Okay, what you’re doing here is devaluing other people’s values, beliefs, perspectives and even to some extent humanity, as they are in the way of your priorities.

Now we all do something similar to some extent, i imagine, but generally most of us are aware that if we run too far with it, we’ll look really bad, selfish, cruel, etc. and lose the argument

I mean, I read your position as ‘there’s gang violence in London, so there’s no reason not to have a super hard brexit’. It’s one of the most random grab bags of nonsense i’ve ever seen, outside of a Donald Trump speech.

Imagine if my position was that ‘we shouldn’t be forced into this appalling mistake by a bunch of <insert every prejudiced stereotype about Brexit-voters>, because there is too much domestic violence and nobody is talking about that.’

Basically, you condone wife-beating, because you’re not woke and voted for Brexit.

Tbf, that is the rhetorical spirit this general election campaign is being conducted in, with two bogeyman leaders motivating the other side’s base. What a massive failure.

It's far worse than that.
To effectively trash a peace deal in Ireland for some ideological "power grab" against a "perceived" economic enemy is quite vulgar and then to justify it because we "allow" gang violence on the streets of London.
I'd suggest that we should be dealing with the drug related violence and not trying to deliberately add to it, may be a better solution.

Aye, if you could disregard any negative consequence of an action because there are other negative things in the world, then it would be easier to advocate a position.

Never mind the democratic mandate for Brexit, it’s not like they have democracy in North Korea, is it? And we allow that.

What I am saying is this - is it fair that the will of 17.4m people be thwarted because it potentially impacts a very small minority? What I am saying why is everyone so protective of the GFA yet seem oblivious to killings of young black people? Could it be that its yet another excuse not to deliver on the referendum.

In life we all have to make compromises - the police have accepted it couldn't stop the drug dealing/flow so it tries to minimise the impact of gang wars by allowing the flow for the most part but intercepting an occasional shipment makes everyone think they are doing their best.

What has wife beating got to do with Woke? What I do think is if you have a penis you are a man even if you choose to wear a wig and a dress - not a tough concept. If you were born a woman you are a woman not a sis-woman.

I reckon you've got it about right with '[ia bit[/i'.
I mean, come on Flashman, look at the state of the bumbling eejit.
Oh yes, every woman's dream.
No doubt.

We’re not oblivious and uncaring though, are we? That is just something you made up, in the same way I have decided you are unconcerned about the suffering of domestic abuse victims. The reason there is concern about the Good Friday Agreement, with reference to how Brexit is managed, is that there’s a relationship between them, in a way that there isn’t directly, that I’m aware of, in terms of drug-related violence and domestic policing approaches to the illegal drugs trade.

What has wife beating got to do, directly, with your views of transgender and cisgender people? Are we embracing absurdist non-sequiturs for the Festive season? What I do think think is that cheese is a type of meat, a tasty yellow beef.

There are lots of interconnected threads and for every decision there are a combination of positive and negative externalities - something you are very aware of. If we decide to increase spending on the NHS that money has to come from somewhere so the negative externality is everyone poorer - is that a price worth paying? So if we want a clean break from the EU the GFA has to be compromised - is that a negative externality worth considering? You Corbyn devotees will no doubt agree that going into Iraq to removed Hussein has led to a rise in Isis was that a price worth paying. So yes we can be very uncaring when we want to be.

Wife beating is a criminal offence - transgender is nothing of the case it is an individual decision - to compare the two is absurd.

With both of the main parties embarking on a spend, spend, spend agenda, why on earth is Boris so desperate to offer tax cut's of any type.
Surely, those funds would be put to better use elsewhere ?

He has said he will increase personal allowance on NI - suppose Tories look boring compared to Labour who seem to be giving everything away. The polls don't seem to be shifting so this is just a consolidation excercise

Fundamentally, giving tax cuts, whilst increasing borrowing and spending, just looks daft and wrong.

I cannot disagree but as long as increased borrowing is to support capital projects then if the economy can support increased spending on the NHS, Schools etc whilst supporting some tax incentives for the lower paid I'm all for that.

Johnson has now bottled it for interviews on ITV and BBC.

If he can't stand up for himself in a tv interview how is he going to stand up for our country in trade negotiations?
Probable answer is that he isn't because he can't.

Indeed, hence the thread title.
Andrew Neil has tried to provoke him but, his backside dropped out a couple of weeks ago so, dont hold your breath

The other world leaders must be rubbing their hands at the prospect and he still thinks that he will negotiate a free trade deal AND in record time

Not according to his buffoon followers in the right wing rags, who believe Andrew Neil is bullying him. You couldn't make this stuff up.

The Tories seem to be showing a significant lead in the polls - so the election is theirs to lose. Why would you do anything to disrupt that - Blair and Cameron would be doing the same. The less he is seen the less damage can be done.

We have seen what exposure of Corbyn, Swinson and Queen Nicola have done for their popularity - it would be madness to follow suit.

I see lemon-faced Long Bailey was once again taken to the cleaners on Today this morning over the "alleged" £6,700 savings per family - it was shown up for what it is - complete b0ll0cks - she couldn't even say approximately how many families would see the whole benefit. Why because its pure fantasy and virtually nobody we see the whole benefit.

