PM Rishi Sunak has just announced UK General Election for 4th July.

At least he got soaked in the pouring rain!

Let's all bust out the greatest election song ever. D:Ream.

I assume you're referring to "Things Can Only Get Better".

You could clearly hear the protesters at the edge of Downing Street playing this so as to be heard whilst the PM was making his live announcement!

From Yahoo News:

Rishi Sunak's election announcement was drowned out by a protestor blaring the song 'Things Can Only Get Better' by D:Ream.

Whilst Sunak stood in the rain, the last thing he probably wanted to hear was the soundtrack for Tony Blair's 1997 general election.

Mr Sunak, who has been Prime Minister since October 2022, called the July 4th election after months of speculation.

The deadline for an election was January 2025.

But it was protestor Steve Bray who stole the limelight. As Sunak made his speech - in the pouring rain - Bray could be heard blaring the 1993 hit.

He said on X, formerly known as Twitter: "we had a good run at Downing Street but both and [sic] amplifiers got soaked and blown. They lasted for the moment that mattered."

Some critics drew a parallel to the rain, quipping: "Things will only get wetter."

In a second update, Bray said: "Police just served an order on me and banned me from every street around Whitehall and Parliament. Apparently 2 people complained. Probably Rishi Sunak and his wife."

Not voting. I don't fit into either party, no time for any of them

Vote for someone else then. Count Binface is looking pretty good.

I plan to wipe my arse with the ballot paper. About all it's good for
Crooks and liars all of them.
Makes me laugh at the idiots that think Labour will be any better than than the Conservatives.
Clearly they have short memories. I could stand there and list what needs to be fixed, that is the easy bit.
Labour will probably get in, and then the scandals will start... they always do.
Personally, we are probably better off sticking with the thieving crooks we have now, than putting some unknown thieving crooks in power.
But what do I know.
I'm past caring about the UK at this point.... sorry and all that

Conservatives don't stand a chance, they've done so poorly they may have even destroyed the two party system in the process.

If you don't like Labour, vote for a party you actually care about. This may be the first and last election voting for a party other than the major two will actually make a difference.

If people don't simply roll over and give Labour an overwhelming majority it could be revolutionise politics in this country. It won't only be a two horse race.

There lies the problem.... there are none I care about

None yet, but if you wait until manifestos are out and see what other parties can offer, you'll be surprised to see there are other options that'll fit your wants. As someone above has stated, the apathy for both labour and the conservatives mean that we're gonna see a lot more votes for the smaller parties. This never happens so it would be a shame not to.

If all else fails, you can spoil your ballot in a fun way. I doodled a giraffe taking a shit on the last ballot I wasn't sure of!

Manifesto? Isn't that Mexican for 'List of crap we won't actually do'?

There's nothing wrong with not voting - it's basically a vote for whoever wins.

The maths at the moment looks like a Labour landslide, but six weeks is a long time in politics.

Interesting speculation about why Sunak suddenly went now though. Until a week ago it definitely looked as if he was planning to hang on till the bitter end, which is what PMs usually do when thet don't think they're going to win, while those who do tend to go to the people every four years, as both Thatcher and Blair did. So, is there some as yet unknown major scandal about to engulf someone high up in the Tories? Or some oncoming economic shock that mosty people aren't yet aware of?

Going to be an interesting summer.

For the party's that you have supported so far maybe. I'd be willing to say a smaller party would be a whole lot less corrupt than one of the big 2.

It's a real pity that there isn't a box on the ballot paper for "I want to exercise my democratic right to vote - but I don't like any of the choices given to me".

Anyone spoiling their voting paper just gets recorded as "unable to complete the voting slip properly" rather than a protest vote.

Vote for one of the jokers then, like Binface or whoever

Great, so you vote for one of the outsiders / unknowns and then watch as they crash 'n' burn because they have absolutely no idea what they are doing

Politics cannot be run by rich twats with no real links to society - and that includes Labour. It needs at minimum a reasonable collection of normal, working class folk who actually have a grasp of what living in this country is all about.

Labour will probably get in, and within weeks the first scandal will hit. It's the same every time.

