General Chat

Is he mad?

Roughly how much does an election cost the country in actual costs?

John McDonnell does not believe in democracy. He is the eminence grise behind the naive Corbyn. Quite how has been allowed to build the Momentum organisation within Labour I don't know. I suppose this march is a test.

Not that the Tories are any better. May would do better to run a minority admin than the barking mad fixup with the DUP.

I saw a BBC claim that a GE costs over £150 M. The last time we had two elections in the same year was 1911.
[ Correction KenSE , and 1974

How long May can hang on is anybody's guess. Poor PR over the Grenfell tragedy and the appointment of a New Zealander as post brexit trade honcho could be seen as living dangerously.

What about the two in 1974 Rollo?

Well, Googling 'John McDonnell and Democracy', the replies are interesting.
The Telegraph, Daily Mail and Express all have 'headlines' similar to Rolo's 'statement'.
But when you read other views, and McDonnell's statement, the march is against May's plan to strike a confidence and supply deal with the DUP.
Obviously, if May doesn't have the DUP on her side, she's in an even more shaky place.
However, with Sinn Fein complaining about the DUP, this is a potential destabilising of the Good Friday agreement.
What is more important, a stable Good Friday agreement, and peace, or May's frantic attempts to hold on to power?

McDonnell is just another backtracking politician who, when caught out praising the IRA (stating that some of them should be honoured), then went on to say said he did everything he could to promote peace in NI. Unbelievable as well as self-serving.

This is a man who stood down from chasing the Labour leadership in favour of Diane Abbott! It makes me wonder about his judgement.

He seems now to be working to promote unrest and division in mainland UK with his call for a million-person March and yet another election. And what a time to call for a March - a disaster in London, Corbyn hogging the limelight and hugging everyone in view of cameras. If McDonnell was a man of good judgement he would wait until Corbyn was on the backfoot then pounce and promote himself.

Another London borough MP of Corbyn ilk, not someone I would ever trust.

Sorry about 1974. I was working in New York state and focussed on other things than the political passing of Ted Heath. Labour took its chance as a minority admin with the Libs providing confidence and supply. Wilson was able to win a subsequent election the same year with honor and a small majority.

All in all a good example for May to follow. Why cannot she see the massive political risk of tying her party to the the maloderous DUP? Many in her party can. The SNP would not casually vote the govt down on anything and everything Corbyn style.

So it comes down to forcing through contentious hard brexit votes by dint of bribery and DUP votes and a serious risk of the Good Friday agreement collapsing. Brexit votes won in such a manner will never be accepted and that includes the Scot Tories.

Labour from its inception under Kier Hardie has eschewed the politics of the street in favour of the ballot box and law, rightly so. McDonnell's march could grab electoral defeat from a winning position. It would be best if he dropped the idea.

If May drops the DUP and hard brexit she could remain PM through 2018 and the Tories would have a chance of winning in 2022 under a new leader. The portents are that she will do neither in which case the blackened stub of Grenfell Tower will also be tombstone of the conservative party.

Who will be the first Tory now to announce the liberation of brexit and a "bonfire of red tape"? Maybe they'll wait on the exquiset timing of UKIP.

I think I've already written somewhere - I heard one politician say there would be a hard Brexit or no Brexit.

This makes me think that a hard Brexit will be deliberately promoted to the public in order for there to be a call for no Brexit.

Ways and means. ;-)

New York state...who says they're in New York state..just say America!........anyway whilst here Rollo.....explainations to jibes ?????

New York, New York so good they named it twice.
New York city is located in the large state of New York. Parts of the state are wild and beautiful. There are also many not so beautiful industrial cities. I took a job with Kodak in London. They sent me to their HQ in Rochester no choice.

"In the state of New York I came of age
When first I started roaming
And the trees grow high in New York State
And they shone like gold in the autumn"

Ignorance is bliss it is sometimes said but not by me.

So now you work for Kodak.......not the civil service...that's old hat these days

And jibes????

