The Theresa May General Election thread (edited)

capo4th

Be careful man double glazing is expensive 

capo4th

That song should be Labours anthem! Fantasy Island ! 

Does anyone remember this and look where they ended up 

ToneControl

Fretwired said:

ToneControl said:

sorry, I meant in which year did this start? I think it was quite a long time ago

Hasn't it always been that way? I think the state funded some care if you were poor but I can recall relatives being in care homes and they paid the bills. My brother-in-laws mum has been in a care home for 20 years and she's had to pay - no state help.

this is my recollection, but the current headlines and propaganda seem to imply that self-financed care was invented last week

ICBM

I'm beginning to suspect someone at the Beeb is fighting back against the pro-May bias in a subtle way… a few of the pics chosen recently seem to be purposely unflattering and portray her quite differently from the sycophantic text. 

There's this one... as some sort of unhinged Voldemort-like figure.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/1088B/production/_96132776_theresamay_getty.jpg

And this great one of her standing behind Ruth Davidson like Ian McDiarmid in the Phantom Menace.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/13210/production/_96125387_c4bfd631-3947-4730-bc01-63daf7284cdf.jpg

Fretwired

Tories slip 5% while Labour at 6% .. gap only 12% and closing.

siraxeman

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a263/sir-axeman/thereeamay_zpsz1whbm6f.jpg

Emp_Fab

I'm surprised that they're being so open about their more controversial plans - removal of school meals, removal of support for elderly care, extermination of the poor etc..  They've taken a big hit in the polls because of it and Labour, so far, haven't had any major recent fuck-ups and their manifesto is very populist.  I still think May will win though, but it won't be as close as previously thought.

It concerns me somewhat that if the Tories are willing to make these policies public during an election campaign, what are they going to spring once they're back in power ?

Fretwired

Tory lead slashed to 9 points as people desert the Tories ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/21/shock-poll-shows-jeremy-corbyn-narrowing-gap-theresa-may-tories/

ICBM

Fretwired said:

Tory lead slashed to 9 points as people desert the Tories ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/21/shock-poll-shows-jeremy-corbyn-narrowing-gap-theresa-may-tories/

The question is whether it will panic reluctant Tories into voting for them, or whether it will give hope to anyone else that the Tories can possibly be beaten, and swing behind Labour.

Fretwired

ICBM said:

Fretwired said:

Tory lead slashed to 9 points as people desert the Tories ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/21/shock-poll-shows-jeremy-corbyn-narrowing-gap-theresa-may-tories/

The question is whether it will panic reluctant Tories into voting for them, or whether it will give hope to anyone else that the Tories can possibly be beaten, and swing behind Labour.

Tories are falling apart .. pathetic interview this morning on Marr show and dissent in the ranks. Read the comments in the Times .. people think May is left wing and won't vote for her. Sad thing is the Lib Dems aren't moving and even their own supporters are speechless after the anti-May poster was launched. I must say it is in bad taste. May could be in trouble. Looks like the landslide has gone unless she pulls a rabbit out of the hat and does a U-turn on hitting old people in the wallet.

DarnWeight

ICBM said:

Fretwired said:

Tory lead slashed to 9 points as people desert the Tories ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/21/shock-poll-shows-jeremy-corbyn-narrowing-gap-theresa-may-tories/

The question is whether it will panic reluctant Tories into voting for them, or whether it will give hope to anyone else that the Tories can possibly be beaten, and swing behind Labour.

I read somewhere this morning that a 7% poll lead for the Tories equates to a loss of their majority.  Not verified this number myself, but if it is in that ballpark then this could end up running far closer than we thought a week or two ago. 

ICBM

Fretwired said:

Sad thing is the Lib Dems aren't moving and even their own supporters are speechless after the anti-May poster was launched. I must say it is in bad taste.

I hadn't seen it, but you're right.

Neither of the above scenarios is good news for the Lib Dems either. They've failed to have the courage to properly grasp being the pro-EU party - to directly appeal to resentful Remain voters - which would have been an effective strategy I think.

Nevertheless I have finally decided - I think! - to vote Lib Dem. I can't stand Farron, but the Lib Dem is the best local candidate, and the SNP are going to win by miles here anyway so voting SNP or Labour would be fairly pointless. And I think I am actually more a natural Lib Dem than anything else, really - so if I can't make my vote count I should at least make it principled.

Fretwired

DarnWeight said:

ICBM said:

Fretwired said:

Tory lead slashed to 9 points as people desert the Tories ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/21/shock-poll-shows-jeremy-corbyn-narrowing-gap-theresa-may-tories/

The question is whether it will panic reluctant Tories into voting for them, or whether it will give hope to anyone else that the Tories can possibly be beaten, and swing behind Labour.

I read somewhere this morning that a 7% poll lead for the Tories equates to a loss of their majority.  Not verified this number myself, but if it is in that ballpark then this could end up running far closer than we thought a week or two ago. 

Yes - looks like the Labour heartlands in the north are returning to Labour .. obviously polls can be wrong, but all of them are saying the same thing. Will May snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?

rocktron

ICBM said:
I'm beginning to suspect someone at the Beeb is fighting back against the pro-May bias in a subtle way…

The traitorous pro-EU BBC see this as an opportunity to reduce the Conservative majority by a significant number of MPs which would be detrimental to Mrs. May’s Brexit negotiations when it comes to voting in the Commons.   

Whereas most people understand and agree with the cut in WFA, it is the perception that some people have that they would lose their allowance, and the media is exploiting this.

I see the Dementia Tax as a major issue for the Conservatives as most families have elderly folk and would be affected..

The cutting of school meals is another factor. Mrs. May seems to have forgotten the public outcry when Mrs. Thatcher cut milk in schools – one can remember the outrage at “Milk Snatcher Thatcher”.    

