No one to vote for if a General Election was called now

coal

Stockpiling Polish goal to punish the miners and Scargill.

apparently, it was 'Scotland's oil'" which saved Mrs Thatcher's administration.....

Indeed it was, she used the money to fund tax cuts. Then set about privatising everything that she could. Rail, buses, road haulage, water, gas, telecoms, NHS services. Then selling off council housing to the tenants at well below the market rate and not allowing councils to build any more. Populist policies which have come back to haunt us in many ways.

Wish there was a "like" button seadragon the Nationalists of ALL parties have always said its Scotlands oil and that Thatcher squandered it as have others since .Its patently unjust that a country who has vast wealth ..even just the taxes from oil ...gets just 8% of the proceeds while being told we're TOO POOR, TOO WEE , AND TOO STUPID to run our own affairs.I have been called all manner of things because I'm pro independence,which I have been for over 50 years .I'm a "traitor" to England ,a "jacobite" "a scounger " someone who has never done an honest days work in their life because its ONLY people like that who want indy" and much more.If only those who make those assumptions knew me they would see that every one is untrue.Especially being a traitor to England...as Wallace said "How can I be a traitor to England when it is a foreign land to me " I hope you decide to back your own country in the next election/referendum.Lets face it we cant be even half as bad as Westminster

Thatcher was also saved by the sacrifice of British servicemen and women who were killed and injured in the Falklands war, which happened because of her negligence. Unlike her predecessor Jim Callaghan she risked the Falklands by her cuts to the navy. It is quite sickening that because of the sacrifices of our forces in an unecessary war, she was re-elected.

Details of how a Royal Navy mini-task force was secretly despatched to the Falklands to defend the islands from Argentinian attack are revealed in documents which have now been made public. The tiny flotilla, led by the nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarine HMS Dreadnought and accompanied by two frigates and two support vessels, was credited with deterring a full scale invasion in 1977.

The then foreign secretary David (now Lord) Owen later claimed that if Margaret Thatcher's government had taken similarly robust action, the Argentinians would not have invaded in 1982. James Callaghan's Labour government ordered Operation Journeyman, as it was codenamed, after a party of 50 Argentine "scientists" landed on the island of South Thule, prompting fears of a wider attack.

The papers, released to the National Archives, show that Lord Owen insisted the mission be conducted in intense secrecy, with not even the crews being told where they going. While the Argentinian government was privately warned by the British that there was a nuclear submarine in the area, the rest of the world was unaware of what was going on. The papers show a high degree of nervousness within Whitehall over the operation - not least about its legality.

Ministers wanted to be able to declare an exclusion zone around the islands - as was done in 1982 - but the suggestion was met with concern among officials. A handwritten note by one warned that it could be "politically escalatory, probably illegal and could set an unwelcome precedent" as well as possibly requiring British ships to fire the first shot. The problem was, he warned, was that it would be "dependent on intelligence" that an actual Argentine invasion force was approaching the islands.

He suggested they could get round some of the difficulties by not calling it an exclusion zone and not making it public, with the Argentinians being told only when they were told of the presence of the submarine. In the event, the issue was "deliberately fudged", while the then attorney general Sam Silkin was only asked for his advice on the legality of the operation after the ships had sailed.

The concerns were such that HMS Dreadnought was told in its rules of engagement that if it was attacked by Argentine anti-submarine weapons it should "surface or withdraw at high speed submerged, whichever will be of least risk to life".

www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jun/01/argentina.military

"Markets Insight Markets Insight: Bank deregulation part of Thatcher legacy Radical reform transformed City’s role in global finance" JOHN PLENDER www.ft.com/content/7f8aaf08-a122-11e2-bae1-00144feabdc0. I normally vote Lib Dem but live in Scotland and am interested to find that I am now considering voting SNP (because of the current shenanigans at Westminster) despite having been against independence since the huge embarrassment over their slogan "It's Scotland's Oil". However, according to Andrew Marr's series "The Making of Modern Britain" apparently, it was 'Scotland's oil'" which saved Mrs Thatcher's administration.....

There are many people on this thread stating that they will spoil their ballot paper. Please do so because they are all counted and the number declared.

Now for a little dig at some of the Brexiteers. Old friends who live in Hampshire have manned poling stations for as long as I've known them (40+ years) At the time of the Referendum many people who turned up to vote had never voted before. To a man their tone was aggresive, demanding to know what they should do (instructions are clearly displayed) and demanding that their ballot papers weren't destroyed. Anyone would think that they lived in a 3rd world country where elections are often rigged!

They aren’t highly rated by most of the population Pittcity
All they stand for now is the anti Brexit Party.
They have been out of power for too long, and have become unrealistic.

