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1st like Labour on 12th December

Something important is missing from the spreadsheet - which candidates will get elected!

Here is a curated list of candidates' twitter accounts (normally MPs' twitter accounts). I do not know if it should be added to the list of links (preferably in place of the casino etc links). I expect this is being mined by all parties as we speak, looking for material to use against their opponents.
https://www.mpsontwitter.co.uk/list

Richard_Nabavi said:

Something important is missing from the spreadsheet - which candidates will get elected!

Available for premium PB members only.

The important question is whether or not it will ever, ever stop raining. Forgotten what the sun looks like.

BluerBlue said:

One dog that hasn't barked so far is Labour's plan to enfranchise every resident of the UK, adding millions to the rolls and essentially performing a colossal act of election-rigging in their favour. Shouldn't we have have heard something more about this by now? I know Cummings mentioned it recently, but if Labour were to win and enact this policy (perhaps with SNP complicity), it would have a gigantic effect on every democratic decision for decades to come. That should fire up the Tory base + any sane person quite a bit, but it looks like radio silence so far...

Letting tax paying permanent residents vote is "election rigging", umm ok.

It's an opinion I suppose.

BluerBlue said:

One dog that hasn't barked so far is Labour's plan to enfranchise every resident of the UK, adding millions to the rolls and essentially performing a colossal act of election-rigging in their favour. Shouldn't we have have heard something more about this by now? I know Cummings mentioned it recently, but if Labour were to win and enact this policy (perhaps with SNP complicity), it would have a gigantic effect on every democratic decision for decades to come. That should fire up the Tory base + any sane person quite a bit, but it looks like radio silence so far...

Patience. The blue tanks and artillery are silently making their way through the Ardennes, by-passing the red Maginot line as we speak.

asjohnstone said:

BluerBlue said:

One dog that hasn't barked so far is Labour's plan to enfranchise every resident of the UK, adding millions to the rolls and essentially performing a colossal act of election-rigging in their favour. Shouldn't we have have heard something more about this by now? I know Cummings mentioned it recently, but if Labour were to win and enact this policy (perhaps with SNP complicity), it would have a gigantic effect on every democratic decision for decades to come. That should fire up the Tory base + any sane person quite a bit, but it looks like radio silence so far...

Letting tax paying permanent residents vote is "election rigging", umm ok.

It's an opinion I suppose.

Almost no other country in the world hands out blanket citizenship, so no!

Please tell me that the Channel 4 debate is going to have the intro theme Ice Ice Baby.

BluerBlue said:

One dog that hasn't barked so far is Labour's plan to enfranchise every resident of the UK, adding millions to the rolls and essentially performing a colossal act of election-rigging in their favour. Shouldn't we have have heard something more about this by now? I know Cummings mentioned it recently, but if Labour were to win and enact this policy (perhaps with SNP complicity), it would have a gigantic effect on every democratic decision for decades to come. That should fire up the Tory base + any sane person quite a bit, but it looks like radio silence so far...

Sadly it's too late now. Somebody really should have stood firm against this kind of nonsense in 1832.

BluerBlue said:

One dog that hasn't barked so far is Labour's plan to enfranchise every resident of the UK, adding millions to the rolls and essentially performing a colossal act of election-rigging in their favour. Shouldn't we have have heard something more about this by now? I know Cummings mentioned it recently, but if Labour were to win and enact this policy (perhaps with SNP complicity), it would have a gigantic effect on every democratic decision for decades to come. That should fire up the Tory base + any sane person quite a bit, but it looks like radio silence so far...

The Conservatives want to expand the electorate in their favour as well. From the manifesto:
We will make it easier for British expats to vote in Parliamentary elections, and get rid of the arbitrary 15-year limit on their voting rights

FPT


I think Boris ducking Neil is a serious mistake. And a stupid one.



I find myself instantly losing respect for him at the prospect of it. Admittedly, I didn’t have much of it to start with, but I thought he did ok at the QT special last Friday night.



