You can't sell 15 years of austerity when you'd promised 5 You can't sell 20,000 police cuts when we are under seige You can't sell public sector pay freezes when you trouser thousands and thousands You can't sell mums house after her ten year battle with dementia You can't sell hard Brexit to your core remainers You can't demonise a man for his associations in the past when you suck up to and arm ISIS sponsoring Saudis. You can't do public service on the cheap. You can't call the citizens of your capital citizens of nowhere. You can't punch your most loyal support group in the face and expect them to love you
I think the constant availability of money for vanity projects was damaging.
Leaders are meant to lead by example yet Cameron and Osborne and now May would never let their own pet projects go unfunded.
The key I think is 15 years austerity when you promised 5. Why would anyone be happy about that? Or even understanding? We took the pain and you failed and now we get more pain? Yeah, no thanks
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
They are the racist uncle who hates poofs that ruins Christmas for you every year
As opposed to the antisemites, Hococaust deniers with 'friends' who hang gays sat across the floor of the Commons wearing red rosettes?
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
Going in with the DUP wipes out a lot of hard work moving the Tory image forwards out of the 1970's, it also leaves with beholden to a minority interest party. They should have just publicly offered the keys to Corbyn etc, binned May and consolidated their very high vote count and share. Now they are wobbling along, wounded and aimless.
Strategically they should go into opposition to the rainbow. They aren't that clever.
They want to hold onto power even though they are a vacuum of ideas currently.
Which will cost them heavily and not even in the medium term. They are trapped and on a hiding to nothing. There is no way they can make this situation work. It's amusing.
I wonder if fox hunting will make it to the queens speech...titter.....
Seriously the queens speech will have the vision of a dead parrot, inspire as much as a dead parrot, and be as useful as a dead parrot....
May has Brexit and sod all else and she's screwed that one up....I almost feel sorry for her...
None of the granny punching policies, no fox hunting, no energy cap. QS = my government will exit the EU.
The amount of derision being heaped on millennial virtue signalling Twitter users seems pretty rum given they just turned out and handed the kind of people who sneer at them a shellacing
Maybe less sneering and more listening is required.
This is incredible! I was talking with a mate earlier, who isn't really a political buff, and he was saying "Why is Corbyn giving it the big one? He lost! If Donald Trump phones up and asks to speak to the Prime Minister he gets Theresa May!!"
A shellacking when you don't win is a new one on me! And I reckon the first time voters who celebrated last night will wake up tmrw thinking "Hang on.. Corbyn isn't PM...."
Obviously this has been a very bad result for May and the Tories. But I think us political obsessives shouldn't assume that the general public will appreciate the nuance of what's happened. My mum was perplexed at why Jezza was so happy. I notice too that the Prince of Darkness wasn't exactly glowing in his assessment of Labour's position.
We are more or less where we were in 2010 except the Lib Dems wont prop the Tories up now
As I said earlier, I don't understand why Tezzie didn't ask the LibDems for a deal before lining up with the bowler hats.
To many Tories, myself included, last night felt like a landslide defeat where we remain in office.
But May specifically called the election asking the electorate to increase her majority. The electorate said no to what she asked for, therefore she lost.
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
They are the racist uncle who hates poofs that ruins Christmas for you every year
As opposed to the antisemites, Hococaust deniers with 'friends' who hang gays sat across the floor of the Commons wearing red rosettes?
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
There's filth on both sides of the spectrum. Twas ever thus. Doesn't mean you encourage them.
If I were a Tory strategist, I'd first be trying to figure out what my core vote actually is. As far as I can tell, it consists of the selfish, the scared, and the pigshit stupid. The selfish are the natural constituency, while the scared and the pigshit stupid are brainwashable with pictures of dustbins and Muslims. It seems that doesn't get me a Commons majority these days. Worse still, these people are a fading electoral force, replaced by youngsters who, through the expansion of higher education and the Internet, are better informed than ever before. And these clever buggers are seeing through my government-is-the-problem free-market capitalist ideology, presumably because they have seen the compliant generation above them duped into donating their birthright to the landlords and bankers.
So it looks my party has become seriously toxic again. Where do I go from here?
They need to bin grammars and free school expansion, channel the money into the mainstream schools. Look at a bursary for nurses and midwives again, look at a bursary for uni students on low income to encourage the attainment gap to close.
The amount of derision being heaped on millennial virtue signalling Twitter users seems pretty rum given they just turned out and handed the kind of people who sneer at them a shellacing
Maybe less sneering and more listening is required.
This is incredible! I was talking with a mate earlier, who isn't really a political buff, and he was saying "Why is Corbyn giving it the big one? He lost! If Donald Trump phones up and asks to speak to the Prime Minister he gets Theresa May!!"
A shellacking when you don't win is a new one on me! And I reckon the first time voters who celebrated last night will wake up tmrw thinking "Hang on.. Corbyn isn't PM...."
Obviously this has been a very bad result for May and the Tories. But I think us political obsessives shouldn't assume that the general public will appreciate the nuance of what's happened. My mum was perplexed at why Jezza was so happy. I notice too that the Prince of Darkness wasn't exactly glowing in his assessment of Labour's position.
We are more or less where we were in 2010 except the Lib Dems wont prop the Tories up now
As I said earlier, I don't understand why Tezzie didn't ask the LibDems for a deal before lining up with the bowler hats.
