Brexit trade deal could take 10 years

In my opinion it will be 20 years before we've finished dealing with Brexit fallout.  The UKs ambassador thinks it could take 10 years to get a trade deal sorted out. Theresa May however hasn't got a clue and successfully answers every question that wasn't asked and avoids the one that was asked.

Brexit trade deal could take 10 years, says UK's ambassador.

"Mayhem" (Theresa May) yet again successfully avoids answering the very clear and succinct question put to her. 

Links

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38324146

Was the Falkands War Thatchers Gamble to save her skin

Whilst I take absolutely nothing away from British forces and their amazing undertaking to recapture the Falkland Islands. I still think it was nothing more than a gamble by Margaret Thatcher to secure another term as prime minister.

At the time she was one of the most unpopular prime ministers ever and was heading for a massive defeat, there were four major things that happened.

1. The British ignored things that the Argentinian's were saying in the UN or hints that they were making about military action.
2. John Nott withdrew the Endeavor which was the support ship for the Falklands.
3. The British government brought in the British nationality act of 1981 which replaced the full British citizenship of Falkland islanders with the more limited version.
4. Intelligence had been received that the Argentinian's might attempt something and Thatcher was advised to dispatch a small military force but refused to do so.

All these things lead the Argentinians to believe that Britain would not fight for the Falklands.

Also at the time, the Conservative government was cutting the military to shreds the 1981 defence white paper (titled "The UK Defence Programme: The Way Forward" Cmnd 8288) was a major review of the United Kingdom's defence policy brought about by the Conservative government under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. (Link)

"It was ultimately judged however to have been extremely detrimental to the Defense of the Realm, being among other things widely considered to have been one of the contributing factors that led to the outbreak of the Falklands War."

In fact, the defence cuts and the four points above ended up costing the country billions and continue to do so.

My only assumption of this, knowing that she was a very intelligent lady, was that she knew exactly what she was doing. She led Britain into a war to secure her Premiership, as we know she went from being the most unpopular p.m. to being the most popular after the war.

In retrospect in 1976 James Callaghan had sent a small military force to the South Atlantic called Operation Journeyman when Argentina landed 50 men on an unoccupied southern Thule that belonged to the South Sandwich Islands. "The flotilla led by nuclear-powered submarine HMS Dreadnaught was thought to have deterred a 1977 invasion."

We also have to take into account that the government had tried on two separate occasions to negotiate the Falklands away but had been thwarted by the islanders.

I actually had a conversation with Sandy Woodward who was Rear Admiral of the task force, he was a member of the Sailing Club I was also a member of. One of the few things he did say was that "it was very close at times, could have been a different story."

The Falklands War - The Untold Story (Full Documentary)

The telling quote in the documentary Major General Julian Thompson 

"there was a political need for a victory"

"Though you don't mind dying for queen and country you certainly don't contemplate dying for politicians"

"I shall win the war for these buggers and then I shall go."  

SOAPBOX SUMMARY

So on the whole the Conservative government had tried twice to negotiate the Falklands away, they withdrew the endeavour the support ship of the Falklands. They changed the citizenship of the Falkland islanders by bringing in the British nationality act of 1981 which replaced the full British citizenship of Falkland islanders with the more limited version and Thatcher refused to dispatch a limited force when they received intelligence that the Argentinian's might attempt something. If you were trying to get the Argentinian's to try something you couldn't have done much more.

Thatcher was also a most unpopular and failing PM, having increased unemployment by 50% to 3 million, after promising to reduce it during the 1979 election campaign and she badly needed something to save her.

In my opinion, the above makes Thatcher responsible for the deaths of all 255 of the valiant servicemen that went and solved a problem either caused by her governments total incompetence or created to save her as PM.

Funnily enough, the two carriers were being sold off due to the defence cuts mentioned above. Had Argentina waited for 8 months, the UK wouldn't have had any carriers and would have been unable to recover the Falklands militarily.

Those defence cuts cost the country billions more than they would have saved and continue to cost the country due to the additional military presence now required constantly at the Falklands.

Nott didn't resign because he was right, it was because either he had royally fcuked up or he fell on the sword because Thatcher fcuked up and someone else needed to take the blame.

No one person is entirely to blame as I've no doubt they all sat around a table and agreed it. However, the Thatcher Government is wholly to blame and I'd love to see someone argue against that statement.

LINKS
The Guardian - How Margaret Thatcher's Falklands gamble paid off
Wikipedia - Events leading to the Falklands War
Wikipedia - Margaret Thatcher
Telegraph - Margaret Thatcher and the Falklands War: doubts and fears in a far-off conflict that changed Britain
https://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/3158/Margaret-Thatcher-19252013.aspx
Mercopress - Falklands war, a turning point for Margaret Thatcher’s image and political fortunes
The Iron Lady - THATCHER'S WAR - THE FALKLAND ISLANDS
Sky - Margaret Thatcher: Falklands Was Defining
http://www.redpepper.org.uk/1983-the-biggest-myth-in-labour-party-history/
Wikipedia - 1981 Defence White Paper
Wikipedia - Operation Journeyman
Voting Intention 1979-1983
bbc.co.uk - Secret Falklands fleet revealed
Guardian - UK held secret talks to cede sovereignty
Guardian - Thatcher was ready for Falkland Islands deal, National Archives papers show
https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1982/apr/29/falkland-islands

Someone with a similar opinion to mine
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2nouud/why_did_margaret_thatcher_want_the_falklands_so/
http://alienatedleft.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/thatchers-falklands-war-got-hundreds.html



[Document was updated: 05/01/19]

When a Girl give you a false number

OK strange coincidences involving this one, so i shall explain....

Id been out for a few beers with mates from the bike club, I left just before them and when i woke up in the morning had the following text.

I thought who the hell rents a house for the night, so thinking it was one of my mates trying to wind me up just replied Ha Ha.... but it continued... 

My comments are in blue.

 So It continues and i get the text below, still thinking its my mates trying a gay windup, I decided to play along and see where it leads.

I'm thinking damn this is a pretty good wind up didn't think they had it in em (Sorry guys lol)

So i replied

OK they are not giving up easily I think, so I continue. I think OK this'll flush them out ill say I was given a password see what they say to that :-)

But it continued 

I'm still thinking this is damn good, but they've made one or two mistakes the biggest being all my posts have my picture on them. What i failed to realise is the guy on the other end cant see my picture (which i removed from the posts along with my phone number when editing this)

So now I'm not sure, I'm 90% certain that some guy has been given a false number by a girl, which by random chance just happened to be mine. But just in case its one of my mates being really clever, I carry on the gay windup... 

