The next 7 weeks are going to see an astonishing torrent of shit showered all over Jezza and McMao. The Miliband beasting will be as nothing. The Labour Party will come to learn that the choice of leader matters. I'm going to buy popcorn before I vote Tory. That nice Mrs May is proving to be a good'un.
Jezza has just made a statement shown on Daily Politics....it was evil Tories ruined the NHS NHS NHS NHS NHS NHS NHS NHS NHS NHS...
Could work my ring-wing friend. The NHS is in a shambles right now and to be honest, this is one of Labour's strong areas. Labour needs to put the focus on NHS, Education etc. and try to deflect attention from Corbyn.
I think May calling this election is a hugely partisan move which is not justified by the reasons given. But I am so sick and tired of hearing 'NHS, NHS' prattled at me by Labour leaders ad naseum. It looks like a shambles, but it always has as far as I can see, and any attempt to fix it with anything other than endless money is whinged about as well, so I no longer care what either party says about it.
'Still, independence cannot now be delivered without a referendum. Anything else offends the people’s inchoate sense of how the game should be played. But since the UK government has hitherto suggested the SNP lack a mandate for a second referendum – having lost seats at last year’s Holyrood election – it seems modestly idiosyncratic to hand them an opportunity to renew and reaffirm that mandate in June.
Because, make no mistake, that is what the Prime Minister has done this morning. Talk about how the SNP need to win 50 percent or more of the Scottish vote is just that: talk. That’s not how the game is played. If it were then any government failing to win 50 percent of the popular vote would have its mandate questioned. But that it not how we organise matters in what we can still, at least for now, call this country.
If the SNP win a majority of Scottish seats at a general election that is in effect a vote to decide whether there could or should be another independence referendum then that, by god, is a mandate. The will of the Scottish people, for better or worse, will have been made clear. If you have the votes, you have the votes.'
Labour might be able to make some political capital using the line ' She might be a Vicar's daughter but has now revealed herself to be a barefaced liar! ' I suspect it would be a message that could gain some traction.
Be about accurate as your other predictions?
I did specifically say that there could be no election before June 1st!
Wow. Didn't see this coming. The Tories will walk it, of course, but May has sacrificed her dull-but-honest credentials. It won't matter for now, but a little piece of her political appeal just died.
The next 7 weeks are going to see an astonishing torrent of shit showered all over Jezza and McMao. The Miliband beasting will be as nothing. The Labour Party will come to learn that the choice of leader matters. I'm going to buy popcorn before I vote Tory. That nice Mrs May is proving to be a good'un.
And unlike Miliband, it will be totally justified.
don't bet on a land side. Labour have 160 safe seats.
Copeland was a safe seat.....
Not in quite the same way. It was safe in the sense it had not gone Tory in over 80 years, but it was never so large a majority as to be unassailable. Most of those 160 are unassailable.
Theresa May says in her statement that she's calling a general election because of a) the SNP and b) the House of Lords. Apparently the "game-playing" will jeopardise the form that Brexit takes if she doesn't get a bigger Tory majority in the Commons.
How awake does a person have to be to realise that her stated reason is a complete load of crap? Never mind that she lied in the past. She is lying now.
A general election is unlikely to change the number of SNP MPs by much, and even if it did, so what? And it won't change the composition of either the Scottish Parliament or the House of Lords one iota. And she's got a majority at the moment. Only Tory MPs can get rid of that majority - by voting against her, by crossing the floor of the House, or by getting replaced in by-elections. None of those possibilities have anything whatsoever do with the SNP or the House of Lords.
The Kremlin and the White House will love this general election. Europe is being destabilised.
"Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit". That's funny. I thought that division in Westminster was exactly how parliamentary democracy was meant to work.
Wrong on both counts.
If the SNP lose seats and vote share at the GE then it very much undermines their claims that the country is now more in favour of Independence than it was before the Brexit vote.
And depending on what goes into the manifesto in terms of Brexit promises, the Lords will be in a very different position when it comes to blocking future legislation.
