UK Politics Thread IX: Try turning the UK off and on again.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Nadine Dorries, the honest broker of the Conservative party, shares a photo of Keir Starmer earing a curry with a man who died in 2019 as evidence he broke covid guidelines in lockdown in 2021

The Conservatives should just kick her out of the party at this rate and save themselves further embarrassment.

You wouldn't downstream a photo of keir starmer eating curry.

As point of order, she shared a news article which had a clipped photo dated back from 2015 that the website eventually updated to reflect it was a stock photo.

It appears honesty is in short supply in both the constituency offices of Mid Bedfordshire and South Perthshire, as well as Northcliffe House in Kensington.

Already updated it

edit: i just saw your own edit, Chasing after each other lmao

[Philjia]

According to the Telegraph, Boris Johnson wants to introduce Right to Buy for people renting from housing associations. Because of course further cutting the social housing stock is exactly what this country needs.

[Vassenor]

According to the Telegraph, Boris Johnson wants to introduce Right to Buy for people renting from housing associations. Because of course further cutting the social housing stock is exactly what this country needs.

But Thatcher did it so it must be a good idea.

[Thermodolia]

So even if one party gets a majority coalition is still required?

As Philjia said The NI assembly has a mandatory coalition that makes Nationalist and Unionist parties work together, if the two largest parties refuse to enter government (either one or both) then the NI Executive cant form. And no party is ever going to win a majority here any time soon, its just not going to happen. And as Arch said, the NI Assembly does not require you to make an oath of allegiance to the British Monarch so Sinn Fein will take their seats there as their abstentionist policy is not needed.

The reason why we more than likely wont have a government after the election if Sinn Fein wins the most seats (they technically have the most seats now anyway) is because the DUP refuse to stomach the idea of a Nationalist First Minister, especially an Irish Republican First Minister. They argue its over the NI Protocol and Brexit, but if those things were not in the picture at all they would still refuse to go into government unless they were the largest party and its down to purely sectarian reasons.

They will not entertain the idea of an Irish Nationalist First Minister because it means they are no longer the top dogs around and that NI has changed considerably since the end of the Troubles. The First Minister has always been Unionist, and even though the office is the exact same as that of the Deputy First Minister in regards to decision making, authority, power in the executive etc, the symbolic name difference is why they will collapse the government if Sinn Fein tops the polls and has the most seats.

The First Minister is Unionist. It has always been Unionist. It cant be Nationalist.

That is the principal reason why we wont have a government after this election if the polls are accurate. Petty sectarian spite from the DUP and many other Political leaders from Unionism. The DUP and TUV flat out refuse to accept democracy if they dont get their way (I watched the leadership debate last night and Jeffrey Donaldson refused to say the DUP would participate in government with Sinn Fein if they were the largest party, over and over and over again), and the supposedly now moderate UUP cant even say if they would serve as a leading party in the executive with Sinn Fein if they won the seats to make them eligible to hold the office of DFM.

Also Northern Ireland has not had a government before. We didnt have one from 2002-2007 after Unionists withdrew after Sinn Feins offices were raided by the PSNI under allegations members of their staff were gathering information for the IRA. We didnt have one from 2017-2020 over the RHI scandal, Brexit and the Irish language Act. We almost didnt have one last year over the Irish Language Act and we dont have one now because the DUP withdrew a few months ago over the NI Protocol, their bad polling and the Irish Language Act.

Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t there new legislation passed by Westminster that says if NI doesn’t have a government for longer than 6 months a new election can be called?

[Shrillland]

And we have the schedule of counts: England starts counting Thursday night, Wales, Scotland, and NI Friday morning. We'll know Wales Friday afternoon and evening, Scotland throughout the day, NI starting around 12 Noon BST, and England throughout the whole period. So for us Americans, we'll mostly be sleeping through the important stuff.

[The Blaatschapen]

As Philjia said The NI assembly has a mandatory coalition that makes Nationalist and Unionist parties work together, if the two largest parties refuse to enter government (either one or both) then the NI Executive cant form. And no party is ever going to win a majority here any time soon, its just not going to happen. And as Arch said, the NI Assembly does not require you to make an oath of allegiance to the British Monarch so Sinn Fein will take their seats there as their abstentionist policy is not needed.

The reason why we more than likely wont have a government after the election if Sinn Fein wins the most seats (they technically have the most seats now anyway) is because the DUP refuse to stomach the idea of a Nationalist First Minister, especially an Irish Republican First Minister. They argue its over the NI Protocol and Brexit, but if those things were not in the picture at all they would still refuse to go into government unless they were the largest party and its down to purely sectarian reasons.

