Off Topic Politics Thread

I blame myself. I bought my kids up to believe in:

the egalitarian dream;

the idea that paying tax is a privilege in a civilised society;

the concept that totally inclusive education was the way to build a fairer, more decent society;

the understanding that the NHS was the pinnacle of human aspiration - we look after the most needy where those that can pay for those that can't.

I've obviously been talking bollocks for decades. Sorry kids. Bring your children up to believe in self-interest. It's the Tory way.

 

To where D69? We're already gone thankfully with Dutch permanent residence.

 

Despirately disappointed but not unexpected if I'm honest. As previously posted I thought this election shouldn't have happened. The WAB should have been properly scrutinised, amended passed by parliament and the EU 27 then put to the people's vote. The result implemented GE to follow when the dust had settled. Now can only hope a no deal exit will be avoided.

 

Back from the Canterbury count.

Can see Rosie Duffield having a good future.

 

Momentum boss Lansman saying they just need to get the message across, I give up!
Swinson gone by 149 votes. Jezza quit. SNP won 37 of 40 so far.

 

Tories expected to get around 368 seats compared to the 318 Teresa May had.

This is of course not 50 more seats but around 69 more seats as in their maths, it includes seats they could have lost but will retain.

 

3/4 Belfast seats now held by Sinn Fein/SDLP (and Naomi Long came close to shutting the Unionist parties out of Belfast altogether). Likely to end up with 9 seats total between SF and the SDLP, plus one for the APNI, versus 8 for the DUP.

 

I think Labour was destined to lose, but it didn’t have to be this bad an ass whuppin’.

Corbyn just completely lost the plot. Would have been difficult for him to convince the blue collar types that Remain was necessary. But he could have made some inroads explaining why Remain wasn’t bad, and how the country would still be better off with a remain vote and him over a Brexit.

But he didn’t, because he didn’t care about Brexit. A vote for SNP or Lib Dem was a clear vote to Remain. A vote for Johnson was a clear vote to Leave. What was a vote for Labour? Nothing. Who goes into a “Brexit election” without a stance on Brexit?

 

And the inevitable has come. We are screwed.

 

It was likely possible to forestall this outcome, but it would have required a much different Labour leader, a strong pro-Remain position, and likely an electoral alliance with the Lib Dems (and possibly Plaid Cymru). The Conservatives didn't make massive gains in the vote share, they just monopolized their side of the Brexit debate.

 

My oldest sister will be to Holland. She is married to a dutchman who , ironically , claimed British citizenship 3 years ago...

 

Looking at the situation, Labour´s situation in London and the South in general held up. Portsmouth South remaining Labour surprises me. But when constituencies like Bolsover, Workington, Sedgefield, Darlington, Bolton, Burnley, West Bromwich, Scunthorpe etc vote Tory, that is staggering. Given that these northern seats have voted Conservative, Johnson is going to have to help them beyond the normal narrative of Getting Brexit Done and pledging tax cuts, if the Conservatives are to retain these seats in 2024 (?) otherwise he will incur the wrath of these MPs. Quite what the relationship will be between these northern chappies and the likes of Eton raised Rees-Mogg remains to be seen, but it seems strange that a health worker from Blyth will be singing from the same hymn sheet as Mogg.

 

Pleased to see the demise of the extremely arrogant Zac Goldsmith, sad to see the end of Chuka, (hopefully he will return to the fold but I see a career in broadcasting instead for him), happy that St Albans bucked the trend, sorry to see Soubry and Grieve go. Pleased for the SNP and the pro-Remain parties in Northern Ireland.

 

Chuka is one politician I have absolutely no time for...

 

The only good news to come out of this disaster is that my seat, Aberdeen South, is a SNP gain over the tories. We did our bit to keep the slimey tories out and keep us in Europe.
Btw, Nicola Sturgeon would like to thank all tory/Brexit voters for promoting Scottish independence, and hastening the next Scottish independence referendum.

 

I would have hope he had stayed in the Labour party but his decision to join the Lib Dems has cost him his political career. It was a brave but foolish decision to take as he must have known that going to a smaller, almost fringe party was going to be risky. And so it proved.

 

You forgot to add all the Tories to that list!!

 

Well at least the good news is ......um.........err...........ahhhhh......no......bloody nothing.

 

A Stammer lead party would, I think, have done better, enough to form a minority government I'm not sure, majority probably not.