Results, Discussions, Analyses

LIVEWIRE:  UK Snap Election Results

LIVEWIRE:  Catastrophe for the Conservatives as Theresa May Blows her Majority  (09 June 2017)

YOUTUBE:  Andrew Neil Interviews Nigel Farage  (09 June 2017)

YOUTUBE:  David Dimbleby Interviews Jacob Rees Mogg  (09 June 2017)

YOUTUBE:  David Dimbleby Interviews Nigel Farage  (09 June 2017)

I Voted for 'Progressive' Mr Gove With a Heavy Heart  (11 June 2017)
"Watching the election results until the wee hours, the phrase 'you don't know what you've got till it's gone' was rebounding in my brain. There we were in a period of stability and Mrs May's hubristic gamble screwed the pooch! From the moment that the exit poll was released, as result by agonising result came in, it became clear that we were going to escape a socialist hell by the skin of our teeth..."

At Least Nicola Sturgeon Has Caught a Cold  (10 June 2017)
"Marge Simpson has lost her head. Much of that great yellow bouffant atop the British electoral map has been dyed blue, after a startling performance by Ruth Davidson's Scottish Conservatives. In England, however, the map is misleadingly coloured: again blue prevails more in area than in votes. The deep red wounds on the empress's cloak are the urban hotspots of the young, immigrants and Remainers, who turned out for Jeremy Corbyn in droves. The Welsh played a major part in Brexit, but they have reverted to labour, aided by a charismatic leader in Cardiff..."

Two-Party Politics is Back and the Left is on the March  (10 June 2017)
"It was not such a long time ago that people [were] talking about the end of two-party politics as a way of demanding proportional representation. Well, two party politics is back..."

Have the British People Taken Leave of Their Senses?  (10 June 2017)  :-)
"Goodness! What a night! Election fever gripped Barchester good and proper, with rival parties parading round the town until the early hours, brandishing torches and yelling their heads off..."

Election Barometer: the Debacle in Figures  (09 June 2017)
"Turnout was up, with a widespread belief that young voters turned out en masse. But actually, turn out was the 5th lowest of any general election since 1945:...  In spite of failing to secure a majority Theresa May won a higher share of the vote than any party since 1997 and higher than a Conservative government since Mrs Thatcher's landslide in 1993:...  Which parties got the best and which got the worst deal out of the electoral system?:...  What about the popular vote of the parties who didn't make it into the TV debates?:..."

Reflections on the General Election 2017  (09 June 2017)
"'Righteousness exalts a nation; sin is a reproach to the people.'  I am not surprised that today we find ourselves in political chaos. God will not be mocked. The great hope and stability of our nation in history is because our laws have been rooted in Jesus Christ and His righteousness. ... Our ruling elites, whether in parliament, in policy, in law, in education, in business, in the media and even in the Church have forgotten that the Gospel is the 'Rule for the whole life and government of Christian princes' ... and have substituted worldly wisdom in His place..."

Red is the Colour Of Britain  (09 June 2017)
"Mrs May clearly decided she could get away with alienating the core Tory support by painting herself a slightly paler shade than the blood-red colour favoured by Corbyn. ... Presented with two versions of socialism, diluted and neat, millions of people voted for the most subversive creature ever to lead a major British party. What the hell, go all the way, was a strong sentiment..."

On the UK General Election  (09 June 2017)
"[I]nstability, volatility and unpredictability seem to characterise the UK and the UK electorate at the moment. Which way things will go in the days ahead is now anyone's guess. With both stealth jihad and actual bloody jihad on the increase in the UK a shaky leadership will be bad news indeed..."

May Asked Us to Vote Once Too Often  (09 June 2017)
"Numerous forces appear to have combined to cause this reversal of fortune. Two of the strongest seem to have been a pro-Labour vote from first-time voters, and the end of nationalism as a force in English politics and its weakening in Scotland..."

