November 1; Labour/coalition is in power. What should they do first??

kitty- a very interesting article in the Guardian today. A People's vote is what JC should be pushing for, clearly and unequivocally NOW- as he is VERY unlikely to win a GE.

'Jeremy Corbyn shouldn’t fall into the trap of giving Boris Johnson an election. Unless, that is, he is pretty confident of winning it and, on the basis of the latest polls, Labour needs an election like a hole in the head.

Instead, the leader of the opposition should try everything else to foil the prime minister’s devilish plot to crash out of the EU without a deal. With the help of a cross-party group of MPs, he can probably succeed.

Labour has made conflicting noises about whether it would call a vote of no confidence in Johnson when the Commons returns on 3 September. This might well fail because most Tory MPs opposed to a no-deal Brexit aren’t yet ready to chuck out their own government. Corbyn’s credibility would then be knocked and it would be harder to stitch together a cross-party pact.

However, it could be even worse if the vote of no confidence succeeded. Johnson’s righthand man, Dominic Cummings, might get to carry out his undemocratic threat to delay an election until after we’d left the EU on 31 October. Even if he didn’t, the Tories might squeeze the Brexit party and win the election with less than a third of the popular vote.

A better plan is to pass a law to force Johnson to ask the EU for extra time so we can hold a new referendum, something our friends in Europe have indicated they would grant. The choice in such a “people’s vote” would be between the crash-out Brexit the government wants and staying in the EU.'

I would put him in a cab too Anniebach but not sure where I would send him. Perhaps we could have a “whip round” and see how much money we could get together and then pay the driver to take him as far away as possible .

Gilly I like it ?

Grandad is right. This may have come about by an election but it is more likely to have come about by a vote of no confidence perhaps on the 30/31 October. If enough Conservatives had abstained or voted against the government on the basis of the "no-deal" then we would go, I believe, into a 14 day period in which Johnson would go to the palace. He could tell the Queen he believes he could command a majority (if that was true) but in these circumstances, he blatantly can't. It is then up to the opposition to explain why they can - if they have had the talks and signatures and to the be invited to go to the palace and say they could command a majority. The queen will have "been advised" that this is what the Fixed Term Parliament Act" says must happen. If neither could do this we would have an election.

I don't think the LP could command a majority on its own but as a coalition, it certainly could.

I agree too that whoever leads this coalition must talk to the EU about getting an extension or otherwise rescind Article 50.

I would then put Rory Stewart in charge of rolling out Citizens Assemblies (as he suggested when he stood for the leadership of the Tories) so that all the information we need about the EU is available to everyone. I would put a judicial review in place regarding the last referendum and I would do a complete drains-up in the Treasury to see what had been spent where: what was actually available and what we were legally committed to.

I think the LP probably know what BJ and his cohorts are up to Jura. They keep talking about an election because they know that is their best bet. The thing they are frightened of is Parliament taking control again.

jura2, you state in your post-@09:02 today, that the Labour Party would be very unlikely to win any General Election called in near future.

I would remind you and others which hold such belief that Theresa May called such an election in 2017 purely on the grounds that the Tory Party held a twenty point lead in the opinion polls. With those " assurances" from the polls, Theresa May believed she would "wipe out" the Labour Party in the House of Commons and achieve a huge majority for the Tory Party with which she would bring about Brexit.

Well, we all know now the above most certainly did not come about. The Tories lost their overall majority in Parliament, and the Labour Party increased the number of seats they held in the House of Commons, and that situation proved to be the beginning of the end for the May premiership.

So, if Boris (The Buffoon) Johnson wishes to attempt another General Election in even less favourable circumstances, then many grassroots activists in the Labour movement will be shouting "bring it on" I am sure.

As regards to having a second referendum, then that will not happen without a General Election at first taking place. Parliament prior to the summer recess was not able to bring such a situation about, and the circumstances will not have changed when that body reassembles in September.

So, any hopes of that "peoples vote" taking place are in my view "pie in the sky."

Brilliant post Day6 totally agree ?

Not sure how Labour/coalition would be in power on November 1st, but that aside, the one thing I'd tell them to do is to come on to Gransnet.

Here they have a small but enthusiastic bunch of staunch supporters who appear to know exactly what will happen and what should happen.

In my opinion it's highly unlikely that Labour would win with Corbyn at the helm. When May unwisely called her snap election she had posted a manifesto that was so dire even diehard Tories were aghast. Polls are never the greatest indicator of what will/won't happen but I genuinely believe that Corbyn is scaring off voters. Many left wing friends/family/colleagues of mine say they couldn't possibly vote for Labour whilst he is in charge.

That will go down in history as one of her most absurd decisions.

But yes, definitely get them to pop down to Gransnet and they will sort absolutely everything out.

Where is Corbyn ?

