Dotspod the Perpetually Irritated

MAY 7th: A DISASTER FOR THE RED & BLUES? Another hammering for Labour last night, with Tory vote also collapsing, this time in N Lincs With Reform to the Right, Greens/Plaid to the Left, will we soon see a huge, historical reset of the political system?

This is why Daily Mail journalists are going after my family now. The right wing propaganda machine will not work on the Green Party. We're ready to end Rip Off Britain, end the cost of living crisis and make hope normal again.

People are perfectly entitled and justified in using the local elections to send a message of anger to the Labour government. But deliberately confusing a call for a protest vote with a vote for governing authority, which is what Nigel is doing, is not a strategy for national delivery. It is a campaigning tactic intended to exploit your understandable anger. It is also false. To suggest that local elections are a referendum on the national political system is manipulative. It is the same as suggesting to you that apples are the same as oranges. Local elections do not impact at all on international treaties or on what happens with illegal immigration and small boats. Those are entirely outside local government mandates. Nigel will imply that voting for Reform in the May elections will increase his authority in Parliament. It will not. You may not believe me, but you will see. Nigel will present the almost inevitable success of Reform in the upcoming local elections as a national mandate and then demand to be treated as the leader of the country in waiting - like a President elect - as though a local election result grants him greater national political authority. It does no such thing. Legally and constitutionally, local elections confer no such authority. They are not some sort of equivalent to the US Mid-Term Elections. Nigel knows this. He is betting that most people do not. Local elections are intended to give you a say in how your area is governed and by whom. They are not structurally, legally or constitutionally connected to national policy issues such as immigration, borders, treaties, defence or foreign policy, no matter how much Nigel implies otherwise. Real leadership does not blur these distinctions, and certainly not deliberately. It does not ignore or misrepresent the constitutional and mandate differences between local and national government. It respects them and works within them to deliver real outcomes. Nigel could do that, but it would require more detail, more clarity of planning, and far more accountability than he is prepared to accept. I am not suggesting you should not vote for Reform. But I am suggesting that you ignore any politician who tells you that your vote will influence national issues or anything other than: - Waste collection and disposal - Local planning and development control - Housing and homelessness - Local roads and transport - Education (state schools) - Adult social care - Environmental health and local regulation - Parks and leisure services

WATCH: Starmer on ‘beating himself up’ over Mandelson is worth watching because I really think it’s a very rare & believable moment where Starmer reveals how he’s really feeling; showing some vulnerability and anger with himself over the decision he took

🚨And there you have it. Lindsay Hoyle misled the house by omitting the fact that he has the power to pause proceedings and ask the prime minister to answer the question. He was quite happy to do this with Boris, but he REFUSES to do it with Keir Starmer. Absolute disgrace.