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BRITISH POLITICIANS WILL resume campaigning today, with the general election now less than two weeks away.
Campaigning had been suspended by all sides following the terror attack in Manchester on Monday night, and the issue of security is expected to dominate the political agenda in the coming weeks.
In a poll released by YouGov this morning, Labour is shown to have made further gains on the Conservatives strong lead.
At the beginning of the campaign, the Tories’ lead was in double digits. Now, it has only a 5-point lead, with 43% and Labour at 38%.
Commenting on its poll, YouGov said that while it looked like the Conservatives were losing ground “it is worth bearing in mind that a lot has happened in the past week”.
It said that it “will be able to be more confident about how voting intention settles down over the next few days”.
War on Terror
In a speech to be given by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in London later today, he is expected to say that the “war on terror” has failed and that it is the responsibility of the government to minimise the risk of attacks by giving police the funding they need.
The veteran campaigner will say that more funding would be provided for the NHS and security services to make sure people are “not protected and cared for on the cheap”.
Prime Minister Theresa May will not, however, be campaigning today as she is attending a meeting of G7 leaders in Sicily.
At the summit, May is expected to emphasise the importance of tackling the spread of terror online by urging internet companies to do more to remove extremist content.
UKIP, meanwhile, was attempting to improve on its poor polling and representation in parliament when it published its manifesto yesterday.
Advocating a tough line against Islamic extremism, its author Suzanne Evans said that May “must bear some responsibility” for the Manchester attack due to policing budget cuts.
The general election takes place on Thursday 8 June.
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Corbyn is number 10 is good for Ireland, always been a friend
@Niall Campbell: If he could pull it out of the bag would be some feat. The British people don’t know how bad they’ve got it with May. But by looks of it some of them are starting to wake up. Corbyn, bit barmy at times, but no doubt the more stable choice overall.
@Toon Army: Hah Corybn wont win . Alot of people can still remember the damage Tony Blair did to the country . I will vote but not for Labour or the conservatives i will tick all the boxes and spoil the vote in protest
@Robert Preston: Just draw a big shitting arse!!
@Robert Preston: a spoilt vote is avote for the tories in this election and Corbyn is no Blairite he actually believes in what the Labour Party is supposed to stand for.
@Robert Preston: the “damage” Blair did to the UK will be nothing compared to brexit and the mess she will make of it
@Robert Preston: Spoil your vote, that’ll show them *puts head in hands and hopes for humamity*
@Cathal Jenkinson: Or vote labour and waste your vote .
@Niall Campbell:
To let Corbyn into number 10 would be like letting a 10 year old in.
Under the conservatives, the UK has a strong economy an low unemployment.
In 2 years, the damage the hard left will do will take 20 to undo
And the last thing ireland needs is the UK bankrupted.
@Robert Preston:
Corbyn is a long way left of Blair.. more like Michael foot or less so, Harold Wilson.
How well did that work out? Read some history.
@Dave Harris: Really well the uk voted and are leaving . If Ireland had to vote on leaving the EU and most people wanted to leave the EU would tell Ireland to vote again untill it was to their liking . Basically Ireland will never be allowed to leave the EU .
@Buster VL: Corybn WILL NOT BE ELECTED PM . If you dont beleive me come back the day after the election .As much as people dont like May and the conservatives they dont want this hapless fool in number 10 .
@Diarmuid: corbyn supports evil provo terrorism, he is no friend of ireland
@Buster VL: The Tories have presided over an economy with very weak income growth, a gaping balance of payments deficits and one of the worst rates of productivity in Europe. It’s internal politics are currently leading to very high inflation, lack of investor confidence and most likely a recession.
Well he was a friend of the IRA anyway
Even if labour don’t quite win, Cotbyn polling better than Miliband would long term be a good thing for the labour party lomg term and force the Blair’ite faction of the party to face reality.
As well, with my Irish hat on, the weaker Mays majority the better regards brexit for this country. Hopefully labour can keep this up this momentum in the last couple of weeks
I’ll be on oxygen from the convulsive laughing I’ll do if my man Corbyn wins. He’s maintained his position since the 80′s .
Stop invading other territories and killing innocent people.
If good does triumph over eh , let’s call it empirical hangover syndrome, let him win
@Eugene Walsh: “Stop invading other territories and killing innocent people.”
Oh is that his position now? Why do you reckon he views NATO as imperialist and expansionist, while he calls terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah (who are the prime opponents of a democratic and free Lebanon – killing elected politicians as they please) his “friends”?
