News Is a left-of-centre PM candidate electable in the UK?

[Andy_T]

hmm, how would an atheist be a worse politician than somebody who believes in a supernatural being?

 

[Blobbenstein]

I was just saying that a lot of voters may not want an atheist representing them....they would have, maybe, a very different world view.

 

[Andy_T]

Well, even worse, he's a vegetarian.

 

[Blobbenstein]

yes...and he probably eats heaps of cheese....but yes, being a vegetarian will probably count against him.

 

[Moll Flanders]

Britain Uncovered survey results: the attitudes and beliefs of Britons in 2015

It says that Britain is becoming more secular 'only 18% actively practising a religion and one in five (21%) describing themselves as atheist'. I always associate the Church of England with the Tories. Most of the people I grew up with were Catholic but not many still had any religious beliefs by the time they got into their teens or twenties. I think some people must fake being religious to get their kids into the better schools.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I'm believe in secularism as a believe in the separation of church and state.

You don't need to go to church to believe in religious stuff.

I think most people have a belief in the supernatural though, whatever the religion is....I just don't want the political left to be taken over by intellectual sceptics who think science is all that counts and that their education means that they are in a better place to say how the Universe works.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I really like JC's view on what he thinks needs to be done in terms of improving mental health services. Mental health policy

I just don't want the political left to be taken over by intellectual sceptics who think science is all that counts and that their education means that they are in a better place to say how the Universe works.

It probably will happen though if more and more are turning away from religion.

 

[Blobbenstein]

It probably will happen though if more and more are turning away from religion.

I'm not sure if people are turning away from religion. A lot more people aren't going to church, and people are more happy about being honest about their lack of belief....I'm sure there have always been a lot of people who kept their lack of belief to themselves, but not so much now, which is one of the good things that Richard Dawkins has achieved maybe.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I suppose more and more people will identify as 'spiritual' as time goes by.

 

[Second Summer]

Blair is at it again:
Corbynmania is ‘Alice in Wonderland’ politics, says Tony Blair in final plea (30. August 2015)

 

[Moll Flanders]

I meant to post this much earlier as I saw this on another forum.

Is this why we wouldn't be able to have a left wing government in the UK? I think this is what Tony Blair and the others are trying to say. Would it be better to have a party that really reflected how some people (a minority) think about the main issues or is it better to have a realistic opposition party to the Conservatives that might be able to win an election?

This whole leadership election with Labour has been a shambles but it has made me think a lot about what I end up voting for in general elections.

I'm sure there have always been a lot of people who kept their lack of belief to themselves, but not so much now, which is one of the good things that Richard Dawkins has achieved maybe.

It seems to me that people just used to say that they didn't have any religious beliefs but now they are more likely to use the term atheist.

 

[Second Summer]

I meant to post this much earlier as I saw this on another forum.

Is this why we wouldn't be able to have a left wing government in the UK? I think this is what Tony Blair and the others are trying to say.

Yes, I think this is what they are trying to say. Of course, there are a number of issues with this idea. For starters, the centre party in the UK is the LibDems, right? I find it interesting that whoever created this figure omitted this important party. Possibly because their support is nowhere near what the figure indicates it should be

Another problem I see is the definition of what is centre, centre left, centre right etc, which is determined by the news media. They focus a lot on the arguments between the Conservatives and Labour, so this defines what is right and left, and the placement of the other parties are in turn defined relative to this. If instead the central argument had been chosen as the one between the Labour and LibDems, or between Greens and Labour, or between the Conservatives and UKIP, the labelling (left, right etc) of the political spectrum would have been different.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I think the left wing and right wing ideas didn't affect the last election as much as it was the fear of the SNP that drove people to vote Tory.

The one thing I'm finding very confusing is where these supporters for JC are coming from. How did these supporters vote before, are they just old Labour and disgruntled Lib Dems and young people and the people who didn't bother to vote? Will their enthusiasm last for five years?

 

[Blobbenstein]

where these supporters for JC are coming from.

are they Russell Brand's followers?

 

[Blobbenstein]

someone posted this on another forum. Said it was in Private Eye:

 

[Andy_T]

Interesting!

With that kind of newspaper coverage, it's amazing he does have supporters at all.

 

[Second Summer]

To be fair, that page doesn't give the context in which Corbyn made these statements. With the questions that Corbyn were asked included, some of those headlines would probably seem a little bit less unfair.

 

[Blobbenstein]

To be fair, that page doesn't give the context in which Corbyn made these statements. With the questions that Corbyn were asked included, some of those headlines would probably seem a little bit less unfair.

some of them seem ok anyway, like the Mail's headline about targeting all salaries. That is sort of what he said there.

 

[Second Summer]

FOX News has something to say as well.

Hard-left British politician Jeremy Corbyn, who has sought warmer ties with Putin’s Russia and compared U.S. troops to ISIS, appears to be leading the race to take over one of Britain’s two major parties – a development that could have serious repercussions for the "special relationship" between the U.K. and U.S.

In a shock to the British political system, bearded vegetarian socialist Jeremy Corbyn – who has been part of the party’s left fringe for decades – put his name forward and swiftly went from outsider to top contender.

Source: Hard-left UK pol who compared US to ISIS poised to be next Labor leader (25. August 2015, my emphasis)

 

[Blobbenstein]

will the be mention of sandals.....it's only a matter of time.