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SystemSystem Posts: 12,170
edited December 2019 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » What Next for the Parties?

The Tories

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  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,729
    Forst like Boris with his crushing victory
  • Second, like Jo Swinson.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,936
    Third, like Remain.
  • Dispossessed. Going forth...
  • Fifth like the next election Labour loses.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,359
    Winner like the SNP
  • 6th like Lord Buckethead
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,590
    malcolmg said:

    Winner like the SNP

    The SNP needs Labour to be stronger to truly win. In this Parliamentary arithmetic they're really pretty irrelevant.
  • Chris_AChris_A Posts: 1,237
    One nation means England. Or perhaps England and Wales. There will be no UK at the 2024 election.
  • Can I suggest Ian Murray for Labour leader? Saw off a challenge from McCluskey, held on in the face of SNP surge, MP from outside M25 ;)
  • At that backwards talking Enoch was rather good.
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331

    Can I suggest Ian Murray for Labour leader? Saw off a challenge from McCluskey, held on in the face of SNP surge, MP from outside M25 ;)

    Can I suggest Ian Murray for Labour leader? Saw off a challenge from McCluskey, held on in the face of SNP surge, MP from outside M25 ;)

    Can I suggest Ian Murray for Labour leader? Saw off a challenge from McCluskey, held on in the face of SNP surge, MP from outside M25 ;)

    Can I suggest Ian Murray for Labour leader? Saw off a challenge from McCluskey, held on in the face of SNP surge, MP from outside M25 ;)

    Can I suggest Ian Murray for Labour leader? Saw off a challenge from McCluskey, held on in the face of SNP surge, MP from outside M25 ;)

    Could do worse, a lot worse ...
  • Can I suggest Ian Murray for Labour leader? Saw off a challenge from McCluskey, held on in the face of SNP surge, MP from outside M25 ;)

    He would have to put the word "Labour" on his election literature, then, and he wouldn't win.
  • Can I suggest Ian Murray for Labour leader? Saw off a challenge from McCluskey, held on in the face of SNP surge, MP from outside M25 ;)

    He would have to put the word "Labour" on his election literature, then, and he wouldn't win.
    Damnit.
  • DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    My view is unchanged, he does not deserve to be PM, and the country deserves better.

    He may or may not be a good PM, he may or may not swing to the centre, he may choose reform, he might not, none of us can be realistically confident in what we are getting. I hope he does well.

    His achievements are based largely upon being up against Corbyn, the most unpopular leader of the opposition ever.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,148
    In Northern Ireland the Unionist parties won 43% and the Nationalists 38%, the Alliance were the main gainers
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,864
    For Labour Wes Streeting is the answer. I very much doubt that it is an answer that the self indulgent and delusional membership want to hear even after 4 consecutive defeats. But it is.
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331
    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    Not from me you didn’t. I still loathe him as much as ever.
  • A
    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    At every stage his guiding principle will be what’s best for him. Be careful: if he decides that he is better served by jettisoning Scotland, you’ll find yourself in an independent Scotland far quicker than you could have imagined.
  • spire2spire2 Posts: 183
    surprised to see David Miliband drifting on betfair
  • DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    Hell of a gamble, but you've got to give it to him. Campaign was tightly controlled, let Labour walk into bear traps. Knew who was poor in the media and kept them out of sign (JRM etc).

    What happens now is what he wants his legacy to be, and also whether he wants more than one term. Labour are mortally wounded, so if he can put together a decent domestic policy agenda post Brexit, he could probably see off a mini Corbyn Labour leader in '24.
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,590
    DavidL said:

    For Labour Wes Streeting is the answer. I very much doubt that it is an answer that the self indulgent and delusional membership want to hear even after 4 consecutive defeats. But it is.

    Yes, very much enjoyed his interviews today. Looks about 19 still so not leader material - but no less so than any of the supposed serious candidates.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,382
    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    He will never be forgiven for turning out not to be lying about being Eurosceptic.
  • Gabs3Gabs3 Posts: 836

    RobD said:

    Another loser out of this election (out of many). The various twitter accounts or forecasters who kept “reweighting” opinion polls to show the “true” result (I.e the one they wanted).

    Have we heard from that centrist-what’s-his-face-red-phone chap recently?

    Social media bubble.

    https://twitter.com/centrist_phone/status/1205426716212109312

    :p
    Lovely guy....

    https://twitter.com/centrist_phone/status/1205457825654353926
    Is he on spice?
    He is 100% correct on this point, though most of us don't like admitting it.

    https://www.twitter.com/centrist_phone/status/1205457816183615489
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,381
    HYUFD said:

    In Northern Ireland the Unionist parties won 43% and the Nationalists 38%, the Alliance were the main gainers

    Pretty much the same as the Euro and local elections. There's a big chunk of people who used to vote UUP now voting Alliance. Much as I disliked Unionist losses, it was at least good to see the Sinn Fein vote was well down. Both they and the DUP really deserve a kicking.
  • DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    I consider him more of a sheep in wolf's clothing to be honest.

    I would take issue with your final sentence: Cameron had his flaws, as we all do, but he worked bloody hard and was far less lazy than Boris.

    In fact, even Boris admitted it.
  • paulyork64paulyork64 Posts: 2,507
    Orgreave now has a Conservative MP.

    Changing times.
  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483

    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    Hell of a gamble, but you've got to give it to him. Campaign was tightly controlled, let Labour walk into bear traps. Knew who was poor in the media and kept them out of sign (JRM etc).

    What happens now is what he wants his legacy to be, and also whether he wants more than one term. Labour are mortally wounded, so if he can put together a decent domestic policy agenda post Brexit, he could probably see off a mini Corbyn Labour leader in '24.
    He won because he was up against the worst labour leader in history, he won by having one policy ‘get brexit done’ he won because he couldn’t lose. Let’s see in six months what emerges and if there is any competence in the Tory front bench. I’m sure eventually it will fall apart but for once I hope I’m wrong, the first test is how we leave the EU. After that we can start to form an opinion but at least he isn’t corbyn, it is just a shame they did not lose another 50 seats so that labour can return to sanity but it doesn’t look good.
  • Excellent article by Cyclefree.

    I think Labour arriving at the conclusion that the policies were great, and just the leader awful, is pretty likely, I'm afraid.
  • I wonder how the election would have gone under AV?

    Innocent face.
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,590

    Excellent article by Cyclefree.

