Well, it looks like it’s a done deal since Corbyn has agreed to back a general election in December. I’m disappointed but not surprised. Corbyn has always been a leaver at heart.
It’s far too early for predictions and Labour did outperform back in 2017. Maybe the Brexit Party will run candidates to help muck things up. There’s times I think Farage doesn’t really want to leave, he just wants the EU to blame for everything.
This should be interesting.
Hopefully the slogan ‘Johnson wants to sell the NHS to Trump’ will be sued as often as possible…
Freudian slip? 
2014: Scottish Independence Referendum
2015: General Election
2016: Brexit Referendum
2017: General Election
2018: _________
2019: General Election
Woo-hoo! After the inexplicable lapse of 2018, let the festival of democracy recommence! More voting, more campaigns, more leaflets, more doorstepping, more debates, more ads, more arguments, more, more, more. If there’s one thing we love in Britain, it’s yet another vote.
I think the general election will happen, but the election bill has to pass through a significant amount of squabbling before the general election is guaranteed. Right now, they’re debating whether or not to extend the voting franchise to 16 & 17 year olds and UK resident EU citizens. Unless I missed something, they still haven’t settled on a date for the vote. Someone’s bound to try adding a second referendum amendment. It’s entirely possible that a “compromise” election bill will be put forward that turns out to be a bill that no one wants. Pretty much the story of this Parliament. So stay tuned, but don’t go out buying any election night party supplies just yet.
Well, I live in the USA under Trump and there’s always alcohol in my apartment. Those are all the election night party supplies I need
Well get the bunting, the beers and the bingo cards ready, the election’s been called for 12 December.
I’m honestly not sure what I even think would be a good outcome here. Maybe a Labour minority Government with the Lib Dems and SNP to keep them honest?
I think the problem is that both of the major parties are suffering at the moment, from extremely poor political leadership. This isn’t a problem that can be solved by a general election. The best outcome may well be a cantankerous hung parliament, which might ameliorate the situation by limiting the damage that could be done by the leadership of either party, if it commanded a secure majority in a docile parliament (as is normal in the UK system).
If it weren’t for the issue of Brexit, that might be good, but at some point in the very near future we need decisive action taken. The deadline is now about 7 weeks after the election, and another useless hung Parliament like the current one will be unlikely to do anything about it. Really, the only options are leave at the end of January if the Tories win, end up with No Deal if Corbyn wins as he’ll dither and faff and wonder why the usual bully-boy union leader tactics aren’t working with the EU, or the faint hope that the Lib Dems and the SNP hold enough of the balance of power to actually do something.
Much as I dislike the SNPs rhetoric and policies, they have shown that they’re effective in government.
Complete and utter garbage. Corbyn has proposed a deal which is essentially a customs union put to a confirmatory referendum with remain as an option, with no deal not being considered a position at all.
Corbyn will not get that deal. The EU will expect him to get the deal they have agreed through Parliament.
They will expect him (And he will) To add the caveat of a customs union on that deal for the whole of the UK. They’re not going to reject it, that’s even on the basis that the public don’t back remain in a confirmatory vote.
It took Corbyn several months to “negotiate” a general election with a minority government who actually wanted one. The idea that he is capable of negotiating an acceptable deal with the EU, even if they do go back on their word and reopen talks, is laughable.
And that doesn’t even begin to address the fact that such a deal is even more anathema to leave voters than the one Boris has cooked up. If The UK is not free to make its own trade deals then in no meaningful way is that “leaving the EU”. Who would vote for that?
That may be Labour’s plan of course but I’m not sure the word “plan” and “labour” go together.
Ultimately, Tories offer their specific deal, Brexit Party offer no deal, Lib Dem Offer remain. All of those three also offer certainty and a quick(ish) end to this phase of the process. Labour offer uncertainty, confusion and a continuation of the pain.
I predict big gains to Lib Dems, I’ve heard labour remainers and previous brexiters saying they will swap to Lib Dems and I’m sorely tempted if they can describe exactly what they will do to change the EU from within.
While I agree that LibDems could see a considerable upswing from remainers/former Labour voting centrists like myself, I think it’s going to be much more tactical than that. I’m a former Labour member and current voter, can’t stand Corbyn, have toyed with the LibDems but then I look at my constituency results from last time and can see the Tory’s slipping in if we split the vote between Labour and LibDems. So I may have to hold my nose and vote Labour.
It’s attitudes like that that stop third partyies being a worthwhile vote. If you agree with their views, vote for them. As their share of the vote goes up, more people will vote for them in the future, and they have a realistic chance of winning.
This is helped this time round by the fact that neither Corbyn nor Johnson is remotely palatable as a leader. As Novelty Bobble said, Labour have no consistent and coherent Brexit policy. Their other policies are also uncosted, backwards-looking, and only semi-coherent at best.
Whilst I think that with their current policies both the Tories and Labour will damage the country, I believe the Tories will damage it more slowly, making it easier to recover from it if ever a moderate Government comes back.
For all those reasons, I’ll again vote Lib Dem. They’re unlikely to win here, although it’s a bit unpredictable what will happen - I’m in Soubry’s constituency and the only thing that’s certain is that she’ll struggle to get into the hundreds of votes if she even bothers to stand.
Also, breaking news - Dick Braine has resigned as UKIP leader!
And the biggest elephant in the room is that their flagship policies and investment commitments are completely at odds with the sort of Brexit deal they are purported to favour.
The EU will accept an UK-EU customs union in an instant. It’s an all-win no-lose prospect for them. It solves the Ireland/Northern Ireland trade border issue, let’s them set the UK’s tariff and import regulation policies, eliminates future border inspection costs, and sends a message to any other country thinking about leaving the EU that they’ll only get halfway out of the exit. For the UK, it’s a mixed bag. Solving the Ireland/Northern Ireland trade border issue is a big win, and a customs union would help in maintaining existing trade relationships with the EU countries and support the export market. However, it would inhibit future UK trade agreements with non-EU countries who wanted different tariffs or import regulations than currently exist. Protectionist policies that the UK currently abides by, but doesn’t benefit from would have to be maintained. And the UK would have a very limited input on future customs policy. Basically, it’s an anti-business, anti-Brexit policy that I suppose appeals to the Labour leadership, but is a worse policy than the current withdrawal agreement.