quote:

This would mean a definite Brexit delay...

The only thing certain is delay.

They are never going to leave the EU. If they were going to they would have done it by now.

^^^^^

“Boris Johnson dramatically won his battle for a pre-Christmas election today as Jeremy Corbyn caved in.
……
A senior Labour source said the party is now 'supporting a December election' - although Mr Corbyn still potentially faces a big rebellion by MPs terrified of being put to the sword by the Tories. Labour has been trailing by up to 16 points in the polls.

The humiliating climbdown came after the Prime Minister mounted a fourth effort to force a snap poll…”

https://mol.im/a/7624983

Turns out Parliament can actually muster a decisive majority after all. AIUI, after the government got in on the "one-line law" approach of the Liberal Democrats and SNP, requiring only a simple rather than a two-thirds majority, Labour couldn't very well go into the elections as the only major party which voted against having them, after previously long demanding the opportunity. Johnson also took back the 21 Tories he had thrown out of the conservative caucus for dissenting earlier.

The opposition still wanted the 9 rather than the 12 December date, but the government threatened to withdraw the bill and not have any elections at all. Amendments to lower the voting age to 16, give EU citizens a vote etc. were not admitted to debate, which shows a new unity among the Tories. Outgoing speaker of parliament John Bercow had previously frequently admitted motions by the pro-European camp including MPs from his own party, and needn't have cared with his stepping down already announced for 31 October; but everyone in the Conservatives seems sufficiently content with the current deal now.

Of course it still remains to be seen what the elections bring and whether Johnson can actually secure a new majority for him. Again, Theresa May once made that gamble, too, and it didn't turn out so well for her. With a clear position on Brexit now, his Conservatives at least stand a better chance against losing votes to parties who have long been definite on their stance, like the LibDems. I don't think the Brexit Party will play much of a role; Nigel Farage has never managed to win a single seat in Parliament under the British district-based first-past-the-post system with either UKIP or his new party, in either general or special elections. Of course it might just happen this time.

quote:

UK set for 12 December general election after MPs' vote

29 October 2019

The UK is set for a 12 December general election after MPs voted to back it following months of deadlock over Brexit.

By a margin of 438 votes to 20, the Commons approved legislation paving the way for the first December election since 1923.

The bill is still to be approved by the Lords but could become law by the end of the week.

If that happens, there will be a five-week campaign up to polling day.

[...]

The PM said it was time for the country to "come together to get Brexit done", as he left a meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservatives held minutes after the vote.

'Once-in-a generation chance'

He has readmitted 10 of the 21 Conservative MPs he threw out of the party rebelling over Brexit, allowing them to stand as Conservative candidates.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "This election is a once-in-a-generation chance to transform our country and take on the vested interests holding people back."

[...]

There was last-minute wrangling over the date amid Labour concerns that students could be "disenfranchised" if it was held outside term time.

But their call for the poll to be held on Monday 9 December - at a time when they believed more students would be at their term-time addresses - were rejected by 315 votes to 295.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-50229318

quote:

I don't think the Brexit Party will play much of a role;

I hope you're right... but it would be awful if the Tories and the Brexit Party split the Leave vote:

The Brexit Mess

The darkness ahead -- if we fail in our task.
Katie Hopkins : Fri Nov 1, 2019

“Katie - what on earth is happening with Brexit?”

It’s a question I have been desperate to answer and have found myself unable to answer -- as one day of uncertainty has led into the next. The word ‘unprecedented’ is commonplace in the UK right now.

Trying to give an accurate update on Brexit has been like trying to sell yogurt in the desert. It is past its shelf life even before it reaches the store.

But despite the attempts by our Remain-leaning Parliament to frustrate the will of the people, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has finally found a way forward, albeit a long way from the "Leave" we were promised for Oct. 31. Even the ceremonial 50p coins minted for the occasion will be smelted down in despair.

Bojo has called a General Election for December 12, 2019 in the hopes of breaking the endless deadlock over Brexit. And despite a desperate effort by the opposition to allow 16-year-olds and 3 million EU foreigners (who do not have British citizenship) to vote, Boris has prevailed.

The British people will go back to polls and vote for a new government to take them into 2020. Boris believes it will give him the majority he needs and a fresh mandate to Get Brexit Done and get us out of the European Union -- his battle cry since he entered the House of Commons.

But the risks are considerable and the choices are stark. This will not be just a vote on Brexit. This election merges Brexit votes and party loyalty. There are crossed allegiances at every turn. Leave-supporting Labour voters will never vote Conservative, for example -- similarly entrenched in their view as a Never-Trumper is inside the GOP.

In the most basic terms, these are the choices facing British voters:

Conservatives: Leave with a deal;
Liberal Democrats: Remain in the EU - overturn Brexit;
Brexit Party: Leave with No Deal;
Labour: Remain in the EU and offer a second referendum.

Rather like a trip to the oral hygienist, this election is not something anyone is particularly looking forward to.

Over the last weeks and months, many politicians have made themselves the enemies of the people -- voting against the wishes of those they are supposed to represent. Estate Agents and Solicitors were the least respected professions in this country. Politicians now wear that mantle with some shame.

