Dear god, can you find anything more boring than the diahorrea emitted by that bloated Tory windbag loser
Malc - you know I am conservative with big family connections including SNP members in the North East of Scotland and I have had many an interesting debate over Independence over the last 5 decades. My late Father in law was a great socialist and fisherman but one of his best friends was his constituency conservative MP. (There were many in Scotland at one time). I think we would enjoy a robust discussion ourselves if we ever met. Add into the mix that I am half Welsh half English would help
Apart from the fact she did a radio interview with a BBC journalist yesterday.
Before the campaign started. And your point is?
The campaign started as soon as she stepped out of the door of Number 10. You can't accuse someone of being too frit to face the press if they faced the press 24 hours ago. A bit longer and you might have a point.
Rennie sensibly painting the LDs as the real pro EU party unlike the SNP which should help them win seats like Edinburgh West
You have to be a parody, nobody even if living down south can be that stupid unless it is Willie posting it himself.
Edinburgh is full of affluent and highly educated Remainers and also had a higher vote for the Union in 2014 than Scotland as a whole so it will help the LDs there
A target for the London Lib Dem Remain focused campaign to aim at.
Vauxhall was 80.7% Remain according to Hanretty. The LibDems start at 6.9%, 43% behind Ms Hoey.
Mind you, if* they could pick up half the Remain vote, they'd be in with a chance.
I'll offer you 10-1 if you want.
* You can't see it, but that's a very big if.
Can I have £50 on that?
You want £50 at 10-1 on the LibDem's winning Vauxhall?
Sure, I'll take your money.
You can put me down for £10 if you are opening a book?
You are also a wild optimist. I'll take your £10 too.
Can I have a tenner too if you're that confident?
Yes, of course.
Much obliged. I think you underestimate the anger against her in the constituency. Nigel Farage with a red rosette in London is not an attractive proposition.
Who was the last PM with a working majority who called a general election three years early ?
Well the circumstances are somewhat unique in respect of Brexit. The 1966 example is germane but is a majority of 4 working? A better example is 1923 where Baldwin called an election a year after the previous one whilst enjoying a majority of 70 odd. It didn't work out for him.
EU member states have tightened up their opening stance in Brexit talks, amending draft negotiating guidelines to make tougher demands regarding citizens’ rights and the role of European courts.
Small but significant revisions to the EU’s negotiating guidelines, seen by the Financial Times, show that the bloc’s member states are happy to take a harder line on some issues than its negotiators originally suggested.
Most notably, member states have challenged Britain’s requirement that EU migrants complete an 85-page form to prove that they are permanently resident in the UK.
The only PMs who haven't called early elections since 1964 are Gordon Brown and David Cameron (excluding Callaghan, who didn't exactly call the election).
Apart from the fact she did a radio interview with a BBC journalist yesterday.
Before the campaign started. And your point is?
The campaign started as soon as she stepped out of the door of Number 10. You can't accuse someone of being too frit to face the press if they faced the press 24 hours ago. A bit longer and you might have a point.
I think that May will stick as far as possible to staged events with a tame audience. It matches her control freakery and minimises the risk of an unexpected incident like Brown with "that bigoted woman" or Blair at the hospital.
No debates either, as she doesn't do empathy or oratry.
Asselineau is all the way into 150 to lay. I've taken most of the available profit, which is normally the cue for someone to pop up and explain why his price is going to plummet further...
Anecdote alert - found a person who likes Corbyn! He's different they say, he likes the talk of taking on the rigged system.
Another person voted Tory in a safe labour seat last time as they hate labour, but are thinking of LD this time, but are worried as they now reside in a Lab seat with Tories not far behind, and wouldn't want Lab to hold on to it.
By this I state definitively my prediction of Labour not being wiped out below 190-200 and Tories not going above a majority of 80 is assured.
Anecdote alert - found a person who likes Corbyn! He's different they say, he likes the talk of taking on the rigged system.
