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→ Has Rishi Sunak admitted defeat?
Even the most optimistic Conservative won’t be predicting a Tory victory this evening. But they’d surely want at least some bullishness from their leader. Three days after claiming he hadn’t given up on maintaining his grasp on power, a glance at Rishi Sunak’s online rallying cries suggests otherwise. Of the Prime Minister’s last 40 tweets, 38 have referred to stopping a Labour “supermajority” — not exactly fighting talk.
If Labour are handed a blank cheque, they will use their supermajority to tax you more for the rest of your life.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) July 4, 2024
Tory comms throughout this election campaign haven’t been especially inspired, but it’s quite something for the Downing Street incumbent to beg the electorate to make his defeat slightly less embarrassing. With his own seat in doubt, will Sunak send a similar appeal to his constituents in Yorkshire?
→ American patriotism hovers near record low
Happy 4 July! Or maybe not so happy. New polling from Gallup has found that national pride among Americans is hovering close to a record low, with 41% of respondents claiming that they are “extremely proud” to be from the US. This marks a slight uptick from the nadir of 38% saying the same two years ago, but as recently as a decade ago around 60% of Americans expressed extreme pride in their country.
Why the drop over the years? Though patriotism declined slightly after Donald Trump assumed the presidency in 2017, the fall had already been steadily progressing during the Barack Obama years. According to the latest figures, 59% of Republicans feel extreme pride in being American, compared to 34% of Democrats and 36% of independent voters. With an infirm president and a challenger plagued by legal controversies, who’d want to be an American right now?
→ Will the Green Party take a realist stance on Ukraine?
At the top of the foreign policy section of the Green Party’s manifesto, it claims that its MPs will “take the lead in upholding the right to self-determination and the enforcement of international law [and] continue to support Ukraine as it resists Russian invasion”. There are clearly limits to this support though, as the party’s Deputy Leader Zack Polanski’s social media feed suggests.
Unfortunately imperialism, racism & corruption govern our major parties…vote for change tomorrow ️ (filmed & edited by @benbrick)
pic.twitter.com/BeH05lZDR9— George The Poet (@GeorgeThePoet) July 3, 2024
Polanski shared a video from George the Poet endorsing the Greens through the medium of poetry, in which the spoken-word artist asks: “Why is Zelensky still asking for money after Boris Johnson stopped the peace talks?” New polling shows that 47% of Green voters think Britain should help Ukraine until it defeats Russia, while 28% prefer the option of a negotiated peace. Is there a gap between the party leadership and its support base when it comes to Ukraine? Just don’t tell Boris Johnson…
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SubscribeHe admitted defeat when he cut and ran while still miles behind in the polls, instead of waiting for an autumn election. If Labour are so dangerous, why not use the Tory majority he inherited to address national problems, and to protect key institutions as much as possible, for as long as possible? One suspects a dash to California in time for the start of the next school year.