Want to vote Tory but Boris Johnson...

[HappydaysArehere]

Is it possible Mrs May will sideline him? Has she given him enough rope to hang himself? He is acting like a loose cannon; sounding off about strikes on Syria, refusing to talk to Putin at a time of great political sensitivity, bad mouthing Corbyn in an entirely over the top, unprofessional way which is only likely to raise the sympathy/underdog vote. The world is a potentially dangerous place at the present time. We need someone with experience in skilled diplomacy. Surely, we can do better than this egotistical, power hungry journalist. I am really worried.

I think he is lining himself up to be sacked - saying he still wants to give £350mill to the NHS and the stuff you mentioned - so he can challenge May when it all goes wrong.

Never thought of that. His ego would definitely persuade him that this was a strong possibility. Forgot the £350 mil for the NHS which has been doing the rounds again. I believe he would do anything to gain power. I bet he would join the Liberals if he thought he had half a chance to take over the leadership! Perhaps his sister is paving the way!

He is most likely following TMs instructions. He has got the whole country talking about how much of a mugwump JC is. Also raising air strikes on Syria highlights how weak JC is on defence. TM keeps her hands clean while Boris gets us all talking about the idiot in the Labour party.

I listened to him on R4 yesterday and then spent the day talking about the idiot in the Tory party so perhaps not what they hoped for.

He was awful in that interview. Truly awful.

I know. I am in despair and really worried. I actually think he is doing Corbyn some good which is mega worrying. Why do people still think he is some kind of super brain box? Even Corbyn's response to a question about Syria contained reference to international agreement while our wild card threw his arms up with what he probably imagined to be some kind of Churchilian threat. Theresa get rid and be quick about it.

People think he is smart, because he uses long archaic words. People think he is stupid because he plays the "lovable buffoon" when it suits him to do so. He's somewhere between the two, and I keep changing my mind about where to place him; at the moment I think he is near the stupid end. He really believes himself to be very intelligent though, I think. As foreign secretary, he's a liability and an embarassment; thats the man who represents the UK (and all of us in it) to the world.

I would also like to see David "you don't need a piece of paper with numbers on it to have an economic assessment" Davies reshuffled out of the way after June, but I think that is less likely.

It's bizarre that she's selling the government as a strong, stable leadership, then you look at the bunch of jokers she's appointed. Remember the wtf when she announced Boris was to be Foreign Sec? He has hardly pleasantly surprised us, has he?

Strong, stable leadership and Bojo do not go in the same sentence.

Do you really want to vote for a party in which Boris Johnson has held so many prominent positions? Whose foreign minister wrote two articles on the referendum expressing opposing views, supported Leave because he thought this would be a great career boost?

I will declare my bias as a Labour Party member who voted twice for Jeremy Corbyn as leader., but ugh. Please bear in mind that any Tory government might well include him and others like him.

Well I have voted Labour all my voting life but that party has diminished beyond recognition. When Brexit was voted for I was devastated but the thought at the time of Boris Johnson, Andrea Leadsom, Gough
and co as possible leaders at what was going to be a really rocky time as possible leaders at what was going to be the rockiest time since the last war filled me with even more horror. That is why I considered Theresa May to be the only hope we had. In fact I wrote to her asking her to stand and explaining that as Labour voter I would vote Tory if she was leader. There are many things that I do not agree with, namely NHS and education but without a steady leader we will be well and truly shot by Brexit. I agree about Davies. He certainly doesn't inspire confidence but she selected him as he was in favour of Brexit and she didn't want criticism that she was not really behind the result. However, Johnson is a problem I cannot get over. What is there left? The Liberals!!! Now my depression has hit an all time low .

I think brexit will be awful no matter who leads it and how it goes. May will ensure a short sharp exit and get it all sorted but whether that's right and we'll end up regretting everything that was done down the line is another story.

"May will ensure a short sharp exit and get it all sorted" ... See, I'm not convinced of that!
I get a bit worried when people start talking about a "clean break", because I think that is neither achievable nor advisable: Whether in or out of the EU, we will always have some of relationship with the EU, and our economy will always be tied to theirs. I've seen leavers say that if the EU suffers an economic collapse, we will insulated from it because of Brexit, but I don't think that's the case at all.
I am quite concerned by the antagonistic approach displayed by many in the cabinet towards the EU - surely that's not necessary? Especially Boris' "hilarious" Nazi jokes
And I really, really, hope that all the bluster about leaving without a deal if the EU27 don't roll over and behave is just an empty threat.

There is no possibility of leaving with a trade deal. The EU have made it clear from the start that the Article 50 process must be concluded first. When we leave the EU in March 2019 there will not yet be a trade deal, although there may be some form of transitional arrangement for citizens' rights. If all goes as well as possible there will be one by 2022 (which explains the timing of this general election).