Guy must have been having kittens :-) 

At which point I'm creased up  :-)

So i replied....

The NHS held a boatrace speech ~ Tony Benn

Just in case anyone thinks he might not of actually said the above here is the actual speech from House of Commons archives.  The comment in the meme above Ive made bold in the speech below.  Strangely its a speech that could be being made in the House to this day.  Ive also emboldened another comment below in in the speech which is really interesting in highlighting the Tories long term goal with regard to the NHS.

The main goal of the Tories at present is to convince the general public that the NHS is unsustainable and unfortunately people are falling for it.

The NHS held a boat race speech ~ Tony Benn 22 November 1995 22 Nov 1995 : Column 697 5.35 pm

Mr. Tony Benn (Chesterfield): I was elected 45 years ago next week in succession to a Chancellor of the Exchequer. I have heard many Chancellors of the Exchequer since, some of them eminently forgettable. I think that we may have heard another.

One thing that has not impressed people over the years is the selective use of statistics and selective quotations. People are not entirely and solely economic animals with a Treasury mode of thinking. Even if tonight, as he will, the Chancellor carries a majority in the House, he has not carried the British public on the policies that he has pursued. That is not only because of the so-called competence or incompetence of the Government; it is because the objectives of the Government are not shared by the generality of the British people.

My hon. Friends and I have put down an amendment to the humble Address, which though not called--I cannot complain about that--it is in order for me to read into the record. It states:

"But humbly regret that the Gracious Speech made no reference to the injustice and suffering caused by policies based upon the supremacy of market forces in the United Kingdom and world-wide, which have had the effect of elevating profit above the satisfaction of human need, widening the gap between rich and poor, causing mass unemployment and homelessness, starving industry of the investment it requires, harming the public utilities and the social infrastructure, eroding the Welfare State and universal benefits, neglecting essential public services in health and education, denying adequate pensions necessary for retired people, diminishing local authority and trade union rights, producing widespread personal insecurity and fear, creating social tensions and increasing the risk of conflict, encouraging the spread of racialism and intolerance, inflicting damage on the environment, undermining the democratic process and civil liberties and spreading disillusionment, pessimism and cynicism, all of which are features of global capitalism; and calls for the adoption of modern, democratic and socialist policies designed to secure the full use of all Britain's human and physical resources, and their fair distribution, for the benefit of the nation as a whole."

It is by their objectives that Governments are judged. During wartime, victory is the only test. Nobody talks about inflation in wartime, only of defeating the enemy-- killing the enemy. When I was first elected--and I am proud of it--the objectives that I have read out were widely shared by both sides of the House. After all, Winston Churchill had been an old Liberal. He had himself nationalised British Petroleum when he was First Lord of the Admiralty. He introduced the Sunday shopping rule and the wages councils. Since 1950, the centre of British politics has altered radically to the right.

We see the consequences in the opinion polls. I do not have a great deal of time for opinion polling. I have no time for political images. The image that I have is the one that I use to shave in the mornings. I cannot change it. However, the Chancellor would be foolish to believe that one can run a society on the basis that profit is more important than human factors.

My right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition, speaking in the House in June after the Halifax summit, said:

"is not the central issue the revolution in the globalisation of the financial and currency markets, which now wield massive speculative power over Governments of all countries and have the capacity seriously to disrupt economic progress?"--[Official Report, 19 June 1995; Vol. 262, c. 23.]

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has no real control over what should happen in Britain because he has to satisfy the international markets that his policies will not interfere with their objective of the maximisation of profit. That is the function of a Chancellor of the Exchequer and if, by any chance, we were foolish enough to adopt a single currency, so that his job moved to Frankfurt, not only would those factors determine British policy, as they now do, and what we are allowed to do, but the power of the law would be in the Frankfurt bank rather than in the Treasury. I, and people whom I meet when I go round the country, ask ourselves what the real cause of the problem is. Is it an incompetent and unfair Government? That is an easy thing for an Opposition Member to say. I believe, however, that there is something much deeper. If the House is in disrepute at the moment, it is not just because of sleaze and all the arguments, but because we in the House do not address the central questions that have to be addressed if we are to provide a decent society.

Mr. Matthew Carrington (Fulham): Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

Mr. Benn: I do not intend to be provocative. I hope to be thoughtful, and not to say anything that will bring a Conservative Member to his feet with a quotation that he might think will embarrass me. That is not the sort of speech I want to make.

Mr. Carrington: I was not going to quote.

Mr. Benn: I do not want to give way at the moment.

The county of Derbyshire, which I have the honour, in part, to represent, needs £100 million for school repairs. Derbyshire, like all local authorities, has been strangled by the Government. Local democracy--this matters to Conservative as well as to Labour councillors--has been absolutely strangled. In the 19th century, long before the Labour party was formed, Joe Chamberlain in Birmingham introduced municipal housing, municipal hospitals, municipal water, municipal gas and municipal museums. When I was an RAF trainee, I learned to fly at the Birmingham municipal airport. That was the heyday of local government, which has been absolutely destroyed by the Government's policies.

Let us look at health. I and the right hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Sir E. Heath) are the last remaining Members who sat in the House when Anuerin Bevan was Minister of Health. Anyone who looks at what we were able to start in 1948, when we were bankrupt after the war, will see that there was absolutely free health care when we needed it. It has never, of course, been a free health service. It was free when we needed it, but we paid for it when we were well. That health service has been utterly destroyed. The increases in prescription charges have been so high that prescription charges can even exceed the cost of the drugs if bought in a chemist's shop without a prescription--if that is possible. There are long waiting lists and services are being privatised.


I expect that the House has heard of the little document, which is circulating, about the boat race between the NHS and a Japanese crew. Both sides tried hard to do well, but the Japanese won by a mile. The NHS was very discouraged and set up a consultancy. The consultancy came to the conclusion that the Japanese had eight people rowing and one steering, whereas the NHS had eight people steering and one rowing. The NHS appointed people to look at the problem and decided to reorganise the structure of the team so that there were three steering managers, three assistant steering managers and a director of steering services, and an incentive was offered to the rower to row harder. When the NHS lost a second race, it laid off the rower for poor performance and sold the boat. It gave the money it got from selling the boat to provide higher than average pay awards for the director of steering services.


That is what is happening all over the place. There is masses of bureaucracy in the health service and a denial of what people need.