Hard to see the SNP losing vote share and doubtful even on seats, be few if any. Choice is vote hated nasty right wing Tory rule forever or vote SNP for a fairer Scotland. Easy choice.
Not sure either way. As you know I want Scottish independence and Brexit but it is fair to point out that there was 38% of the Scottish electorate who voted in favour of Brexit and I am not sure they will be wanting to support the SNP. I can't call this at all but at least on paper it is possible that this could hurt the SNP not help it.
Why would they? They'll comfortably win most UK seats, and by going for it there's no justification for not holding an Indy ref before 2021. A great day for them.
So, wait, what if the SNP stand on a "Vote SNP for IndyRef2" platform and get 40+ MPs?
Vote SNP for Indyref2 and against a hard Brexit. They will clean up Scottish seats on a FPTP basis and Theresa May will have quite a lot of trouble with it. The SNP can reasonably claim a mandate from the Scottish electorate for their Indyref stance, and do so much more easily than they could with a Holyrood election.
As the Tories look likely to sweep to a 100+ seat majority - Scotland's voters minds will be focused by this !! - I think today's moves will only strengthen the case for an IndyRef2 sooner rather than later.
So why aren't the SNP calling for one for June 8th? What is Sturgeon afraid of? Or are they not serious about independence?
Can we just get rid of Fix Term Act now, because it is clearly a total waste of time.
As I have been banging on about for ages. It is the biggest load of b*llx in a long, long time, as was obvious from the moment Osborne dreamt it up. May has simply proved the case. Get rid of it.
What it actually proves is that the "Leader" of the "Opposition" is an idiot. That's not guaranteed in all circumstances.
Imagine what would have happened if May had made that statement and then Corbyn had immediately said he wasn't going to vote for it and told her to get on with the job? She would have been hugely weakened.
That would have been fabulous!
I suspect that would have been followed by a very large Labour revolt voting in favour of dissolution and Corbyn would have been the one hugely weakened.
Hampstead & Kilburn will be interesting. Tories haven't won it since 1987 (ignoring the boundary changes).
They should walk it this time. The LDs will take a lot of Labour votes.
You should be happy. Corbyn will go on June 9. Labour will return to its senses, albeit with 150 seats. The slow recovery can start.
What about his conduct to date leads you to believe that a GE loss will cause him to resign?
I think even Jezza will go, after a total tonking in a General Election. If he doesn't, as Southam says, he will be challenged, and - this time - he will lose.
Corbyn will go but they might replace him with John McDonnell or someone similar.
Wow. Didn't see this coming. The Tories will walk it, of course, but May has sacrificed her dull-but-honest credentials. It won't matter for now, but a little piece of her political appeal just died.
In my eyes the discovery that when she means yes she says no, the little minx, makes her even sexier than she was before.
'Still, independence cannot now be delivered without a referendum. Anything else offends the people’s inchoate sense of how the game should be played. But since the UK government has hitherto suggested the SNP lack a mandate for a second referendum – having lost seats at last year’s Holyrood election – it seems modestly idiosyncratic to hand them an opportunity to renew and reaffirm that mandate in June.
Because, make no mistake, that is what the Prime Minister has done this morning. Talk about how the SNP need to win 50 percent or more of the Scottish vote is just that: talk. That’s not how the game is played. If it were then any government failing to win 50 percent of the popular vote would have its mandate questioned. But that it not how we organise matters in what we can still, at least for now, call this country.
If the SNP win a majority of Scottish seats at a general election that is in effect a vote to decide whether there could or should be another independence referendum then that, by god, is a mandate. The will of the Scottish people, for better or worse, will have been made clear. If you have the votes, you have the votes.'
To be honest, I think unionism is now dead within the Tory party. The Tories are now wholly preoccupied with engineering the hardest of Brexits for England. The Union, and pretty much everything else, can get stuffed.
Jezza has just made a statement shown on Daily Politics....it was evil Tories ruined the NHS NHS NHS NHS NHS NHS NHS NHS NHS NHS...
