Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[crazy canuck]

I do wonder whether there's some sort of cunning tactical element of trying to get a vote at an inconvenient time for non-tory demographics too. Like I assume they'd want all the students in their universities giving huge labour majorities there rather than potentially toppling more marginal hometowns?

In Canada people can vote either in their home riding by mail or their university riding in person.  Just not both 

[Sheilbh]

In Canada people can vote either in their home riding by mail or their university riding in person.  Just not both 

I think it's similar here.

You can register at both home and term-time address, you just can't vote in both (in national elections/referendums etc, they can vote in both for local elections) - and you can either get a postal or a proxy vote.

The House of Commons Library did a look at student seats v normal (and v other young seats, which were more conservative leaning anyway) and there is a difference but it probably isn't as much as I'd expected:


In part I wonder if this is because turnout is a lot lower for young people generally and the most politically engaged and likely to vote students are also probably engaged enough to work out where they needed to vote -it's almost like a form of tactical voting

[Gups]

The smart money seems to be on May on the same date as the locals. But nobody really knows and anything can change. Student holidays will have literally zero weighting on the decision and in any event almost all studets will be registered in their home constituencies.

[Josquius]

I think it's similar here.

You can register at both home and term-time address, you just can't vote in both (in national elections/referendums etc, they can vote in both for local elections) - and you can either get a postal or a proxy vote.

Yes. I remember a few years back there was a lot of conspiracy nonsense floating around local idiot groups about how students could vote twice, totally misunderstanding the register in two places but vote in one thing. Undoubtedly much of it was spill over from the US and their insanity around postal voting.

The smart money seems to be on May on the same date as the locals. But nobody really knows and anything can change. Student holidays will have literally zero weighting on the decision and in any event almost all studets will be registered in their home constituencies.

Student holidays was an example of one tiny factor that might factor in. There are undoubtedly be factors with the timing that can be used to squeeze up or down the turnout of certain demographics. I very much doubt this wouldn't be paid attention to, every little helps.

[Syt]

Didn't expect Josq and his compatriots in the NE to be such staunch royalists.

[Josquius]

I would say most likely explanation is the weather was really nice that day and it was a bank Holiday so we went outside

[Gups]

Or getting their rocks of to Penny Mordaunt

[viper37]

I do wonder whether there's some sort of cunning tactical element of trying to get a vote at an inconvenient time for non-tory demographics too. Like I assume they'd want all the students in their universities giving huge labour majorities there rather than potentially toppling more marginal hometowns?

In Canada people can vote either in their home riding by mail or their university riding in person.  Just not both 

If they vote for the Liberal party, they can do both and also vote from the cemetery!

[Sheilbh]

Saw the obituaries for General Sir Frank Kitson who was a British solider who fought in various counter-insurgencies (Kenya, Malaya, Oman), wrote the book on it and was then, as a general, briefly involved in fighting the Troubles.

Irish headline "notorious British army general blamed for 'deplorable actions' at start of Troubles dies"; Belfast headline "controversial Troubles Army chief dies"; Telegraph headline "General Sir Frank Kitson, double winner of the Military Cross lauded for his counter-insurgency skills – obituary".

One of his big things was the need to collect intelligence which was something he set up to do in Northern Ireland - there were allegations (and recent court cases) that he was "reckless" about Loyalist paramilitaries killing people.

And just reminded me that Keir Starmer's chief of staff and previously senior civil servant, Sue Gray (who was raised Catholic and married to somemone from Northern Ireland), took a career break from her civil service job to run a pub in a border town in Northern Ireland. She returned to the civil service and ended up in very senior roles and is now one of Starmer's closest advisors.

Although I'm sure they're entirely separate stories

[Gups]

Saw the obituaries for General Sir Frank Kitson who was a British solider who fought in various counter-insurgencies (Kenya, Malaya, Oman), wrote the book on it and was then, as a general, briefly involved in fighting the Troubles.

Irish headline "notorious British army general blamed for 'deplorable actions' at start of Troubles dies"; Belfast headline "controversial Troubles Army chief dies"; Telegraph headline "General Sir Frank Kitson, double winner of the Military Cross lauded for his counter-insurgency skills – obituary".

One of his big things was the need to collect intelligence which was something he set up to do in Northern Ireland - there were allegations (and recent court cases) that he was "reckless" about Loyalist paramilitaries killing people.

And just reminded me that Keir Starmer's chief of staff and previously senior civil servant, Sue Gray (who was raised Catholic and married to somemone from Northern Ireland), took a career break from her civil service job to run a pub in a border town in Northern Ireland. She returned to the civil service and ended up in very senior roles and is now one of Starmer's closest advisors.

Although I'm sure they're entirely separate stories

Kitson deserves most of  the criticism he gets from Republicans. He made bad situation much, much worse and repeatedly lied.

[Jacob]

I wonder if the Kenyan, Malayan, or Omani perspectives would be much different from that of the Irish.

[Sheilbh]

I wonder if the Kenyan, Malayan, or Omani perspectives would be much different from that of the Irish.

I think not at all. Read a few obits and it's impossible to find one to post because it almost feels like you'd need to post the other too.

The worst allegations (and there are many versions and it's not fully clear what the truth was) in Ireland were basically that he set up death squads. A small army force that was armed and operated in plain clothes in male and female pairs and ran informants, did surveillance, tracked and arrested or killed IRA suspects. They also killed civilians (it's not clear how deliberately - the court cases have largely been that the were "reckless" in the use of force). And allegations that they basically outsourced violence to loyalist paramilitaries, some allegations go further that there was basically no barrier between them and loyalist paramilitaries

The full facts are very unclear (and the British state has a history of systematic destruction of problematic documents - see also Malaya and Mau Mau). This is part of the wider legacy issues in Northern Ireland where I think the government is fucking it up and cack-handed but can understand all sides.

The other thing - plain clothes soldiers in flares and bell bottoms killing people and, I'd imagine, torturing other suspects - is that it seems to echo Latin America at the time (and some conspiracies in Italy too). It feels very of a time with other dirty wars and you wonder to what extent is there overlap between imperial/colonial wars and Cold War "low-intensity" conflicts and to what extent they are, in fact, the same story?

Worth noting that I believe he was still considered an expert on counter-insurgency. He was consulted by Petraeus on the Surge and by British and American leaders on Afghanistan. Those were less "successful" than Mau Mau, Malaya, Dhofar or the Troubles where the British troops he was a part or leader of broadly achieved their objectives (although that is most contested in relation to the Mau Mau in Kenya).

[garbon]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/05/tube-strikes-major-disruption-expected-on-london-underground-throughout-next-week

Tube strikes: major disruption expected on London Underground throughout next week

Virtually no services expected from Sunday night until Friday morning as RMT workers take action over pay

...

The RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch, said tube workers were not going to accept poor offers and the "continual undermining of conditions".

One of the RMT's demands is the restoration of heavily discounted train travel on national rail services used to get to work – which has not been offered to new staff since 1996. Staff and one family member are given free travel across TfL services.

Lynch added: "The refusal of TfL to restore staff travel facilities and create a two-tier workforce is also unacceptable. Our members have made it clear that they are prepared to take action and we urge TfL to enter into meaningful conciliatory talks to avert disruption in the capital."

...

 

[Josquius]

Doesn't discounted train travel for rail workers make sense?
I mean, most shops give their employees a discount.

[garbon]

Doesn't discounted train travel for rail workers make sense?
I mean, most shops give their employees a discount.

Like the benefit they all get mentioned right after the sentence I put in bold?