Another person voted Tory in a safe labour seat last time as they hate labour, but are thinking of LD this time, but are worried as they now reside in a Lab seat with Tories not far behind, and wouldn't want Lab to hold on to it.
By this I state definitively my prediction of Labour not being wiped out below 190-200 and Tories not going above a majority of 80 is assured.
My face-ache has been filling up with Corbyn is shit, but the Tories the Tories the Tories all morning.
I'm no fan of Mrs May but this is bollocks. Lots of PMs call early elections.
Maybe worth re-reading the article as it doesn't accuse Mrs May of being authoritarian BECAUSE she called an early election.The author actually makes the points I made on this forum earlier: Theresa May has authoritarian instincts, is intolerant of any opposition, sees checks and balances as destructive rather than necessary and deploys the same rhetoric as Erdogan and Orban. All which without stepping into the de facto dictatorship of the last two.
Who was the last PM with a working majority who called a general election three years early ?
Well the circumstances are somewhat unique in respect of Brexit. The 1966 example is germane but is a majority of 4 working? A better example is 1923 where Baldwin called an election a year after the previous one whilst enjoying a majority of 70 odd. It didn't work out for him.
How could I have forgotten Baldwin?
His result of 258 was highly embarrassing for him. It was the worst result the Unionists/Conservatives had between 1906 and 1945 indeed.
FYI - The PB Server will be down for a bit as I need to delete all those threads I wrote where I said an early election was impossible because of the FTPA.
FYI - The PB Server will be down for a bit as I need to delete all those threads I wrote where I said an early election was impossible because of the FTPA.
FYI - The PB Server will be down for a bit as I need to delete all those threads I wrote where I said an early election was impossible because of the FTPA.
You are Gareth Snell MP and I claim my £5.
Incidentally on these figures he will lose Stoke Central.
Who was the last PM with a working majority who called a general election three years early ?
Well the circumstances are somewhat unique in respect of Brexit. The 1966 example is germane but is a majority of 4 working? A better example is 1923 where Baldwin called an election a year after the previous one whilst enjoying a majority of 70 odd. It didn't work out for him.
How could I have forgotten Baldwin?
His result of 258 was highly embarrassing for him. It was the worst result the Unionists/Conservatives had between 1906 and 1945 indeed.
Though to be fair to Baldwin he won 470 Tory seats in 1931
Dear god, can you find anything more boring than the diahorrea emitted by that bloated Tory windbag loser
Malc - you know I am conservative with big family connections including SNP members in the North East of Scotland and I have had many an interesting debate over Independence over the last 5 decades. My late Father in law was a great socialist and fisherman but one of his best friends was his constituency conservative MP. (There were many in Scotland at one time). I think we would enjoy a robust discussion ourselves if we ever met. Add into the mix that I am half Welsh half English would help
Big G , Totally agree, I make generic statements re Tories but I know many are decent. I was specifically talking about Daisley, he is a whinging loser. Left STV because they asked him to do his job and not just print his biased opinions on SNP. Him and other Tory zealots like Carlotta try to portray this as SNP losing him his job. Actuality is he did it to get himself ingratiated in media down south, a cunning if boring single issue journalist. His articles are like Carlotta's posts , just the same single issue opinion every time , people get fed up with SNPBAD.
Who was the last PM with a working majority who called a general election three years early ?
Well the circumstances are somewhat unique in respect of Brexit. The 1966 example is germane but is a majority of 4 working? A better example is 1923 where Baldwin called an election a year after the previous one whilst enjoying a majority of 70 odd. It didn't work out for him.
How could I have forgotten Baldwin?
His result of 258 was highly embarrassing for him. It was the worst result the Unionists/Conservatives had between 1906 and 1945 indeed.
Though despite the defeat he stayed on and was back in no 10 fairly quickly.
Was Kinnock the last major party leader to not resign after defeat in a GE?