    I think Labour arriving at the conclusion that the policies were great, and just the leader awful, is pretty likely, I'm afraid.

    It's not the conclusion they're really reaching though is it.

    What's happening is several people deciding who they want as leader, and then searching round for a narrative which justifies that choice. Then they'll argue about which narrative is true, but really all they'll be thinking about is who they want.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,381

    Excellent article by Cyclefree.

    I think Labour arriving at the conclusion that the policies were great, and just the leader awful, is pretty likely, I'm afraid.

    I agree it was an excellent article.

    I'm afraid Luton remains a Labour fortress. I voted for Gavin Shuker, this time, who I thought deserved credit for resigning from Labour over anti-Semitism, and who ran as an independent.
  • Stop Boris protests in London....they don't seem to get this General Election lark.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,936

    Stop Boris protests in London....they don't seem to get this General Election lark.

    Sad.
  • RobD said:

    Stop Boris protests in London....they don't seem to get this General Election lark.

    Sad.
    Its a coup.....
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,602
    Just about to watch Channel 4 News.
  • Andy_JS said:

    Just about to watch Channel 4 News.

    Must be like a wake.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,559
    Chris_A said:

    One nation means England. Or perhaps England and Wales. There will be no UK at the 2024 election.

    Maybe. Are there others around who support a united Ireland and oppose an independent Scotland? The former looks sensible now in a new way since the border problems over Brexit, and DUP being such antediluvian idiots. The latter looks more difficult now we know what EU hard borders are like, and the Scottish currency issue cannot be evaded twice in a row.
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,751
    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    I still think he's thick and a general "retrobate."

    I'm just hoping his selfish and untrustworthy side will cause him to stab the Tory nutters in the back.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,121
    edited December 2019
    I do wonder about some "commentators". The BBC just had on the guy who did that Panorama on Boris, talking about how the polls got it totally wrong again...and that he was at a party last night where the opinion was somewhere between Jezza largest party to Tory largest party.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,602

    Stop Boris protests in London....they don't seem to get this General Election lark.

    They're embarrassing themselves.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,864

    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    I consider him more of a sheep in wolf's clothing to be honest.

    I would take issue with your final sentence: Cameron had his flaws, as we all do, but he worked bloody hard and was far less lazy than Boris.

    In fact, even Boris admitted it.
    I really admired and liked Cameron and Osborne but I always had the impression that the latter was doing the heavy lifting. Cameron seemed to me to have that quick intelligence, the sort which could pick up half remembered notes the night before and turn them into a brilliant paper the next day. Osborne was much more strategic. And so is Boris and people don’t see it even now.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,291

    Stop Boris protests in London....they don't seem to get this General Election lark.

    LOL! :D
  • Ashcroft. I don't know how accurate this is for postal votes, but it seems far higher than expected:

    "Postal votes

    We found 38% saying they had voted by post. The Conservatives won 48% of postal votes, with 29% going to Labour and 13% to the Lib Dems. 41% of Conservative and Lib Dem voters voted by post, compared to 34% of Labour and 33% of SNP voters."

    Maybe that helped Boris, and explains why his majority was more likely the first MRP rather than the second.
  • DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? ...

    Not from me. And when he betrays the Brexit brigade and does what is best for Boris you will understand why.
  • Gabs3Gabs3 Posts: 836

    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    He will never be forgiven for turning out not to be lying about being Eurosceptic.
    My biggest worry is euroscepticism just being far more politically popular than anyone realised:


    - Big win for UKIP in 2014 Euro elections
    - Surprise win for Tories in GE 2015 with referendum promise
    - Surprise win for Leave in 2016 referendum
    - Big win for BXP in 2019 Euro elections
    - Big win for Tories in GE 2019 with clear hard Brexit promise

    I am now seriously worried about prospects for Rejoin.
  • ozymandiasozymandias Posts: 1,503
    Andy_JS said:

    Stop Boris protests in London....they don't seem to get this General Election lark.

    They're embarrassing themselves.
    Yeah but the youth turnout. Twitter said so. There were the photos of the poll queues.

    Labour won. Twitter bloke says so.


  • Sean_F said:

    Excellent article by Cyclefree.

    I think Labour arriving at the conclusion that the policies were great, and just the leader awful, is pretty likely, I'm afraid.

    I agree it was an excellent article.

    I'm afraid Luton remains a Labour fortress. I voted for Gavin Shuker, this time, who I thought deserved credit for resigning from Labour over anti-Semitism, and who ran as an independent.
    Luton is probably unwinnable for anyone but Labour for the foreseeable future.
  • Gabs3Gabs3 Posts: 836
    Andy_JS said:

    Stop Boris protests in London....they don't seem to get this General Election lark.

    They're embarrassing themselves.
    Given the people were lied to, the GE should be rerun with a People's election.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,602

    Orgreave now has a Conservative MP.

    Changing times.

    Does Arthur Scargill still live in a flat on the Barbican Estate?
  • DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? ...

    Not from me. And when he betrays the Brexit brigade and does what is best for Boris you will understand why.
    It is quite astounding how Boris Johnson screws group after group, and still they queue up certain that they won’t be screwed next.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,121
    edited December 2019

    Ashcroft. I don't know how accurate this is for postal votes, but it seems far higher than expected:

    "Postal votes

    We found 38% saying they had voted by post. The Conservatives won 48% of postal votes, with 29% going to Labour and 13% to the Lib Dems. 41% of Conservative and Lib Dem voters voted by post, compared to 34% of Labour and 33% of SNP voters."

    Maybe that helped Boris, and explains why his majority was more likely the first MRP rather than the second.

    I think YouGov / MRP were a tad unlucky that they did it at the height of photo-gate. The day before they had the Tories 20 seats higher on I think 10% lead.
  • DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    Hell of a gamble, but you've got to give it to him. Campaign was tightly controlled, let Labour walk into bear traps. Knew who was poor in the media and kept them out of sign (JRM etc).

    What happens now is what he wants his legacy to be, and also whether he wants more than one term. Labour are mortally wounded, so if he can put together a decent domestic policy agenda post Brexit, he could probably see off a mini Corbyn Labour leader in '24.
    If may be that Jo Swinson is the person most directly responsible for Brexit.

    She pushed hard for an early election, and eventually with the SNP shamed Labour into supporting it too, and it couldn't have gone more wrong for her.