Minniemoo Quote [In my opinion it's highly unlikely that Labour would win with Corbyn at the helm.] End Quote

Well, exactly the same was being stated as I seem to recall in 2017 prior to the General Election being called. However, most political analyst following the result of that election stated it was Corbyn's much-praised campaign performance that brought about the far better result than expected for the Labour Party in that election.

The recent "They Have No Answers" speech to the crowds in Parliament Square during the Donald Trump visit has been received by many political analysts again with the same applause.

Therefore, those who wish to write Corbyn off should be very ware that history has a long practice of repeating itself.

It really doesn't bear thinking about. It would be even worse than where we are now and we already at the bottom of the pit!!

Interesting piece by Andrew Rawnsley in today's Observer about what is actually possible:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/11/boris-johnson-plot-to-subvert-democracy-is-more-dangerous-than-brexit-itself

Hi Grandad. The reason that May lost her massive lead in the polls was the ridiculous manifesto they put out. It was almost as if she wanted to lose.

Yes history does repeat, the 1983 election haunts me

That's from The Guardian, growstuff.

Much the same is online from Sky, the Sun, Politics Home, The Huff Post, the Independent and The Times Minniemoo. I am not sure how many varied sources you actually want before you believe something to be true.

Of course it is, GracesGranMK3. I never suggested otherwise.
The media after all is not keen on Brexit.

I'm just trying to say that not everyone will agree with your way of thinking and that should be OK. With the exception of course of hate speech, racism etc etc. That should not be tolerated.

I suppose I am one of the types who accepts that in some situations I can do absolutely nothing. And I think this is one of those occasions.

No amount of articles from left wing publishers will change my opinion. Nor from right wing press either. The press has its own agenda. I disagree with a lot I read from Brexit voters. I would be hypocritical not to.

But some people almost seem to want us to fail. It's a bit like being addicted to the drama.

Fact is we don't know what will happen. We don't even know if Brexit will happen on Oct 31st. And we don't know if it will be a No Deal Brexit either

Minniemoo, in regard to your post @11:39 today, I believe we shall have to agree to disagree on what brought about the unexpected result of the 2017 General Election.

However, I do have one very personal recollection of that campaign. A few of us from my company where in Swindon carrying out a safety audit at a company which was not going too well from that employer's point of view.

We decided to into the town centre for lunch while some managers at the company tried to find a number of risk assessments that were required.

As we walked through the town centre Jeremy Corbyn was setting up almost unannounced in the Square. We stopped watched and listened to his speech given to an ever-growing crowd that surrounded him, and also the questions he spoke to following.

I and the others with me were "quite taken back" by the way he captured that ad-hoc audience and his ability to take and handle questions no matter how hostile following his address.

It was very impressive no matter where in the political spectrum anyone political allegiances may lay. The only thing I held against Jeremy Corbyn on that day, was that we never got to have our nice lunch due to listening to him. We went pasty in hand back to our safety audit. ?

Quite agree, Grandad with regard to Corbyn holding a crowd. This seems to have dissipated slightly, recently. Possibly due to the fact he's been absent. He performs much better in front of a crowd. He doesn't do as well in the House. I think you will agree that Corbyn is anti EU. He always has been. Plenty of speeches of him berating it on Youtube.

Which is course is a major problem for him. Also a lot of Labour voters are pro Brexit.

I have voted Conservative in the past. When I read May's manifesto I was appalled. In fact I did say to anyone willing to listen that she just didn't want to win.

Although I'm a UKIP/Brexit Party supporter, I think Boris has done rather well for the 3 weeks he's been PM so until he lets me down on the 31st October, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Yes I'm a Brexit Party supporter but I'm impressed with Boris and his cabinet team including Dom Cummings feel like we might actually leave the EU now will vote for Boris and the Conservatives if we do.

kittylester You could make a worse mess

Socialist Labour are not the nasty Tories

Care to justify those statements, quizqueen and Firecracker? Why is leaving the EU without any deal such a good thing? Why is it ever justified to have an unelected adviser making undemocratic decisions? How is this taking back back control for you personally?

The media, after all, is not keen on Brexit.

You must be joking Miniemoo. Does reason really tell you that?

From some older research - but I don't think much has changed other than the Telegraph becoming more pro we have:

Positions vary greatly between newspapers: Daily Mail included the most pro-Leave articles followed by Daily Express, Daily Star, The Sun and Daily Telegraph. The newspapers including the most pro-Remain articles were, in order, Daily Mirror, The Guardian and Financial Times.

Of course, you are entitled to believe the moon is made of blue cheese if you want to. Just don't expect anyone to take you seriously

Yes I'm a Brexit Party supporter but I'm impressed with Boris and his cabinet team including Dom Cummings feel like we might actually leave the EU now will vote for Boris and the Conservatives if we do.

How many Leavers actually do facts Firecracker123 instead of make-believe? Domonic Cummings is not a member of the cabinet. He cannot be; he isn't an MP. He is a SPAD.