UK General Election, June 8th 2017

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Why is Labour supporting this?

I know whenever we have these over-confident snap elections in Canada, the governing party gets turfed. See Ontario 1990 and Alberta 2015.

Because the official opposition cannot say no to a GE, it's like admitting they're pointless

Snap elections are incredibly unpopular. The Tories can spin that any way they like, but I can't see it overcoming the population's disgust with having to go to the polls again. Now Labour can't use this issue as leverage.

What about the 2000 federal? Chretien called the Alliance's bluff and won an even bigger majority.

Regrettably, I think that might be the most salient precedent for this election. Hopelessly divided opposition with an unpopular leader vs ageing but still competent government held together by ruthless leader.

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Have the IRA hot take artists considered that the shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer has the surname "McDonnell"? There's a very substantial number of people in Britain who have Irish ancestry or who are Catholic and they tend to be Labour voters. With this in mind, the idea that this issue is going to destroy Labour in its heartlands is very strange to me.

Whatever people's memories of the IRA are, it seems that a substantial majority agree with Corbyn's premise.

https://yougov.co.uk/opi/surveys/results#/survey/88c1aff0-41f4-11e7-94a8-2ab0a50a8b9c/question/a76fff10-41f4-11e7-aa59-c62e889b3830/toplines

"In a speech today Jeremy Corbyn will address "the connections between wars our government has supported or fought in other countries and terrorism here at home". Do you believe that wars that the UK has supported or fought are or are not in part responsible for terror attacks against the UK?"

Wars the UK has supported or fought ARE responsible, at least in part, for terror attacks against the UK: 53%

Wars the UK has supported or fought ARE NOT responsible for terror attacks against the UK: 24%

Don't know: 23%

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I found this picture, which I found rather amusing

What's most remarkable about that cartoon is that it appeared in the Times, a typically Tory-sympathetic paper.

Also, for your daily enjoyment, Conservative defense minister Michael Fallon had a disastrous interview trying to attack Corbyn's (actually Boris Johnson's) words on the causes of terrorism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv37NERzIhU

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Corbyn has spent his entire career in public service, often ridiculed for positions that were subsequently vindicated in the court of public opinion (opposing apartheid and the Iraq War, advocating renationalization of major industries, being skeptical of the EU, just to name a few). His view of the world, what constitutes his country's interests, and who ought to be treated as its enemies may be different than yours, but they are legitimate and mainstream - increasingly so, if the polls are to be believed.

Like it or not, Corbyn is a patriot. Deal with it.

On a semi-related note, it seems there is a reason why the Tories are getting so nervous and desperate with their anti-Corbyn hysteria ... Theresa May to relaunch Conservative election campaign amid fears Labour could take lead in opinion polls.

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Guys, if you want to carry on this argument somewhere else, I've got a trash can you can used

I'm sorry. It's my fault. I should have known better than to feed the trolls.

As penance, let me share this bit of behind-the-scenes strategy reporting from the guardian.


https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/29/may-v-corbyn-debate-tactics-explained-by-former-top-tory-aides?CMP=share_btn_tw

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From your mouth to all UK voters' ears ...

FYI, Sky townhall/interview session tonight. General attitude seems banal, though twitter is abuzz about an audience member mouthing 'bollocks' while May tried to defend her record on the NHS

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So the UK needs its nuclear deterrent because if some unnamed enemy annihilated its cities with nuclear weapons, the UK has to be able to respond by annihilating the enemies' cities in retaliation.

Forgive me, but what exactly has been deterred in this scenario?

Getting back to the campaign, the BBC has an interesting analysis of where the Labour and Tory campaigns have sent their respective leaders over the course of the past few weeks. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40133849

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Is there no early voting to track in uk elections like in US elections?

There is early voting but it is not possible to track. Electoral returns are only opened on the night of the election and even then the final results are only announced once the tally is completed.