There should already be no questioning of the inhumanity of Tory policies, given their concentration on tax cuts for the wealthy, starving the NHS and schools, and cutting benefits to those desperately in need. But the blatant and shameless attempts in the last 48 hours by Theresa May to exploit the deaths of the recent victims of terrorism for party advantage, are truly tasteless and sickening. The populist new pledge to “rip up human rights” is a further appeal to the basest instincts of society, while looking to seize the moment further to increase the powers of the state. The cycle of alienation will only be enhanced, causing more terrorism, by draconian state actions which inevitably will lead to injustice and grievance.
We have to stop the Tories. That must be the basis of any decent person’s vote. If you doubt me, just go down to a newsagent and look at the appalling front pages of today’s newspapers. The question is how to do it?
1) In Scotland, vote for the SNP. There is no constituency where an SNP vote risks letting the Tory in. There are scores of votes, especially in rural and in south central Scotland, where any switch of voters from SNP to Labour could gain the Tories enough seats to give Theresa May a working majority.
2). In England and Wales, vote for whoever is best placed to defeat the Tory. If you have a sitting non-Tory MP, lend them your support. So Lib Dems and Greens should vote Labour in Labour constituencies. That would, on current polling evidence, make almost all existing Labour seats safe. I make an exception for Birmingham Yardley where Labour voters should switch to the excellent John Hemming to get rid of the horrible Jess Phillips. In Hastings and Rye if Lib Dems vote Labour there is every chance to get rid of Amber Rudd, which is an aim every Lib Dem should support.
The Guardian have published a useful guide to some seats where tactical voting might be effective. I endorse it.
How to react to first past the post is a personal decision. But the danger of a continued Tory majority is so great that my own view is that anybody who is not hard right should, on this occasion, do what is practically most likely to mitigate it.
For Labour voters to vote to damage the SNP with the effect of electing Tories would be self harm. Lib Dem voters should find May’s attitude to human rights and to Brexit anathema. I am asking more Lib Dems to vote tactically, to support sitting Labour MPs, than any other group. This one time, the value of halting May outweighs the existentialist act of declaring personal allegiance. In the smaller number of constituencies where I am asking Lab voters to support Lib Dems, the same applies.
The Guardian thing is based purely on 2015 election results, but a lot has changed since then. In my own constituency of South East Cornwall, constituency estimates of both Lord Ashcroft Polls and YouGov have Labour ahead of LibDems. This will be partly because there is a very good local Labour candidate, Gareth Derrick, who is former Royal Navy officer and nearly won Police and Crime commissioner last year. The 2015 Labour candidate was by contrast a very young chap with no experience.
The guardian recommend snp in Scotland because they want labour to lose.
It’s up to you obviously I’d rather cut my arm off than vote for Scottish labour. But with the Tory threat this is probably chainsaw time
Vote with your conscience. I can’t tell you to vote Blairite. Just remember 5 more years of Tories.
I love you all good luck 😉
I don’t follow the logic; with the pattern of the 2015 results, there’s absolutely no seat in Scotland where a tactical anti-Tory vote would lead you to vote Labour. If your inclinations were already to some other party, switching to Labour might conceivably allow the Tories in, depending on which constituency you’re in.
Voting Labour in Scotland would let Tories in. Then try going to a Tory MP with benefits or housing problems that are the result of UK Tory policies.
Yes, I hope people will not do that. However, I think those are devolved matters.
Presumably we’re also skipping over Kate Hoey in Vauxhall?
In Scotland an elected Tory is a Tory poodle. None of them will stand up for Scotland’s interests or the majority of voters in their constituency who didn’t vote them in and they will simply obey the high command and vote through more vile legislation. Our only hope is a vote for the SNP and Independence.
Charles James Napier, where are you when we need you?
Anybody with the slightest clue knows the Tories are opposed to basic decency. But unless there’s an indy ref-type turnout by 18-30 year olds, it’s best to be braced for the worst tomorrow morning.
