General Election, June 8th

[DJ Barry Hammond]

1 minute ago, Strokes said:

Tim Farron hardly has a prime ministerial sir about him, he is probably on the spectrum.

 

But that doesn't matter much for people who vote for Lib Dem, because they know he's not going to hold that role. 

 

However, as someone to provide a different point of view, he probably rates quite well because he speaks quite well (even if you disagree with what he's saying). I dare say he'd also beat Corbyn in 'best prospective PM' poll.

[Finnegan]

2 minutes ago, thursday_next said:

 

He's banned from General Chat. Unban him, please, he's wasted on football.

 

Yeah, he follows politics closely but he knows **** all about football to be fair.

[Jon the Hat]

5 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

Yeah, he follows politics closely but he knows **** all about football to be fair.

As Matt cannot be with us in here, I feel duty bound to defend him put the boot in and agree with you.  See I always knew we would agree on something eventually!

[Strokes]

Free Matt P, surely he has served his time now?

[bovril]

Last time I saw MattP he was in the main forum going on about quislings and onion knobs. I fear for his wellbeing.

[Carl the Llama]

Got to echo the calls for Matt's reinstatement.  Might live to regret that mind

[Facecloth]

Yeah time to let MattP back on GC. I know how much he loves a protest, so:

 

[BoyJones]

Who really cares, trying to sneak it out when the big news is Leicester v Atletico Madrid. 

 

Who is ever in power makes no difference to 99% of people's quality of life. We all get on with it, the only things that matter to most people are family and then their favourite football team. Gonna be a boring six weeks constant election news til it's all over. Especially wth that moronic krankies Scottish idiot. 

 

The bottom line is that all politicians sh@t in the same pot and nothing really changes. 

 

 

 

 

[ramboacdc]

57 minutes ago, Strokes said:

So the anti brexit mob are going to vote Lib dem in protest? Are you sure you know what you are voting for? Hypocrites  

 

53 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

I'm anti Brexit and I can categorically say that I don't want to vote Lib Dem because we all know what happened last time they got a whiff of power.  Turning one's back on one's policies for the sake of a seat at the high table is not a good look.

 

Then again I don't want to vote Labour or Tory either.  The next few months are going to be pivotal.

they were the minority ina  coalition government and stopped a lot worse things getting through then they turned their back on. 

[Rincewind]

43 minutes ago, thursday_next said:

 

He's banned from General Chat. Unban him, please, he's wasted on football.

Yes unban him so I can ignore him in GC as well as the football section.

[Sharpe's Fox]

5 minutes ago, ramboacdc said:

 

they were the minority ina  coalition government and stopped a lot worse things getting through then they turned their back on. 

If you're in a coalition government that means you have massive bargaining power. Their main messages in 2010 were scrapping tuition and electoral reform and completely fvcked up on both, going the other way in increasing tuition fees and implementing FPTP for a generation. How anyone can vote for these pathetic liberal Tory enablers is beyond me they stand for nothing yet if they get a whiff of any power they'll stand for anything.

[ramboacdc]

4 minutes ago, Sharpe's Fox said:

If you're in a coalition government that means you have massive bargaining power. Their main messages in 2010 were scrapping tuition and electoral reform and completely fvcked up on both, going the other way in increasing tuition fees and implementing FPTP for a generation. How anyone can vote for these pathetic liberal Tory enablers is beyond me they stand for nothing yet if they get a whiff of any power they'll stand for anything.

id rather have then as the third party than UKIP who will say anything to get a vote, whether true or not *COUGH 350 MILLION*

[The Blur]

I know it might sound wholly optimistic but maybe LD could have learnt from their previous experience of coalition government which is still recent enough for them to learn from their mistakes.  That would empower LD to make a better fist of it this time around, the ball could be even in their court as they can apply what they have learnt more compared to Tories who might have gleaned less than the experience?  

 

The coalition government will not happen anyway. 