Just got my council tax bill through.... 51% spent on 'Vunerable adults'
Of which a whole pile of that percentage will be workshy, benefit claiming, lazy, system dwellers 'Wah... I have to use food banks they whine, while texting on their iphone 15'

I think it's always worth voting, even if you spoil the paper. Bear in mind that the vote itself is anonymous, but the people at the polling station will tick your name off the list. So, there's a record of who has voted. That means that the demographics of voters will affect policies, e.g. "do we lower tuition fees or increase the state pension?"

How about we aim our attacks towards the rich rather than those on food banks. I promise you the money being lost by the 1% from crimes such as tax evasion is far FAR greater than what we spend on the benefits system.

I was on benefits for two years, I got made redundant and, due to my age, 58 at the time, couldn't get anything else for ages, until I got my current job as a van driver, on minimum wage. Universal credit was not enough to live on, despite what the Scum and Daily Heil tell you

I always vote, have done since I turned 18. But someone upthread said they weren't going to, so was pointing out that not voting is effectively a vote for the winner, means weren't fussed enough to try and affect the outcome. Though because of "safe seats" there are lots of areas where it doesn't matter who any individuial votes for, the result is a foregone conclusion. There are places where you could stick the appropriate colour rosette on a dead sheep and it'd still win. When Blair swept to power in 97 one of the promises was electoral reform, but having won a landslide under FPTP. that was promptly dropped. Cest la vie.


Deliberate Tory policy, keep those on working-age benefits in abject poverty so they are forced to take any crap job that's going, regardless of conditions or bad pay. Been that way forever.

I am 56, long term health issue (which I basically just work through) and have had a really rough time keeping steady income due to my line of business (Live events).

But... at no point have I ever been able to claim any kind of benefit because my wife works and earns a wage (and not a huge one).
We are not rich, but it peeves me that I cannot claim back for anything that I have paid into the system.

NHS? Lost cause. Thankfully, my wife's job comes with minimum private health care. Our GP has been in special measures for 3 years and are nothing short of appalling.

Had blood taken by them 3 weeks ago. They took 10 test tubes of it... then lost it.
Went back again where the nurse literally couldn't hit a vein if I took it out of my arm and gave it to her.
Then they left it sitting in the surgery for 3 days before sending it off for analysis.... so it was all dead and useless by the time the lab got it.

Third attempt.... they had run out of needles

In the end, I paid to go and get it done privately. If they can't even take blood.... it's over.

Last year, had skin cancer. It needed a biopsy. 14 months later, I was still waiting and then I found out it was because they were seeing if I 'qualified for funding'

Had to sort that out privately as well (which cost me 2k).

Yes... the rich are to blame and do well from all this, but sorry, there is also a huge amount wasted on sponging, lazy folk who know how to play the system.

Fix both ends of the spectrum, not just one end.

The UK (along with a lot of the world) has gone down a path it will never return from I am afraid, no matter what b*&ll&ks the politicians spin.

I've watched all public services including the NHS get gutted by the conservatives for the last 14 years in an attempt to "fix it". Now we've tried that and it hasn't worked, I'd say it's time to start looking at the other end of the spectrum.

I'd rather make a rich man slightly less rich, than make someones life in the working class any harder. But that's just me.

Fine

We'll all keep working and those that can't be arsed can carry on taking.

Somehow, I am guessing that these delusional Labour lovers (and I don't support any party now), think they are suddenly going to fix the NHS etc with their magic wand of spending

In 10-15 years time, we will be back with the Conservatives trying to fix what Labour did.

Rinse and repeat

I have a 25yr old son who lives with my ex. Doesn't work... at all. And that is because mathematically, he is far better off taking Universal credit than finding a job. His words, not mine.
So he sits on his arse all day playing X-Box with his friends, taking his hand-out.

The system is supposed to ensure he is looking for work, but 7 years on... he is still claiming away and not worked a day in his life. All they have to do is show they sent off a couple of emails for jobs that month and that is enough.

He won't live with me, as I insisted he had to join Army, Navy, Air force or Police if he lived with me.

K.

