General Election 2017: The Results and Aftermath

[Y961 XBU]

Jeremy "Do nothing" Hunt has suddenly come to life and for the good of the NHS for a change. According to BBC Teletext News service, he is going to ask the Chancellor to fund pay increases for NHS staff prompted by their response and efforts following their hard work and dedication in the light of recent tragedies.
The Pay Cap for public service workers is a disgrace whatever the Chancellor says. There is no difference in the cost of things in shops whether it is a fat cat, somebody other than a public service worker and public service workers themselves purchasing..

Maybe he is trying to change his image as even the media have been ripping into his name recently

 

[me123]

I was surprised to see something positive come from That Useless Hunt. But it will take more than a few words to win over the staff of the NHS who have suffered financially and psychologically under his watch.

 

[507021]

Jeremy "Do nothing" Hunt has suddenly come to life and for the good of the NHS for a change. According to BBC Teletext News service, he is going to ask the Chancellor to fund pay increases for NHS staff prompted by their response and efforts following their hard work and dedication in the light of recent tragedies.
The Pay Cap for public service workers is a disgrace whatever the Chancellor says. There is no difference in the cost of things in shops whether it is a fat cat, somebody other than a public service worker and public service workers themselves purchasing..

I doubt anyone will change their opinion of him.

 

[Tetchytyke]

he is going to ask the Chancellor to fund pay increases for NHS staff prompted by their response and efforts following their hard work and dedication in the light of recent tragedies.

The fact that "useless" was the only member of Cameron's cabinet that Theresa May kept shows just what contempt the Conservatives hold NHS staff in.

This has nothing to do with "rewarding" NHS staff and everything to do with the fact that, after almost a decade of no pay increases, the NHS cannot retain its staff anymore. Permanent staff are cheaper than locums, but nobody wants to be a permanent NHS staff member anymore because *unt has treated them like crap for the thick end of a decade.

 

[Dave1987]

Reportedly May is only willing to answer questions from people in controlled environments which she controls. She can duck and dive all she wants but this isn't going away any time soon and avoiding awkward questions or not answering awkward questions from the media or anyone else for that matter will only make her look worse. Why can't she see that she had a real opportunity to show she is human and not a control freak? Why can't she see that showing empathy would have silenced her critics for a while? Why does she seemingly need to be promoted to do the right thing constantly?

 

[backontrack]

https://twitter.com/EL4JC/status/875773420549681152

Strong and stable, everyone. Strong and stable.

 

[PHILIPE]

Well, I was beginning to think that perhaps Jeremy Corbyn was not so bad after all and that he would embrace the criticisms of him and moderate his far left views a little. He offered an olive branch to some former Shadow Cabinet Members, Yvette Cooper to quote one. But, as soon as I learnt he had stuck with McDonnell then I changed my mind again. That man is toxic and is even encouraging people to march tomorrow in protest at the General Election result. Any responsible leader would sack him for such action but not Corbyn who has got what he wanted, the votes of the younger people.

 

[Dave1987]

Well, I was beginning to think that perhaps Jeremy Corbyn was not so bad after all and that he would embrace the criticisms of him and moderate his far left views a little. He offered an olive branch to some former Shadow Cabinet Members, Yvette Cooper to quote one. But, as soon as I learnt he had stuck with McDonnell then I changed my mind again. That man is toxic and is even encouraging people to march tomorrow in protest at the General Election result. Any responsible leader would sack him for such action but not Corbyn who has got what he wanted, the votes of the younger people.

Agreed, as much as I loathe May I could never and would never vote for a party that would have McDonnell as chancellor, with his Marxist ideologies.

 

[takno]

Well, I was beginning to think that perhaps Jeremy Corbyn was not so bad after all and that he would embrace the criticisms of him and moderate his far left views a little. He offered an olive branch to some former Shadow Cabinet Members, Yvette Cooper to quote one. But, as soon as I learnt he had stuck with McDonnell then I changed my mind again. That man is toxic and is even encouraging people to march tomorrow in protest at the General Election result. Any responsible leader would sack him for such action but not Corbyn who has got what he wanted, the votes of the younger people.

I've always been fine with Corbyn's policies, and he's started to act like a leader, so overall I'm fine with him. McDonnell though is a nasty piece of work who sows dissent across the party, is continuing to try to force a hard Brexit, and doesn't come across as remotely trustworthy.

What's he done for Cooper btw? Everyone assumed he was going to replace Abbott with her but he didn't. I suspect he may well do another reshuffle and make that change fairly soon, but it's not a done deal and she's currently trying to get support as chairman of the Home Affairs select committee

 

[PHILIPE]

I've always been fine with Corbyn's policies, and he's started to act like a leader, so overall I'm fine with him. McDonnell though is a nasty piece of work who sows dissent across the party, is continuing to try to force a hard Brexit, and doesn't come across as remotely trustworthy.

