[UK] General Election 2017 Superthread

[The Wolfiad]

Why is this person the leader of the Lib Dems??? http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/t ... a9ce5bf442?


It's just disgusting and embarrassing. There's no justification for someone with that view in 2017 to be given a national platform, let alone the leader of the Liberal Democrats, no matter what his policy views are. Personal views matter.

Get your Test Acts out for the lads. Party like it's 1699.

It's the modern era. Things like this matter to some of his potential voters. If Farron didn't want scrutiny he should have said homosexuality isn't sinful. Don't feed the media a story and all.

[Vassenor]

Meanwhile in UKIP

She told the Herald: "I am not anti-gay – but how can you call that a community? Sex life is everybody’s private affair. You do not come out and declare openly.

"Do you think I am going all over the city and saying my idea of a sexually-attractive creature is a gorilla?

"When I go to a zoo and I see a gorilla my hormones go absolutely crazy. I find a gorilla very attractive."

That noise you just heard was my eyes rolling straight out of my skull.

[Imperializt Russia]

Meanwhile in UKIP

She told the Herald: "I am not anti-gay – but how can you call that a community? Sex life is everybody’s private affair. You do not come out and declare openly.

"Do you think I am going all over the city and saying my idea of a sexually-attractive creature is a gorilla?

"When I go to a zoo and I see a gorilla my hormones go absolutely crazy. I find a gorilla very attractive."

Straw-womaning LGBT pride?

That's sort of new, I guess. Not generally, just in the UK. I hope.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Meanwhile in UKIP

She told the Herald: "I am not anti-gay – but how can you call that a community? Sex life is everybody’s private affair. You do not come out and declare openly.

"Do you think I am going all over the city and saying my idea of a sexually-attractive creature is a gorilla?

"When I go to a zoo and I see a gorilla my hormones go absolutely crazy. I find a gorilla very attractive."

My head hurts after reading that article.

[Philjia]

Meanwhile in UKIP

Straw-womaning LGBT pride?

That's sort of new, I guess. Not generally, just in the UK. I hope.

Straw-womaning LGBT pride with personal bestiality is a new innovation in "now what the fuck?".

[Imperializt Russia]

Meanwhile in UKIP

My head hurts after reading that article.

I daren't.

Is this the madwoman who made that rambling newspaper post about why she wants to become a UKIP councillor/MP?

[Philjia]

Meanwhile in UKIP

My head hurts after reading that article.

I especially like that she said that she didn't go everywhere telling everyone how attractive she found gorillas in a newspaper interview.

[The Huskar Social Union]

My head hurts after reading that article.

I daren't.

Is this the madwoman who made that rambling newspaper post about why she wants to become a UKIP councillor/MP?

From the looks of it that is indeed her as it mentions and shows said newspaper post and oh my fucking hell it hurts.

[Imperializt Russia]

Straw-womaning LGBT pride?

That's sort of new, I guess. Not generally, just in the UK. I hope.

Straw-womaning LGBT pride with personal bestiality is a new innovation in "now what the fuck?".

Not even the bestiality comparison, just the whole "LGBT pride means going around and shouting about what turns me on".

Like...
What pride rallies have you been attending?

[Philjia]

My head hurts after reading that article.

I daren't.

Is this the madwoman who made that rambling newspaper post about why she wants to become a UKIP councillor/MP?

The one who wants to bring back the guillotine.

I hope that actually narrows it down.

[Imperializt Russia]

I daren't.

Is this the madwoman who made that rambling newspaper post about why she wants to become a UKIP councillor/MP?

The one who wants to bring back the guillotine.

I hope that actually narrows it down.

Oh, fuck.

Yeah, I really didn't get that either.
"We should bring back the death penalty, it doesn't have to be hanging, it could be the guillotine too"
Not only is she stuck in the 1970s at latest (when the last French guillotining was committed) but she's even trying to culturally appropriate the French.
Isn't that a treasonable offence in UKIP?

