General Election - June 8th

[TinfoilHattie]

Another vote.

Can totally understand why May has made this move and it is very interersting from a Scottish perspective. Less about Brexit, more about another independence referendum.

I am very torn on who to vote for. It was exceptionally close between SNP and Lib Dem here last time round so it will probably be Lib Dem, but if polls show more chance of the Conservatives or Labour getting the SNP MP out on his ear I'd vote for either of those too. (V unlikely that Labour would be in that position though). Wouldn't ever vote Green.

Oh, and ANOTHER day off school for the kids.

oh gawd, another day off school this is the worst news ever :) Already 3 days off in May!

Apparently NS has already stated that the SNP will run on an independence platform. At least she's being honest about it this time around ("A vote for the SNP isn't a vote for independence.." Aye right!).

I'll also be voting for whoever has the greatest chance of removing the SNP incumbent, as the SNP are the greatest threat to Scotland and the UK as a whole by a huge margin, and getting rid of them trumps everything else for me. Does anyone know where to find polling data on a constituency basis?

Tinfoil i'm your area too and I will be hoping to see the back of our SNP MP (though wonder if he will still use the 20 year put of date photo). It was very close last time.

If you google general election results 2015 and your constituency it should give you a breakdown. I live in an area with an overwhelming SNP majority so would need a huge swing and then it's not clear who the best tactical option is as Labour are in free fall. Can't wait for another few months of campaigning - yippee

That's my problem too Sugar. Labour were the runners up in my constituency too, but that was before Corbyn and I'm not sure who would be 'second place' now.

yeah, and i'm a total pragmatist but i cannot place any kind of a vote for labour whilst JC is in charge. Hmmm, maybe I can't claim I'm a total pragmatist anymore (worrying)!

I'll be voting for the best anti-Tory/anti-hard Brexit candidate. Which bizarrely, three years after campaigning for No, means I will be voting SNP.

See, I think I would vote for Labour even with Corbyn in charge if it would lose the SNP a seat. It's not like labour are going to get enough seats to actually form a government across the UK as a whole, and they're likely to still be the opposition regardless, so it would be one less SNP MP but little other change.

tricky isn't it? Like choosing between cat shit and dog shit. They're both types of shit (Corbyn and the SNP). I will have to ponder! Sorry for the scatology.

I'm not sure Labour are in contention. And I realised earlier that even if the May elections are disastrous for any party there's really no way they can have a leadership election and they will have to go straight into the general election.

The LibDems are apparently getting loads of new members after the announcement today - I think they may cause a few shocks.

I feel sorry for the activists of all parties - campaign after campaign.

And of course nobody getting on with actually governing the country. Although the Great Repeal Bill will presumably get rid of all that pesky debating stuff and voting in Parliament. If the Tories get back in.

Yes Cheese it was very close last time. I don't even know who Lib Dems would put forward as a candidate.

I think Corbyn will be forced out after this election, as Labour are predicted to lose several dozen seats across the UK as a whole. Just saw 1/5 odds of him being kicked out by the end of the year! That has to be a good thing, as then Labour can take a long hard look at the direction they're going in, and (hopefully) realise that they need to move back to the middle to have any chance.

It would be nice if we could get back to running the country without constant elections/referenda - Brenda from Bristol said it all!

Brenda from Bristol's reaction was very funny.

I will be voting SNP, I want independence from this shower of sh!te in Westminster. We are facing decades of Tory rule where bolstered by the right wing media in this country they are demonising the poor, the disabled, immigrants etc. I cannot fathom why people enjoy living in a country that makes the poorest and most disadvantaged pay for the mistakes of the rich, why people find it acceptable to take away from the poorest in terms of benefits, PIP etc to balance out tax cuts for corporations and the rich. I am honestly disgusted by this Tory party and their policies.

My seat is 2 horse contest between Labour and SNP. Anything but SNP it is. I think this surely applies to most of the Central Belt?

I think turnout will be higher than the EU ref in Scotland and if it really is proxy Indyref 2 possibly really high.

