Mailwatch(ed) Forum

Dalem Lake wrote: ↑Fri Dec 12, 2025 8:20 pm

The Weeping Angel wrote:They're already salivating over that result over on Bluesky.

Pffft! Who gives a fuck what the bluesky lot think, it's a a December council by-election. It's the Scottish and Welsh elections next May that are the ones to be concerned about and it ain't looking good for Labour. Personally, I'm starting to think Starmer's a busted flush and moving into the "shifting him onto somewhere else" camp.

If Starmer goes, he goes. But even then, all of the problems he has are still going to be there, plus their successor is going to be accused of being an unelected Prime Minister.

The Weeping Angel wrote: ↑Fri Dec 12, 2025 8:32 pm plus their successor is going to be accused of being an unelected Prime Minister.

Which is always far worse when Labour do it: yet how many did the Tories have?!

I think that if Labour somehow decides to depose Keir Starmer, that could be a disaster for the party.

As for Bluesky, yeah, they can be aggravating sometimes. I took a break from there, and honestly, my mood improved; I felt somewhat happier.

Those elections won't be good, but lots of it won't be Starmer's fault, nor will it be particularly bad for Wales/Scotland. Plaid Cymru can be a louder voice for getting more money into Wales, but otherwise aren't going to be very different. The SNP will still be stuck on independence.

If the Mahmood stuff achieves greater control over asylum, then what does Farage have left? He'll do the same stuff, but will so many care? At the moment it's drowning out lots of the stuff that the centre-left probably likes more. Or to put it more accurately, lots of the centre-left is deliberately drowning it out because they've some strange sense that this means that (what? The Greens? The SDP?) comes in and energy prices fall instantly.

I worry about what will happen in England with Reform, but the Greens are doing well in the cities.

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Fri Dec 12, 2025 9:02 pm Those elections won't be good, but lots of it won't be Starmer's fault, nor will it be particularly bad for Wales/Scotland. Plaid Cymru can be a louder voice for getting more money into Wales, but otherwise aren't going to be very different. The SNP will still be stuck on independence.

If the Mahmood stuff achieves greater control over asylum, then what does Farage have left? He'll do the same stuff, but will so many care? At the moment it's drowning out lots of the stuff that the centre-left probably likes more. Or to put it more accurately, lots of the centre-left is deliberately drowning it out because they've some strange sense that this means that (what? The Greens? The SDP?) comes in and energy prices fall instantly.

Don't worry, this fellow has a plan.



In short, there will be pain, but eventually Labour will come out as a more coherent social democratic party, and we will be as ideologically coherent as the Lib Dems.

If Starmer goes, he goes. But even then, all of the problems he has are still going to be there, plus their successor is going to be accused of being an unelected Prime Minister.

The latter isn’t a problem if you go to the polls within a honeymoon period but share your scepticism that dumping Starmer will solve much. Destroying a Labour premiership will still be the right wing media’s objective.

The Weeping Angel wrote: ↑Sat Dec 13, 2025 12:17 am In short, there will be pain, but eventually Labour will come out as a more coherent social democratic party, and we will be as ideologically coherent as the Lib Dems.

Whose sole policy seems to be "rejoin now, they'd love us back" - the same sort of exceptionalism that drove Brexit. I don't see Starmer on a trampoline though.

Meanwhile, the populism of Zack Farage/Nigel Polanski grows.

It's not even rejoin, just enter into a customs union.

It's still something unlikely to happen though, isn't it?

Do not, even for one second, think that the people ripping into Starmer would go easier on a potential successor.

davidjay wrote: ↑Sat Dec 13, 2025 4:58 pm Do not, even for one second, think that the people ripping into Starmer would go easier on a potential successor.

I'm certainly under no illusions there - except of course, were by some fluke of the Universe and the space-time continuum that Corbyn became leader again which would delight some folk.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... MP=bsky_gu

YouTube channels spreading fake, anti-Labour videos viewed 1.2bn times in 2025
Exclusive: More than 150 anonymous channels using cheap AI tools to spread false stories about Keir Starmer, study finds

Michael Savage Media editor
Sat 13 Dec 2025 17.00 GMT
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YouTube channels spreading fake, anti-Labour videos have amassed more than a billion views this year, as opportunists attempt to use AI-generated content to profit from political division in the UK.

More than 150 channels have been detected in the last year that promote anti-Labour narratives, as well as outright fake and inflammatory accusations about Keir Starmer.

A study seen by the Guardian has found the channels have accumulated 5.3m subscribers and have created more than 56,000 videos, with a total of almost 1.2bn views in 2025. The network of anonymous channels includes alarmist rhetoric, AI scripts and British narrators to attract hits.

Starmer is personally targeted. The prime minister was either named in the video title or description 15,600 times.

And here lies the issue. It's all well and good the denizens of BTL in the Guardian and elsewhere hollering "Leveson 2 NOW!!1!" - but that won't have the slightest effect upon the Wild West of the unregulated Internet and that is where many people, if not the majority, now go to seek their "news" and not the 'legacy media'. There they can find what mirrors their views however right or wrong and it gets amplified. I'm sure YouTube, Faecebook, Instagram, X etc. are all over e.g. Kemikal's announcement that the Tories plan to scrap the ban on the sale of new ICE vehicles in 2035 if/when they get back into power (I suspect with Reform, overturning that ban is inevitable).

FWIW, I'd certainly be in favour of a full implementation of the Leveson recommendations - after all, working on the principle that the media proprietors are always going to hate you anyway, why not really give the fuckers something to roar about?

Leveson 2 was something specific about relations with the Police anyway.

There's some good news and some bad news on small boats

I think the December weather is quite a big factor in how many small boat crossings are attempted or even completed.

Any reason apart from bad weather for the crossings reductions?
No point in boasting about a trend that you had no control over.

2026 will be the test, I feel. Meanwhile on Bluesky




To sum up Harry Cole interviews a racist arsehole on his YouTube channel, and Starmer hasn't responded right away,y therefore it's all Starmer and Nandy's fault.