I’m a Labour Party supporter. So I was obviously disappointed with the General Election result. But I like to understand the why? Why did so many people vote for The Conservative Party, when it feels like Turkeys voting for Christmas? Here are some of the reasons I think The Conservatives won the General Election:
A lack of political education in schools. Especially political history.
Brexit – The Conservatives reached hard core Brexiteers by clearly promising the leave the EU. It doesn’t seem to matter that it’s a promise they won’t be able to keep. Labour weren’t initially clear on their plans for Brexit.
The all-powerful right wing media. If you read, hear or see something enough you’ll begin to believe it. The was a horrendous campaign of lies and misinformation about Jeremy Corbyn and The Labour Party. Every outlet, including the BBC failed to give a balanced view or hold the Conservatives to account.
Traditional Labour voters opted for other parties such as the National Scottish Party, The Green Party and Independents. Therefore diluting Labour’s vote share.
Businesses thought only of profit, putting their confidence in the Conservatives. This is likely because of the business-friendly policies of The Conservatives such as lowering corporation tax. Whereas Labour wanted to increase the tax rate for top earners to pay for some of their investment plans. This is capitalism at its worst and is driven by greed.
Acceptance of reality as it is and that it can’t be changed. No matter how miserable reality is. This is driven by a fear of change.
Older people tend to vote and tend to vote Conservative.
The bad weather on the day; the cold, wet and darkness probably put some people off going out to vote. It’s sad but it’s true.
What are your thoughts on why The Conservatives won the election? What do you worry about now? Leave a comment below to let me know.
I have to say that although Nando’s didn’t live up to the hype, it filled a hole. From Nando’s we walked to Liverpool Guild of Students’ the venue for Sloss’ show.
Taking photos were not allowed, so you’ll have to settle for this pre-performance stage photo.
If you’ve not seen any of Sloss’ stand-up before, I highly recommended that you check out his two shows on Netflix: Dark & Jigsaw. Both are hilariously funny, cheeky and finish with a poignant point.
Sloss’ latest live show was even better than the Netflix shows, probably because Sloss wasn’t being filmed and was more at ease with the audience.
Indeed Sloss owned the stage throughout the performance that was well over an hour long. In the show he covered his love of children, toxic masculinity and the things nobody taught him about vaginas and sanitary products.
My friend and I laughed, more than I can’t remember either of us laughing for quite some time. It was definitely a good shout, buying these tickets for my friend’s birthday.
Sloss ended the show with an experience he shares about his friend being raped by another one of his friends. The part was done sensitively and with some appropriate humor. Sloss did recount statistics one too many times, sounding like a public service announcement. I think this was Sloss’ way of demonstrating that he had really looked into the issue.
Overall my friend and I thoroughly enjoyed the show and would definitely see Sloss again. We would probably just opt for a different venue due to the difficulty at times in seeing Sloss and the lack of comfort provided by the chairs. Perhaps when Sloss is planning his next show he should consider the Apollo in Manchester.
My tramp stamp to allow me to use the loo and get back into the gig.
There aren’t a lot of famous people who’ve been open about their HIV status. This is not surprising given the historic stigma associated with HIV. In the 1980s there was a real lack of information about HIV/AIDS, this led to myths and a lot of fear. There were also no treatments. This was a public information broadcast back in 1986, and it really shows how little we knew about HIV/AIDS and what a diagnosis meant (death):
Perhaps the most famous person to be open about their HIV positive diagnosis was the legendary Freddie Mercury. He opened up about his HIV positive diagnosis the day before his death.
What is fascinating about Freddie Mercury is that he has been remembered for the way he lived, not the way he died. He is remembered for his work: writing songs, singing them and fabulous performances.
If I could have tea with anyone from any time, living or dead it would probably be Freddie Mercury. As a fellow creative soul (albetit not in the same field) I’d love to know where he got his inspiration. How he came up with his ideas. How he managed to find the magic melodies and be ahead of his time, yet timeless at the same time. Freddie Mercury gave very few interviews, so I guess I’ll never know the answers to these questions.
Gareth Thomas is a Retired Professional Rugby Player from Wales, UK.
Gareth Thomas disclosed his HIV status as being positive, yet also being undetectable and untransmittable earlier this year. His HIV status really shows how far treatment for HIV has come. Once a death sentence, it is now a treatable condition. Many people who are HIV positive can now have the same life span as those who are HIV negative.
Prior to this Gareth Thomas is the first major sportsman to come out as gay in Rugby, which he did so in 2009. Rugby is a very masculine sport, so he should be commended for being honest and open about his sexuality.
Andrew Bell is the lead singer in the band Erasure. In 2004 he disclosed his HIV positive status to the public.
Since Andrew Bell’s disclosure he has been involved with a number of charities raising funds for HIV research and projects. This includes work with National AIDS Trust (NAT).
Charlie Sheen is an Actor with a checkered past. His past according to several sources includes violence, alcohol and substance misuse and being very sexually promiscuous. It is the latter of these behaviours that probably led to Charlie Sheen being diagnosed as HIV positive.
In 2015, Charlie Sheen disclosed his HIV status in an interview. In the same interview he reported that he had spent approximately $10 million to keep extortionists quiet about his HIV status.
Christopher Smith is a Retired Politician in the UK. I didn’t know that he even existed before doing research for this blog post. He is one of the unsung heroes in the LGBT community.
Christopher Smith was the first gay male Politician to come out, coming out as gay in 1984. He has severed in several Governments and has undoubtedly influenced people’s views about people who are LGBT. He has probably supported legislation for LGBT rights and promoted a more inclusive and equal culture.
I am aware that there are no women on this list. I couldn’t find a single famous female who has been open about their HIV positive diagnosis. If you know one, please leave a comment below and let me know.
A HIV positive diagnosis used to be like a death sentence, but today it isn’t. Treatments for HIV positive have never been better and have led to people with HIV being found to be undetectable and untransmittable. Want to know more about HIV? Learn more here.
Write soon,
Antony
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