1. Farron ruled out doing any deal.
2. The DUP are pretty like-minded with May on Brexit, whereas the Lib Dems are not. A deal with the DUP is May's best hope of retaining sole control over the Brexit negotiations, rather than opening up the process to parties that she would have to compromise with.
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
They are the racist uncle who hates poofs that ruins Christmas for you every year
As opposed to the antisemites, Hococaust deniers with 'friends' who hang gays sat across the floor of the Commons wearing red rosettes?
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
The DUP are cute hoors, who'll sell their votes to the Tories. They're not going to ban Christmas and maypoles.
I make it she was 39 votes switching or 69 absolute short of a technical majority with Sinn Fein sitting out. Perth, Dudley North and Newcastle Under Lyme
And Crewe lost by 49, Kensington lost by 30 if reports are right. Another 200 votes their way would have got to 326
1000 switchers would have got her a Cameron majority. 1500 switchers a 20 seat cushion
But to achieve 1,000 switchers in key seats you have to persuade 1,000,000 switchers nationally.
It was an unspeakable blunder to imagine that a general election could be fought solely on the issue of Brexit. We already had a referendum on that, less than a year ago. Believe it or not, people have bigger worries in their lives.
How are you feeling about Brexit at the moment? Is there a concern you'll have to get back to organising work with UKIP again in case Parliament ends up with us revoking Article 50? Or is that route dead now, even if Farage does make yet another comeback?
(Also, with a second referendum under discussion, are any of the Vote Leave crew putting out feelers to start preparing, just in case?)
The amount of derision being heaped on millennial virtue signalling Twitter users seems pretty rum given they just turned out and handed the kind of people who sneer at them a shellacing
Maybe less sneering and more listening is required.
This is incredible! I was talking with a mate earlier, who isn't really a political buff, and he was saying "Why is Corbyn giving it the big one? He lost! If Donald Trump phones up and asks to speak to the Prime Minister he gets Theresa May!!"
A shellacking when you don't win is a new one on me! And I reckon the first time voters who celebrated last night will wake up tmrw thinking "Hang on.. Corbyn isn't PM...."
Obviously this has been a very bad result for May and the Tories. But I think us political obsessives shouldn't assume that the general public will appreciate the nuance of what's happened. My mum was perplexed at why Jezza was so happy. I notice too that the Prince of Darkness wasn't exactly glowing in his assessment of Labour's position.
We are more or less where we were in 2010 except the Lib Dems wont prop the Tories up now
As I said earlier, I don't understand why Tezzie didn't ask the LibDems for a deal before lining up with the bowler hats.
What Conservatives should understand the number of Uni students has increased exponentially over the last decade, and the Tory government has actually sped up that increase because tuition fees has led to more places.
The amount of derision being heaped on millennial virtue signalling Twitter users seems pretty rum given they just turned out and handed the kind of people who sneer at them a shellacing
Maybe less sneering and more listening is required.
This is incredible! I was talking with a mate earlier, who isn't really a political buff, and he was saying "Why is Corbyn giving it the big one? He lost! If Donald Trump phones up and asks to speak to the Prime Minister he gets Theresa May!!"
A shellacking when you don't win is a new one on me! And I reckon the first time voters who celebrated last night will wake up tmrw thinking "Hang on.. Corbyn isn't PM...."
To many Tories, myself included, last night felt like a landslide defeat where we remain in office.
Its the underachievement caused by incompetence.
And it came as a shock - all those experts with their 100 majority predictions.
Does anyone know why Sporting STILL haven't settled their GE Seats and Turnout % spread betting markets? Is it perhaps because one of the more remote Scottish Highland & Island constituencies has yet to finalise its numbers?
How are you feeling about Brexit at the moment? Is there a concern you'll have to get back to organising work with UKIP again in case Parliament ends up with us revoking Article 50? Or is that route dead now, even if Farage does make yet another comeback?
(Also, with a second referendum under discussion, are any of the Vote Leave crew putting out feelers to start preparing, just in case?)
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
They are the racist uncle who hates poofs that ruins Christmas for you every year
As opposed to the antisemites, Hococaust deniers with 'friends' who hang gays sat across the floor of the Commons wearing red rosettes?
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
The DUP are cute hoors, who'll sell their votes to the Tories. They're not going to ban Christmas and maypoles.
The stank of their homophobia and religious backwardness will be hard to wash off.
Does anyone know why Sporting STILL haven't settled their GE Seats and Turnout % spread betting markets? Is it perhaps because one of the more remote Scottish Highland & Island constituencies has yet to finalise its numbers?
It was an unspeakable blunder to imagine that a general election could be fought solely on the issue of Brexit. We already had a referendum on that, less than a year ago. Believe it or not, people have bigger worries in their lives.
Actually, fighting the election purely on Brexit would probably have lead to a Con majority...
The real mistake, as discussed at length on here, was veering off in all directions like threatening to take away the WFA and stealing people's homes when they get ill...
So it looks my party has become seriously toxic again. Where do I go from here?
Opposition... And wait for Jezza to bankrupt the country and the lights to go out (literally) which he will in fairly quick order...
He has promised sweeties for all, and has to deliver. He really has to. I've seen some of my friends and their evangelical attitude towards his cause, one misstep and they will fall apart like a cheap suit.