[Carl the Llama]

9 minutes ago, ramboacdc said:

 

they were the minority ina  coalition government and stopped a lot worse things getting through then they turned their back on. 

They were kingmaker in that election:  They could have sided either Labour or Tory and in both cases it would have been democratically justifiable in terms of votes.  For some reason they chose to side with the party most anathema to their voters' political leanings.  The quoted reason was because the Tories had more votes but I can only imagine they thought they could play for more popularity by using the Tories as a scapegoat when their policies didn't go through but we all knew the Tories wouldn't play ball with them from day one so Clegg's failure to make any kind of firm stance on the policies that got him voted into a position of near-power just made the Lib Dems as a party look weak and devoid of any integrity.  Ruined their chance of being a political power in the UK, now nobody who voted for them back then wants to touch them with a barge pole.

[Alf Bentley]

5 minutes ago, ramboacdc said:

id rather have then as the third party than UKIP who will say anything to get a vote, whether true or not *COUGH 350 MILLION*

 

It wasn't UKIP who made that claim, in fairness, it was the main Vote Leave campaign - i.e. mainly Brexit Tories plus a scattering of Labour mavericks. 

Farage disassociated himself from that claim.....imagine that, the Tories being more dishonest than UKIP. 

[DJ Barry Hammond]

5 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

They were kingmaker in that election:  They could have sided either Labour or Tory and in both cases it would have been democratically justifiable in terms of votes.  For some reason they chose to side with the party most anathema to their voters' political leanings.  The quoted reason was because the Tories had more votes but I can only imagine they thought they could play for more popularity by using the Tories as a scapegoat when their policies didn't go through but we all knew the Tories wouldn't play ball with them from day one so Clegg's failure to make any kind of firm stance on the policies that got him voted into a position of near-power just made the Lib Dems as a party look weak and devoid of any integrity.  Ruined their chance of being a political power in the UK, now nobody who voted for them back then wants to touch them with a barge pole.

 

Your suggestion of reasoning behind the Lib Dems going with the Tories is way off.

 

There was no way they could go into coalition with Labour and prop up Gordon Brown as Prime Minister, who had in everyone's eyes lost the election. 

 

They had to go with the Tories (especially as the Labour position involved contrived sums with other party MP's and a slim majority).  

 

If they are guilty of anything, I dare say it was being very naive. No one in the party had ever been in government before and we hadn't had a coalition government for decades so there was no real experience or knowledge of what to expect. Additionally, Cameron was quite known as the snake oil salesman he was later on.

 

In my mind (because Nick Clegg is clearly not a bad man, whatever you think of him), the Lib Dems conceded too much ground with the honest intention of trying to make things work - the country was in a pretty dire position financially at the time if you remember... and given Osborne was trying to eradicate the deficit in that Parliment at that time, a costly measure such as abolishing tuition fees would never have been up for negotiation. 

 

 

[Guest MattP]

First off, thank you for all your kind words (Seriously as well, even when it's the slightest compliment I smile, it makes me feel good inside)

 

I'm not banned anymore from GC but have been away through choice.

 

A choice that will be continuing even with the prospect of this General Election and the wonderful debate with you all, I never realised how much time I spent on here until I stopped, I've started working again and to my surprise I've started actually doing fairly well again, all the blame I was throwing elsewhere was actually just a lack of effort on my behalf and neglect to my own projects. I've also had a few personal problems over the last few months that I ahve finally started to get a grip on and deal with.

