Pinky and Perky

+A brief visit to friends in Northern Ireland, where the general election has a different flavour. Or not. Five candidates' leaflets have dropped through the letter box on the same day. Three seem to be taking a cue from the deeply original title of Labour's manifesto 'Change.' Sinn Fein stands for 'Positive Change.' The SDLP simply say 'Vote for Change.' The Alliance Party are 'Leading Change.'  TUV Reform UK's (TUV stands for ‘Traditional Unionist Voice’) double sided A3 leaflet doesn't use the word change once. The UUP candidate doesn't highlight the word but eventually suggests that he can 'break the current cycle to deliver positive change for you, your family and community.' 

Although Reform UK if given half the chance will 'stand by the union' it would be interesting to see, if elected in any consequential number in Northern Ireland how on earth they would propose coming to any agreement with a Labour government on the border issue. Sloganising won't cut the mustard. The simplest way of solving the problem of course would be for the UK to rejoin the EU, and since a good majority of Northern Irish people voted against Brexit, then what a popular option that would be, eh? But no, Reform UK say no to EU law and the European Court. They want 'a full Brexit so that the United Kingdom in all its parts enjoys full independence and economic freedom.' Reform's pact with TUV clearly sends the signal that they are now the fully formed successor to the alliance between the UUP and the Tories. Perhaps we'll see more Tories going the way of Ann Widdecombe who features in their leaflet. There's no sign of Farage, maybe the leaflet was already at the printers before he changed his mind again and became leader.
 
Sinn Fein's DL sized leaflet doesn't have the space to say very much at all, but I did have the opportunity of watching their leader Michelle O'Neill on the BBC show 'The View.' Michelle's face appears on the leaflet but it doesn't say who she is. I guess everybody knows her, she is after all Northern Ireland's new First Minister. Like many politicians who have said things in the past which they now don't wish to repeat, Michelle told her BBC interlocutor that her position now means she cannot repeat her justification for IRA violence during the Troubles. And her apology for deaths then now extends to all families on both sides of the divide. It's a bit like when our Jeremy was asked to condemn anti-Semitism, he always had to say he was against all racism. Which was true, but still somehow sounded evasive. Anyway, Michelle's main mission is to knock on the door of HM Treasury and demand more dosh for N.I. Join the queue. Take Rachel out for lunch at The Ivy!
 
 'Dear Friend, This election is about change' says the SDLP. They're the first to mention Gaza 'Calling for a ceasefire in Gaza while others had pints in the White House.' I don't remember Starmer having pints in the White House. Perhaps it happened when he was on one of his hush-hush visits to get his secret instructions. Never mind, 'with Labour on course to form a new government after this election - SDLP MPs will have unrivalled influence to change things here for the better.' You bet!
 
The UUP is fielding Richard Smart 'FOR A NEW START VOTE SMART' - do I detect a hint of the poet in Richard? I have to say he says nothing else that comes close to poetry. What was that saying? 'Campaign in poetry, govern in prose'? What he has to say could fit in anybody's middle of the road manifesto. I don't think he'll get in. 
 
The Alliance Party, which is possibly the only historically sensible choice in this election has a different Michelle smiling against a bright yellow background. She promises 'Delivering a Green New Deal,' ensuring climate action is at the heart of all levels of government.'  I hope that means she would reject any suggestion that N.I. might get its first nuclear power station. For starters. Only she and Richard Smart have put QR images in their leaflets.
 
I am writing from the constituency of Strangford, currently held by the DUP. A pity they couldn't get their act together to provide a leaflet at the same time as the others. Not the only one though. I'm without sight of the Greens, an Independent and the Tories who also it seems are standing. In 2019 the DUP had a majority of c.7,000 over the Alliance Party on a turnout of only 56% This is no doubt what psephologist John Curtice might call 'one to watch.' 

+It was a sad affair watching the final leader's shouting match on the Beeb. Sunak apparently thought he could get the better of things by repeatedly interrupting Starmer who stood there with a look of exasperation on his face, which made him look like he wasn't standing up for himself. Neither of them provided an image of the 'vision man thing,' which looking back on it Tony Blair did do in 1997 (yes I know, never mind the vision content, focus on the Vision Look). In so many ways these two just merged into each other. All we know for sure is that Sunak's dad wasn't a toolmaker. And Starmer's dad wasn't a pharmacist. If this was a game of football, Sunak's rudeness would win on possession. But goals don't rely entirely on possession (I have now exhausted my knowledge of football).

If the audience was a representative sample of the British population then it was disappointing that not a single question directly addressed the issue of climate change. Is the issue of betting on the date of the election really worth the precious time devoted to it, or even 'hot' issues like trans rights? Are these the issues that will determine civilisation's future, or lack of it? It will have been a relief to both leaders that they didn't have to talk about climate change. We would have heard some of the biggest lies of all.