British Politics

[AtariLegend]

42 minutes ago, Georgy Zhukov said:

May floats the idea of taking away human rights to fight terrorism. Does anyone really want the Tories in power after that?

Almost half the country does (remember Brexit?). UK isn't a two way system like the US, the vote is split amongst the other parties. That's why the Tories are where they are. They've monopolized everything to the right. 

You've asked before about why people keep complaining about the Tories yet they keep winning, to put into perspective... think about if almost every newspaper in the US was Fox News-fied.

Anyway polls say Tories are walking it tomorrow, only the "Survation" poll is left sayings it's close. On the other hand Survation where the only ones to get it right in 2015 I think, so we'll see. I'm not holding my breath.

 

Edited June 8, 2017 by AtariLegend

[DieselDaisy]

55 minutes ago, Georgy Zhukov said:

May floats the idea of taking away human rights to fight terrorism. Does anyone really want the Tories in power after that?

Derogations, opt-outs, were briefly discussed by the prime minister, making it easier to deport and imprison potential terrorists. It seems a sensible suggestion if there is sufficient evidence that the European Court is proving a sizable obstacle to British law, for deportations and sentencing, but this was just briefly discussed and there is not a full plan or pledge.

Derogations incidentally were employed during The Troubles.

Edited June 8, 2017 by DieselDaisy

[AtariLegend]

Theresa May under fire over deportation cat claim

Home Secretary Theresa May has been criticised for claiming that an illegal immigrant avoided deportation because of his pet cat.

She told the Conservative conference the ruling illustrated the problem with human rights laws, but England's top judges said she had got it wrong.

Her Cabinet colleague Ken Clarke said he had been "surprised" by the claim and could not believe it was true.

And human rights campaigners said Mrs May should get "her facts straight".

'Needs to go'

Mrs May made the remark during a speech in which she repeated her belief that the Human Rights Act, which incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law, "needs to go".

She also outlined how she planned to rewrite immigration rules to prevent "misinterpretation" of Article 8 of the convention - the right to family life.

She said the meaning of Article 8 had been "perverted" and used to prevent the removal of foreign national prisoners and illegal immigrants - more than 100 of whom successfully used it last year to avoid deportation.

She pledged to clear up any "misconception" by judges about what it meant.

"We all know the stories about the Human Rights Act... about the illegal immigrant who cannot be deported because, and I am not making this up, he had a pet cat."

But a spokesman for the Judicial Office at the Royal Courts of Justice, which issues statements on behalf of senior judges, said the pet had "had nothing to do with" the judgement allowing the man to stay.

Mrs May told the BBC her speech had been checked before it went out and that the case was "just one example" of where she believed the law was being misconstrued.

Human Rights Act

But she promised she would have "another look at the case", if it was proved to be wrong.

Asked about the reference, her Conservative cabinet colleague, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke, told the BBC: "The cat surprised me. I cannot believe anyone was refused deportation just because they owned a cat."

Later he told a fringe meeting that the case "certainly has nothing to do with the Human Rights Act and nothing to do with the European Convention on Human Rights".

And he said repealing the UK Human Rights Act would mean "all the cases go back to Strasbourg", adding: "I think it is a good idea that we remain adhering to the Convention on Human Rights and the cases are heard here by British judges."

Mr Clarke said he had not discussed with Mrs May her plan to change immigration rules to reduce the number of foreign criminals successfully using Article 8 to avoid deportation.

But he said it was "fine" to "remind people" about the scope of Article 8 as he believed there had to be an "extremely compelling" reason for convicted foreign criminals to remain in the UK.

'Ludicrous'

For Labour, shadow policing minister Vernon Coaker said the government was not enforcing the rules that already existed.

"We have the ludicrous spectacle of the home secretary blaming cats whilst letting into the country a sheikh the home secretary thought she had banned and ending up paying him compensation as a result."

And Amnesty International said Mrs May's comments only fuelled "myths and misconceptions" about the Human Rights Act.

"That someone in Theresa May's position can be so misinformed as to parade out a story about someone being allowed to stay in Britain because of a cat is nothing short of alarming," the campaign group said.

"She urgently needs to get her facts straight."

The BBC News Channel's chief political correspondent Norman Smith said what had been intended as a major policy announcement had turned into a public relations shambles with Mrs May "overreaching herself" and Mr Clarke appearing out of the loop.

The case at the centre of the row occurred in 2008 and involved a Bolivian student who said he could show he had a proper permanent relationship with his partner and should not be deported.

The Bolivian man eventually won his case on appeal because the Home Office had ignored its own immigration rules on unmarried couples.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15160326

 

This has nothing to do with terrorism, she's been campaigning against Human Rights for years.

 

Edited June 8, 2017 by AtariLegend

[DieselDaisy]

Well the European Convention, if that is what you refer to by 'human rights', does have its critics. That is not exactly groundbreaking news.

[AtariLegend]

 

[DieselDaisy]

It was a Tory who drafted the European Convention, David Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir.

[AtariLegend]

Pretty sure I've read it was Merkel, a French woman from Brussels who drafted and inflicted it upon on us!

Edited June 8, 2017 by AtariLegend

[willl]

6 hours ago, Georgy Zhukov said:

Y'all ready for keeping the Conservatives in power tomorrow? Labor depends on high turnout of young voters. So they are screwed.

I'm voting SNP Cant stomache another 5 years of May

Edited June 8, 2017 by downliner

[DieselDaisy]

Hasn't their record in Scotland been absolutely diabolical?

PS

Well look on the bright side: at least the whole rotten circus will be over after tonight, after Dimbleby and the ''swingometer''. I'm sure we can all be pleased about that one.

