Britain - The Official Thread

[axletramp]

Lord Buckethead is unmasked!

 

[Stotty]

Decisions were made on some promises that were plain lies (quickly-retracted lies on the day of the result) and surely you can understand why some Leave voters feel they didn't get what they thought they were getting.

If people are so stupid that they believe what politicians or the tabloids say, they deserve what they get.

 

[Lizard]

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...-after-shock-election-result-northern-ireland

Oh hell. Isn't this the first time a Northern Irish party has been in government?

 

[PeterJB]

Is this really an excerpt from The Sun or has the internet bamboozled me? This reads like a Clarkson column.

View attachment 652648

I doubt even The Sun would stoop that low.




And now Paul Nutall's resigned. Yet another leadership change for UKIP.

 

[PzR Slim]

Great to see the young voters turned out in such numbers.......however, if they had bothered for the referendum we probably wouldn't be in the mess we are.

 

[Lizard]

So the DUP are demanding no special status for Northern Ireland in Brexit. Leaving Ireland even more split. Riots anyone?

 

[TenEightyOne]

If people are so stupid that they believe what politicians or the tabloids say, they deserve what they get.

Lying to stupid people doesn't make it right

I doubt even The Sun would stoop that low.

Think again. You have to scroll down past their sensible op-ed on jihadism.

So the DUP are demanding no special status for Northern Ireland in Brexit. Leaving Ireland even more split. Riots anyone?

Not for me, thanks, got to go to a meeting and then I'm having a snooze.

 

[Famine]

Looks like The Theresa May Party scored 13,650,900 votes, with one seat left to declare. The only parties to score more in the last 40 years were also Conservative, under Thatcher (1979, 1987) and Major (1992).

That's not bad for someone that we're being told lost, in no small part due to the cult of personality around her.

Corbyn's 12,858,652 (with one seat left to declare) is more than anyone except those four and Blair in 1997. It's 2 million more than Blair in 2001. That's not bad for someone that we're told is not seen as being fit to lead and has terrorist sympathies.

 

[TheCracker]

Looks like The Theresa May Party scored 13,650,900 votes, with one seat left to declare. The only parties to score more in the last 40 years were also Conservative, under Thatcher (1979, 1987) and Major (1992).

That's not bad for someone that we're being told lost, in no small part due to the cult of personality around her.

Corbyn's 12,858,652 (with one seat left to declare) is more than anyone except those four and Blair in 1997. It's 2 million more than Blair in 2001. That's not bad for someone that we're told is not seen as being fit to lead and has terrorist sympathies.

All goes to prove that we're fast turning into a two-party country

 

[Touring Mars]

Downing Street have released an X-ray image of Theresa May's foot after last night's debacle...

 

[UKMikey]

All goes to prove that we're fast turning into a two-party country

Greatly aided by the voting system our country voted to keep, I suspect.

 

[Robin]

It's been announced that the Conservatives are indeed in talks with the DUP to form a government so I guess that's our coalition then.

Don't think May will last very long, apparently Boris is plotting to overthrow her!

Another general election is likely in the fall, oh joy

 

[Tired Tyres]

It's been announced that the Conservatives are indeed in talks with the DUP to form a government so I guess that's our coalition then.

Don't think May will last very long, apparently Boris is plotting to overthrow her!

Another general election is likely in the fall, oh joy

Sooner than that. She has a party that is split down the middle on the EU. With such a small margin - she can't realistically do anything meaningful.

 

[Liquid]

If the DUP become the kingmakers, Cromwell will rise out of his grave for a round of Dance Dance Revolution.

 

[PzR Slim]

Looking on Twitter it would seem that Corbyn smashed it with a huge majority. People do get that Labour came second don't they? Honestly people need to realise that all this vote does is show just how split we are as a country. Neither Labour or the Tories offered a vision that a majority could vote for. It's not a great day for either of them.

 

[Dotini]

All goes to prove that we're fast turning into a two-party country

Actually you are currently a four-party system.

The Conservatives are divided and so are Labour.

To the best of my understanding, Labour is divided over Corbyn, with the Tories divided over Brexit.

But in this election, I think the deciding factor was terrorism/security. People strongly like Corbyn on that issue, and strongly dislike May. To get back to your wonted 2 party system, both must go.

 

[PeterJB]

Actually you are currently a four-party system.

The Conservatives are divided and so are Labour.

To the best of my understanding, Labour is divided over Corbyn, with the Tories divided over Brexit.

But in this election, I think the deciding factor was terrorism/security. People strongly like Corbyn on that issue, and strongly dislike May.

Again I think there's a split there too. People like May's militaristic stance, but don't appreciate her cutting police numbers and keeping the arms deal with Saudi Arabia. Whereas with Corbyn he's very touch-and-go when it comes to the use of nuclear weapons, opposed the renewal of trident (and lost), is opposed to a trade deal with Saudi Arabia, but is also pro-migration and seen as soft on terrorism.

 

[UKMikey]

Looking on Twitter it would seem that Corbyn smashed it with a huge majority. People do get that Labour came second don't they? Honestly people need to realise that all this vote does is show just how split we are as a country. Neither Labour or the Tories offered a vision that a majority could vote for. It's not a great day for either of them.