If I were a Tory strategist, I'd first be trying to figure out what my core vote actually is. As far as I can tell, it consists of the selfish, the scared, and the pigshit stupid. The selfish are the natural constituency, while the scared and the pigshit stupid are brainwashable with pictures of dustbins and Muslims. It seems that doesn't get me a Commons majority these days. Worse still, these people are a fading electoral force, replaced by youngsters who, through the expansion of higher education and the Internet, are better informed than ever before. And these clever buggers are seeing through my government-is-the-problem free-market capitalist ideology, presumably because they have seen the compliant generation above them duped into donating their birthright to the landlords and bankers.
So it looks my party has become seriously toxic again. Where do I go from here?
Those 'clever buggers' have been getting themselves into £50k of debt for often near worthless degrees.
Does anyone know why Sporting STILL haven't settled their GE Seats and Turnout % spread betting markets? Is it perhaps because one of the more remote Scottish Highland & Island constituencies has yet to finalise its numbers?
Kensington is the last seat to declare, they're still counting after they sent everyone home for a rest earlier. Declaration should be in the next hour or two, it's allegedly down to a handful of votes between Con and Lab.
What Conservatives should understand the number of Uni students has increased exponentially over the last decade, and the Tory government has actually sped up that increase because tuition fees has led to more places.
How are you feeling about Brexit at the moment? Is there a concern you'll have to get back to organising work with UKIP again in case Parliament ends up with us revoking Article 50? Or is that route dead now, even if Farage does make yet another comeback?
(Also, with a second referendum under discussion, are any of the Vote Leave crew putting out feelers to start preparing, just in case?)
At the moment, I just don't know.
Thanks. I owe a lot to folk like you. Hope if it comes to the worst, you're up for it all over again.
So it looks my party has become seriously toxic again. Where do I go from here?
Opposition... And wait for Jezza to bankrupt the country and the lights to go out (literally) which he will in fairly quick order...
He has promised sweeties for all, and has to deliver. He really has to. I've seen some of my friends and their evangelical attitude towards his cause, one misstep and they will fall apart like a cheap suit.
Indeed. There is a "cult-like" persona building up around Jezza. The only way your going to burst that is to let him get power and watch him destroy the country (sadly)
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
They are the racist uncle who hates poofs that ruins Christmas for you every year
As opposed to the antisemites, Hococaust deniers with 'friends' who hang gays sat across the floor of the Commons wearing red rosettes?
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
The DUP are cute hoors, who'll sell their votes to the Tories. They're not going to ban Christmas and maypoles.
The stank of their homophobia and religious backwardness will be hard to wash off.
The DUP have just won a stonking victory in Northern Ireland. They're fully entitled to participate in our political life. Northern Ireland is simply a much more religious place than most of the rest of the UK. but, they're realists. They're not going to impose hardline Protestantism on the rest of us.
The amount of derision being heaped on millennial virtue signalling Twitter users seems pretty rum given they just turned out and handed the kind of people who sneer at them a shellacing
Maybe less sneering and more listening is required.
This is incredible! I was talking with a mate earlier, who isn't really a political buff, and he was saying "Why is Corbyn giving it the big one? He lost! If Donald Trump phones up and asks to speak to the Prime Minister he gets Theresa May!!"
A shellacking when you don't win is a new one on me! And I reckon the first time voters who celebrated last night will wake up tmrw thinking "Hang on.. Corbyn isn't PM...."
Obviously this has been a very bad result for May and the Tories. But I think us political obsessives shouldn't assume that the general public will appreciate the nuance of what's happened. My mum was perplexed at why Jezza was so happy. I notice too that the Prince of Darkness wasn't exactly glowing in his assessment of Labour's position.
We are more or less where we were in 2010 except the Lib Dems wont prop the Tories up now
It was an unspeakable blunder to imagine that a general election could be fought solely on the issue of Brexit. We already had a referendum on that, less than a year ago. Believe it or not, people have bigger worries in their lives.
Was it fought on Brexit. Did May lay out her detailed Brexit plan which we could judge? I must have missed that.
The campaign was fought on the basis of May not being Corbyn. Hilary showed the folly of that approach last year.
What Conservatives should understand the number of Uni students has increased exponentially over the last decade, and the Tory government has actually sped up that increase because tuition fees has led to more places.
Indeed.
Higher education is growing like a pyramid scheme.
It was an unspeakable blunder to imagine that a general election could be fought solely on the issue of Brexit. We already had a referendum on that, less than a year ago. Believe it or not, people have bigger worries in their lives.
Actually, fighting the election purely on Brexit would probably have lead to a Con majority...
The real mistake, as discussed at length on here, was veering off in all directions like threatening to take away the WFA and stealing people's homes when they get ill...
My point is that the former is impossible. The Tories imagined it was possible.
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
They are the racist uncle who hates poofs that ruins Christmas for you every year
As opposed to the antisemites, Hococaust deniers with 'friends' who hang gays sat across the floor of the Commons wearing red rosettes?
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
The DUP are cute hoors, who'll sell their votes to the Tories. They're not going to ban Christmas and maypoles.
The stank of their homophobia and religious backwardness will be hard to wash off.
The DUP have just won a stonking victory in Northern Ireland. They're fully entitled to participate in our political life. Northern Ireland is simply a much more religious place than most of the rest of the UK. but, they're realists. They're not going to impose hardline Protestantism on the rest of us.
I hope Alan Duncan has the common decency to mince about them in the House at every opportunity.