    Hubris to the power of ten.
  • DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    I consider him more of a sheep in wolf's clothing to be honest.

    I would take issue with your final sentence: Cameron had his flaws, as we all do, but he worked bloody hard and was far less lazy than Boris.

    In fact, even Boris admitted it.
    I really admired and liked Cameron and Osborne but I always had the impression that the latter was doing the heavy lifting. Cameron seemed to me to have that quick intelligence, the sort which could pick up half remembered notes the night before and turn them into a brilliant paper the next day. Osborne was much more strategic. And so is Boris and people don’t see it even now.
    Strategic - extremely. He is a man who wanted to be the first to be PM here and President in the US (until they wanted him to pay his taxes). You dont have that objective and achieve half of it without strategy.

    It is the objective of the strategy we differ on. My admittedly cynical interpretation is its all about him and how he is perceived. So if its advantageous to him (not the country or the people) to end the UK union or perhaps run big budget deficits to leave a problem in the distant future thats completely fine with him.

    For all their faults, Osborne and Cameron, had a balance between personal ambition and doing the right thing for the country.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,148
    The Tories polled better with skilled working class and lower middle class voters than upper middle class voters last night, though they won both. The Tories will thus be a less neoliberal and pro big business party and government than they were in the Cameron years and a more socially conservative, pro small business and big spending one.

    Labour now has to decide if it wants to move back to the centre after its rout under Corbyn under a leader like Keir Starmer or Jess Phillips or stick with the left under a Burgon or Long Bailey and gift Boris and the Tories another decade in power. The LDs best strategy is likely to hope Labour stays left and stick to the liberal centre
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,121
    edited December 2019
    Gabs3 said:

    RobD said:

    Another loser out of this election (out of many). The various twitter accounts or forecasters who kept “reweighting” opinion polls to show the “true” result (I.e the one they wanted).

    Have we heard from that centrist-what’s-his-face-red-phone chap recently?

    Social media bubble.

    https://twitter.com/centrist_phone/status/1205426716212109312

    :p
    Lovely guy....

    https://twitter.com/centrist_phone/status/1205457825654353926
    Is he on spice?
    He is 100% correct on this point, though most of us don't like admitting it.

    www.twitter.com/centrist_phone/status/1205457816183615489
    Is he correct? Ed Miliband offered basically that kind of manifesto with nationalized rail (in quite a sensible way) and a reasonable team around him and yet Call me Dave beat him.

    The polling keeps saying these ideas are popular, but when it actually gets to the ballot box they don't win.
  • A

    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    At every stage his guiding principle will be what’s best for him. Be careful: if he decides that he is better served by jettisoning Scotland, you’ll find yourself in an independent Scotland far quicker than you could have imagined.
    He has already jettisoned Northern Ireland. It will be interesting to see if he rows back on the Irish Sea border now that he no longer has to worry about the ERG.

    It will be Boris's Brexit Sh*tshow for the next few years.
  • brokenwheelbrokenwheel Posts: 3,352

    Gabs3 said:

    RobD said:

    Another loser out of this election (out of many). The various twitter accounts or forecasters who kept “reweighting” opinion polls to show the “true” result (I.e the one they wanted).

    Have we heard from that centrist-what’s-his-face-red-phone chap recently?

    Social media bubble.

    https://twitter.com/centrist_phone/status/1205426716212109312

    :p
    Lovely guy....

    https://twitter.com/centrist_phone/status/1205457825654353926
    Is he on spice?
    He is 100% correct on this point, though most of us don't like admitting it.

    www.twitter.com/centrist_phone/status/1205457816183615489
    Is he correct? Ed Miliband offered basically that kind of manifesto with nationalized rail (in quite a sensible way) and a reasonable team around him and yet Call me Dave beat him.
    Yeah but he couldn't eat a bacon sandwich properly.
  • HYUFD said:

    The Tories polled better with skilled working class and lower middle class voters than upper middle class voters last night, though they won both. The Tories will thus be a less neoliberal and pro big business party and government than they were in the Cameron years and a more socially conservative, pro small business and big spending one.

    Labour now has to decide if it wants to move back to the centre after its rout under Corbyn under a leader like Keir Starmer or Jess Phillips or stick with the left under a Burgon or Long Bailey and gift Boris and the Tories another decade in power. The LDs best strategy is likely to hope Labour stays left and stick to the liberal centre

    The LDs best results have always been with the other parties close to the centre. If the others are extreme, especially Labour extreme, they get squeezed heavily.
  • DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? ...

    Not from me. And when he betrays the Brexit brigade and does what is best for Boris you will understand why.
    It is quite astounding how Boris Johnson screws group after group, and still they queue up certain that they won’t be screwed next.
    It is human nature Alastair. When indulging in risky activities, most people believe that they will be OK, unlike the other poor schmuks......
  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    Gabs3 said:

    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    He will never be forgiven for turning out not to be lying about being Eurosceptic.
    My biggest worry is euroscepticism just being far more politically popular than anyone realised:


    - Big win for UKIP in 2014 Euro elections
    - Surprise win for Tories in GE 2015 with referendum promise
    - Surprise win for Leave in 2016 referendum
    - Big win for BXP in 2019 Euro elections
    - Big win for Tories in GE 2019 with clear hard Brexit promise

    I am now seriously worried about prospects for Rejoin.
    Forget it for ten years, sit back and see what happens I think he will fail but he must be given a chance to succeed corbyn gifted that to him. Six months and then we can start judging let’s hope labour and the lib dems use the time to sort themselves out, the next elections are twenty weeks away!
  • Gabs3 said:

    RobD said:

    Another loser out of this election (out of many). The various twitter accounts or forecasters who kept “reweighting” opinion polls to show the “true” result (I.e the one they wanted).

    Have we heard from that centrist-what’s-his-face-red-phone chap recently?

    Social media bubble.

    https://twitter.com/centrist_phone/status/1205426716212109312

    :p
    Lovely guy....

    https://twitter.com/centrist_phone/status/1205457825654353926
    Is he on spice?
    He is 100% correct on this point, though most of us don't like admitting it.

    www.twitter.com/centrist_phone/status/1205457816183615489
    Is he correct? Ed Miliband offered basically that kind of manifesto with nationalized rail (in quite a sensible way) and a reasonable team around him and yet Call me Dave beat him.
    Yeah but he couldn't eat a bacon sandwich properly.
    I thought he was jewish? Bacon sandwiches...... surely not!
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,148
    edited December 2019

    HYUFD said:

    The Tories polled better with skilled working class and lower middle class voters than upper middle class voters last night, though they won both. The Tories will thus be a less neoliberal and pro big business party and government than they were in the Cameron years and a more socially conservative, pro small business and big spending one.

