Woke up angry so may be tough to break out of inflammatory language. Forgive any offences – either in ideas or expression(s). Onwards then, to exorcise some of this heavy (and yess, I know) unattractive baggage.

Labour.

Dead to me and most of my circle, as previously reported. Because Gaza; because the capitulation (or worse) to lobbying – whether from Friends of Israel, private medicine, private utilities or other ‘interested parties’. The one job – to restore some faith and decency – catapulted outta sight so that business (for which read everyday corruption) can continue as normal. So different-level hypocrisy, from Starmer, his puppet-masters and his acolytes.

High in the Anti-Labour List of Labour Travesties is the obscene ‘strategic’ targeting of migrants. Simply unforgivable from any remotely progressive or fair-minded party. Driven by McCluskey (probably), shamelessly continued by Mahmood. A wisdom brought to us from deep within Blue Labour.

Plainly the whole Blue Labour malarkey is a cheap, sour, deliberate operation to ‘counter’ populism and throw red meat to the brain-dead and decency-deficient. But more widely (and strategically less obviously?) it’s there to promote lack of change. So the establishment, the corporate-capitalist order remains snug and tidy and can continue to quietly thrive, unchallenged by any conscience from within the body politic. McCluskey, Glassman, Mandelson & co as agents of quiet, killing, arch-conservative stealth. Kings of networking: hand-maidens to the Epstein Class.

Of course politics has always been this way inclined. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be calling-out its shallowness, its evil.

Let’s offer some (BBC-style?) balance. Starmer and Labour are scratching around and ‘being active’. At times they are both nudging things forward and showing a certain level of competence. But still supporting endless war-crimes; enabling them, even, and still militarily involved in the madman’s illegal and monstrous adventures and distractions. (Sure, Starmer is inching closer to Europe and signalling he knows what Trump is but where are the red lines on moral grounds and on the basis of international law?)

Hope or speculation? Clive Lewis must surely be close to joining the Greens? Rayner and others understand what Labour is. I think they understand that they have no hope of getting it back; maybe not even post-Starmer?

Tories.

Are a joke. An irrelevance. Poorly-led; disappearing; good riddance. The series of governments before the Starmer aberration *really were* the worst governments of my lifetime.

Reform.

Are so obviously a one-policy party it’s almost funny. But not… because that policy is to hate people of colour.

The matrix within which this sits is profoundly telling: Farage’s transparent grifting and open worship of ‘market freedoms’ (for the Epstein Class). Been said many times but the idea that frog-face, Tice, Yusuf and Braverman are in some way anti-establishment is an insult to the intelligence of the universe: yet it may be that some of their supporters perceive themselves thataway. These people are, obviously, the establishment! They are wealthy; they walk amongst wealth; they know how to protect their wealth. Reform voters can of course be lovely family people – I know some who are. But they are suckers on a monumental scale and, clearly, most of them are racists.

Lib-Dems. (Are they still called that?)

I have no issue with people supporting the Liberals. They are a relatively progressive party, made largely invisible by our crap and skewed media and by the absence of compelling leaders or story-tellers. They have a certain integrity… and may have a role to play – perhaps an important one – in some sort of Progressive Coalition, in the future.

Greens.

Greens are The Story – quite rightly. Polanski has strikingly reinvigorated UK politics by being humane and bold and articulate. He has called obscenities obscenities. He opposes bad shit and proposes good shit. He appears to be un-bought. He *actually tends to answer questions* and openly admits to being fallible and relatively inexperienced. In short, by being honest and sounding genuine, he has changed the space. Who’d a thunk it?

Of course there are only currently a hand-full of Green MPs, but this is certain to change next time folks cast their votes. Soaring membership will mean (particularly enthusiastic?) boots on the ground, making the other parties look and feel kinda limp: because they are. Polanski is young enough and suss enough to smash the socials scene. Young people (and disillusioned Labour-types) are flocking in, not just because the leader speaks their language but because (unusually, in politics) the messages are overwhelmingly good and true. Gaza is a genocide; billionaires should and must pay more; immigrants should have our sympathy and support.

The Greens are patently right about most things. They will need to handle the influx of Angry Lefties with care but thank god there is a place to go for those who want to exercise compassion, intelligence, social justice, fairness.

SNP/Plaid Cymru.

Appalling to lump the two nationalist parties in together, and to offer such a brief word. I am in Wales, and will probably vote for Plaid. A) because they are a largely progressive party and b) because the Greens may have no realistic chance in my own constituency. (But let’s see. Let’s see too, what happens with Labour – although I have almost no hope of a transformation there).

I fully understand that voting Plaid need not at all be a protest vote – likewise the SNP. Both have a singular, valuable tradition, which I do respect. I hope followers of these two parties can forgive me for saying that many might see them as potential recipients of tactical votes. In that sense (too) they can serve our flawed democracy. I am sympathetic to both Wales and Scotland being independent nations; partly because Westminster has served them so poorly. We have lacked social justice almost entirely.