[Philjia]

The one who wants to bring back the guillotine.

I hope that actually narrows it down.

Oh, fuck.

Yeah, I really didn't get that either.
"We should bring back the death penalty, it doesn't have to be hanging, it could be the guillotine too"
Not only is she stuck in the 1970s at latest (when the last French guillotining was committed) but she's even trying to culturally appropriate the French.
Isn't that a treasonable offence in UKIP?

To be fair, the guillotine was used in the UK, most notably in Halifax.

[Angleter]

I daren't.

Is this the madwoman who made that rambling newspaper post about why she wants to become a UKIP councillor/MP?

The one who wants to bring back the guillotine.

I hope that actually narrows it down.

GUILLOTINE MAY - BAN GOLF COURSES - BUS PASSES ARE THEFT - GISELA ALLEN 2017

[The Wolfiad]

https://scontent.flhr3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/ ... e=5989E1D5

Fun fun.

[Imperializt Russia]

https://scontent.flhr3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p480x480/18119319_1364019417021559_6222692289116058524_n.jpg?oh=3dc22863117484495bf26451a0d13e77&oe=5989E1D5

Fun fun.

Spicy spicy.

[Dumb Ideologies]

Meanwhile in UKIP

She told the Herald: "I am not anti-gay – but how can you call that a community? Sex life is everybody’s private affair. You do not come out and declare openly.

"Do you think I am going all over the city and saying my idea of a sexually-attractive creature is a gorilla?

"When I go to a zoo and I see a gorilla my hormones go absolutely crazy. I find a gorilla very attractive."

I'm sure this will appeal to many voters who experienced a post-Harambe sexual awakening.

Absolutely bonkers.

[Frank Zipper]

I'm sure this will appeal to many voters who experienced a post-Harambe sexual awakening.

Absolutely bonkers.

Kelvin Mackenzie for example.

[Philjia]

Meanwhile in UKIP

I'm sure this will appeal to many voters who experienced a post-Harambe sexual awakening.

Absolutely bonkers.

[Skoglendi]

If the poll in this thread proved typical at the general election:

CON - 283
LAB - 242
SNP - 59
LIB - 39
DUP - 8*
PC - 4
SF - 4*
UKIP - 3
SDLP - 3*
GRN - 2
UUP - 2*
Ind. - 1*

* Northern Ireland parties aren't on the poll so I've taken their results from 2015 (in reality, I expect SF to pick up at least 1 more seat in 2017).

Possible workable coalitions:

Left-wing, progressive coalitions:

• LAB-SNP-LIB - 340 / 650: majority of 30 (majority of 34 discounting SF).
• LAB-SNP-LIB-PC-GRN - 346 / 650: majority of 42 (majority of 46 discounting SF).

Right-wing, right-of-centre coalitions:

• CON-LIB - 321 / 650: 5 short of majority (2 short of majority discounting SF).
• CON-LIB-UKIP - 324 / 650: 2 short of majority (majority of 1 discounting SF).
• CON-LIB-DUP - 329 / 650: majority of 8 (majority of 12 discounting SF).
• CON-LIB-UUP - 323 / 650: 3 short of majority (majority of 0 discounting SF).

Personally, I think under such circumstances the most likely outcome would be LAB-SNP-LIB. I doubt it would last very long, however. A more stable coalition would probably be CON-LIB-DUP.

[The Archregimancy]

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/04/e ... y-corbyn/#

I don't think the Spectator has made for reliable political commentary for some time now. I mean, it's the spectator, they don't like the "hard left", or Corbyn, to a pathological extent, and want every shred of either erased.
This is the publication that popularised the term "virtue signalling", which lost its meaning on the internet faster than "leftist" but not as fast as "SJW".

I might as well get my information on Antifa or Planned Parenthood from Infowars.

I deliberately offered two publications from very different political perspectives in the original post - which you've only partially quoted - precisely because I know that any reporting on this issue would likely be susceptible to charges of bias.

