So come on then who's getting your vote?

[The Vinyl Adventure]

I'm slightly fearful that this could turn into a bloody riot but I'm just interested to see a real life poll in action...

[Alex_UK]

Our Survey Said - uh uh

The list below is taken from actual answers on Les Dennis' popular hit show Family Fortunes.

Please bear in mind that these people were playing for big cash prizes and should therefore be making an effort.

Q: Name something a blind person might use A: A sword
Q: Name a bird with a long neck A: Naomi Campbell
Q: Name an occupation where you need a torch A: A burglar
Q: Name a famous brother & sister A: Bonnie & Clyde
Q: Name a dangerous race A: The Arabs
Q: Name an item of clothing worn by the 3 musketeers A: A horse
Q: Name something that floats in the bath A: Water
Q: Name something that you wear on a beach A: A deck chair
Q: Name something that is red A: My cardigan
Q: Name a famous cowboy A: Buck Rogers
Q: Name a famous royal A: Mail
Q: A number that you have to memorise A: 7
Q: Something that you do before going to bed A: Sleep
Q: Something that you put on walls A: Roofs
Q: Something in the garden that is green A: Shed
Q: Something that flies that doesn't have an engine A: A bicycle with wings
Q: Something that you might be allergic to A: Skiing
Q: Name a famous bridge A: Bridge over troubled waters
Q: Something that a cat does A: Goes to the toilet
Q: Something that you do in the bathroom A: Decorate
Q: Name an animal that you might see at the Zoo A: A dog
Q: Something associated with the police A: A pig
Q: A sign of the zodiac A: April
Q: Something that is slippery A: A con-man
Q: A kind of ache A: A fillet-O-fish
Q: A food that can be brown or white A: A potato
Q: A jacket potato topping A: Jam
Q: A famous Scotsman A: Jock
Q: Another famous Scotsman A: Vinnie Jones
Q: Something with a hole in it A: A window
Q: A non living object with legs A: A plant
Q: A domestic animal A: A leopard
Q: A part of the body beginning with "N" A: Knee
Q: A way of cooking fish A: Cod
Q: Something that you open other than a door A: Your bowels

Sorry Hamish, not to make light of your thread, but my vote is between me and the ballot box...

[Stratmangler]

Same from this direction too.

Rest assured that I will be voting - that's as much as you get.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

That's cool, that's what the "that's my business" option is for

[Beechwoods]

My vote will be tactical. There's no choice in Bristol West.

I'm looking forward to the electoral reforms promised after the election. The 'transferable vote' system should allow everyone to express their preference without having to vote tactically, but still maintain the constituency link between MP and area, which would be lost with pure PR, or some gargantuan geographic link as is the case with the European election approach.

For years I elected not to elect, for reasons summed up by The 25th Of May in this song:

lrMGwv6swC0

But frankly, good people fought and died for the right to vote and we owe them the courtesy of using that right, and the right to protest when they don't act in the interests of the electorate. Even our flawed democracy is better than the shit plenty of people round the world have to put up with in terms of allowed participation / influence over the way they're governed.

[Alex_UK]

That's cool, that's what the "that's my business" option is for

Sorry Hamish mate, the poll didn't appear when I made my first post, (bloody forum - not the first time I've said that this week...) so it looked like you were asking a direct question, rather than offering a poll. Hope I didn't come across too grumpy! ;)

[Beechwoods]

It would be cool if Chris (TGW) or Barry (D. Hunt) could offer a view on the statistical validity of our sample a bit closer to the day. With 5 votes in there's all to play for ;) !

[Alex_UK]

Even our flawed democracy is better than the shit plenty of people round the world have to put up with

Here, here - and thank the Lord for that. I do quite regularly contemplate the happenstance that I was born into the extremely privileged (relatively speaking) situation I am in, and am thankful for it. So people - use that vote!

[The Vinyl Adventure]

... Unless your voting for cameron, in which case remember he can't be trust worthy as his eyes are to close together

[Stratmangler]

I'm with Frank Zappa on the subject - If you don't vote don't bitch !