Getting a ”frit” meme snowballing is a horrible label to have hung round your neck in the last 2 weeks before polling day when you’re relying on your best PM lead and a ‘balls of steel’ reputation.

DecrepiterJohnL said:

BluerBlue said:

One dog that hasn't barked so far is Labour's plan to enfranchise every resident of the UK, adding millions to the rolls and essentially performing a colossal act of election-rigging in their favour. Shouldn't we have have heard something more about this by now? I know Cummings mentioned it recently, but if Labour were to win and enact this policy (perhaps with SNP complicity), it would have a gigantic effect on every democratic decision for decades to come. That should fire up the Tory base + any sane person quite a bit, but it looks like radio silence so far...

The Conservatives want to expand the electorate in their favour as well. From the manifesto:
We will make it easier for British expats to vote in Parliamentary elections, and get rid of the arbitrary 15-year limit on their voting rights

Those are British citizens. Labour's proposal is about enfranchising non-citizens, which virtually no other country does.

Most first generation immigrants are firm believers in self-reliance, self-betterment and personal advancement. A Conservative party that hadn’t thrown its lot in with inward-looking surly reactionaries should have an appealing message for them.

Of course, a party that sought to prosper by pandering to xenophobia would not find them a likely source of votes.

TheScreamingEagles said:

Coupled with his cowardice with Andrew Neil, the twice sacked liar Boris Johnson is repeating Mrs May's mistakes from 2017.

A no-show is less dangerous than bumbling incompetence.

RobD said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

BluerBlue said:

One dog that hasn't barked so far is Labour's plan to enfranchise every resident of the UK, adding millions to the rolls and essentially performing a colossal act of election-rigging in their favour. Shouldn't we have have heard something more about this by now? I know Cummings mentioned it recently, but if Labour were to win and enact this policy (perhaps with SNP complicity), it would have a gigantic effect on every democratic decision for decades to come. That should fire up the Tory base + any sane person quite a bit, but it looks like radio silence so far...

The Conservatives want to expand the electorate in their favour as well. From the manifesto:
We will make it easier for British expats to vote in Parliamentary elections, and get rid of the arbitrary 15-year limit on their voting rights

Those are British citizens. Labour's proposal is about enfranchising non-citizens, which virtually no other country does.

So someone with a UK passport who has not lived here for 15 years, pays no taxes here makes a greater contribution to the country than someone who has lived here for 15 years with no plans to leave but happens to have a different passport. Incredible.

On topic, @Andy_JS is a superstar of political betting. Thank you for this resource.

Chris said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

This is the behaviour of tin pot dictators.

https://twitter.com/alexwickham/status/1200112699021115392

Wait till they see Andrew Neil interviewing a waxwork dummy!

Hasn't he already interviewed Corbyn?

AlastairMeeks said:

Most first generation immigrants are firm believers in self-reliance, self-betterment and personal advancement. A Conservative party that hadn’t thrown its lot in with inward-looking surly reactionaries should have an appealing message for them.

Of course, a party that sought to prosper by pandering to xenophobia would not find them a likely source of votes.

What other countries hand out full voting rights to all residents?

RobD said:

noneoftheabove said:

RobD said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

BluerBlue said:

One dog that hasn't barked so far is Labour's plan to enfranchise every resident of the UK, adding millions to the rolls and essentially performing a colossal act of election-rigging in their favour. Shouldn't we have have heard something more about this by now? I know Cummings mentioned it recently, but if Labour were to win and enact this policy (perhaps with SNP complicity), it would have a gigantic effect on every democratic decision for decades to come. That should fire up the Tory base + any sane person quite a bit, but it looks like radio silence so far...

The Conservatives want to expand the electorate in their favour as well. From the manifesto:
We will make it easier for British expats to vote in Parliamentary elections, and get rid of the arbitrary 15-year limit on their voting rights

Those are British citizens. Labour's proposal is about enfranchising non-citizens, which virtually no other country does.

