To wonder wtf is going on in Wales?

[brexitstolemyfuture]

www.google.co.uk/amp/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-labour-poll-wales-yogov-majority-seats-first-time-century-a7699776.html%3famp

Tories predicted to get a majority for the first time in a century. I thought this was fake news, but no it's real

It wasn't just the big data system, and it wasn't just the use of meta data - that is not so new, the "legally dubious" is to do with the (undeclared) donation of services and the use of personal information.
As for "the wrong team won" - yeah, it wasn't the result I wanted, but I accept the result of Brexit and have no interest in trying to reverse it - we are leaving the EU. But I'm not going to "get over it" if that means sitting back and trusting our exit to a Tory party currently in thrall to it's hardliners. There should be a way to get a Brexit which really does prioritise the economic interests of the majority of the polpulation, rather than one which prioritises the narrow ideology of a few.

Democracy needs dissent, not ministers surrounded by yes men walking out of meetings when they don't like the findings, or firing civil servants for being too "negative". Democracy needs our government to be scrutinised, by the media and by the Opposition. The papers with the biggest circulation cannot be relied upon to do this, and a Conservative landslide in June will mean vastly reduced opposition benches, with much less capacity to challenge the government. I cannot see how this scenario this will benefit Wales, or anyone else in the UK who relies on public services, and who doesn't have large amounts of personal wealth to fall back on in the event of job losses.

Tories are using this GE to get through all the changes they havent been able to in the last few months, whilst using Brexit as th excuse for the GE. Having said that, I also think Theresa May is doing it to silence critics who say she is not an elected PM.
we voted for Brexit, but have never voted Tory - still not sure who we will vote for, I just cant imagne voting Tory due to the sneaky thigs they get up to. NHS worries me as I know for a fact there is spare money in the NHS but government want to keep it aside as they want a private care system. Same with schools - how many state schools now rely on funding from companies, whether it be for equipment or extras?!
do get fed up with our politics sometimes and just want to leave this country! Lets see what happens next!

You're probably right about some of the reasons, mundoespanol. I'm sort of gearing myself up for a big Tory victory, I'm just hoping that enough people (remainers and leavers) vote otherwise to stop it being a ginormous landslide. I don't want to see the opposition wiped out!
The problem with schools and other organisations topping up their resources with funding from companies is that its not evenly distributed - schools in more affluent areas with local, biggish businesses have more chance of accessing the funding than schools in more deprived areas.
Its a bit different, but a few years ago I went to a local breastfeeding support group when I was struggling with dd. It was really good, with a HV and a breastfeeding support worker on hand. They got the premises at a reduced rate but it still cost a couple of grand a year to run (peanuts in the scheme of things). When the funding was cut, they almost closed, but approached some of the large, successful businesses in our area for sponsership. But in other parts of the country, it isn't possible to replace public money with private donations.

mundoespanol: Just seen this thread! Thats the sort of thing I'm talking about - schools in poorer areas will suffer more as the parents are less able to top up the funding.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2914543-State-school-asked-for-financial-contribution-anybody-else?pg=1

Going back a bit (sorry, not been around).

frumpet It's quite likely that state intervention in the steel industry would not have made the difference for Tata, but the point I raised was purely in response to the previous allegation that the Conservative government "didn't rush to save Tata". Whether government intervention would have worked or not is beside the point that the government was not allowed by EU law to do it.

On the subject of Gina Miller's proposed funding of her selected candidates for MP, does anyone know what checks they are putting in place to be sure that all the donations the campaign receives to pass on are legal under election law? There's some leeway in that donations (whether money, goods or services) under £500 apparently don't count as a donation to a political party under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (PPERA), although I'm not sure if there's a difference when it comes to individual candidates rather than the party nationally.

It was a long time back now, but I think we had to report any donation received in the constituency over the value of £200 to the party centrally to be collated in case one person was giving similar size donations to multiple associations, which would then need to be reported to on the regular return to the Electoral Commission.

Beyond that, donations can only be accepted from permissible donors, defined as:

• An individual registered on a UK electoral register, including overseas electors and those leaving bequests.
• Most UK-registered companies.
• A Great Britain registered political party.
• A UK-registered trade union.
• A UK-registered building society.
• A UK-registered limited liability partnership (LLP) that carries on business in the UK.
• A UK-registered friendly society.
• A UK-based unincorporated association that carries on business or other activities in the UK.

I remember once having to turn down a very generous offer of a donation from an expat because they were no longer on the electoral register in the UK. That was frustrating! Anonymous donations would not be acceptable, for example, because you can't verify if the donor is permissible.

I think that's why the max donations on the gofundme are set at £500 ChillieJeanie. I'm assuming (and I know, I shouldn't assume anything etc) that they have been well advised on what can be one within electoral rules etc. Plus its in the open and so well publicised that if it was against the rules, there would be queues of brexiteers lining up with objections made against it. There are ways to get around the donor rules, but I suspect this isn't their motivation with the gofundme; its as much about publicity for the Best for Britain campaig as it is about fundraising, imo.

"It was a long time back now, but I think we had to report any donation received in the constituency over the value of £200 to the party centrally to be collated in case one person was giving similar size donations to multiple associations, which would then need to be reported to on the regular return to the Electoral Commission. "

Yes, I think this is still the case.

Chillie , you are right EU law appears to frown upon the state chucking great chunks of cash at private companies at the tax payers expense , I am personally with them on this one , but know some may disagree .

www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/05/port-talbot-steel-crisis-why-we-cant-just-blame-brussels

I am in S.Wales near Newport. I have no idea who to vote for, so if a sensible grown up could point me in the right direction that'd be great.