#election
John F. Kennedy campaigning door-to-door in West Virginia in 1960.… … … jun 22.
Shout out to black women and men, Indigenous, Latinos, Lgbtq community and other minority groups who basically saved this country from itself with this election. Also, can some of you guys move here to Ohio…I promise Columbus is a decent place, we need to turn Ohio blue .
Long-awaited (and for once not all that long-winded) the Queen’s Speech was finally revealed at 11:30am today. So just what did it contain?
Brexit
8 out of the 24 bills in the speech related to plans for UK policy after leaving the EU. We’ve broken down the main aspects of each bill below:
- Repeal Bill – turns EU law into UK law so UK Parliament can make changes
- Customs Bill – UK takes control of import and exports
- Trade Bill – lets the UK make trade deals with other countries
- Immigration Bill – allows UK government to end free movement of EU nationals into UK
- Fisheries Bill – gives UK control of its waters and fishing quotas
- Agriculture Bill – a system will be put in place to protect UK famers
- Nuclear Safeguards Bill – creates a UK nuclear safeguards regime to replace the EU one
- International Sanctions Bill – gives government final say on imposing non-UN sanctions to the UK and ensures sanctions can still be challenged
Economy
This was a stripped back speech, with very little change in economic policy. Only 5 bills related to the economy:
- Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill – service stations will, at some point, need to install charge points for electric vehicles
- Space Industry Bill – new commercial spaceflight to be licensed, including rockets
- HS2 Phase 2A Bill – the high speed railway will extend to Crewe sooner than planned
- Smart Meter Bill – every household will be offered smart meters by 2020
- National Insurance Contributions Bill – allows for the changes announced in 2016 budget
Other
There were 11 miscellaneous policies. More notable bills include the Courts Bill, which will remove the right of partners accused of domestic violence to cross-examine their alleged victim in court.
On a similar vein, the Draft Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill will introduce new measures to protect victims of domestic violence.
For younger voters, the Data Protection Bill is very interesting - it will require social media accounts to delete information held about you at the age of 18.
What does this all mean?
Legally, not very much. Not until next week anyway, when the MPs in the House of Commons will have the chance to vote for or against each bill individually. With a majority not yet secured, there’s a chance not all of these proposed bills will pass. Even then, these are just a snapshot of proposed government policy over the next 2 years.
What the Queen’s Speech does tell us is that the Tories are not having a very happy time at the moment. A large chunk of their manifesto has gone missing:
- New grammar schools
- The ‘dementia tax’
- Scrapping triple lock pensions
- Replacing free school lunches with free breakfasts
- Energy price caps
- Voting to remove ban on fox hunting
- Means testing winter fuel payments
The suggestion is that the Tories did not think they would be able to pass these policies through the Commons - the more liberal parties were all very vocal in their opposition to these proposals during election campaigning, and even the DUP do not agree with scrapping triple lock pensions.
Through the Queen’s Speech, we’ve been given a little glimpse of the state of the Conservative Party: a monstrous papier-mâché parody of an unpopular manifesto.
Who is Vince Cable?
With Tim Farron stepping down as leader of the Liberal Democrats, it’s time to look for a new leader. Enter: Vince Cable. Yes, the former Business Secretary from those heady coalition days is the first to throw his hat in the ring for Lib Dem leadership.
Which begs the question: exactlywho is Vince Cable?
For a lot of young voters, the 2010 General Election was lost to the stress of school exams and trips to the park with mum and dad. For Vince Cable, it provided a moment of glorious opportunity.
With the election resulting in a hung parliament (not unlike in 2017), the Lib Dems held the power. Cable was instrumental in the coalition agreement between the Lib Dems and the Conservatives. He was rewarded with the role of Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
It was a role he was more than prepared for. Cable studied Economics at Cambridge and earned a PhD in the subject from the University of Glasgow in 1973. He worked in both the public and private sectors before being elected as MP for Twickenham in 1997.
So was he a good Business Secretary?
Cable’s great error (because every top-level MP will have one) was the sale of the Royal Mail, which was considered a right royal cock-up by a lot of people. In the privatisation of the Royal Mail, Cable and his team were accused of undervaluing the company, setting share prices at 38p when within a year they were selling for 70p - this potentially lost the tax-payer billions of pounds.
