Simon Hughes is openly bisexual but Tim Farron constantly struggles with sexual issues

Tim Farron constantly struggles when asked about issues regarding sexuality.

Once again the Liberal Democrats struggles to give a straight answer. He struggled before when asked about homosexuality. Now, he struggles when asked about abortion.

Simon Hughes publicly stated that he is bisexual. I would like to have Tim Farron and Simon Hughes together, in front of television cameras, and ask a whole range of questions about sexuality.

This man has serious issues to answer for. As Liberal Democrats Leader he should be able to give straight answers about sexuality as his inability to provide straight answers on this issues increasingly looks like a very serious personality flaw.

Other political leaders have been very clear about where they stand on the said issues and have prominent representatives that are openly homosexual or bisexual that had stood in the House of Commons. Tim Farron is letting himself down and is letting his political party down by not providing clear cut answers.

Tactical Voting Liberal Democrats attack UKIP saying that UKIP is promoting Tactical Voting

Tactical Voting Liberal Democrats accuse UKIP of promoting Tactical Voting

You couldn't make it up. Tim Farron said that he's relaxed about the idea of tactical voting. Well, the Liberal Democrats printed a leaflet accused UKIP of promoting Tactical Voting.

A very hypocritical Liberal Democratic Party who constantly talks of support for Tactical Voting distributed a leaflet attacking UKIP of supporting Tactical Voting.

In 2005 General Election, the Liberal Democrats headed by Nick Clegg and with Tim Farron as member and candidate talking about abolishing University Tuition Fees. Something they forgot about it completely when the formed a government together with the Conservative Party. Now, they talk about Tactical Voting but criticise other political parties accusing them of promoting Tactical Voting. If Tim Farron himself doesn't see the error of his ways a few weeks before a General Election then somebody inside the Liberal Democratic Party should think very carefully about the content of the leaflets that they are printing and delivering, most probably a few of the only things they can deliver.

At the end of the 2015-2017, this was the distribution of seats per political party represented.

Liberal Democrats in fourth place: Conservatives 330, Labour 229, Scottish National Party 54 and Liberal Democrats 9. A miracle will have to occur for the Liberal Democrats to reach Third Place because when Parliament was disolved for the 2017 General Election, Liberal Democrats were in Fourth Place. Luckily they won one seat in a by-election because otherwise they would be in Fourth Place together with Democratic Unionists.

This was the state of the parties at the end of the 2015-2017 Parliament and they have a few mountains to climb to have the slightest chance of delivering anything more than an explanation of why they lost. If they lose, they cannot blame Brexit.

2017 General Election - Box of Surprises or Pandora's Box

2017 General Election

No sooner than the echoes of the French Presidential Election are dying down and France prepares itself for a Legislative Election, the focus is more than ever before on what happens in the United Kingdom.

In every election there are different factors in play. The Conservative Party without David Cameron is once again led by a female Prime Minister, the second female Prime Minister after Margaret Thatcher interrupting a very long series of male Prime Ministers in the history of British Democracy.

North of the border, in Scotland, another female leads a majority party, the SNP, with a very different agenda, and in Wales yet another female leads Plaid Cymru - equivalent of SNP but on a much lower scale.

So there are going to be several battles in this war called General Election. In Scotland, SNP needs to justify its predominance (56 out of 59 Scottish MPs are SNP) and the SNP struggle will take place on two fronts: its local politics within Scotland as political party in government and its politics within the United Kingdom and the relationship with the EU. If local politics happen to be the main focus, SNP could end up losing many of the House of Commons' seats that it won in the previous election.

We should never trust electoral forecasts. If forecasts are true then the Conservative Party is due for a revival in England, Scotland and Wales and even seats in the Greater London Region dominated by the Labour Party would be up for grabs.

Even in the middle of an electoral campaign prominent figures of the Labour Party (London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn) don't seem to be on the same wavelength. Just days ago, when the Labour Party Leader went north, the now newly elected Mayor of Greater Manchester didn't want to meet him.

North of the border, things don't seem to be going well for the Labour Party. The Scottish Labour Party Leader Kezya Dugdale suspended Labour councillor in Aberden because they wanted to form an electoral alliance with the Conservative Party. She secured an important majority in the contest for Leadership of the Scottish Labour Party. Would she be obtain to obtain a similar majority today after all that has been happening not just in Scotland but also south of the border? Recent council elections results - May 2017 - seem to indicate that Labour could have to withstand even more divisions.

Prime Minister Theresa May went to Parliament to seek an exception to the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 because she said that she needs a strong mandate to engage in Brexit negotiations with the EU. What we witnessed during Parliamentary debates leading to the triggering of Article 50 more than justify the 2017 General Election.

The news that many Labour MPs would not stand as candidates in the coming General Election could signal the reappearance in Parliament of old faces, should they get enough support to win seats in the House of Commons. One of those faces is Simon Hughes, long standing London MP that lost his seat to Labour in 2015. In his particular case, the struggle is to have to stand against a Labour MP that shares his views about the EU. Would divisions in the Labour Party be strong enough an issue to temp Labour voters to support a Lib Dem candidate?