The people who will have to pay for all this are the people for whom the welfare state was devised. I have been searching for the origins of the Secretary of State for Social Security's new proposals for dealing with welfare. I found them because, after 30 years, Government papers are published. The stationery office has just put on a CD-ROM all the papers for 1964. I give the Chancellor this quotation from his colleague. This is the Conservative Chief Whip, Martin Redmayne, sending a minute to the Prime Minister on 19 June 1964. The Conservative Chief Whip said:

"The first essentials are to accept that the benefits of the Welfare State should not be universally received and secondly, the insurance principle, which is already eroded, is not sacrosanct. In this connection I would like to see all above a certain income level excluded from benefits."

The Conservative Prime Minister, Alec Douglas-Home, wrote in his own hand--I have a photocopy of this:

"Beveridge was very costly. Would another inquiry be as bad or if we win, should we not impose our own scheme?" It was only the defeat of the Conservatives in 1964 that prevented the welfare state from being dismantled then. It is now the present Government's intention to dismantle it. We then come to the arguments that are put forward when people say that things are unfair and when they protest. One argument is, "You have no rights without responsibilities." That is a very popular phrase nowadays. I looked at the origin of that phrase and found that those very words are in the Brezhnev constitution in the Soviet Union in 1977. An authoritarian system is being introduced, through the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 and so on, which aims to repress the dissent against policies that are manifestly unfair.

The Chancellor questioned us--that was fair enough-- on what the Opposition would do in power. As a candidate, taxation is not an issue that has ever embarrassed me. There are two questions about taxation that ought to be asked: "What is it for?" and, "Who pays for it?" If we tax old-age pensioners by imposing VAT on their fuel to buy a Trident, that is wrong. If we tax people who are better off to fund a proper health service, that is right. The Chancellor, who is a member of the Government, has given 50 billion quid away to the richest 10 per cent. Every family of four--I had the figures broken down for me by the House of Commons Library-- spends 40 quid a week on weapons, 40 quid a week paying for unemployment, which is a deliberate policy, 40 quid a week on law and order, much of it caused by mass unemployment, and 20 quid a week on the common agricultural policy.

The Government should not tell us that money is not available for the things that need to be done. Of course it is available, but it involves recasting the priorities to bring the nation's resources fully into use. That should be the objective of government. The Government should see that there is no waste of human resources when so much has to be done. In wartime, as I mentioned, market forces did not prevail. The weapons were provided by the Government. If we could have full employment to kill people, why can we not have full employment now? Why cannot we use unemployed building workers to build the houses that we need? Why cannot we recruit the nurses and teachers we need? Why cannot we have the people who are needed to look after the old? Why not? Because it is not profitable. The core of the Chancellor's argument is that profitability should be the test of everything that we do. I utterly reject that. The Government use the word "customers". Someone who does not have any money is not a customer and that is why the Government have invented this use of the word "customer". The homeless in cardboard boxes are not customers because they cannot afford a house, so they can be disregarded.

The Government talk about competitiveness as if everything was competitive. Most things that matter in life are not profitable. Schools are not profitable, hospitals are not profitable, the police are not profitable, the Army is not profitable and the Chancellor is not profitable, but the nation knows that it requires those services to survive. We must get on--I do not say get back--to the position where the employment of all people is a national objective. The health of the nation is a national objective and we should ensure that we develop policies for that purpose.

I know that I speak at a time when left-wing views are supposed to be out of date. My own assessment is simple. It is not just socialism that market forces have attempted to destroy, but Parliament, democracy and the social fabric. The House should not think that the situation will remain like that. We need only look at the defeat of Lech Walesa, or what has happened in Russia. Look at the defeat of the right-wing leader of the German SPD. The people are now gaining a new perception of what they want in the 21st century. They want fairness, and they want to use the resources of their own countries for the benefit of their own people for the short span during which we live on the earth.

Debates of that character would be more interesting and relevant to people outside than what passes for an exchange of management expertise. We in this House are not, dare I say it, managers. We are representatives. Who represents the unemployed? Who represents the old who have been denied a pension related to average income? Who represents the kids who cannot get work when they leave school? Who represents the women who get married and cannot get a home? Who represents the people waiting for hip operations? They look to us to represent them in Parliament.

I am proud to be in a party with a strong trade union base because those trade unions, having won the vote, knew they needed to have representation for working people in Parliament. The reason I am a dedicated socialist, and get more so, is that I know that any party that adheres to a market economy or profit as its prime objective will never solve the problems that confront my constituents.

Although the Chancellor had fun in his speech, and I am sure that he felt that he had done well, the country cannot be run by disregarding human need and putting the almighty pound, dollar, deutschmark or ecu above people. Debates in the House about the economy should relate more to people and less to what we heard from the Chancellor today.

Links and Sources
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199596/cmhansrd/vo951122/debtext/51122-37.htm
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=1995-11-22a.698.3

Yes out means out or ... what does it mean?

I like the irony of this

I'm increasingly getting bored with the 52% that voted for brexit saying just accept it stop whinging etc etc bla bla,  as if they would have remained quiet if theirs was the 48% vote.  Why should people remain quiet? They may have lost the vote by a very slim majority, not even sure it can be called a majority, but they are still allowed to have an opinion, that's why we like this democratic country.

I actually voted remain but I'm happy were out, because that's what I wanted to vote for ... so why didn't I?

I may not be academically qualified but I have a good dose of common sense and I actually did a lot of research into what Brexit was all about. I swung back and forwards many times in the lead up to the referendum. I would suggest that I did much more research than was done by some, who just cast their vote on the false promises of closed borders and 350 million a week paid back to the NHS. If you really believed the lies of Boris and (there will be bumps in the road) Gove etc then im sorry but you were mislead, as has been proven after the vote.

Actually no.... lets not be politically correct here. If you based such a momentous decision on the basis of media and politician lies without researching it just a bit, because that's all it took, then you are a class 1 fucking twat, nothing more nothing less.

Now I voted in but only by the slimmest margins and if you look back through my blogs you can see my thought processes.  I went though that because I realised it was important, important for me, my family and the Country.

So what swayed me, because believe me I wanted out of a corrupt EU.

1. Top of my list, after doing much research I realised it would take at least 20 years to sort out the mess of Brexit. I don't really want 20 years of pain, simple as.
2. Control of borders, we actually have more control of our borders within the EU, certainly more control than any other EU country. But we wont have that any more, once we leave. 
3. 350 million we get back will go to the NHS .... this is such utter bollox that im not even going to bother with it and if you thought it was true then please leave my blog it will only confuse you.
4. We need to deal with the EU and they need to deal with us, yes ..... but we had a large say in what went on, even though it was corrupt, we knew that, and we had a veto. Once we leave we throw all that away. We have nothing, no say, no veto. Yes we are masters of our own destiny, but the world is a rather large place and although we try and punch above our weight, others are catching up. Much bigger countries are catching up and the golden egg is trading with 27 countries not one.
5. The politicians lied through their teeth and we as a country was going to expect them to negotiate Brexit and report back faithfully to the British public what deal they had got ....... Yeah right!  Again you might fool the Sun readers you aint fooling me.

