| Welcome to Conversations. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| MP's Debate Snap Election Approval | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 19 2017, 08:37 AM (105 Views) | |
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 08:37 AM Post #1 |
|
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
White Tuesday saw British P.M. May call for a snap election, MPs' still have to grant their approval for it to happen in early June..... (The Guardian) What’s happening? --An evergreen question, but for now designed to steer you through Wednesday’s political action. On Tuesday, Theresa May said she wanted an election on 8 June. Today she has to persuade MPs to let her have one. The Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, which was supposed to keep us from the ballot boxes until 2020, can be tipped over if two-thirds of the Commons say aye. Jeremy Corbyn wants Labour MPs to support the early election; not all Labour MPs agree with him (another evergreen statement there). The Liberal Democrats and the SNP have said they will not block it – though Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon called May’s move a “huge political miscalculation”. So let’s recklessly guess that the super-majority will be won: what next? Labour talks late on Tuesday concluded that sitting MPs should be automatically reselected, despite reports that Corbyn had been less than keen on the idea. A policy burst in recent weeks – on free school meals, minimum wage and carers’ allowance – also helps lessen the risk of a rash of party manifestos reading: “Aargh, Brexit.” The Conservative manifesto will find room for grammar schools, alongside – speculates the Sun in an interview with May – possible breaks from 2015 commitments to foreign aid spending and the pensions triple lock. The prime minister insists the election isn’t all about Brexit (except, well, it mostly is, counters Lib Dem leader Tim Farron). It’s also, says May, writing in the Scotsman, a chance to give a second independence referendum the boot – while not quite answering the question of why one vote would sow division and the other unity: As well as presenting an unfair choice to Scottish voters between two unclear outcomes, [a referendum] would create uncertainty and division in our country at a time when we need to maximise certainty and unity to get the best deal for the whole UK. For those same reasons, a UK general election now is firmly in our national interest. Not in May’s interest, it seems, will be taking part in televised debates with other party leaders. “Our answer is no,” a No 10 source told the Guardian, meaning avid viewers will be denied even the sole PM v contenders face-to-face-off that David Cameron deigned to attend in 2015. |
![]() |
|
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 08:39 AM Post #2 |
|
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
(The Guardian) What does the snap election mean for Northern Ireland, which has been without its devolved government for three months? Talks on forming a new power-sharing deal are due to resume today after the Easter break. This analysis from the Belfast Telegraph says news of the early general election is not expected to make negotiations any easier: Mrs May suggested the election could achieve more stability and unity in the UK, particularly in the face of the challenges of Brexit, but it is likely to mean exactly the opposite in Northern Ireland. On Tuesday night, Theresa May and the Irish taoiseach, Enda Kenny, reportedly spoke by phone for 15 minutes on the prospects of a resolution to the Stormont stalemate. |
![]() |
|
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 08:40 AM Post #3 |
|
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
(The Guardian) Labour’s shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has been on Radio 4’s Today programme. He says he welcomes the early election, arguing it will give voters the opportunity to decide between a Labour or Conservative government – and what they want from a Brexit deal. The government has a mandate from the referendum, he says, but not for the type of Brexit it’s pushing for. An election campaign is a chance to work that out, he says: Let’s get on, let’s have this debate. |
![]() |
|
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 08:41 AM Post #4 |
|
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
(The Guardian) McDonnell: Brexit deal could be 'put to the British people' --John McDonnell is asked if Labour is committed to the single market: We’ll want to negotiate tariff-free access to the single market. He says Labour believes the UK can negotiate a “managed and fair migration system” alongside that. But he won’t be drawn on whether Labour would commit to staying within the customs union, saying only that he wants to “maximise the benefits we currently get”: That does not necessarily mean full membership of the customs union. McDonnell says the Tory government has failed to deliver a vision of Britain post-Brexit, and dangles – though without a commitment – the prospect of a further referendum. When a deal is struck with the EU, he says, it should be “put to parliament and possibly the British people”. That’s not a Labour pledge, he clarifies – just that, at that point, a government could choose to take any deal to the country. |
![]() |
|
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 08:42 AM Post #5 |
|
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
--John McDonnell confirms Labour manifesto will set a 'cap' on maximum earnings via a 'ratio' of highest to lowest paid. @BBCr4today (Paul Waugh, Huffington Post UK - 19 April 2017) |
![]() |
|
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 08:43 AM Post #6 |
|
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
![]() (The Guardian) Vince Cable, the former business secretary, is planning to run for the Lib Dems again in Twickenham, the seat from which he was ousted in 2015 by the Conservatives’ Tania Mathias. He’s also on Radio 4 now. He says Brexit is “sufficiently important” for the Lib Dems to support the casting-aside of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act. And he’s ready for his comeback, he says: In 2015, what happened was a terrible election for us … I think we ought to set the record straight and win back the seats that we lost. “There needs to be a strong party in parliament that is willing to say no” to Theresa May and a hard Brexit, Cable says. But he adds: There is no prospect of us having an electoral deal with the Labour party. He says, for one, it is “utterly remote” to consider that Jeremy Corbyn will be prime minister, which makes the issue of coalition irrelevant. |
![]() |
|
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 08:45 AM Post #7 |
|
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
(The Guardian) Thornberry: Labour 'hasn't picked a side' on Brexit --Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry has said the party can win the election. Speaking on BBC2’s Newsnight late on Tuesday, she said: We can win, absolutely. Game on. She [Theresa May] has come into this election because she thinks she’s 20 points ahead and she can’t put forward what it is she wants from Brexit because she wants to promise everything at this stage. We will not give her a blank cheque. If people vote Conservative, they will be giving her a blank cheque. On what Labour wants from Brexit, Thornberry said: We haven’t picked a side. We are a national party and we want to represent the nation. |