They will not entertain the idea of an Irish Nationalist First Minister because it means they are no longer the top dogs around and that NI has changed considerably since the end of the Troubles. The First Minister has always been Unionist, and even though the office is the exact same as that of the Deputy First Minister in regards to decision making, authority, power in the executive etc, the symbolic name difference is why they will collapse the government if Sinn Fein tops the polls and has the most seats.

The First Minister is Unionist. It has always been Unionist. It cant be Nationalist.

That is the principal reason why we wont have a government after this election if the polls are accurate. Petty sectarian spite from the DUP and many other Political leaders from Unionism. The DUP and TUV flat out refuse to accept democracy if they dont get their way (I watched the leadership debate last night and Jeffrey Donaldson refused to say the DUP would participate in government with Sinn Fein if they were the largest party, over and over and over again), and the supposedly now moderate UUP cant even say if they would serve as a leading party in the executive with Sinn Fein if they won the seats to make them eligible to hold the office of DFM.

Also Northern Ireland has not had a government before. We didnt have one from 2002-2007 after Unionists withdrew after Sinn Feins offices were raided by the PSNI under allegations members of their staff were gathering information for the IRA. We didnt have one from 2017-2020 over the RHI scandal, Brexit and the Irish language Act. We almost didnt have one last year over the Irish Language Act and we dont have one now because the DUP withdrew a few months ago over the NI Protocol, their bad polling and the Irish Language Act.

Clearly the problem is that the Irish insist on having a language.

They already have one.

It's called English.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Clearly the problem is that the Irish insist on having a language.

They already have one.

It's called English.

Silence sheep of the lower lands

As Philjia said The NI assembly has a mandatory coalition that makes Nationalist and Unionist parties work together, if the two largest parties refuse to enter government (either one or both) then the NI Executive cant form. And no party is ever going to win a majority here any time soon, its just not going to happen. And as Arch said, the NI Assembly does not require you to make an oath of allegiance to the British Monarch so Sinn Fein will take their seats there as their abstentionist policy is not needed.

The reason why we more than likely wont have a government after the election if Sinn Fein wins the most seats (they technically have the most seats now anyway) is because the DUP refuse to stomach the idea of a Nationalist First Minister, especially an Irish Republican First Minister. They argue its over the NI Protocol and Brexit, but if those things were not in the picture at all they would still refuse to go into government unless they were the largest party and its down to purely sectarian reasons.

They will not entertain the idea of an Irish Nationalist First Minister because it means they are no longer the top dogs around and that NI has changed considerably since the end of the Troubles. The First Minister has always been Unionist, and even though the office is the exact same as that of the Deputy First Minister in regards to decision making, authority, power in the executive etc, the symbolic name difference is why they will collapse the government if Sinn Fein tops the polls and has the most seats.

The First Minister is Unionist. It has always been Unionist. It cant be Nationalist.

That is the principal reason why we wont have a government after this election if the polls are accurate. Petty sectarian spite from the DUP and many other Political leaders from Unionism. The DUP and TUV flat out refuse to accept democracy if they dont get their way (I watched the leadership debate last night and Jeffrey Donaldson refused to say the DUP would participate in government with Sinn Fein if they were the largest party, over and over and over again), and the supposedly now moderate UUP cant even say if they would serve as a leading party in the executive with Sinn Fein if they won the seats to make them eligible to hold the office of DFM.

Also Northern Ireland has not had a government before. We didnt have one from 2002-2007 after Unionists withdrew after Sinn Feins offices were raided by the PSNI under allegations members of their staff were gathering information for the IRA. We didnt have one from 2017-2020 over the RHI scandal, Brexit and the Irish language Act. We almost didnt have one last year over the Irish Language Act and we dont have one now because the DUP withdrew a few months ago over the NI Protocol, their bad polling and the Irish Language Act.

Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t there new legislation passed by Westminster that says if NI doesn’t have a government for longer than 6 months a new election can be called?

Not exactly, it allows Ministers to continue some work and for some legislation to be passed for a period of six months if a government collapses. Its been retroactively applied to this current situation ever since the DUP walked out of the executive the other month.

[The Blaatschapen]

They already have one.

It's called English.

Silence sheep of the lower lands

I'm serious. I've never met an Irish person who spoke Irish. And 100% of them spoke English.

[The Huskar Social Union]

LATEST POLLING FROM INSTITUTE OF IRISH STUDIES/THE IRISH NEWS... now online http://irishnews.com @irish_news

SF: 26.6% (-1.3)
DUP: 18.2% (-9.9)
APNI: 18.2% (+9.1)
UUP: 12.1% (-0.8)
SDLP: 10.5% (-1.4)
TUV: 5.7% (+3.1)
GRN: 2.9% (+0.6)

No previous poll from the Irish News for the upcoming assembly election (as far as i am aware) so the changes are added myself to reflect the change since the 2017 Assembly Election.

