This blog recommends a tactical vote designed to deny the Conservatives a majority. This will prevent the still existent threat of the economic disaster of a no-deal Brexit, which could still happen at the end of 2020 under the PM's current "deal", which only covers the immediate process of leaving, not of negotiating the necessary trade deals, which will take years, if not decades. On Brexit, Labour's approach is the best one - of negotiating a new deal with close alignment and then letting the people decide whether to leave with that deal or remain in the EU after all.
The Conservatives have become more and more extreme, alienating traditional one nation Tories like Sir Nicholas Soames (Winston Churchill's grandson), Ken Clarke and Michael Heseltine. They've been in power since 2010, in which time we have seen homelessness skyrocket. Disabled people (including people who I know personally) have been subject to humiliating new tests specifically designed to leave them destitute. For those without cars, support for public transport has been cut, leaving more people isolated. We've seen the cuts for ourselves locally and they will continue if we do not get real change.
Then there's the most untrustworthy prime minister we've ever had. Boris Johnson lied during the referendum about £350m a week for the NHS if we voted for Brexit. He lied to the Queen about pro-roguing parliament in the autumn in an attempt to force through a Brexit to which parliament did not consent. He says that the report into Russian interference in our elections has no surprises, but won't let us read it, even though he is linked to several wealthy Russian donors. There's his affair with Jennifer Arcuri, while simultaneously helping her company to get you and me, the taxpayers of the UK, to subsidise it. He is a proven homophobe, racist and islamophobe. Then there is the rule of law: page 48 of the Conservative manifesto makes provision for the rule of law to be abolished if the PM of the day, whether that be Johnson or a successor, sees fit. Having lived in Germany, I've seen first hand evidence of what happens when there is no rule of law and it isn't pretty, especially for minorities. Then there's the dossier on the sale of the NHS to US companies after Brexit.
As much as you may dislike Jeremy Corbyn, you need the NHS and the rule of law more.
We therefore recommend a tactical vote as follows:
Vote Labour in:
Southampton Itchen (Simon Letts)
Southampton Test (Alan Whitehead)
Bournemouth East (Corrie Drew)
Bournemouth West (David Stokes)
Dorset South (Carralyn Parkes)
Fareham (Matthew Randall)
Gosport (Tom Chatwin)
Havant (Rosamund Knight)
New Forest West (Jo Graham)
Poole (Sue Aitkenhead)
Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin)
Portsmouth South (Stephen Morgan)
Salisbury (Tom Corbin)
Vote Green in:
Isle of Wight (Vix Lowthion)
Vote Liberal Democrat in:
Christchurch (Mike Cox)
Dorset Mid & Poole North (Vikki Slade)
Dorset North (David Chadwick)
Dorset West (Edward Morello)
Eastleigh (Lynda Murphy)
Hampshire East (David Buxton)
Meon Valley (Lewis North)
New Forest East (Bob Johnston)
Romsey & Southampton North (Craig Fletcher)
Winchester (Paula Ferguson)
I fail to see what this political rant has to do with reporting new, varied and withdrawn bus services. The increasing level of rabid support of one and condemnation of another of the big groups causes me to believe the site is no longer worthy of a look. GOODBYE!
ReplyDeleteAGREED. You have lost another reader. Not because I support a prticular party, but because you have inadvisedly brought politics where it is not wanted.
ReplyDeleteWhilst I agree with just about every word that you say, and the issues raised are vital to our future, this is not the place to give political messages! I will carry on reading and contributing, due to the normally interesting bus news, but object strongly to this site being used for this purpose.
ReplyDeleteIt's a free world, post on your blog what you want - people don't have to read it.
ReplyDeleteI agree as well and as a contributor to this site, I for one will withdraw as I do not feel it is appropriate to air such political views. So you've lost another.
ReplyDeletethe tory party dont deserve another term.....such a shame labour dont have a better leader
ReplyDeleteLabour is of course getting my vote :)
ReplyDeleteSame here. Are you registered in Southampton Itchen by any chance?
DeleteI am yes indeed one thing I do not want is a tory being an MP in the area I live in
DeleteWell the present conservative one has been rather good and has respected the wishes of Itchen in coming out of Europe whether He liked it or not
DeleteOh dear Reece.A tory MP has been re-elected in the area you live in.You will now have to move to another area where there isn't one.Not much choice for you i'm afraid just Southampton Test area
DeletePolotics are not required on this site and a sad reflection the operator of the site in suggesting of how people should vote
ReplyDeleteSurely politics should be for everyone and not just for billionaire media moguls. It used to be the case in this country that if you didn't own land you couldn't vote. Thankfully those days are gone. Normal service will be resumed after the election.