Mrs. May needs a strong hand in her Brexit negotiations, and perception is very important at this stage , especially when Brexit seems to have been forgotten by the BBC to gain a pro-EU  advantage.

It seems to me that the Conservatives haven't thought through their policies carefully and the knock on effect it would have, at this crucial time in Brexit .  

ICBM

rocktron said:

The traitorous pro-EU BBC see this as an opportunity to reduce the Conservative majority by a significant number of MPs which would be detrimental to Mrs. May’s Brexit negotiations when it comes to voting in the Commons.

The Europeans say it makes no difference.

Personally I think Labour would make a better job of the negotiations anyway, they're less likely to be confrontational and actually have more in common with the main stream of European thinking on most issues.

Jalapeno

ToneControl said:

When did councils start charging houseowners for residential care?

Donkey's years ago. My M-i-law's care was offset against her property in her will.  They collected when she died. That was 5-6 yrs ago ....

Fretwired

From today's Sunday Times ...

Tory wobble as cuts for elderly slash May’s lead

Corbyn halves gap as manifesto bombs

Labour has closed within nine points of the Conservatives in a new poll that will set nerves jangling in Tory high command.

The YouGov survey for The Sunday Times — the first by the pollster since the Conservative manifesto was published on Thursday — puts the Tories down to 44%, with Labour up to 35%.

It is the smallest advantage for May this year and suggests that the publication of the general election manifesto has slashed her lead in half since last weekend.

Labour’s standing is at its highest since the last general election, suggesting that Jeremy Corbyn’s unashamed socialist pitch is connecting with a growing number of voters. If that result is replicated on June 8 it would give May a majority of 46, short of the landslide that has been predicted by many.

The poll shock came as ministers privately expressed fears that May’s plans to reform the care system and means-test the winter fuel allowance would cost them seats.

The Tories have lost five points since last weekend after announcing that more pensioners will have to pay for care at home and only £100,000 of a pensioner’s wealth will be protected from care costs.

YouGov found that 35% of the public support the changes while 40% are opposed.

In what appeared to be the beginning of a Tory “wobble weekend”, MPs and frontbenchers privately voiced concerns that the manifesto would repel voters and complained that the campaign was too gung-ho.

A minister said May should “quickly change the subject from the manifesto — a lot of which is a kick in the teeth for voters”.

He added: “We need to get off care and pensioner benefits and start talking about the calamity of Corbyn again.”

Last night another manifesto pledge, to axe free school lunches, provoked criticism after a report found it could hit 900,000 pupils.

Another minister who is close to Downing Street complained that campaign headquarters is deploying its resources poorly.

“They’re getting carried away with all this talk of a landslide, sending people to places we are never going to win,” he said.

“We need to make sure we get the seats we can get.”

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the Brexit secretary David Davis warned against complacency: “You always have to remember, we only have to lose half a dozen seats and we’re in trouble.”

May herself warned yesterday: “If I lose just six seats I will lose this election.”

A senior Conservative campaign source said the poll was “probably helpful” because it would focus the minds of voters on the choice between Corbyn and May.

A further closing of the gap would spark the kind of panic that afflicted Tory headquarters in 1987 when one poll put Neil Kinnock within four points of Margaret Thatcher.

In a bid to cash in on the Tory woes, Corbyn yesterday issued a five-point pledge to pensioners, promising to preserve the triple lock and the winter fuel allowance, as well as prevent further rises in the state pension age.

The poll boosts Corbyn’s hopes of clinging on to the leadership by winning more votes than Ed Miliband two years ago.

Miliband’s former spin doctor Tom Baldwin says, however, that Corbyn should “have the good grace to clear his desk the next day” if he fails to gain seats and narrow the Tory lead from the 6½ points that David Cameron enjoyed two years ago.

Writing in The Sunday Times, Baldwin says: “Corbyn has never been a force for either stability or rational debate in the party.

“If he cannot win seats from the Tories and cut their majority, he should go.”

ThePrettyDamned

You'd think the lib dems would make some real moves, but they haven't. All they need is some well thought out policies, and to stop the name-calling and backhanded insults everyone else does so a handful of people can feel like there is a genuine alternative to the childish games between the other major parties. 

But no, nothing. 

ThePrettyDamned

ICBM said:

Fretwired said:

Sad thing is the Lib Dems aren't moving and even their own supporters are speechless after the anti-May poster was launched. I must say it is in bad taste.

I hadn't seen it, but you're right.

Neither of the above scenarios is good news for the Lib Dems either. They've failed to have the courage to properly grasp being the pro-EU party - to directly appeal to resentful Remain voters - which would have been an effective strategy I think.

Nevertheless I have finally decided - I think! - to vote Lib Dem. I can't stand Farron, but the Lib Dem is the best local candidate, and the SNP are going to win by miles here anyway so voting SNP or Labour would be fairly pointless. And I think I am actually more a natural Lib Dem than anything else, really - so if I can't make my vote count I should at least make it principled.

Our local conservative candidate is a top bloke, my brother (labour through and through, a member iirc) really respects him and knows he gets stuff done. He's generally well thought of, in fact, I've never heard a bad word against him. 

Labour chose Iain Ramsbottom. I literally can't find any information about him anywhere, beyond this. 

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/politics/labour-chooses-market-trader-to-stand-against-shailesh-vara-1-7943873

I hope they actually start posting out some leaflets or something soon... From all parties. I still don't know which way I'm going to go. 

Drew_TNBD

Can someone please quote the bit in the manifesto that relates to taking away from or ending free school meals. Because I can't bloody see it!

https://issuu.com/conservativeparty/docs/ge2017_manifesto_a5_digital/6?ff=true&e=16696947/48955343