The UK General Election [2017 Edition]

[Uncle Sam]

If anybody wants to see a Corbyn vs. May WrestleMania package cut to My Way: https://twitter.com/achinglychic/status/872487891737423872

 

[Dave]

I really don't think that the Tories will lose the election but I'd settle for their numbers to be cut and for them to actually realise that you can't treat people like shit forever and expect to get away with it. That said, an SNP/Labour coalition would be ideal.

 

[Барбоса]

That said, an SNP/Labour coalition would be ideal.

Except for the people who don't want an end to the Union or to see Jeremy Corbyn as PM of course...

 

[Stone Cold Tea]

And Jeremy Corbyn.

I'll take Jeremy Corbyn over expense swindling, tax dodging, Saudi funding, national service raping, field skipping Theresa May.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Except for the people who don't want an end to the Union or to see Jeremy Corbyn as PM of course...

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Eltham, Bermondsey, Hove, and Ilford - the four constituencies that I personally tried to keep Labour and will be especially fucked off about if we lose them. Just to give tomorrow night a little salt and pepper.

 

[Lee]

I'm more annoyed at the reasons people are voting. Genuinely saw on fb before "Corbyn is against Brexit". Like fucking hell they're allowing ******s to vote.

 

[Dave]

I should have said "ideal for me".

 

[Uncle Sam]

The big surprise - he says before the chickens have hatched - has been how much of a non-issue Brexit has been for most voters. Corbyn's calculation on that might well be more astute than many gave him credit for. Pity for the Lib Dems and their ongoing battle against extinction, or the SNP and their ongoing search for something to really fuck off Scottish voters.

 

[Dan Severn's Moustache]

I think we can all agree that Corbyn, along with McDonnell and Abbott are the reason why Labour have lost this. Labour is in desperate need of another Blair to even stand a chance of appealing to the sensibilities of a centrist Britain and contesting the Tories.

 

[Барбоса]

The Lib Dems made as big a manifesto ricket as the Tories in calling for a second referendum; not because voting on the result of the Brexit negotiations is an altogether unpopular idea, but because they called it a second referendum, which made it sound like they were trying to completely overturn Brexit. Even if that is their long term goal, do not come out and say it; and if it is not, do not use such easily spun language.

In an election where there is centre ground to be won as both the Tories and Corbyn are unpalatable for significant enough numbers, the Lib Dems are instead looking into the eye of Oblivion.

 

[Dan Severn's Moustache]

The Lib Dems made as big a manifesto ricket as the Tories in calling for a second referendum; not because voting on the result of the Brexit negotiations is an altogether unpopular idea, but because they called it a second referendum, which made it sound like they were trying to completely overturn Brexit. Even if that is their long term goal, do not come out and say it; and if it is not, do not use such easily spun language.

In an election where there is centre ground to be won as both the Tories and Corbyn are unpalatable for significant enough numbers, the Lib Dems are instead looking into the eye of Oblivion.

I had a very stimulating conversation with someone on Twitter about this as a Lib Dem supporter. They had the opportunity to gain serious ground in usurping Labour as the second biggest party this election, and they threw it away by suggesting another referendum, which while I don't completely disagree with it, is electoral poison.

Ultimately, I think they're trying to carve a similar niche as UKIP did in the early portion of this decade, but it's far too early to really get much of a foot in the door on Brexit yet.

 

[Барбоса]

Labour is in desperate need of another Blair to even stand a chance of appealing to the sensibilities of a centrist Britain and contesting the Tories.

Here's a statement and a half coming...

If not for the Iraq War, Tony Blair would be about to re-enter Downing Street tomorrow.

Discuss.

 

[Dan Severn's Moustache]

Here's a statement and a half coming...

If not for the Iraq War, Tony Blair would be about to re-enter Downing Street tomorrow.

Discuss.

I'd be inclined to agree. I think he'd be able to hold the same popularity amongst his populace as Merkel currently has in Germany.

 

[Lee]

Here's a statement and a half coming...

If not for the Iraq War, Tony Blair would be about to re-enter Downing Street tomorrow.

Discuss.

Nah he'd not have been out.

 

[Барбоса]

Nah he'd not have been out.

Hmmm... I had considered that but feel that he might have been voted out on the back of the Credit Crunch.

Having said that, Cameron could not win a majority against an enfeebled Gordon Brown., laden with the Iraq War legacy and the crash so what chance would he have against a man he was a poor imitation of?