The Return of Two-Party Politics? Dream On  (09 June 2017)
"Amid all the gasps over the UK election result, there has also been an audible sigh of relief in political and media circles. ... It's a sigh which basically says: ... At least British politics, following daft forays into new parties and populist experiments, is anchoring itself once more upon that binary we all like and understand: Blue / Red, Right / Left. Everyone is saying this - and they're all wrong. The return to two-party politics is entirely illusory..."

The Age of Simplicity  (09 June 2017)
"After Brexit and Trump, now this. A surely terminally wounded PM propped up by the social conservative ultras of the DUP. The British eschewed the smaller parties [and] piled in behind the two main parties but ultimately, one senses, considered neither May [n]or Corbyn to be a suitable PM ... The new commonplace description of this new divide is that it is less about left versus right and more about open versus closed. Of course there is something in that when it comes to immigration and terrorism but I sense another dynamic and its a more troubling one..."

The 'Yoof' What Swung It? 70% of Young People Vote  (09 June 2017)
"Thursday night, for the first time in decades, younger voters appear to have been overrepresented in contrast with previous elections, with turnout rising to its highest level in 20 years..."

That Went Well...  (09 June 2017)
"The biggest Tory leadership screw-up (since last year) ushers in chaos, a Tory leadership race and - probably - another election later this year or early next. Here are some early random observation(s) about what I think matters in a fast-moving situation:..."

UK Election Results Stun Conservatives, Outcome Hangs in Balance: Experts React  (09 June 2017)
"Generally campaigns are not thought to matter enormously, but this may be the exception that proves the rule..."

Therexit?  (08/09 June 2017)
"It was a roller-coaster night: post-Brexit and post-Farage, the UKIP vote collapsed; the former Liberal [Democrat] Deputy PM lost his seat; the SNP had as grim a time as the Tories; and a Labour leader with supposedly no appeal beyond the hard left proved remarkably popular..."

A Hung Parliament / The DUP

The Secret Blessing?
"Well, on the plus side for small-c conservatives, the @duponline may remind the Tories what they are SUPPOSED to believe, philosophically" (Raheem Kassam).

The Democratic Unionist Party

The Democratic Union Party Manifesto

Scrap BBC Licence Fee and Slash Tax - Key Points From 'Kingmakers' DUP Manifesto  (11 June 2017)
"[W]hat did the DUP put in their manifesto? Here are some key points: (1) 'Reform' the BBC and 'abolish' the TV licence fee ...; (2) Lower tax and more free trade ...; (3) 'Effective' immigration ...; (4) Privatisation and reducing the size of the State..."

Jewish Leaders: DUP Pact 'Positive News' for Community, Anti-Semitism Persists in Labour Party  (11 June 2017)
"Jonathan Arkush, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said that DUP leader Arlene Foster and deputy leader Nigel Dodds were 'exceptionally warm and friendly' when he met with them in Belfast during an interview with The Jerusalem Post. ... Arkush ... singl[ed] out Jeremy Corbyn in particular as 'not a Labour Party leader who is trusted by the Jewish community' ... Corbyn had given British Jews 'no reason to think there will be any change in his reluctance to deal with anti-Semitism in his party and I feel that the smell of antisemitism is still persisting in too many corners of the party'..."

10 DUP Policies the Tories Should Adopt  (09 June 2017)
"The DUP manifesto is rather better in placers than that Conservative manifesto. The DUP pledged:..."

Kingmaker DUP Leader Slights Scottish Nationalists 'Who Want to Tear Apart the Union'  (09 June 2017)
"DUP leader Arlene Foster has confirmed she has spoken with the PM about 'stabilising' the nation, as well as making a thinly veiled dig at Scottish nationalists.  Mrs. Foster said [she] and Theresa May would talk more to 'explore how it may be possible to bring stability to this nation at this time of great challenge'. Whilst striving for the 'best deal' for NI and its people, she said her party would always have the best interests of the UK at heart..."

DUP to Keep Theresa May in Power  (09 June 2017)
"The Democratic Unionist Party will keep Theresa May in a job by entering into an informal coalition with the Tories. A DUP source said they could never engage with Corbyn because he is 'an IRA cheerleader'..."

