UK snap election - 8th June

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clinty

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# 213919 18-Apr-2017 22:30

Theresa May just announced a snap election

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39629603

"She said Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership following the EU referendum.
Explaining the decision, Mrs May said: "The country is coming together but Westminster is not."
There will be a Commons vote on the proposed election on Wednesday - she will need Parliament's backing to hold a vote before 2020. "

Clint

Edit : added quote

elpenguino

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# 1767027 18-Apr-2017 22:59

Wow, more uncertainty for the pomms.

What does she hope to achieve? From what i hear, Labour support is at an all time low but even if the tories are re-elected they're stuck with the job of rolling britain back to 1973. That'll make them about as popular as a ham sandwich at a barmitzvah.

Brumfondl

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# 1767031 18-Apr-2017 23:12

Best guess is that they assume they will win the election with a good majority that they can tout as a mandate to do whatever they feel they need to for Brexit. That and it will give them two more years to not have to worry about massively annoying the masses when an election is coming up...

bmt

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# 1767097 19-Apr-2017 09:18

If the Conservatives win, they can say we have a mandate for Brexit and tell the opposition to buzz off. If Labour win, they are left with the mess and have to sort it out themselves. Win/win.

Geektastic

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# 1767101 19-Apr-2017 09:21

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elpenguino:
Wow, more uncertainty for the pomms.

What does she hope to achieve? From what i hear, Labour support is at an all time low but even if the tories are re-elected they're stuck with the job of rolling britain back to 1973. That'll make them about as popular as a ham sandwich at a barmitzvah.

Few people believe that it will return Britain to 1973. Personally I think Britain will prove to the remaining EU nations that without significant reform to the EU, getting out is better than staying in.

At the moment, if polls are correct, the Conservatives will have a majority of about 200 seats. Labour are as befits the left, irrelevant and unelectable.

shk292

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# 1767110 19-Apr-2017 09:27

It's interesting that consensus seems to be that Jeremy Corbyn is unelectable as PM with a preferred PM rating of 14%, while Andrew Little is on 8.3% for NZ preferred PM.

Does this reflect a difference between FPP and MMP, or are Labour NZ stuffed?

Geektastic

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# 1767162 19-Apr-2017 10:11

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shk292:
It's interesting that consensus seems to be that Jeremy Corbyn is unelectable as PM with a preferred PM rating of 14%, while Andrew Little is on 8.3% for NZ preferred PM.

Does this reflect a difference between FPP and MMP, or are Labour NZ stuffed?

Hopefully the latter.

MikeB4

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# 1767168 19-Apr-2017 10:16

They wanted to give Putin a new toy.

Mike
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The views stated in my posts are my personal views and not that of any other organisation.

Using empathy takes no energy and can gain so much. Try it.

elpenguino

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# 1767184 19-Apr-2017 10:28

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shk292:

Does this reflect a difference between FPP and MMP, or are Labour NZ stuffed?

At risk of going off topic, I think Labour NZ are in with a shot. Mostly because charisma-free bill is at the helm.

elpenguino

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# 1767194 19-Apr-2017 10:45

Geektastic:

Few people believe that it will return Britain to 1973. Personally I think Britain will prove to the remaining EU nations that without significant reform to the EU, getting out is better than staying in.

really?

I think the EU are going to punish Gb for leaving the club and do everything they can to make an example of them.

Considering the territorial claims of Ireland and Spain and the complications leaving the EU will bring, I can see the end to the british colonies of ulster and Gibraltar coming a little bit closer.

I didn't see May rushing home from the US with a trade deal. Despite the self-image of Britain, other players see them as unimportant.

I think the rush of companies leaving the uk will make things even tougher for the man in the street.

Ah well, I guess the country wont have an unelected German in charge eh?

shk292

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# 1767199 19-Apr-2017 11:02

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elpenguino:

really?

I think the EU are going to punish Gb for leaving the club and do everything they can to make an example of them.

Considering the territorial claims of Ireland and Spain and the complications leaving the EU will bring, I can see the end to the british colonies of ulster and Gibraltar coming a little bit closer.

I didn't see May rushing home from the US with a trade deal. Despite the self-image of Britain, other players see them as unimportant.

I think the rush of companies leaving the uk will make things even tougher for the man in the street.

Ah well, I guess the country wont have an unelected German in charge eh?

It was never going to be cheap or easy, but few really worthwhile achievements are. National sovereignty definitely falls into the "worthwhile" category.

Remember the howling and whingeing about TPPA? Well, multiply TPPA by 10 and you're starting to get close to the loss of sovereignity that EU brings. And it's only going to get worse - ever closer union is a stated goal of the EU.

ScuL

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# 1767965 20-Apr-2017 16:00

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Geektastic: Few people believe that it will return Britain to 1973. Personally I think Britain will prove to the remaining EU nations that without significant reform to the EU, getting out is better than staying in.

Anybody who believes that Britain will be better off after Brexit is totally deluded.

The loss of trade will be enormous, the added complications for cross border traffic both in migration as well as goods will massively reduce the attractiveness of the UK as a trading partner.
European institutions and financial organisations will vacate the UK in favour of other EU states. Not even to consider the impact on things like the environment, education, healthcare (NHS), and so forth.

Other countries which are supposedly 'in line' to make trade deals with the UK all favour the EU instead, because a single market of 440 million consumers is far more attractive than an island nation throwing up their walls and increasing their isolation.

As much as these elections are a way for May to reaffirm her grip on what once was a fantastic nation, I hope with all my heart that the opposition parties will find a way to stop her Brexit train from launching the country off the cliff.

shk292:

Well, multiply TPPA by 10 and you're starting to get close to the loss of sovereignity that EU brings.

This is such a common statement, it is however wholly untrue. The UK as one of the larger countries in the Union has had a massive say in spendings and allocations of budgets. In fact, some regions of the UK receive a huge amount of EU support (incl. Wales, the North and Northern Ireland). UK citizens have the ability to elect their MEPS and their European parties every 4 years, the fact that less than 10% of the population goes through the trouble of actually voting is another issue.

Further integration is indeed an aspect of the Union and I do not believe that is a wrong goal to strive for, the reality is that all the different sets of rules throughout the continent only complicated things that could be harmonised.

If you go back 2 centuries in time you needed to pay road toll surcharges when travelling in your horse & carriage from one city to another, if you go back another 2 centuries Germany consisted out of 300 miniature states. Globalisation and harmonisation of universal rule of law are an unstoppable phenomenon and people who fear it or oppose it need to get with the times, because there is no turning back.

Gigabit

Fred99

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# 1768153 20-Apr-2017 21:40

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The trouble with where we are now is that the configuration of the parties doesn’t match the issues which need to be resolved. To simplify, the Tories are a coalition of nationalists, who voted out, and business interests, who voted in; Labour is a coalition of urban liberals, who voted in, and the working class, who voted out. This means that if a general election were held tomorrow on the single issue of the referendum, the voter wouldn’t know whom to vote for.

quote - John Lanchester