UK Politics Thread

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Skybird

If she "plans" to manage the brexit negotiations as chaotic and improvised as she has run the election campaign, then I must withdraw my support for the idea of Brexit and must fear the worst for poor lil' Britain.

Where do you Brits find such weired creatures? Mays, Corbyns, do you import these strange animals from some undiscovered dark hole on Galapagos islands, or did the English zoos just refused to host them?

I honestly couldn't answer that but would be really interested in learning what the answer is

[MGR1]

Well, that's my vote in. I doubt it'll have much affect as Aberdeen North will probably stay SNP. A chance Labour might get it back but I'll believe that if it happens!

Two interesting articles from the Scottish section of the BBC news site:

Election 2017: Five unanswered questions in the Sturgeon-Dugdale row

With one day to go, there has been a sudden flurry of excitement in the general election campaign in Scotland thanks to Nicola Sturgeon's claims about a private chat she had with Kezia Dugdale.
For six weeks, it felt like we hadn't really heard anything new from Scotland's political leaders. Seven elections in just over three years will do that - policy platforms and attack lines get very familiar.
It had been a fairly tepid election, in truth. But Nicola Sturgeon changed all that during the STV debate.
Now maybe a she-said-she-said rammy isn't the most mature look for a nation's political discourse, but at least it was something new.

Election 2017: Scottish voters targeted by 'dark ads' on Facebook

Political adverts are being targeted at specific Facebook users in Scotland, data seen by BBC Scotland has shown.
All the main parties appear to have been influencing voters with so-called "dark ads" - tailored messages visible to certain audiences.
The SNP and Lib Dems used ads focusing on pensions while the Conservatives and Labour targeted users in key seats.

As one of the little revelations from the 2014 IndyRef was the SNP's use of social media to get it's message across to a wider audience it doesn't surprise me that the other parties have followed suit.

One way to appeal to a younger audience, but we'll see what percentage of those eligble to vote actually do so.

Mike.

[Jimbuna]

Call me sad but I'm quite looking forward to seeing the early results on tv when I get home at 11 pmish tonight.

[Moonlight]

I'm waiting for the EXIT POLL tonight on BBC1's Election Results 2017, that one will say for definite whether all these other polls were right or wrong, it could all be over between 1.00 and 2.00am and Theresa May will have that large majority in her hands, on the other hand it could be a 5.00 or 6.00 am time before she is crowned the winner.
If its taking any longer than that the voting could be closer than we all expected but she could still end up with slightly more seats than she has now, probably not enough to go for a Fox Hunting vote but enough to push through her other manifesto policies, time will tell.....

[Catfish]

May has won. Good luck.

[MGR1]

Exit Poll: LINK.

The Tories will be the largest party but may not have a majority, according to the general election exit poll.
The survey taken at polling stations across the UK suggests the Tories could get 314 MPs when all the results have been counted in Thursday's election.
Labour would get 266, the Lib Dems 14, UKIP none and the SNP 34, the NOP/Ipsos MORI poll for BBC/ITV/Sky suggests.

If the poll is accurate, then that's egg on May's face and she's finished as Tory leader.

See what tomorrow brings.

Mike.

[MGR1]

Bad night for the Tories in England and Wales but a pretty good one in Scotland for them with two major scalps:

Angus Robertson, SNP Deputy Leader and Commons Leader.

Alex Salmond..... the now former MP for Gordon.

Some reflection will be needed on the SNP's part - I'd say that Stewart Hosie (Dundee East) will be filling Robertson's shoes in the near future.

A surprising bounce for Labour - looks like Corbyn isn't going anywhere anytime soon. It appears old school Labour does still have an appeal - UK wide as well as Scotland (7 Scottish seats so far).

As for May, she has to step down before she's pushed. The knives will be out big time!

BoJo next?

Oh, and Cleggy-boys gone but Jo Swinson is back for the Lib Dems.

Mike.

[Eichhörnchen]

Ding-dong, the witch is almost dead. So many voters have disability concerns; so many are homeowners moving rapidly towards old age; so many are now (of necessity) self-employed and faced with quarterly tax returns, National Insurance rises and effective expulsion from Universal Credit... wtf did she expect??

[kraznyi_oktjabr]

There has been speculation in Finnish media that Conservatives may seek coalition with Democratic Union Party. At the moment (646 of 650 seats declared) that would provide 325 seats (315 Con. and 10 DUP). Is this realistic option and if so how stable such government would be?

[Moonlight]

We're saved, saved I tell ya, well done Jeremy well done and you'll get your reward for failure very soon Theresa May and it won't be a pretty ending.

[Moonlight]

The Conservatives have always been in bed with the Democratic Union Party so there's no change there, they will extract a high price from the Tories for their support and Theresa Failure knows it.

[Skybird]

Whoever will be PM in the next two years, we now will learn how serious Brits are with "hard Brexit", for the EU will take this result as an invitation and will negotiate even harder and will set up even more pressure.

When it works, it works. Did nobody ever tell you that one does not change a winning team? It may not have been a winners' dream team, but it was a team with a majority in parliament.

[Eichhörnchen]

There was far more to this than Brexit; there were many domestic issues upon which the tories would have used a strong mandate to impose their will. Reducing help for the disabled; placing the burden of old-age care on the individual instead of considering equitable funding solutions; bullying of the self-employed (NI contributions, quarterly tax assessments and exclusion from Universal Credits). The British people suddenly became aware of what might be done to them at home. I don't think Brexit was then such a big issue.

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Whoever will be PM in the next two years, we now will learn how serious Brits are with "hard Brexit" [...] ... one does not change a winning team? It may not have been a winners' dream team, but it was a team with a majority in parliament.

A "winning team" with Theresa May and Boris Johnson? well
And she won, didn't she. Just with some less support or so it seems. But she can still stay and push through with her agenda, Corbyn did not make it and i do not foresee any pact or government between the two.

May wanted a "hard" brexit, and this would have been even better, also for the EU. "No one likes a quitter" and the faster all this bovine scatology goes off without a hitch, the better.
"Imagine we built a better world for nothing", or for Skybird. Better not then.

But i agree this election was not about brexit, question of the latter was already finished months ago.

[MGR1]

Originally Posted by kraznyi_oktjabr

There has been speculation in Finnish media that Conservatives may seek coalition with Democratic Union Party. At the moment (646 of 650 seats declared) that would provide 325 seats (315 Con. and 10 DUP). Is this realistic option and if so how stable such government would be?

That's the current rumour, with the Sinn Fein MP's not taking their seats as usual that would provide a small but workable majority.

After all the warnings from the Tory's about a coalition of chaos of Labour and the SNP they now have to get into bed with the DUP - Ulster nationalists in all but name!

The anti-celtic element of the Tory party are now hoisted by their own petard.... 10 DUP plus 13 Scottish Tories isn't a small amount!

There's a high probability of a soft Brexit now which translates into Farage making a comeback.

Mike.