Who was the last PM with a working majority who called a general election three years early ?
Well the circumstances are somewhat unique in respect of Brexit. The 1966 example is germane but is a majority of 4 working? A better example is 1923 where Baldwin called an election a year after the previous one whilst enjoying a majority of 70 odd. It didn't work out for him.
How could I have forgotten Baldwin?
His result of 258 was highly embarrassing for him. It was the worst result the Unionists/Conservatives had between 1906 and 1945 indeed.
Indeed, followed by a majority of 209 the next year. 1920s elections were very swingy.
@EllieJPrice: MPs approve motion to allow Manchester Gorton by-election to be cancelled. So the good people of Gorton only have to go to the polls once.
There are only 40 seats where the LibDems are less than 20% behind the winners.
Looking only at Labour seats, there are a couple with very large Remain votes: Cambridge, Bermondsey & Old Southwark, Cardiff Central, Bristol West and Hornsey & Wood Green. Of those, if the LDs were to pick up three or four, that would be a pretty good performance.
Looking at Conservative seats, there are sizeable (i.e. above 55% Remain votes) in Twickenham, Kingston & Surbiton, Cheadle, Cheltenham, Oxford West & Abingdon and Bath... and... errr... that's about it*. The LibDems appear to be stronger in Leave voting Tory seats than Remain ones. That makes pickups from the Conservatives very tough.
So, let's assume that the LibDems win all the Labour Seats where there are big Remain votes and they're less than 20% behind. That's five pickups. .... [snip]
I think your logic is faulty here. If I've understood correctly, you're assuming that the LibDems won't win back any seats unless there was a higher-than average Remain vote. I don't think that's at all a valid assumption; the Remain/Leave factor is only one of the relevant considerations. For example, you mention Lewes but not Eastbourne. These are local to me, so I have a reasonable feel for them, and I reckon Eastbourne is probably the more vulnerable to a LibDem regain. Why? Because the 2015 baseline for Lewes was flattered by the huge personal vote for Norman Baker, who is not re-standing. In Eastbourne, in contrast, Stephen Lloyd is re-standing - and he'll be a formidable opponent for Caroline Ansell.
Yeah but a Blundell is standing in Lewes.
Never underestimate a Blundell
I'm local to both constituencies as well and I beg to disagree. I actually think Lewes is a highly likely gain for the Lib Dems, whereas Eastbourne will be much trickier. It's not about the remain/leave argument (although that plays out in this respect with Eastbourne being a leave constituency) but more a case of how the incumbent is seen. Caroline Ansell has had 5 minutes and there are many who will consider she should have longer to demonstrate her ability... although I hope they are wrong!
The SNP leader recently made a taxpayer-funded trip to the US. It was a lavish affair in which she posed with Hillary Clinton,spoke at the UN and Stanford and pressed all the right progressive buttons for a centre-left audience back home.
There were secret meetings that Sturgeon’s public relations handlers – paid for by the taxpayer – were less keen to publicise, however.
I understand that those meetings were with Blackrock, the finance giant which coincidentally pays George Osborne over £600,000 a year for one day’s work per week. She also held a meeting with the vice-chairman of Morgan Stanley, I’m told.
Now, of course she should meet senior financiers, and a trip with Scotland’s Aberdeen Asset Management was highlighted online at the time. What is intriguing is that these other Wall Street meetings with financial service companies were not. It is almost as though they don’t quite fit with Sturgeon’s progressive image aimed at her left of centre base in the West of Scotland.
The First Minister’s spokesman would not confirm or deny the meetings to place, saying only that there were meetings with “stakeholders” that were “not media-facing.” Not media-facing! What a euphemism.
A target for the London Lib Dem Remain focused campaign to aim at.
Vauxhall was 80.7% Remain according to Hanretty. The LibDems start at 6.9%, 43% behind Ms Hoey.
Mind you, if* they could pick up half the Remain vote, they'd be in with a chance.
