UK PM Theresa May to seek snap election.

[Zelk]

Stinks of daily mail here, holy fucking hell

[Huehuecoyotl]

So a man with a history of sympathy for terrorist organsiations should get a free pass on a disgusting comment, because ages after he said it he was forced to backtrack under pressure?

What about his praise of murdering dictators? Do they mark him out as a person you would say "at heart he is a good person" about? Perhaps, and this may be controversial, he is not a good person at heart at all.

I assume you let May off for supping with the Saudi government? Even as they lay waste to another country and commit appalling human rights breaches in their own country? Or shall we go back through the long and colourful history of Tory leaders rubbing shoulders with men who were, what was that word you used? Evil. Yes, evil. Thatcher with Pinochet, for example.

Yet all of that is ignored by you, as you support the Tory party. But let one "socialist" say one thing about about a terrorist, and we will never let him forget about it.

You are a hypocrite, basically. Unsurprising, given the viewpoints you post regularly.

[Kalis]

I assume you let May off for supping with the Saudi government? Even as they lay waste to another country and commit appalling human rights breaches in their own country? Or shall we go back through the long and colourful history of Tory leaders rubbing shoulders with men who were, what was that word you used? Evil. Yes, evil. Thatcher with Pinochet, for example.

Yet all of that is ignored by you, as you support the Tory party. But let one "socialist" say one thing about about a terrorist, and we will never let him forget about it.

You are a hypocrite, basically. Unsurprising, given the viewpoints you post regularly.

Where is the hypocrisy? If Corbyn wants to open negotiations with Hamas and Hezbollah, then fair play to him, he will not get anywhere but whatever. Calling them his friends however, that strongly implies support and that is unacceptable.

I did not criticise Blair for having a dialogue with the IRA, but Blair did not call that terrorist organisation his friends, if he had done I would have criticised him for it and so would the majority of the British public.

Who the fuck declares a terrorist organisation as their friend? That is bonkers. Why would you even do it in public if you sympathised with their cause?

[Huehuecoyotl]

Where is the hypocrisy? If Corbyn wants to open negotiations with Hamas and Hezbollah, then fair play to him, he will not get anywhere but whatever. Calling them his friends however, that strongly implies support and that is unacceptable.

I did not criticise Blair for having a dialogue with the IRA, but Blair did not call that terrorist organisation his friends, if he had done I would have criticised him for it and so would the majority of the British public.

Who the fuck declares a terrorist organisation as their friend? That is bonkers. Why would you even do it in public if you sympathised with their cause?

It was semantics, and you know that. It was the speech of a man that was doing his best to position himself between two warring factions to to be able to broker negotiations. You don't achieve that by describing either side in terms that would be construed negatively. I'm sure when Blair was in dialogue with the IRA he never described them as terrorists. In fact he recently described ex-IRA man Martin McGuinness as "a courageous peacemaker".

Thatcher described Pinochet as "this country's staunch true friend in our time of need". I guarantee you that the suffering he inflicted on his own people outweighs anything that Hamas or Hezballah have achieved by a factor. Are you going to berate her for such a thing after all this time? Or are you going to stick to your hypocritical position where you attack people because of your own political leanings, rather than a genuine dislike for what they have done?

[Shadowmelded]

I'm wondering if there is some kind of behind the curtains conspiracy to this. I mean, there isn't really a reason to hold new elections - conservatives already hold a majority.... elections cost lots of money, too.

So I wonder whether they are actually after the SNP seats instead of crushing the Labour.... the Scottish referendum might be what's worrying to May, not brexit and Labour.

If she's after seats in Scotland she's a moron. The tories can only gain votes from Labour and to do that they need to hype up their Unionism (something they've already been doing in local elections) but by doing that they just play into the SNP's hands. The narrative would be "Scotland vs decades of tory rule" and contrary to the media hype, there's no tory resurgence in Scotland.

The reason she's doing this is most likely to increase her majority so that she doesn't have to rely too much on the Brexit wing of the tory party and also lock-in the country to any deal that comes at the end of negotiations. Also it buys her time after the end of negotiations in 2019 to steady the ship. If the UK gets a bad deal in 2019, a 2020 GE wouldn't look pretty for the tories.

[Barnabas]

Eric Pickles expense account for lunches are probably higher than the cost of a General Election.

- - - Updated - - -



Most people do not give a shit about the Tories spending too much on campaigning, even the left wing press have been quiet on it.

Doesn't seem like it but the fraud allegations might be more damaging. And cause to hold another election.

