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Post by Honoured Guest on Apr 18, 2017 10:50:32 GMT
A majority of people who turned up to vote, but not a majority of the electorate, and DEFINITELY not a majority of the country's population. Yes, an absolute majority of the voters.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Apr 18, 2017 10:53:13 GMT
I suspect that Theresa May has made this announcement so as to distract us from the BBC's ending of Saturday Review.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 18, 2017 10:58:28 GMT
Perhaps we could get the "Election Fairy" to help us predict how that part of the electorate who can't be bothered to get off their arses and vote, WOULD vote had they had the time and inclination to do so.
No? Thought not.
You can't have it both ways.
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Post by Jan on Apr 18, 2017 11:07:46 GMT
No-one except you is pretending that is the reason we still have first-past-the-post. The real reason is that 67.9% of the voters in the AV referendum voted to keep it. Wait, I'm confused. Are you saying I am 32.1% of the voters in the AV referendum all by myself? I know the turn-out wasn't exactly huge, but I didn't think it was *that* bad. Yes, I am aware you are confused. You are saying we don't have AV because some unspecified "you" think the electorate is too thick to rank candidates in order of preference. I think it was because we had a referendum on that exact topic, approved by the LibDems in a coalition government, and the outcome was a massive majority in favour of retaining first-past-the-post. Well, people can make up their own minds who is right. (Clue: It's me).
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Post by vdcni on Apr 18, 2017 11:11:37 GMT
Inevitable really - despite all she has said about not going for an early election - what politician doesn't look at those poll numbers and think it's worth the risk.
Two good things might come from this - first, the end of Corbyn if the Labour Party do as badly as the polls suggest. Surely even his true believers don't think he'll be able to continue after that!
The second is that May seems to be framing this as a you can only trust us to deliver Brexit which may lead to a big decline in the UKIP vote - after all what can they offer that the Tories aren't already doing.
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Post by The Matthew on Apr 18, 2017 11:15:58 GMT
I think the point here is that a majority does not mean a mandate to do whatever you want.
Out of the people who voted in the EU referendum, a slim majority voted to leave. But that's all they did: voted to leave. What that actually means in terms of policies and political agreements is still something that needs to be debated by parliament, and that means all of parliament. It's not up to the PM and her cabinet to make all the decisions and everyone else just has to suck it up.
My MP isn't someone I voted for but on the whole he does a pretty good job. Regardless of the fact that I didn't vote for him, he's all I have when it comes to representing my interests in the running of the country. The same goes for everyone else whose MP isn't part of the Prime Minister's inner circle. We have as much right to a voice as anyone else, and the PM has absolutely no right to object when someone in the Commons or in the Lords challenges what she says. Our democracy is based on the principle that parliament reaches decisions by discussion. What May is implying is that if you're not one of the lucky few whose representative is right at the heart of the government then you don't get to have a say in the future of Britain.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 11:17:23 GMT
Thrilled that I'll be in New York for the latter part of May so I don't have to hear quite so much about this nonsense.
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Post by Jan on Apr 18, 2017 11:17:44 GMT
Inevitable really - despite all she has said about not going for an early election - what politician doesn't look at those poll numbers and think it's worth the risk. Yes and despite the fact the Fixed Term Parliament Act which they all voted for was specifically designed to prevent political opportunism like this. You are right on UKIP, they are finished. All those wringing their hands about first-past-the-post should reflect that AV (or even worse full PR) would be likely to deliver a large UKIP group of MPs. First-past-the-post will deliver none.
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Post by bellboard27 on Apr 18, 2017 11:18:38 GMT
I've already pencilled in 9 June as leave, so I don't have to worry about an all night watch of the results coming in.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 11:29:12 GMT
...what politician doesn't look at those poll numbers and think it's worth the risk. Its happened before and didn't exactly go to plan... *cough cameron cough brexit*
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 11:36:58 GMT
Someone just give me the brief description, I don't follow politics and I fon't wanna read three pages worth haha. Another election though?! What are we voting for this time?! It feels like all we do these days is vote!!