I'll offer you 10-1 if you want.
* You can't see it, but that's a very big if.
Can I have £50 on that?
You want £50 at 10-1 on the LibDem's winning Vauxhall?
Sure, I'll take your money.
You can put me down for £10 if you are opening a book?
You are also a wild optimist. I'll take your £10 too.
Can I have a tenner too if you're that confident?
Yes, of course.
Much obliged. I think you underestimate the anger against her in the constituency. Nigel Farage with a red rosette in London is not an attractive proposition.
What's the right age to give a child his first mobile phone?
It won't be an iPhone/smartphone, just a basic phone with a sim only deal so he can call his Dad or his grandparents in emergencies.
Is 7 years old too soon?
It depends on how easy he can stay in contact otherwise. Check his mum is happy for him to have one. 7 is too young to deal with parents arguing over it.
What's the right age to give a child his first mobile phone?
It won't be an iPhone/smartphone, just a basic phone with a sim only deal so he can call his Dad or his grandparents in emergencies.
Is 7 years old too soon?
It depends on how easy he can stay in contact otherwise. Check his mum is happy for him to have one. 7 is too young to deal with parents arguing over it.
His Mum isn't in his life anymore. Lone parent here.
Dear god, can you find anything more boring than the diahorrea emitted by that bloated Tory windbag loser
Malc - you know I am conservative with big family connections including SNP members in the North East of Scotland and I have had many an interesting debate over Independence over the last 5 decades. My late Father in law was a great socialist and fisherman but one of his best friends was his constituency conservative MP. (There were many in Scotland at one time). I think we would enjoy a robust discussion ourselves if we ever met. Add into the mix that I am half Welsh half English would help
Big G , Totally agree, I make generic statements re Tories but I know many are decent. I was specifically talking about Daisley, he is a whinging loser. Left STV because they asked him to do his job and not just print his biased opinions on SNP. Him and other Tory zealots like Carlotta try to portray this as SNP losing him his job. Actuality is he did it to get himself ingratiated in media down south, a cunning if boring single issue journalist. His articles are like Carlotta's posts , just the same single issue opinion every time , people get fed up with SNPBAD.
I remember as a young teenager living in Berwick, in the early fifties, Wendy Wood (the modern day Nicola) regularly popping up in the early hours painting a white line across the middle of the road bridge indicating the Scottish border, which of course it would be if it didn't move north east just before Berwick. Berwick of course has changed hands thirteen times so the Independence debate has been known to me virtually all my 70 odd years
A target for the London Lib Dem Remain focused campaign to aim at.
Vauxhall was 80.7% Remain according to Hanretty. The LibDems start at 6.9%, 43% behind Ms Hoey.
Mind you, if* they could pick up half the Remain vote, they'd be in with a chance.
I'll offer you 10-1 if you want.
* You can't see it, but that's a very big if.
Can I have £50 on that?
You want £50 at 10-1 on the LibDem's winning Vauxhall?
Sure, I'll take your money.
You can put me down for £10 if you are opening a book?
You are also a wild optimist. I'll take your £10 too.
Can I have a tenner too if you're that confident?
Yes, of course.
Much obliged. I think you underestimate the anger against her in the constituency. Nigel Farage with a red rosette in London is not an attractive proposition.
What's the right age to give a child his first mobile phone?
It won't be an iPhone/smartphone, just a basic phone with a sim only deal so he can call his Dad or his grandparents in emergencies.
Is 7 years old too soon?
It depends on how easy he can stay in contact otherwise. Check his mum is happy for him to have one. 7 is too young to deal with parents arguing over it.
His Mum isn't in his life anymore. Lone parent here.
In that case fine. Giff gaff do good deals for light users.
Rennie sensibly painting the LDs as the real pro EU party unlike the SNP which should help them win seats like Edinburgh West
You have to be a parody, nobody even if living down south can be that stupid unless it is Willie posting it himself.