Edited June 8, 2017 by DieselDaisy

[Gracii Guns]

Voted. Almost spoiled my paper, but didn't. I really feel that there wasn't a real choice this election. 

Have also decided not to work for the Green Party again.

[alfierose]

44 minutes ago, Gracii Guns said:

Voted. Almost spoiled my paper, but didn't. I really feel that there wasn't a real choice this election. 

Have also decided not to work for the Green Party again.

I voted Labour in the end despite Corbyn. I decided my biggest concerns are NHS, education, public services and disability cuts.

Brexit and terror attacks obviously are a big worry but in the grand scheme of things the above list will affect more people adversely.

It's done now so what will be will be I guess.

[Graeme]

4 hours ago, DieselDaisy said:

Hasn't their record in Scotland been absolutely diabolical?

The mainstream UK press (and indeed most of the Scottish press) is ideologically opposed to their existence, so I doubt the sources you're reading are exactly providing an objective analysis of their performance.

It's been a pretty competent display of governance, not perfect by any manner of means, but who is going to please 100% of the people 100% of the time? They increased their (already substantial) share of the vote in 2016 after nearly 10 years in power, which is virtually unheard of for an incumbent government... if they truly were "absolutely diabolical" and failing everyone at everything, that wouldn't have happened.

[DieselDaisy]

Just now, Graeme said:

The mainstream UK press (and indeed most of the Scottish press) is ideologically opposed to their existence, so I doubt the sources you're reading are exactly providing an objective analysis of their performance.

It's been a pretty competent display of governance, not perfect by any manner of means, but who is going to please 100% of the people 100% of the time? They increased their (already substantial) share of the vote in 2016 after nearly 10 years in power, which is virtually unheard of for an incumbent government... if they truly were "absolutely diabolical" and failing everyone at everything, that wouldn't have happened.

Don't shoot the messenger: I've seen interviews with Scottish voters who claim that they had voted SNP in the past and would never vote for them again because of their record in government. You yourself do not even vote for them so what are you on about haha? You told me you voted greens.

[Graeme]

6 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

Don't shoot the messenger: I've seen interviews with Scottish voters who claim that they had voted SNP in the past and would never vote for them again because of their record in government. You yourself do not even vote for them so what are you on about haha? You told me you voted greens.

I'm sure you have, but are those people statistically representative of Scottish voters?

The Greens aren't standing in my constituency today, so the SNP are the lesser of the remaining evils left to me.

[DieselDaisy]

Just now, Graeme said:

I'm sure you have, but are those people statistically representative of Scottish voters?

The Greens aren't standing in my constituency today, so the SNP are the lesser of the remaining evils left to me.

We'll see.

You yourself do not seem to be voting for them with any degree of passion. Why is that?

[Graeme]

21 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

We'll see.

You yourself do not seem to be voting for them with any degree of passion. Why is that?

We will indeed.

I think any political party are eventually destined to let you down, so it's always worth maintaining a healthy degree of scepticism. The SNP talk quite radically at times, but govern pretty close to the centre... also, hegemony breeds complacency. I'd like to see them take what steps they can with the powers they have to actually deliver social reform. Ideologically, I'm comfortable with voting for them at times but I'm not above criticising them.

[AtariLegend]

It's the rains of castamere here. Such a sense of dread.

 

[DieselDaisy]

I do not know why you are so obsessed with May v Corbyn anyway seeing Northern Ireland has never been exactly barren of its own fraught politics - I'd go as far to say the Irish do these things much more vehemently than the British. We are light weights.

Edited June 8, 2017 by DieselDaisy

[DieselDaisy]

 

Quote

 

Election 2017: What CAN'T you do in a polling station?

Can I vote if I've been drinking?

Yes. Polling station staff cannot refuse a voter simply because they are drunk or under the influence of drugs. Only if the voter is disruptive will they be asked to return when they have sobered up.

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40188494

[Archtop]

There was a queue  at my polling station this morning, I have not seen that in years. ?

As I drove to work I noticed loads of the conservative  placards have been defaced over night. Never knew my tiny village had an underbelly of political activists ?

Edited June 8, 2017 by Archtop

[AtariLegend]

We'll know soon, probably at 10  in an hour if it's a soul destroying landslide signaling 5 years of a hate fulled armageddon with the free pass at Brexit that it's all the "will of the people". 

I'm holding out hope that for the sake of NHS patients, those likely to get sick in the future, the poor, freedom of speech, human rights, human decency, immigrants, foxes and the sake of the UK not falling apart over the next 5 years that isn't a overwhelming majority. 

I'd be shocked if Nick Clegg keeps his seat, but Rudd's the one I'd like to see lose her seat. 

Edited June 8, 2017 by AtariLegend

[alfierose]

6 minutes ago, AtariLegend said:

We'll know soon, probably at 10  in an hour if it's a soul destroying landslide signaling 5 years of a hate fulled armageddon with the free pass at Brexit that it's all the "will of the people". 

I'm holding out hope that for the sake of NHS patients, those likely to get sick in the future, the poor, freedom of speech, human rights, human decency, immigrants, foxes and the sake of the UK not falling apart over the next 5 years that isn't a overwhelming majority. 

I'd be shocked if Nick Clegg keeps his seat, but Rudd's the one I'd like to see lose her seat. 

It was the fox hunting that really gave me a WTF moment. Why bring back something so archaic and cruel that was outlawed years back? Between that and the grammar schools it really gives insight into May's thinking.

[DieselDaisy]

Hopefully we can bring back the corn laws.

[Archtop]

34 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

Hopefully we can bring back the corn laws.

 Have you seen the price of bread recently, £2.20 for a whole meal bloomer  

[Padme]

Hung Parliament anyone?