He had better hope that what happened to May who was actually in a stronger position but avoided debate does not happen to him. I think we can finally put to bed the theory he is a great debater and negotiator because he isn’t. When it comes to telling lies he is one of the best. He adopts the Trump teaching that regardless of what is the truth keep repeating the lies until it becomes the truth to some.

I agree he is not great debater he mumbles and doesn't appear as confident as I thought he would be. They are all as bad as each other when it comes to telling lies - as soon as they open their mouth they are lying

I think, in politics generally, there has been a shift from the half-truth, misleading statement and failure to keep one’s word, to shameless bare-faced lying. Presumably because it is effective.

However, I think Johnson is different; he is utterly wedded to falsehood. He prefers things this way. An issue with a lot of politicians has been that you can’t trust what they say to be true. Counter-intuitively, you can kind of trust Johnson because EVERYTHING he says is rubbish, consistently and without any important exception that I can think of. You’d think the odd bit of truthfulness might slip through accidentally from time to time, or align with his own frightening narcissistic self-interest - but no, it never does.

I think the likes of Trump and Johnson have created a new paradigm by being open about lying, and some people seem to see someone being honest and unashamed about their dishonesty as progress. In fairness, I think Trump is genuinely delusional as well, which adds another layer.

Andrew Neil tries to bully everyone but, the issue here is that Johnson is clearly running scared, which really isn't a great trait for any leader and the world is watching.
For all his ambition and well spoken bluster, Boris has been found out - I still dont get how ANY traditional Labour supporter can vote for him.
Some people really need to give their head a shake.
Also, I dont think that Labour have played a great hand in the election campaign.
Of course it's been mentioned but, the 10+ years of austerity cuts, hitting those with the very least, the hardest, is and always was the Tories achilleas heal and this above all else should have been exploited.
The Tories tried to dent Labour's armour with promises of spending on education and health but, they have been let off the hook for the last 10 years.
Education and child poverty have been shocking (and continue to be so) but, it does seem that some have forgiven them way too quickly.

It should be an interesting head to head this evening although, I hope that everyone has their Boris bingo cards ready because this guy has very little actual substance and will quickly revert to soundbites.

The problem is that people are obsessed by Brexit at the expense of everything else. They may get Brexit but they will also get further austerity made worse by Brexit. I expect if when we find out that the report today is accurate he will blame the E.U.

Which completely gives the game away that he's nothing but a fraud, a liar and a charlatan. Even his own party and advisors know it.

I listened to that and thought to myself, "the interviewer is pretending they don't understand how averages work in an attempt to overtly demonstrate their impartiality".

It was a bonkers waste of time when they could have been asking about the substance of the Labour party's policy proposals.

It wasn't averages was it - it was the most anyone could save if they were lucky enough to have the lot - which Long Bailey was unable to quantify because it is so minimal as to be insignificant. Another Labour falsehood - how many should they be allowed to get away with?

Labour have a number of problems - its leadership for a start - two old Marxists doesn't really fill the country with hope. The women have been a liability. Their new give away a day isn't credible - nobody believes it.

Most understand you have to encourage business otherwise wealth generation simply evaporates. Labour simply want to cane business - it isn't just the increase in CT its the sneeky stuff - reduction of capital allowances. If you want business to invest that is the last thing you should be doing. Who is going to give up 10% of the shares so workers can inherit those for free? Or are companies simply going to issue additional shares and dilute everyone's investment? The idea that a cleaner can sit on the board of sizable PLC and make any kind of meaningful contribution defies any kind of logic - its this kind of unrealistic thinking that hits the credibility of Labour.

Brexit has been a complete disaster for Labour - its policy hasn't an ounce of credibility - I have many times who is going to campaign for Leave? Ian - the NUM paid off my mortgage - Lavery? another fine upstanding member of the Labour party. Corbyn love of the IRA has come back to haunt him and dulled him.

Labour calls the Tories on Islamaphobia - perhaps given what has happened on London Bridge the Tories should be apprehensive about a religion that promotes killing of non-believers and tangibly demonstrates its beliefs. Not seen many Jews stabbing and blowing people up - what are Labour so afraid of?

On austerity Labour are hardly on a strong footing - it was what the Tories inherited from Labour that forced austerity!!

On education - how can you have a system where there are no checks and balances on standards - Labour want to remove all school inspections, Stats etc - why is that because a few teaching unions don't like their members being monitored. I don't like Gove but he was the best education minister since Thatcher - he toughened up the exams - no bad thing.

We see at SWT and the universities what increased union power will lead to - good luck with that

Corbyn is not trusted on national security - he wants the Russian interference report published because he thinks it will hurt the Tories. Next thing he is using a Russian leaked document to make a feeble point on the NHS - you simply could make this stuff up - it would be funny if it weren't so tragic. Then he leaks another document on the Brexit deal - and he wonders why he isn't trusted on security!!

Then you have all the lies - everytime any of them open their mouth a lie emerges - they talk about Boris but they are equally bad if not worse.

Lesss said about Momentum and Wokeness the better.