General Election - June 8th

I know Clacton. If you rely on the Wikipedia article on the constituency, with the recent election results, you miss the pertinent fact that the constituency was cut out of the old Harwich constituency (Julian Ridsdale, the very last "National Liberal" - he took the Tory whip of course) and gained Jaywick and Point Clear, the most deprived places in the whole of Britain. Ivan Henderson held it for Labour up to 2010. I think it will revert to Labour. Voters in Jaywick need their benefits.

Edited to add:

I am sure this will go down well in Jaywick:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-39640036

It is this switch in May's approach which leads those who wish to think well of her to suggest that she is calling this election in order to increase her majority in order to get free of the bastards.

I think Mark is mistaken in thinking that his list of four MPs who are pro-EU - Dominic Grieve, Nicky Morgan, Anna Soubry and Ken Clarke - are any sort of a threat to May. They are a tiny minority of the Tories. Her majority is 17 and there are lots of bastards.

The list of Labour MPs who are so dissatisfied with their party leader that they are not seeking re-election is growing by the hour and now stands at five. Two Tories are also not seeking re-election, oner of them being Osborne whose decision not to stand means he'll be reduced to just five.

Meanwhile the Sun has been tipped-off that Nigel Farage is considering standing again for South Thanet. That'll be the 5th time he's stood for Parliament.

There are many more pro-EU Tory MPs but, unlike the four I mentioned, they have accepted the democratic result.

i thought Theresa May would become prime minister --a few years back--

i also think Nigel Farage will be PM one day--just not sure of which party though--at a guess----labour.

Mark, is the Prime Minister right wing or left wing? You say at one point that she is the most left wing PM in history and then you say that she is voluntarily taking up the positions of the extreme Right of the Conservative Party.

Her actions to date suggest that she is not to the left of Harold MacMillan, Ted Heath or John Major, but then I am not a Tory so the finer points may be lost on me.

2nd referendum via the back door .

Neither MacMillan, Heath or Major could be accused of championing the working classes. One of May's very first acts as PM was to park her tanks on Labour's lawn. Her popularity in the Shires isn't that great: she didn't go to Eton (or Roedean) and doesn't hold with Cameron/Blair's chumocracy method of government. I doubt that MacMillan or Heath would have held a referendum on the EU - much less act on its result - Major certainly wouldn't. So you tell me: left or right.

The UK will, I predict, cease to exist as an entity after 2022.

• If (Sir) Nigel rejoins the Conservative party.
  
• And stands as their candidate for South Thanet.
• And Theresa May hands over the top position.

He could by PM before Christmas!

Who better to lead our country towards a prosperous and better future outside the evil EU.

MPs voted overwhelmingly to support the Prime Minister's motion to hold a General Election on June 8 by 522 votes to 13. The Noes comprise 9 Labour MPs, 2 Scottish Nationalists, 1 SDLP and another Northern Irish MP who sits as an Independent. Interestingly, none of those 13 include any of those Labour MPs who have declared they won't be standing for re-election.

Mrs May has declined to appear in TV debates with the other party leaders which prompted this tweert from Sean Kemp, a former adviser to Nick Clegg:

​

According to Guido Fawkes, today's closing prices for an overall majority are:

Conservatives: 1/7
Hung Parliament: 9/2
Labour: 16/1
LibDem: 50/1
Ukip: 100/1
Greens: 300/1
​

I'm pleased there will be no live debates between the party leaders, they are a distraction from the real issues at hand. May really has little to gain by appearing in a live debate and everything to lose, if it was going to be a close run election then I think May would have agreed to the debates.

It will be interesting though to see if May sticks to her guns on the TV debate.

I miss Nigel, he puts life into politics, I really hope he does stand for South Thanet and wins the seat, it would be fantastic to see him debating in the house.

Farage would also keep May honest regarding Brexit, I can see him now

Mother Theresa's voting record.

Voted against equal gay rights 10 times, for 8.
Voted against smoking bans 5 times.
Voted against the hunting ban

Voted for the Iraq war
Voted against a right to remain for EU nationals already in living in the UK (8 votes against, 0 for)
Voted for the bedroom tax
Voted against raising welfare payments in line with prices
Voted against paying higher benefits over longer periods for those unable to work due to illness or disability
Voted for a reduction in Welfare payments
Voted against spending public money to create guaranteed jobs for young people who have spent a long time unemployed

Voted for VAT increases
Voted for tax increases on flights
Voted for tax increases on alcohol
Voted for reductions in Capital Gains Tax
Voted for restrictions of Trade Union activity

Voted 3 times against introduction of Tax avoidance measures
Voted for reduction of corporation tax

Voted against measures to prevent climate change (9 times) against 6 votes for
Voted for badger culling
Voted against greater regulation of fracking

Voted against slowing the rise of rail fares

5th time lucky Nigel! I know he's desperate to join the establishment.

She will, she would get a pasting from a few leaders (especially those of minor parties). She knows it could be costly, because she isn't a very personable lady.

However, I agree the TV debates are a waste of time by and large and they are a distraction.

He hasn't done too badly not being part of the establishment has he bluebird old boy

He's been earning a fortune in Europe (as part of that establishment), and if he maintains his attendance record come a day when he sits in Westminster then May will have little to fear.

Oh you want to play silly games, do you ... fine, Saint Nick's record whilst in govertnment is rather revealing:

• Voted 4 times against reducing housing benefit for social tenants deemed to have excess bedrooms whilst Deputy Prime Minister
• Voted 3 times against raising welfare benefits at least in line with prices, never for.
  
• Voted twice for and three times against paying higher benefits over longer periods for those unable to work due to illness or disability
• Has never voted on making local councils responsible for helping those in financial need afford their council tax and reducing the amount spent on such support
• Voted three times spending public money to create guaranteed jobs for young people who have spent a long time unemployed, never for.
• Voted 4 times against raising the threshold at which people start to pay income tax
  
• Voted 6 times in favour of increasing the rate of VAT
• Voted one time for higher taxes on alcoholic drinks and abstained on 18 occasions
• Voted one time against lower taxes on fuel for motor vehicles and abstained 15 times
• Voted against a banker’s bonus tax four times and abstained 14 times
• Voted against an annual tax on the value of expensive homes (mansion tax) once and abstained 3 times
• Consistently voted for raising England’s undergraduate tuition fee cap to £9,000 per year
  
• Consistently voted for university tuition fees
  
• Voted 7 times voted against a stricter asylum system, never voted in favour
• Voted 5 times against stronger enforcement of immigration rules
• Voted against measures to prevent climate change three times
• Consistently voted for selling England’s state owned forests
  
• Voted against financial incentives for low carbon emission electricity generation methods once and abstained 4 times
  
• Voted 3 times against greater regulation of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to extract shale gas, abstained once
  
• He has never voted on slowing the rise in rail fares
• Almost always voted against charging a market rent to high earners renting a council home - 4 votes against, 1 abstention
  
• Almost always voted against Labour's anti-terrorism laws, 14 votes against, 10 absences, between 2005–2010

RACIST