Snap election - could TM have seriously miscalculated?

One can but hope that people are seeing sense

The glimps of his vest does it for me

Not bothered about a 'bloody difficult woman.' I definitely don't want Diane Abbot thrust upon us.

Or is it nothing to do with not liking other women, but wanting a decent education for our children and grandchildren, good quality health care for all, an effective police and security service........etc,,...

Or maybe it's about the bigger picture and not just personalities. I do agree with merlotgran though.

No guarantees of 'a decent education, health care etc'. Extremely worrying prospect that of this ageing student activist representing the UK at such serious negotiations as brexit requires. There's too much at stake to take a chance on Corbyn.

What's at stake??

So at the moment we have stagnant incomes overall, with a FALL in income for the poorest in society and the biggest increase in equality since Thatcher.

Pay packets shrinking for only the third time since the war.

Family budgets are under severe threat.
The vast majority of huge Tory welfare cuts will be rolled out over the ne t few years. The poorest third of households will be £1000 worse off per year!!!!!

Of course from the majority of pensioners comfortable existence - and lack of compassion, there is nothing wrong with a bit of austerity - it is necessary to get the economy back on track.

How ridiculous that argument is beginning to sound and well as totally muddle headed.

I do not think that anyone will be "taking a chance on Corbyn" as there is no chance that he will win. But what he may be able to do is reduce the majority so that May will not achieve what she set out to do, i.e. get huge backing for her style of Brexit negotiations and the policies that lead to austerity and collapsing public services. That is what I see as the aim.

But in my constituency it is a bit of a dilemma, as the sitting Tory has a huge majority. Only the Lib Dems have ever beaten the Tories here, so they sound like the best bet - BUT Labour is much higher in the national polls.

lucky personally I would go with whoever is most likely to save us from another disastrous 5 years. Which could be anyone but ukip or Tory!!!

I so want a labour government but am filled with dread at the thought of Corbyn and McDionald running the country and with a cabinet without a scrape of experience between them, and the thought of Corbyn representing the UK on the world stage is just a nightmare

I wouldn't mind a better opposition party. I've voted Labour in the past before in the days when I had more confidence in their leadership and experience. I'm with Anniebach on this.

Luckygirl it does not matter that Labour is higher than the LibDems nationally. If the LibDems are best placed to beat the Tories in your constituency you must vote LibDem. In fact if unsure whether your vote is most likely to be effective you should look at the 2010 results not just 2015 when the LibDems were ruthlessly targetted by the dirty tricks department of the Conservative party.

Luckygirl you are right, it is very unlikely that we will get a Labour government. Even with the closing in the polls there is still a huge gap but the movement is making the Tories think and that has to be good for us when any party stops taking votes for granted.

If you go to this site and just put your postcode in here and it will tell you which vote would serve you best if you want to keep the majority low. You can then make your mind up which way to go when you vote.

Annie those MPs to the right of Corbyn are really not helping to change anything within the Labour Party by not being part of the team. They would balance those you see as - well, whatever you see them as. Surely it is time for them to step up to the plate and ensure as small a majority for T May as possible. I am sure they can do more from within than without.

Of course from the majority of pensioners comfortable existence - and lack of compassion


I would imagine that the majority of pensioners have families so are in touch with what their lives are like if not those of all of the younger generation.
Not all pensioners are leading a comfortable existence.
Most do not lack compassion.
Not all the younger generations are on the breadline and struggling and in fact many of them seem to have better lives, more holidays, cars etc than I did when I was their age.

Not whingeing or complaining that we had it tough, just stating facts.

And before anyone mentions people having to visit food banks - they did not exist years ago so some parents would go without a meal to ensure that their children were fed some kind of meal.

In answer to your question MawBroon, I do so hope not. The mere thought of the alternative is enough to bring on a panic attack.

Could you have misread what Whitewave was saying Jalima? (or could I?) I thought she was describing that as the Conservative view.

Of course not every young family is on the breadline, nor are all pensioners wealthy. However, this chart shows that the median pensioner income after housing costs is above the working-age equivalent.

Well, I thought she meant that the majority of pensioners have the attitude of 'I'm all right Jack' but I could be wrong. If so, sorry ww

I think many pensioners are very comfortably off but not all are and they do seem to be the generation which works hard for charity and appreciates the difficulties that many people encounter in their lives.

I would say "some" not "many" from the pensioners I know.

I think your graph shows an overall picture Daphne but I do think we should be careful to make any taxation and/or benefits work to the individual not the 'typical' which I assume is average or mean(?). That figure in each group could be reached by many different compositions of income within the group.

I think one of the issues -amongst many - that Mays fellow Tories are undoubtedly grumbling about behind closed doors is the fact that the Tory party has morphed into the May party.

There has only been one instance since she called the election when she has appeared with one of her ministers and that was Hammond, in which she conspicuously refused to rely to the question as to whether she had confidence in him.

Every time she opens her mouth she begins it with I, myself or me. Where is her party in all this? She appeared to want to keep what was at one time likely to be a big victory all to herself.

There is no doubt that Mays brand is becoming more toxic as the weeks go by. The conduct of the campaign has been very poor and the party faithful are becoming edgy.

I'm not sure either Jalima. When we write quickly to get our point across we can all make it a bit less clear than we intended (well, I can do that and I write a half-speed unless I dictate then it's the machines fault) so perhaps WW could let us know.

Sorry I'll re read what I've said. I'm having a coffee break at the moment from the garden.