Britain - The Official Thread

[Famine]

Does the last group support what I think they do? Serious question.

It's the UK Independence Party. They were kind of a single-issue party that wanted to get the UK out of the European Union. They only ever managed to get one MP in five attempts, but they seem to be regarded as the third or fourth largest party due to a large percentage of the popular vote (more than 12% last time) and almost always seem to get a representative invited to debates despite the chronic failure. Ironically, they have had more than 50 successes at getting returned as Members of the European Parliament (MEP). More than a third of the UK's MEPs at the last election were from UKIP.

Since the referendum result, they've seen rapidly dwindling support because the single issue has happened.

They're largely regarded as being endemically racist, and where not overtly against Muslim immigration specifically, in favour of very strict controls on immigration. Support is usually whipped up in deprived areas with high unemployment by demonising immigrants as taking benefits - particularly housing benefits - from genuinely needy (and white) natives due to softly, softly, leftist, touchy-feely political correctness about Muslims. And also taking jobs from (white) natives who should have the first choice. Which is a neat trick as high benefit payouts and working are usually mutually exclusive.

Much of their membership is Euro-sceptic Conservatives, so they tend to sit on a largely conservative financial platform along with a really rather authoritarian social platform. Some of what they say is entirely reasonable and rational, but they essentially follow it up with crap about terrorists and immigrants and job-stealing asylum-seekers and literally Nazi advertising campaigns (this actually happened), so people swallow the reasonable stuff and then agree with the anti-immigrant stuff because they actually agree, or disregard the anti-immigrant stuff because the other stuff makes sense.

Are they actually an apartheid party? Nah. But they are pretty appalling.

 

[Roger the Horse]

Personally I'm thinking of probably voting Lib Dem as they're the only party who I can see standing a chance against the Tories around here and our Tory candidate is an extraordinarily dislikable man who has repeatedly shown that he does not care at all about the concerns or views of the majority of his constituents (many of whom presumably must have voted for him).

Obviously on a national level I could talk about the enormous number of things I hate about the Tories, like how Theresa May wants to censor the internet and scrap human rights, how they have repeatedly followed policies which have fairly directly lead to the avoidable deaths of disabled people, or how they seem to be committed to only one thing with regards to Brexit (making sure it's as damaging for the UK as possible, ie. Euratom), but I don't think that's really necessary.

Labour have managed to remarkably turn themselves around in my opinion in the past few weeks from a position of "what the hell are they doing" to one of "well, they'd probably run the country half-competently, and that's better than the rest of them, I guess"; although realistically my "ideal" scenario would probably be some sort of Green-Lib Dem equal partners coalition, as I feel the negative aspects of both of those parties would hopefully cancel each other out.

Ultimately though, everyone should vote if they can. Unless it's for the Tories or UKIP. In which case, please reconsider. Unless you're one of the lucky few with a half decent Tory MP. Okay, first past the post is bad, maybe that's the main issue here.

 

[DK]

Just an observation from a neighbour - I find it scary that the non-dom-controlled Brexiteer media managed to make "human rights" into snarl words.

 

[Roger the Horse]

Hence why I'm far from the only one looking to leave the country.

 

[Famine]

Just an observation from a neighbour - I find it scary that the non-dom-controlled Brexiteer media managed to make "human rights" into snarl words.

Indeed, especially given the fact that it's human rights legislation like the European Convention on Human Rights which is the problem, and not the concept of human rights. There's also the concept that nations like Saudi Arabia sit on the UN's human rights council in judgment over other countries while denying what the UN calls human rights to its own citizens...

Personally I'd tear up the ECHR - because it is fundamentally contradictory and classes as rights things that provision by other people (denying their right not to do so) - and replace it with far more basic but clear and consistent UK human rights legislation.

 

[Tired Tyres]

It took me quite a while to find my new polling station. Got there in the end though. Liberal Democrat voted for.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

I voted about a week ago, postal voting, I backed our local Labour MP.

 

[Famine]

And you all know what I did to my ballot paper

Exit polls in an hour and a bit, isn't it? That'll be fun, given how catastrophically wrong they proved the opinion polls to be in 2015...

 

[Lizard]

And you all know what I did to my ballot paper

Exit polls in an hour and a bit, isn't it? That'll be fun, given how catastrophically wrong they proved the opinion polls to be in 2015...

