Why do we need a general election now?

[SpiceAddict]

Conservative are obviously going to win. What's the point in doing this now?

i wouldnt like to be a labour mp

I'd rather be an MP of any persuasion than one of the masses who is trying to live under whatever ridiculous and inhuman policies that they seem capable of dreaming up to make our lives more miserable than they should be.

One blessing is that we're looking at just over 7 weeks of this. Imagine this palaver taking place on US election timescales!

shell, i agree, of course, but the Labour party must know that Corbyn being PM is very remote. Its getting the message across that the Tories are not for the 'man in the street' but that hasn;t happened in a long time and it wont this time around.

If you vote for tories, you are accountable for the horrors they inflict on this country because your vote is just saying yes I agree with what the party has done so far and yes I want more of the same please.

By the same logic, any voter that voted for Labour after the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq is accountable for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.

Or does the principle not work the other way round?

I'm not a Tory, far from it, and rarely find myself wanting to stick up for any politician, but I find the references to dictatorship on this thread hugely distasteful.

Personally I have no problem trusting the Lib Dems more than I would the Tories or Labour. This might sound cynical but I'm unsurprised if political parties renege on promises. To me the important thing is how badly they shaft those in need or the economy when they do so.

tiggytape, the EU have been making muted signals about a Norway type deal. That is achievable for the LDs.

The Conservatives have ruled that out because of issues over FoP and the ECJ. They want a harder line deal that the EU are unlikely to agree too.

In terms of what is achievable and not achievable, the Tory ambitions are more difficult to achieve. The Conservatives are happy to have a fall back of WTO terms (which is much more complicated than they make out, and would have serious implications for certain industries which are not actually covered by WTO in the same way - particularly service industries which make up most of our economy. Aviation is one most at risk).

The Conservatives are already rolling back on what they said they would do for Brexit as it becomes apparent they can't do X, Y or Z.

To turn around and say that Farron would have more problems than them seems a little crazy for that reason. Of course Farron would have problems, but I'm certainly not sure that makes his plans less achievable.

I do hope that none of the posters on this thread accusing TM of being cynical and manipulative in calling an election have ever called her "an unelected prime minister"

I was quite exciting about another GE.

Then I read this thread and realise I was stupid to think this would be a good thing.

I will not vote for the Tories, ever.

I agree that the unelected bit is a sticking point, but she did say no to calling a GE earlier this year and i think most people were just looking to her and the rest to come up with a brexit deal - this is just making things muckier and taking the eye off the ball of brexit. Makes me wonder why really - i think there is more to it myself. Its caused yet more uncertainty for more months - then it will be the summer recess and we will wont be any further forwards with anything except cuts and more austerity.

excited*

This "can't trust the lib dems" thing is getting a bit tired.

We have one opportunity to mitigate the effects of Brexit, and you're going to turn up your nose at the best party to do that, because they were unable to deliver* on page 14 of their manifesto as the minor partner in a coalition, seven years ago?

Theresa May repeatedly said she wasn't going to call an early election, do you trust her?

*the system they introduced was a graduate tax in all but name, so they probably felt they'd done quite well on the social mobility front, until the tabloids flayed them alive.

Oh but they have, WoodPigeon

I also just love the assumption that JC will actually go when his party loses - are we absolutely sure about that? After all he's been elected twice by the party members and nothing seems to have shifted him yet

Given that political parties don't last for ever, maybe it's time for Labour to come to a natural end and for another, new party to be formed which will attract centrists instead of extremists

I am also sick of people turning their backs on the Lib Dems amongst a sea of broken promises and lies from the other parties. Why hold the Lib Dems more accountable than everyone else?

A huge waste of money considering election boundaries are due to be changed next year and there are local elections in a few weeks. If this had been announced 3 weeks ago and tied in with local elections, it would have seemed less desperate IMO.

I wonder if George Osbourne will bother running.

May will campaign to "give you the Brexit you voted for" and will get back in a couple of years before it becomes clear to everyone they'll be getting a random and unsatisfactory Brexit.

It's neat positioning for the moment and consolidates her power before reality starts to bite.

Nothing much was going to happen on Brexit until after various European elections. We were/are also not going to find out much about the negotiations apart from posturing as neither the government nor the EU would wish to reveal their true hand.

The whole thing is a shambles.

I am dreading 8 weeks of all of it - and dreading June 9th with more of the same for the next 5 years.

Captain I agree with you. People seemingly regarded the LDs as turncoats for agreeing to increase tuition fees which was against their manifesto pledge. There is a total difference between being a party in sole government and a party in a coalition government. Had the LDs won outright, of course they wouldn't have increased fees. They went into a coalition and discovered just how bad the financial mess left by Labour was and coalition means give and take. People punished them for getting into bed with the Tories. Now look at the state of the country. Putting Brexit aside, the country is clearly far worse off under sole-Tory control than it was when the LDs were able to put some brakes on by sharing power. What we're seeing now would have happened 5 years ago if it wasn't for the LDs.

And to punish them for a broken pledge when Labour and the Tories have done the same time and times again means the electorate (collectively), is as hypocritical as politicians (collectively).

This is hugely depressing. I desperately want the Tories out. Brexit, NHS, school funding. I will not vote Tory but how on earth are they such a sure-fire win? The other parties are rubbish, yes, but I just don't understand people willfully voting for so many cuts. Especially when it seems clear she is doing it to cover her arse if Brexit turns to shit then at least she can say she was fairly elected.

All we're going to hear for 8 weeks from all would-be MPs is how bad the other guys are. TM has already started.

I seem to remember David Cameron promising us a stable government. Look how well that worked out.

"discovered just how bad the financial mess left by Labour was"

I'm no huge fan of Blair and Brown but there was a global financial crisis. I'm really not convinced that the Tories would have done things differently at the time, do we really think they wouldn't have bailed the banks out?

The finances were going to be in the shit in 2010 no matter who had been in power. And for all his cuts, Gideon's big plan was shit.

It all went wrong for David Cameron when he got a clear win in a General Election. When it came down to him being in charge it turned out that, despite a vastly expensive education, he was a duffer.

Lib dems may well do better than before this time around, but not enough to take power. I do agree that it was abit more stable with co sharing government but that wont happen again either. Its going to be a tory government in forever at this rate - maybe if JC does go, finally, then the labour party can re group and fight on. have to hope. there is always hope.