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Post by jgblunners on Apr 18, 2017 11:39:21 GMT
Someone just give me the brief description, I don't follow politics and I fon't wanna read three pages worth haha. Another election though?! What are we voting for this time?! It feels like all we do these days is vote!! It's basically just Theresa May trying to cement her position before anything can go majorly wrong with Brexit, and while Labour is still working under the incompetence of Corbyn and therefore poses a vastly reduced threat to her campaign.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Apr 18, 2017 11:45:56 GMT
What are we voting for this time?! It's the General Election for the Members of the UK Parliament in the House of Commons. The UK is divided into geographical constituencies in which the registered voters elect the candidate who receives most votes on June 8.
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Post by Phantom of London on Apr 18, 2017 11:47:42 GMT
I will be having a nice Greek Salad and Ouzo in Crete, thank god.
However a general election will not galvanise anything on brexit, we still will not have a clue what brexit will look like, because Theresa May hasn't got a clue herself, the brexit we will get are the soundbites that land the best in the Sun and Daily Mail and what affects the money markets, barista visas sounds appealing to all these.
What a general election will mean will be a stronger conservative majority, Lberal Democrats will gain more seats in the process.
However on the domestic front it will mean that the country will get more grammar schools.
Will mean that the fox hunting bill will be made legal.
Will mean a further demise to social mobility where the rich get richer, by avoiding more taxes, which sadly will mean the poor will suffer more.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 11:57:08 GMT
Like I said when Brexit and Donald Trump happened... we are already f***ed, so may as well just sit back, watch the world fall to pieces and go out drunk and happy.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Apr 18, 2017 12:00:28 GMT
Like I said when Brexit and Donald Trump happened... we are already f***ed, so may as well just sit back, watch the world fall to pieces and go out drunk and happy. I'll record you as Undecided.
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Post by Mr Snow on Apr 18, 2017 12:03:49 GMT
Corbyn will have to be dragged out, not screaming but just talking his usual b+++++++s. He should be tried as a Traitor for undermining any concept of Democracy.
The SNP have been wrong footed and are currently at their weakest and this will hurt them dearly.
So here’s hoping one politician can put their hand up and make a clear case to lead opposition to the party that has been in power 25 of the 39 years since I’ve had the vote. Although it will be 30 of 44 by the time they next get a chance.
Now lets all get up and Dance!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 12:26:33 GMT
Someone just give me the brief description, I don't follow politics and I fon't wanna read three pages worth haha. Another election though?! What are we voting for this time?! It feels like all we do these days is vote!! And this is why we got Brexit, folks. ;-) OK so I'm just teasing danieljohnson14, and I know he's kidding too - but for a lot of young (and not so young) people this will be the way they really think. And who can blame them?!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 12:27:15 GMT
Like I said when Brexit and Donald Trump happened... we are already f***ed, so may as well just sit back, watch the world fall to pieces and go out drunk and happy. Thank god ur our future! 'Where were u when democracy was destroyed grandad" "meh"
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 12:29:02 GMT
Like I said when Brexit and Donald Trump happened... we are already f***ed, so may as well just sit back, watch the world fall to pieces and go out drunk and happy. Thank god ur our future! 'Where were u when democracy was destroyed grandad" "meh" To be fair, I always thought I was gonna die young, so I wouldn't bank on me being your future lovely.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 12:30:13 GMT
I think the point here is that a majority does not mean a mandate to do whatever you want. Out of the people who voted in the EU referendum, a slim majority voted to leave. But that's all they did: voted to leave. What that actually means in terms of policies and political agreements is still something that needs to be debated by parliament, and that means all of parliament. It's not up to the PM and her cabinet to make all the decisions and everyone else just has to suck it up. My MP isn't someone I voted for but on the whole he does a pretty good job. Regardless of the fact that I didn't vote for him, he's all I have when it comes to representing my interests in the running of the country. The same goes for everyone else whose MP isn't part of the Prime Minister's inner circle. We have as much right to a voice as anyone else, and the PM has absolutely no right to object when someone in the Commons or in the Lords challenges what she says. Our democracy is based on the principle that parliament reaches decisions by discussion. What May is implying is that if you're not one of the lucky few whose representative is right at the heart of the government then you don't get to have a say in the future of Britain. Absolutely fair enough, but there's also the issue that a sizeable number of voters have told the government what they want and the government has a duty to deliver that. Endless arguments and decisions by committee lead to paralysis - and that will cost. So challenge ridiculous plans/decisions by all means - but the danger is that anyone anti-Brexit will challenge every tiny decision - and that way madness lies.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 12:31:34 GMT
