Surprised about LibDems

I agree Varian I live in a small rural town, it is part of what used to be Johnson's constituency before the clown decided to stand for London Mayor. I have lived in the town for over 40 years and for much of that time have been a member of the LP, but in general elections voting for them is the same as voting for the Tory, so I have always voted LD, it makes more sense than voting with my heart.

Not here but never mind!

Look at the best anti-tory candidate in your constituency. In many places a vote for the Labour Party is a wasted vote. It will allow the Tory to win when a vote for the LibDems or another Remain supporting party could beat the Tory candidate.

If everyone who thought the Lib Dems didn't stand much chance actually voted for them they would win more seats!

GrandmaMoira hear, hear.

As a Remainer I feel the LibDems have so little chance of getting more than a handful of seats it is a wasted vote. The only chance of being able to Remain is for Labour to get in and offer another referendum, which is unlikely due to Corbyn's unpopularity.
I think we should have had another referendum rather than an election now. No other issue matters at all until Brexit is settled. I know Leavers and some Remainers disagree.

It's going to be a long night with a few shocks along the way. If only Labour would advise people to vote LibDem in Raabs constituency the way the LibDems have in Rosie Duffields, though.

If there was another referendum under a minority LP govt it would depend on the outcome. The LibDems will support Remain and if we could stop brexit, then I think everything else would be different.

Whether Corbyn remains LP leader is not up to the LibDems, but if he does we would support the policies we agree with and not others.

Right now, though it looks as if it is more likely that Johnson remains PM, but we must hope he does not get a majority.

She would refuse to work/collaborate with Labour with Corbyn at the helm.

Not if it means a peoples vote; ie trade off working with Corbyn to achieve what the LibDems have been fighting for for 3 + years, and Corbyn has been, until recently, opposing....

How do you mean Jura?

But what if Corbyn remains ??? This would be really spiting our face ...

When did Jo ever say she would work with the Cons but not with Labour Jura?

I have heard her say more than once that she would not support a Tory govt led by Johnson, nor a Labour govt led by Corbyn.

If there is a minority govt the LibDems will vote on an issue-by-issue basis. If Corbyn is leading a minority government which proposes a People's Vote, the LibDems would certainly support that.

Jo Swinson, and I think most other LibDems, would happily work with Labour under another leader.

I don't think she said that; more that she couldn't work with Corbyn, the reason being that so many people have left Labour and joined the LibDems because of him [me included] and it would be a betrayal; having said that I shall vote tactically today.

but not if the vote is wasted- tactical voting is essential to do the above.

I joined the Lib Dems and was ful of hope - but they lost me when Jo said she would work with the Cons but not with Labour. Very disappointed.

Every vote for the Liberal Democrats today is a vote for hope. It’s a rejection of the politics of hatred and division, and it’s your chance to demand better for the future of our country

The Economist on why they support the LibDems
www.economist.com/leaders/2019/12/05/britains-nightmare-before-christmas

In a coalition government the LibDems had to compromise but don't forget the good things they did achieve - pupil premium, taking low earners out of income tax (which the Tories now claim credit for) and much more.

The fact is that this country and its MSM is used to two party politics and will always ignore or marginalise the LibDems who threaten the cosy two party stitch up.

I think she interviews very well; certainly better than blustering Boris. And why are the LibDems getting 100% of the blame for what the Tories did. They also made a point of campaigning the remain when other parties were half hearted about it. Tactical voting next week is vital be it LibDem or Labour and we must ignore things like voting records.It's just playing into the Tories hands. And it's they alone that have plunged this country into catastrophe.

I'm remain but wouldn't vote Lib Dem because of swinsons record of voting with the Tories. They have devastated the poor of this country together and need to be voted out

Jo Swinson is DEFINITELY ill advised. Her interviews are train wrecks.

The LibDems just don't have the campaign funding that the other parties have. And it doesn't help when Swinson is left out of debates, either.

I read today that there’s a strong possibility Jo Swinson could lose her seat to the SNP. She started the campaign stating she was in an election to be Prime Minister. Her over confidence annoyed some people along with threatening to overturn a democratic vote on the first day of her premiership. She’s admitted it was wrong and she had to change but by then she had turned voters off. Perhaps she was badly advised.

To return to the OP, I think that the Lib Dems are just being squeezed as previously and inevitably in the two-party system. More Tory and Labour seats are Lib Dem facing as opposed to facing one another, therefore it's in the interests of both to deride and blame the Lib Dems, and pick holes in Jo Swinson.

The tragedy is that in the long run, whichever party anyone supports in domestic matters, the bare fact is that the Lib Dems are right that Brexit has turned out an unworkable mistake. The referendum was taken seriously. Two long years were spent by the Cons govt (not 'parliament') trying to negotiate an exit strategy. People who now say they'll vote for Boris Johnson because they think he'll 'get things done' or because took offence at some remark of Jo Swinson's or dislike her dress sense will have much to answer for. They know very well that Brexit will do nothing to end social injustice which is what many people say is their main concern.

The much awaited judgment of the Institute for Fiscal Studies was brutal and even-handed: a plague on both your houses.

A feature of every election campaign is the day when the thinktank that specialises in tax, public spending and government borrowing does a number-crunching exercise on the party manifestos.

This time it was the Liberal Democrats who fared best. The party’s decision to put a penny on income tax was praised for being simple, progressive and guaranteed to raise a certain amount of revenue. The IFS said there would be a growth dividend of 2% of GDP from Jo Swinson’s policy of scrapping Brexit. And they were the only one of the three main parties to have debt on a decisively downward path.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/28/tory-labour-election-spending-plans-not-credible-ifs-lib-dems