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| MP's Debate Snap Election Approval | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 19 2017, 08:37 AM (106 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, 09:25 AM Post #31 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Labour’s Dennis Skinner asks May for an assurance that all Tory MPs under investigation for election over-spending will not be allowed to stand again. May says she stands by all election candidates. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:27 AM Post #32 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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![]() --A message to my constituents (Andrew Smith, Labour MP for Oxford East - 19 April 2017) |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:33 AM Post #33 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) MPs debate motion allowing Theresa May to call an early election --MPs are now about to start the debate on the motion allowing Theresa May to call an early election. Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, May can only call one if two-thirds of MPs vote in favour. Theresa May's speech --Theresa May is opening the debate. She says MPs have a chance to vote for an election that will give the country strong and stable leadership. It will be in the national interest, she says. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:34 AM Post #34 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Sir Edward Leigh, a Conservative, says it will be a brave MP who votes against this motion. So the Fixed-term Parliaments Act has no purpose. Will the Tories commit to scrapping it? May says she does not want to be drawn on what is in her manifesto. Paul Farrelly, the Labour MP, says May promised many times not to hold an early election. Why does she have such a loose relationship with the truth? John Bercow, the Speaker, tells Farrelly he must withdraw. MPs are not allowed to call each other liars in the chamber. Farrelly refuses. Why does May have such a loose relationship with expressing her intentions. May says she has made her intentions very clear. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:35 AM Post #35 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Labour’s Stephen Timms asks if May supports fixed-term parliaments. May says we have a Fixed-term Parliaments Act. But it is right to have an election now, she says. The SNP’s Ian Blackford asks why it is right to have an election, but not a Scottish independence referendum. May says a general election will strengthen the government’s hand in the Brexit talks. An independence referendum would weaken the government’s hand, she says. It is a choice between strength and unity with the Conservatives, and division and weakness with the SNP, she says. Labour’s Andy Burnham says May wants to make the election about Brexit. But it could become a referendum on her brutal cuts, he says. May says if Burnham wants to talk about the economy, he should remember how Labour trashed the economy when he was chief secretary to the Treasury. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:36 AM Post #36 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) May says having an election now will strengthen the hand of the government as it delivers a strong future for the country. Labour’s David Winnick asks if May is concerned that, having built up a reputation for integrity, she will be seen as an opportunist. May says having an election now is necessary to give the government the strongest possible hand in the Brexit talks. In a reference to the SNP, May says anyone who abstains in this vote will endorsing the record of the Conservative government. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:38 AM Post #37 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Jeremy Corbyn's speech --Jeremy Corbyn is speaking now. He says Theresa May said there would not be an early election. How can anyone trust her now? He says the election will give people a chance to oppose cuts. Some 4m children live in poverty. People do not have security in work, he says. Tory MPs jeer, implying it is Labour MPs who don’t have job security. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:38 AM Post #38 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Corbyn says it does not have to be like this. Labour believes that everyone should receive a decent wage. And there should be decent homes for all. Housing policy should be for people, not an investment opportunity. He says there is no obstacle in parliament to Theresa May delivering Brexit. She is pointing out that the Lib Dems have said they will bring parliament to a standstill over Brexit. But there are only nine of them, he says, and they managed to split three ways over article 50. He again challenges May to hold a TV debate. Labour offers a better future, not a country run for the rich, he says. And that’s it. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:39 AM Post #39 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) The debate will run for another hour before MPs vote. Judging by the opening speeches, it is not going to be a memorable parliamentary occasion. I will cover the highlights, but not every single speech. Sir Desmond Swayne, a Conservative, is speaking now. He is making a rather good, self-mocking speech telling MPs how he assured readers of his local paper that there would not be an early election because May could not call one without a vote in parliament and Labour MPs would not help because “turkeys do not vote for Christmas”. He says he also defended the government of its plan to increase national insurance contributions for the self-employed just before the Treasury abandoned the policy. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:42 AM Post #40 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Angus Robertson, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, is speaking now. He says there are two reasons why Theresa May is holding an election. First, May wants to eliminate opposition at Westminster. And, second, it has finally dawned on her how difficult it will be to get a Brexit deal, he says. He says May may be able to get rid of opposition in England. But she will not be able to eliminate it in Scotland. Referring to the news from ITV that there will be debate, he says it is inconceivable for May not to take part. She could be empty-chaired, he says. The public deserves a debate, and more than one debate, he says. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:43 AM Post #41 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, is speaking now. She says Theresa May is calling an election now because, having looked at the state of Labour, she could not resist the political equivalent of taking candy from a baby. Let’s not buy this nonsense [that May needed to hold an election] ... She looked across the despatch box and could not resist the temptation to do the political equivalent of taking candy from a baby. Asked by a Labour MP if he will rule out a coalition with the Conservatives, Farron refuses to answer directly. He says he does not expect the election to result in a “balanced parliament” (Lib Dem-speak for a hung parliament). In the Commons Nigel Evans, the Conservative MP who is gay, asks Tim Farron if he thinks that being gay is a sin. “No, I do not,” says Farron. In the past Farron, an evangelical Christian, has been evasive on this topic. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:44 AM Post #42 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Jeremy Corbyn has welcomed ITV’s decision to stage an election debate. He said: I welcome ITV’s decision to attempt to hold a TV debate with the Prime Minister. If Theresa May is so proud of her record, why won’t she debate it? She cannot be allowed to run away from her duty to democracy and refuse to let the British people hear the arguments directly. In the Commons Mark Durkan, the SDLP MP, says he will vote against the early election motion. He says if the Tories are really worried about the prospect of being defeated in the Lords, they should abolish or reform it. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:46 AM Post #43 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) The Greens are calling for 16 and 17-year-olds to be allowed to vote in the general election. Caroline Lucas, the party’s co-leader, said: Theresa May should give Britain’s 1.5m 16 and 17 year olds – the first generation to have received citizenship education – a say in what will very much be their future. The government should urgently change the law to expand the electorate – using the remaining parliamentary time to truly hand people control. After trebling tuition fees, cutting housing benefit for young people and slashing the educational maintenance allowance – surely the government should give young people a chance to have a say on the policies that are affecting them. |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:47 AM Post #44 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) MPs are now voting on the motion calling for an early general election. John Bercow, the speaker, puts the question. Most MPs shout “aye”. But some shout “no” and, after appearing to weigh it up, Bercow calls a division. (If it is obvious from the shouting that the Commons is in favour a motion goes through on the nod.) |
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| Webster | Apr 19 2017, 09:48 AM Post #45 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) MPs vote to allow early election by majority of 509 --MPs have voted for an early election by 522 votes to 13 - a majority of 509. That is well above the two-thirds majority needed under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act. So the election is going ahead on 8 June. |
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