In all seriousness, Brexit it neither here or there, I think both sides had valid points so whatever, thats done. But I'm sorry ya'll, and I have love for many of you, but I cannot take politics seriously anymore when Donald Trump is elected as President and Kanye West is planning on running in 2020.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 12:36:44 GMT
This is why we need young blood here! I had no idea Kanye West intended to run for president. (That actually makes me MORE interested in the US election process...)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 12:39:02 GMT
Thank god ur our future! 'Where were u when democracy was destroyed grandad" "meh" To be fair, I always thought I was gonna die young, so I wouldn't bank on me being your future lovely. So did everyone else
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Post by jgblunners on Apr 18, 2017 12:46:41 GMT
People always talk about getting younger generations more invested in politics, but I find it so hard to engage when it still feels like my vote won't change anything. I'm 21 and I've voted in every election that I've been able to, but I've always lived in safe seats so it's never really seemed like my vote mattered. The Brexit vote was different, but it exposed what we all knew - that deceit is the strongest tool in political campaigns. Farage and Johnson's phoney claims about the EU were the catalyst for mass pro-Brexit voting, and when they were exposed as lies and promises that Farage and Johnson never intended to keep, people were outraged. It's the same in General Elections - I find it hard enough to understand what candidates are actually promising in their manifestos and how they will affect me, but the knowledge that they probably won't keep half of those promises just makes it even more demoralising when trying to pick which candidate supposedly stands for what I believe in.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 12:51:30 GMT
I don't think Brexit made alot of young people happy because an alarming percentage of people who voted to leave happened to be older, whilst most younger people voted to stay. I think that upset lot of younger people because they view it as it is our future that is affected more than the future of older people? That isnt me saying that per-se, that is a general consenus that I have heard.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 12:51:53 GMT
I think it's a fair point, and illustrates why it's so hard to motivate younger people. I live in a safe seat too, and aside from very brief periods while studying, always have ended up in such areas. So as much as I diligently vote, I know ultimately if I didn't it wouldn't make much difference. I personally didn't get very politically engaged until my mid-20s and as much as I always want to teach younger people to get engaged too, it's also not fair to harangue them and tell them the world is going to sh*t because of people like them (nobody here is saying that I'm just saying in general)
For those younger people who do struggle to engage I'd say look at politics on a local level and see what's going on, what MPs have or haven't done. But also think about yourselves and your family and what affects you- personally schools don't much affect me but the NHS does etc. I think it's about finding a way 'in'. Also finding politicians who you actually understand when they speak ...which granted is easier said than done!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 12:53:33 GMT
Ladies and Gentlemen. I present Brenda.
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Post by viserys on Apr 18, 2017 13:04:01 GMT
What gets me out the door to vote is often the thought that people fought and died for this right many years ago. Especially as a woman I wonder what would Emmeline Pankhurst and the like think of modern women who can't be arsed to go out and exercise the right those women had to fight for so bitterly?
That said, there's a regional election happening here in May which is pretty much pointless since the Ruhrgebiet dimwits will keep voting for the social democrats (= German Labour) no matter how awful they have been in governing this mess of a state. Still, I'll be out there, casting my vote, BECAUSE I CAN.
And frankly, your people in charge suddenly make me think that I'll be able to get through four more years of Merkel and her glum face after all...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2017 13:10:38 GMT
Texting an American friend who was asleep through the announcement:
Me: Prime Minister called a General Election, because we're so good at voting for stuff. Friend: What are you voting on? Me: The bloody Government!
I do vote sometimes out of sheer guilt/obligation. That people died so I could even if it is pointless.
Does anyone else also get that moment of panic when they put the ballot in the box that they've somehow voted for UKIP or something by mistake?
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