British PM May calls for early election on June 8

[brewsterbudgen]

13 minutes ago, aslimversgwm said:

here's hoping! As David Steele once said an eon ago: 'prepare for government' (he was the leader of the Liberal party in the dim and distant and for the 1st time the Liberals were predicted to gain more seats in parliament than they'd dreamed of for decades). Well I can still dream can't I?

It's a shame that both Labour and the Lib Dems don't have more electable leaders; a David Steele or a Tony Blair would be nice.

[SheungWan]

6 hours ago, SheungWan said:

How many general elections as leader of the Labour Party did he lose to the Tories?

 

3 hours ago, NanLaew said:

In hindsight, not enough.

Not enough? Not one.

[overherebc]

14 hours ago, Mosha said:

Hopefully Blair will stick his oar in.

Sent from my iris 505 using Tapatalk
 

Yep, one thing we do need in the middle of this is a good laugh.

??

[SheungWan]

2 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Yep, one thing we do need in the middle of this is a good laugh.

??

Right. Wake me up when the Labour Party next win 3 General Elections in a row.

[overherebc]

How about a new Party with Blair and Sturgeon?

Could be called the 'BS' Party ????

[BigKahuna]

May has bigger balls than half the men in the UK. That's the real problem.

 

 

[overherebc]

4 minutes ago, BigKahuna said:

May has bigger balls than half the men in the UK. That's the real problem.

 

 

You mean her real name is Terence??????

???????

[SheungWan]

12 minutes ago, overherebc said:

How about a new Party with Blair and Sturgeon?

Could be called the 'BS' Party ????

Upsetting to think that it would still trounce UKIP.

[Laughing Gravy]

Well I am looking forward to May getting rid of Corbyn. It is sad to see the Labour party in such array.  I am hoping that it will be the end of Sturgeon too.  A clean sweep of these Europhiles. I hope Farron gets wiped away but I have a feeling he might be OK.

[overherebc]

It's still an anti-me conspiracy to raise the value of the £ the day 'after' my pension arrived in Thailand.

[SheungWan]

28 minutes ago, BigKahuna said:

May has bigger balls than half the men in the UK. That's the real problem.

 

 

Not a problem for (more than) a few expats in Thailand who would be overjoyed at the idea of having a Ladyboy PM.

Edited April 19, 2017 by SheungWan

[aslimversgwm]

14 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

Well I hope it will shut up the whinging, unpatriotic europhiles that do not support the majority of the UK. It would seem you never did national service or served your country. What a shame. Even if the people do not vote for May at least she is a patriot, sadly lacking by many People and TV posters here. I am embarrassed for you.

Well I served for 10 years in the RAF so please don't lecture me about patriotism but your nationalistic, 'little Englander' rant sounds like something that belongs to the 19th Century let alone the 20th or 21st centuries. Belonging to the EU the UK could and did shape the course of its future ensuring the peace of us all, its political, economic and social development for the benefit of all of us true patriots and players on the European world stage - not the bigoted, xenophobic, quasi-racist underbelly that voted to leave in that stupid, unnecessary referendum called by Cameron in order to toady up to his rich, upper-class toffs in the Tory party.  There - that's my rant - a quid pro quo perhaps and please don't feel embarrassed for me because I'm not for you and your ilk, just thoroughly ashamed.

[BigKahuna]

Just now, SheungWan said:

Not a problem for (more than) a few expats in Thailand who would be overjoyed at the idea of having a Ladyboy PM.

That maybe true given how poms are these days.

[BigKahuna]

Just now, aslimversgwm said:

Well I served for 10 years in the RAF so please don't lecture me about patriotism but your nationalistic, 'little Englander' rant sounds like something that belongs to the 19th Century let alone the 20th or 21st centuries. Belonging to the EU the UK could and did shape the course of its future ensuring the peace of us all, its political, economic and social development for the benefit of all of us true patriots and players on the European world stage - not the bigoted, xenophobic, quasi-racist underbelly that voted to leave in that stupid, unnecessary referendum called by Cameron in order to toady up to his rich, upper-class toffs in the Tory party.  There - that's my rant - a quid pro quo perhaps and please don't feel embarrassed for me because I'm not for you and your ilk, just thoroughly ashamed.

Yes be a euro slave. That's a good little marxist.