So someone with a UK passport who has not lived here for 15 years, pays no taxes here makes a greater contribution to the country than someone who has lived here for 15 years with no plans to leave but happens to have a different passport. Incredible.

If said person felt so strongly, they could apply to be a citizen, with all the rights and obligations that it entails.

What obligations? Aside from conscription which they would probably be too old for and is extremely unlikely. The obligations of a resident and citizen in the UK are virtually identical.

FPT

speybay said:

Are you saying that the Remain vote is going to coalesce around Labour? Some will, certainly. But in the same numbers as 2017 and in the same places where they are needed? I very much doubt it.
Whatever, you have no evidence for your repetitive point, just fear. In truth it sounds a bit unhinged and, dare i say, slightly, childish.

Oh. That's nice.

Truth is, we're all guessing a bit here aren't we? My thesis is, quite simply, that not that much has changed since 2017 and we all know what happened then.

This time around, the Conservatives have probably squeezed all that they're going to out of the Brexit Party vote, whereas the Lib Dems still have further to drop. The Labour habit vote is very sticky, and Labour drones on endlessly about the NHS for a reason: it works. Despite all the awful headlines Corbyn's dreadful leadership ratings are improving, Johnson's are moving in the other direction.

I said when this all kicked off that I thought the Tories would either get just over the finishing line or fall just short. I now think it more likely that they'll fall short. The Conservative seats won in 2017 probably represent, in broad-brush terms, the maximum extent of toleration for austerity, which has been going on for a decade now. Labour's vast expenditure plans, as ludicrous as they appear, will probably attract more of the lower middle income swing voters that they need to win back than they'll repel. Brexit ought to help them a little, but most of the Labour Leave seats are held by large margins and the surviving Brexit Party candidates will get in the way as well. Taking into account all of this and the number of marginal defences they have against the SNP, the Tories may very well go slightly backwards.

Once again, this is all an educated guess. One could just as easily argue that the YouGov MRP called it right last time and will, therefore, probably be about right this time. But their projected national share of the vote (Con 43, Lab 32, LD 14) just doesn't smell right. The polls have been showing a slow but steady improvement for Labour since the start of the campaign, we've already had a couple of 34% results so far this week, and there's still a fortnight to go until the big day. And yes, the Tories were doing slightly better when all the postal votes went out, but only about 1 in 5 votes will be cast in this fashion.

We shall soon find out if I'm on the right track here, because we shall see further tightening in the polls over the next few days. This does not necessarily preclude a Conservative majority but, unless UNS proves to be a very poor guide for this election and the Tories do manage to stack up the votes where they need them most (i.e. with outsized swings in the Midlands and the North,) then the likelihood of a Hung Parliament increases, of course, with each percentage point reduction in the Con-Lab spread.

rcs1000 said:

Sandpit said:

Philip_Thompson said:

Charles said:

?

Indeed. This isn’t particularly difficult, each immigrant should be able to prove their worth to the country they wish to immigrate to - whether that’s due to having a high income, providing a needed skill or be investing in the country. There’s plenty of scope for short-term farm workers, students and refugees. Countries such as Australia also operate various guest worker visas, so someone can go there and work for a few months whilst travelling. The important factor is that only citizens have recourse to state benefits and the right to vote. People should have to show their loyalty to the country before being able to take from it.

