We have been steering clear of the news of late, because it is just too 
depressing, but we know that for some of you, Newsnibbles is the only thing you read, so we thought we’d give you the basics.
So, after saying she would not call a snap election, on April 18th, Theresa May announced a snap election for June 8th. The aim of this was to increase the Tory majority, and and make a hard Brexit easier to achieve.
What Mrs May apparently had not considered, was the fact the 48% of the country voted to remain in Europe, the increasing popularity of Jeremy Corbyn, and the swing to the left to many of the young, who are tired of the ideological austerity imposed by the current government, which to many seems designed to make the rich richer and the poor poorer, perhaps a way to “decrease the surplus population”? With the wealth divide at a high level, the NHS being systematically sold of to Richard Branson’s Virgin Care and NHS staff forced to use food banks, many of the country were saying enough is enough.
In the five week run up to the general election Labour closed the polling gap making it a very tight race. Whilst pundits predicted the May would lose her majority, no-one predicted the 12 seat loss, and resulting hung parliament. The nation had spoken, it wanted a change.
In what many see as a desperate attempt to cling to power, May has joined forces with the DUP, an Irish Unionist party, whose policies include criminalising abortion, decriminalising of LGBTQ discrimination, a return to the death penalty and the teaching of creationism in schools. That’s right, they believe the Earth is only 6000 years old. Just let that sink in for a minute. It is worth noting here that a number of these policies are in direct contravention of the Good Friday Agreement. There is already a petition on Change.Org opposing the union, which to date has over 100,000 signatures.
Sinn Fein claim the Tory-DUP coalition is in breach of the Good Friday Agreement. They are correct:#DUPCoalition pic.twitter.com/9GvjIFE7P0
— Kate Flood (@Kateflood) June 9, 2017
The 10 seats they won in Northern Ireland will allow the Tories a slim majority and mean they can form a government, however, the combined numbers of The Labour Party, The SNP, The Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and The Green Party form 48.3% of parliament, so if they agree to vote together it is likely that they will be able to block any reforms that a Conservative/DUP pairing attempts to pass. UKIP has no seats, so there are no other Right Wing parties left to support this.
What Mrs May also seems to have failed to consider is the forming of this coalition was the 19 openly LGBTQ MPs within her own party, who could be her downfall if she tries to pass any DUP agenda which will negatively impact the LGBTQ community. If fact, this election saw a record number of LGBTQ MPs elected, as well as a record number of female MPs, which seems to demonstrate that the majority of Britons are opposed to what could be called the backward facing policies of the DUP.
In an election that seems to have been fought on Social Media as much as anywhere else, it is not surprising that people have taken to Twitter to voice their opposition to this union.
I’ve spoken to a number of Tories about the DUP today and they’re furious. Public seems to be outraged, too. Can’t see how this will last.
— Adam Payne (@adampayne26) June 10, 2017
It is difficult to say how things will play out. With so much public opposition it would be reasonable to hope that the coalition would be reconsidered, but then, 84% of the population oppose fox hunting, and she still wants to bring that back.