The 2015 General Election was a catastrophe for the Liberal Democrats. In 2010, they had 57 seats. In 2015, they were left with 8 seats. David Ward who was a Member of Parliament in 2010 and lost his seat in 2015 is not allowed to stand for the Liberal Democrats because of differences of opinion regarding Israel and Palestine.

Thanks to an organisation that opposes Brexit, the Conservative Party has the wind on its sails. Prominent Conservative Members of Parliament who were part of the campaign against Brexit changed direction when the said organisation suggested that it would campaign against the Conservative Party. Party allegiances prevailed and now they act as one in support of Prime Minister Theresa May.

So now is the time for party political manifestos with the Liberal Democrats trying to show that they can offer more than the Labour Party, a Labour Party who manifesto is focused on re-nationalisation and on tax changes that could have a major impact not just from a financial point of view but also from a political and social point of view. The Conservative Party chooses a more cautious approach and in times of great political and financial uncertainty vast sectors of the Electorate would choose to play safe.

The Labour Party has grandiose ideas but even within the ranks of the Labour Party there are voices of disagreement of those who don't support the Labour Party Manifesto thinking that it is too extreme or unrealistic in financial terms. This could be a Clause 4 moment for the Labour Party. Will the Labour Party continue under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership? Will the Labour Party split?

The Liberal Democrats dream about the split of the Labour Party, seeking to attract those who oppose Jeremy Corbyn to form another political party, a centre ground political party, a moderate force in British politics to oppose the Conservative Party.

The strain in British politics is at peak levels. 2017 could end up being even more eventful than 2016.  Alignments and re-alignments in a more fluid political environment could lead to quite a few surprising developments.

Away from the so called mainstream political parties, there are quite a few changes in the offing. Some have already discounted UKIP as political party. Others say that UKIP will adapt to a post-EU membership. Arron Banks, former UKIP supporter is now talking about the launch of a new political movement in the autumn - this is after the General Election.

As always the advice is 'don't try to cross the bridge until you reach the bridge' (or don't put the car before the horses). Despite the talk about a Conservative landslide, I am wise enough not to take anything for granted.

Like everybody else, we will go to the polling stations in the early hours of Election Day and we will wait patiently to hear the announcements about who has won and who has lost. Every election is a box of surprises. I do have my favourite to win. I have my own views about who should win for the sake of the country. We do need a strong government. A dithering government or a government with a very small majority could be a Pandora's Box.

 

David Ward: Liberal Democrats are neither Democratic nor Liberal

Whatever your views on Palestine and about what is happening in Palestine, it is inconceivable that a Prospective Member of Parliament could have been deselected and put on a trial because he has strong views on Palestine. A few days ago, Tim Farron who is reportedly a staunch Christian struggled to give a straight answer about homosexuality. This is called hypocrisy. Later on, put against the wall, he came up with an answer or what I call 'a political answer' because we cannot trust that the answer he gave reflects what Tim Farron actually believes in. David Ward committed the crime of having strong views on Palestine and in the United Kingdom anybody who has strong views on Palestine risks being called Nazi, Anti-Semite and Jew hater. Never mind if many Jews across the world - including in Israel - are highly critical of what is happening in Palestine and they themselves disagree with what is being done in Palestine. But whatever your views on Palestine, we have a fundamental right to agree or disagree, a right that has been discarded by the Liberal Democratic Party.   I hope you don't mind me getting in touch with you again. I believe I previously had contact when you signed my petition demanding that Isreal stopped persecuting the Palestinian people. You may have heard that I have been suspended from the Liberal Democrats just before nominations were due in for candidates in the General Election on 8th June 2017. Someone has made a complaint that my views are not consistent with the Lib Dems. I was properly approved and selected to stand in 2015 and again and for the expected General Election in 2020. My appeal against the complaint cannot be heard until after the 8th June. I believe this has been done to stop me standing as a candidate in the General election. The Lib Dems have imposed a candidate on the local party of volunteers who have been publicly criticised for selecting me. People have a right not to vote for me but what I will not accept is being prevented from standing as someone who has been outspoken against a foreign country which has numerous UN Resolutions condemning it for the way it behaves. Standing up to my detractors and trying to become an independent MP is at a huge personal and financial cost. I had already raised the cost of fighting the election as a Lib Dem but that cannot now be used. I have got one week to raise the £12,800 pounds it costs to be a candidate in a British General Election. Please, can you help me?  Please send whatever you can afford.   Best wishes David Ward Independent Candidate for Bradford East Donate to My Campaign Printed [hosted] by Mailchimp. Promoted and Published by David Ward (Independant Candidate for Bradford East) on behalf of David Ward. 8 Greenfield Lane, Idle Bradford, BD10 8PT Copyright © 2017 David Ward, All rights reserved. Your Email has been added to this list because you have contacted David Ward in the past regarding the plight of Palestinian people. Our mailing address is: David Ward 8 Greenfield Lane Idle Bradford, West Yorkshire BD10 8PT United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list