Edinburgh is full of affluent and highly educated Remainers and also had a higher vote for the Union in 2014 than Scotland as a whole so it will help the LDs there
I'm no fan of Mrs May but this is bollocks. Lots of PMs call early elections.
Maybe worth re-reading the article as it doesn't accuse Mrs May of being authoritarian BECAUSE she called an early election.The author actually makes the points I made on this forum earlier: Theresa May has authoritarian instincts, is intolerant of any opposition, sees checks and balances as destructive rather than necessary and deploys the same rhetoric as Erdogan and Orban. All which without stepping into the de facto dictatorship of the last two.
Genuine question: has there ever been a female dictator? (leaving out any royalty who may have exhibited similar behaviours to a dictator)
I'm local to both constituencies as well and I beg to disagree. I actually think Lewes is a highly likely gain for the Lib Dems, whereas Eastbourne will be much trickier. It's not about the remain/leave argument (although that plays out in this respect with Eastbourne being a leave constituency) but more a case of how the incumbent is seen. Caroline Ansell has had 5 minutes and there are many who will consider she should have longer to demonstrate her ability... although I hope they are wrong!
@EllieJPrice: MPs approve motion to allow Manchester Gorton by-election to be cancelled. So the good people of Gorton only have to go to the polls once.
Good for labour. They will win the seat now. No special attention on Galloway.
Who was the last PM with a working majority who called a general election three years early ?
Well the circumstances are somewhat unique in respect of Brexit. The 1966 example is germane but is a majority of 4 working? A better example is 1923 where Baldwin called an election a year after the previous one whilst enjoying a majority of 70 odd. It didn't work out for him.
How could I have forgotten Baldwin?
His result of 258 was highly embarrassing for him. It was the worst result the Unionists/Conservatives had between 1906 and 1945 indeed.
Though despite the defeat he stayed on and was back in no 10 fairly quickly.
Was Kinnock the last major party leader to not resign after defeat in a GE?
There was a move to oust him but it was hopelessly disorganised and fell apart quickly, largely because nobody could agree who out of four candidates - Balfour, Austen Chamberlain, Derby and Curzon - should take over. Such was their desperation they even talked of the Health Secretary, Joynson-Hicks as a possible replacement. Baldwin just ignored them.
However, helped by some very dodgy tactics over the Zinoviev letter he was back in twelve months at the head of the largest majority the Tories have ever won in their own strength (discounting 1918, 1931 and 1935 when they were technically part of a coalition).
Brown didn't resign instantly in 2010, of course, although following the Baldwin precedent of 1929 he should have done (and indeed, his own advice to Major in 1992).
If you count the referendum as an election defeat, surely Corbyn would be a current example?
... Most notably, member states have challenged Britain’s requirement that EU migrants complete an 85-page form to prove that they are permanently resident in the UK.
I can't believe that that is going to be an issue. Still, it's a nice one for us graciously to concede, if they are looking for a 'win'.
I'm local to both constituencies as well and I beg to disagree. I actually think Lewes is a highly likely gain for the Lib Dems, whereas Eastbourne will be much trickier. It's not about the remain/leave argument (although that plays out in this respect with Eastbourne being a leave constituency) but more a case of how the incumbent is seen. Caroline Ansell has had 5 minutes and there are many who will consider she should have longer to demonstrate her ability... although I hope they are wrong!
And Maria Caulfield has had how much longer?
Yes I see your point there. I still think that Lewes is much more likely as a LD gain than Eastbourne. Having said that, Stephen Lloyd is very popular and will put up a good fight. If the LD vote share is above, say, 18% then I think there are a lot of places like Eastbourne that will turn orange again.
As it stands, I'm not sure that's going to quite happen. However... this election is possibly a bit of an unknown. After all, who's to say that TM hasn't made a terrible error of judgement?