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
I think you're right. From the politician who made her reputation by correctly identifying her own party as 'the nasty party' hitching her wagon to the most reactionary unpleasant party in the UK is a ridiculously short sighted decision
It was an unspeakable blunder to imagine that a general election could be fought solely on the issue of Brexit. We already had a referendum on that, less than a year ago. Believe it or not, people have bigger worries in their lives.
Actually, fighting the election purely on Brexit would probably have lead to a Con majority...
The real mistake, as discussed at length on here, was veering off in all directions like threatening to take away the WFA and stealing people's homes when they get ill...
My point is that the former is impossible. The Tories imagined it was possible.
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
They are the racist uncle who hates poofs that ruins Christmas for you every year
As opposed to the antisemites, Hococaust deniers with 'friends' who hang gays sat across the floor of the Commons wearing red rosettes?
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
The DUP are cute hoors, who'll sell their votes to the Tories. They're not going to ban Christmas and maypoles.
Indeed. They're also on the same page as the Tories wrt Brexit. They'll probably do a deal around some infrastructure spending and the DUP manifesto promise of a 'free zone' in NI with corp tax the same as in the Republic.
The amount of derision being heaped on millennial virtue signalling Twitter users seems pretty rum given they just turned out and handed the kind of people who sneer at them a shellacing
Maybe less sneering and more listening is required.
This is incredible! I was talking with a mate earlier, who isn't really a political buff, and he was saying "Why is Corbyn giving it the big one? He lost! If Donald Trump phones up and asks to speak to the Prime Minister he gets Theresa May!!"
A shellacking when you don't win is a new one on me! And I reckon the first time voters who celebrated last night will wake up tmrw thinking "Hang on.. Corbyn isn't PM...."
Obviously this has been a very bad result for May and the Tories. But I think us political obsessives shouldn't assume that the general public will appreciate the nuance of what's happened. My mum was perplexed at why Jezza was so happy. I notice too that the Prince of Darkness wasn't exactly glowing in his assessment of Labour's position.
We are more or less where we were in 2010 except the Lib Dems wont prop the Tories up now
As I said earlier, I don't understand why Tezzie didn't ask the LibDems for a deal before lining up with the bowler hats.
LibDems would've wanted a 2nd ref !
Well that would have been their negotiating position. A guarantee of a softer Brexit, with Nick Clegg appointed to the negotiating team would have been enough.
It was an unspeakable blunder to imagine that a general election could be fought solely on the issue of Brexit. We already had a referendum on that, less than a year ago. Believe it or not, people have bigger worries in their lives.
Actually, fighting the election purely on Brexit would probably have lead to a Con majority...
The real mistake, as discussed at length on here, was veering off in all directions like threatening to take away the WFA and stealing people's homes when they get ill...
Although they surely didn't do the pre-testing they needed to on this (feedback from political consultants, experienced campaigners, focus groups... any of that would have told them they needed a re-write and re-plan) I wonder whether they only took the risk on this because they were looking at the polls and thought they were so comfortably ahead they could afford to drop a few points (and hence seats) to give themselves an easier ride getting stuff through the next parliament. Would love to know what the mechanics were of the decision to undertake the election and come to the strategy and manifesto that they did. If only so future politicians can avoid it, please!
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
They are the racist uncle who hates poofs that ruins Christmas for you every year
As opposed to the antisemites, Hococaust deniers with 'friends' who hang gays sat across the floor of the Commons wearing red rosettes?
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
The DUP are cute hoors, who'll sell their votes to the Tories. They're not going to ban Christmas and maypoles.
The DUP will do or say something repulsive, the PM will be asked I they condone the statement or action. The PM will prevaricate, it will be all over the news as the PM relies on them to pass a vote. Repeat ad infinitum.
It was an unspeakable blunder to imagine that a general election could be fought solely on the issue of Brexit. We already had a referendum on that, less than a year ago. Believe it or not, people have bigger worries in their lives.
Actually, fighting the election purely on Brexit would probably have lead to a Con majority...
The real mistake, as discussed at length on here, was veering off in all directions like threatening to take away the WFA and stealing people's homes when they get ill...
My point is that the former is impossible. The Tories imagined it was possible.
Maybe but things seemed to go fine for the Tories until they launched that bloody manifesto.
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
They are the racist uncle who hates poofs that ruins Christmas for you every year
As opposed to the antisemites, Hococaust deniers with 'friends' who hang gays sat across the floor of the Commons wearing red rosettes?
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
The DUP are cute hoors, who'll sell their votes to the Tories. They're not going to ban Christmas and maypoles.
The stank of their homophobia and religious backwardness will be hard to wash off.
The DUP have just won a stonking victory in Northern Ireland. They're fully entitled to participate in our political life. Northern Ireland is simply a much more religious place than most of the rest of the UK. but, they're realists. They're not going to impose hardline Protestantism on the rest of us.
I hope Alan Duncan has the common decency to mince about them in the House at every opportunity.
To be honest, if that's not a wind up, that's actually an easy thing to agree to (even if it's dumb). I think the DUP should probably look to extract something a bit more substantial.
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
They are the racist uncle who hates poofs that ruins Christmas for you every year
As opposed to the antisemites, Hococaust deniers with 'friends' who hang gays sat across the floor of the Commons wearing red rosettes?
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
The DUP are cute hoors, who'll sell their votes to the Tories. They're not going to ban Christmas and maypoles.
The stank of their homophobia and religious backwardness will be hard to wash off.