[Beechwoods]

... Unless your voting for cameron, in which case remember he can't be trust worthy as his eyes are to close together

You're just the wrong demographic Hamish!


David Cameron is 'fantasy PM' for London women in their thirties:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23801129-david-cameron-is-fantasy-pm-for-london-females-in-their-thirties.do

[Alex_UK]

That's so weird - I was going to post that my Missus (35) finds Cameron strangely attractive... but then thought I'd better not, she'd kill me if she found out! :lol:

[DSJR]

A local councillor I'm friendly with said that in this town, you could put a blue rosette on a turd and it would win... Judging by the outgoing one's recent comments on a local matter, I'm not surprised.....

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Hannah thinks brown is oddly atractive... God knows why that says about me... Maybe I look like I have had a gun put to my head and told to smile or get shot when I smile...

[Mike]

Hannah thinks brown is oddly atractive... God knows why that says about me...

Perhaps you look like 'a curled tusk'? ;)

[Rare Bird]

Probably labour

[Marco]

Can we have an option please of 'All politics is wank (as are all politicians) and I couldn't give a monkey's who gets in'?

Cheers! :)

Marco.

[Beechwoods]

So that's be an 'undecided' eh Marco?!

[Steve Toy]

We can vote for Britain to lose its AAA credit rating when we need to keep the interest rate we are paying on our colossal national debt as low as possible or not.

We can vote for higher taxes on employing people or not.

We can vote for a plan to reduce national debt sooner or forced upon us by the IMF.

We can make cuts to public expensiture of at least six billion pounds without harming public services just by cutting waste or not.

We can allow our currency to continue its slow recovery or to collapse when we are so reliant on imports of raw materials.

We can take steps to ensure continued inward investment in UK PLC from international markets.

We can halt the slow but steady creep towards a bankrupt police state or stop it now.

These are our choices.

[MartinT]

Indeed. I have always voted for policy but it is hard not to be influenced by the people in politics, despite my best efforts not to be.

Gordon Brown makes my skin crawl. Tony Blair likewise. 'nuff said.

[Steve Toy]

What worries me is despite the fact that the policy choices are so stark as outlined in my post above too many people are treating the election as a contest of personalities.

We've become a very shallow nation and I fear we will suffer for it big time very soon.

[MartinT]

It's becoming very presidential. Do the Americans vote for policy or for the personality?

[Steve Toy]

Do we have to be equally stupid as a nation?

[Grez]

I'm happy to say I'll be voting again for Dr. Richard Taylor (Independent Health Concern) who I honestly believe is the finest MP I have ever had to represent me and the views of the constituency in parliament. Top bloke. Top MP. Straight as a die.

X

[Macca]

Has anyone watched any of the 'Leaders (sic) Debates'? They are all three taking the piss. They'll get my vote when they put a gun to my head but not before.

'People died for the right to vote' - no - they didn't. I'm forty-one; I've followed politics closely since I was about twelve years old and as a direct consequence of that I have never voted. When they put somebody up who is worthy of those people who died in WWII (which is what is meant by that cliche) - then I'll vote. Not before.

[Beechwoods]

Um. I wasn't comparing those who died at Peterloo with those who fought in World War Two. Such a comparison would diminish both. But they did, along with Chartists and Suffragettes. They are the people who I respect for their sacrifice in the name of Universal suffrage.

If you don't vote, then protest. They died for that right as well.

[Themis]

Voting is like a TV singing contest with a toll-free call center : an illusion.
You can only prevent the worse, but never make the best come true.

[Krisbee]

In forty years of voting this has got to be the nost bizarre election campaign I've ever witnessed (Gordon Brown and Elvis ??).

While a herd of elephants charge round the room (the economy, Europe, mass migration, crime, etc. etc. ) and we are up to our necks in it and sinking fast, they give us the "Political X Factor" show with the same old LabLibCon prattle.

Vote? I'll just sing Jersualem and put a gun to my head as I kiss this fairest isle goodbye.