ReplyDeleteI come here to read about the bus scene around Southampton and the South Coast, not to be force-fed which way I should vote - which, in any case, is an entirely personal view. May I suggest you create another blog if you wish to do that sort of thing in future. Thank you.
DeleteI quite agree with you as will many others I'm sure
DeleteIt's quite obvious on this site that the message is not getting through to ever who runs it that most of its readers just want to read about developments within the bus industry of a local nature and not about political rantings about who or who should not be elected in the General Election on December 12th 2019
DeleteIt's nice to know people on here slag the author off - If you don't like his postings you know what to do men and women ok
DeleteIt's asking Him/Her to put the site back on the right track not slagging them
DeleteNobody asked for a special election article, so it should be taken down.
DeleteIf (IF) the post was predominantly bus / transport focused, I would have read it.
DeleteIt isn't. I won't.
Anonymous9 December 2019 at 17:08 -
DeleteHow do you know if you didn't read it?
Obviously I grazed over the content.
DeleteAll those links are going to have the spam balling ringing over at Google.
It's also worth mentioning that Labour have a very good chance of winning in Southampton Itchen as they were only 30 votes behind the Tories at the last election.
ReplyDeleteIt will be 4498 next time
DeleteYawwwnnnn. Disappointed that you've posted that. I really enjoyed this blog and looked forward to reading any new posts and comments. Goodbye.
ReplyDeleteVote Labour in Fareham?! Yeah right, you have more chance of First bus taking over Bluestar than Labour winning Fareham from Conservatives!
ReplyDeleteThis blog has suddenly changed for the worse. I use to enjoy all the bus news & now it has changed to slag off First (ok they are poor) & inter poster whinging. Please return to a decent bus notifiaction blog to retain readership
I agree there is a 0% chance of anybody but the Conservatives winning Fareham, but that doesn't change the author's point that, if you don't want to vote for them, Labour are the next-best option. That or staying at home, which is never good advice.
DeleteI'm a little uncomfortable with the partisan nature of this blog post, even though I happen to agree with every word of it. Advice for future - maybe it should be tied a little more to transport policy, and a little less to Brexit. It's safe to assume that anybody outside of 'the bubble' knows the latter would be an economic disaster, but we still have more to learn about the former.
First are poor and can`t even run a decent service on GWR trains with endless trains being delayed or cancelled on the Southampton to Cardiff route and then there`s the 27 day strike on South Western trains-First`s efforts to resolve this strike seem to be non existant since the strike begun with no sign of talks.
DeleteSeems SotonBus is getting too big for his/her boots and we need to start up a blog that strictly gives bus information
ReplyDeleteI would never leave this page
DeleteI was surprised to see the article, however I also thought it to be well reasoned.
ReplyDeleteSurely the blog owner is entitled to exercise his right of free speech on his blog and actually publish whatever he wants so long as it doesn't break any laws etc.
Incidentally I Live in the New Forest East constituency that has been represented by Julian Lewis since it was created. Julian Lewis is the only MP who refuses to enter into email correspondence with his constituents, siting three reasons, insecure, inefficient and another reason I can't recall. Every other MP has along with the rest of us managed to overcome these concerns. I believe it to be a method to reduce accessibility, as we are expected to rely on the Royal Mail or fax! Mr Lewis's majorities have always been so huge that it is highly unlikely he will fail to be re-elected.
It is rather sad that this blog decided to write some lines about the elections. Unfortunately, for as much as you wanted, this will have limited effect, as people are furious with politicians, and I suspect the turnout will be lower than the last elections.
ReplyDeleteIt is also sad that this blog decided to bring this subject, completely out of context, and the only thing that it may achieve is to frighten drivers and enthusiasts to participate and even give some information about future routes. I will not be extreme and I will keep giving my collaborations/comments on this blog. I also think it is time for this blog to be revamped in terms of design, and I am more than happy to help.
Another blog should be started by someone with a bit more professional attitude to counter this one. Competition is needed in the Southampton area!
