Nineteen days to go!

Just two and a half weeks now to the UK's General Election. It's nineteen days from today.

Well, mercifully a bit less than that in some ways. he coming week from May 22nd  is on the face of it a normal one,- that means four and a half or five working days followed by a Saturday lull and then the deluge of Sunday papers trying to fill their pages with new insights, or which there are really very few.

That's this week. Though not quite. Half term starts on Friday.That means much of the electorate, -especially the better off segments ,- will be turning away from normal life to go to Speech Day and maybe not bothering so much with the weekend media.

The next week starts on 29th May with a Bank Holiday. Many don't bother to watch the box or more than skim a newspaper. Then the next four days are taken up with, especially for the better off, family trips at home or abroad, Then when they get back on Sunday June 4th there are just three more campaigning days to go. With all this distraction June 8th May have a very clever date to choose for an election if you are a Conservative starting with a big lead in the polls ,want to limit the time really available for its erosion and find a moment when  many will have had a bit of a holiday which tends to lean them towards the status quo.

That leaves the third week,from Monday June 4th as a three day final sprint to the line. Suddenly the 19 days  of assumed voter attention have become a lot fewer.  For some maybe only seven or so.

That being the timeline how's it all going ? The polls all point to a substantial Tory win but are we in for a surprise on the night when the exit poll flashes up at 22.01 with a red splurge and Labour in the lead?  Or a potential majority coalition of who with whom ? The Tories have only got to lose some of the seats gained from the Lib Dems in 2015 and fail to make  the assumed gains in Labour's northern heartlands. Scotland ,where they are led by the hugely impressive Ruth Davidson might help out a bit with a few SNP scalps but Mrs May could still be in trouble..

The Tories's strongest suit is to keep the focus on it being purely and simply about the choice of leader, not Brexit or the domestic issues, especially the NHS. Labour's is the reverse. No surprise therefore that they they are working overtime to keep the spotlight on schools and hospitals and now pensioners and to present Jeremy as a nice harmless sort of guy who's on your side unless at £80k you happen to earn just more than an MP's approximately £ 74,000 salary. Unsurprisingly evil fat cats start just above that line.  The unattractive hard left posse around and behind Corbyn are largely kept out of  sight. It's not sensible to scare the horses. Indeed if voters had the remotest idea of the economic and other mayhem  this bunch might inflict on the nation should they win most would be downright terrified.

 The Labour party is being pretty successful in putting over the soft Jeremy image to the many while to the hardline few and members of the protest industry still majoring on the clenched fist,angry Corbyn the revolutionary as seen at the staged ,bussed in, town hall meetings of the heavies and the cheerless cheerleaders waving placards about the NHS and Tory Scum. Another line being skilfully exploited by the left is that since the polls predict there is no chance of Corbyn becoming PM  it's safe to vote for him as an anti establishment protest and to clip Mrs May's wings a bit even if you really don't want him to win. We've been there before. That's the way that Corbyn was first nominated for the Labour leadership,- achieved with minutes to spare,- and the  Leave camp pulled in more votes than expected  in the Brexit referendum.  In both cases people signed up against  what they really wanted just to give establishments a bit of a wakeup kicking. A Remain majority was believed to be certain in the Brexit referendum so some voters reckoned they could give the establishment a kicking by voting Leave without any risk of that happening. Unfortunately no estimate has been produced ,or at least published, on the number of such tactical votes . (What's happened to real political analysis?) Take away that factor and real preferences may have been 50/50 or a clear Remain majority.That's one reason why Remainers have been looking for some way to trigger a second go at it.

So,,.. for Conservative/May supporters there are some nailbiting "Wish it was all over " days and nights to go. For the Labour/Corbyn camp there's a lot to play for and many of the things they say are coming over as more down to earth and resonating better with the electors than the Tory messages and style. June 9th could still see Britain's first PM to wear one of those funny hats usually decked out with a red star.

Why? Why? Why? Theresa.

There we all were, just a week ago, enjoying a Sunday with our political world on a nice even keel. Mrs May was set for two years until whatever type of Brexit she chose became a reality and after that had a year till the 2020 General Election to tidy up loose ends and get going on the 2020 -2025 agenda freed of the distractions of the EU carryon..Her overall majority of 17 was tight enough to keep most of the recalcitrants or other trouble makers in line. She was doing well. The Scottish lady was being kept in her place , effectively being asked "What is there about the word NO that you don't understand?" and the Remain rearguard beginning to understand that they were moaning about a lost cause because although the lady is up for turning on some things,-like calling early elections, - she isn't on Brexit. She's had a good run so far, refusing to feed the media's Blair and Cameron induced expectation of 24/7 thoughts on everything and feeling everybody's pain about every upset. She's been her own person and expunged much of the dreary legacy of the very male and very Eton and Oxford chumocracy, the appalling Cameron resignation "honours" and the politically toxic flavours that stuck in people's minds and gullets..