[Steve Toy]

Use your vote wisely: forget about the characters and look at the policy. The devil is in the detail not the superficial gloss. If you can't see beyond the latter it's your own bloody fault!

Only one party is prepared to tackle the national debt and uncontrolled population growth through immigration and they will get my vote.

Dimitri is right though - it is about preventing the worst more than anything else.

[chris@panteg]

It's becoming very presidential. Do the Americans vote for policy or for the personality?

Hi Martin

I actually think the American voters take there election very very seriously .

There is one little detail which i find rather odd about David Cameron ' he keeps going on about ' Vote for Change ' now i know most would think he is simply copying Obama .

But and this is interesting , when i was 11 there was an election (1974) and at my School we used to have the morning assembly ' where the Headmaster would give a little chat , on this occasion it was prior to the November election and he explained to us why he voted Conservative , and i quote .

' I always vote conservative because i like things to stay as they are ' i don't like change ' i prefer the traditional way of doing things ' .

Now this opening statement is all i can remember ' but i do remember it ,
so is the Conservative party so very different now ' and why does Cameron keep going on about the NHS , as this is an abhorrence to any true right winger , being a purely socialist idea .

Just my tuppence worth anyway , at the moment i feel very politically neutral and quite scathing of the whole rotten lot of them .

[Krisbee]

Steve,

The three stooges only interest me as far as how they might determine policy, so don't worry about me, I will vote on the detail, or least what there is of it.
If my choice is wise, or not, will be open to debate.

Britain is on the cusp, it could mean the IMF by Christmas, vote Clegg get Brown, the introduction of some form of PR and good bye Conservatives forever, or the (NU)Labour Party consigned to the dustbin of history.

The stakes could not be higher for them or us, so I'm far more concerned about the millions of my fellow UK citizens who seem to think they are voting in another "pop idol" series and why the three main parties seem happy for this to happen.

[Rare Bird]

Two parties exist in my eyes thats Labour & Conservative..I can't stick white collor workers & everything that comes whith that type of thing, so i will always vote Labour..I could easy not vote at all but do for the sake of it. I have better things to do in my life than worry about the country, you will never have a say what goes even though you think you do. I hate living in the UK, infact i'm getting even more pissed off every year of my life here, i am seriously considering moving to Germany to start a new life.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Hi Martin

I actually think the American voters take there election very very seriously .

There is one little detail which i find rather odd about David Cameron ' he keeps going on about ' Vote for Change ' now i know most would think he is simply copying Obama .

But and this is interesting , when i was 11 there was an election (1974) and at my School we used to have the morning assembly ' where the Headmaster would give a little chat , on this occasion it was prior to the November election and he explained to us why he voted Conservative , and i quote .

' I always vote conservative because i like things to stay as they are ' i don't like change ' i prefer the traditional way of doing things ' .

Now this opening statement is all i can remember ' but i do remember it ,
so is the Conservative party so very different now ' and why does Cameron keep going on about the NHS , as this is an abhorrence to any true right winger , being a purely socialist idea .

Just my tuppence worth anyway , at the moment i feel very politically neutral and quite scathing of the whole rotten lot of them .

bloody stupid isnt it... he is just saying what people want to hear... hardly any politicians these days actually seem to have ideals representative of there so called political leanings.

before the last local elections we got a questionaire through the door from the conservatives asking us what we thought of certain local issues.. the answers ranged from pretty far right to pretty far left... they were basically asking us what their policy should be... makes me mad

i vote labour for the same reasons as andre... im a lefty, the idea of voting blue makes me sick to the stomach ... even if have their policy's are left wing

[chris@panteg]

Hamish

This is going to sound subversive to most but '
i actually wish labour would go back to being a true socialist party , because what we've had over the last 13 years ' ain't socialism ' letting the banks run riot for example ' .

