May warned she could be forced out if she pursues rejected Brexit deal

theguardian.com ^ | December 8, 2018 | Staff and agencies

[Berlin_Freeper]

Theresa May could be forced to stand down if her Brexit deal is defeated in the Commons next week, a Tory former leader has warned, as a cabinet minister broke ranks to suggest the Norway-plus model as a viable “plan B”.

Eurosceptic Iain Duncan Smith cautioned against May and her cabinet deciding to “brazen it out”, saying such an approach would be a “disaster”.

“How the PM responds after the vote matters more than anything else she has done,” he told the Daily Telegraph (£). “I believe that if the response is, ‘we’ve lost but we will do this all over again’ it will become a leadership issue. I don’t want it to be. If she and the cabinet decide to brazen it out and simply say [a defeat of] anything under 200 is not as big as you think, then that would be a disaster.”

The paper reported cabinet ministers have also warned May she would have to stand down if the deal is defeated and she fails to secure better terms from the European Union.

[mindburglar]

Why is she still in there? Worst PM in history. Worse than Gordo Brown.

[happytrumper]

ping

[Nextrush]

From your lips to God’s ears....

[ZULU]

Brought to you by the Swamp Rats International

[mac_truck]

Why is she still in there?

Great question...

[rigelkentaurus]

Is that a promise? And, is she surprised that performing such a double cross on the public would yield a positive outcome?

[hanamizu]

But then again, come January, the US will be just as bad.

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Well, it would if we had a parliamentary system. I shudder to think of it. But on another note, how is it that Britain can conduct an election and the results are known that evening and California/Florida with less population can’t?

[Winniesboy]

‘That evening’ is rather stretching it...the results come in constituency by constituency during the course of the night. Some of the more scattered rural areas, Scottish islands etc. don’t declare until the following day... but by that time the overall result is usually clear.

[hanamizu]

Some of the more scattered rural areas, Scottish islands etc. don’t declare until the following day...

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OK, so the really isolated spots might not declare until the next day. But they sure aren’t still counting votes days and weeks after the election. Do Brits have ‘absentee ballots’ or do voters have to actually go to the polls?

[az_gila]

‘That evening’ is rather stretching it...the results come in constituency by constituency during the course of the night. Some of the more scattered rural areas, Scottish islands etc. don’t declare until the following day... but by that time the overall result is usually clear.

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One thing that helps is the the ballot piece of paper only has one issue - and thus one X - on it...:^)

All mailed in ballots have to be there on election day -

https://www.gov.uk/voting-in-the-uk/postal-voting

[Winniesboy]

No, there’s a postal voting system, and an e-voting system is being talked about, although it was abandoned after a few trials some years ago.

One of the advantages of the paper system is its simplicity. A simple ballot completed in pencil which is handed to an official at your local polling station, put into a box in front of you, carried to the constituency centre (usually the local town hall), and the votes counted in the presence of the candidates and media, and the result announced in public by the returning officer. Very little scope for fraud, which is rare an any significant scale in general elections, although there has been rather more naughtiness in local council elections.