    Labour now has to decide if it wants to move back to the centre after its rout under Corbyn under a leader like Keir Starmer or Jess Phillips or stick with the left under a Burgon or Long Bailey and gift Boris and the Tories another decade in power. The LDs best strategy is likely to hope Labour stays left and stick to the liberal centre

    The LDs best results have always been with the other parties close to the centre. If the others are extreme, especially Labour extreme, they get squeezed heavily.
    Not true in 2015 or 1983 with the SDP
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,208
    edited December 2019

    FF43 said:



    Why not expect a rebound in investment? Because investment is competitive. If you can invest in the EU knowing you have access to the bigger market and the regulatory environment is well understood you reduce your risk relative to investing in the UK. If you have operations in the UK you will probably want to keep them going and avoid the dislocation of moving and so you put in dollops of investment to keep them going. But the big investments will go to where you have greater certainty. That pretty much the case across lots of industries.

    Spoiler: no-one gives a f*ck about 1-2% GDP growth over a 10-year horizon.

    Remain is over. This is now about building a new political and economic settlement both with Europe, and worldwide, for the long-term.
    Actually it was over the three years after the referendum. The delta continues to increase. I don't worry too much about it either. I have neither thought that Brexit is economic Armageddon nor that we would do anything other than leave the European Union. The Brexit mess is emphatically a political one.

    So turning to Johnson in his pomp and the idea that he he will be the first Tory leader at last not to be undone by the curse of the European Union. He will most likely make the already intractable mess worse. When he talks about "getting Brexit done" like you might talk about the need to extract that rotten tooth, he isn't in fact building a new political and economic long term settlement with Europe and the world.

    The fundamental issue is that that there is no acceptable solution that doesn't involve a very close relationship with the EU, which will be on the EU's terms. The EU is not minded to protect the UK from the consequences of its decision to leave if that decision damages the EU and so will be rigorous in enforcing its will. That in turn is unacceptable to those who voted Leave to be masters of their ship and to get an unloved institution out of their lives. They will never be less in control nor hear more about the EU.

    Johnson's particular problem is that he has thrown his lot in with the No Dealers. They voted him in and will vote him out if they feel he has betrayed them. At the same time he has to get a functioning deal with the EU and on the back of that with third countries. It will consume everything for years. And if his agreement (that he denies) with the EU over the Irish Sea border is anything to go by, it will be bad.
  • DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    Hell of a gamble, but you've got to give it to him. Campaign was tightly controlled, let Labour walk into bear traps. Knew who was poor in the media and kept them out of sign (JRM etc).

    What happens now is what he wants his legacy to be, and also whether he wants more than one term. Labour are mortally wounded, so if he can put together a decent domestic policy agenda post Brexit, he could probably see off a mini Corbyn Labour leader in '24.
    If may be that Jo Swinson is the person most directly responsible for Brexit.

    She pushed hard for an early election, and eventually with the SNP shamed Labour into supporting it too, and it couldn't have gone more wrong for her.

    Hubris to the power of ten.
    Nigel Farage is most responsible for Brexit, followed by Cameron then Johnson.

    Johnsons deal would have passed without a GE, the conservative rebels were anti no dealers. Once Johnson had a deal, however shit, his position was pretty strong.
  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    HYUFD said:

    The Tories polled better with skilled working class and lower middle class voters than upper middle class voters last night, though they won both. The Tories will thus be a less neoliberal and pro big business party and government than they were in the Cameron years and a more socially conservative, pro small business and big spending one.

    Labour now has to decide if it wants to move back to the centre after its rout under Corbyn under a leader like Keir Starmer or Jess Phillips or stick with the left under a Burgon or Long Bailey and gift Boris and the Tories another decade in power. The LDs best strategy is likely to hope Labour stays left and stick to the liberal centre

    Fuck me I agree with you again, I must see a doctor!
  • :D:D:D

    Has he forgotten Boris's "triumphs" as Foreign Sec?
  • DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    Hell of a gamble, but you've got to give it to him. Campaign was tightly controlled, let Labour walk into bear traps. Knew who was poor in the media and kept them out of sign (JRM etc).

    What happens now is what he wants his legacy to be, and also whether he wants more than one term. Labour are mortally wounded, so if he can put together a decent domestic policy agenda post Brexit, he could probably see off a mini Corbyn Labour leader in '24.
    If may be that Jo Swinson is the person most directly responsible for Brexit.

    She pushed hard for an early election, and eventually with the SNP shamed Labour into supporting it too, and it couldn't have gone more wrong for her.

    Hubris to the power of ten.
    Nigel Farage is most responsible for Brexit, followed by Cameron then Johnson.

    Johnsons deal would have passed without a GE, the conservative rebels were anti no dealers. Once Johnson had a deal, however shit, his position was pretty strong.
    I don't agree. It would have been amended to death, to the point where his party could no longer support it.

    Obviously your first sentence has some truth but Swinson made sure Brexit happened whereas it was on life support over the Summer.
  • HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    The Tories polled better with skilled working class and lower middle class voters than upper middle class voters last night, though they won both. The Tories will thus be a less neoliberal and pro big business party and government than they were in the Cameron years and a more socially conservative, pro small business and big spending one.

    Labour now has to decide if it wants to move back to the centre after its rout under Corbyn under a leader like Keir Starmer or Jess Phillips or stick with the left under a Burgon or Long Bailey and gift Boris and the Tories another decade in power. The LDs best strategy is likely to hope Labour stays left and stick to the liberal centre

    The LDs best results have always been with the other parties close to the centre. If the others are extreme, especially Labour extreme, they get squeezed heavily.
    Not true in 2015 or 1983 with the SDP
    With Labour Blairite they average about 50 MPs. With Labour hard left they average about 15 MPs. I think its clear they do better if soft Tories are not petrified of a Labour government.
  • If may be that Jo Swinson is the person most directly responsible for Brexit.

    She pushed hard for an early election, and eventually with the SNP shamed Labour into supporting it too, and it couldn't have gone more wrong for her.

    Hubris to the power of ten.

