I know it from baseball, same basic concept I think. When the pitcher catches you off guard.
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Well my point was if you needed 5% to get into Parliament then right now Corbyn would be forming a coalition with the SNP and nobody would be talking about theocracy in the UK.
EDIT: Actually if you needed 5% of the popular vote then the SNP wouldn’t get in either.
Not even that. 2. With the DUP she has a majority of 2.
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I wish I knew. But Corbyn has talked in the past with Sinn Féin and appeared on platforms with them. If he can’t do it, no one can.
[I am an English person who supports the political goals of Sinn Féin. Does this make me a bad person? The Daily Mail thinks so.]
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Not unless Sinn Féin take their seats, see my post above.
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I think there might be a bit of confusion with Rob calling the DUP a fringe party. Northern Ireland has different political parties to the rest of the UK and the DUP only stand there.
You’re right. Without Sinn Fein’s 7 seats the threshold is 322 instead of 326. I make it that she has a majority of 6 (if they abstain) or 3 if they vote against.
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Well, not in Germany. While our federal system is different from the U.K.'s union of nations, i have little doubt that the SNP would be exempt from the threshold. Or that such thresholds would be applied only to England, Scotland, and Wales on their own but not on the U.K. Level.
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Ulster unionists know that already, very well, right from the get go. There is a Carson quote on the topic…
On the other hand political science and history would suggest that in this case the cart may well drive the horse…
When arguably the most moderate MP in a party is a good friend of Donald Trump named Ian Paisley, I think “fringe” is a decent term for them. (Among the rest are climate change deniers and creationists, and several have connections to paramilitary organizations.)
This is a strange group on which to pin your “strong and stable” hopes.
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Oh certainly, but they’re a big player in Northern Irish politics where the major UK parties don’t play. I’d say they’re probably less fringe in that sense than Paid Cymru.
They don’t even have to be rebels, just too lazy to turn up will do.
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It is ironic to say the least that Mrs May is now held up by a party that has at least 3 terrorist organisations supporting it, after the attacks on Corbyn for merely being on the same platform as Sinn Féin.
Edit -curse autoincorrect!
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The upside to this is that it neutralises that as an attack. I mean, it probably was already dead but now it’s buried. Indeed, it might even come back to bite May. Which would be entirely in keeping with her general incompetence. {gets out tiny violin}
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I’m not an English person, but I stayed up late last night here in Alabama watching the election returns – perhaps living vicariously as Labour took all those seats? 
After disappearing down the Wikipedia and other news rabbit holes, I also now know way more about NI politics than ever before. One of my big takeaways: Those DUP fuckers are scary.
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Ah yes, those lunatics. We in the U.S. could tell you a lot about those types. Unfortunately, they’re not as marginalized here as they appear to be over there.
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Apologies for so many questions, but I’m fascinated and there’s only so much I can glean from news reports and other information sources. What is the rationale for them not taking their seats? I understand it is historically rooted, but I’d be very interested to hear other perspectives.
Indeed. See middle of country where it looks like Carrie at the prom.
I will say that watching the returns last night was visually difficult for me because all that blue across the UK! I kept reminding myself that no, that’s not a good thing.
.
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I did a bit of reading on this last night since like you, I was fascinated by the UK election. It’s my understanding that being opposed to the monarchy, they refuse to take the Oath of Allegiance.
I know, right?
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You’d have the same issue watching Canadian elections, too (though, thankfully not to nearly the same extent!)
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