Ever changed your job?

This is a chat board not FB.

Brexit to be or not to be
Hard soft or medium boiled
Tory blue, Tory Red, yellow Lib or Labour fudge flavor
Six impossible things to believe every morning
A large bill impossible to pay
Four million people's lives to be upended impaled on the future whims of the Home Office
All of this to be achieved by a collection of minds well past their sharpening date
- eg Liam Fox de facto to be replaced by a kiwi.

Maybe quite soon the Brit ruling class, all parties, will wise up.

The last boat for exit sailed with the Lisbon Treaty. Brown job.
The Brits do not control any aspect of brexit it is all with Barnier and co.
The EU priority is first last and middle the political integrity of the EU
The EU does not care if there is a trade deal or not.
The only issues the EU cares about are the "preliminaries ".
Only hard brexit is on offer no a la carte.
Any free trade agreement will have free movement tagged on as well as ECJ control.
If the UK changes its mind eg after yet another GE or referendum then membership would be plain vanilla, no opt outs, Schengen, euro etc. But the UK would avoid the big exit bill.
The young and skilful will push off just as they did before 1997 and are doing again by the thousand.

Unless the UK breaks all precedents and outdoes Germany and S Korea at exporting widgets the brexit future for most will be nasty, brutish and short. As JL says maybe the intention is to scare / soften up the electorate not to brexit after all.

Can we rely on Norway to save our kippers?

"Ever changed your job?

This is a chat board not FB."

Yes Rollo many times at my choice and onwards and upwards.

Not quite sure where the second part fits in though care to explain???

As for your second ranting.....sorry....can you just clarify then...you don't think Brexit will be a good thing then....you ramble on so much.....

Caroline appears to take issue with just about anything I post and on top often asks basic questions she could easily answer for herself. She only rarely makes an original post preferring to nit pick on others on a style typical of a dog with fleas. If she at least was entertaining in the same way of some others it would not be so bad but she is just boring. I have also noticed her retinue behaving in a manner typical of an out of control infants class.

Shame from somebody apparently educated.
So it goes, toodle pip Caroline.

"Caroline appears to take issue with just about anything I post and on top often asks basic questions she could easily answer for herself. She only rarely makes an original post preferring to nit pick on others on a style typical of a dog with fleas. If she at least was entertaining in the same way of some others it would not be so bad but she is just boring. I have also noticed her retinue behaving in a manner typical of an out of control infants class.

Shame from somebody apparently educated.
So it goes, toodle pip Caroline."

Thing is Rollo so do many people I'm not alone by a long stretch.
You don't often start your own thread either so pot kettle.
Dog with fleas oh you're a sweet talker.
Well at least in an infants class I'm better than a bear brain.
And what basic questions could I answer myself Rollo...you want me to speak for you I can if you want?

I am sick to the back teeth with all the jibes against Ms May.

The Labour party have members I wouldn't want living in a kennel in my garden let alone next door.

I have been horrified at the way, what were supposed to be, legitimate protests against the failures in management of Grenfell Tower have been infiltrated by agitators.

BBC aired Zac/k who wasn't from the borough stating that it's ethnic cleansing, it sounded as though he meant the fire. One third of those flats were privately owned according to one estimate and the rents average £2k per month.

Absolutely help the social tenants but I would assume that the privately owned flats were insured. Let them claim on their policies and ensure the public money goes to the right families.

As for the protests, I am at a loss as to why someone would lob a bottle at the police line within minutes. That's not a protest it's a public disorder offence.

Sometimes when I watch these yobs I am ashamed to be British and they do no favours to the deserving.

As far as I'm aware TM has never had anything to do with the buildings nor the cladding so why is she being blamed? These were Local authority buildings albeit some of them were privately owned now.
I'd rather have a leader who was dealing with the issues rather than being on TV all the time doing sound bites and tears.
The rent a mob were ready to demo for any reason this was just a god send for them.