The first question that formed in my mind when I heard the news was whether Gorgeous George Galloway may now have a genuine chance of returning as an MP. His candidacy previously threatened to embarrass Starmer, but that embarrassment would perhaps have come in the form of a strong second or third place. Few serious commentators really expected Galloway to win outright, but that may change if his star power (of sorts) no longer has to compete with a Labour campaign. I've just checked the Betfair exchange, and he's currently odds-on favourite at 1.69.
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I’ve been following this and Galloway was likely to win the seat anyway. He was already the favourite before Labour pulled support for their candidate. The main effect of withdrawing support for the Labour candidate now is that it will reduce the embarrassment for Starmer when Labour lose. Which is a shame because, as I say, I think Galloway would have won anyway, and Starmer deserved to be humiliated for his stance on Gaza.
ReplyDeleteI very much doubt he would have won outright without this new development. He might have been bookies' favourite, but the demographics of the constituency didn't really work for him without this extra help .
DeleteWell the turn out and enthusiasm at his launch looked promising. Don’t underestimate the amount of anger over Gaza, not just in minority communities, but among all decent people
Delete"Don’t underestimate the amount of anger over Gaza…"
DeleteDo we have polling on this?
I myself quite agree that it's genocide going on there by a terror state on civilians under the typical murderer's pretext of "anti-terrorism." But I've also seen the apathy here in Edinburgh around demonstrations on the subject. The general public is certainly aware of it but they don't seem to be as agitated as they were against the Iraq war from the start, for one example I remember well.
This is where the media's power over public opinion is still strong, from what I can tell. The general fatalistic sense of "it's the Middle East, it's been going on forever, and it will never get any better, let's not get involved in it yet again" is what comes up in conversation with non-political friends. There's not much friendship for Israel, they've seen what's going on, but there's not a sense that "it matters here" either.
Iraq was huge because the UK was directly involved. I don't know if Gaza has that dominant presence in people's minds and votes.
I’ve only been to one protest in Glasgow and it was well attended with a broad range of people there. It was not as large as the 2003 march against Iraq that is true
DeleteMany law abiding citizens have been frightened away from protesting about Gaza because of the new laws introduced in UK restricting protest and the existing feeling that UK government is supporting the genocide in Gaza.In Dundee recently there were a huge number of police surrounding a peaceful protest about Gaza by what were mostly mums and dads with rheir young children and older granny and grandads.
DeleteFurther unfortunate revelations made this the most desirable option for Labour. Obviously, with a general election pending imminently, Labour will get it back soon with a different and better candidate.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I can see, they haven't told anyone what those "unfortunate revelations" actually are. You must have a great deal of faith in their judgement, Anon.
DeleteIf he's elected I'm sure he'll be good for a few laughs and what more could you want from your politicians than that!
DeleteLabour = lol
ReplyDeleteWhen is the by election?
ReplyDelete29th.
DeleteUnless there's something I'm missing, repeating a conspiracy theory that Israel deliberately relaxed security is in no way anti semitic?
ReplyDeleteUnder the IHRA definition, antisemitism is conflated with criticism of Israel. From there, it's only a small step to arguing that any conspiracy theory about Israel must be an antisemitic conspiracy theory about Jews, on a par with the ones peddled by the Nazis in the 1930s.
Delete"Anti-semitism" has been weaponised as a club to beat down any criticism or balanced commentary of Netanyahu's Israel and its conduct at all.
DeleteWhoever's behind the IHRA can slap themselves on the back for a job well done.
This is madness!
DeleteRemember though that the Internation Court of Justice has already declared that genocide has occured in Gaza , its an ongoing crisis that the ICJ and government of South Africa and Israel are dealing with.
DeleteTo Anon at 11:07 am who shall soon be deleted:
ReplyDeleteTime to give up on this trolling nonsense.
It ain’t working. ;)
You’re as persistent as a spammer, anon 12:25
DeleteDependence would be utter lunacy.
I think we can all agree that George is indefatigably Gorgeous, the cat episode is well behind him, and that he’s settling into the rôle. Whatever exactly that is.
ReplyDeleteSo when we hear or read from Jewish people criticising the Israeli government for massacring thousands of children are they supposed to be anti semetic as well?
ReplyDeleteCareful now: that comment is clearly anti-semitic. Arguably, this one is, too. I believe the definition follows "Macbeth" rules now, as elaborated in Blackadder.
DeleteAs a unionist I have to be honest and say, independence before next March is, frankly, inevitable.
ReplyDeleteLike you I'm a unionist, and I find it hard to disagree. Difficult times for us.
DeleteI totally understand these comments because support for independence is now above 50% in the latest polls from Ipsos and Find Out Now.
DeleteYes, and I'm also deeply concerned that anti-Tory tactical voting can only really benefit the pro-independence side at the upcoming general election. A perfect storm for us unionists.
DeleteIn 2015,2017,2019 the SNP had a significant majority of MPs but did NOTHING about independence. So it matters not a jot how many MPs they have as long as the current lot are in charge of the SNP.
DeleteThese polls always put Yes ahead, the consistency suggests there has been a pro-independence majority for many years now. As unionists I'm not sure how we're going to hold back the tide when the de facto referendum takes place. The result could be embarrassing for us.
DeleteI do fear you're right.
DeleteSo the SG decide to hold a de facto referendum, nationalist parties win a majority of seats.
DeleteBingo job done, we declare independence.
That's democracy, I guess.
Yes, as unionists we do have to be democrats and respect the results of elections.
DeleteAgreed. Slippery slope to fascism if we don't.
DeleteEven as a unionist I would much prefer independence to a fascist British state.
Delete@anon posting pish after pish all the way from 11:46pm—9:08am
ReplyDeletePlease delete me, let me go
For I don't troll you anymore
To waste our posts would be a sin
Release me and let me spam again