Who Are the DUP and Will They Demand a Soft Brexit to Prop Up the Tories?  (09 June 2017)
"Theresa May is understood to be in talks with the DUP in Northern Ireland about forming a minority Government ... Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, is keen to avoid a hard border with Ireland and has spoken against a 'hard Brexit' ... Founded by Ian Paisley and now led by Ms. Foster, it is the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fifth-largest party in the HofC of the UK ... Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP's chief whip, said this morning that the DUP was willing to talk with the Conservatives in the event of a hung parliament.,.. He also pledged to continue to lend his party's support to the Conservatives on issues such as Brexit..."

The DUP's Wildest Dreams Have Just Come True  (09 June 2017)
"What might the DUP ask of the Tories in exchange for their support? Two decades ago, the negotiating ground between Unionists and government was the minutiae of the peace process. Today it is Brexit..."

The Silver Lining? A Tory-DUP Alliance will Remind the Tories What Conservatism is Supposed to Look Like  (09 June 2017)
"Who are the DUP?   /   Brexit   /   Northern Ireland and Sinn  Fein   /   Climate Change   /   Conspiracy Theories and Fake News   /   What Will the DUP Demand in Government?"

Conservatives

With Conservatives Like This - The Election Disaster  (12 June 2017)
"The main object of elections is to provide ... a choice between real alternatives. The May election stance, even faced with an economic and political extremist on the left, had moved so far towards Corbyn's policies that there was little clear blue water to be seen! Her own supporters and even Brexit was compromised in pursuit of working class voters who[m] May fatally assumed were socialist because they had previously voted Labour - a typical mistake of the middle-class southern Tory..."

If a Eurofanatic Wanted to Design a Plot to Thwart Brexit...  (10 June 2017)
"...they could not do better than contrive the situation Theresa May has wrought. It works like this:..."

The Tories Inflicted May On Us: Now They Must Pick Up the Pieces and Deliver Brexit  (09 June 2017)
"To paraphrase the statement in the language of the imperial court with which Japan enthusiastically announced its unconditional surrender in 1945, 'Events in the course of the election have today taken a turn not necessarily to the advantage of the Conservative party'..."

Top Tory Think Tank Urges 'Total Reform' of Conservative Party  (09 June 2017)
"The country's oldest conservative think tank has issued a six point plan for reform of the Conservative Party following Theresa May's poor election performance. The Bow Group, which has been robust in its criticism of the modern Conservative Party for years now, has urged a return to internal democracy within the Conservative Party..."

Tories Lose Majority - What an Unmitigated, Self-Inflicted Disaster  (09 June 2017)
"Pride goes before a fall, and c**p manifestos go before a democratic drubbing. Honestly, how did the Brexit election get hijacked by a dementia tax? ... What was all that 'Team May' and 'Theresa's local candidates about? How could the most important issue facing the UK in a generation become such a peripheral issue during the campaign?..."

Maggie, Thou Should'st be Living at This Time  (09 June 2017)
"How bad do you have to be to get scuppered by Jeremy Corbyn? You have to be very bad indeed - as bad as Theresa May, in fact. There was no need for her to call this general election, as she had a working majority with three years to run. She called it because she regarded Corbyn as utterly unelectable, which he probably is - unless the alternative in Theresa May..."

May's Authority is Fatally Damaged  (09 June 2017)
"So why did it happen? Why didn't Theresa May secure the big majority that was apparently hers for the taking back in April when she stunned Westminster by calling a snap election? Two words: the old and the young..."

May is Now Only a Caretaker PM  (09 June 2017)
"'I would rather have a general who was lucky than one who was good.'  This quote actually comes from Napoleon, but it applies in spades to the Conservative Party on one of its rockiest mornings for some time (even if they do - as they must - try to keep Jezza out at any cost with the help of the Democratic Unionists). Theresa May was unlucky. ... But she also had fatal weaknesses..."

The Tories Reached for the Stars But Fell to Earth  (09 June 2017)
"Well, you never can tell. In many ways this was a deeply distressing night: that 40% of people could vote for a party led by an IRA-supporting, jihadist-sympathising loser like Corbyn, only a matter of days after a series of horrendous terrorists attacks, beggars belief..."

