Sunday, 15 December 2019

BBC: General Election 2019 - Articles 13 Dec 2019


Johnson: 'We are going to unite and level up'

General election: Boris Johnson - 'We are going to unite and level up'
Boris Johnson delivers his first speech from Downing Street after winning an 80-seat Commons majority.

Johnson thanks first time Tory voters

Boris Johnson
PA Media
Beginning his first official speech as prime minister, Boris Johnson says this morning he went to Buckingham Palace and is forming a new government.
He calls it a "people's government", and promises to honour the mandate to "get Brexit done" by 31 January.
He says he wants to speak directly to the people who voted for the Tories for the first time.
"I say thank you for the trust you have placed in us and me, and we will work around the clock to repay your trust and deliver on your priorities," he tells them.
Addressing those who did not vote for him including Remain supporters - he says: "We in this one nation Conservative government will never ignore your good and positive feelings of warmth and sympathy to the other nations in Europe".
His speech comes after the final election result was declared, taking the Conservatives to a majority of 80.

Johnson thanks first-time Tory voters

Boris Johnson
BBC
Beginning his first official speech as prime minister, Boris Johnson says this morning he went to Buckingham Palace and is forming a new government.
He calls it a "people's government", and promises to honour the mandate to "get Brexit done" by 31 January.
He says he wants to speak directly to the people who voted for the Tories for the first time.
"I say thank you for the trust you have placed in us and me, and we will work around the clock to repay your trust and deliver on your priorities," he tells them.
Addressing those who did not vote for him including Remain supporters - he says: "We in this one nation Conservative government will never ignore your good and positive feelings of warmth and sympathy to the other nations in Europe".
His speech comes after the final election result was declared, taking the Conservatives to a majority of 80.

Swinson: 'We have been true to ourselves'

General election 2019: 'We have been true to ourselves' - Jo Swinson
Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson says she is "devastated" at the general election result.

Uncertainty over tariff barriers

flags
Getty Images
Mat Sechovsky, Fitch Solutions’ senior political risk analyst, says that the extent of the Conservative Party's victory will allow Boris Johnson to "pass the new Brexit deal, begin negotiating a crucial UK-EU free trade agreement (FTA), and implement investment and other pledges from the Conservative manifesto".
"The UK will now almost certainly leave the EU by January 31, 2020, though the timeline of the FTA talks with the EU will likely prove unrealistic and require adjustments either on timing or scope, leading to uncertainty on possible tariff barriers in UK-EU trade from January 2021".
He said Labour could shift toward more centrist policies in the longer term while the the Scottish National Party’s performance will lead to greater tensions with the next Conservative government. "We expect the party will hesitate to immediately push for independence out of economic concerns," Mr Sechovsky.

Labour vote collapses across West Midlands

General election 2019: Labour loses across West Midlands
Labour loses nine seats in the region including all in Stoke-on-Trent and two in Wolverhampton.

UK ports can help 'unleash potential'

A port
Reuters
Today's election result offers a great opportunity, reckons Tim Morris, chief executive of the UK Major Ports Group.
"The UK’s ports offer the opportunity to unleash the potential of our Coastal Powerhouse – boosting post-Brexit capability to trade with the world, growing jobs and prosperity in coastal communities and enabling a more sustainable, net zero UK," he said.
"The ports are ready and ambitious to do their bit."

Family ties to Thatcher heyday

Tracing the roots of Tory success in Wales
Paul Martin
BBC Wales political correspondent
Back in 1983, the Conservatives’ previous high-watermark in Wales, you could drive from Monmouth to Holyhead without leaving Tory-territory.
Following another 14-seat haul, you can’t quite do that, but you could make it to Llandudno, or indeed most major towns in north Wales.
The Tory performance in Wales, contributing to Boris Johnson’s thumping victory, is in sharp contrast to the terrible start to their Welsh campaign.
Little more than a month ago the Ross England rape trial story was dominating the news, culminating in Alun Cairns’s resignation as Welsh Secretary.
Many felt the party’s handling of that story exposed a “woman problem” – with none in senior roles.
Yesterday, significantly and symbolically, the party elected its first, second and third female Welsh Tory MPs.
And among those three there’s a family link back to the Thatcher heyday too.
Fay Jones, new Conservative MP for Brecon and Radnorshire is the daughter of ex-Cardiff North MP and former junior minister Gwilym Jones, first elected in 1983.
Fay, Linda and Gwilym Jones
bbc
Fay Jones with her mother Linda and father Gwilym - himself a former Conservative MP

Time to build 'culture of saving and investment'

A meeting
Getty Images
PIMFA, the trade body for the investment and financial advice industry, has put its pitch to the new government asking for policymakers to work together in to "build a culture of saving and investment for the long term".
Liz Field, chief executive, said: "This starts with ensuring that policymakers are able to create an environment where ordinary retail savers can thrive.
"We look forward to working with the new government in moving towards this goal."

'There is no such thing as Corbynism'

General election 2019: 'There is no such thing as Corbynism' - Jeremy Corbyn
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn responds to his party's heavy election defeat, defending his manifesto.

