The Election...

[PTID1862]

I will bring along my effigies Sir Arthur of Yorkshire, and Jimmy "whats that Missus, Rats?" Callaghan... I am sure he will in turn bring his effigy of the most divisive PM we can remember... The Great Margaret Thatcher...

[ivansneck]

I'm Labour through and through. Member, party worker etc. I've already voted (no prizes). Broxtowe is an important marginal which will swing back to us by about 3000. Good candidate against unpopular incumbent.

I echo the sentiments about people not voting. Part of me would prefer people to vote Tory than not turn up. I'd make voting compulsory but have a box to tick labelled 'none of the above' so that people could abstain, but at least they would have participated. Apathy kills democracy.

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[ivansneck]

i probably wont even vote but theres only one i would if i did.

Please vote for the sake of people who live in countries where they can't. And for the memory of those who died fighting totalitarian regimes (right and left) to try to get democracy.

You can spoil your paper if you don't like the choices you have. That is still voting and taking part.

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[medievalmickey]

Could not agree more ivansneck: I usually spoil my paper in General Election, as a protest, because the Conservative is always returned. I vote for them all.

 

Our local council, Wiltshire, has the motto "Where everybody matters". Conservative run and the biggest joke of all.

[Feral Fox]

I will bring along my effigies Sir Arthur of Yorkshire, and Jimmy "whats that Missus, Rats?" Callaghan... I am sure he will in turn bring his effigy of the most divisive PM we can remember... The Great Margaret Thatcher...

I burnt that a long time ago. I've moved onto voodoo dolls of her now. 

[DangerousSausage]

Rant alert!

 

Hmm ..... the Labour Party's mantra has long been that people don't vote because they are "apathetic" or even pleased with what the government is doing (when they were in power). I don't think that holds any water. Many people are not motivated to vote because they do not see any difference between Labour and the Tories any more. They don't see Labour standing up for jobs and services, they're simply implementing the Tories' cuts at a local level while whingeing about them in the press. In Coventry, the Labour council is very proud of its "efficiency" cuts, which go above and beyond even what the government wanted, and is now trying to close the city's 17 libraries. They have bought into the ideologically-driven lie that high public spending caused the last recession, terrified of what the Daily Mail might otherwise say about them. They have pledged to stick to the current government's spending plans and be "tougher than ever" on welfare claimants. And these people are supposed to give us a positive vision for the future? I honestly believe that if it wasn't for the first past the post voting system, Labour would soon be going the way of PASOK in Greece.

 

The advantage with proportional representation is that everyone's vote counts and @medievalmickey's days of spoiling papers would be over. The Greens and UKIP could get 20% of the vote in this election and less than 1% of the seats. Whatever you think of those parties, that is undemocratic. With FPTP we are locked into picking the lesser evil, and those of us committed to building a movement for the future such as TUSC or the Greens are doing so in the knowledge that our votes will not be represented in terms of seats. With PR, on the other hand, folk would feel able to choose what they want and which direction they would like to see the UK go in in the knowledge that every vote counts. Unfortunately, the establishment parties both have a vested interest in sticking with the status quo.

 

I'll leave you with something interesting and a bit less ranty - in 15 of the last 17 elections prior to 2010, the largest party got over 50% of the vote. In 4 cases they got over 60%! At the minute, the Tories are slightly ahead on 33.5%, which to put it in perspective is less than Neil Kinnock's comfortably beaten Labour managed in 1987 and less than the second-placed party in 13 of the 18 post-war elections. Labour are currently 0.7% better off than in 1983 but will still probably form the next government. Even if they do better at the booth, the trend is that both the main parties are losing support dramatically, and it isn't down to "apathy". https://gritdigital.co.uk/infographics/uk-general-election/#historical-data

[Feral Fox]

I don't automatically disagree with some of the points raised @DangerousSausage. In fact the movement towards the centre for Labour under the guise of 'New Labour' was always going to happen, but it would cost us. And it did. By the end of the previous government we were done and dusted because it was too difficult to reconcile the new labour idea with the idealistic left. That and the economy was $£*£"d around the world!!!

 

My hope now is that Labour have realised that. Characters such as Pete Mandelson, who was 'New Labour' have now gone from the background. He pulled so many strings it was embarrassing!

