Rishi Sunak announces 4 July general election
Rishi Sunak announces 4 July general election
63 comments
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In power from 22 oct 22 till today.
And this is the first announcement he has made, that he actually has public support for.
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I wish I could feel hopeful for this.
Doubts about Starmer's Labour aside, even if I had complete trust in an incoming Labour government, I'd be worried; it's a lot easier to destroy than it is to build, and something I fear is if in 5 years, progress has been made, but the amount of readily visible progress is small enough that the Tories go "see, we told you that Labour couldn't be trusted with the economy" and slide back into government.
Probably not helping is seeing the news from the US also gearing up for an election — it doesn't feel like it's been very long at all since we were all relieved that Biden won out over Trump, but now here we are again.
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My worst fear is not a Tory comeback but a lurch in more radical and populist direction if Labour fail to start visibly turning things around after the first term. It's unrelated to expect many if any first term miracles considering the state the country is in, but people are going to need to feel some sort of progress to stop the frustration boiling over.
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This is going to be a real problem - because the Daily Mail and such will be screaming that all the problems are still there 6 months later - never mind that they've taken 14 years to put in place. People like my ignorant and racist sister in law, whose answer to the issue of migrants is to 'Just shoot them'. These people really do just open their mouths and let the bile pour out. She'd never vote Labour as they are too common. Unfortunately there are plenty like her about. Totally selfish and only concerned with themselves and showing off to their friends.
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I'd put money on this happening. My mum and dad can't wait for an excuse to put their trust back in the Tories. All it'll take is a few headlines.
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Thank fucking Christ. That's sooner than I expected too!
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Your not alone. Even tory backbenchers were expecting autumn time.
Seems they think, the recent inflation news is the best chance they have. Especially given how desperate he is to claim the usual labour bad on econ. Dispite 14 years of failing to get it right.
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I was starting to think they would dither their way into defaulting to January at the rate they had been going.
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Tories out!!
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We will have our independence day!
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Non-Brit questions:
- What does the dissolution of Parliament mean as far as legislating until July 4th? Does everything come to a screeching halt?
- When do MPs get to head out to campaign?
- Does the dissolution affect the House of Lords in any way?
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Parliament will be dissolved on 30th May. When the Commons is dissolved all business is ended and MPs stop being MPs. When the Lords dissolves business ends but Lords still remain Lords.
The government still remains and ministers keep their positions, but is effectively only a caretaker for the pre-election period, and cannot enact new polices except in exceptional circumstances.
The campaign period proper starts once Parliament is dissolved. Parties will publish manifestos shortly after, TV debates may be organised etc.
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Thank you! That gives them a week to enact any last-minute laws.
In the U.S., this 'lame duck' period goes from November until January of each election year: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/what-happens-lame-duck-session-congress
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About fucking time
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Oh thank god... I thought he'd draw it out even longer.
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Possibly off topic, but doesn't it seem to be an interesting choice to hold a British election on July 4th?
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Yeah not really. The day means nothing to the average brit. No event that happened then is important enough to raise a single eye brow. As another poster pointed out much of the world celebrated something similar on some day in a year.
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I guess the cultural significance likely isn't too massive and I suppose that at first glance the date might not even stand out. I would put money though that more Brits know what happened on the 4th of July though than say the 16th of August. As I mentioned in another comment the events of American Independence happened far earlier than any of the other colonies and under massively different circumstances which were much less voluntary on the British side. How many of the other colonies successfully gained independence through a war with the British empire at the peak of its power rather than due to treaties passed in an era with massive public sentiment against imperialism.
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Why is that interesting, is one of these countries more important than the others?
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I will concede the point that there are a lot of days and it would be impractical to avoid all of them for elections. However, there is a pretty massive outlier. Most of those countries that were colonies gained independence after WW2 (Iraq and Afghanistan being notable exceptions) due to a strong shift in public sentiment against imperialism. The US on the other hand gained independence 200 years before any of the other countries on that list in a war between colonists and what at the time was one of the most powerful empires in the world. Culturally speaking I'm sure that even if they don't care too much, British citizens are much more aware of the history of American Independence than most of the other countries on the list since it was a much more dramatic affair. I will say Irish independence would likely be more relevant to British citizens and come with a higher level of historical awareness and even emotional attachment.
EDIT: I will add that the US also has massive cultural significance on a global scale. How many people in the UK watch shows, movies, and listen to music from Egypt compared to from the states? If you look at the music charts in the UK they're dominated by American artists.
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Economically, militarily, and politically...yeah..
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What’s the chances the reform party uses it
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Shat on by Tories, shovelled up by Labour.
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Who do we actually vote for now. We got genocide supporting tories or genocide supporting Tory light in labour.
But it seems if we don’t vote for labour we are helping the tories. Like this isn’t a democracy man.
Edit: Appreciate the downvotes and no comments to justify them.
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Nope. Fptp is fucking crap.
But you are correct. 2 evils.
But beyond genocide. One is planing to use culture war blaming and punishing disabled to fund tax cuts.
While the other just refuses to invest in a nation where voters are scared of spending.
There is a clear lesser of the evils. And refusing to vote also favours the incubant party.
I live in a constituency where labour is not the most likely way to remove a tory mp. So other bad options exist. At least one that a.so hates fptp in my area.
But unfortunately you are correct. Our fake democracy forces you to look at the history of your area. And avoid voting for the greater of multiple evils.
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This is an unpopular opinion, but vote for who you believe in. If there is a party or candidate that backs your beliefs then you should vote for them. You only need to look at UKIP/Brexit/Reform to see that a small party can have a big impact, even if it's backed by the media and run by bellends.
Wanting your vote to count by voting for a big party is like supporting Man City because you want your support to count...
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Think I'm voting reform. Hope they do well.
We really need some big changes in government. Going back and forth between labour and conservatives isn't good for the country.
63 comments
Give a knighthood to whoever blasted "things can only get better" during Rishi's announcement.
I'm not sure people in this thread get the significance of the song. If they don't remember 1997, they might simply be taking the song title literally
Well, now you've just made me feel old.
The sight of middle aged MPs cringe dancing to that is still indelibly seared into my brain...
Can they tho 🤔
Personally, I’m optimistic that things will get worse at a slower rate.
You've just been made very pessimistic by 14 years of Tory government
Isnt getting worse at a slow rate better than getting worse at a fast rate?
I mean after Liz Rishi is a bloody angel.