Lib Dems Lodge Complaint Over Party Leaders' General Election Debate

[naomi24]

//The Lib Dems have made a formal complaint after ITV said its head-to-head election debate would only include Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn.

Party president Sal Brinton said leader Jo Swinson should appear alongside the Tory prime minister and the Labour leader in the 19 November debate.

Baroness Brinton said Ms Swinson's exclusion risks "misrepresenting the current political reality".//

For Baroness Brinton's information the current political reality is that the Conservatives have 298 seats, Labour 244, Scottish Nationals 35, Independents 25, and Liberal Democrats (oooo - 'Democrats' - that lie sticks in the craw!) just 19.

Jo Swinson's party is pretty low down in the pecking order. Is her feather bristling and cage rattling and to be taken seriously - or is she just falling off her perch?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50276679

[JimF]

Count 'em here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_Kingdom_Liberal_Democrat_MPs_(2017%E2%80%93present)

[ynnafymmi]

Aye,Clarion street,waffle on about how peaceful these terrorists are nowadays.Meanwhile Lyra McKee lies in a dark cold grave.

[Jackdaw33]

The actual number of MPs elected as LDs is 13 since the Brecon by-election. The defectors are almost certain not to be re-elected.

[ichkeria]

Ah yes Jim thanks. That explains the apparent doubt about whether there are 20 or 21. Stephen Lloyd was the Lib Dem who resigned the whip ages ago to vote for the first withdrawal agreement, but has just rejoined.

[JimF]

I doubt it makes much difference in the general scheme of things. There are those who are talking of a result for the Lib Dems something rivalling Blair's 1997 victory, but that seems utter tosh to me.

I predict a hung parliament in which the Tories have the largest number of seats but are unable to forge a pact with any of the other parties to form a workable coalition, leading almost certainly to another general election in 2020.

Hung parliaments without a majority coalition are not new, but are an extremely unstable form of government:
https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/elections-and-voting/general/hung-parliament/

[webbo3]

https://www.libdems.org.uk/rights

Offer sanctuary to 50,000, yes 50,000 Syrian refugees and 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children.

where will they live, we have our own homeless to help and we don't have any houses.