[JackScarlett]

A message to all Remainers:   Forget party loyalties and vote Liberal Democrat.   With Tim as leader we can change the direction that the UK is being taken by the hardliners in the Toffs Party.   We can tell Mrs Mayhem that she is wrong and that she should be careful what she wishes for.  By voting Liberal Democrat and giving Saint Theresa a bloody nose, maybe she will go back to her walking holidays and leave the real politics to the brilliant leader that Tim is,

[BigKahuna]

2 minutes ago, JackScarlett said:

A message to all Remainers:   Forget party loyalties and vote Liberal Democrat.   With Tim as leader we can change the direction that the UK is being taken by the hardliners in the Toffs Party.   We can tell Mrs Mayhem that she is wrong and that she should be careful what she wishes for.  By voting Liberal Democrat and giving Saint Theresa a bloody nose, maybe she will go back to her walking holidays and leave the real politics to the brilliant leader that Tim is,

Yes telling people how to vote on here is going to make a difference. Difference somewhere between 0 and 1.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, RuamRudy said:

... or could it be that they do not want to expose her to possibly awkward and potentially damaging questions?

Such as?

[RuamRudy]

2 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Such as?

I don't think that any politician can claim to be bullet proof, and I am sure that many people can think of a whole host of questions that would make TM squirm, but for starters, how about why she called this now, after repeatedly stating that she would not call a snap election? Just last month No 10 issued a statement saying that calling an early election was, "... not something she plans to do or wishes to do". Why then, the volte face? Would Thatcher have done this?

[terryw]

The UK no longer has a 2 party election system so calculating the number of MP's based on Polls has become more complex.

 

It is unlikely that the Tories will have the overall majority of 100 being predicted by some newspapers. A majority of 40-50 is more realistic.

 

There are still a lot of Labour supporters who will never vote Tory even though they know in their hearts that Corbyn is useless.

 

The result on June 8th will definately make the Government's Brexit task a lot easier and anyone that believes that Brexit can be stopped does not understand the UK Constitution.

[overherebc]

14 hours ago, Slip said:

Brexit referundum2?  Quite clever of her.

Missed your post on first skip through the thread.

Now that I've seen it you might have a point.

I would call it a definite maybe.

[Laughing Gravy]

15 minutes ago, aslimversgwm said:

Well I served for 10 years in the RAF so please don't lecture me about patriotism but your nationalistic, 'little Englander' rant sounds like something that belongs to the 19th Century let alone the 20th or 21st centuries. Belonging to the EU the UK could and did shape the course of its future ensuring the peace of us all, its political, economic and social development for the benefit of all of us true patriots and players on the European world stage - not the bigoted, xenophobic, quasi-racist underbelly that voted to leave in that stupid, unnecessary referendum called by Cameron in order to toady up to his rich, upper-class toffs in the Tory party.  There - that's my rant - a quid pro quo perhaps and please don't feel embarrassed for me because I'm not for you and your ilk, just thoroughly ashamed.

Where did I lecture you personally! Well if you are such a big supporter of the EU you will get your chance to vote for one of the parties supporting rejoining the EU. It is not xenophobic to want to be governed by your own people who you can vote for and elect and also it isn't bigoted. That's the rhetoric liberals and lefties use when people are proud of their culture and heritage. FYI I am not a tory but sadly there is no other party around that supports my views. You are entitled to yours but I don't say your a racist, bigot or any other. Having the freedom for the UK from the shackles of the EU is nothing about being in the 19th century.

 

 

[JackScarlett]

2 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

I don't think that any politician can claim to be bullet proof, and I am sure that many people can think of a whole host of questions that would make TM squirm, but for starters, how about why she called this now, after repeatedly stating that she would not call a snap election? Just last month No 10 issued a statement saying that calling an early election was, "... not something she plans to do or wishes to do". Why then, the volte face? Would Thatcher have done this?

To me the reasoning is obvious.  TM knows that the negotiations with the EU will be extremely difficult and she is unlikely to get what she wants.   The result will be that the British economy will shrink, prices and inflation will rise, unemployment will increase and the pound will fall to parity with the dollar.   If she gets a further five years in 2017 that will take he through to 2022 and then she can retire with a large pension and tour the world telling audiences how she was sabotaged by the opposition parties and then run to the bank with the large cheques she will receive for spouting rubbish. 

[NanLaew]

16 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

I don't think that any politician can claim to be bullet proof, and I am sure that many people can think of a whole host of questions that would make TM squirm, but for starters, how about why she called this now, after repeatedly stating that she would not call a snap election? Just last month No 10 issued a statement saying that calling an early election was, "... not something she plans to do or wishes to do". Why then, the volte face? Would Thatcher have done this?

True and admittedly May doesn't always come across quite as... mellifluous as Cameron or Blair did.