Could work my ring-wing friend. The NHS is in a shambles right now and to be honest, this is one of Labour's strong areas. Labour needs to put the focus on NHS, Education etc. and try to deflect attention from Corbyn.
I think May calling this election is a hugely partisan move which is not justified by the reasons given. But I am so sick and tired of hearing 'NHS, NHS' prattled at me by Labour leaders ad naseum. It looks like a shambles, but it always has as far as I can see, and any attempt to fix it with anything other than endless money is whinged about as well, so I no longer care what either party says about it.
The 2015 election labour was a three club golfer, NHS, bedroom tax and the cuts. There was little else. Since then what they did have has reduced to just one thing, the NHS. So now they act like the one club golfer. It's gone too far. People just don't believe it anymore, NHS crisis fatigue.
For anyone who thinks that focusing a campaign around the NHS is the salvation of labour, I have one word for you, I'll repeat it three times.
So, wait, what if the SNP stand on a "Vote SNP for IndyRef2" platform and get 40+ MPs?
Vote SNP for Indyref2 and against a hard Brexit. They will clean up Scottish seats on a FPTP basis and Theresa May will have quite a lot of trouble with it. The SNP can reasonably claim a mandate from the Scottish electorate for their Indyref stance, and do so much more easily than they could with a Holyrood election.
As the Tories look likely to sweep to a 100+ seat majority - Scotland's voters minds will be focused by this !! - I think today's moves will only strengthen the case for an IndyRef2 sooner rather than later.
So why aren't the SNP calling for one for June 8th? What is Sturgeon afraid of? Or are they not serious about independence?
don't bet on a land side. Labour have 160 safe seats.
Copeland was a safe seat.....
Not in quite the same way. It was safe in the sense it had not gone Tory in over 80 years, but it was never so large a majority as to be unassailable. Most of those 160 are unassailable.
Yes...in all seriousness, Tories and Labour have some sort of firewall under FPTP. I still expect Jezza to manage to f##k up some seats for Labour, but Stoke shows that even a foul mouthed numpty with a red rosette can still get elected in certain seats.
All this talk of sub 20% is nonsense. What Jezza has managed is well and truly break through the 30% firewall for Labour and damage the brand among moderate centrist swing voters.
Re Gorton. On or off. `1979 general election, Government fell on 28th March, Edge Hill by election held 29th March. Is it a sort a parallel?. The new MP only took his seat after the General Election.
Why would they? They'll comfortably win most UK seats, and by going for it there's no justification for not holding an Indy ref before 2021. A great day for them.
Wow. Didn't see this coming. The Tories will walk it, of course, but May has sacrificed her dull-but-honest credentials. It won't matter for now, but a little piece of her political appeal just died.
In my eyes the discovery that when she means yes she says no, the little minx, makes her even sexier than she was before.
Steady on! footballers have been jailed for that sort of talk!
@BethRigby: 2 Labour MP say they haven't decided whether to vote for election: informal meeting of "friends" about to start where some MPs talk tactics
Can't help but be a bit disappointed about this. A major part of TM's USP was that she was looking to deal with problems in the national interest. We have 23 months now to agree a deal with the EU and we are effectively not going to have a government for 3 of them? How is that in the national interest?
I could understand the temptation of the polls and the desire for her own mandate but this seems a mistake to me and my guess is that it won't be quite the spectacular victory it looks like it should be right now.
Hard to argue that Indyref2 is impossible during Brexit but a GE is.
It is inevitable that the SNP will make Indyref2 a part of their manifesto. When they win 50 seats it is going to be impossible to resist. It probably was anyway in the longer run but May risks losing control of the timing here.
be surprised if they end up as low as 50 David
Think the Lib Dems will get 2 and the Tories up to 5. Will Labour hold onto 1? Probably not. So maybe 52-53?
Have I understood correctly that the plan is for a vote tomorrow on the new election? All the leaders seem to be in favour of one and I'm sure MPs of all parties would love to flip a coin and see if they get to keep their jobs, but what if the vote clashes with Culinary Genius?