The feedback Labour canvassers are getting on doorsteps in NW and NE England is that former UKIP supporters will vote Tory en masse, pushing many northern seats into the hands of a party that will strip working-class northerners nude.
http://labour-uncut.co.uk/2017/06/05/polls-labours-surging-non-london-doorstep-its-a-nuclear-winter-for-labour-somethings-got-to-give/
Sorry I didn’t see this before posting after you in a similar vein. You are absolutely correct. While Labour will gain seats, so will the Tories in places where thousands of votes migrated previously to UKIP.
Sadly, it seems any lab gains will be few and far between, Leonard. I know this is coming from Ms Kuennsberg, but she claims somebody at the top of the party has told her they’re looking at only two possible gains.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40184817
Hope that’s just more disinformation, but it may be best to be steeled for disappointment.
‘It’s a “nuclear winter for Labour.”’ Haha. That’s the best laugh I’ve had in ages. The Tory poodles and Blairites at Labour Uncut must be crying into their guacamole over Labour’s stunning performance. That halfwit Atul Hatwal predicted that Labour would lose 90 seats so it shows how much he knows.
http://labour-uncut.co.uk/2017/05/20/new-poll-analysis-watson-skinner-and-flint-facing-defeat-cooper-miliband-reeves-and-rayner-on-the-edge/
Honestly, anybody who takes the drivel published at Labour Uncut seriously needs their head seeing to.
As I won’t follow British mainstream media I don’t know if Jeremy has promised some positions in his cabinet to other non-Tory party members, but that could have helped him similar to Craig’s proposal. Had he promised for example a place for Caroline Lucas in the Ministry for the Environment or Energy, that would have encouraged other parties to persuade tactical voting from their supporters. Gaining a place in government without your party winning the election is quite a sweetener.
I saw another good anti-Tory message on another site this morning. ‘Conservatives put the N in CUTS’.
Yes indeed to all the intellient voting suggestions. i share the concerns over the future of our ‘commons’. i mean the health and schooling system, which may be imperfect but these will be made incalculably worse by the kinds of selective withdrawal of funding and the hiving off of attractive bits for privatisation. I have worked in the US heal;th system and make no mistake that that is what is coming your way if the sanctimonious Maybot and her toxic cabinet of shysters and carpetbaggers get their way.
Here is the reality of the US health system. If you are ex forces you are probably ok as there is the Veteran admin system with its own hospitals. however this is necessary to deal with the debilitating effects of war service. These include very large numbers of physical disabilities but also an epidemic of PTSD which involves many characteristics such as opiate addiction and relationship dysfunction and consequent damage to spouses and families. If you have no insurance or have slipped through the net (common -about 20% of the population), These include young people who are gambling on their youthful health working the ‘gig economy, people with learning difficulties, women post divorce and separation, with their children and people (generally elderly-who for various reasons have not met certain criteria) with chronic conditions such as COPD. And black people.
in the past when employment provided healthcare insurance, most people had some kind of access but it is far less now. Obamacare attempted to address some of these issues but was watered down to such an extent that it created other problems besides which the social darwinism of the Trump Republicans will ensure that these minor improvements are dismantled( social ‘darwinism’ is fine for such cockroach brains, but they will merrily troop along to a creationist fantasy museum and shell out $60 to look at ludicrous magic thinking exhibits denying Darwinism in the natural world).
Structural problems within US health include seriously onerous administration system for ailments and infinite numbers of codings for every variant of every ailment in order to allow the insurance companies to minimise their liabilities and evade liabilities.Visits to GPs? Take you bank card and expect to pay a minimum of $100 for the odd lab test, a prescription and the co-pay. (Each visit will involve a co-pay).