[Kalis]

It was semantics, and you know that. It was the speech of a man that was doing his best to position himself between two warring factions to to be able to broker negotiations. You don't achieve that by describing either side in terms that would be construed negatively. I'm sure when Blair was in dialogue with the IRA he never described them as terrorists. In fact he recently described ex-IRA man Martin McGuinness as "a courageous peacemaker".

Thatcher described Pinochet as "this country's staunch true friend in our time of need". I guarantee you that the suffering he inflicted on his own people outweighs anything that Hamas or Hezballah have achieved by a factor. Are you going to berate her for such a thing after all this time? Or are you going to stick to your hypocritical position where you attack people because of your own political leanings, rather than a genuine dislike for what they have done?

Corbyn was not putting himself between two warring factions though, Israel would never have given a mandate for Corbyn to act as a mediator in any official settlement. Israel would hold out for someone with a little more prestige, like the Chuckle Brothers or Basil Brush.

The bloke is a joke, he is not a good person at heart, he is an SWP placard waver. He has a front bench of Diane Abbott, Emily Thornberry and John McDonnell - two of them are heavyweights, but literally, not politically. Labour would be better off without a leader.

If she's after seats in Scotland she's a moron. The tories can only gain votes from Labour and to do that they need to hype up their Unionism (something they've already been doing in local elections) but by doing that they just play into the SNP's hands. The narrative would be "Scotland vs decades of tory rule" and contrary to the media hype, there's no tory resurgence in Scotland.

Would it even make a difference in respect of independence? I thought the SNP primarily took their mandate for that from the Scottish Parliament, rather than their Westminster seats, so even a poor General Election for the SNP in Scotland would be somewhat irrelevant.

[Deleted]

Negotiations probably weren't going to take place until after the German elections in any case.

The negotiations were stated to commence in the summer, regardless of the political situation in other member states.

Expect the negotiations to take longer than the suggested 24 months because there's a lot of member states out for blood.

Then there's the agreed contracts the UK is obligated to fulfill which they are likely to challenge and drag out the entire situation even longer.

[Shadowmelded]

Would it even make a difference in respect of independence? I thought the SNP primarily took their mandate for that from the Scottish Parliament, rather than their Westminster seats, so even a poor General Election for the SNP in Scotland would be somewhat irrelevant.

Generally they do yeah, although apparently it used to be a majority of Westminster seats (probably prior to Holyrood being established). If they lose seats though it'll be used against them to disqualify their mandate, even if they maintain a majority of Westminster seats.

[Aeula]

Shit. If those goes tits up and another party gets in or the Conservatives get stuck in a coalition, all the brexit plans will get thrown up into the air. Which will cause even more uncertainty.

But if it goes as planned then Corbyn is a goner, which is a good thing for Britain.

Guess this'll be the first time my entire family has voted Tory...

[draykorinee]

So a man with a history of sympathy for terrorist organsiations should get a free pass on a disgusting comment, because ages after he said it he was forced to backtrack under pressure?

What about his praise of murdering dictators? Do they mark him out as a person you would say "at heart he is a good person" about? Perhaps, and this may be controversial, he is not a good person at heart at all.

Yes, he admits he misspoke, its not a free pass at all, he got called out on it and he apologised. Not hard to understand is it. His praise of murdering dictators is hyperbole as always form you when it comes to good old JC, feel free to add a response but I'll pass on any more communication regarding JC with you, you've taken a few things he said and apogised for and damned him for good.

[Kalis]

Yes, he admits he misspoke, its not a free pass at all, he got called out on it and he apologised. Not hard to understand is it. His praise of murdering dictators is hyperbole as always form you when it comes to good old JC, feel free to add a response but I'll pass on any more communication regarding JC with you, you've taken a few things he said and apogised for and damned him for good.

When did he make the comments and how long after they were brought out in public did he apologise for them? Straight away? Nope.

When did he apologise for his remarks praising Fidel Castro? Or for bringing IRA members to Parliament when they were in the midst of their bombing campaign? The bloke has a history of dubious sympathies, should we ignore all of them?

Misspoke my arse, the bloke is like all the other Trot-wannabes. "Good old JC" is a 1970s cliché.

[BadguyNotBadGuy]

@bold. Yes, yes I do, as do most humans. As we only truly care about our selves when rubber meets the road. Anyone who claims otherwise is a lair. My allegiance is to the United States of Me. Most people here feel this way, which is why the US is what it is.

were not talking about the US

[Deleted]

Their fix is disgusting in that it requires women to prove they were raped in order to get child tax credits for a third child (and only a third).

So? Or is it 'listen and belive'?