Being charitable she may not have lied then, her intention may still have been not to hold one. However like you I am at a loss as to how her stated reasons explain this, since they existed back then.
Maybe she got wind that the by-election fraud cases were coming to a head. It was certainly a risky strategy for her to take, but it looks to have paid off thanks to the element of surprise and the opposition being incompetent. If Labour had come up with a semi-plausible reason for not calling a snap election, it would have been a nasty stalemate. She would have to pursue the holding of the election and keep the Brexit wagon rolling at the same time.
Isn't that a bit of political insider position? Tony Blair was a very popular prime minster able to inspire leadership and confidence. If he became leader of the Labour Party tomorrow I wouldn't be so quick to assume a con majority.
I think it could be the moment that her mask slipped and begins to be seen as a cynical ,slippery politician no different to the likes of Cameron & Blair.
Who won elections.
I'm in agreement with Foxinox about INdyref - it cannot be the case that you can have a GE disrupt the negotiations but not an INdyref.
Also agree that Corbyn is a decent performer in debates - he could surprise.
May has done a poor job justifying this on the grounds of a changed situation, but that Corbyn has picked up the gauntlet nullifies the partisan accusation a little, though not completely.
Also, is she advocating abolishing the Lords? She cited 'unelected' lords as a block on brexit causing difficulty, an election won't change that unless she is planning to do something with them.
Salisbury convention means the unelected Lords won't vote down legislation included in the government's manifesto. Many of May's current proposals were not in the Conservative 2015 manifesto - e.g. leaving Single Market, Grammar schools.
I would be surprised if there are any debates. The Tories are miles ahead so why would they risk it?
'Still, independence cannot now be delivered without a referendum. Anything else offends the people’s inchoate sense of how the game should be played. But since the UK government has hitherto suggested the SNP lack a mandate for a second referendum – having lost seats at last year’s Holyrood election – it seems modestly idiosyncratic to hand them an opportunity to renew and reaffirm that mandate in June.
Because, make no mistake, that is what the Prime Minister has done this morning. Talk about how the SNP need to win 50 percent or more of the Scottish vote is just that: talk. That’s not how the game is played. If it were then any government failing to win 50 percent of the popular vote would have its mandate questioned. But that it not how we organise matters in what we can still, at least for now, call this country.
If the SNP win a majority of Scottish seats at a general election that is in effect a vote to decide whether there could or should be another independence referendum then that, by god, is a mandate. The will of the Scottish people, for better or worse, will have been made clear. If you have the votes, you have the votes.'
This guy can't write. "Modestly idiosyncratic", "renew and reaffirm", "is in effect", etc. etc. Talk is talk, apparently. And, he tells us, if you have the votes then you have the votes. Take this guy's pen away from him, someone, please!
He's right, though. It's bad for the SNP that there are higher turnouts in Scotland in British general elections than in local Scottish ones. But that's outweighed by a great advantage for them: the House of Commons is elected by FPTP.
I think it could be the moment that her mask slipped and begins to be seen as a cynical ,slippery politician no different to the likes of Cameron & Blair.
Who won elections.
I'm in agreement with Foxinox about INdyref - it cannot be the case that you can have a GE disrupt the negotiations but not an INdyref.
Also agree that Corbyn is a decent performer in debates - he could surprise.
May has done a poor job justifying this on the grounds of a changed situation, but that Corbyn has picked up the gauntlet nullifies the partisan accusation a little, though not completely.
Also, is she advocating abolishing the Lords? She cited 'unelected' lords as a block on brexit causing difficulty, an election won't change that unless she is planning to do something with them.
Salisbury convention means the unelected Lords won't vote down legislation included in the government's manifesto. Many of May's current proposals were not in the Conservative 2015 manifesto - e.g. leaving Single Market, Grammar schools.
I would be surprised if there are any debates. The Tories are miles ahead so why would they risk it?
You could say that about any campaigning from May. Can she manage to avoid any unplanned interaction with the public?
Can we just get rid of Fix Term Act now, because it is clearly a total waste of time.
