I think this election outcome is the worst of all possible worlds for the Tories.
If we had 10 less seats, we'd be out of power. Corbyn would be PM, and would have to start delivering Brexit and somehow reconciling his plans with the public finances. The Tories would be strong in Parliament, and would be able to harass and embarrass Labour on a regular basis.
If we had 10 more seats, we'd have a majority, and the DUP would be enough for the difficult Brexit votes.
Instead, the parliamentary arithmetic means we have no choice but to carry on in government, supported by a party who will tar us by association. We may not be able to get any Brexit settlement through Parliament thanks to our own rebels, which could lead to a chaotic exit or another election at which we would be utterly eviscerated.
It's an utter, utter disaster. She is worse than Eden, Chamberlain and Major combined, and yet replacing her would be worse.
The only thing that matters is Brexit because most egregious of all May's many unforced errors was to trigger Article 50 BEFORE calling an election. The countdown is well on its way. The only Brexit that a Conservative PM can deliver is one that is endorsed by Labour. That in itself requires May to go.
Perhaps this requires thinking out of the box. How about May continues as Conservative Party Leader to avoid wasting further Article 50 time. She reshuffles herself out of the PM post and gives it on a strictly interim basis to someone who is capable but has limited ambitions. Hammond? They then deliver what Brexit they can and then May resigns as Party Leader in 2019 and the Conservatives elect a new leader and PM who will decide whether to attempt to call an election or stay the remaining term.
Typing this out, it doesn't sound great. What are the alternatives?
The Tories could do worse than choose Anna Soubry as their next leader. She sounded firm but fair as a talking head earlier. (Jenkin, in comparison, threw a massive strop, basically blaming the whole debacle on Osborne and Heseltine!)
It is hard to think of anyone more terrible than Soubry for leader. The Wollaston woman is probably the only more dreadful option. Actually a few more spring to mind now I'm thinking about it, but those two definitely remain in my top 5,
Gove and the Tories generally seem to believe that what is politically expedient for them is in the national interest. As a result they have led all of us up shit creek without a paddle.
Hope Tory members keep this in their grudge bank and make sure this ghastly man can never make a comeback.
I'd vote for Jezza every day of week and twice on Sundays over Osborne.
"I feel well out of it"
There you go, that's all you need to know about this ****. What Tory Remainers need to remember is that having cried wolf over Brexit, the voters are no longer scared by claims about what a nasty man Jeremy Corbyn is and how terrible things will be if he ever comes to power.
May's dreadful, but Osborne's very much played his part in all of this.
Yep. May is useless whereas Osborne is malignant.
Osborne and Cameron won a majority in 2015.
I wasn't talking about that. I wad talking about his character. Much of the cause for May' s current situation lies with the decisions he made. Gloating be sure he managed to pass on the parcel before it exploded shows just what a worm he is.
No one asked her to make social care the centre of her manifesto. We literally needed one line on it "we will start a royal commission to investigate the best way in which to fully fund our social care system". That's it. Instead she made a huge attack on property and inheritance rights, overturning 40 years of party orthodoxy. It was a stupid, self inflicted wound that destroyed her and our party. As someone who isn't in the party and has been active in another, a period of silence about what is and isn't good for us would be appreciated.
It was about time that the funding of social care was addressed. Politically May could have handled it better but she wanted to grasp the nettle.
OTOH was it stated that participation in the plan was compulsory? Surely people could choose to take the risk of funding their social care, choosing to sell their property if they wished.
I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about his character.
Ha!
May sacked him, unnecessarily, and needlessly viciously, before driving the party and country into the ground.
He is entitled to feel aggrieved
Indeed, she told him to go out and learn what the party was about and just months later she made a huge attack on our base with horrible policies. She is completely useless and clearly doesn't understand anything about what our party stands for. It's not energy caps, it's not attacking property and inheritance rights, it's not favouring some pensioners over others. She clearly has no understanding of what the party stands for or what voters want.
May was right on this. Osborne had clearly lost touch with his party given that a majority of Con supporters ignored his Project Fear and voted to Leave.
He did need a period of rehabilitation on the backbenches and if he'd took her advice he'd be on course for a cabinet return and maybe even a run at PM right now... Instead of looking like a bitter loser throwing rocks from his ivory tower in the Standard and petulantly gloating at other people's misfortunes.
I think this election outcome is the worst of all possible worlds for the Tories.
If we had 10 less seats, we'd be out of power. Corbyn would be PM, and would have to start delivering Brexit and somehow reconciling his plans with the public finances. The Tories would be strong in Parliament, and would be able to harass and embarrass Labour on a regular basis.
If we had 10 more seats, we'd have a majority, and the DUP would be enough for the difficult Brexit votes.
Instead, the parliamentary arithmetic means we have no choice but to carry on in government, supported by a party who will tar us by association. We may not be able to get any Brexit settlement through Parliament thanks to our own rebels, which could lead to a chaotic exit or another election at which we would be utterly eviscerated.
It's an utter, utter disaster. She is worse than Eden, Chamberlain and Major combined, and yet replacing her would be worse.
The only thing that matters is Brexit because most egregious of all May's many unforced errors was to trigger Article 50 BEFORE calling an election. The countdown is well on its way. The only Brexit that a Conservative PM can deliver is one that is endorsed by Labour. That in itself requires May to go.
Perhaps this requires thinking out of the box. How about May continues as Conservative Party Leader to avoid wasting further Article 50 time. She reshuffles herself out of the PM post and gives it on a strictly interim basis to someone who is capable but has limited ambitions. Hammond? They then deliver what Brexit they can and then May resigns as Party Leader in 2019 and the Conservatives elect a new leader and PM who will decide whether to attempt to call an election or stay the remaining term.
Typing this out, it doesn't sound great. What are the alternatives?
Countdown ticks out with no deal. Titanium Brexit Freedom and economic prosperity PM Priti Patel
That's my dream timeline Life, though, could never get as good as that.
Maybe one thing to come out of any Con/DUP arrangement is that the Irish parties will get a taken serious by our arrogant broadcasters in the debates for the next election.
Yes! I said this at the time. If that Welsh woman is invited, so should the DUP.
Well yes, but if you invite an NI Unionist party you'd have to invite an NI Republican party. Then you have a 9-party clusterf***.
The only election debates that were any good were in 2010 - Brown, Cameron, and Clegg had time to discuss policy in detail and each speaker only had 2 others to shout over them, not 6. We only ended up with 7-party debates in 2015 because Cameron didn't want to be humiliated by Farage, so discovered a sudden concern for Greens and Scots/Welsh nationalists. It would make perfect sense to only include national (GB) parties in future - no SNP, no Plaid, and no fringe parties (Greens/UKIP).
