Oasis reunion could be an opportunity for Labour | The New Statesman

[@colinthompson3111]

Are you joking?! Why would anyone plan around Oasis given the conflicts??

[@munkami]

Wow. 30 years on from 1997 and 'the big hope for the nation' is the reformation of aging Britpop hasbeens. Self-made working class millionaires doing it for their country. For the music. For the people. FOR OUR MONEY

[@matthewtrow5698]

What are you smoking? Can I have some? Can we party like it's 1997? Probably not...

[@halmycroft194]

Didn't one of the Gallagher brothers refer to Ed Milliband as 'a fucking communist'? I somehow doubt they're going to be of much use to the Labour party.

[@James-fv1yb]

I like Oasis even more now!

[@henriknielsen1662]

"Oasis reunion could be an opportunity for Labour": a notion almost as daft as Brexit

[@stevenwilliamson6236]

They allowed Micky Gove into number ten, despite his cocaine use, didn't they?

[@derekcooney6576]

Desperate stuff😂

[@JamJam0189]

First we had Prince William and Harry can learn from the Gallagher's music and now Labour can learn and become New New Labour or something. Oasis scored 8 UK No1 singles but were over-rated their song Wonderwall (not a No1) was way overplayed on the radio and their albums and sound was very similar, nothing like the Beatles in terms of creativity or success. Their arrogance and swearing also put people off too.

[@billder2655]

Opinions on the incoming outdoor smoking ban? I voted labour this year and I was really optimistic, especially since Starmer’s promise to ‘tread lightly on [our] lives’. I’m in my early 20s and I grew up in Stroud (although I went to university in Manchester), so I’m from the country and me and my friends primarily socialise by going to the pub (this is all there really is to do in Stroud). We’ll often set up outside and stay at the pub from 7 or 8 and stay until close, quietly chatting and having a laugh - we all enjoy a cigarette (as is our prerogative, being intelligent adults that understand the risk). Me and my friends smoke when we drink, having previously smoked all the time at university. We have all reduced our smoking significantly through the use of vapes, which have had a really positive impact on our lives. I won’t pretend that I’m not disappointed in this latest announcement. Jacqui Smith claimed smoking was the ‘biggest nail in the coffin for most people in this country’, which is an abject lie (data shows that dementia was the biggest cause of death in 2022, and last time I checked 80,000 was far less than 50% of 577,160 - the figure for total deaths in 2022). Furthermore, the notion that smoking is an inherent burden to the NHS also seems fishy, since a 2022 report showed that smoking costs the NHS in England £2.6B a year whilst forecasts for 2024-25 financial year show that taxes on tobacco products will raise £8.8B (comparatively, the U.S., with a smoking population over 6x the size of that in the UK, is projected to raise $8.29B from tobacco tax in 2028) - evidently, in respect to just the NHS, smokers pay for themselves. Clearly there are other costs to be factored in, such as losses to the economy from deaths/time taken off work due to smoking related illnesses, but the reality is that as an adult I reserve the right to pursue dangerous hobbies/habits as long as they do not impact the lives of others (I’m sure that doesn’t always apply, but in respects to smoking or mountain biking or dirt biking or skateboarding or flying a one seat plane, it absolutely does), regardless of whether that means a loss of projected earnings in my lifetime. I’m sure that alcohol also accounts for an extraordinary loss of projected earnings too, yet no politician in this country would ever dream of imposing these kinds of laws on drinkers. What makes this pill even harder to swallow is the tory plan that labour have decided to back. First of all the plans for vaping laws will absolutely encourage an increase in smoking - vaping is the most effective tool in the reduction of smoking, thus restricting vapes only means that smokers are less likely to put their cigarettes down for good. Secondly, the gradual ban on smoking will absolutely fuel black market sales, which will in turn drastically reduce the price of smoking whilst also reducing the government’s ability to mitigate the cost to the NHS due to the loss in tax revenue. The tax on cigarettes in this country is extremely high, meaning the black market will become very appealing to the average smoker. Collectively these policies are a massive kick in the teeth - there is absolutely nothing to suggest that the plans for a ‘smoke free generation’ will make the NHS any better off because of the attractiveness of the black market and the loss of tax revenue. Meanwhile, legitimate avenues for those looking to reduce/quit smoking are being targeted through the new vaping laws. To top it all off, the government is introducing the ban on smoking in outdoor areas, which seems singularly aimed at winding smokers up in the hopes that it will inconvenience them into quitting. The approach seems totally haphazard, and I’d be very interested to see evidence supporting the notion that a ban on smoking outdoors will reduce smoking - frankly I don’t think concrete evidence exists. The policy also seems fairly cowardly, as the government is burdening the already stretched and wobbling hospitality industry with all of the risk. Finally, as a last thought in terms of the politics of the decision, I am uneasy with the way that this has effectively ceded a fairly common sense position to the likes of Nigel Farage. He has been able to get his classic ‘cig & a beer image’ plastered all over the news - and whether folk in London like it or not, that is an extremely relatable image for a lot of people living in the country. Resultantly, it becomes quite easy to see how the government could be seen to be acting as ‘big city elites’ that have lost touch with people in the country. As I said previously, I voted labour and I want to see this government succeed, but the messaging in the past two weeks has been terrible in regards to the ‘things will get worse speech’ and this latest move. The government is coming across as almost puritanically sterile, and it’s not a good look.