[The Vinyl Adventure]

i agree... even slightly left wing would be nice

[Themis]

Hamish

This is going to sound subversive to most but '
i actually wish labour would go back to being a true socialist party , because what we've had over the last 13 years ' ain't socialism ' letting the banks run riot for example ' .
This is not subversive. It's plain truth: socialists are no good in liberal economy, conservatives are better.
Socialist parties sold their soul by trying to be better than the conservatives in this game. (and, imho, they failed to do so in Europe) :eyebrows:

[Steve Toy]

Only the Conservatives can save the UK from bankruptcy. We should forget about our roots and our class allegiances and make the right decision to save the nation from ruin.

This isn't about supporting the blues or the reds or even the yellows.

[MartinT]

I can't stick white collor workers & everything that comes whith that type of thing

I'm a white collar worker. What's wrong with me?

The current government have done their level best all these years of being in power to bring this country to its knees and they have pretty much achieved their aim. This is still a beautiful country (and I mean the UK, not just England), but it needs a helping hand to put a lot of bad things right and I am going to vote for the manifesto (not the personality) that can best do that. The Conservative manifesto is the only one that I can believe in, and even so it's going to be painful before things start to improve.

[Rare Bird]

I'm a white collar worker. What's wrong with me?



Nothing wrong with you personally because i don't know you.

I've worked damned hard in my life time in labouring jobs where you break you back working from pretty much anything from Woodwork, shoveling heavy shit 8 hours a day to caring for disabled person, all for poor wages, having to work every hour god sends to make a decent wage & all worth an higher income, rough hands, getting filthy day in day out, always got to be carefull with money etc etc

White collor workers dress like all official, get paid stupid money for nothing .Flashy car, flash house they look down at us mere monkeys cos we are crap right, thats why i dislike em

[MartinT]

Well, I'm not going to get into a heavy political debate in a hi-fi forum, suffice to say that you have your point of view for a reason, Andre, but we're not all the stereotypes you think we are. Everyone's different and I was just trying to get you to see that 'white collar worker' is meaningless.

I dress in a collar and tie because I have to. I work in education and earn half the money I used to, but I feel that I'm now contributing something back to society. Oh, and I don't look down on anyone except scivers who live on the back of people who work and pay their taxes.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

i liked what eddie izzard said quite recently about this subject...
he had recently completed his chartity marathon's (quite an amazing feat- did anyone see the program? respect to that man indeed!)
he siad " I take great offence at the Tories slagging off Britain, saying it's broken,I ran around the country and I found that Britain is brilliant. People from all kinds of backgrounds ran with me. Kids from rural estates and kids from inner city areas."

[The Vinyl Adventure]

more here... there is even some soft focus shots of children and the nhs at the end of his little speech, who cant get sucked in to that ;)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/apr/15/eddie-izzard-labour-election-broadcast

[chris@panteg]

Britain is broken ' is mainly down to the relentless campaign by the media and 1 paper in particular to get Brown out and Cameron in .

Also look what happened when Clegg got a sniff ' it was almost verging on a hate campaign to slander his name as much as poss , though i think the man has no substance but you see what i am getting at .

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Britain is broken ' is mainly down to the relentless campaign by the media and 1 paper in particular to get Brown out and Cameron in .
.

couldn't agree more, the media makes everything shitter for everyone because its brings the turd to the surface and lets you swim in it...

... do you watch newswipe chris? charlie brookers program... i think you would like it

[MartinT]

The media pander to their readerships and are past masters at being economical with the truth and misusing statistics.

That doesn't mean that this country isn't broken, though. I would love to see many things put right. A new goverment could start with population control and then move on to reducing incredibly high costs (in my years of business travel only Japan matched the UK for cost of living), a working transport system including roads, a nuclear power policy that fits in to an energy policy to make us independent again, using funds efficiently in the NHS and education, policing that brings safety to towns and cities, etc. etc. Need I go on?

[chris@panteg]

Fair point Martin '

But do you think the Conservative's under Cameron will seriously address these problems !

Because i doubt it ' i hope i am wrong seriously ! as i think Cameron will be PM .

[chris@panteg]

couldn't agree more, the media makes everything shitter for everyone because its brings the turd to the surface and lets you swim in it...