As I have been banging on about for ages. It is the biggest load of b*llx in a long, long time, as was obvious from the moment Osborne dreamt it up. May has simply proved the case. Get rid of it.
What it actually proves is that the "Leader" of the "Opposition" is an idiot. That's not guaranteed in all circumstances.
Imagine what would have happened if May had made that statement and then Corbyn had immediately said he wasn't going to vote for it and told her to get on with the job? She would have been hugely weakened.
That would have been fabulous!
I suspect that would have been followed by a very large Labour revolt voting in favour of dissolution and Corbyn would have been the one hugely weakened.
Exactly why it would have been fabulous (and so much quicker and cheaper than a GE)!
How could any opposition party block a GE and then be a credible opposition afterwards?
Also, I think SNP probably welcome this opportunity. They might even think they can get a clean sweep in Scotland...at the very least reiterate their support and for IndyRef2.
For the life of me I really cannot understand what Corbyn would have to lose by frustrating May on this - and so force her to go down the road of tabling a No Confidence Vote in her own Government. The polls are so bad that they would be unlikely to get any worse for him and it would have humiliated May.In addition , it could have led to the constitutional chaos and uncertainty previously discussed here at great length. His failure to so respond shows yet again why he is out of his depth - and should step aside.
Mr Farron's GE launch email and fundraiser lands in my inbox at 13:01
Swiftly followed by one from a local former Labour voter wanting to reverse Brexit and offering to deliver leaflets for the LibDems 'just this time' to get rid of the local Labour MP who voted Brexit through.
Wow. Didn't see this coming. The Tories will walk it, of course, but May has sacrificed her dull-but-honest credentials. It won't matter for now, but a little piece of her political appeal just died.
In my eyes the discovery that when she means yes she says no, the little minx, makes her even sexier than she was before.
Woman's privelige to change her mind as a girl said to me once when handing back the ring I'd bought her.
1. I think Nick Clegg WILL stand - leading for the Lib Dems on Brexit has given him a new lease of life. 2. The Lib Dems are in a much stronger position to fight than in 2015 - stacks of new, keen members, big cause to fight for, and fewer held but doomed seats to waste time in. 3. I think this is really about the Great Repeal Act, I couldn't see how that would get through the Commons and Lords without a manifesto commitment given the opposition to the Henry VIII stuff about letting minsters rewrite laws. 4. Theresa May will have to work on her excuse for this election, as blaming opposition parties for opposing is very weak. 5. Labour are already trying to say that it's not about Brexit. Yeah, good luck with that one. They are going to get slaughtered, but it needs to happen to see where their path is taking them. I'm actually glad that Jeremy Corbyn will get a national verdict.
And finally. 6. Guess which fool spent the morning leafletting Manchester Gorton yesterday? Great timing as ever.
I'm hoping for dramatic and massive gains across the SW for the LDs against the Tories - not because I care who rules the roost in local areas, but because it would be bloody funny for May to have called a GE, only then to see the Tories lose lots of local seats in the Tory shires and panic sweat a bit.
What an oddly stupid idea for someone who portrays normalcy and rationality most of the time. Does the good of the country matter so little to you?
Can we just get rid of Fix Term Act now, because it is clearly a total waste of time.
As I have been banging on about for ages. It is the biggest load of b*llx in a long, long time, as was obvious from the moment Osborne dreamt it up. May has simply proved the case. Get rid of it.
What it actually proves is that the "Leader" of the "Opposition" is an idiot. That's not guaranteed in all circumstances.
Imagine what would have happened if May had made that statement and then Corbyn had immediately said he wasn't going to vote for it and told her to get on with the job? She would have been hugely weakened.
That would have been fabulous!
I suspect that would have been followed by a very large Labour revolt voting in favour of dissolution and Corbyn would have been the one hugely weakened.
The Labour MPs who did that would have been effectively deselected by being denied NEC endorsement.
