UK Election results 2019: Boris Johnson returns to power with big majority [Post#486]

[irfan]

All parties are on a spending spree. How are Lim Dems funding their pledges?

We are coming to the end of the current long term economic cycle which is ending in a corporate balance sheet deflationary bust, the next cycle will be a reflationary one which will necessitate huge infrastructure spending and investments by govt irrespective of their hue, even Tories know this and have committed to high spending and you can see the same across the pond with Trump championing huge infrastructure spending. To view govt spending akin to a household budget is economic fallacy.

 

[barah_admi]

Question Time - the 10 millionth antisemitism question and the 100 millionth Brexit question. Great stuff people of Britain.

 

[barah_admi]

5 Scottish questioners in the span of 30 seconds?

I'm curious when its Boris' turn if these guys will ask questions on Tory policies regarding Scotland.

 

[Technics 1210]

Loving this format on QT.

Jo Swinson is not performing well! 2 people clapped when she said her party will stop Brexit.

She is toast.

 

[irfan]

Swinson is simply awful, out of her depth.

 

[irfan]

Boris have a car crash, vague woolly bumbling answers with no specific policies and manifesto pledges.

 

[Manunited18]

Lets stop bombing countries and we will have plenty and some left over.

Lol, couldn't agree more with you, governments spend ludicrous amounts on attack budgets, this money could be served better in the public interests

 

[Markhor]

Nicola Sturgeon gets effusive praise by some pundits whenever she performs on TV.

I don't deny she has admirable qualities but I feel that's partly because she isn't subjected to the wrath and 24/7 smearjobs that Labour leaders recieve by the Westminster press.

It's easier being a regional figure with a clearly defined constituency (pro-independence) than a national leader who must straddle many different constituencies and interests.

 

[Markhor]

Northern Ireland once again was neglected despite being central to the Brexit debate.

Wonder when Unionists will take the hint that the mainland never cared about them unless it suits their interests. For many people on the mainland, Northern Ireland may as well be part of the Republic since such little time is devoted to their issues.

 

[sweep_shot]

Jeremy Corbyn has said he would remain neutral in a future Brexit referendum if Labour wins power.

He told a BBC Question Time leaders' special he would not campaign for Leave or Remain so it would allow him, as prime minister, to "credibly" carry out what the voters then decide.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson later asked how Mr Corbyn could be "indifferent" on such a vital issue.

But Mr Johnson faced questions of his own about whether he could be trusted.

The prime minister was the fourth party leader to answer the audience's questions, with the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon and Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson also taking to the stage for 30 minutes each.

Pressed on whether politicians should be relied upon to tell the truth, Mr Johnson said this was "absolutely vital". While trust was a crucial issue for voters, he argued the biggest threat to public confidence was the "corrosive" effect of Parliament trying to block Brexit.

He said the Labour, SNP and Lib Dem leaders wanted to "basically frustrate" the result of the 2016 referendum, which the public had been waiting more than three years to see delivered, by "absurdly" holding another one.

He said that the Labour leader's views seemed to have "mutated" and Mr Corbyn's ambition to negotiate an improved agreement would be totally undermined if he did not care whether the public backed it or not.

"He is now going to be neutral on the deal he proposes to do. I don't see how he can do a deal when he is going to be neutral or indifferent."

Johnson on 'Bermuda triangle stuff'
The Conservative leader also dismissed suggestions he was trying to suppress the findings of a report into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 referendum vote as "Bermuda triangle stuff".

"There is no evidence whatsoever, that I know of, to show any interference in any British electoral event," he said.

He insisted his party had "zero tolerance" towards Islamophobia and said he regretted any offence he had caused in articles about race during his journalistic career - including a piece in 2018 in which he likened Muslim women wearing burqas to letter boxes and bank robbers.

But he defended the right to freedom of speech and did not accept an audience member's invitation to say "sorry" for writing them.

Labour's economic plans would be "ruinous" for the country, he argued, but he also acknowledged his plan to cut national insurance bills for low-earners - expected to be the main tax announcement in the Conservative manifesto - would only have a modest impact.

On the NHS, Mr Johnson stuck by his claims that the health service was receiving the biggest cash injection in its history.

He added: "Of course I understand that things have been tough in the NHS and understand the pressures the NHS is under. I know the massive demand the NHS faces but we can only meet that demand if we have a dynamic economy."

Corbyn says 'you heard it here first' on Brexit stance
The four leaders all appeared individually and faced a mixture of audience questions and follow-up questions from host Fiona Bruce at the event in Sheffield.

The first to take the stage, Mr Corbyn, faced tough questioning about his economic polices, with one member of the audience suggesting his "reckless socialist" agenda "terrified" him and his family.

Mr Corbyn said his plans to take Royal Mail, the railways, the water industry and broadband delivery into public ownership had been "set out" very clearly and were aimed at "delivering an economy that works for all".

He insisted business had "nothing to be frightened of" by his plans, saying his "fully prepared and costed manifesto" would bring the country together and help reduce inequality.

Mr Corbyn was criticised for what several audience members suggested was a lack of clarity on whether he personally would support or oppose Brexit in a new referendum in 2020, with one questioner saying: "Why would anyone vote for Labour without knowing the answer to that question?"

Mr Corbyn said it was "entirely reasonable" to put the question back to the people as another referendum represented a sensible middle ground between those who wanted to cancel Brexit entirely and those backing the PM's deal.

Asked to clarify his own position, he said: "I will adopt, if I am prime minister at the time, a neutral stance so I can credibly carry out the results of that to bring our communities and countries together rather than continuing an endless debate."

He later told the audience: "You heard it here first on Question Time."

It's not clear if the lively grilling of major politicians will shift the dial at this election.

But it certainly marked a shift in Jeremy Corbyn's position on Brexit.

He had been put under pressure by his opponents to say whether he would support Leave or Remain in the new referendum Labour is promising.

So he tried to eliminate a negative by providing clarity, of a sort: a clear commitment to stay neutral.

Labour's strategists are suggesting he could now be seen as an honest broker that can bring a divided country together.

In truth, though, behind the scenes there are fears that the party may have over-estimated the threat from the Lib Dems and underestimated the importance voters in Leave areas attach to delivering Brexit.

So his neutrality is in part an attempt to reassure those voters that his promised referendum isn't the means of cancelling Brexit by the back door.

His followers will say he has risen above the fray; his critics - that he has become more decisive about sitting on the fence.

In doing this, he would follow in the footsteps of Harold Wilson - who allowed Labour ministers to campaign on both sides in the 1975 Common Market referendum and took a back seat during the campaign - although he personally backed staying in.

Questioned on the issue of tackling incidents of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, Mr Corbyn was accused of failing to intervene when one of his own Jewish MPs, Ruth Smeeth, was heckled by an activist at a party event in 2016.

Mr Corbyn said Ms Smeeth and others had "suffered terrible abuse". He insisted that all forms of racism and misogyny were "unacceptable" and party activists who had abused MPs had been disciplined or expelled.

Sturgeon believes Corbyn will budge on Scotland
Following Mr Corbyn as the second party leader to face the BBC audience, the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon said voting for her party in Scotland was the best way of "depriving" the Tories of a majority across the UK.

Asked about what she would do in the event of another hung Parliament on 12 December, she said she would not work with the Tories but was prepared to deal with Labour if Jeremy Corbyn committed to end austerity and agreed to hold another Scottish independence referendum.

"In terms of what I would seek to win from a minority Labour government, obviously I would ask for and expect Jeremy Corbyn to respect the right of the Scottish people to choose their own future.

"It is not for Westminster to decide. It is for the people of Scotland."

When it was pointed out to her that Mr Corbyn had just stated to viewers that he would not sanction another independence referendum in the first two years of a Labour government, she said she was predicting what he might choose to do after the election, rather than dwelling on what he was saying now.

She said: "Do you think he's going to walk away from the chance to end austerity, to protect the NHS, stop Universal Credit, simply because he wants, for a couple of years, to prevent Scotland having the right to self-determination?"

The first minister said more needed to be done to reduce the number of drug deaths in Scotland, saying, "I don't want to be citizen of a country where people are dying from drug issues."

Swinson speaks out on austerity voting record
When she came on the stage, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson was immediately asked by an audience member whether she regretted saying she could become prime minister and "how ridiculous this sounded" - given that her party only had 20 MPs at the end of the last Parliament.

She said she recognised it was a "big ask" for her to make it to No 10 but she believed many people were "dismayed" at having to choose between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn and there had to be a "better alternative".

She faced awkward questions over her plans to cancel Brexit by revoking Article 50, being asked by one audience member whether she regarded all 17.4 million Leave voters as "stupid".

Ms Swinson said this was not the case and they clearly disagreed over the benefits of being in the EU, to which she was told "you can disagree with me but you lost".

She was also challenged over austerity and what one audience member called her party's backing for "harsh and cruel benefit cuts" while in coalition with the Conservatives between 2010 and 2015.

She conceded the Lib Dems had made mistakes during their time in government and should have done more to limit the scale of austerity - although she said she remained supportive of the principle of the Universal Credit system - which Labour has pledged to scrap.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50511329.

 

[sweep_shot]

The Conservatives have pledged to put an extra £83m a year into dementia research over the next decade if they form the next government.

The investment, which would double current funding, was described by the party as the "largest boost to dementia research ever" in the UK.

Around 850,000 people in the UK currently have dementia.

The Alzheimer's Society said it welcomed any "serious plan" to invest in research.

The number of people with dementia is set to rise to more than a million by the middle of the next decade, and is predicted to double in the next 30 years.

The extra money promised by the Tories would be spent on increasing the number of clinical research academics and researchers studying the disease.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the Daily Express how "heartbreaking" it was to watch his grandmother battle the disease for the last five years of her life - but added he was "hopeful" a cure could be found.

"I know from deep personal experience just how wonderful it would be if we could delay the onset of dementia because it would help so many families - and if we found a cure altogether it would be a huge stride forward for humanity," he told the paper.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said dementia was the "next great frontier" in medicine and that the UK should be "leading" in the fight to tackle it.

The Alzheimer's Society estimates the total cost of care for people with the condition in the UK is £34.7bn. That is set to rise to £94.1bn by 2040.

Fiona Carragher, the society's chief policy and research officer, said: "We welcome any party that comes forward at the election with a serious plan to invest in dementia research.

"This positive funding announcement would approximately double what is spent now and could make a huge difference."

But she added: "Every year dementia costs the economy £34bn. We have called for 1% of this to address the problem long term, so this announcement does fall short of that, but is still a big step in the right direction.