Canterbury: 'The best candidate won'

Tim Walker
BBC
Labour's hold on Canterbury was one of the "few beacons of light" in what was "a long dark night", the former Liberal Democrat candidate for the constituency has said.
Tim Walker stood down in Canterbury because he feared dividing the Remain vote, which could have allowed the Conservative candidate to take the seat from Labour.
Rosie Duffield held on to the "ultra-marginal" seat with an increased majority, winning 29,018 votes, ahead of the Conservative candidate Anna Firth's 27,182.
She took the seat from the Tories in 2017 by just 187 votes, and increased her majority to 1,836.
Mr Walker said "the best candidate won".
"It shows what can be achieved in politics when people think for themselves at local level.
"Voters in the constituency can take great pride in the way they put traditional party allegiances to one side and pulled together to get the result that the overwhelming majority wanted.
"This is what democracy should always look like," he said.

Indyref mandate 'renewed and strengthened'

Sturgeon: Indyref mandate 'renewed and strengthened'
The first minster says the SNP vote in Scotland means Scotland has a "democratic right" to choose its future.

Brexit, Corbyn and the NHS 'big negatives for Labour'

Former Conservative Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb held onto his seat Preseli Pembrokeshire with 50.4% of the vote.
He puts his party's uplift in Wales down to first-time Tory voters.
Report

Bunty, Buckethead, Binface - and Boris Johnson

Election results 2019: Bunty, Buckethead, Binface - and Boris Johnson
In a strange but honoured UK tradition, the prime minister heard his constituency result next to a man in a mask.

What happened in the South East election

Only Eastbourne changed hands in the 2019 general election.
The Conservative grip tightened on the region, with increased majorities and a seat taken from the Liberal Democrats.

World leaders react to Johnson's election victory

Donald Trump
Reuters
First reactions from world leaders to the election result have stressed the importance of shaping future relations with the UK.
But who talked of a "massive" new trade deal, while others talked of "clarity" and "co-operation"?

'It wasn't a fair and balanced campaign'

Labour candidate questions the impact of social media
Defeated Portsmouth North Labour candidate Amanda Martin questions her party's use of social media.

'I voted for the best of a bad bunch'

Election 2019: Voters in Bassetlaw on why they chose 'best of a bad bunch'
The Conservative party has won the seat of Bassetlaw, which Labour had held since 1935.

'Will we face another cliff-edge Brexit?'

BBC Radio 5 Live
Wake Up To Money
Report
Listen to a number of guests including Hannah Essex of the British Chambers of Commerce who tells the special post-election episode of Wake Up To Money: "What we’re looking for is some more detail from this government about the kind of measures they are going to take to get the economy going again and to give business confidence to unleash that investment [that is now expected to talk place] and hear more about the detail about the business rates review. Is it going to be a detailed review, who's going to be involved?".
And she said all business group were concerned "that we might get out of the European Union on 31 January and into a transition period. But what happens 12 months from now? Will we face another cliff-edge and effectively have a no-deal exit just delayed from now. That's the biggest concern".

Pound gives up some gains

sterling
BBC
The pound is still up against the dollar but has retreated from those levels around $1.35.
The FTSE 100 up 131 points - 1.8% - at 7,405.45.
The FTSE 250 is up 868 points at 21,661.77 - that's 4% higher.

EU leader wants close co-operation with UK

EU leader Michel wants close co-operation with UK
EU Council President Charles Michel says Brexit negotiations should aim for close co-operation with the UK.

Leaders Lounge: The morning after

Former party leaders in Wales have been chewing the fat with Betsan Powys for a series of BBC Radio Wales podcasts during the campaign - this morning they were live on the air with their reaction to the result.
Hear them now - Carwyn Jones, Andrew RT Davies, Leanne Wood, Lord German and Caroline Jones.
Leaders Lounge
BBC

Election night roundup: Eight hours in 90 seconds

Northern Ireland Election 2019: Montage
A snapshot of highlights from BBC News NI's coverage of the 2019 Westminster Election.

Labour needs 'trusted and understood' leader - Blunkett

Former Sheffield MP Lord David Blunkett says the General Election result is devastating for Labour and the party needs to go back to the drawing board.
David Blunkett
David Cheskin/PA Wire
With one seat left to declare, Labour has won 203 seats - the party's worst result since 1935.
Lord Blunkett, former Home Secretary and Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough MP, said: "You need candidates that are credible. You need policies that are believable.
"You need a leader who's trusted and understood and who empathises. We've got five years to put all those and much more in place."

'Relentless character assassination'

Darren Williams from Cardiff, a member of Labour's ruling national executive committee, considers what went wrong for the party.
"I think it's a combination of the Tories' success in turning the election into a referendum on Brexit and hammering home their own simplistic slogan on that, while Labour's more nuanced position clearly had less resonance and was downright unpopular in many of our heartlands.
"And the relentless character assassination of Jeremy Corbyn undertaken by the Tories and their media cheerleaders over the last two and a half years, aided by a handful of highly-placed opponents within Labour itself."
Darren Williams
BBC
Darren Williams says the Tories were helped by their "media cheeerleaders"

'Hard not to feel sad'

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price says the "green dam stood strong" as the party's four MPs maintained their seats.
But he says he's worried for the future...
Report


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