How about May continues as Conservative Party Leader to avoid wasting further Article 50 time. She reshuffles herself out of the PM post and gives it on a strictly interim basis to someone who is capable but has limited ambitions. Hammond? They then deliver what Brexit they can and then May resigns as Party Leader in 2019 and the Conservatives elect a new leader and PM who will decide whether to attempt to call an election or stay the remaining term.
According to JackW yesterday that's not possible these days... Last time anything like that happened was with Home in the 60's but wouldn't be acceptable now and HMQ wouldn't go for it.
I think this election outcome is the worst of all possible worlds for the Tories.
If we had 10 less seats, we'd be out of power. Corbyn would be PM, and would have to start delivering Brexit and somehow reconciling his plans with the public finances. The Tories would be strong in Parliament, and would be able to harass and embarrass Labour on a regular basis.
If we had 10 more seats, we'd have a majority, and the DUP would be enough for the difficult Brexit votes.
Instead, the parliamentary arithmetic means we have no choice but to carry on in government, supported by a party who will tar us by association. We may not be able to get any Brexit settlement through Parliament thanks to our own rebels, which could lead to a chaotic exit or another election at which we would be utterly eviscerated.
It's an utter, utter disaster. She is worse than Eden, Chamberlain and Major combined, and yet replacing her would be worse.
The only thing that matters is Brexit because most egregious of all May's many unforced errors was to trigger Article 50 BEFORE calling an election. The countdown is well on its way. The only Brexit that a Conservative PM can deliver is one that is endorsed by Labour. That in itself requires May to go.
Perhaps this requires thinking out of the box. How about May continues as Conservative Party Leader to avoid wasting further Article 50 time. She reshuffles herself out of the PM post and gives it on a strictly interim basis to someone who is capable but has limited ambitions. Hammond? They then deliver what Brexit they can and then May resigns as Party Leader in 2019 and the Conservatives elect a new leader and PM who will decide whether to attempt to call an election or stay the remaining term.
Typing this out, it doesn't sound great. What are the alternatives?
She announces now that she is leaving at the Tory Party Conference in October, that she will stay as PM till then but she will break the habits of a lifetime and take guidance and instruction from her cabinet and that an election for a new leader will begin next week. Oh, and she will say I am really sorry for screwing everything up.
Convoy of pigs in V formation buzz by at only 200 feet...
I think this election outcome is the worst of all possible worlds for the Tories.
If we had 10 less seats, we'd be out of power. Corbyn would be PM, and would have to start delivering Brexit and somehow reconciling his plans with the public finances. The Tories would be strong in Parliament, and would be able to harass and embarrass Labour on a regular basis.
If we had 10 more seats, we'd have a majority, and the DUP would be enough for the difficult Brexit votes.
Instead, the parliamentary arithmetic means we have no choice but to carry on in government, supported by a party who will tar us by association. We may not be able to get any Brexit settlement through Parliament thanks to our own rebels, which could lead to a chaotic exit or another election at which we would be utterly eviscerated.
It's an utter, utter disaster. She is worse than Eden, Chamberlain and Major combined, and yet replacing her would be worse.
Hard to disagree, but its not really her fault though. The problems go far deeper than that.
First there was the in/out referendum with no plan in the event of an out vote, then there was the post referendum phase where a hard brexit was driven through (under pressure from the bastards) without any real public consultation, then there was the attempt to call an election and make it all about Brexit, when it turned voters were concerned about other stuff as well, and don't (suprise suprise) want to make economic sacrifices in pursuit of Brexit.
The election result is the very best of all worlds for the 'saboteurs', because not only do the tories still own brexit, their chances of implementing it successfully are massively hindered by their parliamentary position.
Amazing times. The longer the Tories stay in power, the quicker public opinion will move against them and whatever version of Brexit they pursue.
First there was the in/out referendum with no plan in the event of an out vote, then there was the post referendum phase where a hard brexit was driven through (under pressure from the bastards) without any real public consultation, then there was the attempt to call an election and make it all about Brexit, when it turned voters were concerned about other stuff as well, and don't (suprise suprise) want to make economic sacrifices in pursuit of Brexit.
The key problem with Brexit has always been that is can't be delivered.
Oh, we could crash out of the EU, but that is not what the voters were promised. No £350m a week...
I think this election outcome is the worst of all possible worlds for the Tories.
If we had 10 less seats, we'd be out of power. Corbyn would be PM, and would have to start delivering Brexit and somehow reconciling his plans with the public finances. The Tories would be strong in Parliament, and would be able to harass and embarrass Labour on a regular basis.
If we had 10 more seats, we'd have a majority, and the DUP would be enough for the difficult Brexit votes.
Instead, the parliamentary arithmetic means we have no choice but to carry on in government, supported by a party who will tar us by association. We may not be able to get any Brexit settlement through Parliament thanks to our own rebels, which could lead to a chaotic exit or another election at which we would be utterly eviscerated.
It's an utter, utter disaster. She is worse than Eden, Chamberlain and Major combined, and yet replacing her would be worse.
The only thing that matters is Brexit because most egregious of all May's many unforced errors was to trigger Article 50 BEFORE calling an election. The countdown is well on its way. The only Brexit that a Conservative PM can deliver is one that is endorsed by Labour. That in itself requires May to go.
Perhaps this requires thinking out of the box. How about May continues as Conservative Party Leader to avoid wasting further Article 50 time. She reshuffles herself out of the PM post and gives it on a strictly interim basis to someone who is capable but has limited ambitions. Hammond? They then deliver what Brexit they can and then May resigns as Party Leader in 2019 and the Conservatives elect a new leader and PM who will decide whether to attempt to call an election or stay the remaining term.
Typing this out, it doesn't sound great. What are the alternatives?
Countdown ticks out with no deal. Titanium Brexit Freedom and economic prosperity PM Priti Patel
That's my dream timeline Life, though, could never get as good as that.
Titanium Brexit is a goner i'm afraid. Only a political party with more suicidal ambitions than your average jihadi would go to the country with empty pockets for Brexit while already not having a majority. That is explicitly why May wanted a landslide - because she could credibly threaten a titanium brexit no deal, and weather any losses in the following election.
First there was the in/out referendum with no plan in the event of an out vote, then there was the post referendum phase where a hard brexit was driven through (under pressure from the bastards) without any real public consultation, then there was the attempt to call an election and make it all about Brexit, when it turned voters were concerned about other stuff as well, and don't (suprise suprise) want to make economic sacrifices in pursuit of Brexit.
The key problem with Brexit has always been that is can't be delivered.
