Petition demanding a General Election

Sorry, 2002, not 2006.

Need that link, spabbygirl.

Freda we objected to them being involved in Brexit and we can object Musk trying to be involved now.

You allude to India:

Its this petition (and almost certainly Musk getting himself involved) that's being noticed abroad including India - and heres' the proof:

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/petition-calling-for-another-general-election-in-uk-crosses-1-million-signatures-elon-musk-reacts/articleshow/115639114.cms

Listen to David Davies explaining in 2006 how a Referendum should be run.

David Davies? Are you sure? I know he was a Brexiteer but I'm sure I would have remembered if he did that.

Allira

^Listen to David Davies explaining in 2006 how a Referendum should be run.^

David Davies? Are you sure? I know he was a Brexiteer but I'm sure I would have remembered if he did that.

It's David Davis (not David Davies, that's a completely different tory MP) Former Brexit Secretary in Theresa May's government.

I used to think that he was a good, principled tory, but he turned out to be a chancer, like so many...

Oh, ok, thanks.
I do know the other one didn't but that's another story, as well as another Tory.

The US has a huge export market - over US$ 2 trillion, I believe.

With 'America-First' the dominant motif, it's not difficult to imagine that Trump wants to expand that market and make sure those importing nations do not consider any ideas that might affect its dominance.

A Senator, close to Trump, has warned the UK - among other countries, that any involvement with the ICC's bid to charge Netanyahu with war crimes will see that country's economy "crushed" with sanctions.

- although if you crush a nation's economy, surely it would affect the purchasing power of those who might buy American goods?

Anyway, I think Trump and Musk are high on victory, power and wealth, two egocentrics who see themselves as Kings-of-the-World, not just America... Batman and his Robin.

One of the reasons given by Brexit voters for leaving the EU was along the lines of not being told what to do by Brussels - we wanted to make our own decisions.

Was that a matter of principle? Or was it more to do with it being Brussels? Because some of those same people that championed that principle, are now loudly cheering for Trump and his right-wing cohorts.

If we are a sovereign nation then, surely, regardless of the issue - we make our own decisions? Or is that different because it's America / Trump attempting to tell us what to do?

I think Trump's plans - if they go according to plan... mass deportations, etc, are a bit like the bull in the china shop, and will have a similar effect.

Trump and Tariffs - some news just come out -

For starters he is willing to blow up the Mexico-Canada-America trade deal that he signed in his first term on day one of his second term.

What does a Trump free trade deal even mean now, if the new White House is willing to put tariffs on your country anyway?

And importantly, the rationale for these moves is not mainly or even much about trade or economic policy. These tariffs are about getting Mexico, Canada and China to alter their policies on crackdowns over migration and illicit drugs.

Trump is using tariffs as a weapon of diplomacy, even coercion, on topics entirely unrelated to global trade.

Are the leaders of G20 nations with their own domestic audiences really going to roll over in order to give the new president a win?

Europe and the UK have been spared for now. But it is important to reiterate that these moves are not even the real bulk of the tariff policy outlined by Trump.

Read on....

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0k808xdp18o

Wyllow3

Trump and Tariffs - some news just come out -

For starters he is willing to blow up the Mexico-Canada-America trade deal that he signed in his first term on day one of his second term.

What does a Trump free trade deal even mean now, if the new White House is willing to put tariffs on your country anyway?

And importantly, the rationale for these moves is not mainly or even much about trade or economic policy. These tariffs are about getting Mexico, Canada and China to alter their policies on crackdowns over migration and illicit drugs.

Trump is using tariffs as a weapon of diplomacy, even coercion, on topics entirely unrelated to global trade.

Are the leaders of G20 nations with their own domestic audiences really going to roll over in order to give the new president a win?

Europe and the UK have been spared for now. But it is important to reiterate that these moves are not even the real bulk of the tariff policy outlined by Trump.

Read on....

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0k808xdp18o

I did...

Trump is using tariffs as a weapon of diplomacy, even coercion, on topics entirely unrelated to global trade.

Exactly.

I think we could see this coming- and it is seriously worrying, and disgusting.

MaizieD

What exactly is a 'large section of the population' not happy about, nanna8?

You tell me. You live there. People usually don’t bother to sign petitions unless they are unhappy about something/ things. Particularly British people. There are obviously problems. I can’t see people in those numbers signing things here unless they were very, very upset.

nanna8

MaizieD

What exactly is a 'large section of the population' not happy about, nanna8?

You tell me. You live there. People usually don’t bother to sign petitions unless they are unhappy about something/ things. Particularly British people. There are obviously problems. I can’t see people in those numbers signing things here unless they were very, very upset.

I suspect that if another pub landlord with an opposing political POV had decided to start a petition months ago at the appropriate moment when the Opposition was the government of the day, he / it would've garnered a similar response. In fact, IIRC, there were continual outbursts / demands for a "General Election Now" long before the then PM, Sunak, declared one.

It's not difficult to sign an online petition from the comfort of your armchair. If the pub landlord who spearheaded the petition calls for people to take to the streets - wants to organise a demonstration, the number of people who would be willing to do that might be considerably less than the number who signed the petition.

The motivation of the signatories is what matters and I think it's a safe bet that many will have signed on the basic principle of opposition to a Labour government.

The point I'm trying to make is that it doesn't necessarily follow that people are very, very upset.

Let's see what happens. If there are moves to organise a rally in central London at some point on the theme of calling another General Election, then the number of those who participate will give a more authentic picture.

Personally, I share Mr Westwood's (pub landlord) disappointment with Labour's 'negativity'. The electorate have been promised jam tomorrow for decades, but I will not be signing the petition. Unless there is a party determined to change the inherent inequalities of a free-market-small-state economy, then it's pointless.

nanna8

MaizieD

What exactly is a 'large section of the population' not happy about, nanna8?

You tell me. You live there. People usually don’t bother to sign petitions unless they are unhappy about something/ things. Particularly British people. There are obviously problems. I can’t see people in those numbers signing things here unless they were very, very upset.

As a raw number it seems a lot, as a proportion of the population of the UK it isn't. That's before we even consider that some of the signatories aren't British and don't live here, Elon Musk anyone?

Unless there is a party determined to change the inherent inequalities of a free-market-small-state economy, then it's pointless.

Agreed, Dickens

It's very hard to persuade people that this is the real problem. There is very little interest in understanding how damaging this ideology is.

MaizieD

^Unless there is a party determined to change the inherent inequalities of a free-market-small-state economy, then it's pointless^.

Agreed, Dickens

It's very hard to persuade people that this is the real problem. There is very little interest in understanding how damaging this ideology is.

There is very little interest in understanding how damaging this ideology is.

... I've noticed.