ALB
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This response from Oxford to our leaflet distributed there by Royal Mail is evidence for that interpretation:
Hello, I’m just writing to wish you success in this election, and to admit that sadly, as much as I wanted to vote for you, the voting system forced me to choose a party (Greens) with similarly progressive views, but hopefully a better chance of gaining a seat.
If a sensible and fair system such as STV was in place, you would certainly be my top ranked party, and I imagine many more would choose you as well.I believe the top priority for this country (and indeed the world) is to implement fair voting systems, so that people will be free to vote for parties such as yours without the fear of their vote being ineffective, i.e. not represented in the final outcome.I agree 100% that capitalism has failed, and global socialism is what we need to strive for. Once again I wish you all the best.Here’s a comment from Philip Collins, one of Blair’s speech writers, in today’s Times on how he perceives Corbyn’s position on Europe:
He thinks Europe doesn’t matter much. In fact, it is a token of the new political divide. He thinks he is being vague on a second-order issue; he still thinks class is the primary point.
If Corbyn (or his speech writers) really thinks this, then he’s right. From a class point of view, it doesn’t matter much whether Britain is in the EU or not; it is a second order issue. The only difference between Corbyn and us would be that while he thinks reformism is the way forward we think socialism is.
However, if Collins is right and the perceived divide is now “cultural” between “lifestyle liberals” and those who favour “traditional values” then that would explain not only why Labour did badly in the Euroelections but also why we did worse than last time too.
It’s a hanging offence in the Labour Party too as the case of Alistair Campbell shows, though it seems he might be reprieved on appeal. But there’s this from Wednesday’s London Evening Standard:
A Labour Party spokesman said: “To be absolutely clear, the way Labour Party members vote is a private matter. But publicly declaring or encouraging support for another candidate or party is against the rules and is incompatible with party membership.”
How could it be otherwise, even in our party, since how could you know how someone voted unless they said how they did?
If anybody wants to go the leaflets can be ordered or collected from Head Office. Not going myself as I don’t fancy being kettled. Both sides will be out for a fight. The police after having to be gentle with the Extinction people and the Black Blob because they are like that.
Robbo, this factsheet from the US National Cancer Institute should allay your residual worries about catching leukemia from living near an electricity pylon or using your mobile or computer or microwave or watching TV:
It also mentions the meta study you are looking for.
What all this means is that we can accept 5G as a technology that can be used in socialism, another technology advance which (like electricity distribution has done), makes a socialist world of abundance even more practicable.
Yes, it seems to be more of a “stablecoin” than the original bitcoin idea as a currency that had nothing to do with the state. Because its price fluctuated so much bitcoin was never really going to be used as an ordinary means of paying for goods and became more a speculative “crypto asset” than a “cryptocurrency” (crypto referring to the blockchain technology it was based on). To work as a means of payment, crypto-cash needs to be stable and tying it to state-issued money (whether a single one such as the dollar or a basket of them as Facebook seems to be proposing) is ta way of doing this. As far as the US-style libertarians are concerned, this — tying a so-called cryptocurrency to state-issued money — must seem a betrayal of their original project. Actually, it represents the failure of their attempt to by-pass the state and its money. What was the point of that anyway?
Robbo, it didn’t take me long to find on the internet two fake-news-busting sites exposing that story about those birds dying in the Netherlands: from a 5G test:
https://www.thequint.com/news/webqoof/5g-radiation-causes-bird-death-in-netherlands-fake-news
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/5g-cellular-test-birds/
As to the science of the effects, a comrade who’s forgotten his password to here has drawn attention to this:
and, on the geopo9litical aspect mentioned by Marcos, to this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/12/science/5g-phone-safety-health-russia.html
OK, Imposs, here’s the numbers:
Hastings: 77 out of 24,473
Folkestone & Hythe: 75 out of 32,417
Basingstoke: 155 out of 48,566
Dover: 74 out of 33,523
Reading: 83 out of 40,428
Runnymede: 39 out of 21,062
Southampton: 103 out of 53,847
Oxford: 83 out of 45,141
South Bucks: 15 out of 20, 885
Talking of Oxford, I know of at least one person who voted for us last time and for Labour this time and of two who voted for us both times but in between voted Leave. Make what you will of all that.
Last time in 2014 it was 221 votes (0.56%). This time it’s 83 (0.18%). A huge drop due, in my view, to many of those who voted for us last time wanting to vote Remain or at least against Brexit this time, either Green or even Liberal. Another factor might be that 2014 was pre-Corbyn and some might have voted Labour.
The figures for most of the counting areas (local councils) are now available. They confirm that, although our vote fell nearly everywhere, it fell more in Remain strongholds. The top 5 in percentage terms are: Hastings (0.31), Folkestone & Hythe (0.23), Basingstoke (0.23), Dover (0.22) and Brighton and Reading (both 0.20). Oxford, the capital of Remainia (it voted 67% for the Remain parties), which last time was No 1, is way down at equal tenth with Canterbury and Runnymede.
Hastings and Basingstoke (one of the few places where the number of our votes went up) both voted Leave. Folkestone (where we have put in a lot of work in local elections) and Dover both benefitted from free postal distribution, which suggests that this does increase the numbers voting for us. I haven’t found the figures for Milton Keynes (which voted Leave) or Maidstone (where there was free postal distribution) which might confirm these conclusions.
For the record, the worst place is no longer Surrey Heath (where our vote actually increased from 20 to 29) but South Bucks (where our vote fell from 22 to 15). Its centre is the town of Beaconsfield. Perhaps not surprising as Disraeli when he was granted a peerage chose to be called Lord Beaconsfield.
Robbo, you are such a sucker for conspiracy theories ! The name itself of your source – “Truth Revolution” – should have been a warning that it was completely unreliable(Have a look at their current home page : https://thetruthrevolution.net/how-feminism-tricked-women-into-promescuity-giving-up-their-values/ )
“Global Research” is not quite as bad but is still a conspiracy site, run by the notorious conspiracy theorist, Michel Chossudovsky:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Chossudovsky#Centre_for_Research_on_Globalization
This article should persuade you that you don’t need your tinfoil hat:
Nonsense about the Health Effects of Electromagnetic Radiation
What is worrying is that other members are going along with this nonsense. It is a discredit to our party which has always prided itself on taking a rational, scientific attitude.
I agree that result is no guide as to how people might vote in a general election or another referendum or even to if people want another referendum, if only because of the low turnout. Just commenting on the composition of the UK delegation to the European Parliament.
Now that all the results are in the media are beginning to realise that the EP elections are not the sensational victory for the brxiteers they were saying last night.
The UK has 73 MEPs. Of these only 34 are brxiteers (Farague’s 29 plus 4 tories and I DUP). As all the lead Labour candidates were Retainers all the other 39 were Retainers (16 libs, 7 greens , 3 Scotland nats, 1 Welsh Nat , 1 Sinn Fein, 1 NI alliance party, and 10 labourites).
Farague’s party got 29, only 4 more than Ukip in 2014, the extra 5 at the expense of the tories. That’s not going to stop him proclaiming he won though.
Don’t know what this means from our point of view. Not much probably but it does show that xenophobia isn’t dominant.
A comrade did that for the 2014 Euroelections and I’m sure he’ll do it again for these when all the results are readily available. But it won’t be by Westminster constituency, but by “counting areas” which correspond to the 67 local councils in the area.
