Not an election please

I don't think Brexit will be first in the minds of all voters , some are obsessed with it, many voters are not. Some will vote loyalty with their party , some will vote on which party has the right leader for the world stage, some will vote on the party they think will govern the UK as they want it governed.

It will be interesting to see which labour MPs vote against having an election, probably those worried about deselection.

But how can we vote until we know exactly what is being planned. Surely idiots are not prepared to vote again for god knows what!!!!

I don't think so, Gg, but Gibraltarians won't have a vote. A lot will depend on the million or so young people who have turned 18 and whether they vote, although initial reports that they didn't vote in the referendum turned out to be wrong. However, there aren't that many of them compared with the number of boomers.

She's clearly taken a leaf out of Trumps book entitled U-Turn. Margaret Thatcher she is not.

What will you vote, Annie?

I hope all those youngsters who blamed us pensioners for voting away their EU birthright get out and vote this time.

whitewave. That is exactly what I was expecting some to say.

But that may be her point. The next election in the long grass rather than two years earlier than that, not long after the Brexit negotiations.

"Dictatorship seems to be the flavour of the day" I agree POGS. Would any of us be posting our views and opinions as we do if we lived under a dictatorship. It's an incredily spurious analogy to make, the sort of thing the likes of Lily Allen trot out.

Jen, Wales is in serious trouble. My vote in this constituency will only matter if I vote lib, we have been con or lib since the boundery changes in the seventies , labour has no chance here , we always have a labour candidate who is standing for the first time , it's a practise run I suppose . Anyway I resigned from the chair of my local party last Saturday so unsure yet if I will even work for the party this time, the wilderness years keep coming to mind and I am thirty years older and tired

Thanks Daphne.

I don't think this will be entirely about Brexit by any means even if that is the way the Conservatives are framing it. It will also depend on how much of the results of the Austerity programme can be brought out meaningfully.

It's easy for me to vote against her because I am against them re Brexit and against them re their policies but it will be more difficult for someone who believes they have done the right in one of those cases but not in the other. There will also be a divide for those voting for the left where they may be pro the policies for fairness but against the EU. It would not be sensible to try and call it today I feel

A labour MP critcised Corbyn last week and is to face the party whip, freedom of speech is not permitted under the Corbyn regime

I think the other reason is that the economy is widely expected to begin to slow down in the second half as well as the increase in salaries. There is a lot more austerity in the pipeline as well.

Well on the way to a small state economy folks!

She is doing it so that she will know for certain while she does the Brexit negotiating that Parliament is solid behind her (or maybe not, as will be ascertained). She will be feeling that she is fighting with one hand tied behind her back unless she can depend on a decent majority, and the auguries are that this could be a good moment to pin one down.

I don't see Brexit being reversed, so the more backing she has, the better the deal she could get. She is still gambling, but presumably thinks the odds are on her side.

I was wondering about that ww - the economy slowing down I mean. And the cuts have certainly not all come home to roost yet.

GG Here is the ruling from the Electoral Commission.

British citizens living abroad can vote in UK Parliamentary and European Parliamentary elections but cannot vote in local elections or elections to devolved bodies such as the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales or Greater London Authority.

British citizens living abroad for more than 15 years are not eligible to register to vote in UK elections.

www.electoralcommission.org.uk/faq/voting-and-registration/can-i-still-vote-if-i-move-overseas

Quite Elegran

www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2017/apr/18/may-general-election-announcement-annotated

Arron Banks is going to stand for Ukip against Carswell in Clacton.
Might have changed his mind tomorrow.

We also need to see the impact assessments that must have been carried out with regards to Brexit.

Elegran says it all. May needs to feel she has backing while trying to deal with the Brexit negotiations. What a mess though.

TM said "the people are coming together, Westminster is not"

The people of this country have never been less united. As for Westminster, is she saying that she cannot cope with any opposition? That is what opposition parties are there for.

The Tories were not elected by a majority last time. Those of us who do not like them or their policies deserve a voice.

The most effective way to make that voice heard is to vote Liberal Democrat. Even if the Tories are re-elected, (and they obviously take it for granted that they will), what is needed more than ever is a really effective opposition to the Tories and their appalling policies.

Thanks Varian. It looks like the same numbers able to vote there then.

Minutes after the announcement and this thread is dragged down by DJ telling a poster to shut up, is this setting the tone of any future discussion regarding the G.E ?

Blimey - I only went shopping in Bergerac and came back to six pages on here and all this news!!! Bright side is I have a fridge nicely full now.

I just saw Corbyn speaking and he mentioned the NHS so maybe making it more than just Brexit. I think she has called it now before more bad news about jobs going abroad are announced, and agencies being moved to EU countries taking work and money with them.

Hopefully the other political parties will work together for the sake of the country rather than just let the Tories get an even bigger majority and just do what they like and grind the 'people' into the mud paying more taxes and having less benefits and health care and no wage rises.

Fair enough if the country does vote that way - then there can be no moaning whatever happens to standards of living etc.