Time to Govern  (09 June 2017)
"The Conservatives as the largest party will have enough seats to govern. After two major constitutional referendums and two General elections in recent years it is time for Parliament and government to make decisions and to see through the decisions UK voters have made..."

Theresa May's Speech in Full  (09 May 2017)
"I have just been to see Her Majesty the Queen, and I will now form a government - a government that can provide certainty and lead Britain forward at this critical time for our country..."

Ooops Apocalypse  (09 June 2017)
"Mrs May... stays calm..."

Labour

Coming Soon: Venezuela  (16 July 2017)
"I have long wanted to visit Venezuela for its mountain scenery, glaciers, rain forest, great plains and the Orinoco delta. The country ranks seventh for biodiversity, featuring rare and magnificent species. Such colour, variety and grandeur. But it's a long way and the cost is off-putting, so I shall probably never manage to arrange my visit. I'm not too disappointed because, when Mr Corbyn comes to power - sooner than you think - Venezuela will come to me..."

Leaked Hillary Clinton Emails Show Labour Begged DUP for Pact in 2010  (12 June 2017)
"Labour leader Gordon Brown courted the Ulster party after failing to win a majority of seats in the general election, with the then Northern Ireland Secretary Shawn Woodward having worked on an 'economic package' to secure DUP support. Alastair Campbell ... on Thursday accus[ed] the PM of making 'a sordid, dangerous distasteful deal' ... But emails to Hillary Clinton when she was U.S. secretary of state, released in 2015, show the former New Labour spin doctor sat in a meeting where a deal between Labour and the DUP was proposed..."

Labour Repeatedly Tried to do Deals with the DUP  (11 June 2017)
"Labour have boarded the outrage bus over the Tories doing a deal with the 'bigots and terrorist-sympathisers' in the DUP. They have some nerve..."

British Muslims Urged to Vote Labour to Further Islamic Interests  (10 June 2017)
"Labour politicians urged Muslims to back their party in the run-up to the general election by telling them 'the Tories are whipping up hate and Islamophobia like UKIP' and 'other minorities have a greater say in the country than we do' ... The [text] message was sent out in the name of Councillors Aftab Mawaz and Khizar Hussain, two Labour Party members of Walsall Council..."

The Evil of Socialism  (10 June 2017)
"[T]he word socialism gives people a nice, warm feeling denied to such variants of socialism as fascism, Nazism, if not always communism. Communism, they say, was a nice socialist idea lamentable distorted by the Soviets. No number of direct quotes from the blood-thirsty writings of Marx will work. ... Rather than feeling instinctive revulsion at the very mention of the word, people feel guilty that they themselves fall short of socialist ideals. By way of redemption they vote for evil men like Corbyn, who know which platitudinous lies will work."

Pied Piper Corbyn Got the Kids Out of Bed  (10 June 2017)
"Strolling though Oxford with a friend last June, we were suddenly assailed by a fat youth with studs on his face who accused us of ruining his life. It took us a moment to realise he was referring to the result of the referendum the day before. 'Your generation has destroyed our chances', he whinged. 'You have ruined my life.' ... On our way back a young woman passing us, glanced up from her mobile phone and spat out the 'C' word at us. ... Last night, shaped around the very crabbed, aged figure of Jeremy Corbyn that youthful resentment got its revenge..."

Why Corbyn Took Canterbury  (09 June 2017)
"Canterbury has three universities and a large student population that has expanded rapidly in recent years. The growth in student numbers has brought with it more academics and other university staff, along with their children. A recent poll in the Times Higher Education showed that 78% of university staff nationally intended to vote for either Labour or the Liberal Democrats. And Labour, with its promise to scrap tuition fees, targeted students in this campaign..."

Corbyn is in Tune with Disaffected Youth  (09 June 2017)
"Corbyn's Labour Party pulling off a hung parliament is by no means a fluke result. It simply matches the power relations that exist in contemporary Britain. A left-wing party with an angry, confrontational message has come within an ace of being in government. In the process it has overcome many obstacles which would have tossed it into the wilderness not so long ago..."

