Westminstenders: One Pepperoni Pizza Please. And a Milkshake To Go.

[RedToothBrush]

On the Eve of the EU Elections that we never met to happen, and we don't know what the next hour next mind day might bring.

Farage is enjoying the theatre of milkshakes. It means he gets attention and gets to play the victim. And avoid talking about his dodgy friends and even dodgier financing. The Brexit Party are polling so highly its possible he could be PM. And boy does he know it. The temptation is there and its too much to resist.

May has refused to resign so far tonight after a day of asking her to. The 1922 Committee refused to change the rules to help oust her - possibly because they don't want the next PM to be beset with challenges to the leadership at the drop of a hat. Graham Brady is seeing her on Friday... The ERG are not happy bunnies.

May is still apparently planning to plough on with the WAB with a referendum possibly attached. Though this remains to be seen.

Meanwhile Leadsom has just quit the Cabinet. She was one of the Brexit 'Pizza Club'. Rumours are this might be the Cabinet withdrawing support for her. Though Gove has said he doesn't intend to resign (tonight at least).

Rumour is that May's senior staff have abandoned her to let her make the decision to go. And rumours are that when Leadsom rang May to tell her she was leaving cabinet, May didn't tell her senior staff. This comes two weeks after rumours where that Phillip May was at the point of telling her it was time to resign. The rumours of course may be just that, rumours but it's hard to see how or why anyone would tell her to carry on now.

And so tomorrow. Who would vote for this utter shower of shit? Even if you were the most loyal of Tories?

The thing tomorrow is to get the remain vote out. It doesn't matter ultimately what people vote for. Every vote cast for remain keeps the Brexit Party popular vote down. Even if it doesn't win seats. And that is psychologically important.

Tomorrow make sure EVERYONE you know who is anti brexit party votes. More so if they are a Remainer voting for a Remain party, but also if they are solid Labour or the rarest of things, a true blue.

It MATTERS. Narratives will be set.

If you are not sure if you are registered to vote, please TRY ANYWAY. The worst case is you are turned away and have lost 20 mins of your life. But you might also be able to vote and that might change the course of events.

Talk to people tomorrow. Remind them. Make sure it's about preventing a hard right foothold. Apathy will destroy our futures. Being fed up of politicians so refusing to vote is actively shooting yourself in the face.

Who am I voting for?

Still no idea. But I will vote.

name and current address on the list in the polling station (which suggests that I have registered successfully) but it was crossed out

That's interesting; DH has a permanent postal vote because he's often away for work, and therefore his name is crossed out on the polling station list (obviously it's easy for me to see that because our names are in order, and I'm good at reading upside-down).

Lisa O’Carroll has had 300 emails from people denied a vote.

mobile.twitter.com/lisaocarroll/status/1131562015456145409

Apparently the register can be corrected till 9pm this evening, enabling someone to vote later.

mobile.twitter.com/SimonFRCox/status/1131553632695062530

The thing with an election is once its done, then its very hard to rerun it... And get those who are disenfranchised their vote back

So fundamentally a vote is worthless then ?

And for once, that isn't me being funny, or even trying to be funny. It's just a statement of fact: in law, a vote has no value.

@tnewtondunn
Where we currently are, says one senior Tory: “Cabinet want the ‘22 to do her in, the ‘22 want Cabinet to. Both sides want to avoid the optics of a pack of men picking on a woman”.

'optics' LOL

'pack' is the wrong collective noun though.

@IanDunt
Oh look, IDS wants Phillip May to intervene. I must have missed all those moments in the past that Samantha Cameron, or Sarah Brown, or Cherie Blair were told to do so www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/23/duncan-smith-calls-for-mays-cabinet-to-quit-if-brexit-bill-published …

and yesterday

@ShippersUnbound
Mark Francois has just signalled to the press gallery, shaking his head and running his finger along his throat like a knife

not envy

register can be corrected till 9pm this evening
Hope so.

long thread of examples of EU citizens being denied their rightful vote

Another practice of long queues and polling centres being closed before voters could get in started in 2010 if I remember correctly? Sheffield was affected? Same aim though.

It has no meaning if the law isn't enforced... And if significant people are denied their vote then the vote shouldn't be valid. But we are the UK, and that type of thing doesn't happen here. Cos we are a democracy...

Yep. Circular argument.

You can't be a democracy if people are actively denied a vote...

It has no meaning if the law isn't enforced.

Ubi Jus Ibi Remedium ?

This film quotes number 75% of UK/EU citizens being turned away.
How many would that be ..........if it is true?

@PoliticsJOE_UK
"I have been denied my most fundamental democratic right."