The DUP have just won a stonking victory in Northern Ireland. They're fully entitled to participate in our political life. Northern Ireland is simply a much more religious place than most of the rest of the UK. but, they're realists. They're not going to impose hardline Protestantism on the rest of us.
A lot of people are going to learn for the first time that young women are being prosecuted by the state for having abortions NI.
I'm waiting for the first question to May on it.
NI has been out of site and out of mind for 20 years - not anymore.
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
They are the racist uncle who hates poofs that ruins Christmas for you every year
As opposed to the antisemites, Hococaust deniers with 'friends' who hang gays sat across the floor of the Commons wearing red rosettes?
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
The DUP are cute hoors, who'll sell their votes to the Tories. They're not going to ban Christmas and maypoles.
The stank of their homophobia and religious backwardness will be hard to wash off.
The DUP have just won a stonking victory in Northern Ireland. They're fully entitled to participate in our political life. Northern Ireland is simply a much more religious place than most of the rest of the UK. but, they're realists. They're not going to impose hardline Protestantism on the rest of us.
I hope Alan Duncan has the common decency to mince about them in the House at every opportunity.
Does Alan Duncan "mince."
Obviously not, he's a very erudite gay man, I was being facetious
Going in with the DUP wipes out a lot of hard work moving the Tory image forwards out of the 1970's, it also leaves with beholden to a minority interest party. They should have just publicly offered the keys to Corbyn etc, binned May and consolidated their very high vote count and share. Now they are wobbling along, wounded and aimless.
Strategically they should go into opposition to the rainbow. They aren't that clever.
They want to hold onto power even though they are a vacuum of ideas currently.
Which will cost them heavily and not even in the medium term. They are trapped and on a hiding to nothing. There is no way they can make this situation work. It's amusing.
I wonder if fox hunting will make it to the queens speech...titter.....
Seriously the queens speech will have the vision of a dead parrot, inspire as much as a dead parrot, and be as useful as a dead parrot....
May has Brexit and sod all else and she's screwed that one up....I almost feel sorry for her...
None of the granny punching policies, no fox hunting, no energy cap. QS = my government will exit the EU.
Unfortunately she will almost certainly include measures limiting civil liberties under the guise of fighting terrorism and even more unfortunately most of the House will support it for fear of being declared soft on terrorism.
It was an unspeakable blunder to imagine that a general election could be fought solely on the issue of Brexit. We already had a referendum on that, less than a year ago. Believe it or not, people have bigger worries in their lives.
Actually, fighting the election purely on Brexit would probably have lead to a Con majority...
The real mistake, as discussed at length on here, was veering off in all directions like threatening to take away the WFA and stealing people's homes when they get ill...
Although they surely didn't do the pre-testing they needed to on this (feedback from political consultants, experienced campaigners, focus groups... any of that would have told them they needed a re-write and re-plan) I wonder whether they only took the risk on this because they were looking at the polls and thought they were so comfortably ahead they could afford to drop a few points (and hence seats) to give themselves an easier ride getting stuff through the next parliament. Would love to know what the mechanics were of the decision to undertake the election and come to the strategy and manifesto that they did. If only so future politicians can avoid it, please!
The books to be written on events the last couple of months are going to be absolutely fascinating to read, no matter what your political affiliation.
To be honest, if that's not a wind up, that's actually an easy thing to agree to (even if it's dumb). I think the DUP should probably look to extract something a bit more substantial.
Aye, I know! I'm just suggesting this may be the first thing on a longish list, and afore ye know it the frog's boiled.
It was an unspeakable blunder to imagine that a general election could be fought solely on the issue of Brexit. We already had a referendum on that, less than a year ago. Believe it or not, people have bigger worries in their lives.
Actually, fighting the election purely on Brexit would probably have lead to a Con majority...
The real mistake, as discussed at length on here, was veering off in all directions like threatening to take away the WFA and stealing people's homes when they get ill...
My point is that the former is impossible. The Tories imagined it was possible.
Maybe but things seemed to go fine for the Tories until they launched that bloody manifesto.
Exactly. Because you can't avoid the wider business of government in a general election. And what a manifesto it was, written for a Brexit-only election. No detail, no costings, nothing. Just a stuck record bleating on about a strong and stable mandate for Brexit with negotiations starting in 11 days time.
Truthfully, I can't think of any unpleasant groups who he's been associating with since becoming leader, let alone urging them to join a potenil Government. Who did you have in mind?
"STW - though I think he resigned from them when he became leader. They are an unpleasant group and I have noted on this board my objections to their stance, shared by Corbyn in relation to, for instance, the IS genocide of the Yazidis.
Paul Eisner. Raed Salah. The Holocaust denying Palestinian group he travelled with to see President Assad. Not nice people. And not 40 years ago either.
At best he is naive. Or just turns a blind eye. Or adopts a "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" approach.
But, really, Nick: are you really happy that your leader has no qualms about associating with people who are Holocaust deniers? Does it not give you the slightest pang? Not even the slightest uncomfortable feeling?
This is the Labour party, for God's sake, of whom one of your former leaders said: "The party is a moral crusade or it is nothing."
What is moral about associating with Holocaust deniers? If even the most junior Tory MP did that the shrieks of outrage from the Left would be heard from here to the moon. Why is it OK for your leader?
For the record I did not say he was inviting them to government."