... do you watch newswipe chris? charlie brookers program... i think you would like it

Hi Hamish

will give it a go ' thanks .

[MartinT]

But do you think the Conservative's under Cameron will seriously address these problems !

I think their manifesto addresses the problems but whether they will see it through is another thing. However, I don't see another party that looks like it will even try. Lesser of the evils, unfortunately.

[hifinutt]

I'm happy to say I'll be voting again for Dr. Richard Taylor (Independent Health Concern) who I honestly believe is the finest MP I have ever had to represent me and the views of the constituency in parliament. Top bloke. Top MP. Straight as a die.

X

yes, heard him speak at a rally on saving the nhs from privatisation
hope he gets in again

[MartinT]

Brown's gaffe today showed us what an obnoxious man he is, but more worryingly how he holds people in such contempt. Not only for calling the woman a bigot, but for berating his PR people for daring to 'expose' him to her. If he won't answer reasonable questions from one of his own supporters, what does that say about him?

[Beechwoods]

He displays the arrogance of a man who has utterly lost touch with normal people, become a careerist politician, I mean he didn't even think he needed to be elected as Prime Minister... it was his career-right. He's much like his kind though, who object to travelling anything other than First Class on public transport, I just think he's less media savvy than the others who manage to keep such indiscreet asides to themselves.

[MartinT]

Result!!

With apologies to those who don't feel the same, thank goodness for seeing the back of a 13-year regime that has inflicted a lying war criminal and an incompetent toad on us.

Perhaps the new government will actually be able to pay back our debts and get this country on its feet again, restore a little national pride and improve our cost of living. We can only hope.

[Will]

God help us .....

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Yup, I'm with will on this one!

[twelvebears]

He displays the arrogance of a man who has utterly lost touch with normal people, become a careerist politician, I mean he didn't even think he needed to be elected as Prime Minister... it was his career-right. He's much like his kind though, who object to travelling anything other than First Class on public transport, I just think he's less media savvy than the others who manage to keep such indiscreet asides to themselves.

I think the expression you're looking for is 'Smug Tory Boy who is in politics for himself and not the people he's supposed to work for'.

OK, I admit that's less of and expression and more of a sentence.

Given the choice I'd go for Boris over Cameron every time.....

A friend of mine works at the London Mayor's office. He described Ken as, and I quote 'a sneaky, slimy git that I wouldn't trust an inch' and Boris as 'a genuinely nice guy, who despite his bumbling demeanour, is actually a sharp as a razor and not above holding a ladder for a sparky'.

Worth noting that the above was from a life-long Labour voter too...

[MartinT]

I think the expression you're looking for is 'Smug Tory Boy who is in politics for himself and not the people he's supposed to work for'.

Nick was talking about Gordon Brown!

[Spectral Morn]

Well the communists are gone. Make no mistake that is what they were. Scratch a bit and look at who supported and mentored New Labour and that is what you find not socialists but communists.

The social engineering is stopped, the destruction of the family is halted, the state as nanny is stopped, the police state is halted, the use of statistics to regulate society and everything else is stopped....I could go on but you get the picture...I hope.

However time will tell who and what Cameron is....I have concerns.


Regards D S D L

[John]

Whatever happens we are in for a tough for few years.

[chris@panteg]

I am quite comfortable with this Con/Lib coalition, i don't support either! but i am going to be interested to see how they get on .

I will be scrutinizing every thing they do, and watching what happens to Labour as something needs to change with them also .

And Neil ' if the last 13 years was Communism ? then sorry but I'm the Queen of England:rolleyes: .

[Alex_UK]

All I will say is that maybe the scroungers who have never wanted to work a day in their life and have prospered under Labour will finally have their bubble's burst - if the Conservatives deliver on making them work for their benefits like they promised it will be a happy day as far as I am concerned - the welfare state should be there for those who really need it and as a stop-gap, not a career choice for the lazy!

[MartinT]

Amen to that.

[Steve Toy]

The authoritariian side of the last thirteen years with the spin and manipulation of statistics was straight out of Josef Stalin's book.