Oh, we could crash out of the EU, but that is not what the voters were promised. No £350m a week...
The only way it could have been delivered is if the EU had collapsed as a result of the vote. That's why Brexiteers were hoping (not so secretly) that Le Pen and Wilders would win. Instead they've strengthened the EU27 and massively weakened the UK.
I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about his character.
Ha!
May sacked him, unnecessarily, and needlessly viciously, before driving the party and country into the ground.
He is entitled to feel aggrieved
Indeed, she told him to go out and learn what the party was about and just months later she made a huge attack on our base with horrible policies. She is completely useless and clearly doesn't understand anything about what our party stands for. It's not energy caps, it's not attacking property and inheritance rights, it's not favouring some pensioners over others. She clearly has no understanding of what the party stands for or what voters want.
May was right on this. Osborne had clearly lost touch with his party given that a majority of Con supporters ignored his Project Fear and voted to Leave.
He did need a period of rehabilitation on the backbenches and if he'd took her advice he'd be on course for a cabinet return and maybe even a run at PM right now... Instead of looking like a bitter loser throwing rocks from his ivory tower in the Standard and petulantly gloating at other people's misfortunes.
What May understood the party to be is not what the party is about. Not a single Tory I know is in favour of energy price caps, no Tory I know was in favour of the attack on property and inheritance rights, no Tory I know thought it was a good idea to dump the WFA and keep it for Scotland. She has no clue what our party is about and she needs to leave No. 10, every minute she stays and entertains this idea of a coalition with the DUP she damages us further. She is shaming our party and our country by clinging on with the help of of religious nutbags.
I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about his character.
Ha!
May sacked him, unnecessarily, and needlessly viciously, before driving the party and country into the ground.
He is entitled to feel aggrieved
Indeed, she told him to go out and learn what the party was about and just months later she made a huge attack on our base with horrible policies. She is completely useless and clearly doesn't understand anything about what our party stands for. It's not energy caps, it's not attacking property and inheritance rights, it's not favouring some pensioners over others. She clearly has no understanding of what the party stands for or what voters want.
May was right on this. Osborne had clearly lost touch with his party given that a majority of Con supporters ignored his Project Fear and voted to Leave.
He did need a period of rehabilitation on the backbenches and if he'd took her advice he'd be on course for a cabinet return and maybe even a run at PM right now... Instead of looking like a bitter loser throwing rocks from his ivory tower in the Standard and petulantly gloating at other people's misfortunes.
What May understood the party to be is not what the party is about. Not a single Tory I know is in favour of energy price caps, no Tory I know was in favour of the attack on property and inheritance rights, no Tory I know thought it was a good idea to dump the WFA and keep it for Scotland. She has no clue what our party is about and she needs to leave No. 10, every minute she stays and entertains this idea of a coalition with the DUP she damages us further. She is shaming our party and our country by clinging on with the help of of religious nutbags.
OK, May is wrong about the Party... But clearly so was Osborne or he wouldn't have blown the referendum.
SF overplayed their hand when narrowly losing in March and now find themselves in limbo. DUP will likely overplay their hand forgetting that they only have ten seats and only have one other seat they could ever win. Theresa May is clearly overplaying her hand sounding as though she has a mandate she doesn't have. Labour are overplaying their hand suggesting they can form a government from 50+ seats behind.
Question. Who wins when everyone thinks they have cards they don't?
SF overplayed their hand when narrowly losing in March and now find themselves in limbo. DUP will likely overplay their hand forgetting that they only have ten seats and only have one other seat they could ever win. Theresa May is clearly overplaying her hand sounding as though she has a mandate she doesn't have. Labour are overplaying their hand suggesting they can form a government from 50+ seats behind.
Question. Who wins when everyone thinks they have cards they don't?
I think this election outcome is the worst of all possible worlds for the Tories.
If we had 10 less seats, we'd be out of power. Corbyn would be PM, and would have to start delivering Brexit and somehow reconciling his plans with the public finances. The Tories would be strong in Parliament, and would be able to harass and embarrass Labour on a regular basis.
If we had 10 more seats, we'd have a majority, and the DUP would be enough for the difficult Brexit votes.
Instead, the parliamentary arithmetic means we have no choice but to carry on in government, supported by a party who will tar us by association. We may not be able to get any Brexit settlement through Parliament thanks to our own rebels, which could lead to a chaotic exit or another election at which we would be utterly eviscerated.
It's an utter, utter disaster. She is worse than Eden, Chamberlain and Major combined, and yet replacing her would be worse.
The only thing that matters is Brexit because most egregious of all May's many unforced errors was to trigger Article 50 BEFORE calling an election. The countdown is well on its way. The only Brexit that a Conservative PM can deliver is one that is endorsed by Labour. That in itself requires May to go.
Perhaps this requires thinking out of the box. How about May continues as Conservative Party Leader to avoid wasting further Article 50 time. She reshuffles herself out of the PM post and gives it on a strictly interim basis to someone who is capable but has limited ambitions. Hammond? They then deliver what Brexit they can and then May resigns as Party Leader in 2019 and the Conservatives elect a new leader and PM who will decide whether to attempt to call an election or stay the remaining term.
Typing this out, it doesn't sound great. What are the alternatives?
Yes.
The election timing was extraordinarily odd.
We may have to wait for the memoirs to find out the reasons, but I suspect she's basically a sh*t gambler.
A50 was her ace card.
Perhaps she was thrown off by the local/mayoral results? Maybe the CPS stuff looked worse than it turned out to be?
Having the election on the eve of the A50 trigger would have completely changed the dynamic of both campaigns. She would have won - and won handsomely - IMO.
I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about his character.
Ha!
May sacked him, unnecessarily, and needlessly viciously, before driving the party and country into the ground.
He is entitled to feel aggrieved
Indeed, she told him to go out and learn what the party was about and just months later she made a huge attack on our base with horrible policies. She is completely useless and clearly doesn't understand anything about what our party stands for. It's not energy caps, it's not attacking property and inheritance rights, it's not favouring some pensioners over others. She clearly has no understanding of what the party stands for or what voters want.
May was right on this. Osborne had clearly lost touch with his party given that a majority of Con supporters ignored his Project Fear and voted to Leave.
He did need a period of rehabilitation on the backbenches and if he'd took her advice he'd be on course for a cabinet return and maybe even a run at PM right now... Instead of looking like a bitter loser throwing rocks from his ivory tower in the Standard and petulantly gloating at other people's misfortunes.
What May understood the party to be is not what the party is about. Not a single Tory I know is in favour of energy price caps, no Tory I know was in favour of the attack on property and inheritance rights, no Tory I know thought it was a good idea to dump the WFA and keep it for Scotland. She has no clue what our party is about and she needs to leave No. 10, every minute she stays and entertains this idea of a coalition with the DUP she damages us further. She is shaming our party and our country by clinging on with the help of of religious nutbags.
