Thought I'd start a new thread as this is going to be a major talking point this year...have not made up my mind yet...(unlike bucksfizz)....but thinking of voting for an exit as Europe is not doing Britain any good at all it seems....

It is very quiet!

Get those battle buses back on the road. General Election in June, good idea or bad?!

The forthcoming General Election on 8th May has quite a lot to do with Brexit (to say the least). The PM has changed her mind about calling one and was going to leave it until 2020. Here's exactly what she had to say in full this morning when she announced it:

"I have just chaired a meeting of the cabinet, where we agreed that the government should call a general election, to be held on 8 June.

I want to explain the reasons for that decision, what will happen next and the choice facing the British people when you come to vote in this election.

Last summer, after the country voted to leave the European Union, Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership, and since I became prime minister the government has delivered precisely that.

Despite predictions of immediate financial and economic danger, since the referendum we have seen consumer confidence remain high, record numbers of jobs, and economic growth that has exceeded all expectations.

We have also delivered on the mandate that we were handed by the referendum result. Britain is leaving the European Union and there can be no turning back. And as we look to the future, the Government has the right plan for negotiating our new relationship with Europe.

We want a deep and special partnership between a strong and successful European Union and a United Kingdom that is free to chart its own way in the world. That means we will regain control of our own money, our own laws and our own borders and we will be free to strike trade deals with old friends and new partners all around the world. This is the right approach, and it is in the national interest. But the other political parties oppose it.

At this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity here in Westminster, but instead there is division. The country is coming together, but Westminster is not.

In recent weeks Labour has threatened to vote against the final agreement we reach with the European Union. The Liberal Democrats have said they want to grind the business of government to a standstill. The Scottish National Party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repeals Britain's membership of the European Union. And unelected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way.

Our opponents believe because the government's majority is so small, that our resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change course. They are wrong. They underestimate our determination to get the job done and I am not prepared to let them endanger the security of millions of working people across the country. Because what they are doing jeopardises the work we must do to prepare for Brexit at home and it weakens the government's negotiating position in Europe. If we do not hold a general election now their political game-playing will continue, and the negotiations with the European Union will reach their most difficult stage in the run-up to the next scheduled election.

Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country. So we need a general election and we need one now, because we have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done while the European Union agrees its negotiating position and before the detailed talks begin.

I have only recently and reluctantly come to this conclusion. Since I became prime minister I have said that there should be no election until 2020, but now I have concluded that the only way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead is to hold this election and seek your support for the decisions I must take. And so tomorrow I will move a motion in the House of Commons calling for a general election to be held on 8 June. That motion, as set out by the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, will require a two-thirds majority of the House of Commons.

So I have a simple challenge to the opposition parties, you have criticised the government's vision for Brexit, you have challenged our objectives, you have threatened to block the legislation we put before Parliament. This is your moment to show you mean it, to show you are not opposing the government for the sake of it, to show that you do not treat politics as a game.

Let us tomorrow vote for an election, let us put forward our plans for Brexit and our alternative programmes for government and then let the people decide. And the decision facing the country will be all about leadership. It will be a choice between strong and stable leadership in the national interest, with me as your prime minister, or weak and unstable coalition government, led by Jeremy Corbyn, propped up by the Liberal Democrats, who want to reopen the divisions of the referendum, and Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP.

Every vote for the Conservatives will make it harder for opposition politicians who want to stop me from getting the job done. Every vote for the Conservatives will make me stronger when I negotiate for Britain with the prime ministers, presidents and chancellors of the European Union. Every vote for the Conservatives means we can stick to our plan for a stronger Britain and take the right long-term decisions for a more secure future.

It was with reluctance that I decided the country needs this election, but it is with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond. So, tomorrow, let the House of Commons vote for an election, let everybody put forward their proposals for Brexit and their programmes for government, and let us remove the risk of uncertainty and instability and continue to give the country the strong and stable leadership it demands."

Party responses (most are broadly in favour) in brief:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/theresa-general-election-live-statement-10246815

Bring back, Nigel and Boris.

Post 6759

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I wonder what the lies on the tory bus adverts will be this time?

Forgot to buses have been confiscated for tory fiddling of expenses.

(A well-known tory complaint during a period of austerity for all. (Sorry some.))

hey fred, you can get off your arse and vote for the mccluskey muppet puppet

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imo TM is turning into a very fine PM

calling an early GE is always something of a gamble that can backfire, but i would very much hope to see her returned with a decent majority so she can get on with dealing with the Brussels plutocrats without fear of being derailed by SNP and others

Why must theresa called a snap election and crash the market now???? Why???

per above :-)

Maybe Brexit will be reversed if she's voted out.

and you're worried about today's hiccough???????

Manuel,

I was asked today if being a liar was now a necessity for being a tory party MP?

I was told it was only a necessity for a Con party PM.

is that so :-)

so can you be relied upon to cast a vote for (almost) the first time in your life?

i understand that the bookies give that even longer odds that the mccluskey muppet puppet winning the upcoming ge ..... but no doubt that is an outrageous lie

At the moment separating fact from fiction in UK politics and World politics is very difficult and most often impossible.


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Political statements of policies seem to be made for this reason:

“It has always seemed to me that so long as you produce your dramatic effect, accuracy of detail matters little. I have never striven for it and I have made some bad mistakes in consequence. What ("matters is") if I hold my readers?”
― Arthur Conan Doyle

Doesn't stop you boring the socks of everyone ad nauseam on here though does it .

Giggles,

Are are you trolling?

Martini and Dil,

Better than a cartoon. But I do admire your choice of girlfriend.

"Theresa May can never be trusted on anything she says ever again. She is a patently dishonest politician who cannot keep her word, because for her, partisan self-interest is more important. Her position was clear. A few weeks ago, May’s spokesperson said: “There isn’t going to be one. It isn’t going to happen. There is not going to be a general election.”

May claims that her U-turn on a snap general election was driven by the threat of Brexit being obstructed by parliament. This is a lie. There is no obstruction. To the chagrin of many ardent remainers, Labour voted through article 50 and emphasised it would respect the will of the British people.

Live General election 2017: poll suggests voters back Theresa May U-turn - Politics live
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen
Read more
May was the remainer who reinvented herself as a hard Brexiteer, again for partisan self-interest. May was the leader who allowed her chancellor to break a key Tory election pledge on national insurance, only to U-turn when the betrayal became impossible to argue for because of her small majority.

She said that now wasn’t the time for a Scottish independence referendum because of the instability it would cause, and then plumps for an unnecessary general election. She announced a pause on the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station and then – under pressure from China’s regime – U-turned."

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/18/labour-jeremy-corbyn-time-to-fight-theresa-may



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I am not voting for her. She's a traitor.

Are you in her constituency? Never mind, she will romp home.

BREXIT means BREXIT!!!.

Don't look now....



http://www.cityam.com/263086/former-lib-dem-business-secretary-vince-cable-seeking