He did try, at least in the beginning, to curb Tory policies. When it came to the Tory plan to sell laser-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia, Cable refused to sign off on the deal until he received assurance from the Ministry of Defence that the Saudis would not be allowed to use them on Yemeni civilians. It turned out the MoD were in no position to promise this, but the good intent was there.
It’s also important to highlight his attitudes to big banks: he’s not their biggest fan. Calling bankers a bigger threat to the UK than trade unions (the arch nemesis of the Tories), Cable consistently criticised banker bonuses after the 2008 crash as ‘rewards for failure’.
Too bad it didn’t hold him back from agreeing to 5 years of Conservative-determined austerity and pushing the £9000 uni fee cap through the House…
What do you think? There are many who think the Lib Dems would do better to distance themselves entirely from the vote-killer that was their coalition shambles, but who knows. Could this 74 year old Yorkshireman make a good leader?
Sources:
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This is a very strange attack ad by Ted Cruz*. It kind of makes me like Beto O’Rourke even more???
*actually by me
An anti-Andrew Jackson pamphlet from the 1828 presidential campaign. These “Coffin Handbills” were widely distributed by his opponents, and attacked Jackson for, among other things, executing militiamen and massacring Native Americans. After describing how Jackson personally stabbed a man to death, the handbill asks,
Gentle reader, it is for you to say, whether this man, who carries a sword cane, and is willing to run through the body of any one who may presume to stand in his way, is a fit person to be our President - to be the ruler of a peace loving People!!! [x]
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I should be painting, but this nonsense with the USPS got me upset. So I did some research… and then I wrote about it. If you enjoy the article, do give a clap or five and tell a friend! https://medium.com/@alphacmt/will-democrats-make-an-example-out-of-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy-d6fce2d4a542
I’m following this US election so closely that my mood is so tied to it. I still do my work, but I have been neglecting a lot of things, I’ll get my act together soon! I hope everyone is doing good, and that my American mutuals are alright in these crazy times
INSTAGRAM:@|phonyghost
(this is where I stand. feel free to unfollow if you wish.)
I made a chart of some nitty-gritty info about Vote By Mail, here: http://tinyurl.com/votingdeets2020 – Please check it to see if Vote By Mail is something viable for you! For example – some states require the ballot to be signed by a notary, or the initial request to be notarized. Others don’t send out the ballots until 20 days before the election, which on a typical year should be no problem, but this year, it might be. Also, if you’re worried about USPS being actively undermined, most states also accept in-person delivery or delivery by a different mail carrier. I also read an article about how Brooklyn’s ballots were undercounted because the post office forgot to stamp the postmark because there wasn’t a stamp on the ballots, so…. (a) aim to get the ballot in BY ELECTION DAY, and (b) maaaaaybe put a stamp on it even if it’s not required??? Anyways, come up with an action plan now instead of later.
Also, when in doubt, VOTE.ORGis a great launchpad for getting registered to vote (or checking you haven’t been purged from voter rolls), requesting Vote by Mail, checking polling locations, etc.
Lastly, be ready for the messiness that will come after Election Day – people are going to be claiming victory and demanding recounts and yelling about stolen elections. Some of said people might be very angry and also have guns. We’re fighting for our right to democracy, guyz.
(Oh, and also, if you haven’t done it yet, fill out the US Census – https://2020census.gov/ . These statistics nerds won’t rat you out to anyone and instead want to help allocate more resources and votes to your area.)
on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25881496
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OKAY so I saw this a few days ago and was like “whatever” but then I smashed my phone in a car door, had to clean up some dead baby bunnies in my yard, and have just generally NOT had a good week. I’m fucking spooked and I’m reblogging this twice to get the universe to stop.
I ignored this too and then i got kicked out of my house. Also reblogging twice.
better safe than sorry, i’m scared by tumblr-curses
Just to be safe
ummmm
I don’t usually do things like this, but I can’t afford a bad week right now
You know I usually don’t post these but since I was laid off I could use some good news right now.
Adding this so no one HAS to reblog but good luck still applies
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