"Dementia research lags behind other disease areas and we urgently need research to fund new drugs but we also need to fund research into care - accompanying this with radical reform of the broken social care system."

The Conservatives also pledged to create a new £500m fund for new medicines for cancer and other diseases was also promised.

The Innovative Medicines Fund would follow-on from the work of the Cancer Drugs Fund, with the aim of providing access to new medicines for patients with conditions such as Huntington's disease.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50523507.

 

[James]

Sturgeon good, but with limited scrutiny.
Corbyn started off poorly but got better and better.
Swinson was off the scale abysmal.
Johnson got slaughtered but just about survived it, and finished well.

 

[Captain caveman]

Sturgeon good, but with limited scrutiny.
Corbyn started off poorly but got better and better.
Swinson was off the scale abysmal.
Johnson got slaughtered but just about survived it, and finished well.

Am i the only one who thinks swinson is a terrible party leader?
If i hear her refer to brexit as economic vandalism again, i think i will scream. Tell us some facts and figures, dont keep.on using insults, how is it vandalism?
And she openly admits she wants to over turn brexit, thats shameful, to reject a referendum result, a referendum which was passed by parliament.
If she has fears over it, show the proof and do what corbyn is doing, have a second referendum, with the choice of the brexit deal or remaining in europe. But dont just say you are going to over turn brexit, let the people decide!

 

[James]

Last night both Remainers and Leavers made absolute mincemeat of Swinson. It was really quite uncomfortable to watch.

The Liberal Democrats seem to have decided on their flagship policy of revoking Article 50 (and also lifted a lot of their language) from die hard Remainers on Twitter.

Truth is that social media only tells a microcosm of the story, and there is proving to be next to no support throughout the country for such an undemocratic policy.

The British people do not like anti-democracy. The vast majority of people outside of the now ridiculous Liberal Party accept that the 2016 EU Referendum result either must stand, or alternatively will stand indefinitely until a further potential vote overrides it.

Conservative and Labour votes across most polls are adding up to 75% now, which suggests that 3 out of 4 people (regardless of their EU Referendum voting stance) would either ratify Brexit altogether right now, or despite wanting to remain would accept Brexit if it is ratified through a confirmatory referendum.

The Lib Dems did poor research and have blown it.

 

[irfan]

Last night both Remainers and Leavers made absolute mincemeat of Swinson. It was really quite uncomfortable to watch.

The Liberal Democrats seem to have decided on their flagship policy of revoking Article 50 (and also lifted a lot of their language) from die hard Remainers on Twitter.

Truth is that social media only tells a microcosm of the story, and there is proving to be next to no support throughout the country for such an undemocratic policy.

The British people do not like anti-democracy. The vast majority of people outside of the now ridiculous Liberal Party accept that the 2016 EU Referendum result either must stand, or alternatively will stand indefinitely until a further potential vote overrides it.

Conservative and Labour votes across most polls are adding up to 75% now, which suggests that 3 out of 4 people (regardless of their EU Referendum voting stance) would either ratify Brexit altogether right now, or despite wanting to remain would accept Brexit if it is ratified through a confirmatory referendum.

The Lib Dems did poor research and have blown it.

Agree and that's why Corbyn was right to resist attempts by arch-Remainer fanatics in his own party to brand Labour as a Remain party thereby ignoring the referendum result, whether he's done enough to retain support of Labour Leave voters remains to be seen.

 

[Robert]

Lets stop bombing countries and we will have plenty and some left over.

That’s not so. The NHS alone is far more expensive than defence which has been ratcheting down for decades.

 

[Robert]

All parties are on a spending spree. How are Lim Dems funding their pledges?

1% income tax rise ringfenced for the NHS, raise business taxes to fund the improvements in child care and school meals, tax frequent fliers, legalise cannabis to make it a taxable industry.

How are Labour going to fund their policies?

 

[Technics 1210]

1% income tax rise ringfenced for the NHS, raise business taxes to fund the improvements in child care and school meals, tax frequent fliers, legalise cannabis to make it a taxable industry.

How are Labour going to fund their policies?

1% is £7B a year.

Labour will fund their pledges by taxing the top 5% earners, windfall tax, and part-nationalising key industries.

 

[Technics 1210]

Looks like Corbyn edged it again last night.

My favourite moment was Jo Swinson said the LDs would stop Brexit, and only 2 people in the audience clapped! Topped by the when the issue of trust was mentioned, the demographic (students) who literally paid the price thanks to Nick Clegg, ripped Jo Swinson apart.

What did they see in her?

 

[Robert]

Am i the only one who thinks swinson is a terrible party leader?
If i hear her refer to brexit as economic vandalism again, i think i will scream. Tell us some facts and figures, dont keep.on using insults, how is it vandalism?
And she openly admits she wants to over turn brexit, thats shameful, to reject a referendum result, a referendum which was passed by parliament.
If she has fears over it, show the proof and do what corbyn is doing, have a second referendum, with the choice of the brexit deal or remaining in europe. But dont just say you are going to over turn brexit, let the people decide!

If the LDs somehow win the election she can claim to have a mandate to stop Brexit. If not, they will put pressure on whoever wins to try to get a second referendum.

I thought that the promise to revoke was a mistake but it was intended to open up blue water between Labour and LDs on Brexit and corner the Remain vote. Swinson has been the target of a Labour social media hate campaign. It seems to have worked.

I think Swinson lacks warmth, and that’s a crime for a woman. Men don’t have to have warmth but women do. Misogyny is at work here.

Her colleague Layla Moran would be a more amenable front person to the women-haters, but she has to consolidate her seat in Abingdon before moving up in the party.

 

[Robert]

Looks like Corbyn edged it again last night.

My favourite moment was Jo Swinson said the LDs would stop Brexit, and only 2 people in the audience clapped! Topped by the when the issue of trust was mentioned, the demographic (students) who literally paid the price thanks to Nick Clegg, ripped Jo Swinson apart.

What did they see in her?

Time for a woman, I guess. Liberal Democrat members aren’t misogynist like a lot of Tory and Kabour voters. After Sir Vince, 2/3 of voting members thought she would appeal to a younger demographic too.

 

[Technics 1210]

Time for a woman, I guess. Liberal Democrat members aren’t misogynist like a lot of Tory and Kabour voters. After Sir Vince, 2/3 of voting members thought she would appeal to a younger demographic too.

How can the Tory party be misogynist when the only 2 female PMs were from the Conservative party?

 

[MenInG]

Jeremy Corbyn has defended his decision to adopt a neutral stance in a future Brexit referendum as "a sign of strength" and "maturity".

The Labour leader told a BBC Question Time leaders' special on Friday that he would not campaign for Leave or Remain if his party wins power.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson questioned how Mr Corbyn could be "indifferent" on such a vital issue.

And Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson accused him of an "abdication of leadership".

But Mr Corbyn said acting as an "honest broker" was a "sensible way forward".

If he becomes prime minister, Mr Corbyn has promised to negotiate a new Brexit deal with the EU and put this to a public vote alongside the option of Remain.

However, in Friday's programme he confirmed he would maintain a neutral stance in this referendum before carrying out the result.

Speaking on a campaign visit to Sheffield on Saturday, Mr Corbyn said: "I think being an honest broker and listening to everyone is actually a sign of strength and a sign of maturity.

"Our country has to come together - we can't go on forever being divided by how people voted in 2016.

"My role as the Labour prime minister would be to ensure that [another referendum] is carried out in a fair way, that the offers put are fair, and that I will carry out the result of that referendum.

"I think this is actually a sensible way forward that can bring people together."

What have the other parties said?
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Mr Corbyn's stance "won't wash" with voters, adding that the Labour leader had "decided to be indecisive" on the "critical question of our times".

"You can't ask the public to be prime minister of this country when you can't even make your mind up on Brexit," he told the BBC.

Speaking during Friday's Question Time special, Mr Johnson said the Labour leader's ambition to negotiate a new Brexit deal would be undermined by his neutral stance.

"I don't see how he can do a deal when he is going to be neutral or indifferent," he said.

During a campaign visit in west London on Saturday, Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson said Mr Corbyn's position was "astonishing".

"On the biggest issue faced for a generation, they are not going to take a position," she said.

"Remainers in this country need a leader, not a bystander."

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50530163

 

[Robert]

How can the Tory party be misogynist when the only 2 female PMs were from the Conservative party?

Did I say the Tory party is misogynistic, or some other people are? Please don’t distort my words.

 

[Technics 1210]

Did I say the Tory party is misogynistic, or some other people are? Please don’t distort my words.

My bad, you implied Tory voters are misogynists, which is still so far from the truth given said voters voted both female Tory PMs.

Ultimately you have just generalised both Tory and Labour voters as being misogynists, this is no surprise and expected from the LDs, typical character assassination, no wonder your leader was humiliated last night.

Just because your leader was humiliated last night doesn't meant Tory and Labour voters are misogynists. Why not character assassinate Jo Swinson and you will soon realise where the fault is at.

 

[Technics 1210]

Lib Dems target ‘soft Tories’ with focus on PM’s false claims

The Liberal Democrats will reset their faltering campaign this week by turning their fire on Boris Johnson, seeking to exploit voters’ fears that he is untrustworthy and unfit to be the next prime minister, according to a leaked internal party document.

A confidential briefing from the party’s campaign department is designed to “help candidates attack Boris Johnson’s record, by outlining his long history of making false and exaggerated claims and derogatory remarks in order to further his own political career”.

The document, which is being circulated to candidates this weekend, includes a 12-page dossier, detailing Mr Johnson’s most controversial remarks, including those the party claim are Islamophobic, sexist and homophobic. Lurid stories about Mr Johnson’s private and professional life are also included.

The candidates’ briefing, seen by The Sunday Times, is aimed at “soft Tories in target seats” and is the clearest indication yet that the party is preparing to turn its firepower on the Conservatives in key marginal seats. By challenging Labour as well as the Tories, the Lib Dems risk splitting the remain vote in some seats.

Now the party is changing tack and focusing its resources on winning Tory votes, as Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem leader, appears to have abandoned her ambition to become the next prime minister.

Amid growing signs the party is pinning its hopes on playing kingmaker in a hung parliament, Ms Swinson admitted on Friday’s BBC Question Time programme that it would be a “strange thing” if she emerged as prime minister, when it was put to her that leaflets describing her as “Britain’s next prime minister” had been “ridiculous”.

