"“I’m not going to be calling a snap election. I’ve been very clear that I think we need that period of time, that stability, to be able to deal with the issues that the country is facing and have that election in 2020.”"
Silencing someone should never be the goal. If the Conversatives are experiencing difficulties pushing through their agenda due to opposition from other parties, then the best way to resolve that is either via compromise or by calling an election to increase their majority in parliament which should allow them to push through their agenda more easily.
Even if (arguably especially if) the Conservatives win 99% of the seats in the House of Commons, the remaining 1% should be opposing, scrutinising and holding to account as well and as loudly as they can.
Yet Theresa May is after something different here (a tactic which we've heard recently, but by no means exclusively, from many Brexiteers as well) - she is implying that unless opposition parties can beat the Conservatives in a general election, then they should put up and shut up as the public have spoken.
That's not how democracy works.
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edit: For those who don't see the straw man here, it is that while silencing someone who is standing up for the beliefs of people who don't exist is okay, in real life the parties who are currently opposing the government are guaranteed to be defending a none-zero number of British citizens, who we cannot allow to be silenced on principle (even if we act against their wishes).
The Lib Dems campaigned for an EU referendum [1], and now want to reverse it because the result wasn't what they wanted.
The SNP campaigned for Scotland to leave the EU (as it would have done if leaving the UK) in their independence referendum, and now behave as if leaving the EU is unthinkable.
Both are playing politics. The ground has shifted, and so it's helpful for the government to get a new mandate.
[1] http://www.newstatesman.com/sites/default/files/images/Clegg...
I wish that was hyperbole. But I really don't think it is.
Brexit and Trump removed the taboo on fascism and those long time closeted fascists are now very openly pushing their propaganda. The rest of us are too busy defending their right to destroy our society and our values.
I said that Brexit and Trump removed the taboo about fascism and fascists are raising their voices.
Why would you think I called Brexit, Tories or Trump voters fascists? It would be over-simplifying demographics and politics.
And turns out your other comments are 2 oversimplifying The Guarding and The Independent editorial line / quality and the other two are misleading or a straight lie.
That makes me wonder if you really misunderstood my comment here or are you stirring the pot on purpose? That would explain the need to create a throwaway.
Which values are those? Unfortunately, I would argue that England has never had values I'd agree with. What about values of privacy and civil liberties? You can't even have certain drawings (yes, even their possession is illegal) and ISP have to keep your Internet usage for a year.
Bourgeois democracy cannot protect the values of the people.
Those are the ones I care about and I think are at danger.
Why didn't you include the right to privacy and freedom of expression too?
> Why didn't you include the right to privacy and freedom of expression too?
Privacy is literally the first one on my list :)
Freedom of speech (freedom of expression seems a literal translation from Spanish "libertad de expresión" which is "freedom of speech") I agree. I just forgot about it :)
I could add others like separation of powers that I also forgot (and they're under attack if you follow UK politics).
Are you a writer for The Independent by any chance?
(Seriously, you're saying that this will be the last ever democratic election in the UK?)
> You're being a bit of a bellend
"In recent weeks Labour have threatened to vote against the final agreement we reach with the European Union.
"The Liberal Democrats said they want to grind the business of government to a standstill.
"The Scottish National Party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repeals Britain's membership of the European Union.
"And un-elected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way.
"If we do not hold a general election now, their political game playing will continue."
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I for one hope their 'political game playing' will only intensify in the future. After all, it's their job to provide opposition.
Dark and scary times indeed.