The Stakes In Britain (Rolling Updates: Exit Polls Indicate Tory Landslide)

As I write we’re not far away from getting the first results of the British election today. I’ve seen stories of long lines to vote and indicators of a heavy turnout. And the British Pound seems to be under pressure today, which might be an ill omen, except that recall the Dow Jones futures plummeted on election night here in 2016, before soaring the next day when people realized that Trump was good news for the economy.

I recommend following Henry Olsen’s Twitter throughout the afternoon and evening. He is over in the UK on scene to observe. His election predictions are usually pretty close. What is he predicting?

Meanwhile, if you want to appreciate the stakes, worth seeing a long Twitter thread from Michael Doran of the Hudson Institute, which I consolidate here:

A British reader of the Times of London left this comment on a story:

From a perplexed Brit. I’m still a bit undecided about my vote direction this coming Thursday. I’ve obviously taken into consideration what I consider to be the following swaying points on the two main parties. On the one hand the Conservative Boris Johnson is a bit of a rascal with the ladies and can sometimes bend the truth a bit, he’s also a bit posh. And on the other hand.. Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn Invited two IRA members to parliament two weeks after the Brighton bombing.

Attended Bloody Sunday commemoration with bomber Brendan McKenna. Attended meeting w/Provisional IRA member Raymond McCartney. Hosted IRA linked Mitchell McLaughlin in parliament. Spoke alongside IRA terrorist Martina Anderson. Attended Sinn Fein dinner w/IRA bomber Gerry Kelly.

Chaired Irish republican event with IRA bomber Brendan MacFarlane. Attended Bobby Sands commemoration honouring IRA terrorists. Stood in minute’s silence for IRA gunmen shot dead by the SAS. Refused to condemn the IRA in Sky News interview. Refused to condemn the IRA on Question Time. Refused to condemn IRA violence in BBC radio interview. Signed EDM after IRA Poppy massacre massacre blaming Britain for the deaths. Arrested while protesting in support of Brighton bomber’s co-defendants. Lobbied government to improve visiting conditions for IRA killers.

Attended Irish republican event calling for armed conflict against Britain. Hired suspected IRA man Ronan Bennett as a parliamentary assistant. Hired another aide closely linked to several convicted IRA terrorists. Heavily involved with IRA sympathising newspaper London Labour Briefing. Put up £20,000 bail money for IRA terror suspect Roisin McAliskey. Didn’t support IRA ceasefire. Said Hamas and Hezbollah are his “friends“. Called for Hamas to be removed from terror banned list. Called Hamas “serious and hard-working”.

Attended wreath-laying at grave of Munich massacre terrorist. Attended conference with Hamas and PFLP. Photographed smiling with Hezbollah flag. Attended rally with Hezbollah and Al-Muhajiroun. Repeatedly shared platforms with PFLP plane hijacker. Hired aide who praised Hamas’ “spirit of resistance“.

Accepted £20,000 for state TV channel of terror-sponsoring Iranian regime. Opposed banning Britons from travelling to Syria to fight for ISIS. Defended rights of fighters returning from Syria. Said ISIS supporters should not be prosecuted. Compared fighters returning from Syria to Nelson Mandela. Said the death of Osama Bin Laden was a “tragedy“. Wouldn’t sanction drone strike to kill ISIS leader. Voted to allow ISIS fighters to return from Syria. Opposed shoot to kill. Attended event organised by terrorist sympathising IHRC. Signed letter defending Lockerbie bombing suspects. Wrote letter in support of conman accused of fundraising for ISIS. Spoke of “friendship” with Mo Kozbar, who called for destruction of Israel.

Attended event with Abdullah Djaballah, who called for holy war against UK. Called drone strikes against terrorists “obscene”. Boasted about “opposing anti-terror legislation”. Said laws banning jihadis from returning to Britain are “strange”. Accepted £5,000 donation from terror supporter Ted Honderich. Accepted £2,800 trip to Gaza from banned Islamist organisation Interpal.