![]() |
|
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 08:46 AM Post #8 |
|
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
(The Guardian) Gisela Stuart, one of the most prominent of the Labour Leavers in last year’s referendum (yes, it really was only last year), says she is going to talk to her local party in Birmingham Edgbaston before announcing whether she will stand in this election. She told the Today programme that, given polling numbers, she did not think Jeremy Corbyn would be prime minister: I think I want a government that actually takes responsibility for the whole nation. It is unlikely … that we will have a Labour government. Calling it a “very unusual election”, she did clarify: I would like Labour to win it. |
![]() |
|
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 08:48 AM Post #9 |
|
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
(The Guardian) Theresa May's Today interview --Nick Robinson is interviewing Theresa May. He starts by playing the clip from Brenda. Q: You present yourself as someone committed to getting on with the job. Do you regret breaking your word? May says she does get on with the job. When she became PM should thought the UK needed stability. She got through the process of working on Brexit, and triggering article 50. But around the time she triggered article 50 it became clear who the opposition was intent on frustrating the process. The Lib Dems said they wanted to grind government to a standstill. Labour said they might vote against the final deal. Q: You are blaming the opposition for changing your mind. In Scotland you said now is not the time for a vote. May says the election will strengthen her position in the Brexit negotiations. The public want the government to deliver, she says. She says having an election will create certainty. Q: How many times have you been defeated in the Commons on Brexit? May confirms there have not been any. But she goes back to nine months ago. People wanted the government to leave the EU. But, as she triggered article 50, it became clear that the opposition would frustrate her. |
![]() |
|
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 08:49 AM Post #10 |
|
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
(The Guardian) Q: It is the duty of the opposition to oppose. The Daily Mail headlines says: “Crush the saboteurs.” Is that how you see your opponents? No, says May. She says people are entitled to express their views. Q: What is is about the recent 20-point lead in the polls that made an early election attractive? May says every election has a risk. No politician wants an election just for the sake of it. She says she wants to take the right decisions for the long term. Q: In the Sun you say you will be “much freer” in your Brexit negotiations? May says there are two things. If the public give her a mandate, and back her plan for Brexit, that will strengthen her hand. And if she had not called an election, she would have been concluding the talks just before an election. Q: So this gives you wriggle-room, the space to compromise. May does not accept this. She says she wants the best possible deal. |
![]() |
|
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 08:51 AM Post #11 |
|
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
(The Guardian) Q: Amber Rudd said last night that this would make it easier to compromise in the Brexit talks. May says she still thinks she will be able to complete the negotiations in the two-year timescale. Q: But that does not mean after 2019 no more rulings from the ECJ or freedom of movement. May says people voted to end free movement and to get control of our laws. Q: So you are guaranteeing that we will be free of those things by 2020. May says she will get the best possible deal. She wants the best possible trade deal. Q: Everyone is in favour of the best possible deal. People are entitled to know what you want. May says she has already spelt out what she wants in her Lancaster House speech, the white paper and her article 50 letter. Q; So nothing new in the manifesto? The manifesto will be one for taking the country forward, she says. She says she wants to make sure jobs are spread around the country. |
![]() |
|
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 08:52 AM Post #12 |
|
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
(The Guardian) Q: Will you have an immigration system that delivers what we have now? Immigration at 100,000? Or lower than that? May says she has spent six years as home secretary trying to reduce immigration. She wants migration at “sustainable levels”, she says. Q: You seem committed to fighting an election without saying anything new. That is a blank cheque. May says telling people to look at what she has done already is not seeking a blank cheque. She mentions policies like her industrial policy. Q: None of these things are Brexit. May says she wants clarity for the future, for going beyond Brexit. Q: Are you saying to the electorate, “This is it. Give me a majority, and there will be no further vote on Brexit?” May says people want the government to deliver. Q: So, for remainers, it is over. May says she has been clear there will be no second referendum. Q: There won’t even be a meaningful vote in parliament. May says there will be a vote in parliament. She wants to deliver a successful Brexit. |
![]() |
|
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 08:54 AM Post #13 |
|
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
(The Guardian) May confirms she won't take part in TV debates --Q: Will you debate with your opponents? May she say constantly does that. Q: So you will be doing that on TV? May she will not do TV debates. She will be going out and campaigning. She likes knocking on doors. Q: You once said that we should remain in the EU. Now you say we should leave. You once said an early election would be wrong. Now you say it is the right thing. Do you do doubt? May she says did back remain. But she also said the sky would not fall in if the UK left. Q: So you have any doubts about calling an early election? Some people will think of this as opportunism. May says she genuinely came to this decision reluctantly, having looked ahead at the circumstances and at the negotiations. |
![]() |
|
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:05 AM Post #14 |
|
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
![]() --I don't intend to stand for re-election to Parliament (Iain Wright, Labour MP for Hartlepool - 19 April 2017) |
![]() |
|
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:07 AM Post #15 |
|
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
![]() --Readout of President Donald J. Trump’s Call with Prime Minister Theresa May of the United Kingdom (Dan Scavino, Jr., White House Director of Social Media - 19 April 2017) |
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| Go to Next Page | |
| « Previous Topic · The News Hub · Next Topic » |





![]](http://b3.ifrm.com/30308/113/0/p3001190/pip_r.png)