In recent weeks, the Lib Dem poll ratings have slumped, defying expectations that they would attract the “remain” vote, and forcing Swinson to admit that “things have got much more challenging”. She blamed the “alliance between Mr Johnson and the Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage”. Most of the gains that her party is aiming to make will be at the expense of the Conservatives. Of the 22 seats where the Lib Dems came a close second in the 2017 general election, 15 are held by the Tories, four by Labour, two by the SNP and one by Plaid Cymru.

The party, which until now had put its pledge to cancel Brexit at the heart of its election offer, intends to put Johnson’s record at the forefront of the campaign.

“We know from polling that voters see Boris Johnson as untrustworthy, dishonest, self-interested and out of touch,” candidates are told in the secret campaign briefing.

“It’s crucial we emphasise this in conversations with voters on the doorstep and over the phone, showing Boris Johnson is not fit to be Britain’s next prime minister.”

The Lib Dems’ other “core messages” include claims that Johnson is a “divisive figure who is willing to alienate communities to suit his own political agenda”.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/...ries-with-focus-on-pms-false-claims-ztf9njh2s

It's is clear, LDs are intellectually bankrupt, and their sole strategy in this election is character assassination. Tsk tsk.

 

[James]

Corbyn’s “benevolently neutral” stance on Brexit is actually quite smart, but I think it’s come a bit too late to sway the election. With the exception of 2017 which was a gigantic political cockup on the part of Theresa May, most elections in the UK are all but decided in the months and years leading up to the formal announcement - our usual 5/6-week campaign is really a very short time for voters to be influenced into choosing anything other than their pre-determined option.

 

[Technics 1210]

Corbyn’s “benevolently neutral” stance on Brexit is actually quite smart, but I think it’s come a bit too late to sway the election. With the exception of 2017 which was a gigantic political cockup on the part of Theresa May, most elections in the UK are all but decided in the months and years leading up to the formal announcement - our usual 5/6-week campaign is really a very short time for voters to be influenced into choosing anything other than their pre-determined option.

Labour & SNP coalition 40 to 1 on Betfair. I've piled in.

 

[James]

Labour & SNP coalition 40 to 1 on Betfair. I've piled in.

Well now it’s either that combination running the country, or a Conservative majority government. That has become the binary choice. The friendly 3-way in 2010 was an exception, but most General Elections in our system come down to a two horse race.

 

[Robert]

My bad, you implied Tory voters are misogynists, which is still so far from the truth given said voters voted both female Tory PMs.

Ultimately you have just generalised both Tory and Labour voters as being misogynists this is no surprise and expected from the LDs, typical character assassination, no wonder your leader was humiliated last night.

Just because your leader was humiliated last night doesn't meant Tory and Labour voters are misogynists. Why not character assassinate Jo Swinson and you will soon realise where the fault is at.

Did I post that, or have you misquoted me a second time?

 

[Robert]

Well now it’s either that combination running the country, or a Conservative majority government. That has become the binary choice. The friendly 3-way in 2010 was an exception, but most General Elections in our system come down to a two horse race.

Tories are going to walk this.

FPTP means LDs can get 24% of the vote yet 8% of the seats. One Tory MP takes just 24,000 votes and one UKIP MP 4,000,000.

 

[Technics 1210]

Did I post that, or have you misquoted me a second time?

Here you go.

Time for a woman, I guess. Liberal Democrat members aren’t misogynist like a lot of Tory and Kabour voters. After Sir Vince, 2/3 of voting members thought she would appeal to a younger demographic too.

Correct me, what did you mean? See bold emphasis.

Why are you generalising and what is your basis?

 

[sweep_shot]

The Conservative Party is set to launch its general election manifesto, promising to bring back the Withdrawal Agreement Bill before Christmas to achieve Brexit by the end of January.

Boris Johnson will unveil the document in the West Midlands on Sunday.

It will include a headline promise to "get Brexit done" alongside plans for a "triple tax lock" and a pledge to raise the National Insurance threshold.

Mr Johnson has vowed to "unleash the potential" of the UK.

Key pledges in the manifesto include free hospital parking for some groups of people, a national pothole-filling programme and extra funding for adults to learn new skills.

Speaking ahead of the launch, the prime minister said: "Our One Nation agenda will unite this great country for years to come.

"It's time to turn the page from the dither, delay and division of recent years."

The manifesto pledges a Tory government will bring back the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in Parliament before 25 December - if the party gets a majority.

The aim is for MPs to ratify the prime minister's Brexit deal before the UK is due to leave the EU on 31 January.

The Withdrawal Agreement Bill passed its second reading in October.

Key pledges
The manifesto will also include a commitment to a "triple tax lock" - a promise that the rates of income tax, national insurance and VAT would not rise under a Conservative government.

The pledge is in addition to Mr Johnson's previous announcement to raise the National Insurance contributions threshold to £9,500 in 2020 with an ambition to increase the threshold to £12,500.

Among other measures already announced are pledges for more investment in the NHS, schools and tackling crime.

Other key pledges in the manifesto will include:

Childcare: £250m a year, for at least three years, plus a £250m capital spending boost, for "wraparound" childcare - meaning after school or during holidays
Environment: Spending £6.3bn for environmental upgrades to homes, such as grants for improving boilers and insulation
Roads: £500m a year for four years to fund filling potholes - almost 10 times the amount promised by the party in an announcement in March
Education: A new National Skills Fund of £600m a year for five years. Labour and the Liberal Democrats have announced similar plans
Providing free hospital car parking to protected groups - costing £78m a year in England
A ban on exporting plastic waste to countries outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Groups covered by the Conservatives' hospital parking proposals will be people with disabilities, frequent patients, gravely ill people, family of long-stay patients, carers and NHS staff working night shifts.

The party says this will be funded by £78m per year, which it claims is new funding for providing extra parking capacity, or compensation for lost fees.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50532000.

 

[Robert]

Here you go.



Correct me, what did you mean? See bold emphasis.

Why are you generalising and what is your basis?

The set a {a lot of Tory and Labour voters} is not the same as set {Tory voters} is what I mean, so no generalisation.

There is a horrible strain of ‘bro-cialism’ in Labour (no female leader ever) and while a lot of Tories just flat out hate women, they can accept women who behave like men such as Thatcher and May. Swinson doesn’t behave this way - she is a woman who behaves more like a woman, so misogynists who vote Tory and Labour hate her. But I never met a misogynist Lib Dem, and I have met a lot of their activists and counsellors.

 

[Technics 1210]

The set a {a lot of Tory and Labour voters} is not the same as set {Tory voters} is what I mean, so no generalisation.

You are splitting hairs.

There is a horrible strain of ‘bro-cialism’ in Labour (no female leader ever) and while a lot of Tories just flat out hate women, they can accept women who behave like men such as Thatcher and May. Swinson doesn’t behave this way - she is a woman who behaves more like a woman, so misogynists who vote Tory and Labour hate her. But I never met a misogynist Lib Dem, and I have met a lot of their activists and counsellors.

No wonder LDs are toast, with views like the above, your party does itself no favours.

Forget misogyny, the LDs are the real Islamaphobic party - name me the highest ranking Muslim in the LD party?

 

[MenInG]

The Conservative Party will launch its general election manifesto later, promising to bring back the Withdrawal Agreement Bill before Christmas to achieve Brexit by the end of January.

Spoiler

Other pledges include a promise not to raise the rates of VAT, income tax and National Insurance, as well as an extra £250m a year to expand childcare.

Hospital parking charges will be axed for selected patients and NHS staff.

Boris Johnson will vow to "unleash the potential" of the UK.

At a rally in Telford, Shropshire, the prime minister will promise to "get Brexit done" and "turn the page from the dither, delay and division of recent years".

Other headline manifesto commitments are set to include a national pothole-filling programme, and a pledge to raise the National Insurance threshold to £9,500 in 2020, with an ambition to raise it further to £12,500.


The manifesto will promise to bring back the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in Parliament before 25 December - if the Conservatives get a House of Commons majority in the 12 December election.

The aim is for MPs to ratify the prime minister's Brexit deal before the UK is due to leave the EU on 31 January. The Withdrawal Agreement Bill passed its second reading - an approval of its general principles from the Commons - in October.

Cabinet minister Michael Gove told the BBC's Andrew Marr show that, under the Conservatives, the UK would be able to "walk away" from the EU and begin negotiations on a future trade and security relationship, which he insisted could be wrapped up in less than a year.

He ruled out any extension to the transition period - during which the UK would continue to follow EU rules while the two sides try to work out a permanent trade deal - beyond the 31 December 2020 deadline.

Mr Gove said a deal was likely because "across Europe, there is an appetite to ensure we tie up the loose ends and conclude a relationship based on free trade and friendly co-operation".

Key pledges
The promise of a "triple tax lock", ruling out increases in the headline rate of income tax and National Insurance, as well as VAT, for five years, is similar to one made by former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron in 2015.

Other policies contained the manifesto will include:

Childcare: £250m a year, for at least three years, plus a £250m capital spending boost, for "wraparound" childcare - meaning after school or during holidays
Environment: £6.3bn for environmental upgrades to homes, such as grants for improving boilers and insulation
Roads: £500m a year for four years to fund filling potholes - almost 10 times the amount promised by the party in an announcement in March
Education: A new National Skills Fund of £600m a year for five years. Labour and the Liberal Democrats have announced similar plans
Providing free hospital car parking in England for protected groups - costing £78m a year
A ban on exporting plastic waste to countries outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Sticking to the commitment to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050
Continuing work to recruit 20,000 more police officers over the next three years - essentially to replace those lost in cuts by Conservative-led governments since 2010
Groups covered by the hospital parking proposals would be people with disabilities, frequent patients, the gravely ill, families of long-stay patients, carers and NHS staff working night shifts.

The Conservative Party says this will be funded by £78m per year, which it claims is new funding for providing extra parking capacity, or compensation for lost fees.

Boris Johnson's pitch to the voters will feel similar to the pitch he's been making since he became prime minister.

Deliver Brexit - and the country can focus on domestic priorities.

Today we'll see in detail what Mr Johnson's priorities are - but we already know there will be more money for the health service, for extra police and for schools.

There will also be pensioner-friendly policies like keeping the triple lock, winter fuel payments and free bus passes for the elderly.

Add into the mix cash for childcare support, fixing potholes and a skills fund and it's clear the Tories are loosening the purse strings.

The party says the manifesto will be fully costed.

But it's already removed one way of raising extra funds to pay for its pledges - by promising not to raise income tax, National Insurance or VAT under a Conservative government.