OK, May is wrong about the Party... But clearly so was Osborne or he wouldn't have blown the referendum.
Come on...
He may have been, but he and Cameron won a majority in 2015, so clearly they both understand it better than May who has failed against Corbyn.
A lot of the Leavers are sounding wobbly, seeming to think that Brexit itself is threatened. I can't see this: Article 50 has been triggered, and I can't see our EU friends agreeing any kind of reversal when this goes counter to the will of the 52%. But Theresa needs to calm nerves in these tumultuous times. I suggest she makes a statement confirming that 'Brexit means Brexit' and that she's annulled Osborne's party membership, so he cannot return and make mischief.
Constituency betting is certainly the way to go, all you have to do is follow the demographic trends.
And thanks to Shadsy and the other bookies.
This has been the most profitable election ever for me by some distance - and I was betting *entirely* out of fear and cynicism - just as I did taking the 8/1 on my beloved CCFC to be relegated last season having seen the warning signs.
Bath. Ealing Central and Acton. Brighton Kemptown. Hove. Tooting. Enfield North. Harrow West, Eltham, North Norfolk.
Every single one came good - and by 'good', I mean, terrible, politically, obviously, but I've ended up with a tidy four figure profit.
The *only* constituency bet loser I had was Surrey East LDs at 66/1, and that was really, really extreme bedwetting after they won my county council ward last month and stood the same bloke in the GE.
I also saw value in Labour over 200 seats and Tory under 400, back when people were talking up a Tory landslide.
SF overplayed their hand when narrowly losing in March and now find themselves in limbo. DUP will likely overplay their hand forgetting that they only have ten seats and only have one other seat they could ever win. Theresa May is clearly overplaying her hand sounding as though she has a mandate she doesn't have. Labour are overplaying their hand suggesting they can form a government from 50+ seats behind.
Question. Who wins when everyone thinks they have cards they don't?
On the Labour side some are even suggesting they can do a deal with DUP. They are also suggesting the Tory dark arts brigade are rubbishing DUP to make that possibility more remote.
A lot of the Leavers are sounding wobbly, seeming to think that Brexit itself is threatened. I can't see this: Article 50 has been triggered, and I can't see our EU friends agreeing any kind of reversal
Then you weren't listening to our EU friend on Marr this morning...
I think this election outcome is the worst of all possible worlds for the Tories.
If we had 10 less seats, we'd be out of power. Corbyn would be PM, and would have to start delivering Brexit and somehow reconciling his plans with the public finances. The Tories would be strong in Parliament, and would be able to harass and embarrass Labour on a regular basis.
If we had 10 more seats, we'd have a majority, and the DUP would be enough for the difficult Brexit votes.
Instead, the parliamentary arithmetic means we have no choice but to carry on in government, supported by a party who will tar us by association. We may not be able to get any Brexit settlement through Parliament thanks to our own rebels, which could lead to a chaotic exit or another election at which we would be utterly eviscerated.
It's an utter, utter disaster. She is worse than Eden, Chamberlain and Major combined, and yet replacing her would be worse.
The only thing that matters is Brexit because most egregious of all May's many unforced errors was to trigger Article 50 BEFORE calling an election. The countdown is well on its way. The only Brexit that a Conservative PM can deliver is one that is endorsed by Labour. That in itself requires May to go.
Perhaps this requires thinking out of the box. How about May continues as Conservative Party Leader to avoid wasting further Article 50 time. She reshuffles herself out of the PM post and gives it on a strictly interim basis to someone who is capable but has limited ambitions. Hammond? They then deliver what Brexit they can and then May resigns as Party Leader in 2019 and the Conservatives elect a new leader and PM who will decide whether to attempt to call an election or stay the remaining term.
Typing this out, it doesn't sound great. What are the alternatives?
Yes.
The election timing was extraordinarily odd.
We may have to wait for the memoirs to find out the reasons, but I suspect she's basically a sh*t gambler.
A50 was her ace card.
Perhaps she was thrown off by the local/mayoral results? Maybe the CPS stuff looked worse than it turned out to be?
The campaign was two weeks too long, the manifesto was beyond awful and she shouldn't have ducked the debates. A 4 week campaign, "Delivering Brexit" manifesto and showing up at the debates would have won a small majority.
I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about his character.
Ha!
May sacked him, unnecessarily, and needlessly viciously, before driving the party and country into the ground.
He is entitled to feel aggrieved
Indeed, she told him to go out and learn what the party was about and just months later she made a huge attack on our base with horrible policies. She is completely useless and clearly doesn't understand anything about what our party stands for. It's not energy caps, it's not attacking property and inheritance rights, it's not favouring some pensioners over others. She clearly has no understanding of what the party stands for or what voters want.
May was right on this. Osborne had clearly lost touch with his party given that a majority of Con supporters ignored his Project Fear and voted to Leave.
He did need a period of rehabilitation on the backbenches and if he'd took her advice he'd be on course for a cabinet return and maybe even a run at PM right now... Instead of looking like a bitter loser throwing rocks from his ivory tower in the Standard and petulantly gloating at other people's misfortunes.
What May understood the party to be is not what the party is about. Not a single Tory I know is in favour of energy price caps, no Tory I know was in favour of the attack on property and inheritance rights, no Tory I know thought it was a good idea to dump the WFA and keep it for Scotland. She has no clue what our party is about and she needs to leave No. 10, every minute she stays and entertains this idea of a coalition with the DUP she damages us further. She is shaming our party and our country by clinging on with the help of of religious nutbags.
So what's the difference between May's energy price caps and Cameron's price caps on petrol and rail fares ?
Certainly keeping WFA in Scotland but not England was madness but doesn't that already apply to student tuition fees, prescriptions and lord knows what else.
These problems didn't start a month ago but have been building up for years.
I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about his character.
Ha!
May sacked him, unnecessarily, and needlessly viciously, before driving the party and country into the ground.
He is entitled to feel aggrieved
Indeed, she told him to go out and learn what the party was about and just months later she made a huge attack on our base with horrible policies. She is completely useless and clearly doesn't understand anything about what our party stands for. It's not energy caps, it's not attacking property and inheritance rights, it's not favouring some pensioners over others. She clearly has no understanding of what the party stands for or what voters want.
May was right on this. Osborne had clearly lost touch with his party given that a majority of Con supporters ignored his Project Fear and voted to Leave.