Mr Bombastic... Ready to Serve  (09 June 2017)
"Corbyn suggested that because Labour had increased its share of the vote and the Tories had dropped seats he had in essence won the election... Abbott doing the counting?..."

100 Times Jeremy Corbyn Sided with Terrorists  (08 June 2017)
"Quite something when you put it all down in one place..."

UKIP

Let the Blame Games Begin!  (10 June 2017)
"[W]e have all learned that having the most seats in the HoC does not mean Mrs May has the majority of MPs - thus the coalition with the DUP ... and the MS are now in full '...they are extremists!' mode. What I find rather interesting is that the Tories, who have been doing their utmost to paint UKIP as the worst possible (insert your favourite smear word) ultra-hard-horrible crowd with whom one couldn't possibly a share a room, never mind the HoC, are now forced to do so with those who are not one bit less 'ultra-hard'..."

YOUTUBE:  Farage  (09 June 2017)
Interviewer: "Where do you feel that UKIP's future lies ... ?  Farage: "It's with lots of things ... we've been very good at leading arguments on a lot of things that nobody dares to talk about, and then they become mainstream. But Brexit is at the core of what UKIP is as a Party, and it would appear that, this time yesterday, Article 50 was on course - right now it's looking a bit dodgy..."

Dear UKIP Centrists, You Failed. Now Get Out of Nigel's Way!  (09 June 2017)
"Some of you will no doubt believe it was inevitable. That the party could have never contended with the May vs Corbyn narrative promoted by the Conservative Party and the Labour Party and their friends in the media. But I don't believe so. I think it requires original thinking and unique vision to cut through, and that didn't happen at this election..."

Statement From Paul Nuttall  (09 June 2017)
Paul Nuttall's resignation speech.

Scotland

If Theresa May was the Election's Biggest Loser, Nicola Sturgeon was its Second Greatest Loser  (09 June 2017)
"One lesson is clear: never, ever, take the voters for granted. Never, ever, presume only one result is possible ... In its way, this was just as stunning a result as the SNP tsunami in 2015 ... This was Scotland's silent majority reasserting itself. Ruth Davidson campaigned on a simple message: We said No in 2014 and we meant it. The people, whether they voted Tory, Labour or Lib Dem, rammed that point home last night. This was the worst SNP result in a generation..."

Brexit

It Was/Wasn't About Brexit  (12 June 2017)
"Niall Ferguson ... explains the Brexit vote by the fact that 'Politics in mid-2016 was dominated by populist memes [such as] "Take back control"'. And he explains Corbyn's electoral success by the failure of said 'populist memes', those that led the unwashed masses into wishing to reclaim Britain's independence. It's true that Mrs May's incompetent campaign featured, inter alia, a demand for a mandate to take a strong stand against EU blackmail. But it's not true that most votes cast against the Tories were really cast against Brexit and its 'hard' version in particular..."

Brexit Secretary Insists UK Will End Free Movement as MPs Push for 'Soft Brexit'  (12 June 2017)
"After returning a hung parliament at the general election, leading Tories such as Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson and Chancellor Phillip Hammond are calling for less of a focus on reducing immigration after Brexit ... [But Brexit Secretary, David David explained that] 'During the referendum campaign, the leading lights in both sides ... all said leaving the EU means leaving the Single Market ... They certainly said it more than once, so there is no doubt about that. People voted for three things in essence: control of borders, control of laws, control of money - and in order to deliver that, you can't do that inside the Single Market.'..."

Tick-Tock: EU Pressing Hard to Start Brexit Talks Immediately  (10 June 2017)
"Frustrated by a year of British foot-dragging and faced by more uncertainty in the aftermath of the country's general election, the EU on Friday had a clear proposal of when to start the Brexit negotiations: How about tomorrow morning? 'Half past nine', suggested EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker..."