Labour wants to make hospital parking free for everyone in England, in line with Wales and Scotland.

The manifesto is unlikely to include any major initiative on social care following the controversy over the party's proposals in 2017, which were dropped after Theresa May lost her Commons majority.

'Care consensus'
Mr Gove said the Conservatives were willing to talk to other parties to try and reach a long-term consensus on funding care for the elderly - which has eluded previous governments.

He said any solution must be affordable and fair to all the generations. Asked about Boris Johnson's suggestion earlier in the campaign that the Tories would guarantee no-one would have to sell their house to pay for care, he said the party wanted to "work towards" such a position.

The party is also promising to maintain the so-called "triple lock" on the UK state pension - meaning it will rise the by the rate of average earnings, inflation or 2.5%, whichever is higher - and continuing the older person's free bus pass.

Chancellor Sajid Javid told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday show on Sky News that the manifesto would be accompanied by the "most detailed and most transparent costings ever published in British electoral history".

But Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, said the Conservatives' position on taxes could "come back to bite" the party, as it could limit the ability to deal with growing financial pressures on the NHS from an ageing society.

What are the parties promising you?
Here's a concise guide to where the parties stand on key issues like Brexit, education and the NHS.

General election policy guide
Meanwhile, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced a Tory government would legislate to make sure rail services continue to operate even when strikes occur.

He criticised a series of strikes planned by rail workers in the run-up to Christmas, saying passengers were being "held to ransom".

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50532000

 

[Technics 1210]

Plaid Cymru in on the act with their manifesto - Wales seeking a referendum on independence too! Is this the end of the Union as we know it?

The party say a Welsh Government led by Plaid Cymru after the 2021 Welsh Assembly election would produce a self-determination Bill, aimed at a referendum on independence before 2030.

In his speech Mr Price said: "They say that our dream of an independent Wales is improbable, that our poverty is inevitable, well, this is the moment when the improbable beats what Westminster says is inevitable."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/0/plaid-cymru-manifesto-2019-summary-policies/

 

[Abdullah719]

General election 2019: Boris Johnson vows to 'forge a new Britain'

Spoiler

The Conservatives will "get Brexit done" and "forge a new Britain", Boris Johnson has said as he launched the party's election manifesto.

He vowed to train 50,000 new nurses and create 50 million more GP appointments.

Other "guarantees" include tighter immigration controls, more money to fix potholes, zero-net carbon emissions by 2050 and no increases in income tax. national insurance and VAT rates.

The 59-page manifesto comes 18 days before the general election.

Speaking at its launch in Telford, Shropshire, the prime minister said the choice facing the country in this "closely fought" contest had "never been starker".

"Get Brexit done and we can focus our hearts and minds on the priorities of the British people," he added.

The manifesto, which the PM described as a "partial blueprint" for the future of the country, promises 20,000 more police officers and to "level up" schools funding.

The major new announcement is a plan to recruit and train 50,000 more nurses, through a mixture of new university places, apprenticeships and hiring from overseas through a new NHS visa.

Nursing maintenancwe bursaries scrapped in 2016 will be restored, at an estimated cost of £760m in 2020-21, rising to £880m in 2023-4.

Other policies include:

A "triple tax lock", ruling out increases in the headline rate of income tax and National Insurance, as well as VAT, for five years
Raising the National Insurance threshold to £9,500 in 2020, with an ambition to raise it further to £12,500
Childcare: £250m a year, for at least three years, plus a £250m capital spending boost, for "wraparound" childcare - meaning after school or during holidays
Environment: £6.3bn for upgrades to homes, such as grants for improving boilers and insulation
£500m a year for four years for filling potholes - almost 10 times the amount promised by the party in an announcement in March
A new National Skills Fund of £600m a year for five years. Labour and the Liberal Democrats have announced similar plans
Building "Northern Powerhouse Rail" between Leeds and Manchester and investing £28.8bn in strategic and local roads
BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said it was a pared-back, "take-no-chances" manifesto.

It rules out any changes to the Hunting Act, which bans the hunting of foxes and others wild mammals with dogs in England and Wales.

A plan to lift income tax thresholds for middle-earners to £80,000, announced during the Tory leadership campaign, has been dropped, with Mr Johnson saying this "was not the time" for such a move.

Brexit
The prime minister promised to bring back the Withdrawal Agreement Bill to Parliament before 25 December.

The Conservatives want MPs to ratify the prime minister's Brexit deal before the UK is due to leave the EU on 31 January. After this there would be a "transition period" - during which the UK would continue to follow EU rules while the two sides try to work out a permanent trade deal.

The manifesto rules out extending the transition period beyond the 31 December 2020 deadline.

The House of Commons approved the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in principle in October. But it has to be reintroduced because Parliament was dissolved ahead of the election on 12 December.

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50532000

 

[ElRaja]

corbyns brexit position is irrelevant, whoever came up with that manifesto needs to fired, or given a raise if they were an undercover conservative.

literally as long as tories dont bungle it up somehow before election night its an easy tory majority and most likely the end of corbyn and his revival of old labour.

 

[Technics 1210]

Torys are taking no chances, even with Rees Mogg, who has been barred from public interviews after his comments on Grenfall and common sense.

If the Conservatives win with a 30+ majority, they will unleash the Mogg! Can't wait!

 

[Robert]

You are splitting hairs.

No wonder LDs are toast, with views like the above, your party does itself no favours.

Forget misogyny, the LDs are the real Islamaphobic party - name me the highest ranking Muslim in the LD party?

No, I am avoiding a generalisation.

Don’t confuse my ideas with those of the LD Party.

Can’t really see how a Party which gained 700 Councillors and twenty MEPs can be toast. Swinson has overplayed the Brexit hand with the Revoke policy as she believed that BXP would split the Tory vote, but BXP have collapsed. I still expect more LD MPs this month.

As for diversity this is a fair point. LD strongholds tend to be in places such a the SW and Highlands & Islands where there are very few BAMEs anyway. But they have Chuka, Luciana and Sam now. Maajid was a candidate at the last GE but is concentrating on media work now. Most senior Muslim might be Mohammed Amin, who was sacked from his role of Tory Muslim Group Chair for criticism of Johnson and joined the LDs.

 

[James]

A deliberately brief and unexciting manifesto release from the Conservatives, as they try and safely navigate through to polling day without dropping any banana skins under their feet and ending up on their backsides. Meanwhile over £100 billion’s worth of free stuff does not seem to be convincing the voters to lend their support to Jeremy.

 

[sweep_shot]

Labour has vowed to "put bad landlords out of business" and bring in rent controls in England, if it wins power.

Private rents would not be allowed to go up by more than inflation - and landlords would be fined for letting out sub-standard property.

A Labour government would also bring in "open-ended" tenancies, to protect tenants from unfair evictions.

The Tories have also set out plans to help tenants - including scrapping "no fault" evictions.

Under Labour's "private renters' charter", landlords would face an annual "property MOT", with fines of up to £100,000 or forced repayment of rent if their properties are found to be sub-standard.

If the party wins the general election on 12 December, rent increases would be capped at the national inflation rate.

Areas with high rents would be able to make the case for further controls, local councils would get beefed-up enforcement powers and renters unions would be given government funding.

The private rented sector accounts for 21% of households in England - a figure that has doubled since 1997, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Unsafe homes
Labour said its research has found that tenants collectively pay more than £10bn a year in rent to landlords letting out sub-standard homes.

The party claims one-in-four private rented homes in England are classed as "non-decent", meaning they are damp, cold, in disrepair or unsafe to live in.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "Labour will be on the side of tenants and take on dodgy landlords who have been given free rein for too long.

"Real change means taking on those who exploit the housing crisis to charge eye-watering rents for substandard accommodation.

"Labour will put power in the hands of tenants with our new charter of renters' rights, a cap on private rents and funding for renters unions to support tenants to organise and defend their right to safe and secure housing."

'Fear of eviction'
Under Labour's "open-ended" tenancies plan, tenants will only be able to be evicted on tightly-defined grounds, such as non-payment of rent or criminal behaviour in the property, or if the landlord plans to move back into the property.

The Conservatives have also vowed to outlaw Section 21 notices, which allow landlords to evict renters without a reason after their fixed-term tenancy period ends.

Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said: "For decades renters have had to live with the fear of being evicted from their home for no reason, with damaging consequences particularly for families with children and the elderly.

"This election marks a major step forward in the battle to secure basic protections for those who rent, as Labour and the Conservatives have made clear that they will scrap this outrageous practice, and give renters the security and stability they deserve."

The Residential Landlords Association claimed Labour's proposals would "lead to a serious rental housing crisis".

Policy director David Smith said: "The sector does not need new obligations, but better enforcement of those that already exist."

What are the other parties proposing?

In addition to ending "no fault" evictions, the Conservatives say they would bring in "lifetime deposits", which would allow an initial lump sum to be transferred from one home to the next.

The party says in its manifesto these measures will protect tenants "from revenge evictions and rogue landlords".

It also says it will strengthen rights of possession for "the many good landlords".

The Liberal Democrats say they will introduce longer-term tenancies and bring in controls on annual rent increases, linked to inflation.

The Green Party proposes rent controls, more secure tenancy agreements and an end to "no fault" evictions.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50540436.

 

[Technics 1210]

No, I am avoiding a generalisation.

Don’t confuse my ideas with those of the LD Party.

Can’t really see how a Party which gained 700 Councillors and twenty MEPs can be toast. Swinson has overplayed the Brexit hand with the Revoke policy as she believed that BXP would split the Tory vote, but BXP have collapsed. I still expect more LD MPs this month.

As for diversity this is a fair point. LD strongholds tend to be in places such a the SW and Highlands & Islands where there are very few BAMEs anyway. But they have Chuka, Luciana and Sam now. Maajid was a candidate at the last GE but is concentrating on media work now. Most senior Muslim might be Mohammed Amin, who was sacked from his role of Tory Muslim Group Chair for criticism of Johnson and joined the LDs.

Respectfully, your ideas are in line with the LD party are they not? Why would you support LDs if your ideas are not inline with the LDs?

LDs were doing very well, up until the debates. Agree that LD's policy of revoking A50 has some what backfired, but this is only because of the debates exposing the LD position.

My personal view is that the LD's are pinning their hopes on becoming Kingmakers as they did in 2010.

 

[Technics 1210]

BBC acknowledges 'mistake' in Boris Johnson editing

The BBC has said editing footage of Prime Minister Boris Johnson for a news bulletin was "a mistake on our part".

The Prime Minister appeared on Question Time: Leaders Special on BBC One on Friday evening.

