Whoops! What a political misjudgement.

Anything that does not fit elsewhere can be discussed here.

Moderators: DJKeefy, 4u Network

Post Reply
User avatar
Grandad
Egyptian Pharaoh
Egyptian Pharaoh
Posts: 6924
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: South East UK
Has thanked: 797 times
Been thanked: 2254 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Whoops! What a political misjudgement.

Post by Grandad »

Have pity on Theresa May this morning. Is this one of the worst political misjudgments of modern times? Can she now stay as PM?
When she called the election 7 weeks ago the pundits were predicting a landslide with a majority of up to 100 seats. I think there are many reasons for the poor result for the Conservatives but in my constituency it is all about students.
Canterbury has been a Tory seat for ever, or at least since the constituency was formed in 1918, BUT a majority of around 8000 in 2015 turned into a Labour win by 187 votes. And WHY? It must be the student vote. We have around 28,000 students in three universities and they all had the option to register to vote either here or at their home addresses. I am inclined to think that there was some canvassing on campus and many registered here.
That's politics I suppose BUT i have had a lot to say about the effect of the 'TEMPORARY' student population on the locality and I am not happy that they should influence local politics when they will move on before too long.


:gg:
User avatar
Horus
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 12363
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: UK
Has thanked: 1658 times
Been thanked: 2213 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Re: Whoops! What a political misjudgement.

Post by Horus »

Those were my thoughts when I saw the result for Canterbury Grandad and I have little doubt that the young vote has been mobilised by Labour. Fair do’s they are entitled to a vote, but I fear they were voting for “jam tomorrow” as Corbyn knew he would never have to honour the promises he made. Quite how the Tories managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory I do not know, but to alienate their core voters by threatening to cut pensions, social care and the Winter fuel allowance almost beggars belief. Neither have labour won a victory as they lost despite all the promises as many people have a long memory of their past spending record which always ended up creating more debt. My own thoughts are that we now have the worst of all worlds with a government with no real majority and we are about to start the Brexit negotiations, I can see it being a disaster.
Image
User avatar
Grandad
Egyptian Pharaoh
Egyptian Pharaoh
Posts: 6924
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: South East UK
Has thanked: 797 times
Been thanked: 2254 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Re: Whoops! What a political misjudgement.

Post by Grandad »

Oh well, I can see the Brexit process being a long and difficult ride for PM May. She wanted to strengthen her hand knowing that there would be much opposition to a ;Hard; Brexit. Now the situation is worse with her having to rely on the support of the DUP.
I still have faith in the lady to get the best deal she can for the country but there are troubled waters ahead with EU leaders seeing her as a lame duck. :(
:gg:
User avatar
Horus
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 12363
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: UK
Has thanked: 1658 times
Been thanked: 2213 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Re: Whoops! What a political misjudgement.

Post by Horus »

The EU will kick our backsides on any and every option we put forwards and I doubt we will have to eat a lot of humble pie in order to get any deal as they now see us as in a very weak negotiating position. Personally I would let it go to the country again after rowing back on those daft policies that killed off her core voters this time, I just cannot see this DUP deal working :(
Image
User avatar
LovelyLadyLux
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 11596
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 9:12 pm
Location: Canada
Has thanked: 417 times
Been thanked: 2714 times
Canada

Re: Whoops! What a political misjudgement.

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Sad day for "conservatives" unfortunately. Where I live now there are NO official "conservatives" and nobody ran in the last political election as a representative of this party.

Not saying they're all 'same same' but definitely seems, with the exception of the USA & Trump right now that Conservatives worldwide are having an uphill battle.
User avatar
Grandad
Egyptian Pharaoh
Egyptian Pharaoh
Posts: 6924
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: South East UK
Has thanked: 797 times
Been thanked: 2254 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Re: Whoops! What a political misjudgement.

Post by Grandad »

So the PM is upstaged by HM The Queen :(
When is that lady going to start getting things right.
After the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower, West London early Tuesday morning. Jeremy Corbyn was the first senior politician to visit the site yesterday and talk to some of those affected. Theresa May went there but only talked to members of the emergency services.
At 11 am this morning The Queen accompanied by Prince William went to one of the reception centres where affected residents are being helped. The PM DID visit one of the hospitals where some of those suffering are being treated, after The Queens visit.
I am afraid that Theresa May has a long way to go in her 'human touch' to start to win support nationally. She is certainly not 'one of the people'.
:gg:
User avatar
Horus
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 12363
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: UK
Has thanked: 1658 times
Been thanked: 2213 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Re: Whoops! What a political misjudgement.

Post by Horus »

I am not so sure that’s the full picture Grandad, although I would agree with you that she does seem badly advised when it comes to public relations. Corbyn was in a win win situation, he is the lefts darling, hug lots of ethnic minorities, every hug a guaranteed vote, whereas Teresa May was on a hiding to nothing. Although none of this can be attributed to her or happening on her watch as these things have had their origins in decisions of many past governments of all persuasions and of course many local councils responsible for enforcing regulations, but she still has to bear the brunt of peoples anger at this tragedy. Lets be quite honest here, what do you think would have happened if she had even attempted to offer comfort or solace to a Mogadishu refugee or similar who is hell bent on kicking off about housing conditions, safety measures, fire hazards etc. she would have needed armed troops to break up a riot. Corbyn had nothing to lose and everything to gain by turning up, but poor May would have only been an ‘aunt Sally’ for the angry mob to focus on, so personally I reckon she did the right thing. The Queen is another matter as regardless of ones personal views of the monarchy I think that she is still accepted as being a neutral well intentioned old dear by the average person in this country and no one is going to scream and rant at an old lady. At least for now she is sticking with it, although for how long is doubtful after all the back stabbing and easily bribed youngsters falling for Corbyns fake promises, plus she is at the worst point of the Brexit negotiations with one hand tied behind her back, something I think this country with come to regret. She is not in the best of health and I believe she is an insulin dependant diabetic, so if I were her I would be telling everyone to stuff it and retire from politics.
Image
User avatar
Grandad
Egyptian Pharaoh
Egyptian Pharaoh
Posts: 6924
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: South East UK
Has thanked: 797 times
Been thanked: 2254 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Re: Whoops! What a political misjudgement.

