The UK election thread

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Re: The UK election thread

Post by Rum » Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:57 pm

Bruce Burleson wrote:What happens if there is a hung Parliament? What are the options for various coalitions?
It'll get 'real politic' . Bargaining will go on and an and while I think this has some potential for reasonable deals to be sorted out which don't fall prey to the excesses of ideology, it could also slow decision making down considerably.

Worth remembering though that with Scotland and Wales sending their own MPs it is more complex than just three main parties. ..not to mention Nornirland!

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Re: The UK election thread

Post by RuleBritannia » Wed Apr 07, 2010 8:00 pm

It'll be interesting to see how well Plaid Cymru and the SNP do.

P.S. A vote for Sinn Fein is a vote for no representation.
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Re: The UK election thread

Post by Reverend Blair » Thu Apr 08, 2010 1:06 am

You guys are gonna love minority governments. It can work well (look at Canada's Pearson government in the 1960's) or it can be a clown act (look at Canada right now), but it's never boring. The really important thing is to learn how roll cigarettes while balancing a beer on your belly.

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Re: The UK election thread

Post by beige » Fri Apr 09, 2010 10:59 am

I wonder if common sense will actually overcome partisanship this time around.

Shame I'm not eligible to vote in national elections, only local ones (I'm not English enough :( )
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Re: The UK election thread

Post by Pappa » Fri Apr 09, 2010 11:05 am

The media seem to be obsessing that there will almost definitely be a hung parliament, but IIRK, I heard all that last time too.
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Re: The UK election thread

Post by RuleBritannia » Fri Apr 09, 2010 11:23 am

beige wrote:I wonder if common sense will actually overcome partisanship this time around.

Shame I'm not eligible to vote in national elections, only local ones (I'm not English enough :( )
How are you not eligible?
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Re: The UK election thread

Post by ficklefiend » Fri Apr 09, 2010 11:35 am

This constituency has had only one Tory win since 1918. Labour strong-hold. Next after that SNP and LibDem.

General Election 2005 result
Labour 42.5%
Liberal Democrats 23.9%
SNP 22.3%
Conservatives 9.4%
Others 1.9%


But just look at the Lib Dem candidate for Aberdeen North.
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... his name is Kristian. With a fucking K. :doh:
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Re: The UK election thread

Post by beige » Fri Apr 09, 2010 4:02 pm

RuleBritannia wrote:
beige wrote:I wonder if common sense will actually overcome partisanship this time around.

Shame I'm not eligible to vote in national elections, only local ones (I'm not English enough :( )
How are you not eligible?
Technically I'm not a British Citizen. Lived here my whole life though :(

Edit: I could also technically apply for British Citizenship - but I haven't looked into it as yet as I've never had reason to, and I suspect nothing will be done in time for me to take part.

Although...
  • You must be of sound mind.
  • You must be of good character.
Maybe I'm not eligible :P
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Re: The UK election thread

Post by hackenslash » Sat Apr 10, 2010 12:50 am

It's a tough one for me. I think the hung parliament is a myth, and the press go gaga over it every time. I think that a lot of people are going to vote lib-dem in protest. Unfortunately, the libs are never going to get enough votes to get in, which will simply mean that the protest votes allow the tories in. I can't countenance that for a second.
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Re: The UK election thread

Post by Xamonas Chegwé » Sat Apr 10, 2010 12:53 am

I think you're right, Hack. It will be a tory win but by a slim majority. They might even need the UU and a few other fringe players to back them up. 5 more years like the Major government. Just when we need tough leadership to weather the recession, a party in power that daren't fart into the wind in case a handful of rebels leads them into a vote of no confidence. Meh. :nono:
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Re: The UK election thread

Post by RuleBritannia » Sat Apr 10, 2010 11:53 am

The Tories are going to bribe married couples and civil partners with a £150 annual tax break. Who says you need to get married out of love, it's the money I want. :plot:
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Re: The UK election thread

Post by Pappa » Sun Apr 11, 2010 1:29 am

RuleBritannia wrote:The Tories are going to bribe married couples and civil partners with a £150 annual tax break. Who says you need to get married out of love, it's the money I want. :plot:
Yeah... £3 a week. Woooooo hoooo!
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Re: The UK election thread

Post by Xamonas Chegwé » Sun Apr 11, 2010 4:15 am

Pappa wrote:
RuleBritannia wrote:The Tories are going to bribe married couples and civil partners with a £150 annual tax break. Who says you need to get married out of love, it's the money I want. :plot:
Yeah... £3 a week. Woooooo hoooo!
I'll have your £3 if you don't want it. :(
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Re: The UK election thread

Post by Twiglet » Sun Apr 11, 2010 4:37 am

I don't see substantial policy differences between Labour & the Tories since labour abandoned the social contract and the union bloc votes in candidate selection around Neil Kinnocks time. The rationale at the time was to present a cleaner face to the Murdoch press, and over a further decade, the ideological base bacme so undermined in the quest for power that the change became entrenched.

John Smith, who died under somewhat mysterious circumstances hiking in Scotland, was a fairly traditional centre-left leader and was widely predicted to win the election which swept Blair to power. During Blairs first term, labour passed some good socially progressive legislation like instituting the minumum wage, and IMO, despite the divorce from the TUC, had a pretty good first term in office, but a lot changed when Clintons presidency ended.

British politicians have always had a level of servility to America since ww2. The degree of it has varied, but the fact of it remains constant. I think at some level, Blair believed that by hand-holding Bushs adventurism, he might also come to influence it, but that belief appears cosmetic in hindsight, and perhaps overly generous to Blairs now apparant mendacity.

The sitting MPs of the labour party are equally to blame for the capitulation into "New Labour". The could have chosen to oust Blair and follow the will of the people on the Iraq war, but few did so. The constituency Labour parties could have threatened to de-select MPs and ignored the edicts of Wallworth Road, but they chose not to do so. Other power-grabs took place. Blair used the selection of women candidates to promote women candidate (under the guise of equal opportunities) who were in lockstep with his own cult of personality, and so his rule became one of fiefdom in his second term. His cronies, like Brown, are too complicit in his deceptions to altogether betray them, and I suspect, over time, they have bought into their own bullshit.

I'm talking specifically about the choice to go to war in Iraq, but I could equally apply the same arguments to the wholesale capitulation to the interests of big business, tax breaks and general subservience to corporate power.

The labour party originated from the Union movement. By divorcing itself from the Unions, it has become very much like the US democrat party.

The Liberal democrats are an interesting case. In the 70s and 80s they were viewed as the centreist political party, and evolved into the Social Democrats with mostly right-of-centre Labour Party defections. Their political stance has stayed much the same since that time, it is the Labour party who have slid to the right over the same period. It has been said that it is eay to have principled politics when you have no real chance of being elected to power. If a hung parliament happens, I will be curious to see how much the Liberals capitulate. I think the tories will win though.

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Re: The UK election thread

Post by Rum » Sun Apr 11, 2010 8:38 am

John Smith died in 'somewhat mysterious circumstances'? :think: He had a heart attack at his flat.

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