The audience laughed when he was asked a question about how important it is for people in power to tell the truth.

But the laughter and subsequent applause was absent from a cut-down version of the exchange on a lunchtime news bulletin the following day.

"This clip from the BBC's Question Time special, which was played out in full on the News at Ten on Friday evening and on other outlets, was shortened for timing reasons on Saturday's lunchtime bulletin, to edit out a repetitious phrase from Boris Johnson," the BBC said in a statement.

"However, in doing so we also edited out laughter from the audience. Although there was absolutely no intention to mislead, we accept this was a mistake on our part, as it didn't reflect the full reaction to Boris Johnson's answer.

"We did not alter the soundtrack or image in any way apart from this edit, contrary to some claims on social media."

On the original programme, an audience member asked the prime minister: "How important is it for someone in your position of power to always tell the truth?"

There was laughter and applause from the audience as Mr Johnson answered: "I think it's absolutely vital."

Mr Johnson then repeated the sentence once the laughter and applause had died down.

The second version was the one used in the BBC's News at One bulletin on Saturday.

The BBC originally explained that the Saturday edit was "shortened for time reasons" in reply to a tweet later the same day, although did not acknowledge it was a mistake at that point.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-50546115

We have the BBC, a British institution, trying to influence the electorate by distorting the truth. Who needs the Russians? )

 

[Robert]

Respectfully, your ideas are in line with the LD party are they not? Why would you support LDs if your ideas are not inline with the LDs?

LDs were doing very well, up until the debates. Agree that LD's policy of revoking A50 has some what backfired, but this is only because of the debates exposing the LD position.

My personal view is that the LD's are pinning their hopes on becoming Kingmakers as they did in 2010.

I don’t agree with every policy.

The Revoke policy is going down on the doorsteps like a cup of cold sick round my way which is one of the most Leavey places in the U.K., though it may play better in Richmond, Twickenham, Abingdon and of course the very Remainy Scotland.

 

[sweep_shot]

The Chief Rabbi has strongly criticised Labour, claiming the party is not doing enough to root out anti-Jewish racism - and asked people to "vote with their conscience" in the general election.

In the Times, Ephraim Mirvis said "a new poison - sanctioned from the very top - has taken root" in the party.

Labour's claim it had investigated all cases of anti-Semitism in its ranks was a "mendacious fiction", he added.

Jeremy Corbyn says Labour is tackling anti-Semitism by expelling members.

It comes as Labour launches a "race and faith manifesto", which aims to improve protections for all faiths and tackle prejudice.

'Gripped by anxiety'
In the article, the Orthodox Chief Rabbi of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - who is the spiritual leader of the United Synagogue, the largest umbrella group of Jewish communities in the country - says raising his concerns "ranks among the most painful moments I have experienced since taking office".

But he claims "the overwhelming majority of British Jews are gripped by anxiety" at the prospect of a Labour victory in 12 December's general election.

He writes: "The way in which the leadership of the Labour Party has dealt with anti-Jewish racism is incompatible with the British values of which we are so proud - of dignity and respect for all people.

"It has left many decent Labour members and parliamentarians, both Jewish and non-Jewish, ashamed of what has transpired."

He adds that it was "not my place to tell any person how they should vote" but he urged the public to "vote with their conscience".

The Chief Rabbi - who has been a persistent critic of Labour's response to anti-Semitism allegations - claims the response of Labour's leadership to threats against parliamentarians, members and staff has been "utterly inadequate" and says it "can no longer claim to be the party of equality and anti-racism".

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50552068.

 

[Markhor]

Michael Gove attacks rapper Stormzy.

Chief Rabbi attacks Labour.

Michael Heseltine endorses the Liberal Democrats.

And it's only 2pm.

 

[Technics 1210]

Gap between Tories and Labour is closing, as a result, GBP is heading south.

Probability of Labour & SNP coalition has increased.

 

[MenInG]

Jeremy Corbyn has insisted there is no place for anti-Semitism within Labour and those guilty of anti-Jewish racism have been "brought to book".

He urged the Jewish community to "engage" with him following outspoken criticism from the chief rabbi.

Spoiler

Ephraim Mirvis had claimed "a new poison - sanctioned from the very top - has taken root" in the party.

Mr Corbyn said anti-Semitism was "vile" and "rapid and effective" action had been taken against offenders.

At the launch of the party's "race and faith manifesto", he said anti-Semitism would not be tolerated in any form under a future Labour government.

He said no community would be "at risk because of its faith, identity, ethnicity or language".

Mr Mirvis, the Orthodox chief rabbi of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, earlier warned that "the overwhelming majority of British Jews are gripped by anxiety" at the prospect of a Labour victory in 12 December's general election.

Chief rabbi in election attack on Labour
Teach British Empire injustice in schools - Labour
Live: Latest on campaign trail
The chief rabbi, who is the spiritual leader of the United Synagogue, the largest umbrella group of Jewish communities in the country, said Labour's claim it had investigated all cases of anti-Semitism in its ranks was a "mendacious fiction".

In an article for the Times, he asked people to "vote with their conscience" in the election.

Asked if he regretted not doing enough to tackle the issue, Mr Corbyn said internal processes for dealing with anti-Semitism were "constantly under review" and his door would be open to Mr Mirvis and other faith leaders to discuss their concerns if he entered Downing Street.

Image copyrightPA MEDIA
Image caption
Ephraim Mirvis urged people to vote "with their conscience"
"Since I become leader, there are disciplinary procedure that didn't exist before. Where people have committed anti-Semitic acts they are brought to book and, if necessary, expelled from the party or suspended, or asked to be educated better about it.

"I want to live in a country where people respect each other faiths and people feel secure to be Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or Christian.

"But be absolutely clear of this assurance from me. No community will be at risk because of its faith, identity, ethnicity or language. I have spent my life fighting racism.

"I ask those who think things have not been done correctly to talk to me about it but above all engage. I am very happy to engage."

Labour has been beset by allegations of anti-Semitism for more than three years, leading to the suspension of a number of high-profile figures such as Ken Livingstone and Chris Williamson, and an unprecedented investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

A number of prominent Jewish Labour politicians, including Luciana Berger and Louise Ellman, have quit the party after being the subject of anti-Semitic abuse on social media while others have accused Mr Corbyn of personally endorsing anti-Semitic tropes and imagery.

'Sense of fear'
Ms Ellman said the chief rabbi had been right to speak out and his remarks highlighted the "gravity of the situation" facing British Jews.

"It is unprecedented for a major political party - a potential party of government - to be perpetuating anti-Semitism," she told BBC Radio 4's World at One.

"This is not just about Jewish people, it is about the whole of our society."

And former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer, who had been due to lead an independent review into anti-Semitism before the equality watchdog intervened, urged the party to heed the chief rabbi's words.

"We deserved an attack that strong," he told the same programme. "We need to deal with anti-Semitism properly."

He added: "I really hope that the chief rabbi's absolutely extraordinary, but justified, intervention will be listened to by my party."

Muslim Council criticises Tories over Islamophobia
But the Labour peer Lord Dubs, the child refugee campaigner who fled Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia in the 1930s, said he was "bitterly disappointed" by the tone of the chief rabbi's remarks.

He said he was reassured that Mr Corbyn - a longstanding campaigner for peace in the Middle East and the rights of the Palestinian people - was not personally an anti-Semite. He said where Labour had failed was in not acting "a bit quicker" in dealing with the issue.

The Labour leader faced criticism from Jewish groups when he said in last week's general election ITV leader's debate that the party had "investigated every single case" raised by complainants. He did not address the chief rabbi's claim that 130 cases were outstanding.

Campaigning in Scotland, Conservative leader Boris Johnson said it was "clearly a failure of leadership" on Mr Corbyn's part that he "has not been able to stamp out this virus in the Labour Party".

But he faced criticism of his own party's record on racism, after the Muslim Council of Britain accused the Conservative Party of "denial, dismissal and deceit" over the issue of Islamophobia.

South-African born Mr Mirvis became chief rabbi in 2013. In a Facebook post in July, he congratulated Mr Johnson on his election as Conservative leader, describing the new prime minister as a "long-standing friend and champion of the Jewish community".

According to the British Board of Deputies, there are between 260,000 and 300,000 Jews in England and Wales. Around half belong to the Central Orthodox denomination which includes the United Synagogue, led by the chief rabbi.

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50562542

 

[Chikkeh]

PLEASE ALL REGISTER TO VOTE :

https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote?_ga=2.117593728.88191929.1574769897-85819015.1568303908

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I set trends dem man copy <a href="https://t.co/85mTHXaZDn">https://t.co/85mTHXaZDn</a></p>— Michael Gove (@michaelgove) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelgove/status/1199304826468876288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

No idea who this guy is, but this is... a weird tweet.

 

[Technics 1210]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I set trends dem man copy <a href="https://t.co/85mTHXaZDn">https://t.co/85mTHXaZDn</a></p>— Michael Gove (@michaelgove) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelgove/status/1199304826468876288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

No idea who this guy is, but this is... a weird tweet.

Micheal Gove is the guy who stabbed Boris Johnson in the back for the Tory leadership following the 2016 Referendum. As a result, Gove was shot to pieces, Boris bailed out, and Theresa May became PM.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Michael Gove attacks rapper Stormzy.

Chief Rabbi attacks Labour.

Michael Heseltine endorses the Liberal Democrats.

And it's only 2pm.

Does he not understand the people in the UK vote for the UK not for the benefit of Israel!

This Rabbi is a joke of a human being , a man who supports murder and oppression.

British Jews need to realise we are not here to help Israel butcher people and steal land. Most people have seen through their **.

 

[Technics 1210]

Does he not understand the people in the UK vote for the UK not for the benefit of Israel!

This Rabbi is a joke of a human being , a man who supports murder and oppression.

British Jews need to realise we are not here to help Israel butcher people and steal land. Most people have seen through their **.

I am enjoying the fact that Jews are coming out in support of Corbyn!

People like this Rabbi, and the media institutions that support them, do not realise that they are the biggest contributors to antisemitism in the UK! I was listening to LBC radio today, and this one caller, who identified himself as a Jew, clearly had a problem with Corbyn, AND people questioning generic history. He said people should not be questioning the Holocaust and must not question its history. This sort of superiority attitude is exactly what fuels antisemitism.

 

[KingKhanWC]

I am enjoying the fact that Jews are coming out in support of Corbyn!