So why did she throw it all up in the air and risk everything in a seven week campaign which will be nasty, full of twists and turns and wraps two entirely separate issues ,- Brexit and Schools and Hospitals etc,- into just one vote? The simple answer must simply be that she reckons she can win and win big ,and in doing so get two more years to give her the potentially calmer years of 2021 and 2022 when , freed of the EU, the government can power ahead on open trade deals and dealing with the big domestic issues.

What now then? The polls point to a big Tory majority. Disregard them . The two questions, one answer formula could produce big surprises. There are are still seven (ghastly) weeks to go. Anything could happen, If the LibDems regain a clutch of the seats they lost in 2015 the Tories have to take as many from Labour,mainly "Up north". Maybe they did as well as they ever can there last time? If so the 17 overall majority could shrink to an overall minority. That could result in a Corbyn led coalition with someone,- anyone ,- but most likely the LibDems whatever Farron is saying now. The reality would be a Marxist inner core,including Unite's McClusky, and the most left wing government the UK or maybe the whole of Europe has ever seen. Corbyn has already said that he is looking for an entirely different sort of Britain. Listen to him very carefully. The one he has in mind won't be the one many,including middle class idealists who always get done over in a revolution, imagine they would get.The far left, very much in love with themselves, loathe the vast bulk of the electorate. They are also politically far more organised and clever than any other group.

Regardless of the issues fought over ad nauseam on our screens and in our newspapers or via Twitter,,Mumsnet, Teensnet or whatever else there is out there,the choice on 8th June will be brutally simple. A truly far left Marxist designed and led government under Corbyn or a right of centre Conservative one under Mrs May. Forget any tactical voting. That's how it is.

Remainers,- Tone rides to the rescue,- Not.

The news that Tone, the one time Prime Minister who amongst other things took his country into a disastrous and unnecessary war is , more glistening eyed than ever, back on the warpath. This time he wants to save Britain from Brexit . That can't be good news to the Remainers.

Pictures of anyone, let alone a man who may see himself ,- surely alone amongst humanity,- as potentially returning to Number 10 as leader of a disparate and desperate band of metro Labour MPs, rebellious Remainer Tories,Scottish Nationalists and a smattering of Lib Dems, warmly embracing the man who did so much for the Brexit campaign, Jean Claude Juncker is enough to ensure that Leave wins any second referendum. That old smirking grin " Look who I'm with " ( Dave had a similar one ) is there again . Many potential voters reach for the sick bag.

The be-hugged Juncker, was one time Prime Minister of Luxemburg, population 543,200. That makes the position similar in importance to being leader of Sheffield , population 530,000,  City Council. Both before and after the a Referendum vote this man has done nothing to re- think creatively how Britain might be persuaded to stay. Instead he continues to issue lofty ( if that is possible from low level) statements about how difficult it's all going to be for the recalcitrant nation and any others who might be so bold as to say enough is enough and they either want the eventual unification nightmare abandoned or to get out of ever more stifling union,- aka centralised control.

Good night Tone. Thank you for calling, but no, you've done enough leadership for one lifetime. Will someone please tell him before everyone does?  

It's nearly February.

With Christmas now four weeks behind us a moment to catch breath perhaps. or maybe not.

We won't embark on yet another Trump commentary other than to note that he was elected by the US' system of democracy (all those electoral colleges) and it is therefore entirely out of place,and irrelevant, for the disappointed in both the US and more especially abroad, to demonstrate and shreik foul. People voting for someone or something you don't like doesn't invalidate their eligibility to do so, whatever the so called liberal (but actually highly illiberal and intolerant) left may think. For opponents it is much more productive to accept the setback,figure out what they failed to do to avoid it and set about making sure by thought word and deeds they get their prospectus right next time. The same goes for Brexit and the Bremoaners. Like it or not,rightly or wrongly, the electorate has spoken.there is nothing to be gained by not energetically getting on with the new task. The same goes for the moribund European Commission. Where's the new plan , the new proposition to keep the UK in? Currently the grey men (there don't seem to be many women there) of Brussels show no sign of coming up with one and their mindset makes it unlikely that they will. To the Brexiteers another good reason for leaving.

The media is in a febrile state, its needs for 24/7 Breaking New headlines not being fed at home by a canny Theresa may who they continually slag off for not revealing her innermost or even outermost thoughts or by anything good they can say about "the Donald". That leaves just the NHS, now going,like most other northern European health services going through its annual seasonal crisis. Shouts for more money cone from every side but hardly a word on what it's for. The NHS needs root and branch flow analysis to establish what's getting in its way, clogging up processes, causing delays and stopping the patient getting swift ad successful treatment. Clinically it is usually good to excellent, It's the processes and some mindsets that get in the way, - and ultimately cause too many unnecessary premature deaths.

We will also skip over Davos, the once useful exclusive gathering but now, post populism, seriously dated spectacle of too much Dad dancing and money making grandstanding by failed politicians and others, charging absurd amounts to share their "wisdom" with other no-hopers. Time the resort went back to concentrating on real skiers.