For the 20% uninsured, there are a few surgeries run by charities and volunteer medics. This will provide attention in places like church halls set up with room dividers where very limited examination is possible and only a small range of illnesses can by diagnosed (such as COPD/type 2 diabetes) . These appointments consist of two fortnightly surgeries consisting of 20 appointments each, catering for a very large number of people living in the geographically quite large area (2 counties) around rural Ohio/Illinois, where the population was about 20,000 and the uninsured numbered about 2,000. You can work this out for yourself. Self- medication was common and resorting to really bad self appointed quackery was also common in these circumstances.
I think people should make no mistake. This is what is in store. the Tory ideologues are happy to see this unfold.
Schools: May’s intellectual depravity is displayed by her adoption of Grammar schools. There is a vast body of information and research which has shown this approach to be catastrophically bad.It does not promote social mobility at all(these are lies) alhough t might be argues d that it cherry picks a few for greater things. That is not the same thing as social mobility and the promotion of reason and enlightened values.
One of the misunderstood aspects of Grammar schools is that the pressure to remove them came from Tories when their little Timmy failed the 11 plus. and was sent to the Secondary modern. This was appalling as it forced them to go private-with additional expense. Make no mistake- Grammar schools are about subsidising and extending private schools and the corrupt values that prevail in these places.
Answer to BA’Al the reptilian. from previous post) Re SNP- It has more of the characteristics of a freedom movement (outward looking and welcoming to other) than the equivalent English nationalist movement which is racist, inward looking regressive and socially reactionary. While there are faint strains of that kind of nationalism in the SNP it is a. inhibited and suppressed by the current leadership.
In the ‘english versions’ such behaviour is positively promoted by the leadership.
Sectarian prejudice exists in Scotland but their affiliations align them with tories (orange order etc). It is a Unionist movement and their ideological comrades are the BNP and UKIP types. They are also an idiot moron minority. Just look at the scraggle of dumb orange order afficionadoes, as they march past in their moronic marches in July.
May has been speaking to the Norfolk troops in the company of little Chloe Smith. Sounding irritable with the ‘medja’ questions. I don’t think her stooge Laura was there.
The clones stand there holding their idiot placards. Let’s see what they think of things in a few years’ time under May.
Election 2017: Theresa May on her way to Norfolk in bid to bolster Conservative vote
UPDATED: 12:26 07 June 2017
Richard Porritt
Theresa May is to visit Norfolk as she makes a final whistle-stop tour of the country to boost the Tory vote. Details of her visit remain under wraps but it is thought she will stop off in at least one marginal seat in Norfolk.
Both North Norfolk and Norwich South are seen by Conservative campaign headquarters as winnable seats where Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb and Labour’s Clive Lewis have faced tough battles from Tory candidates. But she could also stop off in Norwich North where Tory hopeful Chloe Smith is hoping to be returned.
The prime minister kicked off a marathon day of campaigning with an early morning trip to a London meat market with husband Philip and she will end the day in the Midlands.
Meanwhile Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will attend six rallies from Glasgow in the north to London in the south via North Wales.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron will attend events in the South East.
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/election-2017-theresa-may-on-her-way-to-norfolk-in-bid-to-bolster-conservative-vote-1-5051512
Here she is on video. The young woman behind her is Lana Hempsall, the Con candidate for Norwich South. Clive Lewis was the Labour MP.
http://news.sky.com/video/digi-150712we-may-british-spiritm2t-10907425
By bringing about a UK exit from the European single market, the Tories gave up their reputation as the party that concerns itself with the needs of business. Anyone who votes Tory in Scotland and who cast their ballot to Remain in the EU should consider that a Tory vote in this election means a vote to consign Scotland to leaving the EU.
There was no Leave majority in London either.
Craig can I remind you that in 2010 you saw no real point to the Alternative Vote, then being proposed by labour. For having seen it work really well in Australia, I can’t understand. It doesn’t mess with fundamentals – a majoritarian system remains majoritarian. But it means the end of spoiler candidates and tactical voting. Everyone’s vote is present in the final count. If there are seats in Scotland that might go Tory against the wishes of 60% of voters, Alternative Vote would be the obvious answer to a perverse anomaly.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2010/02/alternative_vot/
Simon, Labour was still under full neoliberal/neocon ‘New’ labour control in 2010. It is only Corbyn becoming Labour leader that has changed the goal posts and debate in the Labour party, opened up a wider public awareness and discussion and sharpened the austere and frightening reality of where UK is going if the Tories are re elected and it remains business as usual..