    I actually agree with you for once. She got exactly what she deserved.
  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    A simple question to the PB brains trust... where does the opposition, that government require come from. The internal opposition has been eliminated, the Labour Party, without change do not have the front bench intelligence to provide it and the lib dems don’t have the numbers. The SNP are hung up on referendum so does it fall to the Lords?
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,864

    Stop Boris protests in London....they don't seem to get this General Election lark.

    In fairness they have been doing exactly the same since the 2016 referendum. I am sure that there is still another petition somewhere...
  • DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    Hell of a gamble, but you've got to give it to him. Campaign was tightly controlled, let Labour walk into bear traps. Knew who was poor in the media and kept them out of sign (JRM etc).

    What happens now is what he wants his legacy to be, and also whether he wants more than one term. Labour are mortally wounded, so if he can put together a decent domestic policy agenda post Brexit, he could probably see off a mini Corbyn Labour leader in '24.
    If may be that Jo Swinson is the person most directly responsible for Brexit.

    She pushed hard for an early election, and eventually with the SNP shamed Labour into supporting it too, and it couldn't have gone more wrong for her.

    Hubris to the power of ten.
    Nigel Farage is most responsible for Brexit, followed by Cameron then Johnson.

    Johnsons deal would have passed without a GE, the conservative rebels were anti no dealers. Once Johnson had a deal, however shit, his position was pretty strong.
    I don't agree. It would have been amended to death, to the point where his party could no longer support it.

    Obviously your first sentence has some truth but Swinson made sure Brexit happened whereas it was on life support over the Summer.
    The only significant demand the Tory rebels would have made is parliamentary scrutiny of the FTA agreement.
  • FF43 said:

    FF43 said:



    Why not expect a rebound in investment? Because investment is competitive. If you can invest in the EU knowing you have access to the bigger market and the regulatory environment is well understood you reduce your risk relative to investing in the UK. If you have operations in the UK you will probably want to keep them going and avoid the dislocation of moving and so you put in dollops of investment to keep them going. But the big investments will go to where you have greater certainty. That pretty much the case across lots of industries.

    Spoiler: no-one gives a f*ck about 1-2% GDP growth over a 10-year horizon.

    Remain is over. This is now about building a new political and economic settlement both with Europe, and worldwide, for the long-term.
    Actually it was over the three years after the referendum. The delta continues to increase. I don't worry too much about it either. I have neither thought that Brexit is economic Armageddon or that we would do anything other than leave the European Union. The Brexit mess is emphatically a political one.

    So turning to Johnson in his pomp and the idea that he he will be the first Tory leader at last not to be undone by the curse of the European Union. He will most likely make the already intractable mess worse. When he talks about "getting Brexit done" like you might talk about the need to extract that rotten tooth, he isn't in fact building a new political and economic long term settlement with Europe and the world.

    The fundamental issue is that that there is no acceptable solution that doesn't involve a very close relationship with the EU, which will be on the EU's terms. The EU is not minded to protect the UK from the consequences of its decision to leave if that decision damages the EU and so will be rigorous in enforcing its will. That in turn is unacceptable to those who voted Leave to be masters of their ship and to get an unloved institution out of their lives. They will never be less in control nor hear more about the EU.

    Johnson's particular problem is that he has thrown his lot in with the No Dealers. They voted him in and will vote him out if they feel he has betrayed them. At the same time he has to get a functioning deal with the EU and on the back of that with third countries. It will consume everything for years. And if his agreement (that he denies) with the EU over the Irish Sea border is anything to go by, it will be bad.
    You always take the most negative possible slant and the most pro EU position you can.

    You desperately don't want to be proved wrong (and will no doubt argue that whatever happens proves you were right regardless) but I now expect a good deal we can all get behind.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,775

    Gabs3 said:

    RobD said:

    Another loser out of this election (out of many). The various twitter accounts or forecasters who kept “reweighting” opinion polls to show the “true” result (I.e the one they wanted).

    Have we heard from that centrist-what’s-his-face-red-phone chap recently?

    Social media bubble.

    https://twitter.com/centrist_phone/status/1205426716212109312

    :p
    Lovely guy....

    https://twitter.com/centrist_phone/status/1205457825654353926
    Is he on spice?
    He is 100% correct on this point, though most of us don't like admitting it.

    www.twitter.com/centrist_phone/status/1205457816183615489
    Is he correct? Ed Miliband offered basically that kind of manifesto with nationalized rail (in quite a sensible way) and a reasonable team around him and yet Call me Dave beat him.
    Yeah but he couldn't eat a bacon sandwich properly.
    I thought he was jewish? Bacon sandwiches...... surely not!
    Bacon sandwiches are clearly an unfair matter. I'd not trust anyone that said they didn't like a bacon sandwich. There may of course be those that have never tried had one, but once you have you're not going to change your mind. This particularly applies to anyone that drinks.

    TSE is I'm sure now having a similar Damascene moment with some pineapple.
  • HYUFD said:

    The Tories polled better with skilled working class and lower middle class voters than upper middle class voters last night, though they won both. The Tories will thus be a less neoliberal and pro big business party and government than they were in the Cameron years and a more socially conservative, pro small business and big spending one.

    Labour now has to decide if it wants to move back to the centre after its rout under Corbyn under a leader like Keir Starmer or Jess Phillips or stick with the left under a Burgon or Long Bailey and gift Boris and the Tories another decade in power. The LDs best strategy is likely to hope Labour stays left and stick to the liberal centre

    The LDs best results have always been with the other parties close to the centre. If the others are extreme, especially Labour extreme, they get squeezed heavily.
    If I were the LDs I'd be very worried about those Ashcroft numbers.

    Huge numbers of their voters voted for them reluctantly and negatively.

    That doesn't bode well.
  • nico67nico67 Posts: 4,502

    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    Hell of a gamble, but you've got to give it to him. Campaign was tightly controlled, let Labour walk into bear traps. Knew who was poor in the media and kept them out of sign (JRM etc).

    What happens now is what he wants his legacy to be, and also whether he wants more than one term. Labour are mortally wounded, so if he can put together a decent domestic policy agenda post Brexit, he could probably see off a mini Corbyn Labour leader in '24.
    If may be that Jo Swinson is the person most directly responsible for Brexit.

    She pushed hard for an early election, and eventually with the SNP shamed Labour into supporting it too, and it couldn't have gone more wrong for her.

    Hubris to the power of ten.
    I disagree the only way to stop Brexit was one last throw of the dice . You were never going to get a referendum without a government willing to put the legislation through .