There are two ways to do this, and both have their advantages and disadvantages.
Firstly, there is the US system where there are many, many different classes of visas. You can be an investor. A manager. An inter-corporate transfer. A student. A lottery winner. A genius. A family member. Quotas for specific professions. This, by and large, gets the right people into the country, but it comes with significant costs, in implementation and in the assumption the government knows the right numbers of people at any time.
Secondly, there is the free market way, where you basically trust the free market to find the right people. That's the old US way. (And is used for US-Canada, Australia-New Zealand, or inter-EEA.) That means you get people who add value, and people who don't. But you also let the market decide, and you remove transactional costs.
I personally prefer a hybrid system, where you have a "fee" to come. (Of course there would be rules such as no criminal record. It could be implemented via compulsory health insurance, as in Switzerland, or a one entrance charge. This could be on a sliding scale with age, so that a 20 year old pays a tenth of a 60 year old.) This means there are negligible transaction and implementation costs, it augments government revenue, and it means there is little incentive for low skilled workers to come.

Yes, there’s plenty of examples around the world of immigration systems, and we should look at what works and what doesn’t when it comes to designing our own.
I imagine that you and I, who have both lived and worked extensively abroad, could quickly work out something that allows for skilled and key workers, while preventing immigrant Big Issue sellers, organised beggars and child benefit exports. Or in California, thousands of H1(B)s displacing tech jobs to companies like Tata.
As you say, there’s a fine line between too much government intervention / bureaucracy and letting the free market work as it does best.

asjohnstone said:

BluerBlue said:

One dog that hasn't barked so far is Labour's plan to enfranchise every resident of the UK, adding millions to the rolls and essentially performing a colossal act of election-rigging in their favour. Shouldn't we have have heard something more about this by now? I know Cummings mentioned it recently, but if Labour were to win and enact this policy (perhaps with SNP complicity), it would have a gigantic effect on every democratic decision for decades to come. That should fire up the Tory base + any sane person quite a bit, but it looks like radio silence so far...

Letting tax paying permanent residents vote is "election rigging", umm ok.

It's an opinion I suppose.

There is no other EU country that lets non-citizens vote in its main national elections. In fact I can find no other first world country that allows non citizens to vote in their main national elections. I am sure you can see that there is a sound democratic reason for this.

Casino_Royale said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

This is the behaviour of tin pot dictators.

https://twitter.com/alexwickham/status/1200112699021115392

To be fair to Boris, not something you’ll hear me say often, C4 have crossed the line one too many times now.

Think about how different they are to BBC, Sky or ITV.

I’m afraid I now consider them a partisan broadcaster, and this behaviour during an election campaign is unforgivable.

There are laws about broadcasters' neutrality in elections. If CCHQ genuinely believes C4 has broken them, it can act. Threatening to smash up the channel is simply intimidation.

Casino_Royale said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Coupled with his cowardice with Andrew Neil, the twice sacked liar Boris Johnson is repeating Mrs May's mistakes from 2017.

Remarkable, isn’t it?

The Tory campaign also seems to have put the engine into neutral and thinks it can coast through the next two weeks now to polling day. The Conservatives were going on about fucking potholes on their Twitter feed last night. POT. HOLES.

Muppets.

Wafer-thin majority is my view, and probably two less than Cameron for the lolz. Almost the worst possible result for Boris and will make him a prisoner of the ERG.

What the hell are the Tories playing at?
I hope we see the Tory lead cut to 5% because they don't deserve anything more.

Hopefully they will wake up out of their complacency.

ydoethur said:

ozymandias said:

The important question is whether or not it will ever, ever stop raining. Forgotten what the sun looks like.

It’s like the Mirror but with bigger print.

I laughed.

DecrepiterJohnL said:

RobD said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

BluerBlue said:

One dog that hasn't barked so far is Labour's plan to enfranchise every resident of the UK, adding millions to the rolls and essentially performing a colossal act of election-rigging in their favour. Shouldn't we have have heard something more about this by now? I know Cummings mentioned it recently, but if Labour were to win and enact this policy (perhaps with SNP complicity), it would have a gigantic effect on every democratic decision for decades to come. That should fire up the Tory base + any sane person quite a bit, but it looks like radio silence so far...

