General Chat

8th June 2017

This will be interesting.

Alas! Elections are mere cosmetic exercises in musical chairs. You are simply replacing the faces, yet the music remains the same. Waiting for political messiahs to save us is futile.

Give the long-suffering UK citizens a break.

Oh dear it must mean the that the outlook for 2020 is pretty bleak.

All manifesto-false promises should be treated as toilet paper.

I think she is being quite clever with her timing. Before Brexit negotiations get too far advanced she needs to still the voices that are saying she has no mandate because she has never fought an election as leader of her party. She doesn't want to have to hold an election when the country is in the midst of Brexiting, and things are perhaps not going well. Also talking to friends of different political views, there are few who can currently see Jeremy Corbyn as a credible Labour prime minister.

As Caroline says, this could be interesting!

Bit of a dilemma really.

Do all the Labour supporters who want out of Europe now vote Conservative and the Conservative voters who want to stay in Europe vote Lib Dem?

It would be really interesting if all election ballots could have a "none of the above" box. Then everyone that says they never vote because they don't agree with anyone could at least register their disgust rather than it being assumed they were too lazy to vote.

Difficult.
Labour with its current leader has no chance of a majority.
LibDem had their chance and blew it.
SNP have been caught on the wrong foot...not that they could obtain an overall majority.
Ukip? Please - no!

Where's Rollo's take on it? Although the collective We may not agree with (all of) his views, they do give a different perspective.

still trying to recover from bombardment of american elections.Now we have coverage of French elections and everybody putting their tuppence worth in on the news channel about our snap election.

Too much information and coverage if thats what its callled.
Guess what will be will be
can we have some stability when its all over ????

Stability....never!...that would be boring :-D

An astute move by TM as, like others, I can't think of Lab, LibDem or any other party with a strong-enough leader to beat her.

It will also be a good reason for her to avoid getting embroiled in what is going on elsewhere in the world. I would not expect anyone in the UK to commit to action until the election is over.

Corbyn - no chance!!!

Don't forget UKIP, a strong showing by them could significantly reduce the number of Tory (and Labour) MPs. If there is a whiff of Brexit being watered down they will be able to attract votes. We could end up with a real European-style coalition.

The arguments over Brexit have laid bare a fragmented, unequal & an angrily divided nation.

Who has the guts & the wherewithal to take on an awe-inspiring rebuilding project?

well we can thank UKIP for Brexit

Caroline's "none of the above" is beginning to look attractive.

could ask nicola sturgeon, likes to divide AND rule :-(

An early election has been in the air for weeks. It is not astute timing by May at all
Indeed the timing could hardly be worse with the EU set to release its demands on 29 April.

May has become acutely aware that to avoid the "cliff edge" she will have to make some massive compromises. The hard brexiters simply won't go along with that forcing May into calling what will become a single issue election.

May will be hoping for a.bigger majority of Mps prepared to do a deal. Such Mps will have defeated sitting Lab Mps and won't for the most part be hardline brexiters

The LibDems are looking for a good score in the upcoming local govt elevtions which they çould use as a spring board Remember the fate of Zak Goldsmith.

Corbyn and Labour hard left has always been anti EU which showed strongly in the refrendum and since. his line will be to preserve workets rightsrather missing the point in gig UK that most workers dont have any. His party will be decimated but not only by the Tories.

the SNP would have preferred a Ge in 2020 with May stuck between a rock and the hard place. They could with Lab deny May an election. As Cornyn thinksvhe can win that wont happen. Instead the SNP will be a massive pain for May.

In the end May will prob succeed in sidelining the hard core brexiters so she gets a free hand to cave in / negotiate. Her party and her country will remain deeply divided.

Yep none of the above :-D