    The EU only agreed to an extension because an election was on the cards . And even if they had given that without an election what were they supposed to do in January if Parliament was still in a zombie state of not passing the deal and not having an election.

    The EU have better things to do with their time then sit there watching MPs never agree to anything .
  • nico67 said:

    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    Hell of a gamble, but you've got to give it to him. Campaign was tightly controlled, let Labour walk into bear traps. Knew who was poor in the media and kept them out of sign (JRM etc).

    What happens now is what he wants his legacy to be, and also whether he wants more than one term. Labour are mortally wounded, so if he can put together a decent domestic policy agenda post Brexit, he could probably see off a mini Corbyn Labour leader in '24.
    If may be that Jo Swinson is the person most directly responsible for Brexit.

    She pushed hard for an early election, and eventually with the SNP shamed Labour into supporting it too, and it couldn't have gone more wrong for her.

    Hubris to the power of ten.
    I disagree the only way to stop Brexit was one last throw of the dice . You were never going to get a referendum without a government willing to put the legislation through .

    The EU only agreed to an extension because an election was on the cards . And even if they had given that without an election what were they supposed to do in January if Parliament was still in a zombie state of not passing the deal and not having an election.

    The EU have better things to do with their time then sit there watching MPs never agree to anything .
    And the way Swinson could have found a government to put a referendum through is by working with Labour. Swinson's refusal to work with Labour was her great blunder.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,208

    FF43 said:


    Spoiler: no-one gives a f*ck about 1-2% GDP growth over a 10-year horizon.

    Remain is over. This is now about building a new political and economic settlement both with Europe, and worldwide, for the long-term.

    Actually it was over the three years after the referendum. The delta continues to increase. I don't worry too much about it either. I have neither thought that Brexit is economic Armageddon or that we would do anything other than leave the European Union. The Brexit mess is emphatically a political one.

    So turning to Johnson in his pomp and the idea that he he will be the first Tory leader at last not to be undone by the curse of the European Union. He will most likely make the already intractable mess worse. When he talks about "getting Brexit done" like you might talk about the need to extract that rotten tooth, he isn't in fact building a new political and economic long term settlement with Europe and the world.

    The fundamental issue is that that there is no acceptable solution that doesn't involve a very close relationship with the EU, which will be on the EU's terms. The EU is not minded to protect the UK from the consequences of its decision to leave if that decision damages the EU and so will be rigorous in enforcing its will. That in turn is unacceptable to those who voted Leave to be masters of their ship and to get an unloved institution out of their lives. They will never be less in control nor hear more about the EU.

    Johnson's particular problem is that he has thrown his lot in with the No Dealers. They voted him in and will vote him out if they feel he has betrayed them. At the same time he has to get a functioning deal with the EU and on the back of that with third countries. It will consume everything for years. And if his agreement (that he denies) with the EU over the Irish Sea border is anything to go by, it will be bad.
    You always take the most negative possible slant and the most pro EU position you can.

    You desperately don't want to be proved wrong (and will no doubt argue that whatever happens proves you were right regardless) but I now expect a good deal we can all get behind.
    Can I ask a straight question? Do you genuinely think having a border down the Irish Sea where goods are checked in and out of Northern Ireland is a) a good idea and b) better than what exists now?

    Because that's what Johnson has agreed to, although he denies it. The denial is telling in itself. This will be a hard treaty agreement with sanctions for breach.
  • If may be that Jo Swinson is the person most directly responsible for Brexit.

    She pushed hard for an early election, and eventually with the SNP shamed Labour into supporting it too, and it couldn't have gone more wrong for her.

    Hubris to the power of ten.

    I actually agree with you for once. She got exactly what she deserved.
    Catastrophic to run a presidential style campaign in this climate. Looked arrogant, and she paid the price. Neglected her own constituency, and got binned there too.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,864
    Chris said:

    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    I still think he's thick and a general "retrobate."

    I'm just hoping his selfish and untrustworthy side will cause him to stab the Tory nutters in the back.
    You think he’s just lucky? Twice Mayor of Labour London, took over leave when 15% behind in the polls and supported by the entire establishment, contrived to get rid of the most dangerous opponents at each round of the Tory leadership campaign, forced an election on his terms and won a smashing victory. Was there not some comment by that South African golfer Player that the more he practiced the luckier he got? He wants to be underestimated and you are swallowing it whole.
  • algarkirk said:

    Chris_A said:

    One nation means England. Or perhaps England and Wales. There will be no UK at the 2024 election.

    Maybe. Are there others around who support a united Ireland and oppose an independent Scotland? The former looks sensible now in a new way since the border problems over Brexit, and DUP being such antediluvian idiots. The latter looks more difficult now we know what EU hard borders are like, and the Scottish currency issue cannot be evaded twice in a row.
    Half of Scottish Labour get misty eyed over Ireland, but no surrender to the Nats, eh?
  • Gabs3Gabs3 Posts: 836
    The biggest challenge for the Tories now is to negotiate trade deals with the three big blocs: the Trans-Pacific bloc (inc Japan, CANZUK), the EU and the US. They will have to be very smart to work out which agreements make other ones impossible and what compromises can be done. I worry they will just deal with them in whatever order they come up and realise what problems they have made for themselves at a later point.
  • HYUFD said:

    If I were the LDs I'd be very worried about those Ashcroft numbers.
    Huge numbers of their voters voted for them reluctantly and negatively.
    That doesn't bode well.
    1997 LD Manifesto with a handful of word swaps to update. Would still have been a far better platform this year.

    "There are no quick fixes, no instant solutions. Austerity and Brexit have left our society divided, our public services run down, our sense of community fractured and our economy under-performing. There is much to be done to prepare Britain for the next decade and no time to waste in getting started.

    We are in politics not just to manage things better, but to make things happen. To build a more prosperous, fair and open society. We believe in the market economy as the best way to deliver prosperity and distribute economic benefits. But we recognise that market mechanisms on their own are not enough; that the private sector alone cannot ensure that there are good services for everyone, or promote employment opportunities, or tackle economic inequality, or protect the environment for future generations.

    We believe in a society in which every citizen shares rights and responsibilities. But, we recognise that a strong country is built from the bottom, not the top: that conformity quickly becomes the enemy of diversity. And that the imposition of social blueprints leads to authoritarian centralised government. Liberal Democrats believe that power and opportunity, like wealth, should be widely spread.