These Members of Parliament aren't going to be too eager to go knocking on the doors of people they have let down so badly, especially so close to Christmas. I can only imagine the reception they will receive. Just this week online, a British voter was sharing how to wire your doorbell to the electricity supply in readiness. I believe this was the British sense of humor at work.

Stop any decent Brits in the street and ask them what they think about Brexit and they will sigh at you and tell you they are sick to the back teeth with the whole thing. They just want it done and over with, whatever it might be.

Asking people to vote again, after their last vote has been ignored, is asking people to invest time, faith, and energy in a process for which they have none.

Just like the decent Americans I know, most are fully-loaded with everyday life: we have kids to drop at school, elderly parents to care for, jobs to maintain, a sick friend who needs a visit, a car that needs servicing and a bit of guttering that needs reattaching to the roof. Real things that need fixing for our families.

Expecting busy people to stand in line in the darkness of a British winter and vote again is like asking my kids to do extra homework. They’d assume I was mad.

And December elections are a rarity for precisely these reasons. No one thinks they are a good idea. The last one was in 1923. And produced a hung parliament. This is not a good omen.

There is a big issue at the heart of all this that will need to be resolved. Many Labour (left-leaning) areas of the UK also voted Leave. These are the hardcore, working class people of Britain from the factories and the mines. Their families have voted Labour for generations. If they voted Tory their parents would turn in their graves.

Disillusioned with Labour who want to Remain, the Brexit Party is their best alternative. There is a real danger the Brexit vote will be split.

Boris’s spokesperson says Nigel Farage is "not a fit and proper person." And Farage says Boris and his Brexit deal are not to be trusted. This is one thing our side is spectacularly good at on both sides of the Atlantic -- fighting against itself.

What heartbreak there will be for true Brexiteers if vote-splitting results not only in a win for Remain parties, but places a socialist, pro-Hamas, anti-Semite Jeremy Corbyn in as Prime Minister.

Two things need to happen in rapid order:

First:

Boris needs to show some magnanimity towards the Brexit Party. Offering Farage a clear run at Labour seats where a Conservative MP has no chance of winning would reward Farage’s Brexit movement for their effort and endeavour, in return for them stepping aside for Conservatives elsewhere. Brexiteers are desperate for them to do a deal.

Pragmatism, not egoism, will win this election. The "Leave-EU" plan needs to introduce an app to assist with tactical voting. This is a sensible approach to an archaic voting system in the UK.

Second, and most importantly:

The good people of Britain need to be disciplined in our determination to make Brexit happen, "Once more into the fray!"

We must stand in line in the cold and the dark at the ballot box and put our faith in this vote, despite all that has gone before. We must place aside the three long years our will has been disrespected to fight back for the Brexit we voted for on June 23, 2016. And we have to do all this because the alternative is just too terrible to consider.

If we fail in this task, fail to back Boris and his promise to Get Brexit Done, if we waiver and vote against Boris disregarding a voting system rigged in favor of the largest party, if we simply stay indoors, then we fail to honor those who believe in this country and have faith in our nation. And we fail in our determination to prevail against all the odds and against the Establishment itself.

This is our opportunity to fill Parliament with decent people who deserve a seat in that House and oust those who do not.

For three long years we have been told we are too stupid, too lazy, too racist, too dependent, too weak, too fearful to trust in a sovereign Britain.

Now is time for us to stand shoulder-to-shoulder once more, and roar back like a lion.

Now is the time to remind the powerful and the Parliament that the British people still believe in this great country and are still determined to be heard.

Katie Hopkins is a British media personality, columnist, former businesswoman and one of the U.K.'s leading freedom fighters.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/f...1/brexit-mess-katie/

Well, Farage essentially told Johnson today to either take him on board, or face contest from the Brexit Party for every seat - which might not win one for the latter, but lose some for the Tories. I've always considered Farage an opportunist - he left UKIP twice, first for an unsuccesful attempt to run for British Parliament as a Tory, and when it self-destructed after the Brexit referendum, but kept his mandate in the European Parliament. Then he founded the Brexit Party when he sensed the UK wouldn't leave before this year's European elections. And this move smells like he's trying to secure new alimentation after his current cushy position evaporates with Brexit.

quote:

General election 2019: Farage calls on Johnson to 'build Leave alliance'

01 November 2019

Nigel Farage has called on Boris Johnson to ditch his Brexit deal and "build a Leave alliance".

At the launch of the Brexit Party's election campaign, the leader said bringing the parties together was "the only way" forward.

But he warned Mr Johnson that if he turned down his offer, the party would field candidates in "every single seat" in England, Scotland and Wales.

The Conservatives have consistently ruled out a formal pact with the party.

A Tory source told the BBC: "A vote for Farage risks letting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street via the back door. It will not get Brexit done and it will create another gridlocked Parliament that doesn't work."

It comes after President Donald Trump said Mr Farage and Boris Johnson should team up as "an unstoppable force" .

[...]

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50261647

Facebook Wipes Out Conservative Ads Before UK Elections

https://bigleaguepolitics.com/...before-uk-elections/

On Sunday, December 1, 2019, Facebook removed seven Conservative Party ads right as elections are quickly approaching in the United Kingdom.

