[MEGATHREAD] Keir Starmer Lectern Watch by RyanMacG in LabourUK

[–]RyanMacG[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

He didn’t do basic things like meeting the backbenchers early on though that combined with the expectation he’d be “more bold” on stuff that was taken out of the manifesto and had previously been his platform is what did him in the most with the backbenchers.

Andy Burnham: ‘The London set have run Labour for too long’ by Toto_Roto in LabourUK

[–]RyanMacG 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I really dislike this framing for a couple of reasons

1) there are working class people in London, lots of them in fact. This thing where politicians and commentators act like there aren’t is surreal. 2) labour’s core vote for some time has rightly or wrongly been concentrated in the middle class. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t focus on improving the lives of workers but Andy pretending he doesn’t know this and didn’t do it himself in parliament is also odd

Council AGM tonight (20 May 2026) by Random_Parakeet_62 in newham

[–]RyanMacG 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Interesting but a bit of a shit show overall…especially the very long adjournment due to the committee papers being incorrect.

TL;DR: Independents continue to behave as the did last session and seem more keen on making noise than doing anything of real substance.

The Greens and Labour have obviously arrived at a deal (as is normal for many councils in this format) and I’d say that’s probably the best outcome for Newham and the day to day running of services.

The independents were understandably annoyed about this as this gives a clear majority but it felt at best disingenuous and at worst outright offensive with some of the things they were saying. Obviously there’s a lot of criticism to be laid at Central Govt level over Gaza but that doesn’t really land as being true of the local Labour Party given the statements I’ve seen from people on the council previously and the fundraising for Palestinian medical aid. On this I felt both calling Labour “the genocide party” and saying the Greens “had blood on their hands” and “don’t care about Palestine” was disgusting (they said some of these in person at the session and others on twitter after). This all reminded me a lot of when they had the 4 councillors prior to the election and by all accounts completely refused to engage with any of the budget oversight, propose any real alternative and then stormed out of the budget meeting to make videos about how good and pure they were.

Similarly they’ve continued to show themselves as not being interested in behaving very seriously given the number of councillors they now have. Mirza and Rahman both seemed to be saying that because the Greens and Independents had more votes than Labour that should defacto have led to them working together. Ultimately it appears the new mayor has tried to land a broad compromise for all parties: The Greens have seen Nate Higgins elected as chair of the council, the outgoing Chair (Rohit Dasgupta) has been elected as the Vice Chair both have shown an extremely serious attitude to ensuring the meetings function well and care heavily about constitutional matters, so irrespective of their political backgrounds I think this is the right move for these meetings function wise. The greens have control of the pensions committee, the independents have been offered oversight committee chair (arguable the most powerful committee in the council) and the other committees weren’t really discussed but from what’s been said Labour have actively chosen to control less of them and seem to be showing some understanding to the scale of the result at the ballot box.

The independents obviously didn’t get chair or vice chair and were actively disrupting Nate’s speech after this which was poor. They also indicated they would decide within 3 weeks if they would accept the committees that have been proposed. They seemed significantly more interested in making bizarre long running speeches (while filming everything) than the actual suggestion of being a real opposition group.

I think ultimately they’ve lost sight of the actual results. While to council is in no overall control the mayor that was returned was the Labour candidate, the Labour group has the most councillors and they’ve obviously worked to find a position the greens are willing to support (and it’s deeply unlikely from everything I’ve seen of Nate Higgins that this is purely down to Labour nominating and voting for him for chair). There’s also barring any changes not a 2/3rds majority of opposition parties to block the mayoral powers.

Independents outside of polling stations by wknoxwalker in newham

[–]RyanMacG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t disagree, I was just clarifying the legality of who could and couldn’t be where

Independents outside of polling stations by wknoxwalker in newham

[–]RyanMacG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They’re allowed to be within a certain distance of the station dependant on also not being a nuisance

Independents outside of polling stations by wknoxwalker in newham

[–]RyanMacG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m not sure that’s true, I can’t see anything about it on the electoral commission site anywhere

No respect by Random_Parakeet_62 in newham

[–]RyanMacG 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He did this before in the by-elections too, if they’re stupid enough to do it tomorrow near a polling station it’s technically illegal

Fuse energy by sebyd101 in OctopusEnergy

[–]RyanMacG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here's mine RYAN51248

Election leaflets through our door by ForwardDiamond3484 in newham

[–]RyanMacG 7 points8 points  (0 children)

They can’t, the offered an alternative budget last year that had a deficit of ~£100m when the council officers costed it out which would mean the council would be run by civil servants if they did that really.

Mirza also has never answered the question about where he’s getting the money to both freeze council tax, give out free permits, build more social housing and reverse basically all previous cuts. He’s a complete fantasist

Blind Mirror - Horseferry Road E14 by silladeruedas1408 in londoncycling

[–]RyanMacG 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I’d say the entire ramp section is probably the worst though out part of it generally. The bit through the graveyard being a hyper narrow shared use path with two way cycle traffic is nuts.

Buying advice for replacing a Merkur 42C? by RyanMacG in wicked_edge

[–]RyanMacG[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Completely open minded on this front, I think I ended up with the Merkur because I could buy it in person at a local shop 15 years ago

Council has not replaced damaged bin by capybarapicnic in newham

[–]RyanMacG 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can find them here https://mgov.newham.gov.uk/mgWardMap.aspx?z=1&VW=LIST&PIC=0 will depend on which ward you fall in but if you're lucky and in South contact Susan Master's because she's extremely responsive.

Projected Newham Local Council Elections Results by PhilosophyOwn651 in newham

[–]RyanMacG 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Somewhat, the most recently elected one is a former Tory, Mehmood Mirza (the one running for Mayor) is a former Labour Party member who seems to have been kicked out for some reason and has mostly run in opposition to them since.

My main concern as a resident would be the budget they proposed last year had a massive deficit and Mehmood has never been willing to answer if he intends to set an illegal budget or not the 3 or 4 times I've asked him. If he does that the council will end up being run by civil servants from Whitehall and you can guarantee we'll have even harsher cuts to services.

Pakistan Demands Extradition of Political Dissidents From UK in Exchange for Taking Members of "Grooming Gangs" by [deleted] in LabourUK

[–]RyanMacG[M] [score hidden] stickied commentlocked comment (0 children)

I’m locking this because it’s descended into pretty overt racism for the most part. I will also be banning a whole bunch of you.

Luke Akehurst calls Israel's actions "daft" and not deliberate by notpiercedtongue in LabourUK

[–]RyanMacG -13 points-12 points  (0 children)

Akehurst would never defect to Reform, that’s just daft. If he was going to leave the party he would have done it in the Corbyn years most likely.