Now, as happy as i am with this poll due to the sheer amount of Dopamine it is pumping into me, i dont think Alliance will hit 18.2% come election day. And the actual article is a premium one so i cant read it, only share the polling figures.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Silence sheep of the lower lands

I'm serious. I've never met an Irish person who spoke Irish. And 100% of them spoke English.

I have met a decent number of people who have various commands of the language and a decent amount who speak it fluently, then again i live 15 minutes from a gaeltacht in Belfast.

[The Nihilistic view]

Tories+Labour: "PR Is BAD!"

SNP: "You've convinced us."

Tories+Labour: "What?"

SNP: "You've convinced us. We're going to abolish PR in the Scottish parliament."

Tories+Labour:

SNP: "Is there a problem?"

----

I would pay good money to see this.

I'd pay good money to make it happen.

[San Lumen]

And we have the schedule of counts: England starts counting Thursday night, Wales, Scotland, and NI Friday morning. We'll know Wales Friday afternoon and evening, Scotland throughout the day, NI starting around 12 Noon BST, and England throughout the whole period. So for us Americans, we'll mostly be sleeping through the important stuff.

So what time would the coverage start New York time?

[The Archregimancy]

Clearly the problem is that the Irish insist on having a language.

They already have one.

It's called English.

You might be joking; this is one of those cases where it's slightly difficult to tell. So forgive me if the following restates the obvious, and misses the joke.

The issue of language rights in Ireland is deeply embedded in different community perceptions of the process of how Irish declined as a language in the 19th century, the role of the British government in aiding and/or encouraging that decline, and perceptions of the treatment of Nationalists identifying as Irish in Northern Ireland following partition in the 1920s. Equality of language rights for a language few residents of Northern Ireland speak is critical to many Nationalists in demonstrating that their cultural heritage is valued equally alongside Unionist cultural heritage.

So while you may be right on a purely practical day to day basis, that rather glides over the sociohistorical context. I would strongly encourage visitors not to say as much out loud in most parts of Ireland should they find themselves visiting that pleasant and verdant isle.

[Ifreann]

I'm serious. I've never met an Irish person who spoke Irish. And 100% of them spoke English.

I have met a decent number of people who have various commands of the language and a decent amount who speak it fluently, then again i live 15 minutes from a gaeltacht in Belfast.

Ciúinas bothair cailín bainne *nods*

[The Huskar Social Union]

They already have one.

It's called English.

You might be joking; this is one of those cases where it's slightly difficult to tell. So forgive me if the following restates the obvious, and misses the joke.

The issue of language rights in Ireland is deeply embedded in different community perceptions of the process of how Irish declined as a language in the 19th century, the role of the British government in aiding and/or encouraging that decline, and perceptions of the treatment of Nationalists identifying as Irish in Northern Ireland following partition in the 1920s. Equality of language rights for a language few residents of Northern Ireland speak is critical to many Nationalists in demonstrating that their cultural heritage is valued equally alongside Unionist cultural heritage.

So while you may be right on a purely practical day to day basis, that rather glides over the sociohistorical context. I would strongly encourage visitors not to say as much out loud in most parts of Ireland should they find themselves visiting that pleasant and verdant isle.

I avoided saying anything and deleted an edit because i didnt want to misread a joking comment and also because ive already said it on here before about why the language act is important to us.

[The Archregimancy]

LATEST POLLING FROM INSTITUTE OF IRISH STUDIES/THE IRISH NEWS... now online http://irishnews.com @irish_news

SF: 26.6% (-1.3)
DUP: 18.2% (-9.9)
APNI: 18.2% (+9.1)
UUP: 12.1% (-0.8)
SDLP: 10.5% (-1.4)
TUV: 5.7% (+3.1)
GRN: 2.9% (+0.6)

No previous poll from the Irish News for the upcoming assembly election (as far as i am aware) so the changes are added myself to reflect the change since the 2017 Assembly Election.

Now, as happy as i am with this poll due to the sheer amount of Dopamine it is pumping into me, i dont think Alliance will hit 18.2% come election day. And the actual article is a premium one so i cant read it, only share the polling figures.

