UK Election 2015

[stephen bennett]

I really wish Labour would balls up (no pun intended) and explain clearly how borrowing at current low rates for infrastructure projects to boost economic growth is a much more sensible option than the coalition crash and burn austerity.

The Tory press will jump on it, but I think the public will understand the logic.

We'll have to borrow at some point. Might as well be now.

In fact the Tories do debt perfectly well - they just refinanced the WW1 debt with Wonga at a lower rate - even though Osborne said he'd 'paid it off.'

Stephen

 

[Rasher]

I don't know who to vote for tbh. I feel exasperated by the whole political scene at the moment.

I'm sort of the same, which sort of leaves me going back to first principals. When the parties are populated by twats across the board, at least you can cling on to your ideals. I think that is the way this is going to go.

Today there is an announcement about net immigration being over 500,000 over the past 3 years, which will have some bearing on a lot of people.
The EU thing will be interesting too, because we may finally decide that we want to be in it just as it completely collapses. I personally think the EU is heading to go down the toilet.

 

[Tony L]

How many PFM'ers live in an area where their vote really might make a difference?

electionforecast.co.uk are predicting a 100% probability of a Labour win in my seat. As such my vote as a non-Labour voter is an irrelevance / a complete waste of my time.

 

[Mick P]

electionforecast.co.uk are predicting a 100% probability of a Labour win in my seat. As such my vote as a non-Labour voter is an irrelevance / a complete waste of my time.

Yes Tony, it is a little thing called democracy. Most of your neighbours want a Labour MP. I know they are mad but just try to live with it.

Alternatively you should consider moving to Brighton, you would fit in well there. They are all green hipsters and almost certainly are into vinyl. You could spend your time chattering to bearded chaps on the sea front over a cup of home made coffee.

I was there last week, it was all very cool and trendy.

Mick

 

[CHE]

electionforecast.co.uk are predicting a 100% probability of a Labour win in my seat. As such my vote as a non-Labour voter is an irrelevance / a complete waste of my time.

No it's not ! If you don't vote then you really can't complain when the mob you don't like get in. It's this apathy that's contributed to 30% turn-outs and a general lethargy with politics.

Compare this to the Scottish Independence vote where the main Westminster parties so annoyed the locals (Mr and Mrs CHE) that the turn-out became 85% and in May will likely be the highest in the country. The Scots results may well change the resulting Westminster government, all on the back of people actually voting rather than winging that it makes no difference.

CHE

 

[deanf]

I live in a strong Labour constituency only because of strong values, determination and a bulldog tenacity to win - pre-1992 it was a strong Tory seat.

My local ward would go Tory again in 3-4 years if we didn't do what we do. Slightly further afield, strong Labour seats went Liberal within two years when we took our eye off the ball and could easily go ukip this time if we did the same.

 

[KC Cantiaci]

I'm sort of the same, which sort of leaves me going back to first principals. When the parties are populated by twats across the board, at least you can cling on to your ideals. I think that is the way this is going to go.

Today there is an announcement about net immigration being over 500,000 over the past 3 years, which will have some bearing on a lot of people.
The EU thing will be interesting too, because we may finally decide that we want to be in it just as it completely collapses. I personally think the EU is heading to go down the toilet.

I agree that's a possibility. And that 565,000 immigration figure is being reported as just for England, not the whole UK. I thought it seemed low as recent figures have been suggesting circa 250k per annum.

 

[KC Cantiaci]

No it's not ! If you don't vote then you really can't complain when the mob you don't like get in. It's this apathy that's contributed to 30% turn-outs and a general lethargy with politics.

Compare this to the Scottish Independence vote where the main Westminster parties so annoyed the locals (Mr and Mrs CHE) that the turn-out became 85% and in May will likely be the highest in the country. The Scots results may well change the resulting Westminster government, all on the back of people actually voting rather than winging that it makes no difference.

CHE

Sorry CHE, I don't agree. Tony's vote for any alternative in a safe Labour seat is wasted under our FPTP system. If he voted for LibDem, his vote doesn't contribute to gaining additional MP's in Parliament. It's one of the reasons he, like myself, would prefer a PR system in the UK so that every vote counts. For example, the LibDems could get 10% of the vote in every constituency (4.1m votes) but not get a single MP in Parliament whereas another party like Labour could get 4.1m votes concentrated in 100 constituencies and end up with 100 MP's.

The system is skewed and not truly representative so it encourages people to not bother....part of the reason for voter apathy. A change in the system could bring out a load of voters who might recognise they can make a difference which could change the political landscape. It's likely why the main parties don't want it.

 

[ciderglider]

A change in the system could bring out a load of voters who might recognise they can make a difference which could change the political landscape. It's likely why the main parties don't want it.

