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| MP's Debate Snap Election Approval | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 19 2017, 08:37 AM (107 Views) | |
| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 08:37 AM Post #1 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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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. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:08 AM Post #16 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Nick Clegg, the former Lib Dem leader and former deputy prime minister, has put out a statement confirming he is standing again for parliament. He said: Theresa May has called a general election out of opportunism and intolerance: opportunism in seeking to exploit the weakness of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour party; and intolerance in seeking a landslide majority to bring about ‘unity’, by which she means the ability to impose whatever interpretation of Brexit she wishes without meaningful scrutiny from parliament. Meanwhile, her Brexit-obsessed government is failing to provide the decent schools, hospitals and social care which communities, including those I represent in Sheffield, rightly deserve. This general election once again places the interests of the Conservative party ahead of the daily needs of the British people. I will be re standing as the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate in Sheffield Hallam – a constituency I have had the immense privilege to represent in parliament for twelve years – because I vehemently oppose the direction that Theresa May wishes to drag our wonderful country. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:09 AM Post #17 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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![]() --Big spike yesterday in applications to register to vote. #ge2017 (Ian Jones, UK Press Association - 19 April 2017) |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:10 AM Post #18 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Stephen Dorrell, the former Conservative health secretary who now chairs the European Movement, has put out a statement urging people to vote for pro-European candidates. He said: Britain is still a member of the EU and our future is in own hands. We urge voters to support candidates who pledge to ensure that we continue to develop our relationship with these neighbours and play a full part in the life of the continent in which we live. It is not too late to change our minds. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:11 AM Post #19 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Gina Miller, who launched the legal challenge that resulted in the supreme court saying the government could not trigger article 50 without parliamentary approval, is involved in a campaign to encourage pro-European tactical voting. They are crowdfunding, and there are details here. They say they will support candidates who support “a real final vote on Brexit, including rejecting any deal that leaves Britain worse off” and “who commit to keeping the options open for the British people”. That implies support for a second referendum on Brexit, or committing to staying in the EU, although the campaign blurb does not say that explicitly. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:11 AM Post #20 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) On BBC Radio Scotland this morning David Mundell, the Conservative Scottish secretary, rejected claims that Theresa May was being inconsistent calling a general election while refusing to allow Scotland a referendum on independence. Asked if this was “hypocrisy”, Mundell replied: It absolutely isn’t, because the propositions are completely different. Theresa May is proposing a vote in six weeks’ time to allow people to set out the direction of the Brexit negotiations, to have a five-year period in which to take Brexit forward. Nicola Sturgeon is proposing a divisive referendum campaign during the Brexit negotiations. She actually wants to be campaigning for independence in Scotland during the period in which this country is engaged in the most extensive post-war negotiations. That’s why it’s inappropriate to have a referendum during the Brexit negotiation process. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:13 AM Post #21 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) The Lib Dem MP for Southport, John Pugh, has announced that he is not standing at the election, his local paper, the Southport Visiter, has revealed. Pugh, who has been an MP since 2001, had a majority of just 1,322 over the Conservatives at the last election. Nick Boles, the Conservative MP who has been receiving treatment for cancer, has revealed in a post on Facebook that his treatment has been successful and that he will be standing at the election. Here is an extract. I have now decided to put myself forward and will be writing to my local Conservative association to ask them to re-adopt me as their candidate. Last week I completed my final treatment for non Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Recent scans have shown that the cancer has been eradicated and doctors tell me I can expect to make a full recovery by the end of the summer. Although my current state of health will prevent me from playing an energetic part in the election campaign, I am confident that if I am re-elected I will be able to resume my duties as Member of Parliament with renewed vigour within a very few months. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:14 AM Post #22 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Speaking on Radio 5 Live this morning Lord Kinnock, the former Labour leader, said that he still did not expect to see another Labour government in his lifetime. According to the BBC the 75-year-old Kinnock told John Pienaar: I think that it’s unlikely that we will make the kind of gains because - as you will recall John with your perfect clarity - that I said that unless there are substantial changes that I am unlikely to live to see another Labour government.” There haven’t been the substantial changes that I would have wanted and therefore I’m as gloomy about my prospects of living to see another Labour government as I was then. -Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-39628713 |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:18 AM Post #23 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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![]() --Nicola Sturgeon says her party has been only effective opposition over last two years, intends to win election in Scotland (Nick Eardley, BBC News - 19 April 2017) --Sturgeon says a new May government would implement policies that in the past "Ukip could only dream of". (Peter Walker, The Guardian - 19 April 2017) --Sturgeon says SNP would join a 'progressive alliance' to keep Tories out but unlike 2015 Labour isn't likely to be in position to form one (Paul Brand, ITV