The only surprising thing about this is that people are surprised, then again....
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The way Brexit is unfolding, all of the sounds coming out of the Tory party at the moment suggests that we will ultimately accept free movement of people and contribute to the EU budget in return for a semi decent trade deal.
That is clearly going to piss off a lot of people, who were voting for controls on immigration or not giving the EU £350m a week.
As it unfolds I would expect Farage to accuse the Government of betraying the people and consolidate ukip support in areas where these factors have been the strongest drivers (and who can blame him).
Many if these areas like northern cities and the valleys are traditional labour strongholds and labour could be under real pressure if they don't play this correctly.
The only surprising thing about this is that people are surprised, then again....
No matter who the next Labour leader is they are going to fail as UKIP will take a huge chunk of their vote share. Especially in this climate. I'm not sure the Labour rebels have thought this through. They want the electable leader at the helm, but if they find the best candidate now they will just waste that MPs shot at the throne. They might actually much better off holding on to a radical figure like Corbyn as at least he has a partizan voter who will be less affected by the UKIP defection. The Labour leader going into the next election will be a fall guy no matter what. I expect behind the scenes, a lot of Labour voters want a more Murdoch friendly type as Corbyn is doomed to be hammered in the press as long as he's in the hot seat.
If we have a snap general election we could find some very unusual quandaries at the ballot box. It could be that some swing voters end up voting Tory in the hope of them getting an outright majority and therefore avoid a Tory-UKIP coalition. But from this position, given how much capital Farage and co can gain from their one and only accountable issue - EU independence, a Tory-UKIP coalition looks quite likely. All depends who the next Tory leader is and how gung ho they are on Brexit. I would guess we will either have a Tory government again, or a Tory-UKIP coalition. UKIP are made up of defected Tory backbenchers anyway so I guess it's a Tory government anyway you look at it. If the new Tory leader is pro Brexit and can appease the Brexit vote, the Tories should hoover up a lot of the UKIP vote. I expect the Tories will go for a pro Brexit leader because of this point and I expect that party to accept the referendum result and support a changed path for the country.
Back to the Labour issue. If there are so many anti-socialist (small state) centralists in their ranks, the right thing for them to do is make a statement and defect to the Liberal Democrats. Coalitions are the only future for the left anyway, so the left needs to stop thinking in terms of outright majorities. The way England and Wales are carved up politically now, many of the swing seats are Labour Vs UKIP and Tory Vs Lib Dem.
Last edited by Blue in the Face; 29-06-16 at 11:55.
I dont know if that TV debate the one with nicola and boris in with their female cronies had anything to do with it but the one particular brexit woman spoke well and sensibly about the issues wheras one of the women on nicolas remain team seemed only intent on insulting boris and probably made the remain team look like a group of bullies with no decent arguments.
I think that particular evening started the tide going the other way along with corbyns virtual non participation in the remain camp which dident guide labour voters the way there were intended to be guided.
enter the millions of sun readers guided by murdoch and there was the final nail.
Why is the labour party splitting a bad thing? (from a left or a central position)
The left and the centre must think in terms of coalitions. Give all factions a voice I say, socialists and centralists. Let the TUC have their voice and power with one faction and let the others defect. The whole Labour party is a very unhappy marriage anyway. End the "wasted vote" factor at the ballot box. Both the Lib Dems and Labour need to set out in their manifestos, they they would only be prepared to get into coalitions with each other. Coalitions are the only future for the left and the centre.
Last edited by Blue in the Face; 29-06-16 at 12:36.
You've forgotten that the Tories are also in turmoil and the backstabbing amongst its mps will be even more spectacular then. I believe that opinion polls for a possible election later in the year are utterly worthless at the moment and it's impossible to predict what will happen.
Thoughtful posts in this thread but I have to say nobody (including the political protagonists) has any idea how all of this will play out.
The most interesting scenario for me is a realignment on the left and the right and some sort of vote where the central issue is in/out again. The most worrying thing is the vacuum being left by both major parties at the moment that it seems the vile UKIP lot are in prime position to fill.
Wasn't the second invasion the topple Saddam incarnation? No matter. Drawing on that analogy, the UK does have the advantage that there aren't oodles of spare guns hanging around and a disaffected and redundant army.
Today's bond market suggests a 10 year time horizon for this all to play out.
Honestly, I think the only difference is the Tories are just ripping themselves apart behind closed doors. I watched PMQs this morning and I think you could see palpable relief in Cameron from knowing he doesn't have to deal with any of the BS any more from inside his own party.
Ed Miliband was just on TV calling for Corbyn to go. He never mentioned the fact that it was him who changed the criteria of those who were eligible vote for a new Labour leader, and without his meddling Corbyn would never have got in. Isn't it funny how politicians only like democracy when it does what they want.
I think this was an emotional backlash vote, triggered by a small band of bigots who used a single repeating issue that they knew would push a lot of people to the ballot box that normally stay home,if you say it enough times people believe it . A lot of people have been done up like a kipper ,by clever politics.
At a time when Labour should be destroying the Tories they are destroying their own party. There is real danger here. UKIP could cause huge damage to Labour at the next election. If Corbyn goes they have to appoint a charismatic leader having had three successive duds. Forget where that politician is on the left or right of he party they have to be able to appeal to the country. If they get the next leader wrong they will be hammered in 2020
Tories seem to be more savvy in this era at avoiding bad spin. Though a lot of the reason for this is Uncle Rupert.
But case in point today - Cameron and his over earnest plea for Corbyn to quit "... not in my party's interest". A brilliant deflection to make sure the press talks about Corbyn and not him. Corbyn has been blamed a lot for the referendum and it's fall out, buy really the blame ought to land at No. 10
I'm actually not sure it's in the Tory's interest for Corbyn to stand down as we shouldn't forget, he's actually polling quite well considering how many enemies he has. But as stated abover we don't know what will happen and will have to wait and see how this plays out.
The world has hardly progressed since 2008, so I don't think the referendum result is going to have much effect on what was always going to happen anyway, except that we can now be blamed for it, i.e. it was the stupid people what caused it, and nothing to do with the bankers and politicians!
If a clear and finalised plan on Europe isn't in place before the next election, UKIP will clean up I would imagine. It also forces the main two parties to appease the UKIP vote. Let's see who the Tory's appoint as leader.
The Lib Dems have promised to overturn the referendum descision. It's a smart play by them. The SNP will surely do the same. The Lib Dems may win some seats back on this (though not in south west England where they lost a load in the last general election).
Where do you get that from? US GDP in real terms is now 10% higher than in 2008 and unemployment has fallen to below 5% from a high of above 10 during the cycle. I can dig out the UK figures and they will bear my point out. The world economy in general is much healthier than it was. Nobody is blaming anyone. I guess voters did the calculus that says limiting migration was worth plunging the UK into a recession.