If a Eurofanatic Wanted to Design a Plot to Thwart Brexit...  (10 June 2017)
"...they could not do better than contrive the situation Theresa May has wrought. It works like this:..."

Europe Reacts to GE Results: 'Theresa May is No Margaret Thatcher'  (09 June 2017)
"Unsurprisingly, the main concern on the continent is how the result will impact Brexit. With negotiations due to begin in just under two weeks, EU leaders have been urging the British PM, Theresa May, to get her house in order as fast as possible..."

What the DUP Manifesto Said About Brexit  (09 June 2017)
The DUP manifesto "significantly, included a double-page spread on 'Getting the Best Deal for NI from the UK leaving the EU'.  The party restated that its formal backing for Leave was 'based on principle and practicality', having opposed EEC membership in the first place and 'consistent in its scepticism throughout our membership'..."

The Hung Parliament Must Not Be Allowed to Delay Brexit  (09 June 2017)
"On Brexit, last year's referendum result still stands. And there is a consensus between the Conservative and Labour parties to accept that result - the fact that Jeremy Corbyn did so and appeared to accept an end to free movement, for example, will have given many Leave-inclined voters the confidence to vote for his party yesterday..."

Brexit News for Friday 9 June  (09 June 2017)
"GE results in hung parliament as Tories fail to win majority   /   ...with the Brexit-backing DUP's ten seats potentially being crucial to the parliamentary arithmetic   /   Hung Parliament could jeopardize Brexit timetable   /   Westminster chaos is bad for divorce talks, says gloomy Europe...   /   ...as EU Commissioner warns negotiations may have to be postponed after hung parliament   /   Nigel Farage hints at return to politics fearing Labour-led coalition will trigger second EU referendum   /   Even if Theresa May resigns, the Conservative plan for Brexit won't change   /   Brexit in brief."

YOUTUBE:  Good Morning Britain: Piers Morgan Interviews Nigel Farage  (09 June 2017)
"Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage expresses his anger at the general election result and fears it could disrupt Brexit negotiations."

Mainstream Media

Or Maybe Not!  (10 June 2017)
"That said (see the previous post)... The BBC are clearly more than willing to stick the stiletto into UKIP, when the opportunity arises..."

Move Over UKIP!  (10 June 2017)
"I think we may have found the one significant party in UK politics which appeals to the BBC even less than UKIP... and, no, it's not the obvious choice for many of us, Sinn Fein..."

Who Are the DUP?  Who Are the BBC?  (10 June 2017)
"The home page of the BBC News website features a 'primer' on the DUP for those outside Northern Ireland who don't know much about it. It's all very informative but it isn't very impartial. You can tell that, for starters, because of the choice of social media reactions the piece chooses to spotlight..."

Hurt  (10 June 2017)
"To the accompaniment of Johnny Cash's Hurt, last night's Newsnight began with an election montage:..."

Last Night Was a BBC Gain  (09 June 2017)
"The sense of excitement and joy in the BBC election studio was palpable from the off last night. The nasty party was getting its due desserts and they loved it. A central question, as this extraordinary result sinks in, is the extent to which the favourable projection of Jeremy Corbyn by the BBC - combined with the constant carping about Brexit - caused it..."

Targeting the Naïvete of Youth

Star Teacher: Schools are Subjecting Pupils to 'Left-Wing Brainwashing'  (15 July 2017)
"[C]omputer science teacher Calvin Robinson said ... schools will talk about (see: preach) how important tolerance is, but the moment you express an opinion that isn't in line with their thinking, you'll see how short-lived their tolerance truly is' ... This bias is not just limited to 'the obvious party political biases of "Labour = Good, Tory = Evil"', he noted ... 'Pretty much throughout their entire educational career, young people are being trained into a Lefty way of thinking'."

YouTubes and Videos

YOUTUBE:  Livid Conservative Voter's Epic Theresa May Rant  (09 June 2017)
"This is a phenomenal rant by one furious Conservative voter that has won the praise of many, many LBC listeners..."

YOUTUBE:  Superman Returns  (09 June 2017)
"A bit of fun" :-)