INTRODUCTION
Parliament has voted by 522 to 13 to accept Theresa May’s call for a snap General Election, which will take place on June 8th….
SETTING THE SCENE
This morning Richard Murphy of Tax Research UK put up a post titled “General Election Thoughts” most of which I am in agreement with. Here is a screenshot of the start to that post:
In the comments section a certain Howard Reed cited Paul Mason’s five point policy plan, which is as follows:
1/ If Theresa May calls an election today, a progressive alliance can beat the Tory hard Brexit plan. Here’s how…
2/ We set up an independent website to show how tactical voting can beat the Tories and grassroots cross party alliance promotes this
3/ Labour has to guarantee Scotland a) right to remain in Single Market b) second referendum
4/ Labour should offer *today* Caroline Lucas to be in shadow cabinet, form Green/Red alliance, stand down 1x further candidate for Greens
5/ Libdems need to decide: with the progressive forces of Britain or in a perpetual flip flop with the Tories. You have 15 minutes.
The first two of the five points are scene setters, and very uncontentious. Point 3 is the one that the Labour Party, or at least some elements thereof, will find hardest to accept, but SNP support will only be forthcoming if it is honoured.
The fourth point is obvious, and those who remember my Fantasy Cabinet, a response to this piece on Tax Research UK, will realise that I am 100% in favour. For the fifth point, the ball is in the Lib Dems’ court. One mistake can be forgiven, especially given some of the comments May has made in calling for this election. However, precisely in view of those comments, a second decision in the space of seven years to throw in their lot with the Tories would put them utterly beyond the pale.
SOME FURTHER LINKS
In addition to the Tax Research UK piece that inspired this I have read a number of other cracking pieces about this upcoming election.
- From Evolve Politics, this excellent piece: “The Left MUST put aside its differences and form an alliance, or usher in a One-Party State“.
- From The Canary, a splendid piece titled “A lawyer-turned-campaigner has nailed why the Tories must be defeated at the general election [VIDEO]“.
- From www.independent.co.uk comes a piece titled “Green Party calls for talks with Labour and Lib Dem leaderships over anti-Tory alliance“. Although it would have been even better had the Labour Party made the first move, I am pleased that someone has done so, and I look forward to developments.
- A full length Guardian article by Paul Mason titled “Coalition, collaboration and tactical voting: that’s how to halt hard Brexit“.
- Finally, and hot off the press, a new piece from Evolve Politics tackling May’s decision not to participate in TV debates (they will still be happening – I already know that one is scheduled for ITV), titled “Our strong, brave Prime Minister is terrified of debating Jeremy Corbyn. Because she knows she’ll be annihilated.“
CLOSING THOUGHTS (& PHOTOGRAPHS)
In my own constituency there is only one party with the support to have even the proverbial “cats chance in hell” of unseating the Tory who bar the years 1997-2001 has held the seat since 1983, so my General Election vote is already decided. Something else that this snap election has done is demonstrate once again that FPTP is a relic from the past that needs replacing asap. My final words in this post (other than picture captions) take the form of a social media hashtag:
#MakeJuneTheEndOfMay
New £1 (in circulation since March 27th, but this was the first I have seen, last night) – obverse
New £1 – reverse
New £1 – both faces
Comparison pic – new £1 and Britain’s only other dodecagonal coin, the brass threepenny.
aspiblog 