Apr 19, 2017 at 9:26 AM | mike fowle

May gets to approve the Conservative manifesto, and write her own Mandate.

The General Election will still be seen as some as a last chance to avoid BREXIT. May will be hoping that they make themselves an irrelevance.

Labour's Manifesto will not have the backing or support of 50% of current Labour MPs.

What ever May's Manifesto says about Grammar Schools, Labour cannot respond during the next 6 weeks with unity, without hypocrisy. No one knows who will be able to represent the Labour Party's views in 6 weeks time, for the next 5 years, as May implements HER manifesto, with a Cabinet of HER choosing.

As May is accused of being a political opportunist, Chuka Umunna was first out of the blocks for Labour, but Yvette Cooper won approval in the House of Commons.

I can't see Corbyn allowing Ed Balls to be shoehorned into any vacant constituency before the election, but post election strategic planning has started.

Apr 19, 2017 at 2:01 PM | tomo

Offered the choice between turkey or an orange cod piece, with a side order of simmering Green Brussells, some constituencies don't know how lucky they are.

I think the Liberals could do well, attracting disaffected Labour voters, not prepared to vote Conservative, plus those who think that voting Liberal is their last chance to support a Party with openly anti-Brexit leanings.

As someone who has lived and worked in Scotland, I am wondering when the "lets stick it to the English" vote will be overridden by the "Shit, we have a country that needs governing and can't forever blame the English".

;-)

Sorry, what I should have said was, distrust of English governance as a unifying force, it isn't enough to move a country forward in itself. A protest vote is fine, but what about after?

Seriously it will be interesting to see if the SNP loses votes. The concept of let's have a referendum/election etc. until we get the result we want seems quite popular.

Dung, working on the ASSUMPTION that the result is a foregone conclusion, "protest" and "tactical" voting is going to decide the fate of Labour and the Liberals. The Liberals will be pleasantly surprised, Labour will have their noses rubbed in it, unpleasantly.

It will be interesting to see how many Labour candidates campaign Nationally and/or Locally, on the basis that if elected, they will work to remove Corbyn/Momentum from the Labour Party. Some of their traditional donors may decide not to donate generously to fund THIS election, on the basis the money might aswell earn interest in their own bank, until Labour learn about not wasting other people's money. This will put more financial pressure on McCluskey and the Unite Union that financed Corbyn.

Jiminy Cricket, the SNP can't win any more seats. They will lose some votes. The SNP now has to present a plan for coping with BREXIT, but no immediate entry to the EU for an Independent Scotland, whilst maintaing its commitment to Global Warming and Unreliable energy, with no oil money to pay for any of it. Fortunately for the SNP, their rivals in Scotland are going to be fighting over the previous SNP voters, who have now worked out that the SNP does not have a viable plan to cope with no money.

tomo. I would be interested to learn what you might object to in the BBC document. I can find nothing that implies theat the BBC "committee has met and decided for you".

Supertroll

For once I agree with you about the BBC. I found the piece in question a little patronising, but it seemed reasonably balanced to me.

The election call was unavoidable. Whether we like it or not, we're leaving the EU. The EU would tie us into the same deal Switzerland and Norway get in a heartbeat if that was what we asked for and the remoaning MPs give them hope that we will settle for it if we get nothing better. May and her team know that the EU needs us more than they let on. We'd be selling ourselves short if we went that way. In order to negotiate more you have to have a side that pulls together. At the moment, May doesn't have a strong enough majority to make decisions stick. Labour and the Lib Dems have made it clear they'll try to sabotage everything they can.which would make the 2 year target nigh on impossible. Hard enough to fight the EU negotiators without also fighting Parliament too.

In addition, Cameron's previous election pledges keep tripping the new government up and to ditch anything, May needs to be elected. With a significant majority she can shut her own remoaners up (assuming they don't quit/get the boot like Osbourne) and ignore the opposition for most of the decisions. And she could set bout shrinking the Lords.

Desperation? In a way.

Curiously the EU has got the idea that the purpose of the election is to silence the Brexiteers. I think they assume that as a Remain supporter, May is seeking the opportunity to ignore the referendum. It doesn't compute with them that a politician should listen to the people who elect them.

Apr 19, 2017 at 10:23 PM | Robert Christopher

Two years prior to BREXIT and two years after, sounds ideal.

I am sure May is hoping that Corbyn continues as the best Leader of the Opposition a Prime Minister could have hoped for.

I am sure the Parliamentary Labour Party are hoping that May can do to Corbyn, what they failed to do.

Apr 20, 2017 at 9:25 AM | Dung

The Good News about the Bad News is that May has no evidence to trust 97% of Climate Scientists, as none of them produce any trustworthy evidence.

Bill Gates is concerned about the UK cutting Foreign Aid. If UK Foreign Aid money was not used to finance Global Warming activists, more benefit would be derived, even if expenditure was reduced.

I am reminded of the recent past and positions taken by "those in the know" and pollsters - that a Labour-SNP coalition would win the last general election, that there was no way the Leave campaign could win, that Trump had no chance. Do we go down the same path again.
Few seem to be taking on board voter fatigue.

Apr 20, 2017 at 10:40 AM | Breath of Fresh Air

Correct! 10 out of 10!

Don't expect too many Labour MPs to be campaigning for a Labour victory. They are trying to save their seats, so that they can be around in six weeks, to save the Labour Party, which assumes that Corbyn will resign.

Corbyn maintains (correctly) that he has the overwhelming support of the Labour Party Members. Whilst Len McCluskey is still financing and controlling Corbyn's support from Unite and within Labour (Google Karie Murphy) why should Corbyn resign, even after electoral defeat?

I do believe that ALL Governments should have a credible Opposition, but with the Political, financial and ideological warfare that is about to be encountered with the EU, Corbyn seems to have contrived and created the most stable and supportive platform for May and her team to fight from, with minimal risk of being stabbed in the back, by those in both Houses of Parliament, representing any Party.

In the short term, count the number of Labour MPs appearing on BBC TV and Radio who will promote Corbyn as Prime Minister. Count the number of times BBC reporters will ask Labour Candidates about Corbyn!

Few seem to be taking on board voter fatigue.

Apr 20, 2017 at 11:31 AM | Supertroll

Voter fatigue is more likely to effect those already demoralised.

Over confidence can also damage the number of votes cast ....... !

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/20/unite-union-gerard-coyne-suspended-west-midlands-len-mccluskey-uk

"Unite: McCluskey rival suspended for 'bringing union into disrepute' . Gerard Coyne, standing against Len McCluskey to lead UK’s biggest union, suspended pending investigation"

That should help preserve Corbyn's mandate to lead Labour until the NEXT General Election.

Apr 21, 2017 at 12:58 PM | Dung

If it appears in the manifesto as a pledge or commitment (subject to EU Divorce), the reasons given (lack of evidence, lack of science, lack of sustainability, lack of logic, lack of economic/financial justification, lack of point/purpose etc) may provoke some discussion within the UK, and amongst others in the EU