The Tories never had a Brexit plan and to this date still dont. They are still putting their Brexit committee together, FACT.

The most we get out of May is Brexit means Brexit. Very good to keep quoting that when you havnt got a scooby. Its nice and simple and doesn't confuse people, yup Brexit means Brexit the Brexiters can be heard parroting, stop winging about it. Well sorry and FRO because I want it spelt out what Brexit means because it can mean many things and the Tories are happier if we are kept in the dark.

Cameron ran for the hills after categorically stating in the Commons that he would stay on regardless of the vote. He ran as soon as he knew he would have to negotiate Brexit. He ran because he knew what was coming in the negotiations, not a lot! .... he already had all he could get when he held all the cards. Now the cards are down its going to get very tough.

May is playing the political game of trying to pretend to be very clever and not disclose her hand. A hand they supposedly hold but dont even know what cards it consists of. Luckily Corbyn has seen through this and called her out on it today. I did love the Baldrick comment. "Cunning plan of not having a plan"  but unfortunately true.

A lot of people are jumping to their defence on this and agreeing that they cant give a running commentary ..... er... excuse me running commentary? We have nothing, zero, ziltch, fcuk all... to be crude.

They are basically screwed either way. Remember the vote was close 52% - 48%  its almost certain at least half of the 52% wont be pleased with the result of the negotiations, that means  that around 74% are gonna be pissed off with what they manage to negotiate. Im happy to be out but if any of you think we hold the cards in this negotiation your living in dream land.

There are so many facets to Brexit and they think its OK for it to be totally secret.  That's a very good ploy when you know damm well your going to be shafted. If no one knows what you were trying to get, you can claim to have achieved it and the good old sheep in the British public will be applauding loudly.  If no one knows what the Tories think Brexit means, then again, they can say Oh no it never meant that, where did you get that from.

Hmmm sorry you aint fooling me. We don't need to know all the details but we do need the basic principles of what we think Brexit means debated in parliament, that's what its there for, we live in a democracy, not a dictatorship or it was last time I looked.

And I want it written down in Blood!

Tories Forced into U Turn

The biggest socialist movement in Europe has just forced the Conservatives to change direction, a massive change of direction.

If she (May) actually does what she's preached today (wont hold my breath, Tories are good at saying what the public wants to hear and doing the opposite).

Here's an email I recieved from May.

Dear G,
Today I set out details of my vision of a country that works for everyone.
The referendum result in June was not just a vote to leave the EU - it was about something much broader. It was about a deep, justified sense that for many people the world works well for a privileged few but not for them.
Our society should work for everyone, but if you can’t afford to get onto the property ladder, or your child is stuck in a bad school, it doesn’t feel like it’s working for you.
Our economy should work for everyone, but if your pay has stagnated for several years in a row and fixed items of spending keep going up, it doesn’t feel like it’s working for you.
Our democracy should work for everyone, but if you’ve been trying to say things need to change for years and your complaints fall on deaf ears, it doesn’t feel like it’s working for you.
We’ve achieved a lot over the last six years to tackle this: the deficit down, more people into work than ever before, the lowest paid taken out of income tax, a new National Living Wage, one and a half million more children in good or outstanding schools, 3 million new apprenticeships.
But more still needs to be done to put government at the service of ordinary working class people – focusing on the good that government can do.
In practice that means things like:

• Reforming corporate governance - to be announced later in the year – to ensure all businesses are run accountably and with the long-term interest clearly in mind.
• A proper industrial strategy - identifying the industries that are of strategic value to our economy and supporting and promoting them through trade, tax, infrastructure, skills, training, and research and development policies.
• Building more houses - meaning that more people have the opportunity to buy a home of their own and that less of the monthly family budget is poured into accommodation costs.
• Strengthening workers’ rights - as announced on Saturday, we’re going to review our laws to make sure that, in our modern and flexible economy, people are properly protected at work.
• Bold new education reforms - so that every child has the chance to go to a good, local school and that they are not held back by where they live or how much money their parents have. The Government will end the ban on new grammar schools – as well as a range of other reforms to create more good school places.
• Getting immigration under control - leaving the EU gives us an opportunity to control the numbers of people coming here from Europe and the Government will be consulting over the next few months on steps to reduce non-EU migration too across work and student visa routes. 
• Continuing to invest in our NHS - £10 billion extra over this Parliament, which is only possible because of the strong economic foundations we have built. We believe in public service. We believe in investing in and supporting the institutions that make our country great.
• Protecting those who cannot work - we will end the mandatory retesting of work capability for those with chronic health conditions that only induces stress but does nothing at all to help.

While Labour remain divided and divisive, completely out of touch with the concerns of ordinary families, it is only our party who can make these changes happen. Political visions are not enough on their own - you need to put the hours and the effort in too. But if you do, great things can happen and great changes can occur. Let's rise to this moment together.

I love it Labour remain divided and divisive, completely out of touch with the concerns of ordinary families, ~ Thats why you just copied most of their policies

"Late in 2002 Lady Thatcher came to Hampshire to speak at a dinner for me. Taking her round at the reception one of the guests asked her what was her greatest achievement. She replied, "Tony Blair and New Labour. We forced our opponents to change their minds." 

Corbyn will be able to say the same if ...IF they actually do what they have said.

To be honest she could have been reading again from a Corbyn speech. The Tories are running scared, Ha Ha I love it. 

The witch pretending to be for ordinary people.... and some tory twat actually had the gall to try and say these had always been Tory policies WHAT BOLLOX. 

Lets have another look at the email I got from the wicked witch ....