Am surprised by May's move but clearly she decided she needed her own mandate before the Brexit talks began. Now if voters want a softer Brexit than she proposes they can vote Labour or if they want to reverse the invoking of Article 50 altogether they can vote LD. If May wins as comfortably as polls suggest though nobody can deny she has a mandate for Brexit on her own terms
As for Scotland as this will be a UK wide election I doubt it changes much and as the SNP hold all but 3 seats if they lose a few to the Tories and LDs it May even produce a slight swing back to unionist parties
I think it could be the moment that her mask slipped and begins to be seen as a cynical ,slippery politician no different to the likes of Cameron & Blair.
Who won elections.
I'm in agreement with Foxinox about INdyref - it cannot be the case that you can have a GE disrupt the negotiations but not an INdyref.
Also agree that Corbyn is a decent performer in debates - he could surprise.
May has done a poor job justifying this on the grounds of a changed situation, but that Corbyn has picked up the gauntlet nullifies the partisan accusation a little, though not completely.
Also, is she advocating abolishing the Lords? She cited 'unelected' lords as a block on brexit causing difficulty, an election won't change that unless she is planning to do something with them.
Salisbury convention means the unelected Lords won't vote down legislation included in the government's manifesto. Many of May's current proposals were not in the Conservative 2015 manifesto - e.g. leaving Single Market, Grammar schools.
I would be surprised if there are any debates. The Tories are miles ahead so why would they risk it?
Debates are a fixture now. It is just the format that will be controversial.
I think it could be the moment that her mask slipped and begins to be seen as a cynical ,slippery politician no different to the likes of Cameron & Blair.
Who won elections.
I'm in agreement with Foxinox about INdyref - it cannot be the case that you can have a GE disrupt the negotiations but not an INdyref.
Also agree that Corbyn is a decent performer in debates - he could surprise.
May has done a poor job justifying this on the grounds of a changed situation, but that Corbyn has picked up the gauntlet nullifies the partisan accusation a little, though not completely.
Also, is she advocating abolishing the Lords? She cited 'unelected' lords as a block on brexit causing difficulty, an election won't change that unless she is planning to do something with them.
Salisbury convention means the unelected Lords won't vote down legislation included in the government's manifesto. Many of May's current proposals were not in the Conservative 2015 manifesto - e.g. leaving Single Market, Grammar schools.
I would be surprised if there are any debates. The Tories are miles ahead so why would they risk it?
Debates are a fixture now. It is just the format that will be controversial.
Theresa May says in her statement that she's calling a general election because of a) the SNP and b) the House of Lords. Apparently the "game-playing" will jeopardise the form that Brexit takes if she doesn't get a bigger Tory majority in the Commons.
How awake does a person have to be to realise that her stated reason is a complete load of crap? Never mind that she lied in the past. She is lying now.
A general election is unlikely to change the number of SNP MPs by much, and even if it did, so what? And it won't change the composition of either the Scottish Parliament or the House of Lords one iota. And she's got a majority at the moment. Only Tory MPs can get rid of that majority - by voting against her, by crossing the floor of the House, or by getting replaced in by-elections. None of those possibilities have anything whatsoever do with the SNP or the House of Lords.
The Kremlin and the White House will love this general election. Europe is being destabilised.
"Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit". That's funny. I thought that division in Westminster was exactly how parliamentary democracy was meant to work.
Wrong on both counts.
If the SNP lose seats and vote share at the GE then it very much undermines their claims that the country is now more in favour of Independence than it was before the Brexit vote.
And depending on what goes into the manifesto in terms of Brexit promises, the Lords will be in a very different position when it comes to blocking future legislation.
Hard to see the SNP losing vote share and doubtful even on seats, be few if any. Choice is vote hated nasty right wing Tory rule forever or vote SNP for a fairer Scotland. Easy choice.
Not sure either way. As you know I want Scottish independence and Brexit but it is fair to point out that there was 38% of the Scottish electorate who voted in favour of Brexit and I am not sure they will be wanting to support the SNP. I can't call this at all but at least on paper it is possible that this could hurt the SNP not help it.
the Nats could easily lose 10 seats and vote share. We've seen off peak SNP - it may take another referendum post Brexit to see them off again but by then Labour should have its act together.