What's he done for Cooper btw? Everyone assumed he was going to replace Abbott with her but he didn't. I suspect he may well do another reshuffle and make that change fairly soon, but it's not a done deal and she's currently trying to get support as chairman of the Home Affairs select committee

Unfortunately, he has not now started to act as a leader otherwise McDonnell would have been sent to the wilderness.

 

[Busaholic]

Unfortunately, he has not now started to act as a leader otherwise McDonnell would have been sent to the wilderness.

The Corbyn/McDonnell dynamic is so like the Cameron/Osborne one. You don't get one without the other: they feed on each other.

 

[takno]

The Corbyn/McDonnell dynamic is so like the Cameron/Osborne one. You don't get one without the other: they feed on each other.

I think that was completely true for the first year and through the leadership challenge, but now Corbyn has a better staff around him and more support from the wider PLP McDonnell is being slowly slid back under a rock. Notice that he barely made any high-profile appearances in the campaign apart from the manifesto launch. If Corbyn can be made to realise that McDonnell is a liability now and not even remotely an option for the future then he will let go.

 

[317 forever]

LibDem gain East Dunbartonshire

I was a bit premature saying that before it was declared - blame Twitter!

One wonders why East Dunbartonshire went SNP a couple years ago really.

Backontrack please keep it up

Responding to both of you, this was one of the best results of the night.

 

[317 forever]

Labour gain Bedford from the Conservatives.

Labour gain Portsmouth South from Conservatives.

Portsmouth South is a seat that even eluded Labour under Tony Blair. The Tories lost that seat to the LibDems in 1997.

 

[317 forever]

I'm happy that she's re-elected, lets hope the Beast Of Bolsover and the one in Bassetlaw retains their seats too - even if they are Labour.

Meanwhile in Wiltshire: Devizes, Wiltshire South West, Wiltshire North, Chippenham, Salisbury and Swindon North & South are retained by the Conservatives - Ooh yeah.

South Holland and The Deepings, again the Tories hold.
Middlesbrough South & Cleveland East - Tories gain from Labour.

The Labour MP in their area who is nice is the member for Ashfield.

 

[317 forever]

Labour gain Enfield Southgate and Keighly.

Amber Rudd sadly narrowly retains Hastings and Rye.

Labour regaining Enfield Southgate could be described as the new Portillo moment.

 

[317 forever]

Looking at some of the postings that seem to be dismissive of all things Conservative in this General Election, I invite these good people to explain why the Conservative Party still managed to secure 44 per cent of the total vote.

Ironically, Theresa made a promise along the lines that "every vote for me will strengthen my hand in Brexit negotiations". Well, the Tories gained 2.3 million extra votes but due to the hung Parliament she now has a weaker hand.

 

[317 forever]

Let me put some of the current Labour Party euphoria into perspective, now that their leader Jeremy Corbyn has stated that his party were the winners of the 2017 General Election despite gaining a few seats more than they did in the 2010 General Election (I will be kindly ignoring their disastrous 2015 General Election performance).

In the 1997 General Election, when the Labour Party fought to gain power from their then existing seats total of 271, they actually gained 147 seats to reach a total of 418 seats.

So, how does the current Labour seat total of 262 (including the Kensington seat) that falls well short of the required 326 seat total even remotely compare with the excellent 1997 General Election result which saw the Labour Party come into power?

Labour actually had their highest number of votes since 1997, certainly exceeding their 2001 & 2005 tallies.

 

[317 forever]

This is likely to be a huge deal in the Brexit negotiations. It is an absolutely massive issue that neither side properly addressed during the referendum - an open free movement border that could end up being thrown shut and requiring border posts and guards all over again (which is going to eat even more into the magic money-tree £350 million that Boris owes us all!)

So the DUP will certainly want to keep on good terms with the Tories so they can have a say in this.

The one advantage in having the Conservatives depend on the DUP is that we have probably been spared a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. the DUP are aware that NI depend on an open border for maximum ease of trade. We may therefore need to stay in the Customs Union at least.

 

[Busaholic]

The one advantage in having the Conservatives depend on the DUP is that we have probably been spared a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. the DUP are aware that NI depend on an open border for maximum ease of trade. We may therefore need to stay in the Customs Union at least.

Michael Gove has now been quoted as saying the Customs Union option has not been closed down.