 

I feel a lot better as well not arguing politics on the internet, it really doesn't do the blood pressure any good at all and sometimes I was trying to get to sleep at night and thinking about debates I had been having on here or Facebook which is a ridiculous state to get yourself in, despite enjoying the buzz of it often it did bring out the worst in me as well and I would sometimes type out things that I would be far too polite to ever say in the company of others, even those who think the same as me. (Plus it will be a huge bonus not being around if Brexit goes tits-up)

 

A few predictions for the election as I'm typing:

 

A Conservative win, but not one that absolutely destroys the opposition. (Probably a 60-70 majority)

May to refuse all TV debates. (Nothing to gain and starve Corbyn of the airtime)

Lib Dems to pick up a few posh remain seats (Cable back in in Twickers, Simon Hughes as well)

Labour finally totally wiped out in Scotland (Tories to win all the Borders, maybe 3-4 seats)

Brexit will not be as big an issue as people think (A yougov poll the other week showed about 70% of people just think they should get on with it now)

The UKIP vote in Tory areas will collapse (They have stolen Farage's act and Nuttell is an idiot, once it's out there you are a dodgy scousers it's curtains)

 

I actually have a feeling it might not even be the end of Jeremy Corbyn, you can see already from his supporters the excuses already starting for the defeat and the campaign isn't even running yet, the media against him, the bogeymen Blarites, the voters not being left wing enough, his supporters on his Facebook page are even saying his mandate is to be leader until 2020 as that is what they voted on, I expect him to dig in even in the event of a loss, his supporters will spend the next few weeks after the election marching through London with all sort of bizarre conspiracy theories, it will be both hilarious and tragic to watch.

 

Anything that this "brutal Tory government" does until 2022? It's on all you who voted for Corbyn, you were warned by everyone from all sides and still went through with it. You are the selfishness you accuse all your opponents of.

 

I hope a decent opposition does arise from this but I fear the damage to Labour long term may now be done, Alan Johnson stands down at this election (I think this is the saddest thing about the whole thing, I'll really miss him, a Labour MP I'd have voted for as PM and not even welcome among his own now), cracking MP's like John Woodcock, Wes Streeting and Giselle Stuart will probably lose seats and they'll possibly be a rump of decent talent that will take the Tristram Hunt route and go straight out the door as the abuse sent to them from the cult will become unbearable, maybe a new party will arise from it though.

 

People often accused me during the Brexit debate of wanting to take Britain back to the 1950's, they were wrong, I want to go back to the 1850's, The Tories and The Whigs battling it out as two strong parties! What could go wrong?!

 

These are the main target seats for this one (I've left out Labour as they will barely get a gain), I think the Tories will probably take about twenty of them and lose maybe five to the Lib Dems, I also think May will be quite happy with that as it gives her more than enough to govern with DUP support, which now seems to be absolutely unconditional.
 

Quote

 

