O/T - general election 2019

[rolymiller]

Any sad bar stewards gonna be up all neet Thursday? I might be one if it looks close or Labour have a chance. I will see what the exit poll says at 10 listen to the first few results and take it from there. If it looks like a comfortable Tory majority early on it will be beddy byes for me and lick my wounds. It will be like watching the millers get trounced if I stay up which aint a pleasant feeling.

Could be interesting some of early results because Sunderland is usually one of em normally a safe Labour seat but with a population in favour of Brexit. If Labour hold on to that fairly comfortably they could have a good night. If they don't the brexit factor could come in to play in a lot of Labour seats. Intriguing... My own view is that the Tories will scrape thru with a small majority but enough to get Brexit thru...

Then another 5 years of misery...

[CASPER-64-FRANK]

Any sad bar stewards gonna be up all neet Thursday? I might be one if it looks close or Labour have a chance. I will see what the exit poll says at 10 listen to the first few results and take it from there. If it looks like a comfortable Tory majority early on it will be beddy byes for me and lick my wounds. It will be like watching the millers get trounced if I stay up which aint a pleasant feeling.

Could be interesting some of early results because Sunderland is usually one of em normally a safe Labour seat but with a population in favour of Brexit. If Labour hold on to that fairly comfortably they could have a good night. If they don't the brexit factor could come in to play in a lot of Labour seats. Intriguing... My own view is that the Tories will scrape thru with a small majority but enough to get Brexit thru...

Then another 5 years of misery...

Get thissen to bed roly. The result will still be same in the morning. I hope you get the result you want.
It's damage limitation scenario for me, not a question of a majority for the Cons but by how many.
If it's a landslide then get ready in 2yrs time when all the trade deals are done and dusted.

[KerrAvon]

I agree with the comments above about the poor choice in this election. I don't particularly want either main party to win, but can probably tolerate one more than the other.

Interesting stuff about possible Russian interference. It's a bit of a win-win election for them; the Tories will weaken the EU and the UK economy, whereas Labour would trash the UK economy, have a leader who is ambivalent to say the least about NATO and who would put Diane Abbott in charge of MI5 - a body that she wanted to be abolished.

I'm travelling to France in February and am wondering whether to buy some Euros now - the pound will rise sharply if the Tories win (although some of that rise has already been priced in by the markets), will fall if there is a hung Parliament and will fall by double finger percentage points if we get either a Labour government or a Labour SNP coalition.

[Exiletyke]

I agree with the comments above about the poor choice in this election. I don't particularly want either main party to win, but can probably tolerate one more than the other.

Interesting stuff about possible Russian interference. It's a bit of a win-win election for them; the Tories will weaken the EU and the UK economy, whereas Labour would trash the UK economy, have a leader who is ambivalent to say the least about NATO and who would put Diane Abbott in charge of MI5 - a body that she wanted to be abolished.

I'm travelling to France in February and am wondering whether to buy some Euros now - the pound will rise sharply if the Tories win (although some of that rise has already been priced in by the markets), will fall if there is a hung Parliament and will fall by double finger percentage points if we get either a Labour government or a Labour SNP coalition.

I assume your tolerance will be in favour of the Tories Be honest man & just say so instead of all this fence sitting
With your imminent visit to France [yet another holiday to increase your carbon footprint] your choice should be clear, oh dear what a dilemma

[wendun]

I assume your tolerance will be in favour of the Tories Be honest man & just say so instead of all this fence sitting
With your imminent visit to France [yet another holiday to increase your carbon footprint] your choice should be clear, oh dear what a dilemma

Kerr's allowed his opinion, Exile. I also think the "carbon footprint" jibe is a bit rich. When I suggested that the Kilimanjaro Kid and his buddies flying halfway round the world to raise a few grand for a charity in Rotherham seemed a poor deal for the environment I was nearly lynched on here and warned about my conduct by the mods.

