#British House of Commons

[therealjohnstewart]

Esther McVey

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1981 – Bobby Sands dies at Long Kesh prison on the 66th day of his hunger strike.

Fuair siad bás ar son Saoirse na hÉireann. Bobby Sands dies in prison following a 66 day hunger strike. Sands would be the first of ten men to die in an effort to gain political status in a very public battle with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In the House of Commons Thatcher commented on Sands death “Mr. Sands was a convicted criminal. He chose to take his own life. It was a choice…

[dadsinsuits]

Peter Bottomley

[daddies-i-love]

Michael Fallon

[drsonnet]

How to stop a genocide? We demand the following: 1-Email your MP/representatives. 2-No Fly Zone over Gaza #NFZ 3-Arms embargo on Israel (#MilitaryEmbargo ) (#DefundIsrael) Arms embargo on Israel #MilitaryEmbargo #DefundIsrael #StopArmingIsrael 4- Cease fire For Gaza 5- Cut diplomatic ties, Recall ambassadors. 6-Boycot Israel 7-OPEN THE BORDERS of Gaza 8- Medical organizations, Academic Bodies, Unions,....Should be emailed and asked to take action. a letter of objection to the official MPS, and governments. 9- it is time for sanctions against Israel. 10- Boycott Biased Scholars, paid Activists, Genocide research organizations and memorial centers saying it is a conflict, not a genocide. They are paid hypocrite spokesmen, not honest scholars. 11-Hunger strike. (Personal or public. I started it in Nov-Dec 2023). 12-Global Strike / Monday/ 11 then 18.12.2023 #StrikeForGaza #الإضراب_العالمي #GazaGenocide BOYCOTT ISRAEL. 1. No flights to/from Israel 2. No exports/imports w/Israel 3. No ship which calls an an Israeli port allowed to berth at an EU port 4. No visas to Israelis 5. No cultural/sports events w/Israel. EMAIL YOUR MP: The UK has a Responsibility to Protect Palestinians against atrocities in Gaza - Medical Aid for Palestinians (map.org.uk) End the Siege on Gaza Now! End the Occupation! Ceasefire now! Allow immediate entry of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip! Resume all electricity, water and other infrastructure that was shut off by Israel in violation of international humanitarian law. Stop funding Israel! No UK/US Aid to Israel. Weapons companies must stop producing weapons for Israel. Stop profiting from the genocide and occupation of Palestine! Cut Ties with Israel! End complicity with war crimes! #ceasefirenow HRW calls for an arms embargo on Israel and Palestinian armed groups. Providing weapons that knowingly and significantly would contribute to unlawful attacks can make those providing them complicit in war crimes. What does #CeasefireForGaza mean? = STOP THE WAR ON #GAZA Stop funding Israel! No UK/US Aid to Israel. Weapons companies must stop producing weapons for Israel. Stop profiting from the #genocide and killing civilians in #PalestineHolocaust !

#CeasefireForGaza #CeasefireForGaza #StopGenocidelnGaza #Genocide_in_Gaza #CeasefireForGaza #FreePalestine #GazaUnderAttack

[nostalgia-tblr]

british people problems: after spending your entire life referring to "the queen" in discussions of politcs and government and so on you now have to refer to "the monarch" because you don't want to misgender them but you also don't want to accept that we're probably stuck with male ones until we finally get rid of the cunts for a few generations.

[tmcphotoblog]

[reallyneedsalife]

I'm losing my shit over Boris being blocked from voting by not bringing ID

it was literally HIS LAW. HE BROUGHT IT TO DISCUSSION. HE PRESENTED IT TO THE HOUSES. And then didn't comply with it.

what was his plan? hope getting recognised as An Ex-Prime Minister would function as his ID? does he have that level of audacity??