People like this Rabbi, and the media institutions that support them, do not realise that they are the biggest contributors to antisemitism in the UK! I was listening to LBC radio today, and this one caller, who identified himself as a Jew, clearly had a problem with Corbyn, AND people questioning generic history. He said people should not be questioning the Holocaust and must not question its history. This sort of superiority attitude is exactly what fuels antisemitism.

These people are never challenged by the media because both have the same agenda, the security and growth of the terrorist state known as Israel.

The Irony is JC has done more for Jews than the Rabbi has ever done!

 

[KingKhanWC]

That’s not so. The NHS alone is far more expensive than defence which has been ratcheting down for decades.

We need the NHS, everyone needs medical care. We don't need to bomb people in far away lands who are no threat to us. Both aren't really comparable.

Labour & SNP coalition 40 to 1 on Betfair. I've piled in.

That's huge odds! The polls are wrong again imo, Labour are far closer to the Tories. I wouldn't listen to the mainstream media but check out social media where Corbyn is very very popular comparted to Boris, who is being torn apart.

I think the odds are high because a deal has to be done but there is no way Labour will give up the chance to lead even if it means a 2nd Scottish ref.

 

[Technics 1210]

That's huge odds! The polls are wrong again imo, Labour are far closer to the Tories. I wouldn't listen to the mainstream media but check out social media where Corbyn is very very popular comparted to Boris, who is being torn apart.

I think the odds are high because a deal has to be done but there is no way Labour will give up the chance to lead even if it means a 2nd Scottish ref.

The odds are now 17 to 1 - outcome more likely than last week! Certainly reflecting how Corbyn is closing the gap between Tories and Labour! Over all, Corbyn has performed the best out of all the debates. I think the claims of antisemtisim in the Labour party are having a positive effect! The claims are garnering support for Labour!

 

[Technics 1210]

No apology from Jeremy Corbyn over Labour anti-Semitism claims

Jeremy Corbyn has declined to apologise to the UK Jewish community after the chief rabbi criticised how the party deals with anti-Semitism claims.

In a BBC interview with Andrew Neil, the Labour leader was asked four times whether he would like to apologise.

Mr Corbyn said his government will protect "every community against the abuse they receive".

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis claimed "a new poison - sanctioned from the very top - has taken root" in Labour.

Following the interview, Labour's Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith said Mr Corbyn should apologise, adding: "We need to apologise to our colleagues in my own party who have been very upset and to the whole of the Jewish community."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50564965

Well done Corbyn!

 

[sweep_shot]

As the messages keep pouring in to our election ads project one thing stands out - just how many non-party groups want to get involved in this election campaign.

In the last few days we have seen ads from new anti-Labour groups City Future, Capitalist Worker and Reignite.

A group called Advance Together is urging voters to abandon the Conservatives.

And the Open Rights Group says both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn are building profiles of voters with their personal data - and says we should all be worried about that.

No contact
But the most intriguing new entrant to the Facebook election campaign is called 3rd Party Limited. We have been sent ads paid for by this organisation for two very different campaigns.

One ad features a photo of environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg and urges people to vote for their local Green Party candidate. It was targeted at people interested in Greenpeace and Oxford University, living in Didcot in Oxfordshire. The same ad was also sent in by someone in the Cambridge constituency.

The other ad is for a group called Save Brexit which wants people to vote... to save Brexit. It was very broadly targeted at people aged over 18 living in England.

So what is 3rd Party Limited and what is going on here? Wired Magazine did some digging and found out that the company had been set up by Thomas Borwick, formerly chief technology officer at Vote Leave during the 2016 referendum campaign. What's more the Green Party was not at all happy about these ads.

The Greens say they have not been contacted by Mr Borwick or his organisation and have no knowledge of his aims. A spokesperson told the BBC: "Any Green Party adverts are always clearly labelled as paid for by the party as per Facebook rules. We would always encourage voters to check the source of any information they are receiving due to the large amount of disinformation currently circulating on the web."

It has been suggested that 3rd Party's aim is to cause mischief rather than support the Greens, by persuading anti-Conservative voters away from more electable Labour or Liberal Democrat candidates.

If so, the two Green ads we have received seem poorly targeted. Didcot is in the Wantage constituency where the Conservative Ed Vaizey, who is standing down, had a majority of more than 17,000 over Labour in 2017. The LibDems were a distant third. Cambridge was won by Labour last time with a majority of more than 12,600 over the Liberal Democrats.

We emailed 3rd Party Limited seeking information about the donors behind the ads and the strategy behind their targeting.

We received a reply saying all reportable donations would be reported to the Electoral Commission: "Green causes are very important to some of our patrons, and our objective, therefore, is to encourage voters to give the Green Party its strongest-ever showing at the ballot box."

The ads, said the email, were targeted at "areas where our research indicates there are a high proportion of voters who care about environmental issues".

The statement expressed surprise that 3rd Party's efforts were not welcomed by the Green Party: "If the Green Party feels that voting for their candidates is bad, you would have to ask them why they've decided to stand."

But the mystery remains. If 3rd Party and its donors were so keen to help the Greens why did they not simply hand over some money directly to the party, or at least get in touch to discuss where ads might best be targeted?

I texted Thomas Borwick with that question.

He replied: "Third parties are not allowed to work with the central campaigns."

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50559979.

 

[MenInG]

Nicola Sturgeon has launched the SNP election manifesto with a pledge to "escape Brexit and put Scotland's future in Scotland's hands".

The manifesto says that the SNP winning the most seats in Scotland would send a "clear" message that an independence referendum must be held next year.

Ms Sturgeon said the country faced a "fundamental question" over who should decide its future.

And she called for a big increase in NHS funding across the UK.

The SNP won 35 seats at the last general election in 2017, making it the third biggest party in the UK Parliament, and it hopes to hold the balance of power if there is a hung parliament after the forthcoming election.

Ms Sturgeon says she is open to forming a "progressive alliance" with other parties after the election, but has ruled out doing a deal with the Conservatives or entering into a formal coalition with Labour.

Among the key pledges in the party's election manifesto are:

A second referendum on Scottish independence next year
Another referendum on EU membership, or the revocation of Article 50 if it is the only alternative to a no-deal Brexit
To call on the UK government to match Scottish per capita NHS spending, which will also deliver increased funding for Scotland
Demand an end to austerity and press the UK government to invest in public services and the economy
To call for the UK government to devolve powers over drug policy to the Scottish Parliament
To press for the devolution of employment law
To also seek the devolution of immigration powers so that Scotland can have a "migration system that works for our economy and society"
Scrap the UK's Trident nuclear missile system
Ms Sturgeon accused the main Westminster parties of delivering "constant chaos" since the 2014 independence referendum, which saw Scottish voters choose to remain in the UK by 55% to 45%.

And she claimed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was "dangerous and unfit for office" and that his proposed Brexit deal would be a "nightmare" for Scotland.

She told the manifesto launch event in Glasgow: "A vote for the SNP is a vote to escape Brexit, It is a vote to put Scotland's future in Scotland's hands, and it is a vote to deprive Boris Johnson's Conservative Party of a majority.

"The reality of Westminster control over Scotland is this: a right-wing Tory government Scotland didn't vote for and a prime minister in Boris Johnson who is dangerous and unfit for office."

Mr Johnson has already ruled out granting the formal consent that Ms Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, says would be needed to ensure any independence referendum was legal.

Boris Johnson has given a "cast iron guarantee" that he would reject any request for consent to hold indyref2 if he wins the election
Ms Sturgeon went on to claim that a Conservative government would mean "Tory cuts to the Scottish budget, the NHS under threat from a Tory-Trump trade deal, a power grab on the Scottish Parliament, children being forced into poverty and a disastrous Brexit deal".

And despite Mr Johnson's campaign pledge to "get Brexit done", Ms Sturgeon warned it was "nowhere near done" and predicted that Brexit would dominate Westminster politics for years to come.

She said: "The Tories have barely got going - they haven't even started trade talks. Because of Johnson's hard line position, there is every chance the UK will leave without a trade deal next year. That would be a catastrophe for jobs.

"And even if he somehow avoids that, his dream deal will be a nightmare for Scotland.

"It will take Scotland out of the single market - which is eight times the size of the UK alone - and out of the Customs Union, the world's biggest trading block."

Precisely nobody will be surprised to see support for an independence referendum in the SNP manifesto. To be clear, the party already believes it has several mandates for a new poll, but hopes that a big win on 12 December will really cement its case.

This is because the big question about indyref2 is how it comes about. Nicola Sturgeon wants an agreement with the UK government before holding a vote, but has seen the Conservatives rule this out completely and Labour say it wouldn't be on the table in the "early years" of a new government.

If Ms Sturgeon is to get a referendum on her 2020 timetable, something needs to give - and she wants the result of this election to send a big message to both potential prime ministers about "Scotland's future being in Scotland's hands".

Ms Sturgeon also unveiled further details of the demands the SNP would make in return for supporting Labour if there is a hung parliament.

The party says that central to this will be proposals to significantly increase funding for the NHS across the UK - with the SNP saying it is proposing more substantial funding increases than any other major party in the election.

The SNP will demand that the next UK government raise per-head health spending south of the border to levels seen in Scotland, which it says is currently £136 per head higher.

Doing so would see an increase of NHS spending in England of more than £35bn in resource funding in 2023/24, compared with 2019/20, the party says - which would mean an additional £4bn in Barnett consequential for the Scottish NHS.

Brexit: The Conservatives say they will deliver Brexit by the end of January 2020 under the terms of the PM's deal negotiated with the EU.

The Liberal Democrats have vowed to cancel Brexit if elected as a majority government, or otherwise campaign for a referendum including the option of staying in the EU.

Labour wants to renegotiate the PM's Brexit deal then put it to a referendum within six months, with the option of staying in the EU. The party has not said which side it would take in such a vote.

Trident: The Conservatives say they will maintain the Trident nuclear deterrent.

The Liberal Democrats support maintaining a minimum nuclear deterrent with leader Jo Swinson making clear she would be prepared to deploy Trident if she was prime minister.

Labour supports the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent but also said it would lead multilateral efforts to achieve a nuclear-free world under the non-proliferation treaty.

Scottish independence: Labour opposes Scottish independence but has said a Labour-run UK government would agree to another referendum if pro-yes parties win a majority at the next Holyrood election in 2021.

The Conservatives are opposed to a second independence referendum with Boris Johnson claiming he could "guarantee" there will not be a second vote if the Conservatives win the general election.