[@maxharbig1167]

Does Panem et Circenses ring a bell?

[@stevenwilliamson6236]

Is that one of their albums?

[@julianshepherd2038]

Certainly emphasises the difference between upbeat Tony and misery guts Sir Keir Thatcher.

[@stevenwilliamson6236]

Starmer's response was actually OK there.

[@turn3rg407]

Who is the New Statesman for these days? It seems to be unashamedly a PR advisor for the government

[@peterpeterholt]

I wouldn't underestimate young people's need for the so-called greats of the past. Whenever you a see a summer music festival poster on the underground, there's nearly always a headline act from the 70s-90s. I'm not an Oasis fan at all, but there's really nothing like that experience these days for your average 18 yr old. Or am I just too old to know? Think it'll be a huge hit, before they get silly and fall out again of course...

[@jamonit7169]

Sounds to me like Tony Blair had a word with them....

[@henriknielsen1662]

Oasis reunion, for once a British disaster not directly related to Brexit

[@ronseymour4976]

@colinthompson3111 No, they are not joking. Oasis may not be my generation's go to music, but at least this is more upbeat than most of what is making the news today.

[@phoenixreborn6065]

But I thought that "Things can only get better" under Labour, what's happening. It has only been a couple of months so far as they've been mostly a trainwreck.

[@peterdollins3610]

Are you serious? Anyway 'Jerusalem' for the anthem or perhaps Shostakovich 'The Leningrad.'

[@n28utd]

George, you are unbelievably blind to the real world Keir cant do anything wrong in your eyes 🤣

[@pamplemouse5]

How ridiculous is this?

[@PERRITOCBA]

Desperate...

[@biscuitheque79]

Er, no.

[@stevenwilliamson6236]

Tony Blur? Might prefer a different band.

[@TheMusicalElitist]

I highly doubt it.

[@rememberyoureawomble1816]

You’re in cloud cuckoo land if you think Brit pop can be reinvented in 2024,Blair was a guitarist,Starmer plays the flute.

[@williama-d6]

ok oasis went down to number ten? the first time I am hearing this

[@stevenwilliamson6236]

Johnny No Mates again? What's the obsession there ?

[@ianfraser6161]

Oasis? Who are they?

[@TheMusicalElitist]

A band. Oh! Sorry, you were trying to be funny. And failed.

[@andyhunt7186]

What rubbish, I don’t believe this

[@paulmcallister4546]

Basically an overrated tribute band.

[@James-fv1yb]

Tribute band?

[@paulmcallister4546]

@@James-fv1yb 😁

[@James-fv1yb]

@@paulmcallister4546 they’re a more than that! 😁

[@paulmcallister4546]

@@James-fv1yb maybe, but all I can hear is there influences.