Theresa May 'won't take part in TV debates' ahead of general election - Polidicks

[t]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2017/04/18/TELEMMGLPICT000126198761-large_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqejI1gRHJsOsGt35KcRG67_zagkgDh9j9BTt63qDTo6s.jpeg[/t] [quote=BBC][B][B]Theresa May will not take part in TV debates ahead of the planned general election, a Number 10 source says. [/B][/B]Labour's Jeremy Corbyn accused the PM of "dodging" a head-to-head showdown and the Lib Dems urged broadcasters to "empty chair" her. Mrs May sprung a surprise by announcing she would seek a poll on 8 June rather than wait until 2020, promising "strong and stable leadership" if she wins. MPs are expected to back the early election in a vote on Wednesday. Live TV debates took place for the first time in a UK general election in 2010, and the experiment was repeated in 2015 using a range of different formats.[/quote] [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39633696"]Source - BBC[/URL] [URL="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/18/general-election-2017-theresa-may-will-not-take-part-tv-debates/"]Source - Telegraph[/URL] [editline]19th April 2017[/editline] This part is particularly egregious to me [quote]Sources close to Mrs May pre-empted the criticism by saying she has already undergone a face-to-face TV interview about her decision for an early election.[/quote] As though the decision to have an election is the same as deciding who to elect? So much disdain for voters :wow:

Calling an election is fair game, but I can't help but see this as abuse of that power - it should be there to solve governmental breakdowns where a coalition can't agree, not consolidate an already stable government at the most opportune time. Staying out of the debates just adds to the vibe that it's simply there to secure the Tories a few more years, because it'd be easy right now. Just get it over with, we're gonna win anyway, basically.

Such a blatant power grab it's not even funny.

Cameron was all in favor of them when he was not in power, then when he was he didn't and just made loads of excuses on the matter (No, no, on, it would not be fair if we did not include UKIP... Oh, they said they'd do it? Erm... the Greens! Them too? Oh crap... erm...). Now it is the same thing, only without the room for excuses, I hope that this is not used as a reason as to not have the debates this time around, I actually found them somewhat useful last time and I think a lot of others would too.

This is because Corbyn would destroy Theresa in high viewership debates. Yes, he's not charismatic, but Theresa can only resort to low blows, while Corbyn will list facts and talk about things that are important to the people. Yet another political game.

How is shirking from public debates [B]not[/B] seen as a sign of extreme weakness? How does the electorate buy that?

[QUOTE=Vlevs;52124268]How is shirking from public debates [B]not[/B] seen as a sign of extreme weakness? How does the electorate buy that?[/QUOTE] Televised debates have only been a thing since the 2010 election so they're not part of the British election campaigns yet - people still see them as a new idea.

[QUOTE=Vlevs;52124268]How is shirking from public debates [B]not[/B] seen as a sign of extreme weakness? How does the electorate buy that?[/QUOTE] I would like to take this moment to remind y'all that our right-wing retard refused to attend any TV debates and still became the second largest party in parliament.

[QUOTE=Shadow801;52124258]This is because Corbyn would destroy Theresa in high viewership debates. Yes, he's not charismatic, but Theresa can only resort to low blows, while Corbyn will list facts and talk about things that are important to the people. Yet another political game.[/QUOTE] Do you think that kind of politics works anymore though? After Brexit I don't think any sort of facts matter to the masses who make up the majority of people who vote. This is scummy as all heck though. I can't believe the call for a snap election is going to go through the MPs mostly unopposed too.

She's refusing because she would be crushed. Corbyn may not be the best opposition leader the UK has ever had, but he's capable of debating his policies. Policies that a recent poll showed the majority of people agree with. May needs to have her scripted replies or she will fall at the the first hurdle. Do people expect a woman who can't even debate her policies, to negotiate a Brexit deal with 27 other countries?

