UK General Election, 12 Dec 2019

[laklak]

Just one more day! Does it feel like Christmas Eve yet?

[Svartalf]

well, vote for a guy who does not make you want to puke and won't make you regret it if he would ever be elected.
a blairite "labourite" would definitely empty my tummy the wrong way.

[Brian Peacock]

I feel a little sick. I want to vote Green tomorrow. But I've crunched the numbers, looked at the local campaigns, plausible swings and vote splits, and there's a very small but non-zero possibility that if I don't vote for our Blairite long standing Labour MP, my vote could count to tip the balance in favour of a Johnson Tory bastards majority.

Your local Labour candidate may be a soft liberal but you can still vote for Labour. They may not be as green as the Greens, but their policies on the environment, the climate, and a de-carbonised economy have, I'm afraid, made the Green party somewhat redundant. Green politics now sit squarely in the big lump of the bell curve - they're part of the mainstream. The Tories refusal to publicly engage on environmental issues - they can't even be bothered to lie about them - tells you everything you need to know about how important it is to oppose their rampant profit-before-people politics.

It's a dilemma though isn't it - does one vote with one's conscience or cast a vote for one candidate in order to deny another a vote?

[Brian Peacock]

Spam your Tory friends with this: https://boris-johnson-lies.com/

[Svartalf]

They'll resent it, they know, but don't care and wash it away with 'greater good" booze

[Brian Peacock]

[Brian Peacock]

Solidarity, not charity!

[pErvinalia]

Vote the bastards out!

[PsychoSerenity]

I feel a little sick. I want to vote Green tomorrow. But I've crunched the numbers, looked at the local campaigns, plausible swings and vote splits, and there's a very small but non-zero possibility that if I don't vote for our Blairite long standing Labour MP, my vote could count to tip the balance in favour of a Johnson Tory bastards majority.

Your local Labour candidate may be a soft liberal but you can still vote for Labour. They may not be as green as the Greens, but their policies on the environment, the climate, and a de-carbonised economy have, I'm afraid, made the Green party somewhat redundant. Green politics now sit squarely in the big lump of the bell curve - they're part of the mainstream. The Tories refusal to publicly engage on environmental issues - they can't even be bothered to lie about them - tells you everything you need to know about how important it is to oppose their rampant profit-before-people politics.

It's a dilemma though isn't it - does one vote with one's conscience or cast a vote for one candidate in order to deny another a vote?

Yeah, I desperately want to see electoral reform so we don't have to put up with this. I think tactical voting is a real problem because it reinforces two party seats. Especially with the prevalence of online tactical voting guides that are based on polling done at the beginning of the campaign, reinforcing voter intentions towards the top two candidates as the were then, and undermining the on-the-ground policy-based campaigning that is at the heart of representative democracy. To be honest, I'm quite angry with the Greens for teaming up with the Lib-Dems and claiming to be the only "remain" candidates in Labour/Tory marginals. But if Johnson gets a majority today I think it spells the end of democracy in the UK. However small the chance that my vote will actually count under this system, it's not a risk I could take. I have voted tactically for Labour. As you say, most of their policies are in the right place anyway, even if my local MP can be a bit of a dick.

[Brian Peacock]

Plurality systems always reduce down to a two-party split. That is a political fact of life. And a two-party split always tends towards polarisation and extremism. We need a proper proportional system to promote commonalities and contextualise the extremists where they belong - on the margins. There was an absolutely remarkable piece in the Guardian yesterday from Peter Oborne, the epitome of an old-skool one-nation Tory, completely shredding Johnson and the New Conservative ethos. I found this far more telling than any amount of assertions from Labour to the same effect.

[Scot Dutchy]

So tories are startling. A 80 seat majority. Just shows how useless Corbyn is. I said that when he was elected. A fucking useless cunt.

[pErvinalia]

Exit polls have Tories winning with a massive margin. Fuck you UK. Dickheads.

[Scot Dutchy]

We compared Corbyn with Michael Foot when he was elected and everyone laughed. At least Foot did better than Corbyn.

CORBYN IS A USELESS CUNT

I said it then and I will say it again. A FUCKING TOSSER. The eternal shop steward.

[pErvinalia]

Well I assume this will be the end of Corbyn. Who's going to be the next leader?

[Scot Dutchy]

Will the Labour Party survive?

Do I remember Corbyn's election. I was laughed at so much. All those new members; the three pound members. Where is our great Labour party member (Beatsong)? Who said I was an idiot for not supporting Corbyn. Where is the great club of his?

The UK is fucked. The 1% have won. Poor poor UK. I just hope Scotland pulls out. The SNP have done well.