A lot of posts say that the Lib Dems don't have much chance. If everyone who disagrees with the Tories and Labour voted LibDem they'd stand a good chance...... didn't most people say we'd never vote for Brexit?

anja...you seem to have fallen for Corbyn's waffle hook line and sinker! Despite your claiming not to be tribal, your posts are saying the exact opposite.

I agree maddyone that it is far better to not be a member of any Party but to simply vote in each GE for the Party you think would do best next time around.

Corbyn was not involved in the N.I. Peace Process , he has always wanted a United Ireland as does Sin Fein and the IRA.

To claim this man was part of the peace process when two weeks after the Brighton bombing he invited two IRA members to Westminster causing much anger and distress to the house. Regardless of one’s views on Thatcher who can deny this act which disregarded the shock and grief was acceptable.

Throughout the troubles he met regularly with Jerry Adams , why not with both sides?

Last year on a visit to Northern Ireland he said he wanted a United Ireland. He wants to be PM of the United Kingdom yet supports those who want a united Ireland sod those who want to remain part of the U.K.

Varian me too - LibDem, even though I realise they don't stand much realistically, any, chance of being in Government, I feel they stand for the reasonable, democratic, non-adversarial type of politics which we so desperately need.

I’m on the side of no tribe either. I deal in fact, logic, common sense, question and pass information over a reality filter. I don’t just swallow undigested gumph and mistake opinion for fact.

Excuse typos but sure you get the drift.

maddy how do you think the Northern Ireland peace process can about? Someone had to meet worh Sein Fein and others to listen to their side of the argument and try to seek reconciliation. Or do you think that they just one day sorted it out themselves?

If no one reaches out and says ‘ok tell me what is causing this anger and hatred and is there some way we can fix it’ then the conflict just goes on and on and on and more lives are lost.

This is as true of all warring factions eh Hamas and Hezbollah and the Israelis as it was in Northern Ireland. You surely must see that?

It is not being "tribal" to decide which party represents the values that you wish to see implemented in a country.

Labour and Conservative values are completely different. The Conservatives believe in a small state, low taxation and a market with little regulation. Brown was rightly criticised for lax regulation of the financial markets but what is often overlooked is that the Conservatives were baying for even lighter regulation. That may appeal to some but it doesn't appeal to me. It is only when the Conservatives feel that slashing of public services and private providers' greed are being scrutinised and criticised that they start make conciliatory noises and promising more resources and accountability. Then it's back to business as usual.

As I've said before, virtually every progressive policy that has sought to improve the lives of the average person, such as anti-discrimination laws for women and ethnic minorities, minimum wages, employment and health and safety protections for workers, etc, etc, have been introduced by Labour, and more often than not initially opposed by the Conservatives.

And I am no more ‘gullible’ than you! But I am much more polite.

Anja, think whatever you like about me. Corbyn’s meetings with the IRA and Hamas are clearly documented. You are a diehard Labour supporter, a tribalist.

mamacaz I see we have misunderstood each other. The British public voted this load of lying, self-serving, incompetents in under the system that currently exists I agree.

maddy I see you have fallen for the propaganda hook, line and sinker. But I expect this is what you wanted to believe rather than just being gullible?

Absolutely agree with you Urmstongran.

Corbyn as PM. If Britain is a laughing stock now, what would it be if he was PM? The friend of terrorists, the disliker of Jewish people. If Trump can’t be taken seriously, how would Corbyn be? Opposite sides of the coin, but just as dislikeable.

About 400 MPs simply think that they know better than 17.4 million voters. This is in part arrogance and intellectual condescension. It is also dishonest, as most MPs stood on manifestos that promised to deliver the referendum result.

Where does this leave ordinary Joe Soap who casted his vote in good faith? If there were a GE any time soon I wouldn’t trust a politician to tell me the correct time of day. My trust in the majority of them is at an all time low.

Sluttygran - You are obviously a staunch Labourite. I don’t think he has ever put his head above the parapet to see what it is really all about. He doesn’t come over as somebody who is ‘well- balanced’. The whole character, for me, is a joke. I do understand that Socialism on the whole might be a fairer situation for the country but not under Corbyn, thank you - antisemetism comes to mind. Politics are never played fair, as we are finding out plus, too much corruption in all parties.

Many posters are tribal in their loyalty to one or other political party. Many others are not. Anyone who tries to discuss logically with a ‘tribal’ voter will not get anywhere. Thank goodness for those posters who are not tribal in their loyalty and actually try to think around the original post.

Me too Pippa22 I feel disillusioned with our ‘so called’ democracy! I will probably spoil my ballot paper. If our MP’s don’t listen to us, what chance do we have? It is so frustrating.