General Election

or a paper bag 

Wait, I'm confused. Are you saying I am 32.1% of the voters in the AV referendum all by myself? I know the turn-out wasn't exactly huge, but I didn't think it was *that* bad.

I suspect that Theresa May has made this announcement so as to distract us from the BBC's ending of Saturday Review.

Yes, I am aware you are confused. You are saying we don't have AV because some unspecified "you" think the electorate is too thick to rank candidates in order of preference. I think it was because we had a referendum on that exact topic, approved by the LibDems in a coalition government, and the outcome was a massive majority in favour of retaining first-past-the-post. Well, people can make up their own minds who is right. (Clue: It's me).

I think the point here is that a majority does not mean a mandate to do whatever you want.

Out of the people who voted in the EU referendum, a slim majority voted to leave. But that's all they did: voted to leave. What that actually means in terms of policies and political agreements is still something that needs to be debated by parliament, and that means all of parliament. It's not up to the PM and her cabinet to make all the decisions and everyone else just has to suck it up.

My MP isn't someone I voted for but on the whole he does a pretty good job. Regardless of the fact that I didn't vote for him, he's all I have when it comes to representing my interests in the running of the country. The same goes for everyone else whose MP isn't part of the Prime Minister's inner circle. We have as much right to a voice as anyone else, and the PM has absolutely no right to object when someone in the Commons or in the Lords challenges what she says. Our democracy is based on the principle that parliament reaches decisions by discussion. What May is implying is that if you're not one of the lucky few whose representative is right at the heart of the government then you don't get to have a say in the future of Britain.

Yes and despite the fact the Fixed Term Parliament Act which they all voted for was specifically designed to prevent political opportunism like this.

You are right on UKIP, they are finished. All those wringing their hands about first-past-the-post should reflect that AV (or even worse full PR) would be likely to deliver a large UKIP group of MPs. First-past-the-post will deliver none.

Its happened before and didn't exactly go to plan... *cough cameron cough brexit*

It's basically just Theresa May trying to cement her position before anything can go majorly wrong with Brexit, and while Labour is still working under the incompetence of Corbyn and therefore poses a vastly reduced threat to her campaign.

I will be having a nice Greek Salad and Ouzo in Crete, thank god.

However a general election will not galvanise anything on brexit, we still will not have a clue what brexit will look like, because Theresa May hasn't got a clue herself, the brexit we will get are the soundbites that land the best in the Sun and Daily Mail and what affects the money markets, barista visas sounds appealing to all these.

What a general election will mean will be a stronger conservative majority, Lberal Democrats will gain more seats in the process.

However on the domestic front it will mean that the country will get more grammar schools.

Will mean that the fox hunting bill will be made legal.

Will mean a further demise to social mobility where the rich get richer, by avoiding more taxes, which sadly will mean the poor will suffer more.

I'll record you as Undecided.

And this is why we got Brexit, folks. ;-)

OK so I'm just teasing danieljohnson14, and I know he's kidding too - but for a lot of young (and not so young) people this will be the way they really think. And who can blame them?!