Called Ibrahim Hewitt, extremist and chair of Interpal, a “very good friend”. Accepted two more trips from the pro-Hamas group PRC. Speaker at conference hosted by pro-Hamas group MEMO. Met Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh several times. Hosted meeting with Mousa Abu Maria of banned group Islamic Jihad. Patron of Palestine Solidarity Campaign – marches attended by Hezbollah. Compared Israel to ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah and al-Qaeda. Said we should not make “value judgements” about Britons who fight for ISIS. Received endorsement from Hamas. Attended event with Islamic extremist Suliman Gani. Chaired Stop the War, who praised “internationalism and solidarity” of ISIS. Praised Raed Salah, who was jailed for inciting violence in Israel. Signed letter defending jihadist advocacy group Cage. Met Dyab Jahjah, who praised the killing of British soldiers. Shared platform with representative of extremist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Compared ISIS to US military in interview on Russia Today. Opposed proscription of Hizb ut-Tahrir. Attended conference which called on Iraqis to kill British soldiers.

Attended Al-Quds Day demonstration in support of destruction of Israel. Supported Hamas and ISIS-linked Viva Palestina group. Attended protest with Islamic extremist Moazzam Begg. Made the “case for Iran” at event hosted by Khomeinist group. Photographed smiling with Azzam Tamimi, who backed suicide bombings. Photographed with Abdel Atwan, who sympathised with attacks on US troops. Said Hamas should “have tea with the Queen”. Attended ‘Meet the Resistance’ event with Hezbollah MP Hussein El Haj. Attended event w/Haifa Zangana, who praised Palestinian “mujahideen”.

Defended the infamous anti-Semitic Hamas supporter Stephen Sizer. Attended event with pro-Hamas and Hezbollah group Naturei Karta. Backed Holocaust denying anti-Zionist extremist Paul Eisen. Photographed with Abdul Raoof Al Shayeb, later jailed for terror offences. Mocked “anti-terror hysteria” while opposing powers for security services. Named on speakers list for conference with Hamas sympathiser Ismail Patel. Criticised drone strike that killed Jihadi John. Said the 7/7 bombers had been denied “hope and opportunity”. Said 9/11 was “manipulated” to make it look like bin Laden was responsible. Failed to unequivocally condemn the 9/11 attacks. Called Columbian terror group M-19 “comrades”. Blamed beheading of Alan Henning on Britain. Gave speech in support of Gaddafi regime.

Signed EDM spinning for Slobodan Milosevic. Blamed Tunisia terror attack on “austerity”. Voted against banning support for the IRA. Voted against the Prevention of Terrorism Act three times during the Troubles. Voted against emergency counter-terror laws after 9/11. Voted against stricter punishments for being a member of a terror group. Voted against criminalising the encouragement of terrorism. Voted against banning al-Qaeda. Voted against outlawing the glorification of terror. Voted against control orders. Voted against increased funding for the security services to combat terrorism.

So it’s a tricky one really.

I don’t understand why this election is even close at all.

UPDATE: The polls have closed. The exit polls are projecting the Tories getting 368 seats in the House of Commons (326 needed for a majority), to 191 for Labour—the largest margin for the Tories since Thatcher’s 1987 landslide.

The Tories appear to be outperforming their pre-election poll estimates, and Labour underperforming. What a surprise.

Recriminations already starting. One early tweet of note: ‘Labour source: “This is a damning verdict on the Corbyn project. If the exit poll is accurate then jeremy Corbyn, Karie Murphy and Seamus Milne will have done more to bring about the end of the Labour Party than the Conservative Party ever could. Their position is untenable.”’

Cue the bedwetting left:

Funny how a country is only considered “bitterly divided” only when the left loses an election.

Also starting to see some leftist spin that the result was mostly about Brexit, and less to do with the disaster that is Jeremy Corbyn. Oh please, I hope they stick with this!

UPDATE 2: The Pound Sterling is soaring on the news.

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