Westminstenders: Local Elections Madness

[RedToothBrush]

This week has gone from banging your head against the wall to wanting to bang your head through it.

Labour have voted to support a 2nd ref as their EU election campaign strategy. Only for Corbyn to ignore it. And a row has broken out.

Change UK seem well on track to make everyone else look professional and to look as 'liberal elite' as humanly possible in a real life reverse paraody of themselves.

The Brexit Party is going from strength to strength with the most wtf candidates imaginable and Farage is happy cos his mate is coming to tea with the Queen.

The Liberal Democrats have decided that anti semitism is OK in an effort to keep Labour seats.

And the Conservatives. Where to start? Probably with the Tory Leadership Election infighting which looks suspiciously as if its now breached national security.

As for Brexit. No one really wants to talk about it. Local elections are next week. May is now apparently supporting the Malthouse Compromise. Be warned, it is difficult to see it as anything but a Trojan Horse for No Deal. Not that everyone has worked this out yet. But until we have the blood bath of the local elections over and done with on Thursday, don't expect much to happen.

Then expect the Tories to lose their minds...

m.independent.ie/business/brexit/brexiteer-jacob-rees-mogg-admitted-to-me-he-didnt-know-what-the-irish-border-was-bertie-ahern-38057788.html
'Brexiteer Jacob Rees Mogg admitted to me he didn’t know what the Irish border was' - Bertie Ahern

Referring to Tory arch Brexiteer, and leader of the party’s European Research Group, Mr Ahern described Jacob Rees Mogg as a "lovely fella when he’s asleep".

When asked by Mairead McGuinness "how do you know?", he replied: "When he’s awake, he definitely is a strange fish I tell you, in and out of the water."

"But the reality is he admitted to me he had no idea of what the border was. I think a lot of British politicians thought the border was something up around Dundalk or Newry, and that there was a gate on it.

"I mean the idea that it was 460 kilometres across the island and that you could criss cross it to farms and houses, they just didn’t know it.

"And regards to the fact that lot of these guys went to Oxford, Cambridge and Eton, they’re not very bright. This is the problem."

Just reading about what someone like Farage has achieved in such a short time....

It's easy when you don't have to produce any actual policies and outline what you'd actually do Protest politics only work up until you are actually put into a position where you have to implement legislation and strategies to improve the lives of constituents. It's why those few UKIP councillors have failed as their lack of any realistic policies or competence gets shown up when they are in elected office. Ironically, the same has not happened as a result of the MEPs as they only have a marginal influence.

Contrast that with another party which is perceived as a single issue party - the SNP - which has been in government in Scotland since 2007 (and increasingly in local government, despite the number of Tory-Labour coalitions to keep them out of overall control in some councils ). In addition to their "single issue" , they have had to prove that they have a portfolio of policies, on education, housing, environment....ie have had to "get on with the day job" something Farage wouldn't have a clue about

@Andrew_Adonis
Spanish socialists surging to dramatic victory - set to win twice as many seats as the main right-wing PP party. Huge defeat for Faragist populism - by a left party which is proudly & strongly pro-EU!

PP leader Casado: "very bad" general election results It’s a completely different scene where the People’s party (PP) leader Pablo Casado is addressing his supporters. The mainstream conservative party has been humiliated tonight, winning just 66 seats in parliament, compared to the 137 they won in 2016

English tories should expect to be obliterated like the Spanish PP have just been.

And regards to the fact that lot of these guys went to Oxford, Cambridge and Eton, they’re not very bright

English private and selective schools are a social and political health hazard to us all.

The ignorance MPs have shown about Uk trade, EU trade deals with non- EU countries, the Single Market, agencie etc is disgraceful

but their ignorance over recent Uk current affairs, e.g. NI Troubles is inexcusable

Anyone who listened to the news during the Troubles - and most politicians are old enough for that -
should have been aware of the long winding border with 200+ crossing points that the security forces could not hope to control properly

Tories predicted to lose 800-1000 local council seats

And because of the ignorance and the stupid referendum that caused all the shitshow we now have this:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6969023/Brexit-helping-recruit-says-New-IRA-death-Lyra-McKee.html

Brexit has helped put the border on the agenda again.

Getting the vote out is key to beating the brexit/kip/tory parties in coming EU election.

Worth volounteering to help pro EU parties to do so.

Turnout will be interesting

I'm no election expert, but I sense the 75% turnout yesterday in Spain did for their extreme right and conservative parties. IamBuffy

With elderly, infirm, carers and voters with no access to transport; I used to volounteer for Labour to help give them lifts to the polling stations.

Will wait to see what happens on Tuesday, then offer to do the same for strongest Pro EU parties in the area.

Itll be interesting locally too as polling stations have moved.

But Sky is reporting the far right won in Spain Vox party ?

Re read - very misleading article! and I've not had coffee

Vox Party got seats (which is disgusting) but did not win.

I've been mulling...eu elections...again...

If labour come out (ha!) as pro brexit/no pv tomorrow I will not vote for them.

Splitting the remain vote is bad, so who to vote for? It's a wasted vote for any other pro remain party where I live.

If labour come out tomorrow for a PV then they get my vote.

But what if they dont?

I will not vote for a pro Brexit party.

Argh.

So vote for a pro-remain - LD or Green. As pp posted yesterday, none are perfect. Wasting or spoiling a vote is letting a vote for Brexit get counted.

I can’t see Labour coming out strongly for a a new ref 2 days before the local elections. It’ll be another fudge. If they do feel a need to clarify their position, I think it’ll be closer to May 23rd.

Labour have jumped on the environment bandwagon (which is good but not enough) instead of choosing a clear Brexit course.

We have tory remainers, labour remainers,

Who is speaking for them though? It's not May and the Tory party, even though May was supposed to be a Remainer, and even though Leavers are blaming her for not getting Brexit through yet. It's not Corbyn, although he's not so much getting blamed as considering absolutely every other issue and ignoring that big elephant in the room called Brexit. Remainers are all pretty homeless politically.

Which party or parties are likely to gain from the loss of all the Tory council seats ?

I can't really see what good a PV would do, unless there was evidence of a significant change of heart by the public. I don't see that yet, and you would also need as high a turnout as last time and at least a 60% vote for Remain.

Still who can say - 7 years ago there was a positive mood in the country around the Olympics - could something bring this positive mood back/

I am hoping that Macron, Merkel and Tusk (among others) will speak up for me, and that the UK would remain and join in a constructive Europe.
'I'll vote for anyone constructive and inclusive.