 

[317 forever]

While I am in no means, condoning any of the DUP's extreme right policies , Theresa May being forced into a minority government with them , is good in the fact that it means a " Hard Brexit " is effectively impossible , as the DUP will only form a minority government , if free movement is retained

What a mess May has found herself in , as a result of this entirely unnecessary election

Kudos to Corbyn . his campaign was absolutely amazing

Labour have made huge inroads in London now , it means they have large swathes of West , Central and South London , although the Tories are still there in the Outer Suburbs of North West , South East and North East London

SW London is pretty good for the Lib Dems , won Twickenham , Carshalton and Kingston , and were really close to keeping Richmond Park

In London you could travel from the westernmost seat Hayes & Harlington via the West End to the northernmost seat Enfield North or the (in a sense) southernmost seat Croydon Central (the area south of Selsdon is in a seat outside Greater London) and see only Labour constituencies.

Similarly, you could ride London bus route X26 through all 3 LibDem constituencies Carshalton & Wallington, Kingston & Surbiton and Twickenham.

 

[317 forever]

Expect a light Queen's Speech. This is going to easily get the support of the DUP and Tories. They cannot afford any risks, or any dissent. With the DUP, the majority is very slender (two). It puts the longevity of the government at risk, but there's no way TM will risk this speech being voted down. She'd face a leadership contest within minutes.

Furthermore, the DUP are not going to vote down the Queen's Speech as they would much prefer a Tory-led government than one by Labour, especially while they have as leader Jeremy Corbyn who is a Republican sympathiser.

 

[Busaholic]

In London you could travel from the westernmost seat Hayes & Harlington via the West End to the northernmost seat Enfield North or the (in a sense) southernmost seat Croydon Central (the area south of Selsdon is in a seat outside Greater London) and see only Labour constituencies.

Similarly, you could ride London bus route X26 through all 3 LibDem constituencies Carshalton & Wallington, Kingston & Surbiton and Twickenham.

The Uxbridge seat is further west than Hayes, and Croydon South is entirely within the Greater London area, and has been since 1965! Both these are Tory seats, one of them held by an individual with pretensions to becoming a Prime Minister. Only pointing this out for factual correctness, not because I want to defend the Tories.

 

[317 forever]

I don't blame Tim Farron for resigning, to be honest. The criticism he took for his "homophobia" was disgraceful. People should be judged on their actions, and his actions were largely liberal. Whatever his private opinions, he didn't let them get in the way of his public action.

Especially when you consider that Theresa May was campaigning in a "church" that believes in gay exorcism and that she has just promoted to her cabinet a man who is FUNDED by an organisation that believes in gay cure therapy.

I thought Tim was a stable pair of hands for the party after the chaos of the 2015 election.

I have a lot of time for Vince Cable but I think he has too much baggage from his time in office. I'd therefore have to look towards Jo Swinson to lead the party.

I agree that Jo would be more appropriate for leader for the reason you give.

 

[317 forever]

Michael Gove has now been quoted as saying the Customs Union option has not been closed down.

A tentative step towards progress ...

The Uxbridge seat is further west than Hayes, and Croydon South is entirely within the Greater London area, and has been since 1965! Both these are Tory seats, one of them held by an individual with pretensions to becoming a Prime Minister. Only pointing this out for factual correctness, not because I want to defend the Tories.

If you travel by bus from Hayes & Harlington to Uxbridge, then yes, Uxbridge will be further west. However, Hayes & Harlington contains West Drayton, the westernmost rail station on the Great Western Line in Greater London.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayes_and_Harlington_(UK_Parliament_constituency)

Croydon South is further south if you travel through Purley. However, Croydon Central adjoins Tandridge which is outside Greater London, if you head out in that direction instead.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croyd...oydon_Central_Constituency_ward_map_small.svg

 

[Domh245]

The Times are reporting that May has been given 10 days to turn her leadership around or she'll face a leadership challenge

Theresa May has 10 days to save her premiership after she was put on notice to “shape up” and show she is fit to lead.

Confidence in the prime minister is in free fall in Tory ranks as constituency party bosses told ministers and MPs to force her from power. Up to a dozen MPs are ready to demand a vote of no confidence in May by submitting letters to the backbench 1922 committee.

Their ranks are expected to swell this weekend as MPs consult grassroots grandees about May’s faltering response to the Grenfell Tower inferno in west London.

Cabinet ministers have also let it be known they will oust the prime minister if it looks as if she is in danger of losing the vote on June 28 on Wednesday’s Queen’s speech.

May’s faltering response was thrown into sharp contrast by the Queen, who used an unprecedented birthday message yesterday to try to boost public morale.

Reflecting on Britain’s “succession of terrible tragedies” she said: “It is difficult to escape a very sombre national mood.” Royal sources said the Queen had urged senior royals to give support to those affected wherever it was needed.

At trooping the colour yesterday the Queen observed a minute’s silence. A further one minute’s silence will be held on Monday at 11am to commemorate the dead, feared to be at least 58.