Citizens from EU countries living in the UK are being turned away at polling stations across the country. #DeniedMyVote
JOE

twitter.com/PoliticsJOE_UK/status/1131564081662631936

{Another practice of long queues and polling centres being closed before voters could get in started in 2010 if I remember correctly? Sheffield was affected? Same aim though.}

I suppose it is marginally more upmarket than tactics used in other democracies like beating up voters if it looks like they not might vote in the 'right' way.

Exactly what Jo Maugham says:

Really upset by the torrent of reports of EU citizens resident here and UK citizens resident abroad being denied their votes. It was so foreseeable and so often foreseen. How can we decently pretend ourselves a democracy?

mobile.twitter.com/JolyonMaugham/status/1131495928219734017?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

@the3million
UPDATE: we have just received a phone call from the Electoral Commission - they have been receiving many complaints via our email template. It is working!

If #DeniedMyVote has happened to you today then please find template email & instructions below.

@the3million
#DeniedMyVote? We are urging all EU citizens to COMPLAIN to the Electoral commission.

Template letter/email here:
twitter.com/the3million/status/1131530441532596224

All that was needed was to complete the correct form by 7th May.

No. There have been stories of people handing in their forms in person, and not having them processed in time.

If #DeniedMyVote has happened to you today then please-

-Whistle, clap your hands, and have a beer (that you pay for).

It won't get your vote back, and indeed will be all that will happen, so you may as well feel a brief pleasure.

"Whistle, clap your hands, and have a beer (that you pay for).

It won't get your vote back, and indeed will be all that will happen, so you may as well feel a brief pleasure."

That's a tad too cynical for me, DGR. I think a hell of a stink should be made about this. Whilst it may not in the end amount to a hill of beans, you can't just let things like this pass without protest.

Leavers have been prating about voting in the Referendum to preserve our "democracy", so they should presumably be pretty irate about this flagrant denial of that very commodity.

Thanks guys. I have no legal cover on my home insurance and am not part of a Union so feel a bit exposed. Hazard can I pm you pls?

I'll see what happens on Sunday but here in France, we've been on the electoral roll for years, with no need to renew or send in special papers. They have a supplementary list for us EU migrants and a polling card stating the elections we are allowed vote in.

Yesterday I got an envelope with leaflets from all the main contenders (sadly, the monarchist party budget didn't seem to stretch to leafleting our area...). And guess who's mug is featured on Florian Philipott (le Pen's old spokesperson)? Bloody Farage.

That's a tad too cynical for me, DGR. I think a hell of a stink should be made about this. Whilst it may not in the end amount to a hill of beans, you can't just let things like this pass without protest.

I'll post it here. I'll post it now. It's logged on MN servers for posterity.

Fuck all will happen.

No one will receive any redress whatsoever. Even were it to get as far as a court (and I presume it would need to be a special electoral court, not your workaday bumps, lumps and tort court), I'm going to call it that the court will find it has no power of redress to a wronged elector. And I will back that up with a wine, beer, or whatever-cino anyone who wants to take me up on that wants as a tipple of choice.

However:

"Lessons will be learned"
"Deep regret"
"Unacceptable lapse"
"Regrettable incident"
"Better provision"

are my submissions for bullshit bingo.

People denied the vote must get onto the Electoral office right away - there may still be time to put it right.

When you put this together with reports of people being sent turquoise party leaflets inside their postal vote envelopes it is really hard not to get a bit suspicious.

Just heard of another student whose postal vote didn't arrive in time, so she travelled back home to vote.

So proud of these young people!

I don't know DGR. With UK elections actions against wrongly conducted elections can be taken to the High Court. I suspect that for the EU you would have to go to the ECJ, but I am not a lawyer, so can't say.

UK elections can be voided and re run.

Just taken my parents to vote, DH voted in his lunch break.

#4 LD votes in the bag.

People denied the vote must get onto the Electoral office right away - there may still be time to put it right.

And if there isn't ?

I look forward with interest to the outcome, but I stand by my previous assertion. Nothing can happen, as a vote has no value. Simples.

channel 4 want to hear too.

@JaneDodgeC4
#DeniedmyVote. Please DM me if you are an EU citizen resident in UK who hasn’t been allowed to vote.

Leavers have been prating about voting in the Referendum to preserve our "democracy", so they should presumably be pretty irate about this flagrant denial of that very commodity.

Judging by the comments I'm seeing on social media and newspaper comments , they're over the moon about it. They don't think EU citizens should be able to vote in the UK. They think they should be voting by post in their home countries. But at the same time they don't think Brits living in other EU countries should be able to vote in the UK either. They should vote where they live.