You could have god standing and you would still spoil your ballot.

 

[Famine]

You could have god standing and you would still spoil your ballot.

I'm very much against his position on Sunday trading and the treatment of rape victims.

 

[jake2013guy]

This will be an exciting night as usual for some reason. Currently on Sky but will switch to BBC when that starts. Weirdly enjoy them speaking to the people counting for Sunderland.

 

[ECGadget]

May start filing an application to move to Canada after tonight... Is saying 'ey' a prerequisite?

 

[PeterJB]

10pm. Here we go.

 

[Touring Mars]

BBC/ITV/Sky exit poll suggests a hung parliament.

Now, if you excuse me for a moment, I have to go and change my pants, because I just pissed myself laughing.

 

[DK]

Tories expected to get 314 seats. I guess the Dementia Tax won't pay off.


This is great for me, I've got a fiver on a hung parliament.

 

[Famine]

 

[Touring Mars]

I guess the Dementia Tax won't pay off.

Yeh, they should forget that idea.

 

[Robin]

Theresa, you've done a Cameron calling this Turbulent times ahead if the exit polls are correct.

 

[Tired Tyres]

Didn't see that one coming. I wonder how many people flat out lie when asked who they voted for?

 

[jake2013guy]

Didn't see that one coming. I wonder how many people flat out lie when asked who they voted for?

I'm not surprised if people do. But I'm not surprised at that result.

 

[Famine]

So, as things stand, there's only three two-party coalitions that can form a majority government. Con-Lab (no), Con-SNP (hahahahano) and Con-Lib.

Otherwise it's a minority government or another election, during the two-year Article 50 process.

I might stand, as a Libertarian candidate


Edit: Hang about. Labour up 34, with Conservative down 17 and SNP down 22? Labour can't be gaining 20-odd Scottish seats (even 5 would be a surprise), so that suggests the Tories are taking nigh-on 20 Scottish seats and losing 40+ English ones? While the Tories might take some in the Borders, I can't see that they're looking at 20 either.

 

[Robin]

I think it will be Con-Lib again. Different leaders this time, maybe it will work better.

 

[Touring Mars]

I think it will be Con-Lib again. Different leaders this time, maybe it will work better.

Heck no... surely the Lib Dems have learned their lesson - they've never recovered after putting Cameron into No. 10 - they would have to leave the country if they backed Theresa May this time around.

I might stand, as a Libertarian candidate

👍 I can just see Question Time now...

 

[TRGTspecialist]

Wow.

We don't have any vote shares yet but this smacks of yet another failure in judgement by the pundits............despite plenty of polls showing Labour close - and YouGov's new model floating the possibility of a hung parliament - the 'conventional wisdom' seemed to be to ignore this and assume the solid Tory majority everyone expected at the start of the campaign, would just happen anyway.

Although there is this:



Gonna be a long night!

 

[ECGadget]

I cannot see Tim Farron ever joining forces with May. And a minority government is a disaster.
For me, the ideal would be Lab-Lib coalition IF the Tories can lose more seats than the polls suggest and Labour can take those. Though to be fair I would not mind Lab-SNP...

Time to reset and go again?

 

[TRGTspecialist]

So, as things stand, there's only three two-party coalitions that can form a majority government. Con-Lab (no), Con-SNP (hahahahano) and Con-Lib.

If the exit poll is close to correct then it seems likely that the Northern Irish parties will hold the balance of power.............then you'll know what a REAL coalition of chaos will look like

EDIT: Although Sinn Fein say they are ruling themselves out of the potential power struggles - important as it reduces the number of MPs the Tories need to have a working majority (318-320, rather than 326 I think).

 

[Famine]

If the exit poll is correct then it seems likely that the Northern Irish parties will hold the balance of power.............then you'll know what a REAL coalition of chaos will look like

They can't even run Northern Ireland between them

 

[Robin]

Pounds doing well as usual...

 

[ExigeEvan]

Pounds doing well as usual...

View attachment 652588

Irrelevant without a labelled y-axis

[EDIT] Fall on my sword, axis on the right. Still don't think 2p is a huge drop. Great if you're trading in millions though.

 

[Dennisch]

Pounds doing well as usual...

View attachment 652588

That needs to drop a bit further. Me and the missus want to go to Scotland later this year.