To be honest, if that's not a wind up, that's actually an easy thing to agree to (even if it's dumb). I think the DUP should probably look to extract something a bit more substantial.
Aye, I know! I'm just suggesting this may be the first thing on a longish list, and afore ye know it the frog's boiled.
July 12th to be a National Holiday!!! (The only reason I would support that is that it is my birthday)
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
They are the racist uncle who hates poofs that ruins Christmas for you every year
As opposed to the antisemites, Hococaust deniers with 'friends' who hang gays sat across the floor of the Commons wearing red rosettes?
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
The DUP are cute hoors, who'll sell their votes to the Tories. They're not going to ban Christmas and maypoles.
The stank of their homophobia and religious backwardness will be hard to wash off.
The DUP have just won a stonking victory in Northern Ireland. They're fully entitled to participate in our political life. Northern Ireland is simply a much more religious place than most of the rest of the UK. but, they're realists. They're not going to impose hardline Protestantism on the rest of us.
A lot of people are going to learn for the first time that young women are being prosecuted by the state for having abortions NI.
I'm waiting for the first question to May on it.
NI has been out of site and out of mind for 20 years - not anymore.
Most Northern Irish politicians are hostile to abortion. It's a devolved matter.
The idea of a Tory government in hock to the DUP, of all parties, is really quite gut-wrenching.
May has to go. She gambled. She lost. Someone else needs to step up to the plate and try and get as large a cross-party consensus on Brexit as is possible.
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
They are the racist uncle who hates poofs that ruins Christmas for you every year
As opposed to the antisemites, Hococaust deniers with 'friends' who hang gays sat across the floor of the Commons wearing red rosettes?
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
The DUP are cute hoors, who'll sell their votes to the Tories. They're not going to ban Christmas and maypoles.
The stank of their homophobia and religious backwardness will be hard to wash off.
The DUP have just won a stonking victory in Northern Ireland. They're fully entitled to participate in our political life. Northern Ireland is simply a much more religious place than most of the rest of the UK. but, they're realists. They're not going to impose hardline Protestantism on the rest of us.
No they won't, but half of what they say and believe in will spook the horses in the UK.
Basic strategic errors from the blues included waiting for Corbyn to implode thereby giving him blanket coverage, failing to attack the costed manifesto and allowing labour to have 'costed' accepted as fact (not getting into the accuracy of that here). Offering nothing to vote for. Having someone wooden campaign as 'not him' when he comes across as engaging
Going in with the DUP wipes out a lot of hard work moving the Tory image forwards out of the 1970's, it also leaves with beholden to a minority interest party. They should have just publicly offered the keys to Corbyn etc, binned May and consolidated their very high vote count and share. Now they are wobbling along, wounded and aimless.
Strategically they should go into opposition to the rainbow. They aren't that clever.
They want to hold onto power even though they are a vacuum of ideas currently.
Which will cost them heavily and not even in the medium term. They are trapped and on a hiding to nothing. There is no way they can make this situation work. It's amusing.
I wonder if fox hunting will make it to the queens speech...titter.....
Seriously the queens speech will have the vision of a dead parrot, inspire as much as a dead parrot, and be as useful as a dead parrot....
May has Brexit and sod all else and she's screwed that one up....I almost feel sorry for her...
None of the granny punching policies, no fox hunting, no energy cap. QS = my government will exit the EU.
Unfortunately she will almost certainly include measures limiting civil liberties under the guise of fighting terrorism and even more unfortunately most of the House will support it for fear of being declared soft on terrorism.
She's going to have to walk a very thin line with that. Deporting foreigners is fine, but anything that looks like internment, ID cards or changing the burden of proof is going to find more than a handful of rebels.
To be honest, if that's not a wind up, that's actually an easy thing to agree to (even if it's dumb). I think the DUP should probably look to extract something a bit more substantial.
Aye, I know! I'm just suggesting this may be the first thing on a longish list, and afore ye know it the frog's boiled.
July 12th to be a National Holiday!!! (The only reason I would support that is that it is my birthday)
Tbh I can't help a feeling more than a little schadenfreude towards a working class Catholic who pimped himself out to the Mail. He should at least get a wee thrill from NI Loyalists' strange attraction towards Israel.
The amount of derision being heaped on millennial virtue signalling Twitter users seems pretty rum given they just turned out and handed the kind of people who sneer at them a shellacing
Maybe less sneering and more listening is required.
This is incredible! I was talking with a mate earlier, who isn't really a political buff, and he was saying "Why is Corbyn giving it the big one? He lost! If Donald Trump phones up and asks to speak to the Prime Minister he gets Theresa May!!"
A shellacking when you don't win is a new one on me! And I reckon the first time voters who celebrated last night will wake up tmrw thinking "Hang on.. Corbyn isn't PM...."
Obviously this has been a very bad result for May and the Tories. But I think us political obsessives shouldn't assume that the general public will appreciate the nuance of what's happened. My mum was perplexed at why Jezza was so happy. I notice too that the Prince of Darkness wasn't exactly glowing in his assessment of Labour's position.
We are more or less where we were in 2010 except the Lib Dems wont prop the Tories up now
As I said earlier, I don't understand why Tezzie didn't ask the LibDems for a deal before lining up with the bowler hats.
The Lib Dems would've demanded a 2nd ref, no? If they didn't it's Tuition fees mkII
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
They are the racist uncle who hates poofs that ruins Christmas for you every year
As opposed to the antisemites, Hococaust deniers with 'friends' who hang gays sat across the floor of the Commons wearing red rosettes?