    Above all, Liberal Democracy is about liberty. That does not just mean freedom from oppressive government. It means providing all citizens with the opportunity to build worthwhile lives for themselves and their families and helping them to recognise their responsibilities to the wider community.

    Liberal Democrats believe the role of democratic government is to protect and strengthen liberty, to redress the balance between the powerful and the weak, between rich and poor and between immediate gains and long-term environmental costs.

    That is the Liberal Democrat vision: of active government which invests in people, promotes their long-term prosperity and welfare, safeguards their security, and is answerable to them for its actions.

    Much of what we propose here requires no money - only political will. But where extra investment is required we say where it will come from. This is a menu with prices.

    The purpose of this manifesto is to widen opportunities for all.

    And its aim is to build a nation of self-reliant individuals, living in strong communities, backed by an enabling government."
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331
    edited December 2019

    nico67 said:

    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    Hell of a gamble, but you've got to give it to him. Campaign was tightly controlled, let Labour walk into bear traps. Knew who was poor in the media and kept them out of sign (JRM etc).

    What happens now is what he wants his legacy to be, and also whether he wants more than one term. Labour are mortally wounded, so if he can put together a decent domestic policy agenda post Brexit, he could probably see off a mini Corbyn Labour leader in '24.
    If may be that Jo Swinson is the person most directly responsible for Brexit.

    She pushed hard for an early election, and eventually with the SNP shamed Labour into supporting it too, and it couldn't have gone more wrong for her.

    Hubris to the power of ten.
    I disagree the only way to stop Brexit was one last throw of the dice . You were never going to get a referendum without a government willing to put the legislation through .

    The EU only agreed to an extension because an election was on the cards . And even if they had given that without an election what were they supposed to do in January if Parliament was still in a zombie state of not passing the deal and not having an election.

    The EU have better things to do with their time then sit there watching MPs never agree to anything .
    And the way Swinson could have found a government to put a referendum through is by working with Labour. Swinson's refusal to work with Labour was her great blunder.
    The answer to all these questions is Corbyn. E.g. Why did the tories win Bassetlaw? Why could Swinson not work with Labour? Why did Tory remainers not vote LD? Etc.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,121
    edited December 2019
    Gabs3 said:

    The biggest challenge for the Tories now is to negotiate trade deals with the three big blocs: the Trans-Pacific bloc (inc Japan, CANZUK), the EU and the US. They will have to be very smart to work out which agreements make other ones impossible and what compromises can be done. I worry they will just deal with them in whatever order they come up and realise what problems they have made for themselves at a later point.

    I am hoping the Tories have the sense to keep Boris doing his PR salesman job and keep him away from that, instead have somebody like Gove run the team that is needed to do the heavy lifting.
  • nico67nico67 Posts: 4,502
    edited December 2019

    nico67 said:

    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    Hell of a gamble, but you've got to give it to him. Campaign was tightly controlled, let Labour walk into bear traps. Knew who was poor in the media and kept them out of sign (JRM etc).

    What happens now is what he wants his legacy to be, and also whether he wants more than one term. Labour are mortally wounded, so if he can put together a decent domestic policy agenda post Brexit, he could probably see off a mini Corbyn Labour leader in '24.
    If may be that Jo Swinson is the person most directly responsible for Brexit.

    She pushed hard for an early election, and eventually with the SNP shamed Labour into supporting it too, and it couldn't have gone more wrong for her.

    Hubris to the power of ten.
    I disagree the only way to stop Brexit was one last throw of the dice . You were never going to get a referendum without a government willing to put the legislation through .

    The EU only agreed to an extension because an election was on the cards . And even if they had given that without an election what were they supposed to do in January if Parliament was still in a zombie state of not passing the deal and not having an election.

    The EU have better things to do with their time then sit there watching MPs never agree to anything .
    And the way Swinson could have found a government to put a referendum through is by working with Labour. Swinson's refusal to work with Labour was her great blunder.
    You mean working as in terms of a government of national unity in September . Because clearly if she had said in the GE she’d support Corbyn they’d have even less seats .

    To be blunt Corbyn has been kryptonite to the Remain cause . Woeful in the EU ref campaign , and then terrifying pro EU Tories away from the Lib Dems .

    PS I voted Labour inspite of Corbyn !
  • brokenwheelbrokenwheel Posts: 3,352
    edited December 2019

    HYUFD said:

    The Tories polled better with skilled working class and lower middle class voters than upper middle class voters last night, though they won both. The Tories will thus be a less neoliberal and pro big business party and government than they were in the Cameron years and a more socially conservative, pro small business and big spending one.

    Labour now has to decide if it wants to move back to the centre after its rout under Corbyn under a leader like Keir Starmer or Jess Phillips or stick with the left under a Burgon or Long Bailey and gift Boris and the Tories another decade in power. The LDs best strategy is likely to hope Labour stays left and stick to the liberal centre

    The LDs best results have always been with the other parties close to the centre. If the others are extreme, especially Labour extreme, they get squeezed heavily.
    If I were the LDs I'd be very worried about those Ashcroft numbers.

    Huge numbers of their voters voted for them reluctantly and negatively.

    That doesn't bode well.
    That's the whole danger of pitching up on the wrong side of a losing battle. The LDs are claiming small comfort from an improved share of the vote, but once we leave in some form much of that vote has little reason to hang around.
  • ReggieCideReggieCide Posts: 4,312


    If may be that Jo Swinson is the person most directly responsible for Brexit.

    She pushed hard for an early election, and eventually with the SNP shamed Labour into supporting it too, and it couldn't have gone more wrong for her.

    Hubris to the power of ten.

    I actually agree with you for once. She got exactly what she deserved.
    Catastrophic to run a presidential style campaign in this climate. Looked arrogant, and she paid the price. Neglected her own constituency, and got binned there too.
    She thought she had a chance of being the next PM. That's beyond hubris.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,208
    edited December 2019
    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    Never thought Johnson a fool. He has a very clear and ruthless understanding of where his interests lies.

    My issue with him is that he is unprincipled, dishonest, feckless and a fraud and totally unfit to be in a position of trust.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,291
    RobD said:
    With this 80 seat majority Boris can bin FTPA and finally get on with boundary reform. :D
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,484
    Gabs3 said:

    The biggest challenge for the Tories now is to negotiate trade deals with the three big blocs: the Trans-Pacific bloc (inc Japan, CANZUK), the EU and the US. They will have to be very smart to work out which agreements make other ones impossible and what compromises can be done. I worry they will just deal with them in whatever order they come up and realise what problems they have made for themselves at a later point.