The Conservatives want to expand the electorate in their favour as well. From the manifesto:
We will make it easier for British expats to vote in Parliamentary elections, and get rid of the arbitrary 15-year limit on their voting rights

Those are British citizens. Labour's proposal is about enfranchising non-citizens, which virtually no other country does.

Of course we have done it for decades with Irish citizens.

And let's not forget that in the mid-20th-century - the good old days - the inhabitants of all the British colonies in the Empire had the legal right not only to immigrate but also to vote.

Why are so many Scottish candidates getting suspended for being bigots?

I think I might do a thread entitled 'Why are Scots institutionally racist and bigoted?

Mexicanpete said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Coupled with his cowardice with Andrew Neil, the twice sacked liar Boris Johnson is repeating Mrs May's mistakes from 2017.

A no-show is less dangerous than bumbling incompetence.

Great. So that’s our probable next PM, someone who can’t be trusted to do a television interview.

RobD said:

noneoftheabove said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

asjohnstone said:

BluerBlue said:

One dog that hasn't barked so far is Labour's plan to enfranchise every resident of the UK, adding millions to the rolls and essentially performing a colossal act of election-rigging in their favour. Shouldn't we have have heard something more about this by now? I know Cummings mentioned it recently, but if Labour were to win and enact this policy (perhaps with SNP complicity), it would have a gigantic effect on every democratic decision for decades to come. That should fire up the Tory base + any sane person quite a bit, but it looks like radio silence so far...

Letting tax paying permanent residents vote is "election rigging", umm ok.

It's an opinion I suppose.

There is no other EU country that lets non-citizens vote in its main national elections. In fact I can find no other first world country that allows non citizens to vote in their main national elections. I am sure you can see that there is a sound democratic reason for this.

Ireland lets UK citizens vote in national elections, although not referenda.

A historical anomaly, not the norm.

Has the world collapsed because of it? No, it is fine.

Personally speaking, Channel 4 should have replaced Boris Johnson with a tub of lard.

TheScreamingEagles said:

https://twitter.com/youngvulgarian/status/1200124855791824896

Say what you like about Boris' ability to connect with young voters, but his bantz game has no peer!

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Casino_Royale said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

This is the behaviour of tin pot dictators.

https://twitter.com/alexwickham/status/1200112699021115392

To be fair to Boris, not something you’ll hear me say often, C4 have crossed the line one too many times now.

Think about how different they are to BBC, Sky or ITV.

I’m afraid I now consider them a partisan broadcaster, and this behaviour during an election campaign is unforgivable.

There are laws about broadcasters' neutrality in elections. If CCHQ genuinely believes C4 has broken them, it can act. Threatening to smash up the channel is simply intimidation.

Too much like Trump.

TheScreamingEagles said:

Casino_Royale said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Coupled with his cowardice with Andrew Neil, the twice sacked liar Boris Johnson is repeating Mrs May's mistakes from 2017.

Remarkable, isn’t it?

The Tory campaign also seems to have put the engine into neutral and thinks it can coast through the next two weeks now to polling day. The Conservatives were going on about fucking potholes on their Twitter feed last night. POT. HOLES.

Muppets.

Wafer-thin majority is my view, and probably two less than Cameron for the lolz. Almost the worst possible result for Boris and will make him a prisoner of the ERG.

A former 2015 campaign staffer tells me the result will be something like Cons end up on 318, a technical majority thanks to Sinn Fein abstentionism but both of us will be able to say 'David Cameron (pbuh) is the only Tory to win an actual majority in the last 27 years.'

Yeah. I’ve stopped betting on a Tory majority now.

My bets are on voteshares and constituencies.

IanB2 said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Personally speaking, Channel 4 should have replaced Boris Johnson with a tub of lard.

Which was an absent Labour politician and the BBC. I missed it; can someone explain why C4’s ice is worse than that?

Was that during an election campaign?