He did need a period of rehabilitation on the backbenches and if he'd took her advice he'd be on course for a cabinet return and maybe even a run at PM right now... Instead of looking like a bitter loser throwing rocks from his ivory tower in the Standard and petulantly gloating at other people's misfortunes.
What May understood the party to be is not what the party is about. Not a single Tory I know is in favour of energy price caps, no Tory I know was in favour of the attack on property and inheritance rights, no Tory I know thought it was a good idea to dump the WFA and keep it for Scotland. She has no clue what our party is about and she needs to leave No. 10, every minute she stays and entertains this idea of a coalition with the DUP she damages us further. She is shaming our party and our country by clinging on with the help of of religious nutbags.
Tuition fee increases, inability to afford housing, and austerity, would still have been big millstones round the Conservatives' necks. I'm sure they'd have won more support from older voters, but the young would still have backed Corbyn.
SF overplayed their hand when narrowly losing in March and now find themselves in limbo. DUP will likely overplay their hand forgetting that they only have ten seats and only have one other seat they could ever win. Theresa May is clearly overplaying her hand sounding as though she has a mandate she doesn't have. Labour are overplaying their hand suggesting they can form a government from 50+ seats behind.
Question. Who wins when everyone thinks they have cards they don't?
On the Labour side some are even suggesting they can do a deal with DUP. They are also suggesting the Tory dark arts brigade are rubbishing DUP to make that possibility more remote.
Lol. Anything is possible. I think the only way a DUP deal can work is if the DUP move in a conciliatory direction on social issues which can be claimed as a victory by the Tories.
I'm still struggling to see why Corbyn and McDonnell being IRA sympathisers is not an issue while the DUP being religious zealots is. But that does seem to be where we are.
SF overplayed their hand when narrowly losing in March and now find themselves in limbo. DUP will likely overplay their hand forgetting that they only have ten seats and only have one other seat they could ever win. Theresa May is clearly overplaying her hand sounding as though she has a mandate she doesn't have. Labour are overplaying their hand suggesting they can form a government from 50+ seats behind.
Question. Who wins when everyone thinks they have cards they don't?
A lot of the Leavers are sounding wobbly, seeming to think that Brexit itself is threatened. I can't see this: Article 50 has been triggered, and I can't see our EU friends agreeing any kind of reversal when this goes counter to the will of the 52%. But Theresa needs to calm nerves in these tumultuous times. I suggest she makes a statement confirming that 'Brexit means Brexit' and that she's annulled Osborne's party membership, so he cannot return and make mischief.
She sought a mandate on Brexit and failed to get a majority.
Last years vote is history, just like the Tory majority in parliament. May could use the Referendum as a mandate before the GE but the result from the 8th June 2017 supersedes last years vote. I voted Tory to keep Corbyn out - I did not vote Tory for some nutty Brexit reason and I know other Remain voters who did likewise. I suspect if Corbyn turned around and said he would keep the UK in the EU he would win a landslide. Things have moved on, the Daily Mail, The Sun and Daily Express have been caught like a rabbit in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle in being so pro Theresa May IMO. I actually think it rather amusing - she has damaged their credibility as well as her own.
I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about his character.
Ha!
May sacked him, unnecessarily, and needlessly viciously, before driving the party and country into the ground.
He is entitled to feel aggrieved
Indeed, she told him to go out and learn what the party was about and just months later she made a huge attack on our base with horrible policies. She is completely useless and clearly doesn't understand anything about what our party stands for. It's not energy caps, it's not attacking property and inheritance rights, it's not favouring some pensioners over others. She clearly has no understanding of what the party stands for or what voters want.
May was right on this. Osborne had clearly lost touch with his party given that a majority of Con supporters ignored his Project Fear and voted to Leave.
He did need a period of rehabilitation on the backbenches and if he'd took her advice he'd be on course for a cabinet return and maybe even a run at PM right now... Instead of looking like a bitter loser throwing rocks from his ivory tower in the Standard and petulantly gloating at other people's misfortunes.
What May understood the party to be is not what the party is about. Not a single Tory I know is in favour of energy price caps, no Tory I know was in favour of the attack on property and inheritance rights, no Tory I know thought it was a good idea to dump the WFA and keep it for Scotland. She has no clue what our party is about and she needs to leave No. 10, every minute she stays and entertains this idea of a coalition with the DUP she damages us further. She is shaming our party and our country by clinging on with the help of of religious nutbags.
Tuition fee increases, inability to afford housing, and austerity, would still have been big millstones round the Conservatives' necks. I'm sure they'd have won more support from older voters, but the young would still have backed Corbyn.
But we'd have won 7-10 more seats around the country which would have been enough to take us over the line without needing the support of religious fanatics
A lot of the Leavers are sounding wobbly, seeming to think that Brexit itself is threatened. I can't see this: Article 50 has been triggered, and I can't see our EU friends agreeing any kind of reversal when this goes counter to the will of the 52%. But Theresa needs to calm nerves in these tumultuous times. I suggest she makes a statement confirming that 'Brexit means Brexit' and that she's annulled Osborne's party membership, so he cannot return and make mischief.
The risk with that is that when the string on her back is pulled, Woody from Toy Story style, the wrong platitude comes out.
Brexit means brexit Strong and stable There's a snake in my boot.
I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about his character.
Ha!
May sacked him, unnecessarily, and needlessly viciously, before driving the party and country into the ground.
He is entitled to feel aggrieved
Indeed, she told him to go out and learn what the party was about and just months later she made a huge attack on our base with horrible policies. She is completely useless and clearly doesn't understand anything about what our party stands for. It's not energy caps, it's not attacking property and inheritance rights, it's not favouring some pensioners over others. She clearly has no understanding of what the party stands for or what voters want.
May was right on this. Osborne had clearly lost touch with his party given that a majority of Con supporters ignored his Project Fear and voted to Leave.
He did need a period of rehabilitation on the backbenches and if he'd took her advice he'd be on course for a cabinet return and maybe even a run at PM right now... Instead of looking like a bitter loser throwing rocks from his ivory tower in the Standard and petulantly gloating at other people's misfortunes.
What May understood the party to be is not what the party is about. Not a single Tory I know is in favour of energy price caps, no Tory I know was in favour of the attack on property and inheritance rights, no Tory I know thought it was a good idea to dump the WFA and keep it for Scotland. She has no clue what our party is about and she needs to leave No. 10, every minute she stays and entertains this idea of a coalition with the DUP she damages us further. She is shaming our party and our country by clinging on with the help of of religious nutbags.
Tuition fee increases, inability to afford housing, and austerity, would still have been big millstones round the Conservatives' necks. I'm sure they'd have won more support from older voters, but the young would still have backed Corbyn.