By all means dismiss the citation of the Spectator if you don't think it's reliable here. But it seems slightly odd to focus narrowly on the one citation while ignoring the same post's citation from the Independent; which, whatever its faults, can hardly be accused of the same type of right-wing perspective you might find in the Spectator. The story in the Independent is also more detailed than the Spectator version. So this isn't a story where reporting is solely coming from overtly right-of-centre publications.


Here are the key parts from the Independent's story, quoted in more detail than in the previous post, and here's the full link again.

Jeremy Corbyn is expected to stay on as Labour leader even if he leads his party to a crushing election defeat on June 8, The Independent can reveal.

Party figures close to the Labour leader have said there is a good chance Mr Corbyn will either refuse to resign or run again to retain power.

The key goal of Mr Corbyn’s group is that regardless of the election result, he cling to power at least until after party conference when his allies can attempt to change the system of electing the leader in a bid to secure a leftwing successor.

The news was met with anger, with one MP warning that a devastating loss at the hands of Theresa May’s Tories will make Mr Corbyn’s position untenable, while another branded the situation “fucking ridiculous”.

<snip>

While Party leaders who fail at the ballot box traditionally step aside, as Ed Miliband did in 2015 or David Cameron following defeat in the EU referendum, Labour sources who know Mr Corbyn well and those close to Labour leadership rivals say he is likely to stay on as leader as he bids to cement the powerbase of the hard left.

One individual close to the Labour leader: “He has only been leader for two years, he hasn’t had a whole term and there was the disruptive influence of the second leadership contest. I can see the argument for why he wouldn’t step down.

“They want to get the rule change through – you have to look at it in that context. He might hang on until they get that through. There is a feeling that two years is not long enough and it would be legitimate if he wanted to stay on.”

At the party’s annual conference in September Mr Corbyn’s allies are expected to bring forward key proposals to reduce the number of MP nominations needed for a candidate seeking to be elected as party leader.

Current rules require each candidate to secure the backing of 15 per cent of the MPs in the parliamentary party, which would make it difficult for a left-wing successor such as current Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell or Rebecca Long-Bailey to receive enough nominations.

But the proposals would lower the threshold, meaning each candidate would need the backing off just five per cent. The move is seen as vital in enabling one of Mr Corbyn’s left-wing allies to make the ballot in a future leadership election.

Mr Corbyn could then step aside safe in the knowledge that he could nominate a successor who was likely to win the support of the party’s current left-wing membership.

Another former Labour staffer who worked closely with Mr Corbyn, said: “There is a good chance he will either refuse to resign or run again. If he were to run again, I see no reason why he could not win again.

“Those who have his ear do not see a general election loss as anything more than another obstacle on the long road to control over the Labour Party."

<snip>

Among those waiting for Mr Corbyn’s tenure to end, some sort of move to retain power is expected, certainly a refusal to step aside in the immediate aftermath of a loss on June 8 would be no surprise.

One well-placed party insider said: “Corbyn’s proven he can tough it out, he’ll take the hit and wait for the McDonnell amendment. He’s got every reason to hang on until then.

“He’ll stay until after [the party conference in] Brighton, without doubt. They’ve got this big shot in the autumn to try to change the rules so that they can have a proper hard left candidate. They’re not going to walk away from that.

“He will not stand down, he will see it through to conference and they will try to get the McDonnell amendment through.”

But the idea that Corbyn could remain in power following a defeat prompted anger from some senior figures. One former Labour minister said: “If we go backwards, Corbyn’s position will be completely untenable and he will have to go – there’s no question of that.

“Labour MPs will unite and put our case to the public in our own constituencies, but the leader will have to take responsibility for the national result.”

Another individual connected to a senior Labour figure said: “We had heard that something like this was being planned. It’s fucking ridiculous.”

One MP told The Independent: "They have to acknowledge that if the result is as bad as the polling and the Copeland by-election result suggest, then they are responsible. I've heard of project fear. This sounds like project catastro-fuck."

[The Archregimancy]

Oh, fuck.