Reforming corporate governance - to be announced later in the year – to ensure all businesses are run accountably and with the long-term interest clearly in mind. STOLEN FROM LABOUR

A proper industrial strategy - identifying the industries that are of strategic value to our economy and supporting and promoting them through trade, tax, infrastructure, skills, training, and research and development policies. STOLEN FROM LABOUR

Building more houses - meaning that more people have the opportunity to buy a home of their own and that less of the monthly family budget is poured into accommodation costs. STOLEN FROM LABOUR

Strengthening workers’ rights - as announced on Saturday, we’re going to review our laws to make sure that, in our modern and flexible economy, people are properly protected at work. STOLEN FROM LABOUR

Bold new education reforms - STOLEN FROM LABOUR

Continuing to invest in our NHS - £10 billion extra over this Parliament, which is only possible because of the strong economic foundations we have built. We believe in public service. We believe in investing in and supporting the institutions that make our country great. NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE 12 BILLION PROMISED? STOLEN FROM LABOUR

Protecting those who cannot work - STOLEN FROM LABOUR .....We will end the mandatory retesting of work capability for those with chronic health conditions that only induces stress but does nothing at all to help. YEAH AFTER THOUSANDS HAVE DIED AS A RESULT OF YOUR TESTING ...... BIGGEST JOKE IVE SEEN IN A LONG TIME. at least Cameron just lied .... May is now into lying and plagiarism :-)

Notice that Tories never talk about the countries Debt only Deficit, they are two different things. Deficit is measured over a short period of time like a quarter or a year. Debt is the total debt owed by the country.  Debt has nearly doubled since the Tories took over.

Eric is the Leader of the parsnip party but doesnt have the backing of his MPs

Eric is the Leader of the parsnip party with massive support from an ever growing membership but doesnt have the backing of his MPs



Lets get rid of names and Parties to take that out of the equasion and just look at the logic of whats going on.


So we have Eric of the Parsnip party who is able to draw thousands of new members to the Parsnip party, hes also able to get thousands to get out onto the streets to hear him talk more than any other politican, hes honest and principled and the lowest expenses claimer out of all MPs. Sound good so far?

Now people questioned Eric's policies but on the BBC’s “One Show”, people interviewed in Guildford High Street showed that they supported the majority of Erics policies when they didnt know who's policies they were and were shocked when they found out the were Eric's.

The problem with Eric is he has never been given the backing of his own Parsnip party MPs and consequently the opposition party "The Turnips" and their press, have had a field day. Rather than back him in Parliament the Parsnips have even stooped as low as jeering Eric along with the Turnips who basically act like a bunch of animals because they are given free reign by the Parsnips.

Through all this Eric has continued on with his #morehonestpolitics and his belief that the 300,000 plus members have a voice as well as the 171 MPs.

The MPs of the Parsnip party should support Eric regardless of whether they think hes a good leader or not and here's why.... Anyone that can draw that many members in and get that many people out of their houses to hear him speak should be let loose to do what he's good at. If hes not good at kicking ass in meetings then someone else does that. You have horses for courses. Hitler wasn't a good military planner, he was very lucky and had some brilliant generals who steered him in the right direction. But Hitler was brilliant at speeches and rousing the masses.

You have to have rocks in your head to try and get rid of someone like Eric. Given support like the Turnips give their leader, no matter what. Eric could enthuse thousands more to the Parsnip party and show millions that there is another way, other than the Turnips way.

Unfortunately common sense hasnt prevailed and against the wishes of local PLPs, certain MPs have had a vote of no confidence in Eric, despite it not being in the rules and 170 odd resigned. Now it should be noted that most of these Parsnip party MPs received fewer votes from the general public in the general election than Eric did in the leadership election and it also should be noted that its not clear whether these MPs are acting on their own or whether a small elite within the Parsnip party are pulling the strings?

Either way, if you ditch what you think about the political party and the person, and if you remember that despite all that, despite everything that has been thrown at Eric the membership of the Parsnip party has now grown to more than all other parties combined and no other leader in Britain gets as many people coming to hear them speak ....

You have to bang your head on a desk and think for fcuk sake catch the wave, run with it, what are you doing?



Note
I have been unable to find the video of the BBC’s “One Show”, people interviewed in Guildford High Street.

http://www.guildford-dragon.com/2015/09/13/guildford-labour-party-welcomes-leadership-result/

Brilliant Face Book Post no 4 by Sophie Crossfield

There have been some excellent posts on Face Book and because of their sheer brilliance I decided to post a few on here.

Brilliant post No 4 .....Note the author of the below post is Sophie Crossfield

Sophie Crossfield

I decided not to complete the survey asking who I was voting for in the leadership election. But, it did prompt me to sit down and think about all the reasons why I am voting for Jeremy Corbyn. This is what I wrote:

I'm 50 years old and a lifelong Labour voter although only a recent member of the Labour Party. When Jeremy Corbyn was elected Leader last year, it was the first time in decades that I'd seen a Labour politician who actually spoke to the issues that concerned me and articulated the pressing need for a truly radical change to the way politics is done in this country.

Like millions in this country, I watched in abject horror as the Blair government took us into an unjustifiable war in Iraq - wasting lives, wasting money, causing untold misery and suffering, and making every single one of us less safe and secure in the world. I have become sickened and angry as the levels of inequality in our society have grown and grown over recent decades. I have seen "austerity" sold to us as the only way forward out of our economic mess... all the while, watching the bankers, CEOs and the tax-avoiding elites stash their billions and spit in the faces of the rest of us. I have seen immigrants, the working poor, the unemployed, the sick, the mentally ill and the disabled vilified and punished for their circumstances, whilst Labour politicians - whether in government or in opposition - have done very little to speak out for them or protect them. As an NHS worker, I have seen the daily heartbreaking evidence of the way that privatisation and grotesque underfunding is destroying our beloved health service. . And I have waited for the Labour Party to stand up and say "No more." To say "There is an alternative to this."

I have waited. And I have waited. And I have waited. And nothing has changed.

Meanwhile, the theatre of Westminster continues - braying politicians of all stripes, hooting and jeering and scoring cheap points at PMQs - behaving in ways that would have the rest of us fired in an instant if we tried that crap in our own workplaces. Politicians elected to lead us, who are too cowed by the fear of the over-powerful media to actually stand up and be counted. Afraid to lead, afraid to advance a single original idea without testing it through a million focus groups first. Trapped in the Westminster bubble, oblivious to the daily realities of ordinary people who are struggling.

I am 50 years old. I'm tired. I'm jaded. I'm cynical. I'm ready to give up and just accept that nothing is ever, EVER going to change. I might as well give up voting altogether. After all, what the f**k is the point?

And then along comes Jeremy Corbyn. This wrinkly, rumply, beardie, vegetarian lefty, who has been around for ever... quietly and respectfully saying all the things that I think - and that I suspect millions of other people think, too - and doing so in a way that starkly highlights the ridiculous spectacle that Westminster politics has become. Oh my God... he's actually become the Leader of the Labour Party!

Maybe... just maybe... there's a glimmer of hope? There he is, week after week, asking the questions that I want asked, in the way I want them asked. Representing people like me. Being mocked and ridiculed for it in the media, of course - but there he is. Steadfast, honest, dignified, consistent, unflashy. A Leader if ever I saw one.