Alliance coming second would cause an even greater constitutional crisis than already exists at Stormont, since (as you already know) under the 2006 St Andrews Agreement, a party without a community affiliation can only form part of the executive if it comes first in the election. If it comes second, then the Deputy First Minister is not filled by the party coming second, but by the largest community-affiliated party of the community finishing second. If APNI finishes ahead of the DUP, we would likely have a situation where the party coming second is barred from forming part of the executive, and the third-placed largest Unionist party is refusing to join the executive.

If it wasn't so serious, that would really be the time to break out the popcorn.

[The Huskar Social Union]

LATEST POLLING FROM INSTITUTE OF IRISH STUDIES/THE IRISH NEWS... now online http://irishnews.com @irish_news

SF: 26.6% (-1.3)
DUP: 18.2% (-9.9)
APNI: 18.2% (+9.1)
UUP: 12.1% (-0.8)
SDLP: 10.5% (-1.4)
TUV: 5.7% (+3.1)
GRN: 2.9% (+0.6)

No previous poll from the Irish News for the upcoming assembly election (as far as i am aware) so the changes are added myself to reflect the change since the 2017 Assembly Election.

Now, as happy as i am with this poll due to the sheer amount of Dopamine it is pumping into me, i dont think Alliance will hit 18.2% come election day. And the actual article is a premium one so i cant read it, only share the polling figures.

Alliance coming second would cause an even greater constitutional crisis than already exists at Stormont, since (as you already know) under the 2006 St Andrews Agreement, a party without a community affiliation can only form part of the executive if it comes first in the election. If it comes second, then the Deputy First Minister is not filled by the party coming second, but by the largest community-affiliated party of the community finishing second. If APNI finishes ahead of the DUP, we would likely have a situation where the party coming second is barred from forming part of the executive, and the third-placed largest Unionist party is refusing to join the executive.

If it wasn't so serious, that would really be the time to break out the popcorn.

Ive mentioned before on here that Stormont needs reform in how it operates if it wants to continue long term and i hope a strong alliance result in this election will help push it along.

The requirements for the offices of the FM and DFM need changed to allow a party like Alliance to hold either if it becomes one of the two largest parties and as far as i am concerned the petition of concern mechanic needs either scrapped or heavily reformed too as how it sits currently puts unfair favour towards the votes of Nationalist and Unionist MLA's when ever it is triggered, with "Others" basically getting one vote, where as the other two designations get in effect two votes due to the 2/3rds requirements from both communities for something to pass.

And fuck it, the Nationalist/Unionist/Other designation system needs scrapped too.

I have met a decent number of people who have various commands of the language and a decent amount who speak it fluently, then again i live 15 minutes from a gaeltacht in Belfast.

Ciúinas bothair cailín bainne *nods*

The milk girls what?

[Ifreann]

Ciúinas bothair cailín bainne *nods*

The milk girls what?

Quiet road.

[The Huskar Social Union]

The milk girls what?

Quiet road.

lol, never saw that one.

[Ifreann]

Quiet road.

lol, never saw that one.

To explain to the locals, the Irish poem yer man comes out with to impress the non-specific foreigners is just gibberish. Disconnected Irish words and phrases, the kinds of bits of pieces one would remember from having been taught Irish in school but not having used it since leaving.

[The Blaatschapen]

Just for the record, my statement was both joking and serious. I'm well aware of how important a language is to one's cultural heritage and identity(I'm relatively well read on Dutch language and Belgium). It's just that I've also noticed that English is very widespread in Ireland.

In a way Ireland and Belgium are similar. Good beer, crappy roads, and signs in two languages, one of which I do not understand*

* I have learned French in the past, but I'm far from fluent nowadays

[Dogmeat]

If there's a nation in Europe that should abandon their native language and just speak English, it's the Danes. Why even have consonants if you're not going to use them?

The Irish can keep their tongue.

[Philjia]

LATEST POLLING FROM INSTITUTE OF IRISH STUDIES/THE IRISH NEWS... now online http://irishnews.com @irish_news

SF: 26.6% (-1.3)
DUP: 18.2% (-9.9)
APNI: 18.2% (+9.1)
UUP: 12.1% (-0.8)
SDLP: 10.5% (-1.4)
TUV: 5.7% (+3.1)
GRN: 2.9% (+0.6)

No previous poll from the Irish News for the upcoming assembly election (as far as i am aware) so the changes are added myself to reflect the change since the 2017 Assembly Election.

Now, as happy as i am with this poll due to the sheer amount of Dopamine it is pumping into me, i dont think Alliance will hit 18.2% come election day. And the actual article is a premium one so i cant read it, only share the polling figures.

Imagine the absolute scenes.

[San Lumen]

what time do polls typically close in the UK?

[Philjia]

what time do polls typically close in the UK?

10pm, usually.