Even McTernan is voicing this reality, whatever his true motives he is saying it. https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/872220218885521408
utter balderdash, the AV and AV plus voting systems are no better than first past the post, the worst possible options for reform as they both still allow the politicians to cheat.
Your neighbours in NZ have shown you how it is done the decided many years back to change to a more egalitarian proportional representative vote, the mixed members proportional system that allows its indigenous population some equal representation and say in their country.
The MMP system is closely related to the Additional members system used by many EU/International countries today.
5th June 2017 Dan Glazebrook pulls no punches re. UK terrorist links to British foreign policy and May when Home secretary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuv76X6j-kE
Glazebook’s insightful view on foreign policy summed in in the second half of this Sputnik episode https://www.rt.com/shows/sputnik/389926-racist-foreign-policies-speaks/
More crucial questions directly affecting the safety of British citizens at home in relation to British foreign policy. Is British government working outside all international, even domestic, laws?
Just to point out I believe Mark Curtis says some control orders were lifted before 2011 but passports were returned in 2011 that allowed LIFG members to travel to Libya in 2011.
More on the Libya/Syria/other/British foreign policy connection to terrorist groups from Nafeez Ahmed.
https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/isis-recruiter-who-radicalised-london-bridge-attackers-was-protected-by-mi5-232998ab6421
OT
There has been an ISIS terrorist suicide attack in Iran.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/07/shootings-iranian-parliament-khomeini-shrine
Sympathies to the victims and their families.
It would be nice to see this deplorable attack condemned by our leaders. Given it looks like the opening salvo in a war against Iran by Saudi Arabia and its allies, which Qatar refused to join, I am not hopeful of much outrage here.
My sympathies and condolences to all caught up in this terrorist attack
A reminder from Sharmine Narwani that may or may not be relevant. Is this possibly a foreign supported terrorist attack on a sovereign country and it’s citizens by UKs closest ally? https://twitter.com/snarwani/status/872397309241417728
For Labour voters to vote to damage the SNP with the effect of electing Tories would be self harm.
As a Scot who has previously voted SNP, I take a longer view. I believe now is a watershed opportunity to demonstrate support for socialist policies. The Tories will almost certainly win regardless of strategic voting but a big show of support for Corbyn will have a beneficial effect for years to come. By way of vindication, I ask myself why the mainstream media are giving Sturgeon such an easy ride compared to Corbyn.
Yes, even if Corbyn doesn’t win, it’s important for the long-term future of Britain that the Labour party doesn’t revert back to being a pale shadow of the Conservative party. The more votes he gets, the less chance there is of the neolibs/ neo-cons be able to wrest back control.
Because Corbyn stands to gain in London, and Sturgeon’s taking Labour votes in Scotlandshire. In that very definite order.The media don’t seem to be paying much attention to the Progress Tendency, either. At which the LibDems are now looking lovingly.. Interesting times, all the same. We now have a supposedly two-party race between five parties:
1..LibDems plus the mostly Remaining ‘Labour’ ‘centrists’ who are far to the right of
2. Corbyn’s Labour Party, yet unfortunately dependent on Corbyn’s success to retain their seats. And
3. Remaining Tories, bitter foes of
4. Brexiting Tories, yet unfortunately dependent on May’s success to retain their seats.
5. The SNP, who will hunt with the hounds and run with the fox* if necessary to obtain their specific ends
The logical outcome would be for parties 1 to 4 to be honest about their allegiances and priorities, dissolve the existing parties and invent new ones allowing for some kind of internal consistency. Which would increase the democratic choice available to the voter. So that’s not going to happen.
