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UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

theguardian.com

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Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#101

Post by Aaargh20318 »

Silhouette wrote: post #85
Aaargh20318 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but many who voted never expected them to actually win and saw it as a protest vote. A lot of people claimed they regretted voting brexit after it became clear the brexit camp actually won. Now brexit has been initiated and it's becoming clear what the consequences are many more people are getting cold feet.

A lot of people claimed they regretted voting brexit after it became clear the brexit camp actually won. This is mostly just wishful thinking on the part of the Remain side. Opinion polls have pretty consistently shown very little change in overall sentiment on Brexit. In many cases they seem to have observed marginally more regret among Leave voters than Remain voters, but the numbers were small enough in both cases…

> This is mostly just wishful thinking on the part of the Remain side.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-leave-...

"Four per cent of Leave voters polled said they thought Brexit was the worst thing to have happened this year,"

The result was 51% leave 49% remain, it would be the reverse if they could vote again today.

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#102

Post by sir_throwaway »

steanne wrote: post #64

...but she's gonna refuse scotland the chance for a quick referendum to get THEIR house in order before the brexit?

Most Scots are against a second referendum, and against independence [1]. May is just giving them what they want.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposed_second_Scottish_indep...

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#103

Post by nthcolumn »

tehwalrus wrote: post #49
headmelted wrote: post #16

Actually this is just good business for the Tories, and I've long expected it. The opposition is in disarray under Corbyn, and our prime minister has never won an election. This is as easy a victory as Theresa May will ever be able to bank on, and legitimises her leadership in the eyes of a large section of the public. She can also claim (maybe rightly so) that she has the undisputed majority support of the public fo…

Vote Lib Dem. Seriously. I am a candidate in very north london, we're all organised for this possibility.

Surely this is a Tory own-goal? Petitioning the people again (whilst ignoring the inconvenient ones)? You'd have thought Cameron's dodgy success rate would have put paid to that. Of course your lot fell for the PR one... that worked so we got one on Scotland - ooh squeaky - and then he tried it again on Europe:'not so great' as POTUS would say. How easy will it be to make this an anti-Brexit vote, a vote to keep Scotland, a vote on the NHS, on social care, an anti-Trump vote, a pro-status quo, conservative with a small 'C' anti-change vote, an anti-war vote, an anti-elitist grammar schools, a kick the arrogant Tory toffs of Johnson, Gove and Hunt... the Tories are hugely unpopular in spite of the Lab-Con polls (Labour are just even more unpopular)

We live in interesting times!

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#104

Post by interfixus »

wsc981 wrote: post #57
headmelted wrote: post #16

Actually this is just good business for the Tories, and I've long expected it. The opposition is in disarray under Corbyn, and our prime minister has never won an election. This is as easy a victory as Theresa May will ever be able to bank on, and legitimises her leadership in the eyes of a large section of the public. She can also claim (maybe rightly so) that she has the undisputed majority support of the public fo…

I think the UK will be fine, post Brexit, as the UK is a very important trading partner for The Netherlands, Denmark & Ireland. These countries don't want harsh punishments for the UK (as Brussels seems intent on) and they want little trade barriers: http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/792782/EU-rebellion-Bloc...

Of course the UK will be fine. The doomsday rhetoric is completely out of hand.

The EU is going to fragment and crumble over the next ten years. And Europa will be, if not fine then at least better for it.

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#105

Post by ciaranm »

caoilte wrote: post #74
tehwalrus wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vote Lib Dem. Seriously. I am a candidate in very north london, we're all organised for this possibility.

No thanks. It was your austerity cuts that created the favourable climate for Brexit in the first place.

I think your aim is a bit off. Might be better pointing your ire at the conservatives.

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#106

Post by evgen »

irb wrote: post #96
Silhouette wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The trouble is, the Lib Dems under Farron have essentially become a single-issue party. That decision potentially alienates about 1/3 of their previous voter base who voted to Leave, as well as those who did want to Remain but either don't believe in overriding a popular referendum on democratic principles or don't feel strongly enough on the issue to disrupt things further. Given that we're talking about the Lib Dem…

I don't think it alienates any of their base. The Lib Dems have always been hugely pro-Europe, I doubt that anyone who voted Leave would have been a supporter in the first place.

I don't have numbers in front of me, but I also can't think of a riding where the LibDems were within 5% last election that voted Leave. IMHO the odds seem better if the LibDems can claim "Remain if possible, soft Brexit if not" when it comes to picking up Tory and Labour seats.

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#107

Post by sir_throwaway »

louisswiss wrote: post #40
cm2187 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling an election is dark and scary times?

No - but communicating to the public that the reason you are calling an election is to silence the opposition parties and other bodies holding you to account (and espousing the view that the opposition should effectively shut up and put up) definitely registers high on my dark and scary times scale

Nobody is silencing anyone.

The Lib Dems campaigned for an EU referendum [1], and now want to reverse it because the result wasn't what they wanted.

The SNP campaigned for Scotland to leave the EU (as it would have done if leaving the UK) in their independence referendum, and now behave as if leaving the EU is unthinkable.

Both are playing politics. The ground has shifted, and so it's helpful for the government to get a new mandate.

[1] http://www.newstatesman.com/sites/default/files/images/Clegg...

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#108

Post by golergka »

louisswiss wrote: post #40
cm2187 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling an election is dark and scary times?

No - but communicating to the public that the reason you are calling an election is to silence the opposition parties and other bodies holding you to account (and espousing the view that the opposition should effectively shut up and put up) definitely registers high on my dark and scary times scale

Silencing someone with open election that would show that they have no support doesn't sound very sinister. If anything, it sounds like the best possible way to resolve such a situation.

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#109

Post by sir_throwaway »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #81
blowski wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Democracy is about more than one party winning a popular vote.

This is the last chance the UK has to avoid fascism. I wish that was hyperbole. But I really don't think it is.

This is literally the most hyperbolic thing I've read in a while.

Are you a writer for The Independent by any chance?

(Seriously, you're saying that this will be the last ever democratic election in the UK?)

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