Osborne decided to steal from the young so he could bribe the old.
It was inevitable there would be a backlash and the Conservatives no longer had the LibDems as a shield.
Constituency betting is certainly the way to go, all you have to do is follow the demographic trends.
And thanks to Shadsy and the other bookies.
I went hideously wrong on some odds on early Tory bets in England and Wales.
But I have Corbyn to thank for Ynys Mons, Leeds NW and East Lothian. All 10-1+ winners which in themselves netted over a grand.
I also tipped up Hallam at 25-1, unfortunately I could only get £2 on (And rebacked Clegg at 4-9) before going in again on Labour at odds against for tuppence ha'penny. The idea the Tories would take Hallam given their working class campaign was ridiculous !
Overall I'm reasonably sure I'm up overall despite a few Tory horrors.
10-19 seats @ 10-1 was a huge rick, unfortunately Paddy knocked me back to £50 rather than the £400 I wanted in shop
One of my biggest ricks was pointing that 10-19 bet out to people before I got anything on myself
Yep thanks for the tip. I was in the shop at 8 am the next morning !
Can you get bets on in shops even when they're not available online ?
It was available online, but you can't get on in any size if you're a marked account. You can't get on in the shop at any size either if the trader suddenly realises he's fucked up the odds.
Biggest mistake I made, betting-wise, was campaigning in Erdington. There really was no sign of a Labour surge. (This was partly because Labour was in defensive GOTV mode - a lot of Lab voters switched to Tory, but HQ didn't pick up that non(Lab)voters were on the march.) So although I made quite a lot of winning bets, I paid most of it back on a Tory Majority.
Where are all those Tory Leavers on here who last year assured me Farage would have no government or Brexit role job?
To be honest, the Tories should just make Farage their leader and be done with. His presence is haunting their politics like a ghost. As soon as you think it's been exorcised it returns, darker and more demonic than before. The Tories should just bring him into the light and let him enact his vision for the country. We can then take it from there.
Jezza is PM, he moves labour to the left and they turn the spending taps on. OK, Inflation hits record heights, Jezza blames Brexit, even before it happens, then he blames International speculators, but our enormous and growing deficits and debt cease to matter so much as we're paying them back in worthless sterling.
Things get worse so he blames Farmer Jones. Being a Trot, he finally blames International borders. But no need to worry, just print more money. Jezza re-elected for another five years, decides by popular acclaim (Facebook) that any more elections are unnecessary. Jezza arranges member of immediate family to take over and resigns.
Is that the political equivalent of full support of the board?
It's odd that whoever screenshotted that has 'MP' tagged onto Gove's and Burns' names in their contact book. Who would do that? Makes me think it could be just a piece of fake propaganda put out by the plotters.
There is the possibility that all the suggestions of extreme concessions to the DUP are being out out there so that when a compromise that involves winter fuel allowance and loosening of PIP reform comes about it looks quite mundane and lances a boil. Maybe,
"The 2017 general election: The most profitable general election ever for the bookies"
Not in my case it wasn't ....... I made an overall profit of ~ £2,600 incl just over £1k on the spreads by buying Labour seats at 162 and Turnout at 63.5% and selling Tory seats at an average strike price of around 396 seats. Contrary to Pulpstar's "Brave" caution, Labour waltzed in at Dewsbury , a bet I loaded onto at between 7/2 and 4/1, whereas of course Tim Farron held on in Westmoreland where he suggested the Tories would win. My one disappointment was narrowly losing out in Richmond Park where I and others had backed the LibDem's candidate at Betfair's *cough* generous odds of 25/1. In the event Zak recaptured the seat for the Tories by a few hundred votes. One of the nicest feelings in online betting is hauling in all the profits from numerous bookies after the event. These days I never bet on horses which I view as being a mug's game, but I'm now in a nicely liquid state to have a few selective punts on next football season's winners and losers. Speaking of which, many congrats to England's Under 17's side (managed by ex-Derby County Player and Assistant Manager Paul Simpson) on their winning the World Championship earlier this afternoon.
If I may return to June 9th and TM's visit to the Palace. Contrary to what most people believe there was no constitutional requirement for her to do that - PMs are not reappointed after General Elections under our system but simply carry on in office or resign to make way for someone else. The visit to see the Queen,therefore, was more out of courtesy and to inform the monarch of her intentions given the unclear election outcome. It was certainly not a question of 'TM seeking permission to form a Government'. Thatcher did not visit the Palace when re-elected in 1983 & 1987 - neither did Wilson in 1966 & October 1974. Blair seems to have begun this new tendency by going to the Palace when re-elected in 2001 & 2005. Cameron followed his example in 2015 - but it really is more of a photo-opportunity than something the PM is obliged to do. There is a lot of ignorance on this extending to jounalists such as Laura Kuensberg!
I'm more than happy to believe you but do you have links for Thatcher not visiting the Palace in 1983 & 1987 or Wilson in 1966?
I'm still struggling to see why Corbyn and McDonnell being IRA sympathisers is not an issue while the DUP being religious zealots is. But that does seem to be where we are.
Don't you remember the chuckle brothers? The DUP and Sinn Fein were partners in government. Why would Corbyn and McDonnell be any more offensive to them than Adams and McGuinness? The DUP will try to extract everything they can out of HMG, even if Corbyn forms an administration they can always vote with the Tories against Labour, SNP, Lib Dem and Green. The DUP will be in a strong position either way.
So what are we going to offer this bunch of zealots to get them to support Conservative party policies? They will need something to show their supporters if they are going to sell this. The real complications are going to come with what they want on the Irish border.
My aunt who lives in a pretty village outside Canterbury is mortified at the result there. However the relative unpopularity of Julian Brazier was undoubtedly a factor.
...mostly whoever posted the links to the Prosser and BES research which pointed the way to Survation and Yougov being the pollsters to follow. I still have it summarised on a card next to my pc....
I hate to fish for compliments, but was it me? I read the BES stuff and posted links, but I can't remember if the latter was for the former.
I'm still struggling to see why Corbyn and McDonnell being IRA sympathisers is not an issue while the DUP being religious zealots is. But that does seem to be where we are.
I fear you must have been tone deaf for the past seven weeks or was it my imagination that the Conservatives and their press allies might have mentioned Corbyn, McDonnell and the IRA/Hamas link about a gazillion times per nano second.
So what are we going to offer this bunch of zealots to get them to support Conservative party policies? They will need something to show their supporters if they are going to sell this. The real complications are going to come with what they want on the Irish border.
Not sure I see why the march is banned in the first place, we let anti-austerity nutters bugger up central London at regular intervals. If something so trivial would help win the DUP over I say go for it.