The narrative in the media seems to be that Corbyn has no hope of saving labour and it does seem, even at this early stage, it is all over. Are we now seeing labour's dive into irrelevance and what, if anything, can change the direction of travel to stop TM getting 80+ majority
The SNP leader recently made a taxpayer-funded trip to the US. It was a lavish affair in which she posed with Hillary Clinton,spoke at the UN and Stanford and pressed all the right progressive buttons for a centre-left audience back home.
There were secret meetings that Sturgeon’s public relations handlers – paid for by the taxpayer – were less keen to publicise, however.
I understand that those meetings were with Blackrock, the finance giant which coincidentally pays George Osborne over £600,000 a year for one day’s work per week. She also held a meeting with the vice-chairman of Morgan Stanley, I’m told.
Now, of course she should meet senior financiers, and a trip with Scotland’s Aberdeen Asset Management was highlighted online at the time. What is intriguing is that these other Wall Street meetings with financial service companies were not. It is almost as though they don’t quite fit with Sturgeon’s progressive image aimed at her left of centre base in the West of Scotland.
The First Minister’s spokesman would not confirm or deny the meetings to place, saying only that there were meetings with “stakeholders” that were “not media-facing.” Not media-facing! What a euphemism.
I'm no fan of Mrs May but this is bollocks. Lots of PMs call early elections.
Maybe worth re-reading the article as it doesn't accuse Mrs May of being authoritarian BECAUSE she called an early election.The author actually makes the points I made on this forum earlier: Theresa May has authoritarian instincts, is intolerant of any opposition, sees checks and balances as destructive rather than necessary and deploys the same rhetoric as Erdogan and Orban. All which without stepping into the de facto dictatorship of the last two.
Genuine question: has there ever been a female dictator? (leaving out any royalty who may have exhibited similar behaviours to a dictator)
Indira Ghandi in the Seventies "State of Emergency"?
The only PMs who haven't called early elections since 1964 are Gordon Brown and David Cameron (excluding Callaghan, who didn't exactly call the election).
John Major should be added to that list, shouldn't he? But on the whole your point stands, I think. Blair went early twice as did Thatcher and neither were under pressure to do so. Heath notoriously went early in 1974, as did Wilson in 1970 and Eden in 1955. So since the War governments with working majorities have mostly gone to the country after four years rather than running out their full term. Seeking a new mandate after just two years is unique but so are the circumstances we have at the moment.
A week or two back we had posters on here complaining that TM should seek election as PM because without winning an election she had no mandate to do anything. She is now seeking that mandate and now people are complaining about that.
A target for the London Lib Dem Remain focused campaign to aim at.
Vauxhall was 80.7% Remain according to Hanretty. The LibDems start at 6.9%, 43% behind Ms Hoey.
Mind you, if* they could pick up half the Remain vote, they'd be in with a chance.
I'll offer you 10-1 if you want.
* You can't see it, but that's a very big if.
Can I have £50 on that?
You want £50 at 10-1 on the LibDem's winning Vauxhall?
Sure, I'll take your money.
You can put me down for £10 if you are opening a book?
You are also a wild optimist. I'll take your £10 too.
Can I have a tenner too if you're that confident?
Yes, of course.
Much obliged. I think you underestimate the anger against her in the constituency. Nigel Farage with a red rosette in London is not an attractive proposition.
FYI - The PB Server will be down for a bit as I need to delete all those threads I wrote where I said an early election was impossible because of the FTPA.
Can't you just find replace to change them to say 'unlikely'?
Yes I see your point there. I still think that Lewes is much more likely as a LD gain than Eastbourne. Having said that, Stephen Lloyd is very popular and will put up a good fight. If the LD vote share is above, say, 18% then I think there are a lot of places like Eastbourne that will turn orange again.
As it stands, I'm not sure that's going to quite happen. However... this election is possibly a bit of an unknown. After all, who's to say that TM hasn't made a terrible error of judgement?