 

[Tastycles]

I still think Blair could be back in 2022. Probably not as leader, but he'll be around as an elder statesmen to someone like Macron. The labour party's issue is that they think Blair is unpopular because of anything other than Iraq. He isn't, and would have beaten Cameron in 2010.

Never in my lifetime or my father's lifetime or my grandchildren's lifetime will a politician as lightweight as Theresa May win an election, and yet she's probably going to have a majority comparable to Thatcher and Blair, which is completely ludicrous.

 

[A11oftheLights]

I dont understand the brits. From what I've read and watched (i will admit that one source is extremely left winged) Corbyn has proven he can pay for all his policies but May hasnt and on top of all that May was campaigning for a stay vote. She keeps saying that she will get a deal done for brexit but thats just pissing off the EU and is likely going to result in you guys getting fucked over while Corbyn has only said that he wont get a terrible deal because a terrible deal is worse than no deal

 

[Uncle Sam]

The "no deal" rhetoric is very silly. No deal isn't better than a bad deal; no deal IS a bad deal. I understand why they use it - to lower expectations in case the team of people who couldn't negotiate themselves out of a wet paper bag can't secure a decent deal in the most complex legal undertaking in history and to make the EU think we might actually be crazy enough to just walk away - but it's still utter nonsense.

Corbyn is haunted by a lot of his past demons. I don't think people, if they're not Irish or Jewish, actually care that much about his meeting with the IRA or Hamas but are more bothered by questions of basic competence. That's a shame because there's a definite anti-Semitic streak within the hard left that people are wilfully blind to. I'm literally a fully paid up Labour supporter and I probably wouldn't have gone canvassing if I thought we were actually going to win.

If the seventies and eighties proved anything, it's that stubbornly sticking by your socialist principles won't get you anywhere. If you want an extraparliamentary protest movement, wonderful! Just maybe consider forming one outside of Parliament. Similarly, I don't think it's as simple as a return to Blairism. The Labour Party's problems run much deeper than Corbyn, and toppling him, while necessary, won't solve everything.

I can only hope the choice between these two governments is the worst I'll see in my lifetime because I don't really want to know what a downward spiral looks like.

But shit, maybe non-voters and the young have turned out in record numbers and we'll be waking up to Prime Minister Corbyn. His first task will be combating the swarms of flying pigs ravaging the country.

 

[Uncle Sam]

And on May:

She had a historic opportunity to steal away Labour voters. We can't believe in Jeremy Corbyn's vision, they said. This could be a painful parting of the ways - but what does the Tory Party have to offer us? What olive branch will they extend?

I dunno lol, came the response. I guess we could repeal the fox hunting ban?

The fucking state of it.

 

[Lee]

I was reading that two of the Middlesbrough area wards are going to be Conservative likely.

This was 2 years ago: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/sep/28/redcar-steel-plant-to-close-with-1700-job-losses

For fuck sake.

 

[klunderbunker]

And on May:

She had a historic opportunity to steal away Labour voters. We can't believe in Jeremy Corbyn's vision, they said. This could be a painful parting of the ways - but what does the Tory Party have to offer us? What olive branch will they extend?

I dunno lol, came the response. I guess we could repeal the fox hunting ban?

The fucking state of it.

I was reading that two of the Middlesbrough area wards are going to be Conservative likely.

This was 2 years ago: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/sep/28/redcar-steel-plant-to-close-with-1700-job-losses

For fuck sake.

See also: America last year. People have the shortest memories in the world when it comes to politics and facts or reality have no impact whatsoever.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

I think we can all agree that Corbyn, along with McDonnell and Abbott are the reason why Labour have lost this. Labour is in desperate need of another Blair to even stand a chance of appealing to the sensibilities of a centrist Britain and contesting the Tories.

This just simply isn't true - in-fighting, division and demonising (of the left and the right) are the reasons Labour is in its current state. If the parliamentary Labour party had spent more time pulling together than trying to get rid of Corbyn they would've significantly increased his and their chances.

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

I don't envy the electorate one bit. I voted for Brexit, but didn't bother to get a proxy vote for this election (it was a snap one after all) I really wouldn't know who to vote for here. I am no fan of May's or Corbyn's. Reading the manifestos, I was impressed with Labour's, but I think UKIP actually had the best one.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I've only read the bits of the UKIP manifesto that were hilariously insane enough to be shared on Twitter so sure, I'll believe that.

 

[Lee]

You seen the Nottingham UKIP leaflet?