How many innocent lives do you think Hezbollah have sacrificed in their various crusades in the Middle East? Why is he silent on these crimes? Why can he, in good conscience, agree to be paid to appear on PressTV – the prime theocracy-run propagandists for the brutal mullahs in Iran? That same Iran that funds the Hezbollah that refuse to stay out of Lebanon? Why is this invasion seemingly irrelevant to Corbyn?
Don’t waste anyone’s time with this anti-imperialist stuff. Corbyn can make as many valid points as he wants on US/etc. expansionism, but if he (as he does) appears so much more friendly to revolting imperialist Islamist groups or governments, then he has no ground to stand on.
@Eugene Walsh: Empirical hangover… seriously WTF are you on about?
@Malachi: Lol. “Hezbollah that refuse to stay out of Lebanon”. They’re part of the Lebanese Government you moron.
@Mark Moloney: Sorry – must be missing something here. How does the fact that Hezbollah have seats in parliament excuse them from the fact that they’ve been murdering Lebanese politicians who dare to stand up to the regimes encroaching on their country (namely the Iranians and Syrians)?
Lebanese people quite clearly rejected this savagery after the murder of Hariri, kicking out the direct Syrian occupation of their country – Hezbollah is just a dressed up proxy organisation doing the bidding of the Shia regimes and their military wing is responsible for unbelievable cruelty and attacks on democracy in the country.
Why am I a moron for suggesting that the Lebanese people be free of a group doing the bidding of foreign oppressors?
2 million new voters registered in the U.K. for this election. I can’t imagine too many votes for the Tories amongst them. Are people walking up to the fact that Tories are almost as bat shit crazy as the Republicans in the US?
It’s hard to know. A lot of centre left have swung to the right recently and it’s mainly because they believe that May will negotiate harder at The Brexit table.
Theresa May is a strong prime minister. She has a wealth of experience and seldom minces her words. The republicans in the US are like a satirist has used a primary school as a setting for the White House. She’s also more left than her predecessors.
I am for Corbyn though. I just hope that he can maintain the revenues needed to make the changes he wants. No easy task.
He is mocked in the right wing press and this unfortunately sticks. A lot of people think he would be a weak leader and I think, with Brexit looming, this will be the deciding factor in the tories getting back in.
How to loose a 20pt lead – T.May is suffering from ‘Foot in Mouth’ disease at every turn of this election. Her interview where she costed her budget with ‘a strong economy’ was a total disaster. And the vitriol in the Media against Corbyn has shot itself in the foot as a lot of voters turn against the unfairness of attacks on him and May getting away relatively lightly.
What did I tell you!? Comrade Corbyn as PM. What a concept.
2017: the year the red army fought back!
@Bertie Was Great: Was Bertie great? Or was he like a bad little boy that spent all his communion money in one go?
I’m no fan of Corbyn, well meaning fool is the best I could say about him, credit where it’s due everyone assumed this election would be only about Brexit but labour have managed to keep the focus on social inequality and similar subjects, much more fertile ground for Labour.
Bizarre stuff from the Tories. All they had to do was sit back and watch the landslide. Instead they go off annoying old people and spewing lunacy about a government controlled internet. Strange people.
Wouldn’t it be the ultimate irony if UKIP made such a resurgence to deny the Tories the substantial majority it seeks for their Brexit mandate which only happened because of UKIP pressure on the Tories.
Let’s see how he goes in the polls after he continues to equate actions by the British military with acts of terrorism. He also seems to think that more of Diane’s thirty quid coppers will stop terrorism. Meanwhile the government has been increasing funding and personnel for the security services as well as giving them new powers which he has consistently opposed. They stopped several attacks in the last few weeks as a result.
@Damocles: I think you’ll find that police numbers are due to decline under the conservatives….. along with many other public services.
The “war on terror” really means the high tech bombing of victim populations in targeted states which have the audacity to assert their independence from the prevailing power structures.
It is no wonder that such policy breeds reactions against the promoting states, violence begets violence.
What moral justifications had western powers for intervention in the Korean civil war, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Cuba, promoting the Contra insurgency, etc, etc, etc.?
Local & regional issues should be arbitrated at the UN, without the big 5 veto, to prevent these wars escalating, & deal with transgressions by isolation policies, trade embargoes & by progressive diplomacy & aid programmes where needed.
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