MPs warned there had been a collective collapse of trust in May’s leadership, and a cabinet minister told friends he was “worried about her state of mind”. Another minister close to May said: “She had better stop feeling sorry for herself, pull up her socks and start to lead — and if she can’t do that she should go. Shape up or ship out.”

Tory sources said there was a mood to “do an IDS” on May, meaning to force a vote of no confidence to oust her, as happened to Iain Duncan Smith in 2003; 48 MPs would need to demand a vote.

One senior backbencher said he was under pressure to join in: “I’ve got serious members in my constituency texting me saying: ‘You’ve got to get rid of her quickly because every time she appears she’s making the party more toxic’.”

Heidi Allen, the MP for South Cambridgeshire, issued a coded call for May to change or go. She said the public wanted “a leader and a party that will carry us through this most turbulent of periods but care about the little man . . . We have to change, and if we don’t we deserve to die.”

A former minister added: “She’s going to have to go sooner rather than later. The critical moment is June 28 and 29, when there are votes on the Queen’s speech. If it looks like they will be lost, you have to strike.”

Allies of Boris Johnson and David Davis accused each other of “going on manoeuvres”. Leading “remain” backers also plan to have a candidate in place by next week, expected to be the home secretary, Amber Rudd. Last night Eurosceptics warned May they would challenge her if she attempted to water down her Brexit plans.

Writing in The Sunday Times today, David Jones — the Brexit minister sacked last week — says backtracking “would rightly be seen as a betrayal of trust” and mean “all parties would reap the whirlwind of public anger”. However, as we report in Business, the CBI and other leading business groups have written to the government pressing for a softer Brexit.

May’s deputy Damian Green called the criticism of her “terribly unfair”. He said: “She’s distraught by what happened.”

 

[northwichcat]

I agree that Jo would be more appropriate for leader for the reason you give.

I see The Independent are trying to use her voting record for the 2010-2015 parliament to claim she's too right wing. Given she doesn't have a voting record for parliaments when the Lib Dems haven't been in a coalition government that's a bit unfair, especially considering the only Lib Dems rebels during the coalition government are unavailable to stand for leader.

 

[47802]

Michael Gove has now been quoted as saying the Customs Union option has not been closed down.

The way I see it if we stay in the single market then we might just as well stay in the EU, as its largely like being in the EU but without influence.

Problem with customs union from my understanding is that while to some degree they can be bespoke on the goods and services covered it will restrict our ability to do our own trade deals with Non EU countries which clearly many brexiters wont like,

My view is that the country needs to go for FTA deal which is clearly what the government is looking for but of course whether or not we can get a reasonable deal with the EU is another matter.

Clearly if the man I despise does end up in Power in the not too distant future then I think some form of Customs Union is highly likely maybe even Single Market, but I still expect the Conservatives to stick to FTA as the preferred option.

 

[northwichcat]

The way I see it if we stay in the single market then we might just as well stay in the EU, as its like being in the EU but without influence.

I kind of agree with that. A problem we have is we know almost 52% voted for Brexit but we don't know what the top reason for those 52% voting for Brexit is, or what the 48% who voted Remain see as the biggest disadvantage of the EU. If the top reason relates to trade deals (which I doubt it is) then a Norway style deal would suit the British public less than staying in the EU. If it relates to immigration from the EU (which it might well be) then maybe an EU Lite deal where we exchange some benefits for putting quotas on incoming and outgoing movements (if such a deal could be negotiated) might work.

 

[47802]

I kind of agree with that. A problem we have is we know almost 52% voted for Brexit but we don't know what the top reason for those 52% voting for Brexit is, or what the 48% who voted Remain see as the biggest disadvantage of the EU. If the top reason relates to trade deals (which I doubt it is) then a Norway style deal would suit the British public less than staying in the EU. If it relates to immigration from the EU (which it might well be) then maybe an EU Lite deal where we exchange some benefits for putting quotas on incoming and outgoing movements (if such a deal could be negotiated) might work.

Personally I think the majority voted Brexit mainly on the Immigration Issue and I'm not sure we would get much concession on that with a Single Market agreement, and certainly many in the Tory party would not accept it as long as they are in charge, the only realistic choices in my view are to look for a Customs Union or FTA deal. But if you look at Customs Union deal then bluntly you need to try and calculate how many Jobs that saves in EU Trade, verses no ability to make your own Trade deals with non EU countries, and I guess bearing mind that you carn't negotiate Trade Deals with other countries overnight, and off course there is no certainty that we could get better trade deals with many countries than existing EU agreements

Quite a few people do seem to think that the future for Trade is in many other parts of the World and not the EU, and that yes in the short term we will loose Jobs due to reduction in EU trade but in the long term it might be better, I guess you pays your money and makes your choice as to whether you believe that or not.