Can't help but be a bit disappointed about this. A major part of TM's USP was that she was looking to deal with problems in the national interest. We have 23 months now to agree a deal with the EU and we are effectively not going to have a government for 3 of them? How is that in the national interest?
I could understand the temptation of the polls and the desire for her own mandate but this seems a mistake to me and my guess is that it won't be quite the spectacular victory it looks like it should be right now.
Hard to argue that Indyref2 is impossible during Brexit but a GE is.
It is inevitable that the SNP will make Indyref2 a part of their manifesto. When they win 50 seats it is going to be impossible to resist. It probably was anyway in the longer run but May risks losing control of the timing here.
You think that the SNP will retain 50 seats, bearing in mind that the last GE result was just after a referendum where the electorate thought the Indy issue had been decided, and Nicola Sturgeon was enjoying her honeymoon as FM? She has just spent a year trying to use EU Remain voters, many of whom might well have also been No to Indy voters to try and ram through another Indy Ref just three years after the last one.
A lot of people are angry that Sturgeon is using their Remain vote to try to claim a mandate for another Indy Ref. SNP and Sturgeon have both been declining in the polls, the SNP at a much slower rate than their Leader it must be said. But Sturgeon is being hoist by her own pertard after her own stunt whereby she announced plans for that 2nd Indy Ref the day before May triggered Article 50. She thought she had two years of playing grudge and grievance politics. May has called her bluff, and Scots voters may just been a lot more canny when it comes to tactically voting in this GE.
Depresses me that after June 9th Ken Clarke, David Cameron, and George Osborne might not be menbers of the Parliamentary Tory Party.
Clarke to the Lords ?
Since May seems committed now to Lords reform (funny that) as she is painting them as the enemy leading to this GE, then if she is not ready for full abolishment the first thing she could do is several quick fixes, one of which would be someone cannot be elevated to the peerage if they have been an MP in the last 10 years or so - it's not a retirement home.
They should also expel members who have not participated in a reasonable (to be defined) number of votes in the past 2 years - that will trim the numbers to a managable level and get rid of those not properly contributing from coming in to disrupt things.
Can we just get rid of Fix Term Act now, because it is clearly a total waste of time.
As I have been banging on about for ages. It is the biggest load of b*llx in a long, long time, as was obvious from the moment Osborne dreamt it up. May has simply proved the case. Get rid of it.
What it actually proves is that the "Leader" of the "Opposition" is an idiot. That's not guaranteed in all circumstances.
Imagine what would have happened if May had made that statement and then Corbyn had immediately said he wasn't going to vote for it and told her to get on with the job? She would have been hugely weakened.
That would have been fabulous!
I suspect that would have been followed by a very large Labour revolt voting in favour of dissolution and Corbyn would have been the one hugely weakened.
The Labour MPs who did that would have been effectively deselected by being denied NEC endorsement.
Given that would include probably the vast majority of the Labour Parliamentary party I think that would have been just another suicidal move by the NEC.
Some people off stage are going to have to work out what they want to do PDQ. Will Balls stand? I hope so. Will David Miliband stand? Probably not. Bigger fish to fry.
How could any opposition party block a GE and then be a credible opposition afterwards?
"We're in the midst of the trickiest negotiations this country has faced since the War. Now is not the time for distractions. Unlike Mrs May, the Labour Party takes very seriously its responsibility for getting the best deal for the country and will hold the government's feet to the fire to ensure they are." etc etc
Basically, throw Theresa May's words back at her. It doesn't have to be universally believed. It just has to sound plausible.
How could any opposition party block a GE and then be a credible opposition afterwards?
Also, I think SNP probably welcome this opportunity. They might even think they can get a clean sweep in Scotland...at the very least reiterate their support and for IndyRef2.
The Nats are nervous. They sense the lean years ahead for their cause.
Comments
That nice Mrs May is proving to be a good'un.