RobD said:

noneoftheabove said:

RobD said:

noneoftheabove said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

asjohnstone said:

BluerBlue said:

One dog that hasn't barked so far is Labour's plan to enfranchise every resident of the UK, adding millions to the rolls and essentially performing a colossal act of election-rigging in their favour. Shouldn't we have have heard something more about this by now? I know Cummings mentioned it recently, but if Labour were to win and enact this policy (perhaps with SNP complicity), it would have a gigantic effect on every democratic decision for decades to come. That should fire up the Tory base + any sane person quite a bit, but it looks like radio silence so far...

Letting tax paying permanent residents vote is "election rigging", umm ok.

It's an opinion I suppose.

There is no other EU country that lets non-citizens vote in its main national elections. In fact I can find no other first world country that allows non citizens to vote in their main national elections. I am sure you can see that there is a sound democratic reason for this.

Ireland lets UK citizens vote in national elections, although not referenda.

A historical anomaly, not the norm.

Has the world collapsed because of it? No, it is fine.

You can't see how that is different from the proposal to extend it to all countries?

I think time here is far more relevant than which nationality they have

French person here 15 years planning to stay > Irish person here 1 year planning to leave or indeed UK person who has been absent for 20 years with no plans to return.

TheScreamingEagles said:

https://twitter.com/youngvulgarian/status/1200124855791824896

Man has low Stan-dards.

noneoftheabove said:

RobD said:

noneoftheabove said:

RobD said:

noneoftheabove said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

asjohnstone said:

BluerBlue said:

One dog that hasn't barked so far is Labour's plan to enfranchise every resident of the UK, adding millions to the rolls and essentially performing a colossal act of election-rigging in their favour. Shouldn't we have have heard something more about this by now? I know Cummings mentioned it recently, but if Labour were to win and enact this policy (perhaps with SNP complicity), it would have a gigantic effect on every democratic decision for decades to come. That should fire up the Tory base + any sane person quite a bit, but it looks like radio silence so far...

Letting tax paying permanent residents vote is "election rigging", umm ok.

It's an opinion I suppose.

There is no other EU country that lets non-citizens vote in its main national elections. In fact I can find no other first world country that allows non citizens to vote in their main national elections. I am sure you can see that there is a sound democratic reason for this.

Ireland lets UK citizens vote in national elections, although not referenda.

A historical anomaly, not the norm.

Has the world collapsed because of it? No, it is fine.

You can't see how that is different from the proposal to extend it to all countries?

I think time here is far more relevant than which nationality they have

French person here 15 years planning to stay > Irish person here 1 year planning to leave or indeed UK person who has been absent for 20 years with no plans to return.

But that's not the proposal. It's to give any resident the right to vote. Anyway, if someone wants to vote and they've lived here for 15 years, they can get citizenship as with any other country.

nunu2 said:

Casino_Royale said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Coupled with his cowardice with Andrew Neil, the twice sacked liar Boris Johnson is repeating Mrs May's mistakes from 2017.

Remarkable, isn’t it?

The Tory campaign also seems to have put the engine into neutral and thinks it can coast through the next two weeks now to polling day. The Conservatives were going on about fucking potholes on their Twitter feed last night. POT. HOLES.

Muppets.

Wafer-thin majority is my view, and probably two less than Cameron for the lolz. Almost the worst possible result for Boris and will make him a prisoner of the ERG.

What the hell are the Tories playing at?
I hope we see the Tory lead cut to 5% because they don't deserve anything more.

Hopefully they will wake up out of their complacency.

I'm not so sure that the Tories are being complacent. Maybe they're just plain old fashioned incompetent?

After all, Parliament isn't exactly famed for being stuffed to the gunwales with talented individuals these days, now is it?

IanB2 said:

Mexicanpete said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Coupled with his cowardice with Andrew Neil, the twice sacked liar Boris Johnson is repeating Mrs May's mistakes from 2017.

A no-show is less dangerous than bumbling incompetence.

Great. So that’s our probable next PM, someone who can’t be trusted to do a television interview.