She is so incompetent in general that it doesn't surprise me she is trying to hide from non-scripted engagements

[QUOTE=icemaz;52124570]This is scummy as all heck though. I can't believe the call for a snap election is going to go through the MPs mostly unopposed too.[/QUOTE] How is this any different to the hundreds of elections that the UK has had before? Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher, James Callaghan (and so on and so on) have all called elections when it has suited them. This is the first time that MPs get to debate having an election due to the Fixed Term Parliament Act - the Conservatives have a majority and all the major parties welcome the election so I don't see why it is so controversial. Why would Labour & Lib Dems vote to keep a Conservative government in power? That is what the SNP are doing.

[QUOTE=icemaz;52124570]Do you think that kind of politics works anymore though? After Brexit I don't think any sort of facts matter to the masses who make up the majority of people who vote. This is scummy as all heck though. I can't believe the call for a snap election is going to go through the MPs mostly unopposed too.[/QUOTE] I think you're right, politics in the UK at the moment resembles a marketing campaign more closely than anything else. I saw a billboard ad for Conservatives the other day saying that they were doing better than labour politically, so we should vote for them :hammered: it doesn't even make sense, vote for us because we are voted for?

[QUOTE=Bad)-(and;52124594]She's refusing because she would be crushed. Corbyn may not be the best opposition leader the UK has ever had, but he's capable of debating his policies. Policies that a recent poll showed the majority of people agree with. May needs to have her scripted replies or she will fall at the the first hurdle. Do people expect a woman who can't even debate her policies, to negotiate a Brexit deal with 27 other countries?[/QUOTE] She isn't afraid she'd lose - Theresa May is just trying to gain maximum advantage. Televised debates never favour the incumbent and introduce uncertainty to the campaign. (C.f. Melenchon in the recent French debates). Shock horror, politician tries to look after her interests - shock horror, opposition leaders want a debate as it is in their interests. As a New Statesman columnist puts it: [media]https://twitter.com/stephenkb/status/854656611037712384[/media] Corbyn won't 'do well' or 'beat' Theresa May but since expectations are so low he will do better than expected.

bwuaak bwuk bwuk bwuk

[QUOTE=Mythman;52124661]How is this any different to the hundreds of elections that the UK has had before? Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher, James Callaghan (and so on and so on) have all called elections when it has suited them. This is the first time that MPs get to debate having an election due to the Fixed Term Parliament Act - the Conservatives have a majority and all the major parties welcome the election so I don't see why it is so controversial. Why would Labour & Lib Dems vote to keep a Conservative government in power? That is what the SNP are doing.[/QUOTE] The election is in 7 weeks. That is hardly any time at all to mobilise people, going door to door, setting up TV debates, deciding candidates and ensuring the public has been informed what is actually going on. Many local elections happen in May, so now those people are going to have to work twice as hard for twice as long considering campaigning for those has already started. It's insane. It doesn't matter what has happened before, we should look at it isolation. This is crazy that this is even happening.

May gets rimmed every single week by Corbyn in PMQs so it's no surprise she's hiding from high viewership debates. The Conservative party are a bunch of frauds.

What's to say this is true when she said she wouldn't call for an early election too? This woman is beyond belief right now if I couldn't get the constant Brexit shit off my TV it's now both that and a looming election.

[QUOTE=GoDong-DK;52124088]Calling an election is fair game, but I can't help but see this as abuse of that power - it should be there to solve governmental breakdowns where a coalition can't agree, not consolidate an already stable government at the most opportune time. Staying out of the debates just adds to the vibe that it's simply there to secure the Tories a few more years, because it'd be easy right now. Just get it over with, we're gonna win anyway, basically.[/QUOTE] this is what the fixed term parliaments act was meant to achieve but evidently didn't [editline]19th April 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=JustExtreme;52124644]She is so incompetent in general that it doesn't surprise me she is trying to hide from non-scripted engagements[/QUOTE] i wouldn't necessarily call her incompetent as such; it's more that her party is built entirely around the concept of siphoning wealth away from people who actually deserve it, and any perception to the contrary is a carefully constructed narrative. no tory except the insane ones wants to debate actual policy with the opposition. doubly so with the disaster that is brexit

She's so confident in her party winning that she probably feels that she doesn't have to appear in any debates. Reminds me of the DNC before Trump won so hopefully history will repeat itself.