The Pink Order are not from Northern Ireland at all, but instead from the country I am from - the Nudistan Sexual Republic. They are proud homosexuals who march in honour of the Battle of the Bonk, in which forces loyal to our ruling Sexual Democrats, now known as the Bed Army, defeated a Christian fundamentalist force on the banks on the River Bonk way back at the end of the 17th century. This meant the end of fundamentalist power, and paved the way to setting up the Nudistan Sexual Republic.
Most are members of the Lesbyterian Church, the sole legal denomination in an otherwise atheist country, and wear their pink sashes with pride. They are intent to preserve their traditional marching routes in the face of continuing heterosexual intolerance.
The ongoing stand-off at the village of Bumcree between the Pink Order, the local heterosexual residents and the Bed Army, national Self-Defence Force of modern Nudistan, is an example of their determination to preserve their culture. The Sexual Democratic Party (SDP)-led coalition has come under mounting pressure to let the march go ahead from minor allies, such as the Nudistan Democratic Party, the Sexual Unionists, the Democratic Sexual Unionists, and the Progressive Sexual Unionists, and the odd stink-bomb outrage from the Nudistan Defence Association (NDA) formed by ex-members of the Bed Army, and actually represented in parliament by the Nudistan Democratic Party (itself a breakaway faction of the SDP) compounds the situation.
And the most hard-line of hard-line factions within Nudistan's Pink Order call themselves 'The Spirit of Bumcree', after their stance during the confrontation with the homophobic residents of the village of Bumcree. Only the presence of heavily armed soldiers of the Bed Army prevented the Spirit of Bumcree from leading their fellow Pinkmen down the road from the Lesbyterian lodge at the top of the village and over the bridge spanning the River Pork-rain through the predominantly heterosexual residential area.
They refuse to have anything to do with compromises put into effect by the Sexual Democrat-led government, coming into open confrontation with even the Pink Order's own leadership, who are nominally members of the Official Sexual Unionist Party, an ally of the SDP in the ruling coalition. The stand-off has been going on for over a year now, with no end in sight.
They have wide support across Northern Nudistan, especially in the Pink Order strongholds of Testos-tyrone, Spermanagh, East Wellfast, Pant-rim, Blond-on-derry, Bang-gore, Cross-ma-legs and Peniskillen.
Colonel K.
-- Colonel Kohabitz, Bed Army (ret.) Partnerstadt, Nudistan Sexual Republic
We should hope that this is real and the lunatic demands are such that May cannot accept them. Get this farce over as soon as possible. The only reasonable solution now is a new Tory leader followed by a new election.
So what are we going to offer this bunch of zealots to get them to support Conservative party policies? They will need something to show their supporters if they are going to sell this. The real complications are going to come with what they want on the Irish border.
They'll be offered some money, and the opportunity to keep out Corbyn.
My aunt who lives in a pretty village outside Canterbury is mortified at the result there. However the relative unpopularity of Julian Brazier was undoubtedly a factor.
She can move to Mansfield
Or more realistically Margate, Ramsgate, Dover, Chatham, Dartford etc
Comments
Perhaps this requires thinking out of the box. How about May continues as Conservative Party Leader to avoid wasting further Article 50 time. She reshuffles herself out of the PM post and gives it on a strictly interim basis to someone who is capable but has limited ambitions. Hammond? They then deliver what Brexit they can and then May resigns as Party Leader in 2019 and the Conservatives elect a new leader and PM who will decide whether to attempt to call an election or stay the remaining term.
Typing this out, it doesn't sound great. What are the alternatives?
The Wollaston woman is probably the only more dreadful option.
Actually a few more spring to mind now I'm thinking about it, but those two definitely remain in my top 5,
OTOH was it stated that participation in the plan was compulsory? Surely people could choose to take the risk of funding their social care, choosing to sell their property if they wished.
He did need a period of rehabilitation on the backbenches and if he'd took her advice he'd be on course for a cabinet return and maybe even a run at PM right now... Instead of looking like a bitter loser throwing rocks from his ivory tower in the Standard and petulantly gloating at other people's misfortunes.
Titanium Brexit
Freedom and economic prosperity
PM Priti Patel
That's my dream timeline
Life, though, could never get as good as that.
The only election debates that were any good were in 2010 - Brown, Cameron, and Clegg had time to discuss policy in detail and each speaker only had 2 others to shout over them, not 6. We only ended up with 7-party debates in 2015 because Cameron didn't want to be humiliated by Farage, so discovered a sudden concern for Greens and Scots/Welsh nationalists. It would make perfect sense to only include national (GB) parties in future - no SNP, no Plaid, and no fringe parties (Greens/UKIP).
Convoy of pigs in V formation buzz by at only 200 feet...
First there was the in/out referendum with no plan in the event of an out vote, then there was the post referendum phase where a hard brexit was driven through (under pressure from the bastards) without any real public consultation, then there was the attempt to call an election and make it all about Brexit, when it turned voters were concerned about other stuff as well, and don't (suprise suprise) want to make economic sacrifices in pursuit of Brexit.
The election result is the very best of all worlds for the 'saboteurs', because not only do the tories still own brexit, their chances of implementing it successfully are massively hindered by their parliamentary position.
Amazing times. The longer the Tories stay in power, the quicker public opinion will move against them and whatever version of Brexit they pursue.
Lord Heseltine is another one. He's been a nasty, vindictive old ****** for 30 years...
Heath spent 30 years in a sulk about Mrs Thatcher beating him for the leadership.
Osborne is just awful. May is awful. Gove is awful.
The list is endless...
Oh, we could crash out of the EU, but that is not what the voters were promised. No £350m a week...
*manoeuvres
https://twitter.com/nickeardleybbc/status/873897963592044544
https://twitter.com/siobhanfenton/status/873900403917803520
Come on...
Question. Who wins when everyone thinks they have cards they don't?
The election timing was extraordinarily odd.
We may have to wait for the memoirs to find out the reasons, but I suspect she's basically a sh*t gambler.
A50 was her ace card.
Perhaps she was thrown off by the local/mayoral results? Maybe the CPS stuff looked worse than it turned out to be?
Having the election on the eve of the A50 trigger would have completely changed the dynamic of both campaigns. She would have won - and won handsomely - IMO.
Brokenshire is dismal.
This has been the most profitable election ever for me by some distance - and I was betting *entirely* out of fear and cynicism - just as I did taking the 8/1 on my beloved CCFC to be relegated last season having seen the warning signs.
Bath. Ealing Central and Acton. Brighton Kemptown. Hove. Tooting. Enfield North. Harrow West, Eltham, North Norfolk.
