UK General Discussion: 2017 and onwards, Mayhem

[Coldstream]

No, they wouldn't be in the Labour Party if they did. Rowley is the only prominent Labour figure to ever flirt with supporting independence, and that was only briefly after the EU referendum.

[NewYorkExpress]

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-41235522

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Good news for May, Bad News for Corbyn?

[mileslunn]

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-41235522

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Good news for May, Bad News for Corbyn?

Brexit could be a divisive issue for Labour.  Much of the younger vote, those in university towns, London, ethnic minorities as well as Scotland (where they need to gain to get a majority) favour remaining in the single market, but much of Labour's core vote in the Industrial North voted heavily to leave thus the dilemma.  Come too heavily on the leave side and risk doing poorly in Scotland perhaps more splitting of the progressive vote with the Liberal Democrats while come out in favour of staying in the single market and risk losing all the marginal seats in the Industrial North.

[Hnv1]

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-41235522

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Good news for May, Bad News for Corbyn?

Interesting to have Skinner and Field on the same side of a vote

[Phony Moderate]

Caroline Flint (former front bencher and fairly high profile figure on the Labour Party's right) abstained on the bill.

[Blair]

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-41235522

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Good news for May, Bad News for Corbyn?

Brexit could be a divisive issue for Labour.  Much of the younger vote, those in university towns, London, ethnic minorities as well as Scotland (where they need to gain to get a majority) favour remaining in the single market, but much of Labour's core vote in the Industrial North voted heavily to leave thus the dilemma.  Come too heavily on the leave side and risk doing poorly in Scotland perhaps more splitting of the progressive vote with the Liberal Democrats while come out in favour of staying in the single market and risk losing all the marginal seats in the Industrial North.

In regards to the Lib Dems they're really not an issue; even against the ultra-leave supporter Kate Hoey, in a seat that was 80% remain they still lost by 20,000 votes.

I'm probably demographically the exact type they should be winning; white, male uni graduate from London, who dislikes JC and is very anti-Brexit- but I still voted Labour. The combination of them running a homophobe as their leader, combined with the baggage of the coalition means that a lot of 'progressive' voters aren't going to move the Lib Dems.

The Liberal Democrats are very much a paper tiger; the major issue is that they're no longer hated, but rather they're laughed at.

Caroline Flint (former front bencher and fairly high profile figure on the Labour Party's right) abstained on the bill.

Fairly awful move; she does represent a very strong leave seat in Doncaster but this is reaching the levels of self flagellation to please leave voters.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

What people forget is that, taken together, Labour voters are the section of the electorate least interested in Brexit.

[parochial boy]

What people forget is that, taken together, Labour voters are the section of the electorate least interested in Brexit.

This, and in addition, Brexit is a bed that the Tories made by themselves and that the Tories get to lie in. If Theresa May and co also want to set that bed on fire, then it is entirely not Labour's problem.

[Leftbehind]

There's also the matter that those voting Labour who are deeply impassioned by Brexit enough that they're hostile to Labour's positioning need to be assured enough are with them that a vote for the Liberals represents something, and won't just be pissing away a vote and ensuring the Tories harder option is the order of the day.

Don't forget the Liberals have been more or less flat-lining for nearly 7 years now, and now fall below 15% in just shy of 90% of GB seats (and are below 10% in 80% of GB seats) - that's a pretty big disincentive.

[Blair]

What people forget is that, taken together, Labour voters are the section of the electorate least interested in Brexit.

This, and in addition, Brexit is a bed that the Tories made by themselves and that the Tories get to lie in. If Theresa May and co also want to set that bed on fire, then it is entirely not Labour's problem.

I've heard of a lot of people say this; yes a recession, or some sort of chaos in 2019 that brings down the government would help Labour but it's going to be hard to do a lot of what Labour wants to do if we're significantly worse off.

Usual fluff about 'country first' Labour don't want to inherit a country that is completely wayward and desolate (one reason why the first term and a half of New Labour was so relatively easy was because the economy was doing relatively well, and Britain wasn't really floundering)

[Silent Hunter]

By the way, Labour have suspended 'pairing' (the practice where MPs on either side mutually agree to skip a non-critical vote), so there are going to be a lot more of these late votes for a while.

[Grand Wizard Lizard of the Klan]

Oh boy, oh boy - Polish media at last are writing something about Corbyn!