[tomorrowusa]

Predictions for seats in Parliament in the UK election

Although it's almost universally assumed that the Conservative Party will lose bigtime in the general election, the forecasts for number of seats in the House of Commons are more varied than one would expect. Survation predicts 470 seats for Labour while Britain Elects (at The New Statesman) predicts a mere 418 seats for them.

So I created this chart to compare predictions from five sources. In the right column are the number of seats for each party at end of the previous Parliament in May. If the image below is too small, try this direct link.

Sources...

The Guardian Electoral Calculus Nowcast Britain Elects (The New Statesman) Survation

326 seats out of the total 650 are needed for a majority. The numbers in the Nowcast prediction add up to just 649 because they aren't counting the Speaker who does not vote.

Polls close at 10:00 PM BST which is 2100 GMT. To determine when that is in your local time, click here.

According to this election night timeline at The Guardian, results from the 650 constituencies will start flooding in around 3:00 AM BST. Though some interesting results may be announced as early as a couple of hours before then.

What time will we know who won? Hour-by-hour guide to election night

Some constituencies which I'll be paying particular attention to tonight...

Richmond and Northallerton – Rishi Sunak's seat. The odds are (slightly) that he will keep his seat though it's far from certain. One of his challengers is a candidate who goes by the name Count Binface.

Godalming and Ash – Jeremy Hunt, the Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is said to be in serious danger of losing his seat.

Chingford and Woodford Green - Iain Duncan Smith, leader of the Conservative Party for a few years in the 2000s.

North East Somerset and Hanham – Jacob Rees-Mogg, a particularly annoying Tory grandee who would be lucky to get voted back to the House.

South West Norfolk – Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak's immediate predecessor whose time in Number 10 was famously outlasted by a head of lettuce.

Clacton – Nigel Farage, head of the far right Reform Party and infamous Brexit fanatic. Because Farage seems to be leading there, Clacton may be the only constituency where it's possible to justify voting Tory — just to block him.

Holborn and St Pancras – Sir Keir Starmer, the next Labour prime minister. Should be an easy win for him there.

Kingston and Surbiton – Sir Ed Davey, head of the Liberal Democrats. If the Lib Dems have a particularly good evening then it's within the realm of possibility that they could replace the Conservatives as the official opposition.

So why should you take an interest in this election? If you're reading posts in this blog then you are likely a political nerd. Also, UK elections are interesting and fun. Monty Python devoted several sketches to UK election scenarios.

But frankly, unless Putin is overthrown in a coup or a major hurricane strikes Mar-a-Lago, this will be the best political news of the month. So savor every minute of coverage of it.

There should be live coverage at the BBC here. ITV News and other reputable UK news providers may also offer live coverage. One source to avoid is GB News which is roughly the Fox News of the UK. *shudders*

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“CLASS OF SISSY BOYS WOULD BE PRODUCED,” Weekly British Whig (Kingston). May 10, 1922. Page 17. ---- If We Wipe Out Militia Training, Says Gen. A. E. Ross, Kingston. ---- Ottawa, May 11 - In discussing the militia estimates in the Commons, Brig.-General A. E. Ross, (Cons., Kingston) said it was rather interesting to see that estimates which were whittled down to the lowest figure could be still further reduced. He asked who the people- were who objected to militia training. There were those who had an aversion to what they called "brass hats." Then there were the uplifters. who said we should treat all men as brothers, forgetting that brothers. sometimes quarelled. Others took the ground that there were signs of lasting peace, and cited the disarmament conference in support of this contention.

General Ross emphasized the value of training. As a Canadian example of the value of training, he said that a week's winter training in Canada, with its experience of operations under low temperatures, had provided a method by which it had been possible to wipe out the malady known as trench feet.

"If we wipe out militia training and cadet training and all kinds of training," remarked. General Ross, in conclusion, "we shall produce a class of sissy boys, fanatics in dancing, and not the good old class of boys who made the British Empire what it is."