Hopefully the 'Red Ed' lives up to its promise of a little movement towards a people party again at a national Level.

 

At the local level the way most Labour ran councils are ran is poor wherever you are. A lot has been said in Nottingham itself for the way the Labour council has ran it like a Tory one would. Poor choice of councillors and not enough ideology for my liking have led to a poor locally managed council controlled by Labour. 

All I can hope is that it changes with the National party in power and it trickles down to local level, but I'm not sure it will.

 

PR is a big step for any country to take. Is the UK really ready for it? Lets get used to the idea of a coalition being the norm first!

[ivansneck]

I've always wanted PR

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[Feral Fox]

I've always wanted PR

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I think that most people who take an interest in politics do tbh. I certainly would say yes, but country wise, like I say, the mess of the coalition negotiations last time and the way the lib dems back-tracked on basically most things they campaigned on shows the politicians aren't yet able to work together in a substantial government.

I expect come May 8th we'll be waking up to another hung parliament so people had better get used to it. From there the next logical step is PR.

[liampie]

when they become transparent and do what they say, i will vote.

[DangerousSausage]

hung parliament

 

[Feral Fox]

when they become transparent and do what they say, i will vote.

It will always be a question of levels. It's like a big game of Monopoly! Pick a strategy that you most prefer and see if at the end you were right or should have shifted mid way through.

Politicians are what they are. There will always be trousers who will lie to your face. There will always be genuinely caring people as politicians as well.

What you need to do is think where your own moral compass lies and be satisfied that you contributed in your own way.

The differences are there for all to see. It's just a question of which one to go with. Some may say which is the better of two evils, but could the country really cope with a other five years of austerity as we have done, but worse?

Could the NHS cope with going private which is the end game for the Tories.

The list goes on and I'm not preaching, I'd just be happy if you took part.

As@ivansneck said

Please vote for the sake of people who live in countries where they can't. And for the memory of those who died fighting totalitarian regimes (right and left) to try to get democracy.

You can spoil your paper if you don't like the choices you have. That is still voting and taking part.

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[PTID1862]

@hissingdwarf preach away lol, your brainwashing won't work.....

[Feral Fox]

I'll leave the brainwashing to Thatchers Minnions!!!

[PTID1862]

@hissingdwarf http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCQQyCkwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DRkxqxWgEEz4&ei=ZaI-Vd3HBsPfPbOfgfgP&usg=AFQjCNH1LsMh6jqYfkWLOhy4LvEt-svbwQ&bvm=bv.91665533,d.ZWU

[Super_Danny_Allsopp]

when they become transparent and do what they say, i will vote.

You will never vote then. 

[Feral Fox]

Good interview, bad host. Well done Ed for doing it and imo, putting his view of the UK across really well.

 

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDZm9_uKtyo

[AmericanPie]

Thank god I moved, the U.K isn't led by leaders, its currently got unfit to grace downing street. Mind the 80s was not much better!

I would vote UKIP if I was back there.

[Super_Danny_Allsopp]

Thank god I moved, the U.K isn't led by leaders, its currently got unfit to grace downing street. Mind the 80s was not much better!

I would vote UKIP if I was back there.

Are you claiming American politics are good? Come on...... pull the other one.

[PTID1862]

who can forget... I did not have improper relations with that girl.... nor the cigar

[DangerousSausage]

Election day is here, it's going to be a late night at Sausage towers. Might even be a good day for a party!

 

[Dripsey3]

Exit polls point to a Conservative victory, but not an overall majority. Labour would struggle to form a Government. Another coalition with the Lib Dems may be on the cards. Interesting few weeks ahead.

[themightymagpies]

We will have to wait, nobody knows until the votes come in for sure but its a sad day if the Torrie party win.

[Northants Pie]

We will have to wait, nobody knows until the votes come in for sure but its a sad day if the Torrie party win.

 

It's worrying that the working person cannot see the woods for the trees with those tory scum

[Dripsey3]

It's Labour's own fault if they lose. The British people want their say on the EU. Dopey Ed said no referendum. Madness. I live in Ireland and I can see the anger of British people towards the EU. Labour should have backed the referendum.