 

However, why did she change her mind and call the snap election instead of waiting for 2020 as she suggested when she got the PM's job? Probably a reality check considering the slim majority her party currently holds and the internal challenges to both Brexit and the budget. There's a fractious but not inconsiderable amount of Conservative MP's who are quietly still 'on the fence' regarding Brexit particularly those representing constituencies that were much closer to the remain camp. There's also no consensus on the Tory budget. As suggested in the Telegraph, maybe she means to "set fire to Cameronism". At the same time, Labour struggles with anything close to being a viable opposition so the possibility gaining a few Labour seats can only dilute the impact of Tory infighting while pushing Labour further into the wilderness (and another leadership challenge). SD and UKIP will be the also-rans... again.

 

I may be wrong, but Thatcher may have defended successive smaller majorities but similarly, the opposition from other parties back then was also a bit of a mess.

 

Sturgeon got it right when she stated that this snap election decision is purely politically motivated... but I don't think one has to be the leader of yet another also-ran party to work that one out for oneself.

[nontabury]

1 hour ago, brewsterbudgen said:

It's a shame that both Labour and the Lib Dems don't have more electable leaders; a David Steele or a Tony Blair would be nice.

Tony WMD Blair, ( nett worth 60 million +) your having a laugh surely. Don't you think he did enough damage,when he was the PM. Allthough he did receive a glowing report from Chilcot,or was it a glowing report.

[NanLaew]

35 minutes ago, JackScarlett said:

If she gets a further five years in 2017 that will take he through to 2022 and then she can retire with a large pension and tour the world telling audiences how she was sabotaged by the opposition parties and then run to the bank with the large cheques she will receive for spouting rubbish. 

... as an alternative to being unable to suck on the EU teat as a MEP in Strasbourg or Brussels.

[Grouse]

1 hour ago, aslimversgwm said:

Well I served for 10 years in the RAF so please don't lecture me about patriotism but your nationalistic, 'little Englander' rant sounds like something that belongs to the 19th Century let alone the 20th or 21st centuries. Belonging to the EU the UK could and did shape the course of its future ensuring the peace of us all, its political, economic and social development for the benefit of all of us true patriots and players on the European world stage - not the bigoted, xenophobic, quasi-racist underbelly that voted to leave in that stupid, unnecessary referendum called by Cameron in order to toady up to his rich, upper-class toffs in the Tory party.  There - that's my rant - a quid pro quo perhaps and please don't feel embarrassed for me because I'm not for you and your ilk, just thoroughly ashamed.

Post of the day! Well said, sir! ?

[Bannoi]

My Prediction after the election there will be a Labour/Lib Dem/SNP coalition thereby keeping the Tory's out so it is just possible Jeremy Corbyn could be Prime Minister however unlikely that may appear at the moment and possibly another referendum to see if the people really want to leave the EU. I know a lot of people have changed their minds now they are starting to realize the full implications of leaving.

 

If however the Tory's win Scotland will in the next referendum vote in favour of leaving and there will be a referendum in Northern Ireland who could very well vote to leave thereby guaranteeing they remain in the EU as part of a United Ireland.

 

Teresa May called this Election thinking she is in a good position to get an even bigger majority she could very well rue the day she called it.

 

It was done purely to further the Conservative Party's interests not the country's as was the EU referendum.

[NanLaew]

10 minutes ago, Bannoi said:

My Prediction after the election there will be a Labour/Lib Dem/SNP coalition thereby keeping the Tory's out so it is just possible Jeremy Corbyn could be Prime Minister however unlikely that may appear at the moment and possibly another referendum to see if the people really want to leave the EU.

A Labour/Lib Dem/SNP coalition???  That would need a whole lotta love between those 3 parties PLUS a whole lotta hate for the Tories, neither of which are there, sorry.

Edited April 19, 2017 by NanLaew

[Laughing Gravy]

For once a half decent article in the Guardian. Hopefully after this election we can get on with the job of getting out of the EU and those who are still complaining will finally be quiet.

The remoaners have their second referendum-this election.

 

"It is true that among parts of the EU leadership, and the European public, there remains a lingering belief – something more than wistful regret – that the British people can be helped to change their mind. Even though article 50 has been triggered, many EU lawyers believe a legal route is available for Britain to revoke Brexit, probably through a Commons vote in the winter of 2018."

 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/18/mays-real-reason-for-calling-election-to-show-eu-that-brexit-really-means-brexit

[Bannoi]

6 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

A Labour/Lib Dem/SNP coalition???  That would need a whole lotta love between those 3 parties PLUS a whole lotta hate for the Tories, neither of which are there, sorry.

Love there may not be but hate from at least two of them there certainly is and all three share a desire to keep the Tories out even if their reasons for doing so differ.