[QUOTE=Shadow801;52124258]This is because Corbyn would destroy Theresa in high viewership debates. Yes, he's not charismatic, but Theresa can only resort to low blows, while Corbyn will list facts and talk about things that are important to the people. Yet another political game.[/QUOTE] lol, he gets his pants pulled down regular in pm's question time, not sure tv cameras will help him tbh. [editline]19th April 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=Thomo_UK;52125134]What's to say this is true when she said she wouldn't call for an early election too? This woman is beyond belief right now if I couldn't get the constant Brexit shit off my TV it's now both that and a looming election.[/QUOTE] and then when you turn your tv off to get away from it you come here to talk about it.

Probably worth voting for a party other than conservatives seeing how I didn't want to go for a brexit really and the other parties might listen to a call for independence from the UK for Scotland/NI (well pretty much any country attached to the UK) or at least attempt to alleviate their concerns than just stick them in the bin and consider them as "unwanted opposition at a time where brexit is more important". I think our own countries needs come before sorting out leaving the EU, she's triggered Article 50 with what feels like not even coming up with a plan beforehand and now wants all the political party oppositions to come up with a plan. The opportunity to debate this with the parties is being ignored so most of us won't even find out what the conservatives plans are for before/after Brexit unless they spam it to us through the media in a different format meanwhilst we'll have some debate between the other parties and be able to decide if we go with their views or stick it out with the conservatives. At least that's how I see it right now, I take the conservatives with a big pinch of salt considering how badly they're dealing with the NHS and social care in general but they have 50 days to prove otherwise and likewise 50 days to maybe fix a whole bunch of other things before the election or i'll consider them a failure like Labour was in 2010.

I'm guessing the two main manifesto pledges for the conservatives will be: Reduce the national debt (massive cuts to social care) Fighting those that threaten british values (erosion of civil liberties)

[QUOTE=IAreLegend;52125628]She's so confident in her party winning that she probably feels that she doesn't have to appear in any debates. Reminds me of the DNC before Trump won so hopefully history will repeat itself.[/QUOTE] We can also hope the polls are completely wrong as well

I hope this backfires on her

The problem with the left is that you're with two strategies set out by two different types of people. Middle class crackers who think they're doing good for poor people, when poor people want to do well for themselves. But somehow these middle class people don't understand the sentiment and want to act like doting children. ...and the radicals who'd totally get the blood boiling, but'd scare the shit out of moderates. When I hear about how labour wants to help the disabled, I think "Weak". It's not that I hate the disabled, I just dislike the rhetoric. I'm not captured by the thought of coddling people. D'you think Marx'd be so influential if he exchanged bold shit like "Seize the means of production" and "Workers of the world unite;You have nothing to loose but your chains" with "we need to cut down on austerity" and "we need to increase benefits". [I]Of fucking course not[/I]. It's weak. Labour is embracing the dumbest sort of populism, where they want to appear nice. Fuck that, call your opponent a lizard and understand what people want. What I'd give to be a campaigner.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv_2gM3_xC8[/media] She's getting demolished by Labour as a whole in PMQs, not just Corbyn. She knows she would get fucked in a debate because she can't seem to debate for shit

Asking me to put my trust in her is basically shooting myself in the head.

[QUOTE=UK Bohemian;52126237]lol, he gets his pants pulled down regular in pm's question time, not sure tv cameras will help him tbh. [editline]19th April 2017[/editline] and then when you turn your tv off to get away from it you come here to talk about it.[/QUOTE] Really? It's normally May defaulting to a classic 'labour will BANKRUPT BRITAIN', 'the labour party is a MESS/didn't do anything when they were in power' or dodging the question entirely. Maybe some (a lot of) Tory jeering to give May some support when she's really on the ropes.

[QUOTE=Crumpet;52128970]Really? It's normally May defaulting to a classic 'labour will BANKRUPT BRITAIN', 'the labour party is a MESS/didn't do anything when they were in power' or dodging the question entirely. Maybe some (a lot of) Tory jeering to give May some support when she's really on the ropes.[/QUOTE] I find it incredibly frustrating that the country seems to think Corbyn/Labour are useless, when they are consistently tearing the tories apart in parliament and have forced U-turns in many many occasions.