I'm not some naive, unquestioning Corbyn groupie. I'm not some starry-eyed youthful zealot. I'm not a Trotskyite. I'm not an entryist. I am a strong, educated, intelligent, articulate lifelong Labour-voting woman. And I am angry. More angry than I have ever been in my life. And I'm ready to stand up and fight for the better, fairer, more equal society that Jeremy Corbyn is fighting for.

That's why I am voting for Jeremy Corbyn.

Brilliant Face Book Post no 3 by Elizabeth Perryman

There have been some excellent posts on Face Book and because of their sheer brilliance I decided to post a few on here.


Brilliant post No 3 .....Note the author of the below post is Elizabeth Perryman

Elizabeth Perryman

I was bought up not to hate, I may dislike people a lot but I cannot hate. I hate what some people do, and I try always to find out why, but I just can't hate them as people. I am saying this because I received an email from a Labour MP who explained why she was not backing Mr Corbyn. I read the email 4 or 5 times and yet could not find a solitary hard based reason. Still it's her choice. Here is the reason why I am supporting Mr Corbyn, every reason can be verified in the records should you wish to check them.

I first heard of Mr Corbyn when he got into 'a bit of trouble' fighting for the rights of a community who were being attacked and harassed many who should have known better, he campaigned for their freedom to live by their faith and for the land they had in Isreal. To me that showed he was not racist or anything like that.

After a bit of time he went against his own party and campaigned against nuclear arms and the right to live free of that, to me that showed a peaceful man who just knew that many wars could be avoided through dialogue and discussion, I am a pacifist by nature and try to avoid physical confrontation, but I will defend myself if I have to.  The next thing was his fight for unions and the rights of working men and women, although there is still a debate about fair pay for women he has laid the groundwork to bring that to a conclusion.

I lived up North during the miners strike and again he was there fighting for the rights of people to simply keep their job and work. After Mrs Thatcher destroyed the communities by closing the mines and stripping the cities of the steel industry, he was there to help and support rebuilding them. The Government at the time certainly didn't care.

He fights hard for people who have issues around housing, especially those who have no home, those who live in Social Housing as I do, welcome any support we can get and I know for a fact that he works like a Trojan to support Social Housing.
Its not brain surgery to ask people what issues really burden them then bring these issues to PMQs, how many politicians have you ever heard doing that? I receive a regular email asking for questions to ask in PMQs and I have sent some in and heard them being asked too!

I am sick to my stomach hearing politicians stand up and say what the people in their constituency think, yet when I ask some of those same people they just have no idea what I'm talking about saying no one asked them! Heck when I wrote to my MP about a situation that is happening in his constituency, I was initially happy to get a letter to say that he would look into my issue and would respond in two weeks ... that was 9 months ago and still no answer. It's no wonder why so many of us bypass our MPs and Councillors and do our own thing anyway without them. Mr Corbyn has always been interested in the plight of others, not for his own gain but for people to be treat with fairness and understanding.

I then looked into the expenses for many MPs and found his expenses were very low, in fact they did seem too low, it made me wonder, did he forget to put in his claim form or something? But on looking further, I realised he never, he just claimed for the very basics of his personal expenses. I don't expect anyone representing me to do it for nothing, but I do object to paying for Duck shelters and Moats around big houses. I don't know where Mr Corbyn lives but seeing the house he is photographed coming out of in the mornings, it looks like he might have a neighbour dispute if he tried to build a moat round it. It seems to me that he is just an ordinary man that does his best for no material or personal gain, all he asks for is people to be treated fairly and with respect. Is that too much to ask for because if it is I will stand by Mr Corbyn and plead guilty of greed.

Politics is not rocket science its simply asking people how things can be worked to bring a better society and working towards that aim. Politicians work for us, we don't need to be nannied and told what to think and do, what we need is to be asked and listened to and understood. And that is why I support Mr Corbyn. He really is a man of the people.

Brilliant Face Book Post no 2 by Bridget Mitchell

There have been some excellent posts on Face Book and because of their sheer brilliance I decided to post a few on here.


Brilliant post No 2 .....Note the author of the below post is Bridget Mitchell

Bridget Mitchell

Some thoughts the why I am voting for Jeremy Corbyn.

I’m 58 years old disabled grandmother and was a lifelong Labour voter until the Yes Referendum here in Scotland. Recently I have returned to the fold, and I have Jeremy to thank for that. I am not a thug, a momentum member an Entryist a Trotskyist, a member of any lefty group, or any political group at all. 

Although not academically gifted I have managed to navigate my way one way or another to this point in my life. The Labour Party and it’s values were bred into me I am proud to be a coal miners daughter. I am proud to worked in the soup kitchens side by side other miners children trying to sustain the families during the fight to save the pits from Margaret Thatchers hatchet. One of my earliest memories is of being given the most adorable collie pup for my birthday when I was about 5 yrs old and when asked what I wanted to name him, Winston Churchill was my choice. so as you can see Labour values are at my very core. 

Over the years as a disabled single parent I became so disillusioned in Politics in general with all the corruption and expenses scandals, lack of trust, and more importantly lack of representation for me no mater what we in Scotland voted we got what the majority of England voted for, and it wasn’t my Labour. My deep held faith in my Labour party was destroyed by Blair and his followers, I no longer could tell the difference between them and the Torys. No one was articulating the things I was feeling no one seemed have the fight to oppose the injustices that was plain for all to see. I gave up looking to politics and politicians for any help or guidance. 

Having worked within many community groups in areas of severe deprivation and with many disadvantaged people I saw our caring Britain unravel. I witnessed the results of the care in the community bills. I worked within the homeless community where voluntary organisations were being left to pick up the fall out. I have witnessed peoples care float from being from the cradle to the grave to be a postcode lottery dependent on where you reside dictating how much and the quality of care you get in times of greatest need. I have witnessed communities die as drugs and despair has slowly has engulfed them. 

Jeremy Corbyn this passionate dignified man has rekindled in me, the hope that things could change and be a better fairer society. His fight against those who wish to silence him has inspired me to come back and fight for what I believe to be right. I have two beautiful granddaughters I want there still to be a planet for them when they grow up. a place where they can live free from fear, be able to provide for themselves, to be able to own their own home, to be all they can be.

The Labour Party needed radical change not make it a different party but to bring it back and again represent the membership. 

For the first time in decades in Jeremy I have found a politician I can trust and believe in, one who will uphold my values and fight against the austerity prison we are being held in by the present government.