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
The DUP are cute hoors, who'll sell their votes to the Tories. They're not going to ban Christmas and maypoles.
The stank of their homophobia and religious backwardness will be hard to wash off.
The DUP have just won a stonking victory in Northern Ireland. They're fully entitled to participate in our political life. Northern Ireland is simply a much more religious place than most of the rest of the UK. but, they're realists. They're not going to impose hardline Protestantism on the rest of us.
No they won't, but half of what they say and believe in will spook the horses in the UK.
Going in with the DUP wipes out a lot of hard work moving the Tory image forwards out of the 1970's, it also leaves with beholden to a minority interest party. They should have just publicly offered the keys to Corbyn etc, binned May and consolidated their very high vote count and share. Now they are wobbling along, wounded and aimless.
Strategically they should go into opposition to the rainbow. They aren't that clever.
They want to hold onto power even though they are a vacuum of ideas currently.
Which will cost them heavily and not even in the medium term. They are trapped and on a hiding to nothing. There is no way they can make this situation work. It's amusing.
I wonder if fox hunting will make it to the queens speech...titter.....
Seriously the queens speech will have the vision of a dead parrot, inspire as much as a dead parrot, and be as useful as a dead parrot....
May has Brexit and sod all else and she's screwed that one up....I almost feel sorry for her...
None of the granny punching policies, no fox hunting, no energy cap. QS = my government will exit the EU.
Unfortunately she will almost certainly include measures limiting civil liberties under the guise of fighting terrorism and even more unfortunately most of the House will support it for fear of being declared soft on terrorism.
She's going to have to walk a very thin line with that. Deporting foreigners is fine, but anything that looks like internment, ID cards or changing the burden of proof is going to find more than a handful of rebels.
I hope so but my view of MPs is so poor that nothing would surprise me.
Seriously, hooking up with the DUP is going to go down as a worse mistake than calling the election in the first place.
They are the racist uncle who hates poofs that ruins Christmas for you every year
As opposed to the antisemites, Hococaust deniers with 'friends' who hang gays sat across the floor of the Commons wearing red rosettes?
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
The DUP are cute hoors, who'll sell their votes to the Tories. They're not going to ban Christmas and maypoles.
The stank of their homophobia and religious backwardness will be hard to wash off.
The DUP have just won a stonking victory in Northern Ireland. They're fully entitled to participate in our political life. Northern Ireland is simply a much more religious place than most of the rest of the UK. but, they're realists. They're not going to impose hardline Protestantism on the rest of us.
A lot of people are going to learn for the first time that young women are being prosecuted by the state for having abortions NI.
I'm waiting for the first question to May on it.
NI has been out of site and out of mind for 20 years - not anymore.
Most Northern Irish politicians are hostile to abortion. It's a devolved matter.
I don't think you get it. It's now a UK matter. Everything the DUP now does reflects on the Cons as they are working with them. The denial of evolution, the Ulster Resistance, everything.
Imagine if you will Labour had formed a coalition/agreement with Sinn Fein. That is what is happening now.
Basic strategic errors from the blues included waiting for Corbyn to implode thereby giving him blanket coverage, failing to attack the costed manifesto and allowing labour to have 'costed' accepted as fact (not getting into the accuracy of that here). Offering nothing to vote for. Having someone wooden campaign as 'not him' when he comes across as engaging
It all started with fox-hunting. I said it on PB all along, people were bringing it up on the doorsteps all the Goddamn time.
To be honest, if that's not a wind up, that's actually an easy thing to agree to (even if it's dumb). I think the DUP should probably look to extract something a bit more substantial.
Aye, I know! I'm just suggesting this may be the first thing on a longish list, and afore ye know it the frog's boiled.
July 12th to be a National Holiday!!! (The only reason I would support that is that it is my birthday)
We should make 23rd June a national holiday.
That I can agree with. Get rid of the May bank holiday at the end of May and have June 23rd instead.
But, really, Nick: are you really happy that your leader has no qualms about associating with people who are Holocaust deniers? Does it not give you the slightest pang? Not even the slightest uncomfortable feeling?
What does this mealy-mouthed phrase "associating with" mean? Supporting? Agreeing with? Speaking to? Being in the same room as? On the same bus? Walking down the other side of the street from?
It's stuff and nonsense. I never hear people say it in everyday life - they say instead exactly what they mean. I only hear it when someone wants to tar someone else's reputation "by association".
It was an unspeakable blunder to imagine that a general election could be fought solely on the issue of Brexit. We already had a referendum on that, less than a year ago. Believe it or not, people have bigger worries in their lives.
Actually, fighting the election purely on Brexit would probably have lead to a Con majority...
The real mistake, as discussed at length on here, was veering off in all directions like threatening to take away the WFA and stealing people's homes when they get ill...
Although they surely didn't do the pre-testing they needed to on this (feedback from political consultants, experienced campaigners, focus groups... any of that would have told them they needed a re-write and re-plan) I wonder whether they only took the risk on this because they were looking at the polls and thought they were so comfortably ahead they could afford to drop a few points (and hence seats) to give themselves an easier ride getting stuff through the next parliament. Would love to know what the mechanics were of the decision to undertake the election and come to the strategy and manifesto that they did. If only so future politicians can avoid it, please!
That does sound likely to me.