I was also fairly convinced that racking up a huge national debt even before the banking crisis and during a period of prosperity was a Trotskyist ploy to bring the capitalist system to its knees. They got rid of Clause 4 to nationalise everything in sight and replaced it with a long game of nihilism and the collapse of the free market to be replaced by a totalitarian command economy and lots of "emergency political measures."

Hopefully the new coalition will be able to save our nation and avert its course away from pre-ordained destruction.

An alternative and less rabid take would be that Brown and his chums were just a bunch of incompetent fucktards.

To Will and Hamish: the cushy number had to come to an end sooner rather than later and a controlled stop is better than a crash.
I know Cameron and his ilk come from privileged backgrounds but this means they want for nothing other than recognition. Surely this is a good thing. I'm just a normal guy from a modest background earning a lot less dosh than I used to and I've never been rich by any stretch of the imagination but I'm not envious. Envy is the only basis to despise and resent privilege. At least, unlike Brown, Cameron does not regard his position of prime minister as one of privilege and entitlement but one of duty and responsibility, something we must all shate in if we are to lift this country out of the Nu-Lab-made crisis we are in, the worst since WW2.

[chris@panteg]

That is an extraordinary statement Steve ' so are you saying Tony and Gordon engineered the World Banking Crisis then?.

To bring it to its knees then bail out our banks with Tax payers money ?

You should get a job with the Sun .

[Steve Toy]

As I said, long game and racking up massive debt before the banking crisis even started.



That is an extraordinary statement Steve ' so are you saying Tony and Gordon engineered the World Banking Crisis then?.



Er, where did I say that? The world banking crisis started in America. We would have been better equipped to deal with it had we run up budget surpluses not debts prior to the crisis.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

im not even gonna read this thread any more, its making steem come out my ears


At least, unlike Brown, Cameron does not regard his position of prime minister as one of privilege and entitlement but one of duty and responsibility

thats a load of chuff steve, hes a posh twit, all he understands is "privilege and entitlement"


i find it amazing the stuff that gets blamed on brown/labour ... the crap that the labour government have got blamed for would have happend to any other party that was in... and i bet the torys would have balls it up even more than labour did.
and they no doubt will bugger it up from now on - the conservative policys dont even make any god damn sence, they just apeal to all the people in this country who think everything has gone to shit just coz the fucking media have told them it has.
"Change!!" - your the fucking conservatives! its in the bloody name! idiots ... it just shows that people dont have a clue what they are voting for ....
if anyone here thinks this government is gonna do any better than labour would have, you are sorely wrong ... the conservatives are just as, if not far more likely to stab every single one of us in the backs! (well apart from a few probably richer than you few)

[Steve Toy]

I agree that the notion of voting Conservative being voting for change is a bit of an oxymoron but I view it more of a changing back and restoring the old values of freedom, justice and fair play, a winding back of the clock to before the damage of the last thirteen years of change for change's sake and giving government more power to control every aspect of our lives.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

damage of the last 13 years... has everyone forgotten what the conservatives were up to prior to labour getting in?
half the problems we have now are due to shit they did before labour even got in... take the relaxed imigration policys for eg...
conservatives do NOT stand for fair play! they stand for supporting those who can and screwing those who cant.

[MartinT]

Hamish, it's a bit disingenuous suggesting that it's the media telling us the country is in the doldrums. I don't need a newspaper to tell me, just look around! Margaret Thatcher famously broke the unions and it was sorely needed. Now we have Unite and the BA cabin crew acting like there wasn't a recession and wanting far more than can be reasonably supported. Meanwhile, I'm in my second year of pay freeze!

What we need is not more bloat in the public sector but proper encouragement for small businesses everywhere and an atmosphere of aspiration rather than being crushed under yet more legislation. I want a small, lean, goverment that isn't wasteful of resources and doesn't try and tell me how to live my life, run my family or suppress every last bit of enjoyment I get out of life.