Post by Grandad »

I still think she should have gone H. By not going she has further alienated herself from those affected by this tragedy. As for the failure of the building to prevent the spread of fire, I have my own theory on that.
There seems little doubt that the outside cladding would dismally fail any fire resistance test. The building, although erected in 1974, was built to the standards of retaining a fire to one abode. We understand that it started with a fridge exploding on a lower floor. I can imagine that explosion blowing out a window and flames through the window ignighting the outside cladding. From the video records, the fire spread up THE OUTSIDE of the building very rapidly. I then believe that it is most likely that the heat melted uPVC windows and ignited curtains and drapes so spreading the fire into so many apartments.
So, without the cladding the fire would have been contained in the original apartment and there would not have been this very sad outcome.
:gg:
Mad Dilys
Royal V.I.P
Royal V.I.P
Posts: 2271
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: Luxor
Has thanked: 3044 times
Been thanked: 676 times
United Kingdom

Re: Whoops! What a political misjudgement.

Post by Mad Dilys »

This totally unavoidable tragedy is now being used as "entertainment" by the media. Excuse the pun, but they are just raking over and over and cooling embers.

It would have been an opportunity for someone to show their organisational and liasing skills, but no one stepped up.

I keep hearing that they may be x y or z casualties, but never once how many have survived, and now the politicians who were not returned to power are using this as a disgusting opportunity to try to make political gain.

This is probably not a political matter at all - except in the purely local sense. In my opinion the greatest blame lies with the authority that inspected the building and passed it's facilities for dealing with a fire. Secondary blame lies with the approval of unsuitable evacuation facilities.

I was really shocked last night when I saw how narrow the only stairs available for evacuation were, not only that but only a hand rail on one side. No wonder people lost contact with each other as they struggled to cope with the pressure of the crowd in absolute darkness.

There are indeed other factors which had their part in turning this drama into a disaster as has been mention by other posters.
Smile! It confuses people
User avatar
Horus
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 12363
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: UK
Has thanked: 1658 times
Been thanked: 2213 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Re: Whoops! What a political misjudgement.

Post by Horus »

I agree with MD on this one, the real people responsible are those that approved this particular renovation and I mean people and not political parties. My own view is that although poor by our modern standards, they were probably suitable to pass the ‘contained’ fire test as was the original design. The fault lay when someone approved the cheaper non fire retardant cladding that entirely changed the scenario when a fire occurred, so instead of being contained as it probably would have been with the old shabby cladding, this new stuff went up like a torch and created an entirely different situation that no one had the foresight to predict would happen, their minds were set on the fire being contained within a flat and no thought given to what happens when it reached something flammable outside of that one dwelling. I also agree with the disgusting way that the opposition parties are trying to score points off the back of this tragedy and of course the media love a good circus with lots of riots and grieving families to point a camera at, in my opinion they actually aggravate the situation. Going back to TM’s none visit, well just look at the riots that happened at that council meeting, it took loads of police to control the protesters trying to force their way in, had she visited at the time it would have been like pouring petrol on the flames (no pun intended).
Image
Mad Dilys
Royal V.I.P
Royal V.I.P
Posts: 2271
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: Luxor
Has thanked: 3044 times
Been thanked: 676 times
United Kingdom

Re: Whoops! What a political misjudgement.

Post by Mad Dilys »

Call me a cynic, but I am very doubtful that all of the collected items for the victims are indeed going to the victims. Recent filming of the collection points shows large amounts of clothes in particular being taken - the poor victims do not have facilities yet to store such stuff.

It's often been filmed that charity shops especially in London have their collection points raided at night. If bags of clothes are left outside shops after hours, they are opened and the best picked out - the rest being strewn across the pavements.

Also human nature being what it is, if the surviving tenants are re-housed within the area quickly, afterwards there will be an outcry from the Have-Nots who will wail "See you can give us accommodation quickly in the area, gimme! Gimme! Gimme!

Further, the owner of 22 student flats has offered them free for the summer.......... wait until she wants to put paying students in. Good Woman, good luck to her, but I'd put money on the fact that some folk won't move out and the flats will need re-decorating if not repairs. :urm:
Smile! It confuses people
User avatar
Horus
Egypt4u God
Egypt4u God
Posts: 12363
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:15 am
Location: UK
Has thanked: 1658 times
Been thanked: 2213 times
Gender:
United Kingdom

Re: Whoops! What a political misjudgement.

Post by Horus »

Just about sums up my thoughts MD, it will be turned into another "look at how the poor immigrants are treated" fiasco, they do seem to want to riot and protest at just about any excuse to do so or make political capital, but I wonder if in all of this soul searching and recriminations the real victims get lost. :urm:
Image
Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post