[surelookbutnothingtoseehere]

[therealjohnstewart]

Esther McVey

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1969 – Bernadette Devlin, a newly elected MP, made a controversial maiden speech in the House of Commons.

I understand that in making my maiden speech on the day of my arrival in Parliament and in making it on a controversial issue I flaunt the unwritten traditions of the House, but I think that the situation of my people merits the flaunting of such traditions. I remind the hon. Member for Londonderry (Mr. Chichester-Clark) that I, too, was in the Bogside area on the night that he was there. As the…

[dadsinsuits]

Peter Bottomley

[thepastisalreadywritten]

—

[atleastimnotcalledrock]

At the Labour conference on October 10th, Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition (the Labour party) was covered in glitter by a protester saying 'True democracy is citizen led. Politics needs an update. We demand a people's House.'

So I did a bit of research on the protester and apparently he's affiliated with a group called People Demand Democracy who as the name suggests want to make the system more democratic.

According to their website, they are 'calling for a fair, proportional voting system for Westminster elections and a permanent, legally-binding national House of Citizens, selected by democratic lottery,' because 'we need a democratic alternative that gives the people of the UK a voice to deal with the major challenges of our time: rampant inequality, an escalating climate crisis, political corruption and on.' (https://www.peopledemanddemocracy.com/news)

Look I'm not saying that we shouldn't be looking for ways to make the system more democratic and representative but I think there are drawbacks to the solutions that they have proposed.

1: The introduction of proportional representation

The system currently used in the UK is the first past the post system in which each constituency (or area) votes for their MP who sits in the House of Commons, therefore they have a 'seat' in parliament. The party with the most 'seats' forms the government. The idea is a government will get a majority so it is easier to pass legislation.

The drawbacks of proportional representation is that it is less likely for parties to win an outright majority. In response two parties will form a coalition government so will have to work together. The problem with this is that frequently the two parties dont agree and so very little gets done. The last coalition government in the UK was between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in 2011.

Both systems have their flaws. Though proportional representation is undoubtedly more democratic I don't think that it will create the strongest government. At some point you have to sacrifice democracy for stability and where the current system just manages to toe the line, proportional representation can be considered a step to far. That's not to say it doesn't work in other countries but not for the UK

2: The introduction of a House of Citizens alongside the existing House of Commons and the House of Lords

I'll try and run though this quick

In House of Lords (red) sits 'experts' in their field as well as hereditary peers (some people think that practice is outdated). They scrutinise the government. Legislation must go though both houses before it can be passed.

House of Commons (green) contains the government (PM, ministers, shadow ministers) and all the other MPs. Here debates are held about bills, as well as Prime Minister Question time.

These houses make up the Houses of Parliament

The problem with a 'House if Citizens' is that it would be trying to do what the House of Commons is supposed to do. (I understand it doesn't always do what it should but stick with me)

The House of Commons is where the people, the commoners, are represented. If a House of Citizens was introduced to 'give the people of the UK a voice' it suggests that the House of Commons is not doing their task correctly. I'd assume that to make the House of Citizens truly representative of the people, stipulations would be added so that you could only be there depending on your income or job title perhaps.

If that were the case, there would create a larger class divide and more disolutionment with democracy seeing that the House of Citizens would focus on 'climate crisis' and 'political corruption'. Though these are both very important topics, they're not exactly the budget or international affairs. It suggests that the everyday person is only capable of managing the seemingly insignificant parts of politics, and that the important stuff needs to be left to the 'professionals' in the Commons.

I think that though it's good in theory the optics look bad. There would be room then for the House of Commons to take more control over public life because they, too, have been voted in but for the 'important' matters, and so 'must be more capable than the Citizens' because they're in the Commons.

I think thats a really cynical view for me to hold but I do believe that the solutions proposed by People Demand Democracy are too optimistic in places. I would like a committee to look into political corruption and for it to be taken more seriously though because recently there have been so many scandals we've all become desensitised to them.

We do need change in our political system.

The only question is: How?