Well, unfortunately religious newspapers are outraged that Corbyn received the Eucharist during some funeral mass. Kinda sad that such thing happened although I wonder if it was the topic outside tabloid media zone?

[Leftbehind]

Oh boy, oh boy - Polish media at last are writing something about Corbyn!


Well, unfortunately religious newspapers are outraged that Corbyn received the Eucharist during some funeral mass. Kinda sad that such thing happened although I wonder if it was the topic outside tabloid media zone?

Not that I've seen - although I don't bother reading many. It's the first I've heard of it, and I must admit laughing at the idea this is the issue Poland has focused on.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

HAve we talked about George Osborne going full on Hannibal Lector?

[Tetro Kornbluth]

After the election some commentators (intellectual, wise) claimed that the hung parliament result would mean a Softer Brexit and made no attention to any other political issue that may come by this parliament while it is in session.

Instead the reality is Brexit-related legislation is going to pass through parliament fairly easily. Everything else will not.

[Grand Wizard Lizard of the Klan]

Oh boy, oh boy - Polish media at last are writing something about Corbyn!


Well, unfortunately religious newspapers are outraged that Corbyn received the Eucharist during some funeral mass. Kinda sad that such thing happened although I wonder if it was the topic outside tabloid media zone?

Not that I've seen - although I don't bother reading many. It's the first I've heard of it, and I must admit laughing at the idea this is the issue Poland has focused on.

Well, not really mainstream Polish media but mainly religious newspapers (although I guess they are much more influential in Poland than in UK, as from the British Christian media I only know Catholic Herald)

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Anyone know any details about the UKIP election? Bolton was definitely not on my radar. I figured Whittle and Waters would come out on top.

[Blair]

Anyone know any details about the UKIP election? Bolton was definitely not on my radar. I figured Whittle and Waters would come out on top.

I'd seen him mentioned as being Farage's chosen candidate (IIRC he did an event with him) and I saw a times article on thursday saying that he could win.

I think my uncle voted for him when he ran for Police and Crime Commissioner back in 2012; he seems the most sane out of all those running, and is what an ideal UKIP leader would look like (Ex-Army, sensible, white male over the age of 50 etc) but of course only 12,000 people voted, the party is broke, it has no support etc.

 

[Phony Moderate]

I'm no fan of Anne Marie Waters to say the least, but some of the abuse aimed at her by some of her fellow UKIPers has been utterly hypocritical.

[Blair]

I'm no fan of Anne Marie Waters to say the least, but some of the abuse aimed at her by some of her fellow UKIPers has been utterly hypocritical.

It does actually seem that the least bigoted candidate won.

In all fairness though Waters had got tons of ex-BNP activists to join, and other figures outside the party (but yes of course UKIP were happy for their votes in 2015)

[TheSaint250]

I think Bolton is the best bet for the party. We’ll just have to see how he does as leader.

Also, did any UKIP members, specifically ex-BNPers, leave after the vote?

[mileslunn]

I've heard Boris Johnson behind the scenes is trying to mount a challenge to May.  What do you think his chances are of pushing May out?  Also being a younger urban leader, do you think he would help the party do better in a general election.  Also I noticed momentum and Labour Party are going hard after his seat which they lost by only 10%, do you think Labour has any realistic chance of winning his seat next time around?  I tend to think that while Labour may have a strong second place showing in his constituency or perhaps not, winning it is unlikely.  Constituencies like Putney or Finchley and Golder's Green are probably more likely to flip while Richmond Park could go Liberal Democrat.  At the same time I could see the Tories regaining Kensington as I think that was a shock to most so they will probably put more resources into it next time around whereas in the recent election they just assumed it would always go Tory as it has in the past.

[Phony Moderate]

May currently giving a Churchillian speech to her conference.

[cp]

May currently giving a Churchillian speech to her conference.

... /sarcasm, right?

She sputtered through a coughing fit, was handed a p45 (dismissal notice) by a satirist who sneaked in, and the sign behind her fell apart letter by letter for the last 10 minutes of the speech. This is 'The Thick of It' level cringe.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Party leaders always dream of having a really memorable Conference Speech - the absolute Dream remains Gaitskell declaring that he would fight and fight and fight again to save the Party he loved etc. - but it rarely happens. They're usually fundamentally unmemorable occasions. One feels that this will prove an exception, but not in a good way...