I am in no way inclined towards Johnson, but if one is a dire interviewee it would seem wise to avoid the interview. A lesson learned from the hapless Corbyn?

If Boris Johnson didn’t want to have the piss taken out of him he should have turned up. Inactions have consequences.

That silly stunt by C4 will come back to bite them.

RobD said:

noneoftheabove said:

RobD said:

noneoftheabove said:

RobD said:

noneoftheabove said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

asjohnstone said:

BluerBlue said:

One dog that hasn't barked so far is Labour's plan to enfranchise every resident of the UK, adding millions to the rolls and essentially performing a colossal act of election-rigging in their favour. Shouldn't we have have heard something more about this by now? I know Cummings mentioned it recently, but if Labour were to win and enact this policy (perhaps with SNP complicity), it would have a gigantic effect on every democratic decision for decades to come. That should fire up the Tory base + any sane person quite a bit, but it looks like radio silence so far...

Letting tax paying permanent residents vote is "election rigging", umm ok.

It's an opinion I suppose.

There is no other EU country that lets non-citizens vote in its main national elections. In fact I can find no other first world country that allows non citizens to vote in their main national elections. I am sure you can see that there is a sound democratic reason for this.

Ireland lets UK citizens vote in national elections, although not referenda.

A historical anomaly, not the norm.

Has the world collapsed because of it? No, it is fine.

You can't see how that is different from the proposal to extend it to all countries?

I think time here is far more relevant than which nationality they have

French person here 15 years planning to stay > Irish person here 1 year planning to leave or indeed UK person who has been absent for 20 years with no plans to return.

But that's not the proposal. It's to give any resident the right to vote. Anyway, if someone wants to vote and they've lived here for 15 years, they can get citizenship as with any other country.

At a cost of over £1000 which would create a gerrymandering issue.

Labours proposal is not what I would go for, but it is clear both parties are looking at what is best for themselves not what is fair. It is the hypocrisy I dislike.
I think fair is if you have been here for x years (between 3-5?) with NI contributions you can vote, and if you are an expat you lose the right to vote at some point.

asjohnstone said:

BluerBlue said:

One dog that hasn't barked so far is Labour's plan to enfranchise every resident of the UK, adding millions to the rolls and essentially performing a colossal act of election-rigging in their favour. Shouldn't we have have heard something more about this by now? I know Cummings mentioned it recently, but if Labour were to win and enact this policy (perhaps with SNP complicity), it would have a gigantic effect on every democratic decision for decades to come. That should fire up the Tory base + any sane person quite a bit, but it looks like radio silence so far...

Letting tax paying permanent residents vote is "election rigging", umm ok.

It's an opinion I suppose.

If they aren't citizens of course it is!

I wonder if the reason there are so many awful stories this election is because parties are really struggling these days to attract quality candidates.

Honestly, who’d want to be an MP?

I wouldn’t.

Swinson - Brexit is a climate crime!

AlastairMeeks said:

Please tell me that the Channel 4 debate is going to have the intro theme Ice Ice Baby.

Who’s going to be the most Under Pressure?

Chris said:

AlastairMeeks said:

Most first generation immigrants are firm believers in self-reliance, self-betterment and personal advancement. A Conservative party that hadn’t thrown its lot in with inward-looking surly reactionaries should have an appealing message for them.

All four great offices of state are current held by descendants of people who immigrated to Britain in the 20th century.

That's what happens when people don't wallow in victim status.

Casino_Royale said:

I wonder if the reason there are so many awful stories this election is because parties are really struggling these days to attract quality candidates.

Honestly, who’d want to be an MP?

I wouldn’t.

Neither would I.

Forget the salary (and it is a low salary compared to what professionals earn)

You'd have constant threats of violence, your family feeling bad you're getting criticised.

Also, you're not allowed to have a past.

I'm glad I'm old enough to have missed being a student with social media and camera phones everywhere.