Alyn and Deeside Clwyd CON gain from LAB : Mark Tami
Barrow and Furness Cumbria CON gain from LAB : John Woodcock
Batley and Spen West Yorkshire CON gain from LAB : Tracy Brabin
Bermondsey and Old Southwark Southwark LIB gain from LAB : Neil Coyle
Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk Borders CON gain from NAT : Calum Kerr
Birmingham Edgbaston Birmingham CON gain from LAB : Gisela Stuart
Birmingham Northfield Birmingham CON gain from LAB : Richard Burden
Bishop Auckland Durham CON gain from LAB : Helen Goodman
Blackpool South Lancashire CON gain from LAB : Gordon Marsden
Bolton North East Western Manchester CON gain from LAB : David Crausby
Brentford and Isleworth Hounslow CON gain from LAB : Ruth Cadbury
Bridgend Mid Glamorgan CON gain from LAB : Madeleine Moon
Bristol East Bristol area CON gain from LAB : Kerry McCarthy
Bristol South Bristol area CON gain from LAB : Karin Smyth
Burnley Lancashire LIB gain from LAB : Julie Cooper
Bury South Western Manchester CON gain from LAB : Ivan Lewis
Cambridge Cambridgeshire LIB gain from LAB : Daniel Zeichner
Chester, City of Cheshire CON gain from LAB : Chris Matheson
Chorley Lancashire CON gain from LAB : Lindsay Hoyle
Clwyd South Clwyd CON gain from LAB : Susan Elan Jones
Copeland Cumbria CON gain from LAB : Jamie Reed
Coventry North West Coventry and Solihull CON gain from LAB : Geoffrey Robinson
Coventry South Coventry and Solihull CON gain from LAB : Jim Cunningham
Darlington Durham CON gain from LAB : Jenny Chapman
Delyn Clwyd CON gain from LAB : David Hanson
Derbyshire North East Derbyshire CON gain from LAB : Natascha Engel
Dewsbury West Yorkshire CON gain from LAB : Paula Sherriff
Dudley North Black Country CON gain from LAB : Ian Austin
Ealing Central and Acton Ealing CON gain from LAB : Rupa Huq
Edinburgh South Edinburgh area NAT gain from LAB : Ian Murray
Eltham Greenwich CON gain from LAB : Clive Efford
Enfield North Enfield CON gain from LAB : Joan Ryan
Exeter Devon CON gain from LAB : Ben Bradshaw
Gedling Nottinghamshire CON gain from LAB : Vernon Coaker
Halifax West Yorkshire CON gain from LAB : Holly Lynch
Hampstead and Kilburn Camden CON gain from LAB : Tulip Siddiq
Harrow West Harrow CON gain from LAB : Gareth Thomas
Hove East Sussex CON gain from LAB : Peter Kyle
Hyndburn Lancashire CON gain from LAB : Graham Jones
Ilford North Redbridge CON gain from LAB : Wes Streeting
Lancaster and Fleetwood Lancashire CON gain from LAB : Catherine Smith
Mansfield Nottinghamshire CON gain from LAB : Alan Meale
Middlesbrough South and Cleveland East Teesside CON gain from LAB : Tom Blenkinsop
Newcastle-under-Lyme Staffordshire CON gain from LAB : Paul Farrelly
Newport West Gwent CON gain from LAB : Paul Flynn
Scunthorpe Humber area CON gain from LAB : Nic Dakin
Southampton Test Hampshire CON gain from LAB : Alan Whitehead
Stoke-on-Trent North Staffordshire CON gain from LAB : Ruth Smeeth
Stoke-on-Trent South Staffordshire CON gain from LAB : Robert Flello
Tooting Wandsworth CON gain from LAB : Sadiq Khan
Wakefield West Yorkshire CON gain from LAB : Mary Creagh
Walsall North Black Country CON gain from LAB : David Winnick
Westminster North City of Westminster CON gain from LAB : Karen Buck
Wirral South Merseyside CON gain from LAB : Alison McGovern
Wirral West Merseyside CON gain from LAB : Margaret Greenwood
Wolverhampton South West Black Country CON gain from LAB : Rob Marris
Workington Cumbria CON gain from LAB : Sue Hayman
Wrexham Clwyd CON gain from LAB : Ian Lucas
Ynys Mon Gwynedd NAT gain from LAB : Albert Owen

 

 

Finally Up the City!!!! I can't wait for tonight, I hope it's something incredible. I had the pleasure of meeting @Sharpe's Fox at the QF - lovely fella.

[DJ Barry Hammond]

 

Boooooooo! 

 

Ban him!

[Izzy]

I know we're not America and should vote for the party and policies not the leader, but I feel much more confident with Theresa May in charge of our country so the Tories get my vote.

 

Meanwhile, MattP is reading this thread with a tear in his eye as he realises he's more popular with a load of strangers on the internet that he is with his real family and friends 

[Rincewind]

The campaign buses are ready 

 

[Facecloth]

24 minutes ago, Rincewind said:

The campaign buses are ready 

 

I'm assuming the UKIP one has already driven off a cliff, and the Greens are looking for a more environmentally friendly option, like a campaign Rickshaw? 

[Webbo]

4 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

So hang on, you are not as open minded as your initial post suggests?  I am shocked.  You seem to have made your mind up already.

I'm amazed. I was genuinely on the edge of my seat wondering what party he'd pick.