[Steve Toy]

I also think this class war view of politics is a bit dated. Plus lets not forget that the gap between rich and poor has actually widened over the last thirteen years. The new coalition advocates a new pupil premium for poorer school kids and they are considering raising the tax threshold to £10,000 which is hardly rob the poor to feed the rich, is it?

[The Grand Wazoo]

Now I'm not a fan of Brown, nor was I one of Blair - even from before his election but this:


I agree that the notion of voting Conservative being voting for change is a bit of an oxymoron but I view it more of a changing back and restoring the old values of freedom, justice and fair play, a winding back of the clock to before the damage of the last thirteen years of change for change's sake and giving government more power to control every aspect of our lives.

......makes me wonder if you'd like to return to the days of 18% interest rates on your mortgage. Three rises of the interest rate, totalling 5% in a single day - with the comment from the Chancellor of "It's been a bad day......"
That, my friends, was Black Wednesday, and Norman Lamont was that man. That single day cost us £3.3 billion. Do you know who was in the post of Special Advisor to the Treasury in those days?

You guessed it - David Cameron

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Hamish, it's a bit disingenuous suggesting that it's the media telling us the country is in the doldrums. I don't need a newspaper to tell me, just look around! Margaret Thatcher famously broke the unions and it was sorely needed. Now we have Unite and the BA cabin crew acting like there wasn't a recession and wanting far more than can be reasonably supported. Meanwhile, I'm in my second year of pay freeze!

What we need is not more bloat in the public sector but proper encouragement for small businesses everywhere and an atmosphere of aspiration rather than being crushed under yet more legislation. I want a small, lean, goverment that isn't wasteful of resources and doesn't try and tell me how to live my life, run my family or suppress every last bit of enjoyment I get out of life.

well good luck finding a government like that

[The Vinyl Adventure]

I also think this class war view of politics is a bit dated. Plus lets not forget that the gap between rich and poor has actually widened over the last thirteen years. The new coalition advocates a new pupil premium for poorer school kids and they are considering raising the tax threshold to £10,000 which is hardly rob the poor to feed the rich, is it?

no, its right wing politicians resorting to left wing politics to make people like them

[Steve Toy]

......makes me wonder if you'd like to return to the days of 18% interest rates on your mortgage. Three rises of the interest rate, totalling 5% in a single day - with the comment from the Chancellor of "It's been a bad day......"
That, my friends, was Black Wednesday, and Norman Lamont was that man. That single day cost us £3.3 billion. Do you know who was in the post of Special Advisor to the Treasury in those days?

You guessed it - David Cameron

Norman Lamont was a buffoon and David Cameron was only 25 years old. Between them they lost around £4.5 billion all told and we had to dip into our gold reserves losing just under 10%. Gordon later sold half of them off at rock-bottom gold prices.

Ken Clarke followed Lamont into number 11 and he was much more competent, probably the best chancellor we have ever had. He paved the way towards Gordon's one-and-only great decision, the one to make the Bank of England independent, by holding regular meetings with Eddy George and determining monetary policy on a joint basis. The days of sudden knee-jerk lurches with interest rates were already over.

He also handed over a £20 billion budget surplus to Labour in 1997 that they turned into a £50 billion deficit by 2006 at the height of the boom. By 2007 we should have been running a budget surplus in excess of £100 billion which would have been a useful fund to help us through the banking crisis starting late that year.

[Steve Toy]

no, its right wing politicians resorting to left wing politics to make people like them

There is much truth in this statement but it's how democracy works. The two main parties are on the left and right wings respectively but both need to occupy the middle ground in order to be electable. Labour abandoned Clause 4 in 1995 for this very reason. Socialism as an economic ideology was dead following the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc only four to five years earlier. New Labour was formed and Tony Blair occupied the centre ground talking of the "third way."

I voted Labour in 1997 for this reason.

The Tories have done exactly the same thing, they've moved to the centre ground. The difference now is that they are in a coalition with a centrist party so hopefully they won't drift away from that middle ground like Labour did after 2001 when they reverted to type with the old failed formula of tax, borrow and spend.