Some of my rambling reasons for voting Jeremy please excuse grammatical errors just a piece written from the heart.

Brilliant Face Book Post no 1 by Simon Jonesy Jones.

There have been some excellent posts on Face Book and because of their sheer brilliance I decided to post a few on here. 

Brilliant post No 1 .....Note the author of the below post is Simon Jonesy Jones.


Simon Jonesy Jones

I have to say there is nothing annoys me more than someone that has read and memorised every socialist piece of writing since Marx, then. Feels the need to use 1900's theories to dictate to people what 'real socialism' is. It is arrogant, pompous and shortsighted. It is 1970's OU television super nerd.
If you want to argue with me about capitalism over socialism fine. But dont use your theoretical knowledge to insult me. I have lived in the real world. I have stood with the unions, championing workers rights. I have been a shop steward, I have walked the streets knocking on doors, I have stood on picket lines. I have been on the receiving end of a line of riot shields. I have been dragged away by the police. Am sure you armchair students imagine you have too. Maybe you have.
I also have spent all my life working with people. Mainly children and families. Protecting kids from abuse, trying to keep families together and survive dire abject poverty and deprivation. To work with survivors of violence, sexual assault and exploitation. Some only babies. To remove children from parents knowing the parents do care but are unable to cope. To try to aid families change and grow. To help parents make the hardest decisions possible. And yes to deal with those that don't survive.
I will not quote Trotsky to you. I will give examples of the real world. Of life. Of the effects of materialism, the need for family and community, how we are constantly watched and monitored.
I may be boring. I may be 'uneducated' without an oxbridge degree in neoliberalism. But I hope I am fairly intelligent. I hope I see the world as it is not how it was. I pray I have realistic hopes and expectations.
So if your going to insult me firstly do it to my face not from the safety of your PC, lap top, tablet or phone. Then use experience not literature.
My experiences shape me. I am not your vision of a 'true socialist' because I strive for fairness, equality of opportunity and chances. I want a realistic living wage for all. I want the sick and disabled to have choice, chance and opportunity. I want them to live as humans with luxury and quality of life. I do not want them seen as scroungers, squalid, a drain, corrupt, or any of the other terms the press, media, government, Establishment or society choose to label them with.
I want children to have the freedoms we had to play, learn and develop. I want them to be seen as kids not yobs or a threat. I want society - you and me to remember we were young. We made mistakes. We learned by them and hopefully still do. I want all education to be free and a degree matter whether from a poly, metro, city university or oxford. I want us to value our children for they are our reason for being here.
I want people to have chances of jobs with security. No zero hour contracts. Part time to hold the same terms and conditions as full time. Holidays and sick pay for all. A minimum wage all can live on.
I want an end to the need for food banks, homeless shelters and hostels. All people deserve a home, food and warmth. They also deserve basic luxury items. Life is living not surviving.
I want men and women to have the same pay, same chances, same rights.
I want us all to be protected from harm whether violence, aggression or poverty.
I want no more 1%. I don't care if people have more or less money but no one needs billions. Especially whilst others starve.
I want an end to corruption in politics and business. If we are taxed then the rich are taxed too.
The people need to retake control of the country. Democracy cannot any longer be a con. It needs to be reborn. For the politicians to work for the people not their own self interest. If they are found to be corrupt then jail them. No messing about.
We are not the world police. We do not need to invade countries any more. Let the UN do their job not us!
This is not utopian. Its not communism. To me it truly is what I believe is socialism.
So argue with me all you like. Tell me I am not a true socialist. I am a realist, a humanist and I still believe a true 21st Century Socialist. Prove me wrong.
Jonesy.

Fifteen for Smith and sixty-seven for Corbyn.

So far, eighty-two constituencies have made supporting nominations. Fifteen for Smith and sixty-seven for Corbyn.

https://twitter.com/CLPNominations

The Labour party rule on challenging the leader

Even an imbecile can understand this, but it takes a very expensive lawyer to try and muddy the water.

Chapter 4, Clause II, rule 2 B ii.
“Where there is no vacancy, nominations may be sought by potential challengers each year prior to the annual session of party conference. In this case nominations must be supported by 20% of the Commons members of the PLP”

......... I really don't see where the ambiguity is 

"Where there is no vacancy, nominations may be sought by potential challengers" ......

"nominations may be sought by potential challengers" ........ 

"potential challengers" ....... 

Its as clear as day. 

The problem is.... people trying to bend the rules for their own ends.



Update 28/7/2016
Labour leadership: Corbyn ballot challenge rejected

High court rules there is no basis to challenge NEC’s decision that Labour leader should automatically be on ballot







LINKS
http://labour-uncut.co.uk/2015/09/12/what-the-labour-leadership-election-rules-say-about-removing-a-leader/
http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN03938

Owen Smith - Believable?

Owen Smith, unknown until recently and with just 6 years experience as an MP, is challenging Jeremy Corbyn who has over 30 years experience as an MP for the Labour leadership.

The best we can see is that he has very similar policies to Jeremy Corbyn but we are supposed to believe with 6 years experience he'll be a better leader?

Presently the press are trying to make the places where Owen Smith is talking seem full of people ..... I think there's more on stage than in the audience ....

Whereas with Jeremy Corbyn they are trying to make it seem like not too many people are there, when in reality there are thousands ....

We dont actually need a better leader we have a very popular leader, what we need is the Labour MPs showing a united front, behind the leader and getting on with their jobs.

The Return to Victorian Poverty

Once the NHS has gone, sold off to the highest bidder or given away to Tory pals we will be back to how it was. How it was before the NHS, when you either had the money to be treated or you died.

The harrowing tale of Jackson C. Frank and the Cleveland Hill School fire of 1954

My son sent me a link to an artist Id never even heard of before, a haunting song called "I want to be alone".  Who was this person with such a beautiful haunting voice? My search led me to quite a tragic tale.

In summary he was seriously injured as a child in the Cleveland Hill School fire of 1954 when a furnace exploded and killed 15 of his classmates including his then girlfriend Marlene.

 

I want to be Alone

Jackson was sometimes referred to as "the most famous folk singer of the 1960s no one knew of." He never really made the big time although a lot of his songs were covered by other artists. 

