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I'm resigned to the fact we need the next four years to be sufficiently awful, that voters will want radical change in 2029. As things stand, it's coming: htt

by cbeach 1y ago

I'm resigned to the fact we need the next four years to be sufficiently awful, that voters will want radical change in 2029. As things stand, it's coming: https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/united-kingdom/#national-parliament-voting-intention https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/united-kingdom/... Reform UK will repeal the Online Safety Act. Zia Yusuf, tech entrepreneur and head of Reform UK Department of Government Efficiency explains this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3JRuAh4jeY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3JRuAh4jeY (36:05)

wizzwizz4 1y ago
Look at how Reform UK politicians actually voted, please. They won't repeal the Online Safety Act: they're populist authoritarians in waiting, and not even particularly good at hiding it.
- cbeach 1y ago
  Do you have an example, please? I wasn't aware that any Reform MPs were in power back in 2023 when the Online Safety Act passed through parliament?
  - wizzwizz4 1y ago
    I thought I remembered a current Reform UK MP voting in favour of something to do with the Online Safety Act, in the current parliament – but it couldn't have been the debate on the current parliamentary petition, because that hasn't happened yet. I have since had another look. Lee Anderson was in power (as a Conservative), and abstained from https://votes.parliament.uk/votes/commons/division/1416#notrecorded https://votes.parliament.uk/votes/commons/division/1416#notr... – though I'm not sure what this vote was actually on, and this doesn't support my original claim (that Reform MPs voted in favour of the Online Safety Act). Perhaps someone with more understanding of British Parliamentary Procedure could look through the relevant votes and see whether my claim was actually correct.
    - cbeach 1y ago
      Interesting. I've done some digging and found that the division you linked to was a procedural vote (that is, it was to discuss timetable and structure for how the bill passes through parliament, as opposed to the content of the Online Safety Bill itself). Also, since there were zero "No" votes from Tories, it could be that the party whip imposed conditions on Tory MPs.

by cbeach 1y ago

wizzwizz4 1y ago

Look at how Reform UK politicians actually voted, please. They won't repeal the Online Safety Act: they're populist authoritarians in waiting, and not even particularly good at hiding it.

cbeach 1y ago
Do you have an example, please? I wasn't aware that any Reform MPs were in power back in 2023 when the Online Safety Act passed through parliament?
- wizzwizz4 1y ago
  I thought I remembered a current Reform UK MP voting in favour of something to do with the Online Safety Act, in the current parliament – but it couldn't have been the debate on the current parliamentary petition, because that hasn't happened yet. I have since had another look. Lee Anderson was in power (as a Conservative), and abstained from https://votes.parliament.uk/votes/commons/division/1416#notrecorded https://votes.parliament.uk/votes/commons/division/1416#notr... – though I'm not sure what this vote was actually on, and this doesn't support my original claim (that Reform MPs voted in favour of the Online Safety Act). Perhaps someone with more understanding of British Parliamentary Procedure could look through the relevant votes and see whether my claim was actually correct.
  - cbeach 1y ago
    Interesting. I've done some digging and found that the division you linked to was a procedural vote (that is, it was to discuss timetable and structure for how the bill passes through parliament, as opposed to the content of the Online Safety Bill itself). Also, since there were zero "No" votes from Tories, it could be that the party whip imposed conditions on Tory MPs.