Especially considering the NI issue in the Budget.
Basic strategic errors from the blues included waiting for Corbyn to implode thereby giving him blanket coverage, failing to attack the costed manifesto and allowing labour to have 'costed' accepted as fact (not getting into the accuracy of that here). Offering nothing to vote for. Having someone wooden campaign as 'not him' when he comes across as engaging
It all started with fox-hunting. I said it on PB all along, people were bringing it up on the doorsteps all the Goddamn time.
Yes that was an oddly daft thing to bring up. If she was that keen just get a backbencher to introduce it and tell your MPs to vote freely. Don't put it in the manifesto!
Comments
Why would anyone be happy about that? Or even understanding? We took the pain and you failed and now we get more pain? Yeah, no thanks
Ireland is just more socially conservative than England, and most of their social policy is devolved anyway. All the DUP seem to be saying is that they'll vote with the Queen's Speech and the Budget if there's some infrastructure cash and favourable tax policy heading across the Irish Sea. Sounds reasonable to me, given the alternative.
QS = my government will exit the EU.
To many Tories, myself included, last night felt like a landslide defeat where we remain in office.
But May specifically called the election asking the electorate to increase her majority. The electorate said no to what she asked for, therefore she lost.
I would have thought it was the sort of downmarket town where the Conservatives did well this year.
So it looks my party has become seriously toxic again. Where do I go from here?
Major and Callaghan both cut deals with the Unionists. Why shouldn't May?
Look at a bursary for nurses and midwives again, look at a bursary for uni students on low income to encourage the attainment gap to close.
2. The DUP are pretty like-minded with May on Brexit, whereas the Lib Dems are not. A deal with the DUP is May's best hope of retaining sole control over the Brexit negotiations, rather than opening up the process to parties that she would have to compromise with.
which he will in fairly quick order...
How are you feeling about Brexit at the moment? Is there a concern you'll have to get back to organising work with UKIP again in case Parliament ends up with us revoking Article 50? Or is that route dead now, even if Farage does make yet another comeback?
(Also, with a second referendum under discussion, are any of the Vote Leave crew putting out feelers to start preparing, just in case?)
And it came as a shock - all those experts with their 100 majority predictions.
https://twitter.com/georgeeaton/status/873241038563016704
The real mistake, as discussed at length on here, was veering off in all directions like threatening to take away the WFA and stealing people's homes when they get ill...
Not so clever in my opinion.
The campaign was fought on the basis of May not being Corbyn. Hilary showed the folly of that approach last year.
Higher education is growing like a pyramid scheme.
Which is pretty much what it is now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU2d1PhTzcs
Get used to it......
https://twitter.com/TelegraphSport/status/873152489230651393
I'm waiting for the first question to May on it.
NI has been out of site and out of mind for 20 years - not anymore.
BritainUK etc etcI'm just suggesting this may be the first thing on a longish list, and afore ye know it the frog's boiled.
NickPalmer said:
Truthfully, I can't think of any unpleasant groups who he's been associating with since becoming leader, let alone urging them to join a potenil Government. Who did you have in mind?
"STW - though I think he resigned from them when he became leader. They are an unpleasant group and I have noted on this board my objections to their stance, shared by Corbyn in relation to, for instance, the IS genocide of the Yazidis.
Paul Eisner. Raed Salah. The Holocaust denying Palestinian group he travelled with to see President Assad. Not nice people. And not 40 years ago either.
At best he is naive. Or just turns a blind eye. Or adopts a "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" approach.
But, really, Nick: are you really happy that your leader has no qualms about associating with people who are Holocaust deniers? Does it not give you the slightest pang? Not even the slightest uncomfortable feeling?
This is the Labour party, for God's sake, of whom one of your former leaders said: "The party is a moral crusade or it is nothing."
What is moral about associating with Holocaust deniers? If even the most junior Tory MP did that the shrieks of outrage from the Left would be heard from here to the moon. Why is it OK for your leader?
For the record I did not say he was inviting them to government."
https://twitter.com/Pat_MacMurphy/status/873212181361422336
But now saying they are still counting after a 12 hour break.
Will the Conservatives find some ballots under the carpet?
May has to go. She gambled. She lost. Someone else needs to step up to the plate and try and get as large a cross-party consensus on Brexit as is possible.
Quite right too.
Having someone wooden campaign as 'not him' when he comes across as engaging
The D U fucking P.
We've done a deal with the party of Sammy 'The gays are poofs and perverts' Wilson.
Trust me in 2015 English voters weren't keen on sending their money to Scotland, they won't be happy about sending English money to Northern Ireland.
What has Northern Ireland ever done for England except brought terrorism to the mainland ?
Mrs May needs to be deposed before she fatally damages the Tories, if she already hasn't.
Right on cue, and as predictable as they are as people.
I know the outline of the Nigel Dodds list of what the DUP are after and ts not that contentious.
Only 5 out of the 59 seats O&S, Western Isles, Dundee East, Edinburgh S and DCT have not change hands at least once in either 2015 or 2017.
Imagine if you will Labour had formed a coalition/agreement with Sinn Fein. That is what is happening now.
Speaking to? Being in the same room as? On the same bus? Walking down the other side of the street from?
It's stuff and nonsense. I never hear people say it in everyday life - they say instead exactly what they mean. I only hear it when someone wants to tar someone else's reputation "by association".
Especially considering the NI issue in the Budget.