Dream on. In the recent PR referendum, 41% of the electorate condescended to vote, and of those only 32% voted in favour of PR.

 

[Tony L]

To be honest I'm sure I'll end up voting LibDem as usual. I've voted for them for 25 years or more knowing they are the only party that stands against the FPTP biased farce that masquerades as democracy in this country. I will once again turn up at the polling station in the futile hope than one day I'll get to see a political system that can actually represent me. I am in that sense a daft idealist as I know it will never happen as long as the entirely corrupt Lab/Con political career establishment still exists. There are far too many powerful vested interests for this country to ever implement a real democracy.

 

[CHE]

Sorry CHE, I don't agree. Tony's vote for any alternative in a safe Labour seat is wasted under our FPTP system..

Rubbish; every vote has equal importance. Someone's been listing to Russell Brand by the sound of it.

CHE

 

[KC Cantiaci]

Dream on. In the recent PR referendum, 41% of the electorate condescended to vote, and of those only 32% voted in favour of PR.

We have the same comment made every time this issue comes up.....the referendum in 2011 was for AV voting, not PR. I believe the LibDems wanted a PR referendum but somehow got conned into a referendum offering this AV system that only one other major economy uses (Australia) and Fiji if memory serves me well. PR is used across the globe.

 

[KC Cantiaci]

Rubbish; every vote has equal importance. Someone's been listing to Russell Brand by the sound of it.

CHE

How does it? If you live in a strong Tory seat, you could vote for a local party offering free gold and still won't get an MP elected in your constituency so therefore, you won't have representation in Parliament so a waste of time.

As for Russell Brand, his advice to not vote as a protest doesn't work. He too wants an electoral system change but if this is what he wants, better to spoil the ballot paper so it at least gets counted as a non vote counts for nothing.

 

[deanf]

Better still if you want change vote for the party closest on the political spectrum in which you want to go, the parties will target you more than non voters and spolied papers and guide the ploicies in that direction. So for labour that's green as a left protest and liberal to the right; tory would be liberal and ukiprespectively.

 

[matthewr]

If facts had anything to do with it, the economy should be the Conservatives’ weak point in the forthcoming UK election. Since 2010 we have seen the weakest recovery in at least the last 200 years. The government’s actions are partly responsible for that, and the only debate is how much. Real wages have been falling steadily, and only a fall in global oil prices might be finally bringing that to an end. Living standards have taken a big hit. Yet I keep reading how the economy is the Conservatives' strong card. How can this be?

http://mainlymacro.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/a-campaign-based-on-ignorance_6.html

 

[KC Cantiaci]

Better still if you want change vote for the party closest on the political spectrum in which you want to go, the parties will target you more than non voters and spolied papers and guide the ploicies in that direction. So for labour that's green as a left protest and liberal to the right; tory would be liberal and ukip respectively.

Wouldn't it be better if we could all just vote for the party we most agree with? A count up of true, non skewed votes by everyone who is interested?

The current system encourages people to either not bother if their chosen party doesn't have a chance in their constituency or maybe even vote tactically if they believe their vote might keep a more hated party from winning a seat. The system needs changing but all the time the Tory's and Labour hold the reigns, it's not going to happen. I hope the General Election in May is a car crash that might raise questions on the validity of the current system.

 

[Rasher]

I saw the TV drama The Casual Vacancy and laughed when someone wrote on the ballot paper "You are all wan7ers" on it.
I'd love to do that, but in all seriousness, nothing positive ever comes out of a negative approach.

 

[auric]

It's a real shame Elizabeth Warren (my senator from Massachusetts) can't lead the UK labour party. She'd make a great president, but I fear she's too far to the left (i.e. not right of center) to get anywhere in the US.

http://elizabethwarren.com/elizabeth

And she doesn't mince her words (about 3 minutes in)

[YOUTUBE]nTWfa-iO9Nc[/YOUTUBE]

A good profile of her on BBC R4 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b042z1g0 last year but just now I can not seem to make the link function as expected. I expect my browser is set to 11, hope you can get it to work.

Elizabeth Warren has had a rapid rise to prominence since her election as Senator for Massachusetts in 2012. Her interrogation of key figures from the banking sector during the financial crisis earned her nicknames such as the 'Sheriff of Wall Street' and the 'Matriarch of Mayhem'.

On Profile this week Chris Bowlby looks at the life and character of the woman who is said to make many Wall Street executives shiver.

 

[Brian]

Dream on. In the recent PR referendum, 41% of the electorate condescended to vote, and of those only 32% voted in favour of PR.

There hasn't been a referendum on PR.

 

[merlin]