Yeah, I really didn't get that either.
"We should bring back the death penalty, it doesn't have to be hanging, it could be the guillotine too"
Not only is she stuck in the 1970s at latest (when the last French guillotining was committed) but she's even trying to culturally appropriate the French.
Isn't that a treasonable offence in UKIP?

To be fair, the guillotine was used in the UK, most notably in Halifax.

If you're referring to the Halifax Gibbet, this was a medieval through early post-medieval precursor of the modern guillotine proposed (though not invented) by Dr. Guillotin in the late 18th century. The Halifax Gibbet was in turn the basis of the post-medieval Edinburgh Maiden (the original version of which is on display in the National Museum of Scotland, in one of the cheerier exhibits).

The Gibbet remained in use until the late 17th century, the Maiden was last used in the first decade of the 18th century; so neither was still in use when Dr. Guillotin made his proposal to introduce a more humane instrument of execution during the French Revolution. The irony here is that Dr. Guillotin was personally opposed to the death penalty.

The main difference is in the design of the blade. The improved French guillotine blade generally managed to cleanly decapitate in a single stroke; the Halifax Gibbet and Edinburgh Maiden often tended to crush the neck rather than fully decapitate.

The real scandal here is that a patriotic UKIP candidate would argue for the introduction of a continental execution mechanism rather than support robust Yorkshire and Scottish traditions that predate this johnny-come-lately foreign nonsense.

[Faarali]

Tim Farron looks like a bloody hostage when he smiles.

[Imperializt Russia]

I don't think the Spectator has made for reliable political commentary for some time now. I mean, it's the spectator, they don't like the "hard left", or Corbyn, to a pathological extent, and want every shred of either erased.
This is the publication that popularised the term "virtue signalling", which lost its meaning on the internet faster than "leftist" but not as fast as "SJW".

I might as well get my information on Antifa or Planned Parenthood from Infowars.

I deliberately offered two publications from very different political perspectives in the original post - which you've only partially quoted - precisely because I know that any reporting on this issue would likely be susceptible to charges of bias.

By all means dismiss the citation of the Spectator if you don't think it's reliable here. But it seems slightly odd to focus narrowly on the one citation while ignoring the same post's citation from the Independent; which, whatever its faults, can hardly be accused of the same type of right-wing perspective you might find in the Spectator. The story in the Independent is also more detailed than the Spectator version. So this isn't a story where reporting is solely coming from overtly right-of-centre publications.


Here are the key parts from the Independent's story, quoted in more detail than in the previous post, and here's the full link again.

Jeremy Corbyn is expected to stay on as Labour leader even if he leads his party to a crushing election defeat on June 8, The Independent can reveal.

Party figures close to the Labour leader have said there is a good chance Mr Corbyn will either refuse to resign or run again to retain power.

The key goal of Mr Corbyn’s group is that regardless of the election result, he cling to power at least until after party conference when his allies can attempt to change the system of electing the leader in a bid to secure a leftwing successor.

The news was met with anger, with one MP warning that a devastating loss at the hands of Theresa May’s Tories will make Mr Corbyn’s position untenable, while another branded the situation “fucking ridiculous”.

<snip>

While Party leaders who fail at the ballot box traditionally step aside, as Ed Miliband did in 2015 or David Cameron following defeat in the EU referendum, Labour sources who know Mr Corbyn well and those close to Labour leadership rivals say he is likely to stay on as leader as he bids to cement the powerbase of the hard left.

One individual close to the Labour leader: “He has only been leader for two years, he hasn’t had a whole term and there was the disruptive influence of the second leadership contest. I can see the argument for why he wouldn’t step down.

“They want to get the rule change through – you have to look at it in that context. He might hang on until they get that through. There is a feeling that two years is not long enough and it would be legitimate if he wanted to stay on.”

At the party’s annual conference in September Mr Corbyn’s allies are expected to bring forward key proposals to reduce the number of MP nominations needed for a candidate seeking to be elected as party leader.