[The Grand Wazoo]

As I said,


I'm not a fan of Brown, nor was I one of Blair - even from before his election

......but, as you say the Tories have a track record that favours bufoons advised by people without the experience necessary to behave in a proper fashion towards the economy.

[Steve Toy]

but, as you say the Tories have a track record that favours bufoons advised by people without the experience necessary to behave in a proper fashion towards the economy.

Not really a track record, more a one-off. Indeed mistakes were made and lessons learned but economically at least the nation was in much better shape in 1997 that in was in 1979.

[Rare Bird]

Only the Conservatives can save the UK from bankruptcy. We should forget about our roots and our class allegiances and make the right decision to save the nation from ruin.

This isn't about supporting the blues or the reds or even the yellows.



Nice one steve over looked this one. Well more & more i read both on here & other places it gives me the impression everyones thinking about poor little me! as long as there little selfish world is all hunky donky fuck the Jones.

You vote/go with whats best for the country

[Themis]

More than words, only acts will show whether this government will manage to save the country from bankruptcy without killing the working and middle classes. At least, the possibilities are there, let them work.

Rendez-vous in a couple of years for a quick evaluation of the situation. ;)

[Spectral Morn]

I am quite comfortable with this Con/Lib coalition, i don't support either! but i am going to be interested to see how they get on .

I will be scrutinizing every thing they do, and watching what happens to Labour as something needs to change with them also .

And Neil ' if the last 13 years was Communism ? then sorry but I'm the Queen of England:rolleyes: .

Go check the mentors and supporters of Blair/Brown etc and see who was behind the new labour project.


Regards D S D L

[MartinT]

You vote/go with whats best for the country

Actually no, it's right and proper that you take care of your own and vote in the way that's best for your family. It's all very well thinking that we should all be altruistic, but really and truly we all put what's nearest and dearest first when it comes to voting.

There are limits, of course, but then we don't have people like Mugabe rising to power in our country.

[Themis]

Go check the mentors and supporters of Blair/Brown etc and see who was behind the new labour project.

The communists never vote Labour. They'd rather vote lib dem instead. ;)

Look at the manifest :

We want to offer real help to the millions of families trying to make ends meet, so we will get wasteful government spending under control and give the economy a boost by cutting taxes for people from the bottom up. We will also crack down on big business and the super rich who exploit tax loopholes and do not pay their fair share. We will strengthen the economy by requiring the Bank of England to take house prices into account when setting interest rates and we will effectively regulate the banking system to prevent irresponsible lending and business practices.

[Rare Bird]

Actually no, it's right and proper that you take care of your own and vote in the way that's best for your family. It's all very well thinking that we should all be altruistic, but really and truly we all put what's nearest and dearest first when it comes to voting.

There are limits, of course, but then we don't have people like Mugabe rising to power in our country.

No party gives you the best of everything for your family. What i'm trying to say is, especially this time is we needed something that is gonna get this country back on track no mistakes, you may think your voting for the good of your family best intrest & of course you have to hope your party aint telling pork pies regarding there promises, but there is no room for error this time around..Remember leader of a party are just doing a job they get paid for ;)

I originally planned voting labour till a few things came apparent, i'm now very happy with this situation has been put forward tbh.

[Covenant]

Two parties exist in my eyes thats Labour & Conservative..I can't stick white collor workers & everything that comes whith that type of thing, so i will always vote Labour..I could easy not vote at all but do for the sake of it. I have better things to do in my life than worry about the country, you will never have a say what goes even though you think you do. I hate living in the UK, infact i'm getting even more pissed off every year of my life here, i am seriously considering moving to Germany to start a new life.

What do you consider will be better in Germany Andre?

[Alex_UK]

What do you consider will be better in Germany Andre?

A coalition government? :lol:

[Rare Bird]

What do you consider will be better in Germany Andre?

Beer, Sex & Sausages

[Themis]

The best for Germany would be if Rammstein would form a governemnt and distribute their last collector's edition for "Liebe ist für alle da"... and a free clip for Pussy. :lol:

[chris@panteg]

Germany has a chance of winning the World cup ! we have no chance.