moderatecentrist
@moderatecentrist@feddit.uk
- Comment on Make me feel like a man 6 days ago:
I don’t want to be too pedantic but it’s actually a milkshake. “Milkshaking” (throwing a milkshake at someone, usually as a political protest) has happened a few times in the UK to prominent political figures (usually right-wing figures). Milkshaking even has a Wikipedia page.
- Comment on Today is the birthday of His Majesty the King 2 weeks ago:
Yeah I think Ireland’s system is pretty good. They have the Taoiseach, the equivalent of our prime minister. Then they have a president who is mostly ceremonial.
Ah yes, British democracy. The bringer of Brexit, Boris Johnson.
Arguably though, if the UK was even more democratic, then those two phenomena may have turned out differently. E.g. Boris only won 43.6% of the votes in the 2019 election, which of course is a minority. If the UK had proportional representation then I guess we’d be more likely to see consensus-building leaders ruling the country. Germany has some degree of proportional representation and they have been led by coalitions between the two main blocs (centre-right Union and centre-left SPD) for much of the last 20 years.
With Brexit, maybe there should have been a second referendum to determine what sort of Brexit would be implemented, since that question was not asked in the first referendum. The UK could have taken a path similar to Norway or Iceland, being outside the EU, but still taking part in the single market.
- Comment on Today is the birthday of His Majesty the King 2 weeks ago:
I haven’t checked my account on here for a while but now I’ve seen your replies.
Maybe we will just have different views on the monarchy. If you like the monarchy then fair enough. I think I would prefer an elected official having command over the armed forces and police (which is surely already de facto the case) instead of a monarch. The elected official would probably be somewhat competent because they have had to win the backing of the British people in an election.
- Comment on Today is the birthday of His Majesty the King 4 weeks ago:
Reform UK is only supported by about a third of the electorate at the moment. More than any other single party, but if there was an election for a British head of state, and that election ended up being a choice between Farage and one other person, Farage could very well lose.
Also you said in another post that “President Farage could remove elections”. I think that if we have an elected head of state then they should only have similar powers to what the King has now. Parliament should still be sovereign.
- Comment on Today is the birthday of His Majesty the King 4 weeks ago:
I think one of the best aspects of the UK is political freedom. Perhaps I am a subject of the King (I don’t know if that’s legally true but it might be), but in any case, I can still say that I hope the UK will get rid of the monarchy and replace it with a democratically elected head of state.
- Comment on NHS staff who visit patients at home say St George’s flags can mean ‘no-go zones’ 4 weeks ago:
Fair enough, but according to a couple of sites that Wikipedia refers to, Churchill originally didn’t know that the outward facing gesture was rude until he was told about it. If true then I guess his gesture was intended to mean “here is a V for victory” instead of “fuck off you lot” or “fuck the Germans”.
- Comment on NHS staff who visit patients at home say St George’s flags can mean ‘no-go zones’ 4 weeks ago:
It depends on the context doesn’t it. Lots of people will fly the England flag or wear an England shirt during a football tournament, and all they mean by that is “I support the England team” without a further political meaning. But the meaning of the current flag-flying from lamp posts seems to essentially be “we don’t want immigrants in the UK” which can make the flags intimidating (which is probably the exact intention).
Here’s another example of context changing meaning. Churchill used to give a two-fingered salute (see picture below), and his intended meaning of that salute was that it was a “V” for “victory” in WW2. But of course these days, that same outwards two-fingered salute means “fuck off”. Context changes the meaning.
- Comment on UK ‘to lose 600,000 workers to illness without better health support at work’ 1 month ago:
You might be right about short-sightedness. I read this article a couple days ago which talks about short-sighted cuts to the F-35 programme, which then add costs in the long run. For example:
A cost-saving move to delay by six years building infrastructure for the naval squadron that operates the F-35 jets means the cost for that construction will almost treble to £154m from £56m.
- Comment on Five grooming gang survivors tell PM they will stay on panel only if Jess Phillips remains in post 1 month ago:
I think Jess Phillips seems like a decent person, I’ve watched her speak about the issue of violence against women and girls before. Here’s what the grooming survivors who support her have said:
“Jess Phillips has remained impartial to the process, only listening to feedback [and] we want her to remain in position for the duration of the process for consistency,” they wrote.
“Her previous experience and drive to reduce VAWG [violence against women and girls] and her clear passion and commitment is important to us.”
They praised Phillips, who they said had “devoted her life to hearing and amplifying the voices of women and girls who would otherwise have been unheard” and had helped some of them access support.
- Comment on Family seek £180k-a-year tutor from 'socially appropriate background' to prepare one-year-old son for ‘Eton or Harrow’ 1 month ago:
Probably beyond my hoodwinking skills. Also I’m not northern myself, I was just wondering what kind of person they would consider to have a “socially appropriate background”. Posh accent, wealthy family, and from South East England, I would expect.
- Comment on Family seek £180k-a-year tutor from 'socially appropriate background' to prepare one-year-old son for ‘Eton or Harrow’ 1 month ago:
I was a manager at Woolworths back in the day, I swear… but this family would probably say my accent isn’t posh enough to tutor their child.
- Comment on Kew woman fined £150 for pouring coffee down drain in Richmond 1 month ago:
The article says the fine has now been cancelled, but originally someone from the council defended the fine by saying:
We are committed to protecting Richmond’s waterways and keeping our borough’s streets clean and safe.
Pretty ridiculous. Coffee is an organic substance right? Made from roasted coffee beans. I could maybe understand if someone was pouring industrial chemicals into the sewers but coffee surely shouldn’t be a problem.
Also of course big water companies get away with dumping sewage into rivers, but a very small amount of coffee apparently needs to be harshly punished. One rule for big business and another rule for common people.
- Family seek £180k-a-year tutor from 'socially appropriate background' to prepare one-year-old son for ‘Eton or Harrow’www.lbc.co.uk ↗Submitted 1 month ago to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk | 4 comments
- Comment on Bath is a beautiful city. But why is it so increasingly impossible to live there? 1 month ago:
Maybe the UK needs politicians like they’re starting to get in the USA. If you don’t know this guy pictured, he’s running to be mayor of New York. His campaign is all about making necessities more affordable (rent, food, transport), and his poll numbers are pretty good.
- Submitted 2 months ago to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk | 2 comments
- Comment on You should stop doom scrolling now 2 months ago:
- Comment on King's coat of arms to feature on new UK passports 2 months ago:
I remember the crisis in Sudan a number of years ago, the Brits were still stuck there while the Irish had already been evacuated by the Germans on account of the EU. I believe every EU diplomatic mission is actually supposed to support EU citizens regardless of nationality, although possibly in cases where their home country’s mission is inaccessible.
That’s cool. I guess Brits will have to go without such benefits for the time being. And if Reform are the next government then the UK’s ties to Europe will probably be reduced. I suppose there is time for the public to change their voting intentions before the next election though.
- Comment on King's coat of arms to feature on new UK passports 2 months ago:
Another advantage of the Irish passport over the British passport is that the Irish passport allows you to live and work in 26 other European countries. But hey ho.