The Liberal Democrats say they oppose a second independence referendum and oppose independence.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-50563934

 

[Technics 1210]

MRP election poll: Boris Johnson heads for big majority

Only survey to forecast hung parliament in last election predicts Tories will win 359 seats — with Labour down to 211

Boris Johnson is on course for a comfortable majority, according to a polling model that accurately predicted the election outcome two years ago.

The Conservatives would win 359 seats, Labour 211, the SNP 43 and the Liberal Democrats 13 if the election were held today, according to a seat-by-seat analysis based on current polling by YouGov for The Times.

That result would give Mr Johnson a majority of 68 as he made gains at Labour’s expense, particularly in the Midlands and north of England. Labour would suffer its second-worst postwar defeat, with Jeremy Corbyn’s total two above Michael Foot’s in 1983.

The projected margins of victory are below 5 per cent, however, in at least 30 seats predicted to be Conservative. YouGov cautions that a fall from the present Tory national poll lead of 11 percentage points to less than 7 could yet deny Mr Johnson a majority.

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, said that if the poll were correct it would lead to a “thumping great victory” for Mr Johnson. Speaking on Peston on ITV, he said that the public had to start thinking about whether they wanted Mr Johnson to run the NHS over the next five years. “How much worse are those waiting lists going to get if Boris Johnson has got a victory of that size?” he said.

Baroness Warsi, the former Conservative Party chairwoman, told the programme that the poll represented good and bad news for the Tories. “Good news because I think secretly we’ll be quite confident that this is exactly where we needed to be at this stage, and so far the election campaign has gone to plan,” she said. She added, however, that it could be bad news as people may get complacent and not feel the need to vote.

Based on more than 100,000 interviews over seven days, the pollster has modelled voting preferences based on age, gender, education, past vote and other factors, along with local political circumstances. The multilevel regression and post-stratification (MRP) model is then applied to the demographic make-up and individual characteristics of each of the 632 constituencies in Great Britain to provide projected vote shares for each seat.

It was used for the first time in a general election in 2017. The Times published a YouGov-MRP poll that accurately predicted a hung parliament when many other polls were pointing to a big Tory majority ten days from the vote on June 8.

Today’s version is based on national vote shares of the Conservatives on 43 per cent, Labour 32, Lib Dems 14 and the Brexit Party 3. The pollster will repeat the model before election day using updated results. The analysis suggests that this time Mr Johnson is holding off the Lib Dem threat in most Tory seats that voted to stay in the EU and will not suffer anything like the wipeout in Scotland that some had predicted.

Of the 58 seats predicted to change hands on December 12, 44 are Tory gains from Labour. However, Labour is within 3 points of retaining 16 seats the model predicts it would lose now.

The SNP would recover some of its losses in Scotland, taking eight seats from rival parties under the model. It predicts that the Tories would lose two of their 12 Scottish seats and Labour would lose five.

The analysis suggests that the casualties for Labour could include Dennis Skinner in Bolsover and Caroline Flint in Don Valley despite their support for Brexit in the Commons. For the Tories Zac Goldsmith appears doomed in Richmond Park. Mr Johnson is forecast to hold Uxbridge & South Ruislip comfortably.

If the prime minister achieves this result he will have torn down the “red wall” of Labour seats from Great Grimsby to the Vale of Clwyd in a realignment of politics. His aide, Dominic Cummings, warned against complacency, writing in his blog: “Trust me, as someone who has worked on lots of campaigns, things are MUCH tighter than they seem and there is a very real possibility of a hung parliament.”

Mr Corbyn is on course to lose 51 constituencies. Labour will win 211 seats — two more than Foot — and fail to make any gains, according to the YouGov modelling, which predicts the party will lose 44 seats to the Conservatives, five to the SNP and one to the Liberal Democrats.

The result would represent a repudiation of Mr Corbyn’s push for a second EU referendum and decision to be “neutral” on whether he would campaign for Leave or Remain. All bar two of the potential Tory gains from Labour voted Leave in 2016.

Barry Gardiner, the shadow international secretary, declined to confirm reports that Labour was readying a new strategy for the rest of the campaign aimed at addressing its apparent lag in Leave-voting areas. He told LBC: “That’s for the manager’s team talk at half-time and I am sure we will get that this afternoon.”

The biggest Tory swings are forecast in constituencies with the strongest Leave vote. In West Bromwich East the analysis suggested that the party was on course to overturn a 7,713-vote majority; in Don Valley they are expected to overturn a majority of 5,169.

Six Labour marginals that have never voted Conservative would turn blue, as would at least nine seats that have been Labour since the Second World War.

The Lib Dems are forecast to make one net gain on 2017. The SNP would make gains but the Scottish Tories would avoid the wipeout strategists feared. The Brexit Party wins no seats.

The modelling suggests that Labour seats with majorities below 8,000 begin to fall in north Wales, where the Tories are forecast to win four seats: Vale of Clwyd, Clwyd South, Wrexham and Ynys Mon.

The biggest Tory gains are forecast to be in the Midlands, where it could pick up nine seats from Labour. In the West Midlands, the potential Conservative gains include Dudley North, West Bromwich East, West Bromwich West, Wolverhampton North East and Wolverhampton South West.

In Nottinghamshire, the modelling suggests the Tories would pick up Ashfield and Bassetlaw. In Derbyshire potential gains include Bolsover and Derby North. In Staffordshire the party is predicted to gain three seats: Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent Central and Stoke-on-Trent North.

In Cheshire the model projects that the Tories would win three seats — Crewe & Nantwich, Warrington South and Weaver Vale. Bury South and Leigh in Greater Manchester were also expected to turn blue, and Blackpool South and Hyndburn in Lancashire.

There are also significant gains in Yorkshire, with the Tories picking up three seats in South Yorkshire — Don Valley, Penistone & Stocksbridge and Rother Valley — and four in West Yorkshire including Dewsbury, Keighley and Wakefield. Bishop Auckland, Darlington and Stockton South are all expected to turn blue in the northeast.

Under the model the Lib Dems would gain only one seat on the 12 it won at the last election — far fewer than the 20 it had when parliament was dissolved this month thanks to a spate of high-profile defections. No defectors would win their seats, the analysis suggests.

The party would retake Sheffield Hallam, Sir Nick Clegg’s former seat, from Labour, and the Remain strongholds of Cheltenham, Richmond Park and St Albans from the Tories. It would lose Eastbourne and North Norfolk to the Conservatives and one of its Scottish seats to the SNP. Were that result borne out on December 12 it would prompt an inquest into Jo Swinson’s leadership of the party she took over in July.

The Brexit Party, which has stood aside in all the seats the Tories won last time, appears to have widespread support in a few seats. In the Labour strongholds of Barnsley Central and Barnsley East it is on 25 and 24 per cent respectively, although Labour still has a commanding lead in both. In Hartlepool, where Richard Tice, the Brexit Party chairman, is the candidate, it is on 23 per cent, behind the Conservatives on 31 and Labour on 40.

The SNP’s 43 seats would be an improvement of eight on 2017. Five gains would come from Labour, two from the Tories and one from the Lib Dems.

Scottish Conservatives had feared a much worse result north of the border, having expanded rapidly from one MP in 2015 to 13 in 2017. Only two of those 13 — Paul Masterton in East Renfrewshire and Stephen Kerr in Stirling — would lose. Mr Masterton, however, is within a percentage point of the SNP.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/...oris-johnson-heads-for-big-majority-qrqsq9f7r

Of course take data from polls with a pinch of salt these days!

 

[GBK_Fan]

Hopefully the Conservatives don’t take their foot of the pedal considering the positive opinion polls. Looking forward to this rabid anti Semite and his followers being trashed again

 

[Manunited18]

Hopefully the Conservatives don’t take their foot of the pedal considering the positive opinion polls. Looking forward to this rabid anti Semite and his followers being trashed again

But actually corbyns stance on equal treatment on all society's and faiths comprehensively suggests to me that it's actually the media who are whipping up hatred on minorities

 

[GBK_Fan]

But actually corbyns stance on equal treatment on all society's and faiths comprehensively suggests to me that it's actually the media who are whipping up hatred on minorities

There have been enough accusations against his party and he has been loathe to take action. The fact that he has refused to speed up actions, done nothing to stop Jewish labour members from being harassed and intimidated, been pictured with terrorists, tells me his words have no meaning

 

[Manunited18]

There have been enough accusations against his party and he has been loathe to take action. The fact that he has refused to speed up actions, done nothing to stop Jewish labour members from being harassed and intimidated, been pictured with terrorists, tells me his words have no meaning

Then if you put the ball in the court of Johnson who has made shocking remarks which could clearly put him in to the category of islamophobic, weigh all that up id say corbyn for me seems a leader for all society's, your point regarding terrorists, I mean there's religious terrorrism, then there's right wing terrorists, which according to facts is the greatest threat in these isles, so which are you suggesting

 

[sweep_shot]

Britains opposition parties intensified attacks on Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday with two weeks to go until election day, as polls suggested the UK leaders Conservatives have a substantial lead.

Jo Swinson, leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, accused Johnson of spewing serial falsehoods and dragging the office of prime minister through the mud.

She said Johnson can't be trusted because he vowed to lead Britain out of the European Union by October 31 — and didn't — and said he would never ask the EU to delay Brexit — but did.

“Boris Johnson is not fit to be prime minister not just because he doesn't care, not just because he lies, but also because he is complicit in stoking division and fear in our communities,” Swinson told supporters during a speech in London.

Johnson has faced questions about his character throughout the campaign. The prime minister has a history of making offensive remarks, including a newspaper column last year in which he compared women who wear face-covering veils to letterboxes.

The main opposition Labour Party unearthed an article Johnson wrote in the conservative weekly magazine, The Spectator, in 1995 in which he called the children of single mothers ill-raised, ignorant, aggressive and illegitimate.

Johnson accused his opponents of trying to disinter and distort pieces that are almost 25 years old.

He has also been accused of dodging scrutiny. He is the only main leader not to have agreed so far to a one-on-one interview with BBC journalist Andrew Neil. He has also declined an invitation to take part in a TV debate on climate change onThursday alongside other party leaders.

Broadcaster Channel 4 said Johnson and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, who also declined to appear, would be represented onstage by melting ice sculptures.

Johnson insisted on Thursday that he would do many, many interviews over the course of the next few days and I'm sure that people are having all sorts of conversations right now about who I'm going to be talking to, when and where, and I look forward to it very much.”

With most polls showing a double-digit lead for the Conservatives, the party is keen not to make waves. Treasury chief Sajid Javid insisted the party was not complacent and would go out there and fight for every single vote.”

