for an otherwise stretched staff. In the longer term, and with students staying there, having families and becoming a best-bet, educated workforce, what is not to like?

Otherwise, these towns and cities face nothing more than (un)managed decline.

[Abernathy]

There is currently a cease-fire in Gaza. Hostages and prisoners have been released by both sides, and the agreement by both sides to refrain from fighting is, as I write, still holding. It IS a cease-fire, albeit one the duration of which has been agreed in advance by both sides in the conflict. It has been possible to get humanitarian aid into the region. The duration of the cease-fire has already been extended once, and there is real hope that a further extension can be agreed.

So, we DO have a cease-fire, of the only variety of cease-fire that was ever conceivable or possible. So, what on earth was all that marching through London, councillors writing letters, and resigning from the Labour front bench for?

It so happens that the current cease-fire also fits what Keir Starmer, Joe Biden, and Rishi Sunak have all been calling for. Okay, so the fighting is almost certainly going to start up again. But that was never not going to be the case. This imperfect cease-fire is the best that anybody can hope for, and always was. What is of critical import now is to persuade both parties in the conflict to extend the cease-fire, ideally indefinitely. It’s still unlikely, but it just might be achievable.

My point? That all the posturing, ceasefire-demanding, Starmer-condemning, and yes -virtue signalling sturm und drang that we’ve seen on the political left looks pretty bloody daft. And quite pointless.

[Abernathy]

From Luke Akehurst's NEC report :

Deputy National Campaign Co-ordinator Ellie Reeves MP said she believed the Tories were in the process of changing strategy to a “better the devil you know” theme from an earlier attempt to frame Rishi Sunak as a change candidate. They want to make the election a referendum on Labour rather than a referendum on their performance in government. They will try to deny Labour has changed.

[mattomac]

To be honest that change thing has only been a 2 month thing.

[Abernathy]

To be honest that change thing has only been a 2 month thing.

True, but clearly it was total bollocks from the word go. A sign of the Tories' desperation that it has taken them two months to spot it.

[Tubby Isaacs]

This charmer was apparently kicked out in 2021. Aside from the blowing up bit, she's apparently untroubled by "nonce".

Edit- click on the tweet. The preview doesn't make it clear.

[The Weeping Angel]

She's said she was just joking.

https://labourlist.org/2023/12/anti-sem ... -politics/

Mike Katz, JLM’s national chair, told Jewish News: “At a time of rising antisemitism and increasing hate on our streets, we take these threats very seriously. Using social media to encourage people to endanger Jewish lives is reckless and racist.

“You don’t need to be a professor to understand this. We are liaising with the Community Security Trust and Metropolitan Police to ensure that our Conference will be safe and welcoming. We are proud of our programme and look forward to gathering together.”

The conference venue had not been publicly advertised for security reasons already. The latest figures from CST, which focuses on Jewish security and antisemitism, suggest at least 1890 antisemitic incidents have been reported to it since Hamas’ attack on Israel, the “highest ever total” in such a period.

I think she should work on her sense of humour.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

I see that the party has declared its list of 'non-battleground' seats for the upcoming GE. My own constituency is one of them. The message is clear, we can't win this one, go and work elsewhere and vote tactically.

Full list here:

https://labourlist.org/2023/12/labour-s ... ituencies/