News - 19 April 2017) --Sturgeon says she would back progressive alliance to keep Tories out of gov - guaranteeing Tories will roll out vote Lab get Nic strategy (Torcuil Crichton, Daily Record - 19 April 2017) |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:19 AM Post #24 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, has said Theresa May would have more freedom to ignore Brexit hardliners in her own party, and negotiate a more liberal deal, if she won an increased Westminster majority. Davidson said that Amber Rudd, the home secretary, was “absolutely right” to suggest on Newsnight on Tuesday that a substantial win in June would allow her to strike a more flexible single market deal with other EU nations. She said: If the prime minister is returned with a healthy majority, it gives her the freedom to make decisions in the best interests of the country without having to pay a penalty in terms of people in the Conservative party or outwith it putting undue pressure on [her]. Davidson was a leading Tory remain campaigner in last year’s referendum, taking on the then leave campaigner Boris Johnson, now foreign secretary, in one TV debate. She will also believe a liberal flexible Brexit deal will weaken Nicola Sturgeon’s case for Scottish independence, and dilute support for a fresh independence referendum. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:20 AM Post #25 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) PMQs --PMQs is starting in five minutes. It will be the penultimate PMQs before the general election. After PMQs there is a 10-minute rule bill. Then the debate on the motion allowing Theresa May to call an early election will start. May will open it, and Jeremy Corbyn will respond for Labour. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:21 AM Post #26 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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![]() --In the Chamber for what could be Theresa May's penultimate PMQs (John Rentoul, The Independent - 19 April 2017) |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:22 AM Post #27 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) The Conservative MP Alberto Costa says strong countries need strong economies, strong defences and strong leaders. Apart from Theresa May, who else can provide the leadership needed at this time? Theresa May says Costa is right. There are three things a country needs: a strong economy, strong defences and strong leadership. Jeremy Corbyn would bankrupt the economy, weaken our defence and is not fit to lead, she says. Jeremy Corbyn says Labour welcomes the general election. Tory MPs jeer. But this is a prime minister who promised there would not be one, who cannot be trusted, who says this is about leadership yet who is refusing to defend her record in TV debates. It is not hard to see why, he says. She cannot explain why wages are lower than they were 10 years ago, more households in debate, 6m people earning more than the living wage, and child and pensioner poverty up. Why are so many people getting poorer? May says she has been debating with Corbyn every Wednesday since she became PM. She will take out a proud record: a stronger economy, taxes cut, people taken out of poverty, and more money for pensioners. Corbyn says, if May is so proud of her record, why won’t she debate it. The Tory manifesto said they would get rid of child poverty. They have got rid of the child poverty targets, but not child poverty. They have not eliminated the deficit, despite promising it in 2010 and 2015. When will the deficit be eliminated? May says it has taken Corbyn a while to get the hang of PMQs. People will have a choice at the election, between a party offering a strong economy and one that would bankrupt the country. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:23 AM Post #28 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Corbyn says this year Philip Hammond said the deficit would be eliminated in 2022. He does admire Tory consistency. They always want to eliminate the deficit in five years time. How long will it be before debt comes down? May says Labour wants to borrow an extra £500bn. The former Labour shadow chancellor said if Labour were in power you would have to double income tax, double national insurance and double VAT. Corbyn says all the government has delivered is more debt and less money for schools and hospitals. If there is a stronger economy, why are corporations getting tax giveaways while schools are being starved of funds. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:23 AM Post #29 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) May says record amounts of money are going into schools. But it is not just about money. It is about standards. More pupils are going into good schools. Corbyn says many parents will receive letters from schools begging for money. The Tories said they would protect school funding. They have not done that; it is another broken promise. The NHS is in an all-year crisis. Why are people waiting in pain? May says she is proud of her record on the NHS. You can only do that with a strong economy. What would you get from Labour? Only bankruptcy and chaos. Corbyn says that is another reason for a debate. The Tory manifesto promised more money for health. Say that to people waiting for care. The Tories have broken every promise on debt, living standards, health and school funding. Why should anyone believe what they say? May says she will be taking her record to the country. Every vote for the Conservatives will help her when she negotiates for Britain in the Brexit talks. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:24 AM Post #30 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Michelle Donelan, a Conservative, asks May if she will continue to back reform of school funding. May says reforms are intended to make the system fairer. Angus Robertson, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, says the tone and content of debates is important. Does May agree political opponents are not saboteurs and that MPs with mandates should be respected? May says it is right that politicians are challenged. But last year people voted to leave the EU. It is clear that the SNP and others want to frustrate that process. Robertson says it is disappointing that May did not take the opportunity to condemn the way the Daily Mail (he does not mention the paper by name) described politicians. If May is so confident her case is right, she should debate it in the campaign. Why is she running scared of a debate with Nicola Sturgeon? May says one of the crucial things in this country is a free press. MPs should stand up for a free press. She says she will go out and defend her record. And she urges the SNP to put aside their tunnel vision on independence and explain why the Scottish government is not putting as much money into the NHS as the Westminster goverment and why Scottish education is getting worse. |
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