Tag: UK

General Election In The UK

www.brexitsurvivaljournal.comThe UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnston, has said that he will call a General Election in the UK, if Parliament does not support him in his attempts to bring about Brexit by 31 October 2019.

During a General Election, Parliament is suspended, although the government remains in power.

Calling an election is a calculated risk and the Prime Minister must feel that his government has a good chance of winning the election if one is called.

Points To Consider

An election takes about 6 weeks to prepare and hold and to count votes and bring together a government (if no party wins a majority). This could take place over the 31st October 2019, which would mean the UK leaving the EU by default with no deal, which the House of Commons has repeatedly said they do not want. The Prime Minister has said that he would hold the election early enough that a new government would be in place before 31st October.

www.brexitsurvivaljournal.comThe Prime Minister has said that any members of the ruling party (Tories / Conservatives) voting against him in the House of Commons vote will not be allowed to stand as MPs if an election is called.

Some politicians have called for the Brexit question to be completed first BEFORE any General Election is called.

A General Election has to be held every five years in the UK but an early election can be called if two thirds of MPs agree. Normally, the opposition parties would agree to holding an election, as they would want to have the chance of getting into power and by voting against an election, might be considered to be supporting the party in power.

If an election is held before the Brexit question is settled, then the vote is likely to be on Brexit issues, rather than on normal election issues, such as finance, trade, housing and social issues.

The leader of the Brexit Party has said that he will not field candidates in constituencies where Tories have a good chance of winning if the Conservative (Tory) Party has a no-deal Brexit option in their election manifesto.

The House of Commons has a majority against leaving the EU without a deal, however, this is split over a number of parties and the parties cannot agree on a single strategy to combat any no-deal Brexit.

Survival Problems Elsewhere

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Problems have happened in many countries, from fire, flood, hurricane, political unrest…. to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes. Citizens have not asked for problems but they are the ones who have had to deal with them. For instance:

1 August 2019 Whaley Bridge Derbyshire, England

Residents have been asked to leave their homes as quickly as possible, because the Toddbrook reservoir dam wall, further up the Goyt valley has been damaged and could collapse, sending a wall of water down the valley. Residents have had a reminder to take pets and medication with them and if possible, to arrange to stay with friends or relatives. The Brexit Survival Journal includes information on what to have ready for immediate evacuation.

Greece (May 2010)

The government decided that the citizens were going to be their backup bailout plan for the country’s debt. Once the government announced it was going to take 10% of the citizens’ bank funds, panic and protests ensued. There was a mad run on the ATMs as people scrambled to pull their money out. Because of the surge of withdrawals, the ATMs ran out of money and the government closed banks temporarily to keep people from taking out all their money.

Hurricane Katrina in the USA (August 2005)

If people were not stranded by the flood waters, they were stuck because they had no fuel to get out of town and there were no fuel stations working, because there was no power.

Earthquakes in California in the USA (July 2019)

California experienced two large earthquakes and many smaller shocks in July 2019. There is a 5% chance of an even bigger quake happening and some people are concerned that it may trigger “the Big One”, on the San Andreas fault. Luckily, there were no fatalities in the two quakes, however, fires were started from ruptured fuel lines.

The Great Storm of 1987 (UK)

The weather service didn’t see the great storm coming and the worst storm in 300 years hit a totally unprepared southern coast of the UK, leaving 18 dead, trees uprooted, roofs blown off, power lines down.

Workers Strike Northern Ireland 1974

Electricity and town gas were both turned off, groups closed streets and roads, no cars or buses could get through. Farmers sold milk from the back of vans, shops ran out of food. Meals could be cooked on coal fires if you still had one after the push to install central heating to avoid smog issues.

Disasters Everyday

There are many disasters and emergencies around the world, possibly every day. Emergencies can happen at any time. A power line down and local electricity won’t work, no ATMs for cash, no fuel available at petrol stations, perhaps no means of cooking, even if only for a short while.


It’s only sensible to prepare for emergencies if at all possible. One may not happen and that’s good, however, being stuck with no food, heating, lighting or warmth, especially if you have young or elderly to care for, is no joke.