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things you would change if you was PM

Steven Toy said:
I think lowering the voting age to 14 is a bad idea because the majority of children so young don't have sufficiently well-developed reasoning skills.

When I was training to be a teacher I remember being warned by my tutors against trying to empathise with the experience of your students based on your memory of being their age because the ability of 90% of your students will be below that of yours when you were their age.

I think this applies to most of us on this board, certainly to Tony. He was certainly politically aware as indeed I was at that age but most 14 to 17 year-old kids just aren't.
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It's different with me. I'm against lowering the voting age to 14 precisely because I remember how clueless about politics and just about everything else I was at that age.
 
Bob McC said:
Modesty never been a fault if yours then?
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This is a troll post, nothing new there!

I was reporting what I was told by our curriculum tutor sitting in a class of 20 or so student teachers.

My own viewpoints at the age of 14 were mainly shaped by two things:

1) Mutual Assured Destruction keeping the peace in the Cold War and the Labour Party of the time (1983) having a policy to undermine that through unilateral nuclear disarmament which to me seemed very scary indeed.

2) Parental influence. They never told me which way they voted but it was pretty obvious from their views.
 
Steven Toy said:
When I was training to be a teacher I remember being warned by my tutors against trying to empathise with the experience of your students based on your memory of being their age because the ability of 90% of your students will be below that of yours when you were their age.

I think this applies to most of us on this board, certainly to Tony.
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It applies only to Tony.
 
Steven Toy said:
This is a troll post, nothing new there!

I was reporting what I was told by our curriculum tutor sitting in a class of 20 or so student teachers.

My own viewpoints at the age of 14 were mainly shaped by two things:

1) Mutual Assured Destruction keeping the peace in the Cold War and the Labour Party of the time (1983) having a policy to undermine that through unilateral nuclear disarmament which to me seemed very scary indeed.

2) Parental influence. They never told me which way they voted but it was pretty obvious from what their views.
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My own viewpoints at that age were mainly shaped by the performance of Liverpool Football Club and the worrying trend towards 'progressive' music.
 
Joe Hutch said:
It's different with me. I'm against lowering the voting age to 14 precisely because I remember how clueless about politics and just about everything else I was at that age.
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To be fair, many people from 16 to100 are clueless, as the number of Conservative voters indicates.
 
I think 14 is far too young. Surely it would be a good start to get the 18-25 crowd to vote. Or are stats not as dire as always said for young voter participation?
 
Tony L said:
1. Implement a proportional representation electoral system.
2. Implement a proper constitution and bill of rights.
3. Remove religion entirely from the state and public education and tax it as an entertainment.
4. Lower the voting age to 14.

To my mind that would at least provide the parameters within which a democracy could exist.
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You missed campaign financing. The US has 2 and 3 in place but is an oligarchy/plutocracy due to the massive amount of money in politics. I would add to your list:

- strict public funding of all elections
- a ban on political TV commercials
- only political debates allowed on TV.
- debates should be independently fact checked
- a band on polls - elections should not be a popularity contest
 
If I had sweeping powers ( I'd need them for this ), not in any order, I would have it thus :

- Withdraw from the EU
- Balanced budgets by law
- Reduce military spending to half present levels immediately and more to come
- Phase out welfare over two decades
- Reduce long term indebtedness
- Restore respect for individual freedoms and privacy
- Invest in good infrastructure, science and education
- Decriminalise some stuff ( e.g. drugs )
- Overhaul criminal justice ( restitution & rehabilitation, less prison, exile an option )
- Keep and improve our socialised medicine
- Government to avoid promoting political correctness
- Permit euthanasia
- Get rid of speed bumps and fix pot holes properly
- Equal rights for cats
 
Cloth-Ears said:
If I had sweeping powers ( I'd need them for this ), not in any order, I would have it thus :

- Withdraw from the EU
- Balanced budgets by law
- Reduce military spending to half present levels immediately and more to come
- Phase out welfare over two decades
- Reduce long term indebtedness
- Restore respect for individual freedoms and privacy
- Invest in good infrastructure, science and education
- Decriminalise some stuff ( e.g. drugs )
- Overhaul criminal justice ( restitution & rehabilitation, less prison, exile an option )
- Keep and improve our socialised medicine
- Government to avoid promoting political correctness
- Permit euthanasia
- Get rid of speed bumps and fix pot holes properly
- Equal rights for cats
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Definitely not leave EU or phase out benefits!! :eek: My cat already has equal rights here ;)
 
Ban lobbying!!!!!
Public funding for political parties.
PR
Anyone voting Tory to be forced to spend a month living in a squalid bedsit on minimum benefits to see how much they like it.....
 
Arkless Repairs said:
Ban lobbying!!!!!
Public funding for political parties.
PR
Anyone voting Tory to be forced to spend a month living in a squalid bedsit on minimum benefits to see how much they like it.....
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And anyone voting Green to spend a month living in the loony bin to see how much they like it.
 
If I were PM I'd add a 'none of the above' box to all ballot papers. If 'none of the above' wins, then none of the listed candidates are allowed to stand in the ensuing by-election.
 
Cloth-Ears said:
I would incorporate them into the public transport mix.
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There could be one called 'The Mountain of Debt'.

I would introduce on-the-spot fines for people refusing to obey lane discipline when walking on the pavement; i.e. failing to go into single file when a pedestrian approaches in the opposite direction. In fact, sod the fines, just execute them.
 
If we are going to execute people do it by decapitation.

But not by slicing. No. I say heads should be pulled off - evenly and slowly, the pulling guided by computer.
 
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