We are facing decades of Tory rule

Even if this were true (the Lib Dems are rebuilding and I reckon Labour will be back on track within 12 months), it's surely got to be better than forever as a small, insular, poverty-stricken, and deeply divided Scotland, falling backwards in the international education rankings, that struggles to attract investment and to pay its bills. The Tories aren't forever, but destroying the UK would be.

I cannot fathom why people enjoy living in a country that makes the poorest and most disadvantaged pay for the mistakes of the rich, why people find it acceptable to take away from the poorest in terms of benefits, PIP etc to balance out tax cuts for corporations and the rich.

Well for one thing, while I hope we never have to find out what the reality of independence looks like, it's likely to make 'Tory austerity' look generous. Scotland would have to court business (and the dreaded 'rich') to attract investment and jobs, which would probably mean cutting taxes, and hence public services as there is already way too much debt to pay the bills. Right now we have a great insurance policy in the Barnett formula, which we're currently relying on heavily, and we have a Scottish parliament that already has the power to raise taxes and mitigate against any welfare cuts, if it chose to do so.

oatcake please look at the funding Scotland gets from barnett as part of RUK - we don't need to have austerity in Scotland but we do need the SNP to start using tax raising powers and stop blaming Westminster for an austerity they have control over...I can't fathom why the lefties voting for the SNP and not Scottish labour haven't held the SNP to more account for their policies in Scotland.

not to mention the current budget deficit:

www.ifs.org.uk/publications/8218

Figures on the Scottish deficit would be much more important if it became fully responsible for managing its own public finances. That is if it were to be fully fiscally autonomous or an independent state.

I think once the boundary review happens the Tories are long-term. They are predicted to benefit massively from the boundary changes in England. I don't see Labour back on track in 12 months - even if they get a new leader I think they are basically two parties now. I know there have been rumblings about a new centre-left party, but there just doesn't seem to be the appetite to make the jump yet.

We do get subsidised by the Barnett formula just now - but I don't think Brexit will be good for the UK economy, and once the Tories start cutting public spending on education and the NHS that will mean lower Barnett consequentials.

How much tax would you like Scotland to pay to mitigate Tory welfare cuts Y0uCann0t? If the Tories continue on their current trajectory I expect the cuts to be fairly sweeping. I think they're mainly down to ideology and if the Tories get back in with an increased majority I think they'll push as far as they can.

How much tax would you like Scotland to pay to mitigate Tory welfare cuts Y0uCann0t?

I think the point is that there is a choice to be made - pay more in tax, or get less in benefits, because ultimately everything has to be paid for and you can't have both. There's an argument for choosing either path. Westminster has decided that in order to balance the books they prefer to pay out less but maintain relatively low taxes, presumably because this stimulates business and the economy overall. If the Scottish government felt strongly enough about the 'right-wing Tory hard Brexit cuts yadda yadda yadda', and truly felt that the Scottish people agreed with them, they are free to choose the other path and use their powers to mitigate the cuts. That they choose not to says (to me anyway) that they just want an excuse to whinge at Westminster, but don't want to make the grown decision to actually do anything about it.

I'll be voting tactically. Anything to get rid of the SNP.

I'll be voting for the best anti-Tory/anti-hard Brexit candidate. Which bizarrely, three years after campaigning for No, means I will be voting SNP.
ooaoml what about Lib dems? Any vote for the SNP will be seen as support for Indyref2 it might not change the overall result in your area but I suspect that even if the SNP lose seats they will be looking at percentage support
That is assuming you don't want another indy ref
I'm anyone but the SNP (or Greens for backing the SNP)...if they tank in the polls they can no longer go on about the 'will of the Scottish people parliament.'..
Brexit is happening - no matter what ...I am not bothered about what kind of Brexit - anything that is agreed now can be changed in the future ...we could even rejoin...
I am pretty sure the Tories are going to win the GE....which might not be a bad thing.
It should hopefully be the shake up that Labour needs ...or possibly the Lib Dems will pick up - anything to stimulate a decent opposition. Better than waiting until 2020 and then Labour getting its act together... we might have one with some chance of winning by then

I'm hoping that Scotland can sidestep the Tory hard Brexit. I think that if we can, Scotland would be able to court investment very well, thank you.

unlucky I'm ok with another indyref and I am massively concerned about what type of Brexit we have. And what kind of country we have within a few years.