Every single one came good - and by 'good', I mean, terrible, politically, obviously, but I've ended up with a tidy four figure profit.
The *only* constituency bet loser I had was Surrey East LDs at 66/1, and that was really, really extreme bedwetting after they won my county council ward last month and stood the same bloke in the GE.
I also saw value in Labour over 200 seats and Tory under 400, back when people were talking up a Tory landslide.
A 4 week campaign, "Delivering Brexit" manifesto and showing up at the debates would have won a small majority.
Certainly keeping WFA in Scotland but not England was madness but doesn't that already apply to student tuition fees, prescriptions and lord knows what else.
These problems didn't start a month ago but have been building up for years.
What Brexit hath wrought!
https://twitter.com/RobertSyms/status/873889064252039168
But we are back into aerial porcine territory.
The banker.
DUP supporters have urged the party to demand action on a banned loyalist march as the price of voting for Theresa May's minority government.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4593224/DUP-supporters-want-PM-sanction-banned-Orange-march.html
Last years vote is history, just like the Tory majority in parliament. May could use the Referendum as a mandate before the GE but the result from the 8th June 2017 supersedes last years vote. I voted Tory to keep Corbyn out - I did not vote Tory for some nutty Brexit reason and I know other Remain voters who did likewise. I suspect if Corbyn turned around and said he would keep the UK in the EU he would win a landslide. Things have moved on, the Daily Mail, The Sun and Daily Express have been caught like a rabbit in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle in being so pro Theresa May IMO. I actually think it rather amusing - she has damaged their credibility as well as her own.
Brexit means brexit
Strong and stable
There's a snake in my boot.
It was inevitable there would be a backlash and the Conservatives no longer had the LibDems as a shield.
Essentially you must support the least worst party and hope they inflict the least worst damage to the nation. Anything more positive else is a bonus.
http://labour-uncut.co.uk/2017/06/09/i-phone-banked-for-four-weeks-but-picked-up-no-labour-surge-and-then-on-polling-day-there-it-was/#.WTvdprDu6bQ.facebook
https://twitter.com/DavidMundellDCT/status/873570677034549248
I can see Tory MPs defecting if she caves to a DUP deal which is overly generous.
But her non reshuffle is suggesting to me that she knows she's gone. Or has been told.
Jezza is PM, he moves labour to the left and they turn the spending taps on. OK, Inflation hits record heights, Jezza blames Brexit, even before it happens, then he blames International speculators, but our enormous and growing deficits and debt cease to matter so much as we're paying them back in worthless sterling.
Things get worse so he blames Farmer Jones. Being a Trot, he finally blames International borders. But no need to worry, just print more money. Jezza re-elected for another five years, decides by popular acclaim (Facebook) that any more elections are unnecessary. Jezza arranges member of immediate family to take over and resigns.
There you are, no need to worry.
Not in my case it wasn't ....... I made an overall profit of ~ £2,600 incl just over £1k on the spreads by buying Labour seats at 162 and Turnout at 63.5% and selling Tory seats at an average strike price of around 396 seats.
Contrary to Pulpstar's "Brave" caution, Labour waltzed in at Dewsbury , a bet I loaded onto at between 7/2 and 4/1, whereas of course Tim Farron held on in Westmoreland where he suggested the Tories would win.
My one disappointment was narrowly losing out in Richmond Park where I and others had backed the LibDem's candidate at Betfair's *cough* generous odds of 25/1. In the event Zak recaptured the seat for the Tories by a few hundred votes.
One of the nicest feelings in online betting is hauling in all the profits from numerous bookies after the event.
These days I never bet on horses which I view as being a mug's game, but I'm now in a nicely liquid state to have a few selective punts on next football season's winners and losers. Speaking of which, many congrats to England's Under 17's side (managed by ex-Derby County Player and Assistant Manager Paul Simpson) on their winning the World Championship earlier this afternoon.
https://twitter.com/Cairdeliverpool/status/873799961812627456
Not that I approve of the deal. But nor do I approve of rampant hypocrisy.
The one silver lining from this godawful shitty mess is that UKIP got well and truly crushed on Thursday night!
The PINK ORDER
by Colonel Kohabitz
The Pink Order are not from Northern Ireland at all, but instead from the
country I am from - the Nudistan Sexual Republic. They are proud
homosexuals who march in honour of the Battle of the Bonk, in which
forces loyal to our ruling Sexual Democrats, now known as the Bed Army,
defeated a Christian fundamentalist force on the banks on the River Bonk
way back at the end of the 17th century. This meant the end of fundamentalist
power, and paved the way to setting up the Nudistan Sexual Republic.
Most are members of the Lesbyterian Church, the sole legal denomination in
an otherwise atheist country, and wear their pink sashes with pride. They
are intent to preserve their traditional marching routes in the face of
continuing heterosexual intolerance.
The ongoing stand-off at the village of Bumcree between the Pink Order,
the local heterosexual residents and the Bed Army, national Self-Defence
Force of modern Nudistan, is an example of their determination to preserve
their culture. The Sexual Democratic Party (SDP)-led coalition has come
under mounting pressure to let the march go ahead from minor allies, such
as the Nudistan Democratic Party, the Sexual Unionists, the Democratic
Sexual Unionists, and the Progressive Sexual Unionists, and the odd
stink-bomb outrage from the Nudistan Defence Association (NDA) formed by
ex-members of the Bed Army, and actually represented in parliament by the
Nudistan Democratic Party (itself a breakaway faction of the SDP)
compounds the situation.
And the most hard-line of hard-line factions within Nudistan's Pink
Order call themselves 'The Spirit of Bumcree', after their stance during
the confrontation with the homophobic residents of the village of Bumcree.
Only the presence of heavily armed soldiers of the Bed Army prevented the
Spirit of Bumcree from leading their fellow Pinkmen down the road from the
Lesbyterian lodge at the top of the village and over the bridge spanning the
River Pork-rain through the predominantly heterosexual residential area.
They refuse to have anything to do with compromises put into effect by
the Sexual Democrat-led government, coming into open confrontation with
even the Pink Order's own leadership, who are nominally members of the
Official Sexual Unionist Party, an ally of the SDP in the ruling
coalition. The stand-off has been going on for over a year now, with no
end in sight.
They have wide support across Northern Nudistan, especially in the Pink
Order strongholds of Testos-tyrone, Spermanagh, East Wellfast, Pant-rim,
Blond-on-derry, Bang-gore, Cross-ma-legs and Peniskillen.
Colonel K.
--
Colonel Kohabitz, Bed Army (ret.)
Partnerstadt,
Nudistan Sexual Republic
Frenemies?
Or more realistically Margate, Ramsgate, Dover, Chatham, Dartford etc