Marlene

Written about his girlfriend killed in the fire

After his son died of cystic fibrosis he slipped back into depression and was committed to a mental institution. He ended up homeless, sleeping on the sidewalk, and lost an eye when shot by some kids with an air rifle. During this time he found himself in and out of various psychiatric institutions and treated for alleged paranoid schizophrenia but he away's denied this, maintaining it was depression caused by the fire. Frank died of pneumonia and cardiac arrest in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on March 3, 1999, at the age of 56

The fire and its aftermath a harrowing read

LINKS

http://www.talkingproud.us/Culture/CleveHillFire/page84/CleveHillFireAftermath.html

http://www.folkblues.co.uk/artistsfrank.html

http://www.nickdrake.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=5635

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_C._Frank

Theresa May 1st PM Question time

Have you seen the facial expressions she pulls, looks like a psychopath

1. She claimed in a very belitteling tone that Austerity means Living within our means ... We have had 6 years of the Tories Living within their means. UK national debt has risen from 800billion to 1,700 billion, nothing more needs saying on that.

2. She totally avoided the question regarding Johnson's remarks 

3. To make a cheap joke about unscrupulous employers to Corbyn she totally misled the general public. "A boss that exploits the rules to further their own career" There has been no exploitation of the rules, the rules are very clear. So clear that even a dummy can understand them.

4. Its easy to look slick (which in my opinion she didn't, she did ok) when you have a baying mob behind you and the speaker doesn't step in to stop them. 

I was hoping that with a new Tory PM we might get a change. I can see from todays evidence its the same crap in a different wrapper.

http://www.housingnet.co.uk/pdf/Five-Years-of-Failure_THE_TORY_HOUSING_RECORD.pdf

As predicted Eagle withdraws from leadership race

On the 13/7 I predicted that Angela Eagles would drop out of the Labour Party leadership challenge and today she does just that.  OK it wasn't quite as I predicted, she didn't bleat about bullying and threats as I expected. I did think when she pulled out they would pull something to try and damage Corbyn on the way out but I guess the brick NOT through her office window like she claimed, kind of scuppered that.

So that leaves Owen Smith as the main challenger?

That's the Owen Smith that became an MP just 6 years ago ...... More cannon fodder I suspect before the real challenger shows his hand?

Owen Smith was parachuted into the Labour safe seat of Pontypridd so that he could become an MP. So why was he bestowed that privilege.  I mean its the same thing they did for Cameron, parachuted him into a safe Tory seat in Oxfordshire so he could be set up to be PM and it looks like the same has been set up for Smith.

Meanwhile Corbyn has never been parachuted into anywhere, hes just won election after election in his own borough for over 30 years. You would have thought that if there was really something wrong with the man, over 30 years they would have cottoned on?  Just saying!

Now I have to say I dont know much about Owen Smith hes probably a nice bloke. He seems to have similar policies to Corbyn but Im having to make assumptions here because we only have since 2010 to go on. 6 years experience as an MP.

• In 30 years Corbyn has locked swords in the commons with many including Thatcher.
• Owen Smith was 12 when Corbyn was first elected as an MP
• Corbyn has been returned as MP 6 times by the voting public.
• Corbyn was returned as MP in 2010 with 60% of the votes 20% more than Owen Smith
• Corbyn was elected as leader with a massive majority of over 59% of the vote, the biggest in history.
• During Corbyns leadership the labour party membership has grown massively
• During Smiths time as an MP I can think of nothing that Im aware of him doing.

So is Owen Smith qualified to be leader and we are talking about leadership qualities here not just will he have the backing of the PLP. I have to say I have no idea, I don't know who he is, Ive not seen anything of him in the commons. I've not seen him enthuse tens of thousands of people to come out to hear him speak like Corbyn can and this is the crux of it for me.

Yes I understand that if the PLP wont work with him that's going to make life a tad difficult. Not insurmountable but difficult.

But to me those tens of thousands of people that are enthused by Corbyn go away from hearing him speak and even if they only talk to one person, thats another ten thousand people. If the 171 PLP go away and talk to just one person that's another 171, ill leave you to ponder the maths.

There's no evidence that I have seen that convinces me that Owen Smith is any better for the job than Corbyn. Corbyn can convince thousands to come and hear him speak. Something is going on there, so that's good enough for me. The ability to get thousands to attend and listen to your speeches is real leadership and a rare quality.

Islington North

 Parliamentary constituency

LAB HOLD

Results

• VOTES
• SHARE %
• + / - %

Labour

, with candidateJeremy Corbyn

, have the following results:

• 29,659total votes taken.
• 60.2% share of the total vote
• +5.8% change in share of the votes

Conservative

, with candidateAlex Burghart

, have the following results:

• 8,465total votes taken.
• 17.2% share of the total vote
• +3.0% change in share of the votes

Green Party

, with candidateCaroline Russell

, have the following results:

• 5,043total votes taken.
• 10.2% share of the total vote
• +7.2% change in share of the votes

Liberal Democrat

, with candidateJulian Gregory

, have the following results:

• 3,984total votes taken.
• 8.1% share of the total vote
• -18.6% change in share of the votes

UKIP

, with candidateGreg Clough

, have the following results:

• 1,971total votes taken.
• 4.0% share of the total vote
• +2.4% change in share of the votes

Socialist Party GB

, with candidateBill Martin

, have the following results:

• 112total votes taken.
• 0.2% share of the total vote
• +0.2% change in share of the votes

Change compared with 2010

Pontypridd

 Parliamentary constituency

LAB HOLD

Results

• VOTES
• SHARE %
• + / - %

Labour

, with candidateOwen Smith

, have the following results:

• 15,554total votes taken.
• 41.1% share of the total vote
• +2.3% change in share of the votes

Conservative

, with candidateAnn-Marie Mason

, have the following results:

• 6,569total votes taken.
• 17.3% share of the total vote
• +1.2% change in share of the votes

UKIP

, with candidateAndrew Tomkinson

, have the following results:

• 5,085total votes taken.
• 13.4% share of the total vote
• +10.1% change in share of the votes

Liberal Democrat

, with candidateMike Powell

, have the following results:

• 4,904total votes taken.
• 12.9% share of the total vote
• -18.2% change in share of the votes

Plaid Cymru

, with candidateOsian Lewis

, have the following results:

• 4,348total votes taken.
• 11.5% share of the total vote
• +4.2% change in share of the votes

Green Party

, with candidateKaty Clay

, have the following results:

• 992total votes taken.
• 2.6% share of the total vote
• +1.6% change in share of the votes

Socialist Labour Party

, with candidateDamien Biggs

, have the following results:

• 332total votes taken.
• 0.9% share of the total vote
• -0.4% change in share of the votes

TUSC

, with candidateEsther Pearson

, have the following results:

• 98total votes taken.
• 0.3% share of the total vote
• +0.3% change in share of the votes

Change compared with 2010

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/who-owen-smith-everything-you-8413993
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Corbyn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Smith_(politician)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000763
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36838808