Back to the headline. With 22 days of January gone and winterwise just 28 days of February to contend with, the very first tentative green shoots of Spring can't come soon enough. And hopefully with them some more positive thinking about making changed circumstances work. Enough of "looking into" " Further studies" and the rest ,some real delivery would be good now. We must do better than spending 40 years figuring out how to get a national trunk road past Stonehenge.

Happy New Year!

Well, we've made it. 2016 has finally slid into history and  we are into 2017. A relief or a "Oh God are we really?" moment?

A year ago 2016 was looking like fairly calm water. Abroad Hillary Clinton was headed for the White House if only on a "It can never be Trump" ticket. The EU was looking increasingly cosily moribund, ignoring anything about reform while visibly filling its face with goodies paid for by member states. Here our Dave had put the country on a road to a EU Referendum which it was presumed would go for comfortable stay in rather than risk the unknown upheaval of leaving. So warm slippers -comfortable about winning was our man that he didn't bother to set a 60/40 bar as being required for constitutional change, something he could reasonably have done.

So what happened? We, but more especially Dave and Hillary, should have read the tealeaves of the Boaty McBoatface fiasco. Proposals for serious names for a new research vessel were rejected by a truculent online electorate in favour of Boaty McBoatface. One can excuse Hillary for not being aware of anything happening on this side of the Atlantic but poor old Dave, to whom the world beyond the narrow triangle of West London-Oxford- Cotswolds often seemed to be a bit of a mystery, might at least have been warned by one of his minions that the natives seemed to a bit restless out there. Until around midnight of 23/24 June (The referendum closed at 10pm on 23rd)  Dave had seen a fairly smooth ride through till whenever before the 2020 General Election he chose to give way, probably to George Osborne. Then with the first results from the North East and the South the maths started to wobble. More than expected northerners were voting for "Leave" and fewer than expected counterbalancing southerners (where the Conservatives had hardly bothered to campaign) were voting "Remain". Dave, who had promised to stay on as PM and manage whatever the outcome , seemingly suddenly got a touch of the "Why should I do all the hard work?" syndrome and shortly after 8am quit. There's a stayer for you. He did say though that he would remain as MP for Witney and serve its people, something he soon decided wasn't worth the candle either so he bailed out of that too. Now he can fly BA instead of EasyJet. So much for those who expect a sense of public duty in their politicians. Disappointing. To many the man left the stage with no legacy and they can hardly remember he was even there.

No surprise then that over in the USA whose whole tortuous , energy sapping and expensive  electoral process is based on the days of travel on horseback or the early railroads, the electorate was also getting restive and unenthusiastic about entrenched elites. Clinton's campaign was lacklustre, Her appearances  seemed tired ,were formulaeic, down to the guaranteed every time pointing into the crowd at imaginary recognised old friends ("See.I belong around here.I know people") and uninspiring. As in the UK it also didn't recognise the disenchantment and powerlessness felt in the rust bucket zones like Michigan where Trump wound up his campaign so she didn't give them the cuddles she should have. Where were her advisors? Like Dave's presumably in the same rarified cuckoolands as  their leader so just not picking up the vibes that Trump's more earthy campaign worker ants did. To the disenchanted, the disenfranchised or just the simply bored, the arrival of a glitzy cowboy on horseback, firing off in all directions, promised at least some excitement and a kick in the establishmentt's groin so to hell with the risk. They voted for The Donald on November 8th. Again the US system being tied to the horse and the railway, unlike the UK,  America does not go for a sudden death handover and a walk of shame the day after the election.While allowing time for the new man or woman and spouse to clip clop or slowly click clack across the continent, the outgoing pair have time to arrange their own furniture vans and time and method of departure while the incomer can sort out how many Rockettes, pole dancers or whatever will perform at the pastiche handover ceremonies on January 20th. (Note: Only the British know how to do proper ,tasteful ,handover ceremonies.We have form and unequalled experience in the art. We probably did a good one for American independence).

By February of this new year, 2017, when most Brits should be back from the Christmas break, the world will be dominated by Trump, Putin and Kim Jong-Un. The Chinese will continue their economic colonisation wherever they can and ruffle Asian feathers by building things on rocks in the China Sea. The EU will continue snoozing its way to the next claret round under the administrative prickly non leadership of Jean-Claude Juncker .Here at home Britain's media will be tearing its hair out because of Mrs May's refusal to be on the box every five minutes feeling everybody's pain about anything at all and her refusal to reveal her hand in the potentially tortuous Brexit negotiations. How could she be so insensitive to public opinion? If she felt she had to increase her majority via a snap General Election and the maths played the same sort of tricks as they did in 2016, what would we get next? Comrade Jeremy? If that doesn't make you shudder ,consider this. Four years,- or even a year,- ago,- nobody would have given Trump or Brexit a chance. If the Tories, who have the extremely difficult task of achieving a successful Brexit, something they never wanted in the first place, come to grief and the economy is all over the place with inflation, more devaluation, higher interest rates, higher taxes negative equity in house prices,- any of that or more,- just who would/will people vote for?  You saw that here first.

Happy New Year!