I think the degree to which the LibDems will recover is really hard to assess. Anything from winning back just a handful of seats to getting back to between 30 and 40 looks possible.
One reason why I'm (moderately) bullish on the LibDems is that I think that the national opinion polls may be underestimating their potential in seats where they can make themselves seem relevant (which obviously will include most seats they held until 2015). That's because I suspect that voters who don't pay much attention to politics aren't thinking of them when they answer the pollsters. We've seen that in Westminster and council by-elections the LibDems have done well, when they put in the effort to remind voters of their existence and viability. Can they do as well in a national campaign where they've got difficult targetting choices to make? Very hard to say.
Against Labour, however, I don't think there's any serious risk that the PM has made an error. The only question is how deep she'll advance into red territory.
The only PMs who haven't called early elections since 1964 are Gordon Brown and David Cameron (excluding Callaghan, who didn't exactly call the election).
John Major should be added to that list, shouldn't he? But on the whole your point stands, I think. Blair went early twice as did Thatcher and neither were under pressure to do so. Heath notoriously went early in 1974, as did Wilson in 1970 and Eden in 1955. So since the War governments with working majorities have mostly gone to the country after four years rather than running out their full term. Seeking a new mandate after just two years is unique but so are the circumstances we have at the moment.
A week or two back we had posters on here complaining that TM should seek election as PM because without winning an election she had no mandate to do anything. She is now seeking that mandate and now people are complaining about that.
I like that because 4 years is more common, people assume that doing is is not 'going early', when in fact it is.
It's an interesting issue. They mocked Ed M, then tried to make him seem scary, but that didn't work on its own as he was supposed to be a joke, according to Tory statements up to then. The SNP hand pulling his strings made him seem a it scarier. Corbyn? Well...
A target for the London Lib Dem Remain focused campaign to aim at.
Vauxhall was 80.7% Remain according to Hanretty. The LibDems start at 6.9%, 43% behind Ms Hoey.
Mind you, if* they could pick up half the Remain vote, they'd be in with a chance.
I'll offer you 10-1 if you want.
* You can't see it, but that's a very big if.
Can I have £50 on that?
You want £50 at 10-1 on the LibDem's winning Vauxhall?
Sure, I'll take your money.
You can put me down for £10 if you are opening a book?
You are also a wild optimist. I'll take your £10 too.
Can I have a tenner too if you're that confident?
Yes, of course.
Much obliged. I think you underestimate the anger against her in the constituency. Nigel Farage with a red rosette in London is not an attractive proposition.
Billy Bunter on Sky yesterday couldn't even get the sentence out without laughing when interviewing Labour MPs about the possibility of forming a government.
... Most notably, member states have challenged Britain’s requirement that EU migrants complete an 85-page form to prove that they are permanently resident in the UK.
I can't believe that that is going to be an issue. Still, it's a nice one for us graciously to concede, if they are looking for a 'win'.
It does seem rather over-engineered - I trust Rudd is working on something very much simpler
The only PMs who haven't called early elections since 1964 are Gordon Brown and David Cameron (excluding Callaghan, who didn't exactly call the election).
John Major should be added to that list, shouldn't he? But on the whole your point stands, I think. Blair went early twice as did Thatcher and neither were under pressure to do so. Heath notoriously went early in 1974, as did Wilson in 1970 and Eden in 1955. So since the War governments with working majorities have mostly gone to the country after four years rather than running out their full term. Seeking a new mandate after just two years is unique but so are the circumstances we have at the moment.
A week or two back we had posters on here complaining that TM should seek election as PM because without winning an election she had no mandate to do anything. She is now seeking that mandate and now people are complaining about that.
Personally, I like the FTPA. Why should any government have that advantage ? Other democratic governments don't.
The only PMs who haven't called early elections since 1964 are Gordon Brown and David Cameron (excluding Callaghan, who didn't exactly call the election).
John Major should be added to that list, shouldn't he?