    I don't agree. The biggest challenge is making items (or services) that people want to buy at a price they want to buy them at. We don't have a trade deal with India, but most of the clothes I'm standing up in are from there. Trade deals at best just shave pennies off transactions both ways. The obsession with them from both sides of the debate is foolish.
  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    nico67 said:

    nico67 said:

    DavidL said:

    Did I catch just a hint of withdrawal from the general contempt with which Boris has been showered on here? Is he just maybe not so foolish after all despite being dishonest, immoral and a general retrobate?

    Boris has won and won big. He has done so by being brave, willing to gamble and being ruthlessly disciplined about his message. It is a measure of his achievements that so many still seem to regard him as a bumbling fool. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I think that we will see what Cameron could have done had he been arsed.

    Hell of a gamble, but you've got to give it to him. Campaign was tightly controlled, let Labour walk into bear traps. Knew who was poor in the media and kept them out of sign (JRM etc).

    What happens now is what he wants his legacy to be, and also whether he wants more than one term. Labour are mortally wounded, so if he can put together a decent domestic policy agenda post Brexit, he could probably see off a mini Corbyn Labour leader in '24.
    If may be that Jo Swinson is the person most directly responsible for Brexit.

    She pushed hard for an early election, and eventually with the SNP shamed Labour into supporting it too, and it couldn't have gone more wrong for her.

    Hubris to the power of ten.
    I disagree the only way to stop Brexit was one last throw of the dice . You were never going to get a referendum without a government willing to put the legislation through .

    The EU only agreed to an extension because an election was on the cards . And even if they had given that without an election what were they supposed to do in January if Parliament was still in a zombie state of not passing the deal and not having an election.

    The EU have better things to do with their time then sit there watching MPs never agree to anything .
    And the way Swinson could have found a government to put a referendum through is by working with Labour. Swinson's refusal to work with Labour was her great blunder.
    You mean working as in terms of a government of national unity in September . Because clearly if she had said in the GE she’d support Corbyn they’d have even less seats .

    To be blunt Corbyn has been kryptonite to the Remain cause . Woeful in the EU ref campaign , and then terrifying pro EU Tories away from the Lib Dems .

    PS I voted Labour inspite of Corbyn !
    15 amendments for a referendum, none supported by labour. The possibility of a single issue stop brexit government not possible because it had to be corbyn, the failed labour leader time to go back and see where we go now.
  • ReggieCideReggieCide Posts: 4,312
    FF43 said:

    FF43 said:


    Spoiler: no-one gives a f*ck about 1-2% GDP growth over a 10-year horizon.

    Remain is over. This is now about building a new political and economic settlement both with Europe, and worldwide, for the long-term.

    Actually it was over the three years after the referendum. The delta continues to increase. I don't worry too much about it either. I have neither thought that Brexit is economic Armageddon or that we would do anything other than leave the European Union. The Brexit mess is emphatically a political one.

    So turning to Johnson in his pomp and the idea that he he will be the first Tory leader at last not to be undone by the curse of the European Union. He will most likely make the already intractable mess worse. When he talks about "getting Brexit done" like you might talk about the need to extract that rotten tooth, he isn't in fact building a new political and economic long term settlement with Europe and the world.

    The fundamental issue is that that there is no acceptable solution that doesn't involve a very close relationship with the EU, which will be on the EU's terms. The EU is not minded to protect the UK from the consequences of its decision to leave if that decision damages the EU and so will be rigorous in enforcing its will. That in turn is unacceptable to those who voted Leave to be masters of their ship and to get an unloved institution out of their lives. They will never be less in control nor hear more about the EU.

    Johnson's particular problem is that he has thrown his lot in with the No Dealers. They voted him in and will vote him out if they feel he has betrayed them. At the same time he has to get a functioning deal with the EU and on the back of that with third countries. It will consume everything for years. And if his agreement (that he denies) with the EU over the Irish Sea border is anything to go by, it will be bad.
    You always take the most negative possible slant and the most pro EU position you can.

    You desperately don't want to be proved wrong (and will no doubt argue that whatever happens proves you were right regardless) but I now expect a good deal we can all get behind.
    Can I ask a straight question? Do you genuinely think having a border down the Irish Sea where goods are checked in and out of Northern Ireland is a) a good idea and b) better than what exists now?

    Because that's what Johnson has agreed to, although he denies it. The denial is telling in itself. This will be a hard treaty agreement with sanctions for breach.
    The Irish border issue is pumped up out of all proportion. The Nats are now the majority and do you think they'll think twice about fucking off? I'm with the Nats.
  • HYUFD said:

    The Tories polled better with skilled working class and lower middle class voters than upper middle class voters last night, though they won both. The Tories will thus be a less neoliberal and pro big business party and government than they were in the Cameron years and a more socially conservative, pro small business and big spending one.

    Labour now has to decide if it wants to move back to the centre after its rout under Corbyn under a leader like Keir Starmer or Jess Phillips or stick with the left under a Burgon or Long Bailey and gift Boris and the Tories another decade in power. The LDs best strategy is likely to hope Labour stays left and stick to the liberal centre

    The LDs best results have always been with the other parties close to the centre. If the others are extreme, especially Labour extreme, they get squeezed heavily.
    If I were the LDs I'd be very worried about those Ashcroft numbers.

    Huge numbers of their voters voted for them reluctantly and negatively.

    That doesn't bode well.
    That's the whole danger of pitching up on the wrong side of losing battle. The LDs are claiming small comfort from an improved share of the vote, but once we leave in some form much of that vote has little reason to hang around.
    I guess the Tory 2017 remain vote is up for grabs at the next GE. By then those will judge Johnson on a 5 year record rather than personality or his manifesto. If he delivers there are plenty of LD2019 votes to win back, if he doesnt there are plenty of votes to lose.
  • The parties should all take a breath. Johnson can do whatever he likes because he was elected with a large majority. Understanding why has to be the first task.

    From a LibDem perspective we gained 1.3m votes and lost seats. The obvious task is to build local organisations to win council seats and then councils and MPs. In other words what Ashdown and Kennedy did before that Orange Book wazzock Clegg binned it all
This discussion has been closed.