'Still, independence cannot now be delivered without a referendum. Anything else offends the people’s inchoate sense of how the game should be played. But since the UK government has hitherto suggested the SNP lack a mandate for a second referendum – having lost seats at last year’s Holyrood election – it seems modestly idiosyncratic to hand them an opportunity to renew and reaffirm that mandate in June.
Because, make no mistake, that is what the Prime Minister has done this morning. Talk about how the SNP need to win 50 percent or more of the Scottish vote is just that: talk. That’s not how the game is played. If it were then any government failing to win 50 percent of the popular vote would have its mandate questioned. But that it not how we organise matters in what we can still, at least for now, call this country.
If the SNP win a majority of Scottish seats at a general election that is in effect a vote to decide whether there could or should be another independence referendum then that, by god, is a mandate. The will of the Scottish people, for better or worse, will have been made clear. If you have the votes, you have the votes.'
Will Ken Clarke run? He was due to retire in 2020 as it was.
For anyone who thinks that focusing a campaign around the NHS is the salvation of labour, I have one word for you, I'll repeat it three times.
Copeland, Copeland and Copeland.
All this talk of sub 20% is nonsense. What Jezza has managed is well and truly break through the 30% firewall for Labour and damage the brand among moderate centrist swing voters.
Hopefully this GE will totally kill the hard-left forever. I can't believe Labour have to learn the same lessons of the 1980s AGAIN.
How could any opposition party block a GE and then be a credible opposition afterwards?
He's right, though. It's bad for the SNP that there are higher turnouts in Scotland in British general elections than in local Scottish ones. But that's outweighed by a great advantage for them: the House of Commons is elected by FPTP.
Who's that good for?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaw5Zm6EskA
Swiftly followed by one from a local former Labour voter wanting to reverse Brexit and offering to deliver leaflets for the LibDems 'just this time' to get rid of the local Labour MP who voted Brexit through.
Or was that question actually a riddle?!
Mansfield? Wrexham?
1. I think Nick Clegg WILL stand - leading for the Lib Dems on Brexit has given him a new lease of life.
2. The Lib Dems are in a much stronger position to fight than in 2015 - stacks of new, keen members, big cause to fight for, and fewer held but doomed seats to waste time in.
3. I think this is really about the Great Repeal Act, I couldn't see how that would get through the Commons and Lords without a manifesto commitment given the opposition to the Henry VIII stuff about letting minsters rewrite laws.
4. Theresa May will have to work on her excuse for this election, as blaming opposition parties for opposing is very weak.
5. Labour are already trying to say that it's not about Brexit. Yeah, good luck with that one. They are going to get slaughtered, but it needs to happen to see where their path is taking them. I'm actually glad that Jeremy Corbyn will get a national verdict.
And finally.
6. Guess which fool spent the morning leafletting Manchester Gorton yesterday? Great timing as ever.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-general-election-2017-lib-dems-gain-members-1000-a7688711.html
As for Scotland as this will be a UK wide election I doubt it changes much and as the SNP hold all but 3 seats if they lose a few to the Tories and LDs it May even produce a slight swing back to unionist parties
Ms. Apocalypse, the sooner Corbyn's gone, the better. But odds can be wrong, as we've seen quite a lot in recent years.
Bolsover?
A lot of people are angry that Sturgeon is using their Remain vote to try to claim a mandate for another Indy Ref. SNP and Sturgeon have both been declining in the polls, the SNP at a much slower rate than their Leader it must be said. But Sturgeon is being hoist by her own pertard after her own stunt whereby she announced plans for that 2nd Indy Ref the day before May triggered Article 50. She thought she had two years of playing grudge and grievance politics. May has called her bluff, and Scots voters may just been a lot more canny when it comes to tactically voting in this GE.
They should also expel members who have not participated in a reasonable (to be defined) number of votes in the past 2 years - that will trim the numbers to a managable level and get rid of those not properly contributing from coming in to disrupt things.
Basically, throw Theresa May's words back at her. It doesn't have to be universally believed. It just has to sound plausible.
Coventry North East would be...