Sad to see Douglas Carswell will not be standing again. Personally I think he has been one of the very best MPs in the last 20 years and has made a massive positive contribution to changing our country for the better by his campaigning over Brexit. A great loss to Parliament and the country.
Comments
Lies are tripping of the PM's lips with more regularity than is usual for a politician of average mendacity.
https://twitter.com/katehoeymp/status/726782473330249728
Small but significant revisions to the EU’s negotiating guidelines, seen by the Financial Times, show that the bloc’s member states are happy to take a harder line on some issues than its negotiators originally suggested.
Most notably, member states have challenged Britain’s requirement that EU migrants complete an 85-page form to prove that they are permanently resident in the UK.
https://www.ft.com/content/13845908-25ad-11e7-8691-d5f7e0cd0a16
No debates either, as she doesn't do empathy or oratry.
May's excuse is that she has opposition in parliament. Hhmmmm .....
Another person voted Tory in a safe labour seat last time as they hate labour, but are thinking of LD this time, but are worried as they now reside in a Lab seat with Tories not far behind, and wouldn't want Lab to hold on to it.
By this I state definitively my prediction of Labour not being wiped out below 190-200 and Tories not going above a majority of 80 is assured.
https://twitter.com/undefined/status/854731569860403200
His result of 258 was highly embarrassing for him. It was the worst result the Unionists/Conservatives had between 1906 and 1945 indeed.
Incidentally on these figures he will lose Stoke Central.
Macron clearly isn't fretting in advance of polling day.
What's the right age to give a child his first mobile phone?
It won't be an iPhone/smartphone, just a basic phone with a sim only deal so he can call his Dad or his grandparents in emergencies.
Is 7 years old too soon?
Was Kinnock the last major party leader to not resign after defeat in a GE?
Why not Jollies for Nicola?
Probably the correct answer is when all his friends get phones. Too early and it's pointless; too late and the child becomes isolated.
https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/politics/market/1.131100390
No brainer IMO.
(leaving out any royalty who may have exhibited similar behaviours to a dictator)
However, helped by some very dodgy tactics over the Zinoviev letter he was back in twelve months at the head of the largest majority the Tories have ever won in their own strength (discounting 1918, 1931 and 1935 when they were technically part of a coalition).
Brown didn't resign instantly in 2010, of course, although following the Baldwin precedent of 1929 he should have done (and indeed, his own advice to Major in 1992).
If you count the referendum as an election defeat, surely Corbyn would be a current example?
He's happy with his iPad.
https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn4pm/status/855039598182801408
As it stands, I'm not sure that's going to quite happen. However... this election is possibly a bit of an unknown. After all, who's to say that TM hasn't made a terrible error of judgement?
And we thought the edstone was off the wall.
[or does that comment explain why my wife laughs when I dance?]
EDIT: If ever a meme was waiting to be born...
It takes around 3 months for a Labour leadership election, so his exit could be in time for the Labour conference, So Q3 is the best option
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQRIOKvR2WM
Apparently called "dabbing" by da yoof http://metro.co.uk/2017/02/23/what-is-dabbing-and-where-did-it-come-from-where-did-tom-watson-learn-the-move-6467450/
A week or two back we had posters on here complaining that TM should seek election as PM because without winning an election she had no mandate to do anything. She is now seeking that mandate and now people are complaining about that.
One reason why I'm (moderately) bullish on the LibDems is that I think that the national opinion polls may be underestimating their potential in seats where they can make themselves seem relevant (which obviously will include most seats they held until 2015). That's because I suspect that voters who don't pay much attention to politics aren't thinking of them when they answer the pollsters. We've seen that in Westminster and council by-elections the LibDems have done well, when they put in the effort to remind voters of their existence and viability. Can they do as well in a national campaign where they've got difficult targetting choices to make? Very hard to say.
Against Labour, however, I don't think there's any serious risk that the PM has made an error. The only question is how deep she'll advance into red territory.
And it's only day 2!