Labour, meanwhile, is struggling to satisfy supporters who oppose Brexit, as well as those who want to leave the EU.

The party says that if it wins the election it will negotiate a new divorce deal with the EU, then give voters a choice in a new referendum between leaving the bloc on those new terms or remaining.

A respected economic think-tank cast doubt Thursday on the spending pledges of both main parties, Conservatives and Labour, concluding that neither was being honest with voters.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies warned it was “highly likely” that a Conservative government would end up spending more than the party's platform implied, while Labour would not be able to deliver on a promise to raise investment and revenue without taxes beyond those already announced on the rich and on big business.

Neither is a properly credible prospectus, IFS director Paul Johnson said.

Parties court the approval of the IFS, seeking its imprimatur on their spending plans. But the think-tank concluded the promises didnt match the math.

The IFS analysis outlined the scope of the main parties drastically different views of the future, arguing the choice between the Conservatives and Labour could hardly be starker. With the exception of health, the IFS concluded that if the Conservatives formed the next government, public spending would be 14 per cent lower in 2023-24 than it was when the party took office in 2010.

“No more austerity perhaps, but an awful lot baked in,” the IFSs Johnson said of the Tories.

Labour on the other hand, would raise both taxes and spending to peacetime highs. The party has pledged a sweeping expansion of the state, including the nationalisation of the railways and key utilities.

Labour would not be able to deliver investment spending increases on the scale they promise, the IFS director said. The public sector doesnt have the capacity to ramp up that much, that fast.

Britons will vote December 12 to fill all 650 seats in the House of Commons.

Johnson wants to secure a majority in the election so he can push through the Brexit divorce deal he negotiated last month with the EU. Under the terms of that deal, the UK would leave the EU on January 31 but remain part of the EU's single market, and bound by the blocs rules, until the end of 2020.

Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1519345/opponents-attack-johnsons-character-as-uk-election-looms.

 

[sweep_shot]

The Conservative Party is embroiled in a row with Channel 4 over the broadcaster's decision to "empty chair" Boris Johnson during its election debate on climate change last night.

Minister Michael Gove offered to take his place, but the broadcaster said the invitation was for leaders only.

The party wrote to Ofcom saying placing an ice sculpture on the PM's podium was a "provocative partisan stunt".

Labour has accused Mr Johnson of "hiding from scrutiny".

Urging the regulator to take action against Channel 4, the Conservative Party accused the broadcaster of breaking its duty to be impartial and citing other alleged examples of bias.

In a letter to Ofcom, the party says Channel 4 News staged a "provocative partisan stunt, which would itself constitute making a political opinion in its own right" by substituting the PM with an ice sculpture.

Conservative sources also briefed journalists at BuzzFeed News and the Telegraph that "if we are re-elected we will have to review Channel 4's Public Services Broadcasting obligations".

Channel 4's public service broadcasting licence is up for renewal in 2024.

Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson said it was "deeply concerning for Boris Johnson's Conservative Party to threaten Channel 4 in this way".

Mr Watson has written to Ofcom to urge the regulator to "call out this meddling".

His letter adds: "Boris Johnson has banned the Daily Mirror from its battle bus, ducked the Andrew Neil interview and now attempted to bully Channel 4."

Mr Gove, a former environment secretary, said he was disappointed not to be allowed to take part in the climate debate, adding: "We have a record we are proud of and we want to defend."

Channel 4 also replaced Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage with ice in the hour-long programme.

Channel 4 News editor Ben de Pear said: "These two ice sculptures represent the emergency on planet earth, not in any human form but are a visual metaphor for the Conservative and Brexit parties after their leaders declined our repeated invitations to attend tonight's vital climate debate."

The Emergency On Planet Earth debate featured Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, Scottish First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, Plaid Cymru's leader Adam Price and Green co-leader Sian Berry.

'Hiding from scrutiny'
Meanwhile, Labour has published 60 questions it wants Boris Johnson to answer, including on sexism, the NHS, Brexit and his ministers.

The party has accused Mr Johnson of "hiding from scrutiny" and its questions include: "Are you scared of Andrew Neil?"

On Thursday, Mr Johnson refused to say whether he would agree to an interview with the BBC's Andrew Neil, who has already grilled Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon, and is planning to interview other party leaders.

When asked several times by the BBC's Ben Wright if he would take part, Boris Johnson would not confirm it, saying he would have "all sorts of interviews with all sorts of people".

Mr Johnson - who was interviewed by Mr Neil during the Conservative leadership election in July - confirmed negotiations were still taking place, but he said it was "not my job" to make the final decision.

He added: "Other people than me are responsible for those discussions and negotiations, and I do not want to pre-empt what they may decide."

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn took part in 30-minute interviews with Mr Neil earlier this week.

The BBC's interview with Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson is set to air on 4 December and another with Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage will be shown on 5 December.

The BBC said it was "in ongoing discussions" with No 10, but said they had not "yet been able to fix a date" for the sit-down discussion between presenter Mr Neil and the PM.

Meanwhile, a BBC seven-way election debate takes place later featuring senior figures from the Conservatives, Labour, the Brexit Party, the Green Party, as well as the leaders of Plaid Cymru, the SNP, and Lib Dems.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50596192.

 

[KingKhanWC]

In any intelligent society Corbyn would be 20 odd points Ahead but democrat in the Uk is no less managed & controlled than any 3rd world nation .

Boris wins my majority this country is done .

 

[the Great Khan]

There have been enough accusations against his party and he has been loathe to take action. The fact that he has refused to speed up actions, done nothing to stop Jewish labour members from being harassed and intimidated, been pictured with terrorists, tells me his words have no meaning

0,1 percent..anti semitism claims in labour..

its a smear and everbody knows it..if corbyn is a racist then MODI is a Muslim..

 

[KingKhanWC]

There have been enough accusations against his party and he has been loathe to take action. The fact that he has refused to speed up actions, done nothing to stop Jewish labour members from being harassed and intimidated, been pictured with terrorists, tells me his words have no meaning

W t f has this got to do with the uk ?

You want the people here to suffer so Israel can continue its crimes ?

Jews need to stop the victim mentality and it’s not our British problem .

 

[GBK_Fan]

Then if you put the ball in the court of Johnson who has made shocking remarks which could clearly put him in to the category of islamophobic, weigh all that up id say corbyn for me seems a leader for all society's, your point regarding terrorists, I mean there's religious terrorrism, then there's right wing terrorists, which according to facts is the greatest threat in these isles, so which are you suggesting

That’s the sad reality we don’t really have stellar choices for the PM post. I think the Tories atleast respond to public criticism unlike Labour where Corbyn has managed to run roughshod over all his critics and even Tom Watson now

 

[GBK_Fan]

0,1 percent..anti semitism claims in labour..

its a smear and everbody knows it..if corbyn is a racist then MODI is a Muslim..

Unfortunately the world does not live with your delusions. You are free to live in your lala land and lose another election

 

[GBK_Fan]

W t f has this got to do with the uk ?

You want the people here to suffer so Israel can continue its crimes ?

Jews need to stop the victim mentality and it’s not our British problem .

Nor is the Uk the home for Islamic extremists from the ME. I don’t see why our PM should be seen hobnobbing with terrorists or even find it difficult to condemn the killing of the leader of ISIS. He could be your leader ideologically, never mine

And don’t even get me started on his ridiculous freebie program. If he does get into power, you will see a lot of capital flight.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Nor is the Uk the home for Islamic extremists from the ME. I don’t see why our PM should be seen hobnobbing with terrorists or even find it difficult to condemn the killing of the leader of ISIS. He could be your leader ideologically, never mine

And don’t even get me started on his ridiculous freebie program. If he does get into power, you will see a lot of capital flight.

No entity comes close to Israeli terrorism & its fellow backers who have killed millions in the last couple of decades .

There is no threat to the uk. You’re arguing like an edl member . lol

 

[Technics 1210]

No entity comes close to Israeli terrorism & its fellow backers who have killed millions in the last couple of decades .

There is no threat to the uk. You’re arguing like an edl member . lol

The worrying aspect is his line of thought is shared by many. The only reason he will not vote for Labour/Corbyn, is because the media says so - through no thought of their own. The power of propaganda.

 

[GBK_Fan]

No entity comes close to Israeli terrorism & its fellow backers who have killed millions in the last couple of decades .

There is no threat to the uk. You’re arguing like an edl member . lol

Per you. Israeli terrorism does not kill innocents in the streets of London, some other form does. And Corbyn like hobnobbing with those. Won’t get my vote

 

[MenInG]

Boris Johnson has pledged to make it easier to help struggling UK companies after Brexit, if the Tories win the general election.

The PM said being free of EU rules on state aid would make it quicker to intervene, and bring in "buy British" guidelines for public bodies.

He added that an Australian-style immigration system would be in place in place by 1 January, 2021.

But Labour criticised the Tories' past record of supporting industry.

Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said the prime minister's promise on state aid rules "sticks in his throat".

He said the Conservatives had "sat on their hands and used state aid as an excuse" when refusing to intervene to save a steel works in his Teesside constituency in 2015.

At a news conference in Westminster, the Mr Johnson warned about the risk of there being no clear winner in the 12 December election, saying this would result in "another broken Parliament" and the Brexit "deadlock" being perpetuated.

Earlier on Friday, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said she was hoping for another hung parliament, with her party holding the balance of power.

Mr Johnson has guaranteed that if the Conservatives win a working majority, the UK will leave the EU by 31 January at the latest.

'Brexit roadmap'
Under the terms of the withdrawal agreement, free movement from the EU will continue for 11 months after Brexit during a transition period.

Mr Johnson said a new system would be in place when the current rules end on 31 December 2020.

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50601517

 

[KingKhanWC]

Per you. Israeli terrorism does not kill innocents in the streets of London, some other form does. And Corbyn like hobnobbing with those. Won’t get my vote

Per me? I challenge you to debate this. Please upgrade the quality of your posts if you want to keep me interested.

Are you claiming Corbyn supports terrorism? Please list your exact points in detail.

Jewish terrorists bombed the King David hotel many years before any so called ISIS or Al-Qaeda attacked any British citizen.

 

[KingKhanWC]

The worrying aspect is his line of thought is shared by many. The only reason he will not vote for Labour/Corbyn, is because the media says so - through no thought of their own. The power of propaganda.

Its not rude to say people who think Corbyn supports terrorists are just thick as a brick. Britain should be leading the way with a large intelligent population but the sad reality is there are millions of thick idiots. The Sun being the most read newspaper says it all.