Facebook was prompted to do so after the BBC complained about them criticizing the news outlet’s impartiality.

“We have removed this content following a valid intellectual property claim from the rights holder, the BBC,” a spokesman for Facebook said in an email to Bloomberg.


The BBC News Press Team commented on November 28, explaining they are “aware of Conservative Party Facebook adverts using edited BBC content.”





On Sunday, December 1, 2019, Facebook removed seven Conservative Party ads right as elections are quickly approaching in the United Kingdom.

Facebook was prompted to do so after the BBC complained about them criticizing the news outlet’s impartiality.

“We have removed this content following a valid intellectual property claim from the rights holder, the BBC,” a spokesman for Facebook said in an email to Bloomberg.


The BBC News Press Team commented on November 28, explaining they are “aware of Conservative Party Facebook adverts using edited BBC content.”
take our poll - story continues below


“This is a completely unacceptable use of BBC content which distorts our output and which could damage perceptions of our impartiality. We are asking the Conservatives to remove these adverts,” the complaint stated.

The Press Association reported that one of the ads the BBC complained about is an edited video clip featuring BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg say “pointless delay to Brexit.” In addition, there was another scene of newsreader Huw Edwards stating “another Brexit delay.”

BBC claims that the wording of the ads makes it appear that the news station is supporting the Tories in the run-up to elections on December 12.

A Conservative Party spokesman responded by claiming in an email that ad is not misrepresenting the BBC but works to “remind voters of the deadlock and delay of the last three years caused by a broken Parliament that did everything it could to block Brexit.” The spokesman added that viewers “can judge for themselves” while it “is clear the footage was not edited in a manner that misleads or changes the reporting.”

As opposed to Twitter’s leadership, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg recently stood by his decision to not interfere with political ads appearing on the platform, because the variety of political ads allows for greater freedom of speech. Further, Zuckerberg claimed that diverse political advertising leads to increased political pluralism.

This move came on the heels of the outrage over Facebook’s security policies, with new reports of Facebook users’ private information being leaked on a regular basis.

Amnesty International criticized Facebook’s policies and recommended that the company discard its “surveillance–based business model.” It contends that these policies have been causing multiple human rights violations, as users have become angry about data leakages and companies constantly targeting them in corporate ads.

The war against free speech has become global.



Big Tech’s rootless nature and affinity for globalism has made it some of the most effective enforcers of political correctness.



The battlefield in the war of ideas is changing. Unconventional tactics are being used, which will require the Right to fine tune its tactics and be ready to effectively strike back.

Cable Explodes Higher As First Polls Show Conservatives Blowout, Biggest Majority Since Thatcher

https://www.zerohedge.com/mark...-election-generation

Update (5pmET): The first exit polls are in...and by the looks of it, the Conservatives will walk away with a sizable majority, with 368 of the Commons 650 seats.

With a predicted majority of 86 seats, this would be the biggest majority for the Tories since the days of Margaret Thatcher.

Political analysts on Sky News are already lauding Johnson's stunning political comeback

Unsurprisingly (and in accordance with our trading guides posted below), cable has exploded higher as it looks like Boris Johnson has led Tories to a "stellar" performance. The pound jumped 2.2% to the $1.3450 level. It's an insane move in cable - its largest one-day jump since January 2017, and that's especially alarming when one takes into account the fact that economic data still show the UK sliding into recession.

But let's not forget: If these results are confirmed, then Johnson may have delivered something investors have been wanting since referendum day - a stable working government.

AND:


Former Hillary Clinton aide blames 'unadulterated racism and xenophobia' for Boris Johnson victory

https://www.washingtonexaminer...oris-johnson-victory

One of Hillary Clinton’s former aides reacted to the apparent Conservative Party victory in the United Kingdom’s election by tying racism and xenophobia to the win.

Peter Daou, who was Clinton’s internet director during her 2008 presidential campaign, expressed his displeasure with the results on Twitter on Thursday.

“Never underestimate the impact of unadulterated racism and xenophobia in the election of rightwing white males around the world,” Daou, who also worked on John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign, said.



Peter Daou
✔
@peterdaou

Never underestimate the impact of unadulterated racism and xenophobia in the election of rightwing white males around the world.
1,292
6:12 PM - Dec 12, 2019
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Looks like BoJo and conservatives are killing it. Time to team up with GB and help them escape the EU with a strong trading/political partner.

Markets love it, along with the China deal.

https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/stocks/futures

Hurricane Boris has wiped out all Corbyn based life forms!

Hope these results hold up. Congratulations to our friends across the pond.

After Bullwinkle, I didn't think I'd ever cheer from someone named "Boris", but here we go!

Hurrah for Boris! GOOOOO BREXIT!!!

Interesting. The citizens over there must be all wrong too, just like our media and elites here think.

Funny the "Polls" had it too close to call.

Good on them...

Buncha sad faces on BBC

SO MUCH WIN!!!!

Isn't there an election in Israel too? Wouldn't that be nice to close the deal.

Tony.

So happy for our friends in the UK!