Current rules require each candidate to secure the backing of 15 per cent of the MPs in the parliamentary party, which would make it difficult for a left-wing successor such as current Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell or Rebecca Long-Bailey to receive enough nominations.

But the proposals would lower the threshold, meaning each candidate would need the backing off just five per cent. The move is seen as vital in enabling one of Mr Corbyn’s left-wing allies to make the ballot in a future leadership election.

Mr Corbyn could then step aside safe in the knowledge that he could nominate a successor who was likely to win the support of the party’s current left-wing membership.

Another former Labour staffer who worked closely with Mr Corbyn, said: “There is a good chance he will either refuse to resign or run again. If he were to run again, I see no reason why he could not win again.

“Those who have his ear do not see a general election loss as anything more than another obstacle on the long road to control over the Labour Party."

<snip>

Among those waiting for Mr Corbyn’s tenure to end, some sort of move to retain power is expected, certainly a refusal to step aside in the immediate aftermath of a loss on June 8 would be no surprise.

One well-placed party insider said: “Corbyn’s proven he can tough it out, he’ll take the hit and wait for the McDonnell amendment. He’s got every reason to hang on until then.

“He’ll stay until after [the party conference in] Brighton, without doubt. They’ve got this big shot in the autumn to try to change the rules so that they can have a proper hard left candidate. They’re not going to walk away from that.

“He will not stand down, he will see it through to conference and they will try to get the McDonnell amendment through.”

But the idea that Corbyn could remain in power following a defeat prompted anger from some senior figures. One former Labour minister said: “If we go backwards, Corbyn’s position will be completely untenable and he will have to go – there’s no question of that.

“Labour MPs will unite and put our case to the public in our own constituencies, but the leader will have to take responsibility for the national result.”

Another individual connected to a senior Labour figure said: “We had heard that something like this was being planned. It’s fucking ridiculous.”

One MP told The Independent: "They have to acknowledge that if the result is as bad as the polling and the Copeland by-election result suggest, then they are responsible. I've heard of project fear. This sounds like project catastro-fuck."

I think it's very fair for you to make this point.

However, I didn't discuss anything in the Independent, because I wasn't passing a substantive comment on the content of either article - I was just voicing my distaste for the Spectator's writing style, which I struggle to describe as anything but "anti-left-wing propaganda". Even the Guardian's guest opinion pieces have less sneer and so does Salon too, somehow.

[MERIZoC]

Tony is a memelord.

[Questers]

Personally I have no idea who or what Theresa May is. She appeals to nothing. She has no clear ideology. She's a "stable pragmatist," which is actually something British people never vote for (although all the people they do vote for say that they are that). Since Atlee all long-term prime ministers have been people who actually pushed for substantial change to something or other. If Brexit is Theresa May's, then that would be unusual, since she has been a Remainer all her life except for this and half of last year.

The polls suggest she'll dominate a snap election and many people do think this is so that she can reign in parts of the Party that are rebellious, either whatever remains of the Remain Tories but mostly the Hard Brexit Tories. There's no reason to look at the issue like this. Theresa May wouldn't have a moral mandate to be PM (and remember that the Tories were very cross that Gordon Brown got to be PM even though it's perfectly constitutional) without an election so calling one now when she is winning and getting another five years is a good deal.

Remember that the mandate she'll get includes her position on the SNP, which is basically "fuck off."

I am going to vote Labour, although it makes little difference since my MP has a 7,000 vote majority and she is a Labour Remainer (and this is a Remain constituency, too). The Labour Party being a party of Brexit has something to do with this, but also I think Corbyn will go regardless of what people say after the election and then we might get someone who has a hope of beating the Tories in 2022, instead of somebody who has no hope in 2020. The ideal situation for Labour is an MP share increase, Corbyn leaving and someone more competent taking the party to victory in 2022. The worst situation is Labour MP share decrease, Corbyn stays and the Tories thrash him in 2022 and the Tories are in government from 2010-2027.