That is why the last few months have been spent changing the mood music from "Of course we will get a deal, German car manufacturers, etc." to " We will be fine without a deal". There is simply no mechanism by which a trade deal can be concluded within the Article 50 period. So we will be negotiating the trade deal from a position of weakness.

Michael Heseltine is quoted in today's papers as saying that signing Article 50 is the worst mistake we have ever made. He is right, sadly.

A transitional arrangement would not be too bad, its the idea of leaving without anything that is really frightening- hopefully wont happen, but the belligerent, arrogant attitude of those in charge at the moment doesn't fill me with optimism.
I am hoping we look back at Brexit and say "that was a mistake", rather than look back at it and say "that was a series of complete disasters"

I'm an ex Labour voter and a remainer and have never voted Tory so I'm interested in how the OP and I have gone in completely different directions in terms of who to vote for in this general election. I too was and still am upset by the decision to leave the EU. I also viewed with horror the candidate list for party leadership (Andrea Leadsom anyone?) and when Theresa May got the job, I felt she was the best of a bad bunch and as she was technically a remainer (albeit not a particularly vocal one), I thought great, we'll get Brexit-lite e.g. Single market membership and still have to have freedom of movement. I could have lived with that. Then she started walking along the cliff edge and now appears to be happy to leap off it. This is where the OP and i diverge. I'll be voting Liberal Democrats without hesitation. I totally accept we will be leaving the EU, but I don't want a hard Brexit. I could never ever vote Tory. Not only are they responsible for this mess, they are hell bent in jumping off a cliff with no safety net.

Lummox The EU Trade Commissioner saying there will be a free trade deal with the UK was interesting.

I'm not a Tory voter, to be honest about my views, although I am not sure who I will be voting for in June, but I find May's rhetoric about strong leadership combined with her election announcement suggesting there should be no opposition to what she is doing with Brexit very worrying and undemocratic. I don't see Corbyn as the answer but May scares me. I think the best hope for navigating the next two years would actually be some sort of coalition to keep any type of extreme reaction in check but that isn't going to happen.

As for Boris, he's an embarrassment and it says a lot about May that she appointed him as Foreign Secretary in the first place. She and Cameron have both put the internal wranglings of their party, and their personal position within it, above the national interest and Boris' job is representative of that.

Lock Boris in Cameron's luxury garden shed. And it would be a good idea to put the loathsome Duncan Smith in there with them.

You may think he's awful, but actually he epitomises the values of the Tories. Please don't vote for them

Hi scaryteacher - what exactly did he say?

Scary teacher - was he? I was reading about T May's meeting with Juncker where he came out saying she was basically not on the same plane of reality as anyone else and that it looks like we're going to have no deal at all.

Ah, just googled it. She has said she believes that there will be a free trade agreement after Brexit.

So this is consistent with my post above.

After Brexit.

That means that there will be a period of time without a free trade agreement, and we will be negotiating that free trade agreement as a third party state in a position of great weakness. It is good to know that she believes that there will eventually be a deal, but the degree of certainty that she expresses seems most likely to be an indication of just how desperate she thinks we will be by then.

Either way, many business and jobs will be lost during the negotiation process.

Normandy, I have been deliberating and trying to balance one thing against another. This morning I told my husband that I am in fact going to vote Liberal and he said he too had come to the same conclusion. I can no longer vote Labour and although I have not supported them in the past I hope they will represent a more conciliatory representation regarding Brexit and the end vote on a deal.. Also, as times get harder, and they surely will. I do not wish to give full free rein to the Tories.

lummox so agree. It is a disaster which this country has brought upon itself. That is the greatest sadness. A handful of largely unregarded politicians, Nigel Farage and the Daily Mail - how did voters allow themselves to be so misled? I read the Times and used to buy the Mail on a Saturday simply for the TV guide. However, I saw the headlines on the Mail most mornings - "They are on their way" sticks in my mind which was accompanied by a photo of refugees piling out of a boat. Nothing to do with EU free movement. I stopped buying their Saturday rag from that day and will never forgive them. As for a coalition. That has occurred to me as well. There was one in the Second World War and this is different but not far from as disastrous.

Interesting, Happy. We have both also decided to go with the Lib Dems. Not with any great enthusiasm, but as the best option at this election.

The problem with any second vote is that it is clear that Remain would win against any specific Leave option. I simply don't see the people who have driven and benefited from this weakening their grip sufficiently to allow that to happen.

And as you say, there is the Daily Mail problem. They (and other papers) actively supported Brexit. They will not admit that they are responsible for a car crash without someone else to blame.

Which is probably the scariest aspect of this whole sorry mess. Who will brexit voters blame when they lose their jobs/inflation really starts to bite? It would make sense for them to blame the brexit leaders. But those leaders (and the papers who backed them) will be frantically blaming immigrants, people on benefits, remoaners, etc. A potentially very dangerous situation.