If May wins, we lurch further down the road to police statehood, with Osborne and the Tory remainers doing their best to depose her**. If Corbyn wins, Progress, the Tony Blair Institute for Tony Blair’s Opinions, and Mandelson, copiously funded by globalists, will do their best to depose him.
And the world said, politicians, eh?
*Still only legal as a metaphor.
**Shouldn’t be too hard
What is the “sound bite” to be this time, to win the General Election?
Another “VOW” maybe?
Don’tk now if this comes to same conclusions as the Guardian …
https://www.tactical2017.com/
My constituency is a straight Con – Libdem fight. I voted tactically in 2010
I cant bring myself to do it again. Especially when we KNOW the Libs would do it again – even if it meant them helping to implement a hard Brexit.
If you live in Pontypridd then you can vote for Owen Smith – given that he is the current MP for the constituency then he is presumably best placed to beat the Tory.
Owen Smith does not appear much of a fan of the Labour Party leader having opined that re-electing Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party would “represent a gross betrayal of those who are suffering under a Conservative government”
If you live in Wallasey then you can vote for Angela Eagle. She believes that “Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to tackle bigotry has tarnished Labour”
If you live in Aberavon then you can vote for Stephen Kinnock – does anyone really need to know anything about him. Well OK he spends £29,000/yr on hos daughters education but tries to hide this fact from his electorate. Not that many people in Aberavon can afford these kind of costs, especially those who not have done a meaningful days work in their lives.
If you live in Streatham then you vote for Chuka Umunna. He resigned from the Shadow Cabinet more or less contemporaneously with the election of Corbyn as leader. Apparently he had some kind of issue with collective ministerial responsibility. Chuka Umunna is believed to have been involved with an amendment to his Wikipedia entry that sought to portray him as Britain;s version of Barack Obama. In his public utterances Umunna often specifically requests that people do not compare him to Barack Obama.
Anyone is free to vote for an idiot, but please do not pretend that there is some higher moral purpose involved in supporting idiocy. Also if you vote for an idiot please do not complain when your elected representative takes strange and unpredictable decisions. They will be doing so because they are idiots and you will have voted for them.
Hey Loony
Yeah what?
Speaking of idiots you may want to consider Diane Abbott?
No. Too obvious.
But there is always Kate Hooey – she was and is very much in favor of Brexit so she is a racist, but a racist infused with decency. Obviously Parliament needs the one only decent racist in the world. Think of the fame that such a unique character can bring to the whole charade.
There are quite a few south east constituencies where Craig’s methodology might work. One of them is Eastbourne, which in the last election saw a highly respected Liberal MP (Stephen Lloyd) lose his seat to the Tories by only 700 votes. Unfortunately however, it is also typical of many south east seats that UKIP voters (who gained a deplorable 6,000 votes in the same election) will do precisely for the Tories what Craig is suggesting doing for the Liberals if there is almost no Labour support.
This is why I am rather pessimistic about Labour’s chances. There are a huge number of votes that will swing back to the Tories from former UKIP supporters who now realise a UKIP vote would be a wasted one. I wish it were not true but I fear it is.
Hope so.
The problem many people are still reacting s if this is just another GE, and nothing has happened to them. Bad news is on the TV, not in their living rooms.
Many choices for disenchanted Tories in Maidenhead! !3 candidates inc Treeza.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000803
I see they have used the oldest trick in the book to split the votes up, lots of paid Independents who pick up a few gullible voters, family friends, whilst all the Tory’s will vote for the trillion pounds national debt woman and her relationship with sponsors of jihadi terror in the UK.
900 postal vote documents sent out by the council have gone astray in a Surrey constituency. ‘Royal’ Mail is investigating!
A survey conducted in the High Street by the local Trinity Mirror rag revealed that nobody knew who the candidates for this election were. The sitting MP has been in the HoC since 2005! The people are definitely sheeple and deserve all they get and are going to get.