The biggest proportion of those vulnerable adults on your council tax bill are going to be the elderly, beyond working age who require care. The UK has an aging population, life expectancy has increased (by about 8 years from 1980 to 2020), social care and state pension age haven't changed appropriately to account for this. No matter how wealthy you are, currently there is a £86k cap on how much you have to put towards your own care, the state picks up the rest and it's councils which run those services.

It would be better if the encouragement for getting a job and working hard was having some prospects and a decent quality of life to show for it. Between 1997 and 2022 average earnings have doubled yet average house prices have increased by four and a half times. Owning a home is becoming increasingly unobtainable. Having kids for those that want to is becoming increasingly unaffordable. Working a fair week of work and earning enough to pay mortgage or rent, bills and have at least a little left over for some quality of life for someone on a lower income is becoming ever more difficult. So I'm not surprised that some people are deciding there is little hope for their future, so might as well not bother, or might as well work but live for now and have the latest gadgets on finance seeing as the are never going to be able to afford a house. And I'm saying this as someone who's owned a house since my late twenties, now in my early thirties, who's working hard (along with my wife) to pay the mortgage with our own hard earned cash. Some might be lazy, but I think more are just completely disillusioned.

More helpfully, look up "marriage allowance". Obviously, I don't know your full circumstances, but if you are married, your wife is earning enough to pay income tax, you aren't earning enough to pay income tax (which it sounds like), then in some circumstances you can move 10% of your personal allowance (£1260 currently) to your wife, which will reduce her tax bill (by £252 assuming she pays the lower rate of income tax). Its not loads, but still better in your pocket than theirs.

It's time for change.
If you want to sum up 14 years of Tory rule, just watch BBC "Question Time" on 23rd May.
And hear of one CEO of a water company earning £30 million, yes, £30 million bonuses for "running" a monopoly which pollutes our rivers with sewage.
It's also clear that Labour faces the worst public finances since 1945.
It will take time to rebuild.
Labour is hesitant.
I wish they would propose a more radical agenda.
There is only one choice on July 4th, however.
Get rid of this corrupt lot.
And give us at least hope.
Peter

Unfortunately, I work 3 days a week for the NHS as a sub-contractor.
I see first hand the waste of cash and resources. One of the hospitals for 'vulnerable adults' is all young people (under 30 yrs old) and there is a horrific class A drug issue there. But nothing is done about it.

If I go and get keys for a particular building, there will be 3 or 4 employed NHS staff literally loitering around in the foyer doing nothing on their phones.

The NHS needs a brutal shake up from the ground upwards but that will never happen.

As for house prices... yes, he world has changed, but I am not going to apologise for the nice house I own... I have worked hard all my life for that.

We can go around and around here and everyone's opinion is different. That's the way of the world.
But, labour won't be any better.
Add on to that this Woke nonsense that actually makes people more anti-minorities than if they just let everyone get along, and we are in for a rough ride.

I am not anti anything. Everyone has a right to be who they want to be. But, this constant Woke line pushed out and levered into every aspect of life has definitely made me less tolerant of it all than I used to be.
In the long run, I think this will backfire horribly in some way.

Anyway... back to the pies

Not going to disagree with you about NHS inefficiency, just throwing money at the problem isn't the way forward, it needs massive, radical reform, which isn't just do all the easy stuff in private hospitals and let them add a massive markup. The NHS has a lot of problems but we're better with it than without it (sorry anyone from the USA reading this but your system is batshit).

No problem with anyone being proud about working hard for their own home. I'm making no apologies for owning my own nice house either. I just think it's wrong that the price of a house has increased so much compared to wages because of a lack of house building, a lack of new social housing in particular and a massive increase in buy-to-let landlords when interest rates have been held historically low for so long. I've worked hard all my life too... its just been a bit shorter.

A lot of people think Labour aren't woke enough, myself included. I don't have the time to engage in that argument online though.

Regardless of your political persuasion, you've got to be able to spot a party that have become completely devoid of talent, which the Tories have.

But quite right, that's enough of that for a porn site. Hooray boobs!

You don't have to agree with the ideology but Blair's record was leagues ahead of anyone we've had since Attlee and Brown essentially laid out THE plan for recovery from the crash (that the Americans caused) which was promptly nicked by the States and abandoned by the Tories - guess who recovered and who never really has?