It's a far better day for Labour than the predicted rout. I think his supporters are just happy that the negative press didn't dent his popularity as much as they thought it might.

 

[Touring Mars]

Looking on Twitter it would seem that Corbyn smashed it with a huge majority. People do get that Labour came second don't they? Honestly people need to realise that all this vote does is show just how split we are as a country. Neither Labour or the Tories offered a vision that a majority could vote for. It's not a great day for either of them.

Yeh, it's vaguely reminiscent of when Scotland got beaten 2-1 by Brazil - you'd think we'd won the World Cup!

To be fair though, it is down to Corbyn and his massive improvement on Miliband that the Tories (and possibly a hard Brexit) are now scuppered, so I'd be celebrating too if I were him. It will be amusing to see how many Labour MPs coming crawling out of the woodwork to support him now.

-

It was also amusing to see the Telegraph headline: "Britain votes for chaos"... pretty rich given their support for Brexit. In any case, I'd prefer a 'coalition of chaos' over a coalition of Conservatives, Unionists and Northern-Irish Temps.

 

[Liquid]

Looking on Twitter it would seem that Corbyn smashed it with a huge majority. People do get that Labour came second don't they? Honestly people need to realise that all this vote does is show just how split we are as a country. Neither Labour or the Tories offered a vision that a majority could vote for. It's not a great day for either of them.

Considering people were predicting a landslide and that Corbyn had zero chance of leading his party through any election, they didn't do so badly. Yes they came second but they made seat gains on the Tories which were believed to be not possible even a few weeks ago; they were always going to be second but we were led to believe that they would be a long way behind when instead they're closer than they were last night. They took away the majority of the goverment, a majority the goverment didn't have to gamble but foolishly did so anyway. They didn't lose any marginal seats to the Tories despite extensive, focused campaigning by them.

In that context it is cause for celebration but I would be onside with you about them being as though it's a pure win. A content celebration would be more appropriate.

 

[UKMikey]

If the DUP become the kingmakers, Cromwell will rise out of his grave for a round of Dance Dance Revolution.

Warning - the following may just possibly be fake news...

 

[Jimlaad43]

On the subject of these three and just how bizarrely the current voting system works:

SNP: 977,569 votes. 35 seats in parliament.
Green: 524,604 votes. 1 seat.
UKIP: 593,852 votes. Zero seats.

Lib Dems: 2,367,048 votes. 12 seats.

 

[PeterJB]

May trying to form a coalition with the DUP reeks of desperation and does nothing to improve her decimated image and reputation. It's gonna cause a whole host of problems.

 

[Lizard]

May trying to form a coalition with the DUP reeks of desperation and does nothing to improve her decimated image and reputation. It's gonna cause a whole host of problems.

Especially after trying to play the 'Corbyn has terrorist friends' line. The DuP pretty much were founded by terrorists.

 

[TheCracker]

I can see this DUP coalition as a potential powder-keg and a real spanner-in-the-works for Brexit talks.

I think the whole Northern Ireland issue is something (sorry to our N.I. members) that the rest of the UK was happy to forget about/sweep under the carpet and is now probably going to be headline news again for years to come.

 

[Sanji Himura]

May trying to form a coalition with the DUP reeks of desperation and does nothing to improve her decimated image and reputation. It's gonna cause a whole host of problems.

I agree, especially with a vote of no confidence hanging over her head if she doesn't tow the DUP line. That is something that the DUP has enough sway over May if one or two things don't go their way.

Disclosure: My remarks are purely based on the election results and not just on any election discussion at this time.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Looking on Twitter it would seem that Corbyn smashed it with a huge majority. People do get that Labour came second don't they?

13.6m votes to 12.8m votes is an incredible performance for Labour given that many people expected the Conservatives to hold a far greater majority.

 

[Famine]

13.6m votes to 12.8m votes is an incredible performance for Labour given that many people expected the Conservatives to hold a far greater majority.

Labour is also 57 seats behind.

Someone (not here) has brought up the fact that the Tories made Scottish gains, so may have trouble governing England thanks to its own English Votes for English Laws legislation. As they're 51 seats up in England and hold an absolute majority of 30, I'm not sure that's going to be a problem.

 

[PzR Slim]

13.6m votes to 12.8m votes is an incredible performance for Labour given that many people expected the Conservatives to hold a far greater majority.

Indeed, well done for not losing as badly as people said you would. My point still stands.

 

[Liquid]

I can see this DUP coalition as a potential powder-keg and a real spanner-in-the-works for Brexit talks.

I think the whole Northern Ireland issue is something (sorry to our N.I. members) that the rest of the UK was happy to forget about/sweep under the carpet and is now probably going to be headline news again for years to come.

In Wales and in England no-one really cares about Northern Ireland. They either don't pay attention to it or willfully a blind eye to loyalist issues.

As you say, with the DUP potentially about to make a grand debut in Westminster politics it could highlight years of neglect or open up old wounds. It'll almost come as a shock to look up the DUP if you've never heard of them, wondering whether they are just Northern Irish conservatives and be surprised by the religious zealousness and the groups of people who support them.