Operation Yellow Hammer

This is now becoming more bazaar and like a pitch on Dragons Den. The Lib Dems can promise anything, but what is it worth if they have no Bob Hope of becoming a majority government.

Come back Screaming Lord Sutch.

I wonder why it's only Borris that's calling for a general election... prior to him taking office the other party's wanted a general election ..but now they don't WHY.

Ahh, lets think.  They are not as thick as Boris and can see a scam from a mile away.

Don't worry you will get your General Election...worry because you will see the back of Johnson on his way out of #10 and Nigel will be so trounced that he will be crying in his local Weatherspoon's for a month.

That’s amazing Perry, how do you know these things?

Maybe boris wants a general election because he's now realised he's well out of his depth with everything, and if he calls one and loses, it wont then be his fault, but if he resigned he would have egg on his face after wanting the job since day one.

I am a member of the Liberal Democrats so declare my interest.

In this entire polarised debate, the only political party than consistently opposed leaving the EU were the Lib Dems. The Labour party and the Tories are hopelessly divided and as such have constantly sent mixed messages to the public.

Whatever your opinion of Brexit at least the Lib Dems are a united party you can rely on to fight for a clear and unambiguous policy. That of the UK remaining a member of the EU. Since almost half the population of Britain support that message when the election comes who do you think they will vote for? Looks like a win, win to me.

As always, be very aware of what the Lib Dems don't tell you what they will do, as opposed to what they tell you they will do.......Still Cameron and Cleggy did make a good double act.

All you hear from the Remainers is stop BREXIT ...not one of these MPs that are calling for a reversal of article 50...have come up with any solutions to the problems that got us hear in the first place ..so untill they can come up with viable solutions ...then people like myself will still be calling for us to leave the EU ..the EU is not working as it should surly if they fixed the outdated rules of membership this would cure the problems... party's like the minority Lib Dems are calling for a cancellation of BREXIT and for the UK to accept the EU warts an all ..this is a crazy demand to make and would surely cause civil unrest.

Has no one considered the impact of revoking article 50 without having any representation on the EU council going forward and how this will affect the UK? Just handing control to the EU without any effective voice and continuing to pay for the privilege? Or have I missed something here?

The Lib Dem pledge to revoke article 50 is a huge gamble and could backfire on them big style. I suppose it’s a desperate vote grabbing tactic from a no hope party with nothing to lose.

Windtalker: party's like the minority Lib Dems are calling for a cancellation of BREXIT and for the UK to accept the EU warts an all ..this is a crazy demand to make and would surely cause civil unrest.

You have omitted to say that the revoke policy will only take effect if the Lib Dems get elected to government. In that event, a majority of voters would agree so producing a democratic mandate.

The latest OP election polls are recording the Lib Dems on 19.75% Ahead of Labour but below Tories. The latest Brexit polls reads remain 49% Leave 44%. It will be interesting to see if there is an improvement soon given the new policy.

Source https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/united-kingdom/

The Lib Dems are a party that allows one member one vote. The revoke policy was an overwhelming wish by that membership. Not a gamble but democracy in action. 

Yes we can certainly rely on opinion polls, just like Teresa May’s election result and Donald Trump victory when Hillary was 5 to 1 on to win. 

Which only goes to prove how essential it becomes to educate the voting public of the  uncomfortable realities in the lead up to any election, Kavanagh!

There are also many details relating to the EU Commissions actions and deliberations over the years that have compromised the UK for which the UK general public are  not aware of. One such instance relates to the question “Will the UK pay for future Eurozone bailouts?” The following website https://fullfact.org/europe/will-uk-pay-future-eurozone-bailouts/ concludes that there is the facility for the EU to override an amendment made in 2015 ( and reinforced in negotiations in 2016) which stated that the UK would have been immediately compensated in this event. This begs the question, without any effective UK voice on the EU Council what other previously agreed conditions could also be overridden in future years if the UK remain in the EU?

But this educative process should also include factual details relating to several other issues already debated within the EOS forum to date, not least how unequally and compromising were the EU Commission’s pre determined dates of lifting of restrictions re  the freedom of movements of people across member states ( where ironically France and Germany benefitted at the expense not only of the UK, but also Spain let alone other inequalities relating to other member states).

These are facts that require far greater investigation when reaching conclusions relating to any continuing EU membership, and to date IMHO far too little attention has been given to this, by comparison to the sensationalistic personalising inferences within the media, that sadly have resulted in  undermining and distracting away from such important realities that directly affect UK citizens and the UK economy as a whole.