[Shadowmelded]

So? Or is it 'listen and belive'?

I mean, you know how difficult it is to prove rape occurred right? And all the emotional and mental anguish that accompanies it. It'll stigmatize women with three children, broadcasting to the people around them that they were raped, stigmatizes the children etc...

[Deleted]

I mean, you know how difficult it is to prove rape occurred right?

A police report is not sufficient?

And all the emotional and mental anguish that accompanies it. It'll stigmatize women with three children, broadcasting to the people around them that they were raped, stigmatizes the children etc...

Yeah because there will be no parents who have three kids even if you dont get the tax-rebate for the third.

[Shadowmelded]

A police report is not sufficient?

Nope. In fact it's not even clear how to even initiate the process or how the required third party is qualified/trained. Could be health workers, to police, social workers, charity workers. This also ignores marital rape and people who for whatever reason don't file a police report. It's also pretty disgusting to make someone relive their rape just to claim tax credits.

[Graeham]

How can you be a tory nowadays and not admit to supporting absolute hypocrisy of the highest order. A level of morality has to occur somewhere surely.

But whatever, we the UK will continue showing the world how mature our politics are.

Labour brought it on themselves. At a time when they should have been pulling together and providing legitimate opposition they were far too concerned with infighting and focusing on issues that were largely irrelevant to what their core target audience desired. I'm no fan of the Conservatives and many of their actions but politics are a pendulum and we're currently seeing it swing in their direction; largely due to Labour's inaction.

[Kallisto]

Not only does the spread of extremist islam that plagues much of the globe spawn from the House of Saud, but SA is also one of the main (if not the main) financiers of terrorism. To our shame, much of the armaments used to commit horrendous war crimes in Yemen were sold to SA by the UK, but thats ok because we will no doubt get a good trade deal with SA post-brexit.

Yes but what it keeps a lid on is a hell of a lot worse. I'd love for the house of Saud to be all lined up and shot if the alternative really wasn't essentially Al'Qaeda or ISIS which are the ones making low level insurgency in the country.

40,000 Chileans disappeared/tortured/murdered by their own government, but thats ok because that particular military junta provided the UK some radar cover? It takes a special type of cunt to be ok with that, but it takes a very special type of cunt to continue to protect such a monster from justice.

Again I called him scum, but at the same time his actions in 1982 basically saved hundreds of British lives in the Falklands and allowed the Islands to be liberated. If not for him then there would be a large number of suddenly vanished British citizens. It's like Stalin post Barbarossa.

Not only did Qaddafi facilitate the next terrorist in this list of nasties by selling arms to the PIRA and in so doing bring horror to the streets of Britain, he also played a major roll in the biggest terrorist attack this country has ever suffered when an airplane fell out of the sky over Lockerbie.

Which he paid for, but political necessities of the PM meant that to get him to give up his weapons we had to shake his hand, it worked until the Arab spring where he showed his true colours again and had to be removed.

As PIRA Chief of Staff, Martin McGuinness brought murder and mayhem to the streets of Britain for a few decades. He may well have become the second Chuckle Brother to Ian Paisley, but personally i struggle to accept McGuinness as anything other than a terrorist.

And I would have loved for him, Adams and the rest of the IRA and the same on the Unionist side to rot in prison, but necessities to bring peace meant he had to be part of the political deal.

If we look to the PIRA as a model, arguably Crobyn could use the "political pragmatism" argument. The PIRA bombed and murdered their way to a seat at the table and afterward our Head of State shook hands with their Chief of Staff. Lets be honest, Corbyn couldn't be any more demonised even if he did offer up such an explanation for his misguided support for Hamas and Hezbollah, but to my mind he is no less sullied than those political pragmatists who hold a get out of jail free card.

Corbyn until 2 years ago was a nobody political back bencher with a case of pushing perception of 24/7 victimization. There's a difference between a no namer who no one gives a shit about sitting in the back benches with a thumb up their ass praising PIRA, Hez, Hamas etc and a front bench MP or PM doing what is necessary through real politic.

Pinochet was to us in Falklands like Stalin was in WW2 both times we were quite openly calling them friends. Qaddafi had to give up all of his most deadly weapons when he stood next to Blair and in the end it was likely a move that allowed rebels to remove him from power.

Bringing in McGuinness to the table pretty much ended a civil war in Northern Ireland and the place is in the longest period of peace those counties likely have had ever.

[Deleted]

I'll probably vote Tory, but I'm not sure they're right-wing enough for me. Why can't we get one honest political party in this country? I just want to vote for the person that will let poor people starve.