[CASPER-64-FRANK]

II'm travelling to France in February and am wondering whether to buy some Euros now - the pound will rise sharply if the Tories win (although some of that rise has already been priced in by the markets), will fall if there is a hung Parliament and will fall by double finger percentage points if we get either a Labour government or a Labour SNP coalition.

You may be better off buying your Euros now as opposed to waiting. We are about to do the same.

[CASPER-64-FRANK]

Yes but you and your Momentum buddies bear the responsibility. People like me and Casper (apologies if this is presumptious, Casper), my brother-in-law and his mates in Rotherham, dozens of former Labour voters around here will simply not vote for Corbyn and his cabal of Marxist loonies. BJ is a disgrace and I expect his government to unravel pretty quick but I'm not voting to undermine NATO, our defence, massively increase immigration and to allow Putin a greater say in UK politics.

As an ex Labour Party member my story is long and boring.
I’ve done the Left Wing bit in my younger days, met Michael Foot. Lovely bloke to chat to was Michael, he went on to lose that election big style.
These days I’m a supporter of Labour First, the opposite of Momentum.
My heart is still with Labour just not far left and I certainly won’t be voting Conservative.

[wendun]

As an ex Labour Party member my story is long and boring.
I’ve done the Left Wing bit in my younger days, met Michael Foot. Lovely bloke to chat to was Michael, he went on to lose that election big style.
These days I’m a supporter of Labour First, the opposite of Momentum.
My heart is still with Labour just not far left and I certainly won’t be voting Conservative.

Casper, a mirror image of me. Years in the SWP but now I yearn for a Wilson, Callaghan or Healey.

[CASPER-64-FRANK]

Casper, a mirror image of me. Years in the SWP but now I yearn for a Wilson, Callaghan or Healey.

Never met Wilson, Callaghan or Healey.
Did meet John Smith ( RIP ) a couple of weeks before he had his massive heart attack and passed away.
Met Tony Blair just as he became leader and prior to his 97 landslide. Sold me a ' dream ' of what he wanted to do and after three terms of Thatcherism it was time for a change.
Went off Blair when he forgot to increase the Minimum wage as he should have done and left it to stagnate.
Mo Mowlam ought to have got more credit for Peace in Northern Ireland.
Had a lot of time for Gordon Brown despite his " bigot " remark he made.

I get the neolibrism bit but if it's a choice of the Thatcher years, Blair / Brown years or more years of Boris Johnson I know which I would rather have.

[KerrAvon]

Never met Wilson, Callaghan or Healey.
Did meet John Smith ( RIP ) a couple of weeks before he had his massive heart attack and passed away.
Met Tony Blair just as he became leader and prior to his 97 landslide. Sold me a ' dream ' of what he wanted to do and after three terms of Thatcherism it was time for a change.
Went off Blair when he forgot to increase the Minimum wage as he should have done and left it to stagnate.
Mo Mowlam ought to have got more credit for Peace in Northern Ireland.
Had a lot of time for Gordon Brown despite his " bigot " remark he made.

I get the neolibrism bit but if it's a choice of the Thatcher years, Blair / Brown years or more years of Boris Johnson I know which I would rather have.

Dennis Healey was an interesting bloke and possibly the best Prime Minister that this country never had. After the IMF persuaded the Labour government that endlessly printing money was not a good idea in 1976, Healey was turning the ship around until the TUs made Labour unelectable in 1979 and delivered the lurch to the left that made them unelectable for nigh on twenty years.

It was a tragedy that John Smith never got a crack at leading the country too.

It's pretty sad the way the Labour Party now disowns the Blair/Brown governments (unless they are relying upon their tenure to support the notion that Labour governments are financially prudent). They made mistakes (believing their own hype might have been at the root of it), but were generally sound. The writing was on the wall as soon as Brown took over from Blair. Brown was a decent chancellor, but not a great PM. You only need to compare Blair to Brown to understand the difference between leadership and management.