As for reform of the EU, it has already been stated that the EU Commission have been loathe to amend the current treaty arrangements ( as opposed to EU Council regulation amendments) so until the EU Parliament work together as a whole to enforce such change, the likelihood  appears diminished in the near future. Part of the problem that many have perceived with regard to UK membership in the EU has been that they have diminishing control over events that impact their country and citizens, and that is even before our voice on the EU Council of ministers would be removed!

Yes ads a good post but beyond many. The ordinary man in the street reads the Sun and the Mirror and votes accordingly. They have long since given up trying to understand and believe what comes out of a politician’s mouth. You have to understand the priorities of the average working man and not the Financial Times reader ‘’will my pint taste better’’. For better or worse Boris goes down well with many who are sick to death of Brexit.

16.1 million potential Lib Dem voters.  With Tories and Brexit fighting over a share of 17.4 million and a zero chance of cooperation.

I will not be surprised if Boris changes his tune and now starts insisting that there should be no General Election.  He will of course blame that on Labour.

 If you listen to the debates on BBC question time from a wide variety of regions, a wide variety of the voting public, a wide variety of political persuasions and a variety of intellects, you see how the majority are keen to know details but much depends upon how those details are communicated.

All too frequently the intellectual arguments are hidden in legal talk etc, which some may argue is a purposeful attempt to hide compromising realities.....hence the need to communicate in as simple and effective a manner and thereby  break through the legal talk into the real practical realities that have been and are continuing to compromise the UKs best interests.

A classic case is when you see parliamentary debates with regard to Brexit and recognise how the Parliamentarians all too frequently use political mantra and over-generalised analysis in their attempts to persuade.... how frequently have you seen them debate specific realities associated with the EU, that directly affect their constituents?

Sadly this has been part of the problem. Too little focus on EU realities within parliamentary debates, as opposed to generalised political mantra. 

All I ever seem to see is politicians going on TV interview programmes to make their own speeches and never answer a question put to them. Perhaps that is why the public has so little trust in them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyqnu6ywhR4

I would argue that there has been too little focus on the damage austerity caused to the British people. The EU became a convenient scapgoat for politicians on the make. The public were fed up with the hardships and cuts to public services caused prior to the referendum and wanted to lash out. The Syrian refugee crisis was another factor. Cameron stupidly gave them that chance.

The anti EU bandwaggon con began for Farage, Gove and Johnson and joe public bought it. This resulting  s**t storm and damage to the UK's international standing will last a generation. It hardly matters now if they leave or not the UK's public's view of the European project is tainted and the Europeans view of British politics is broken. It's all way too late to recover the nations credibility.

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Well you are wrong there Mickeyfinn, because as we all know UK debate on domestic austerity measures have been taking place, but still jo public can separate the economic impacts relating from uncontrolled freedom of movement and all the knock on effects therein by removing UKs ability to fairly and effectively control such movements. It’s common sense  that tying the hands of the UK Government at a time of financial crisis was bound to exacerbate the problems. The UK public are not so stupid as some would have you believe in this regard.

Citizens who voted leave appear happy to return domestic controls to UK Government and now we hear that the means by which they will do this could be through a proven points system ( yet to be thoroughly debated with due regard to all necessary amendments where required.....all part of our Parliamentary democratic process of course in order to achieve a fair outcome best suited to UK citizens needs including those foreign nationals who thankfully fairly contribute to our UK economy.)

 No one condones austerity when the economic circumstances allow following the financial crisis, not to mention previous political circumstances that only exacerbated the problems ....and there again you refuse to recognise how the Treasury and IMF  failed to forecast effectively and the impact this had on continuing with austerity measures ....they got it wrong!!!

They failed to respond to analyses that argued it was time to lessen austerity measures!!!( or some might say those in Parliament who wished to remain in the EU purposefully ignored the need to readjust austerity based upon sound alternative economic analysis which “ uncomfortably” happened to be from a political camp not akin to their own!  They even tried to undermine these economists when it suited their political aims.....on reflection a complete hypocritical disgrace that did a grave disservice to the UK and it’s citizens.

But ironically the IMF in their own economic analyses following the financial crisis also failed to recognise the point at which austerity measures against the likes of Greece and Portugal etc needed to be relaxed, and eventually they too had to recognise their failings.....but sadly the harm had already been done with untold consequences that directly impacted citizens. The fact that they manipulated and tampered with evidences to suit their own political aims is another disgrace that IMHO needs to be recognised in the austerity debate.