[Nick]

1 hour ago, MattP said:

First off, thank you for all your kind words (Seriously as well, even when it's the slightest compliment I smile, it makes me feel good inside)

 

I'm not banned anymore from GC but have been away through choice.

 

A choice that will be continuing even with the prospect of this General Election and the wonderful debate with you all, I never realised how much time I spent on here until I stopped, I've started working again and to my surprise I've started actually doing fairly well again, all the blame I was throwing elsewhere was actually just a lack of effort on my behalf and neglect to my own projects. I've also had a few personal problems over the last few months that I ahve finally started to get a grip on and deal with.

 

I feel a lot better as well not arguing politics on the internet, it really doesn't do the blood pressure any good at all and sometimes I was trying to get to sleep at night and thinking about debates I had been having on here or Facebook which is a ridiculous state to get yourself in, despite enjoying the buzz of it often it did bring out the worst in me as well and I would sometimes type out things that I would be far too polite to ever say in the company of others, even those who think the same as me. (Plus it will be a huge bonus not being around if Brexit goes tits-up)

 

A few predictions for the election as I'm typing:

 

A Conservative win, but not one that absolutely destroys the opposition. (Probably a 60-70 majority)

May to refuse all TV debates. (Nothing to gain and starve Corbyn of the airtime)

Lib Dems to pick up a few posh remain seats (Cable back in in Twickers, Simon Hughes as well)

Labour finally totally wiped out in Scotland (Tories to win all the Borders, maybe 3-4 seats)

Brexit will not be as big an issue as people think (A yougov poll the other week showed about 70% of people just think they should get on with it now)

The UKIP vote in Tory areas will collapse (They have stolen Farage's act and Nuttell is an idiot, once it's out there you are a dodgy scousers it's curtains)

 

I actually have a feeling it might not even be the end of Jeremy Corbyn, you can see already from his supporters the excuses already starting for the defeat and the campaign isn't even running yet, the media against him, the bogeymen Blarites, the voters not being left wing enough, his supporters on his Facebook page are even saying his mandate is to be leader until 2020 as that is what they voted on, I expect him to dig in even in the event of a loss, his supporters will spend the next few weeks after the election marching through London with all sort of bizarre conspiracy theories, it will be both hilarious and tragic to watch.

 

Anything that this "brutal Tory government" does until 2022? It's on all you who voted for Corbyn, you were warned by everyone from all sides and still went through with it. You are the selfishness you accuse all your opponents of.

 

I hope a decent opposition does arise from this but I fear the damage to Labour long term may now be done, Alan Johnson stands down at this election (I think this is the saddest thing about the whole thing, I'll really miss him, a Labour MP I'd have voted for as PM and not even welcome among his own now), cracking MP's like John Woodcock, Wes Streeting and Giselle Stuart will probably lose seats and they'll possibly be a rump of decent talent that will take the Tristram Hunt route and go straight out the door as the abuse sent to them from the cult will become unbearable, maybe a new party will arise from it though.

 

People often accused me during the Brexit debate of wanting to take Britain back to the 1950's, they were wrong, I want to go back to the 1850's, The Tories and The Whigs battling it out as two strong parties! What could go wrong?!

 

These are the main target seats for this one (I've left out Labour as they will barely get a gain), I think the Tories will probably take about twenty of them and lose maybe five to the Lib Dems, I also think May will be quite happy with that as it gives her more than enough to govern with DUP support, which now seems to be absolutely unconditional.
 

 

Finally Up the City!!!! I can't wait for tonight, I hope it's something incredible. I had the pleasure of meeting @Sharpe's Fox at the QF - lovely fella.

 

Reported for being Thracian in disguise.

[Guest]

30 minutes ago, Webbo said:

I'm amazed. I was genuinely on the edge of my seat wondering what party he'd pick.

As i think we all are with you Webbo

[Webbo]

6 minutes ago, Emilio Lestavez said:

As i think we all are with you Webbo

I've not decided yet.