The DUP with 10 seats is dictating the Conservatives policy!! That is really saying something. Why doesn't she try and get Sinn Fein's cooperation as well?
It's not a formal coalition and I very much doubt you'll see DUP MPs in the cabinet. The DUP wouldn't support much of what Labour want to do anyway so even if Corbyn could get the SNP, Lib Dems, Greens and Plaid to support him (and the Lib Dems in particular don't agree with him in some areas) he still couldn't govern. This is basically the only workable government given the result. Also, I think that when you take out Sinn Fein and the Speaker, the DUP don't necessarily need to vote for everything the Tories want. If the 10 DUP MPs abstain the Tories can just about win votes alone. Hard work though, we'll see how long this lasts.
Diane Abbot had a 12.2% increase and thoroughly smashed it in her constituency. As much as I've criticised her, fair play.
Considering May was u-turning so much even with her majority, i expect they are going to need their help quite a lot.
Not to forget she is now trying to balance the demand for hard Brexit with the fact some of her MPs want a soft Brexit, and some don't want Brexit at all. Then you have the DUP's take on Brexit to fall into consideration. She's going to be on eggshells for ages. Be interesting to see how long any harmony can last...
Half her MPs might want a soft or no Brexit but virtually all of her voters want a hard Brexit. There is no such thing outside of the media and political bubble as soft brexit. It is either Brexit or not. The only reason there has been all this talk of soft Brexit is from remain people that want to pretend that they stand by the result of the referendum and have decided to try and keep us in by another name. There will not be much if any rebellion within the party over Brexit because all those Tory MPs still need those Brexit voters to keep them in next time round. On the flip I expect a fair chunk of the Labour Leave MPs will support the Tories on Brexit as well. I have no idea why May decided she needed to increase her majority when she already had her party falling in line behind her on this issue with another 20 or so from the other side willing to add their support as well. If she had any sense at all she would have held the election in July instead when all the students were back home with mum and dad in safe Tory seats!
Possibly. I've already said I don't think this arrangement can last that long. Not convinced May can either but I'm not so sure about that. We'll see though.
If only she hadn't been in such undue haste to rush through the triggering of Article 50 before this election, we could have at least paused for collective thought before deciding how to proceed. Unfortunately however, the clock is now ticking down to March 2019 and Brexaggedon. What a mess.
That's one interpretation of the Brexit issue Imps. Another would be that there is not now and never has been any clear mandate on the issue.
One thing is that this election puts to bed the myth of the "shy" Tory vote.... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40215091
I'm not actually sure what these results mean for us now. I think we could be in a spot of bother over the next two to five years.
For the record I think Brexit will go ahead . What would happen if the UK said , No , we have changed our minds . Surely now that she has triggered article 50 , the EU could say , Sorry no , you wanted out , so bye........
It's the most complex political situation any of the Western democracies have faced for quite some time. Perhaps since German reunification? A minority government, rife with infighting, trying to negotiate a deal of this scope when their government could fall at any time on the whims of a small, regional faction...I would not bet on this being executed smoothly.
She should have taken a leaf out of Merkel's book and sought a coalition with Labour which would have sent a message to the electorate that we want a united country. What would have been the problem there? Both parties would have had to ditch considerable parts of their ideology and made considerable compromises. But no, she still wants a divided country and a sectarian one by the looks of things, with getting DUP backing on certain aspects of her program. Might have a DUP member as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland as one of the concessions she has to make for their support in other matters.
And Brexit cannot really begin until the German elections are over, so we are looking into the autumn and 14 months at best as the Continentals will have 2 months next summer and a good few weeks at Easter and Christmas. She needs to seek an extension.