ReplyDeleteGood points well raised @SotonBus. Transport issues are inherently political like it or not this blog will never be an apolitical place, nor should it be. This is a personal blog and an important issue, anyone with an audience should use it not just multi-national fake news outlets.
ReplyDeleteGetting back on to the less controversial topic of buses...
ReplyDeleteMervyns Coaches are withdrawing the 95, 95A, 96 & 96A routes that run between Winchester, East Stratton, Micheldever & Hatch Warren. See http://www.mervynscoaches.com/bus-services.html for confirmation.
Reason given:
Mervyn Annetts advised the meeting that "his bus service will cease running on 30th December due to the lack of HCC funding and the falling passenger numbers. Public excursions will continue to run." Cllr Bramley will liaise with HCCllr Jackie Porter again in respect of any other potential funding to continue a local bus service.
I assume the services will be re-tendered and Stagecoach will win them... but it remains to be seen if that is the case!
Shame about that.Mervyns is a lovely little top class operator
ReplyDeleteFrom April 2020, Stagecoach will take over the Cresta Coaches 240 (though Cresta will keep the 206/208 routes). These operate around Alton & Alresford.
ReplyDeleteFirst have kept their tenders in Fareham & Gosport for routes 11, 20, 21 & 28. Based on the figures, it looks like those timetables will remain the same.
Details: http://democracy.hants.gov.uk/documents/s40460/Report.pdf
Errrrm
Delete"The Saturday and Sunday 11 service is currently procured by Hampshire County Council and funded by Gosport Borough Council. It is anticipated that this arrangement will continue into the proposed new contract."
The 11 runs on Sundays?
Thanks for putting this post up mate, everyone on here now has stopped giving me a hard time.
ReplyDeleteThere is not one post here giving you a hard time Reece.
DeleteMost times some of your postings cause you a hard time
DeleteReport yet another price increase on some tickets with Xelabus... £25 for a weekly ticket... for example, a person living in Horton Heath that possesses a Xelabus bus pass would be better off with Bluestar, saving £7.50 weekly,
ReplyDeleteBig news... Wheelers, Herringtons, Mervyns all giving up their local bus routes from end of this month. HCC having to retender them all but Stagecoach covering the routes for 3 month initial before awarding contracts.
ReplyDeleteThe end of Wheelers as a public transport provider (only the W1 still exists but for how long?), I think it is actually good, so they can focus on other aspects of bus industry.
DeleteSomething is happening with First in the New Year. All is says is "Something new for 2020"
ReplyDeleteCould either be a new route, or new buses, or maybe something totally different.
Re-branding I expect.
DeleteWell it won't be new buses as they are about to get ex Portsmouth vehicles.Maybe it's a brand new management with ideas of running a bus service that people in Southampton want,but doubtfull this could happen
ReplyDeleteProbably a 'new' route that is already served by Bluestar/Unilink...
ReplyDeleteWhat would you introduce as a new route then?
DeleteThe old 101 he might be on about
DeleteDoubt it will be anything like the old 101, that route was withdrawn a good 15 years ago; and over half of that route is run by Unilink U1 (from Portswood to Airport)
DeleteWell, just to prove that this post was pointless, the Tories had their best result since Thatcher...
ReplyDeleteNow go back to your bus duties and refrain from posting about politics ever again!
SBU Owner said it was a one off anyway :)
DeleteGive it a resest Reece.who the hell cares about whyat the owner of SBU cares He/She seems to be a muppet like you
Delete4 out of 24 suggestions for tactical votes finished 3rd - oh dear - and 21 one of the constituencies are so blue no amount of tactical voting would have an effect - try sticking to buses
ReplyDeleteA bit late to the party but I would like to defend the blog owner for posting this. They are, after all, a private individual, not a representative of a public-facing company, and are not breaking any laws. It is purely a private opinion (and good advice IMO). As for the comments on "wasted votes", that, and the result itself, are symptomatic of our first-past-the-post system. Effectively, non-Tories in seats like Fareham and New Forest East have, and never have had in modern times, any political representation. Would be much better to move to larger constituencies (e.g. "South Hampshire") with 10 MPs, divided proportionally. That way, we'd end up with something like 5 Tories, 3 Labour and 2 Lib Dem (guess; don't know exact results) rather than the 8 Tory and 2 Labour we have currently in the Southampton/Portsmouth area.
ReplyDeleteThree years later, I think the blog owner has been proved right! ;-)
ReplyDelete