UK General Election

[mortiboy]

Here shows the true story.....
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/571208 ... ge-claimed

[can123]

Thank you, Mortiboy. I knew that there was something wrong and was very disappointed by the audience reaction. This is a real "kick in the teeth" for democracy and the future of television debates must be in doubt now. Cameron seems to have done the right thing by refusing to appear. This story will anger many voters and hopefully these dishonest people will pay the price.

[Earnest]

Here shows the true story.....
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/571208 ... ge-claimed

That's a load of old cock and your argument is laughable. The Daily Express owner, Richard Desmond, has just donated a million to UKIP so he's going to be biased anyway. Furthermore, Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems all occupy (and fight for) the centre vote. UKIP occupy a far right position (but not as far as a party like the BNP). I would say the mix below is about right. Or are you saying ICM is left leaning too?

ICM used the following audience ratio for those with a party preference:

Conservative 5

Labour 5

Lib Dem 4

Ukip 3

SNP 2

Green 2

Plaid 1.

And please don't say that Nigel is our last hope in UK, you abandoned the United Kingdom years ago. If I had my way, you wouldn't even qualify for a State pension, Morti.

[mortiboy]

Here we go again little earnie doing his playing his hate thing.
At least I had the bottle stay out here.
Unlike you , sit behind your Key board making snide remarks at your hate list members.
Seems you cant make a comment without coming up with a crap remark
Grow up silly boy !Soon you'll have Islam buddies to be neighbours

[bignote1]

That's a load of old cock and your argument is laughable. The Daily Express owner, Richard Desmond, has just donated a million to UKIP so he's going to be biased anyway.

You have gone over the top this time. How dare you say a British newspaper is biased. Wash your mouth and get on the naughty step immediately.

Over the last 10 days I have been reading minor party manifesto's....thought there might be some original ideas there.
Last night I got round to the Monster Raving Looney Party. For anyone who hasn't made their mind up you might want to give them serious consideration.
Here are some of their ideas:
They will extend an overdraft facility to the labour Party of £10 trillion of someone else's money to accommodate their spending needs.
Conisbrough Castle will be developed into an intergalactic spaceport
Capital punishment will be opposed on the grounds it is unfair to Londoners.
Innocent Prisoners will be released to prevent prison over crowding.
Regulations concerning car boot sales will be relaxed to permit selling of all car parts
X-ray machines will be manned by a skeleton staff.
Yellow lines will be painted where you can park instead of where you cant park to save money
and many, many, more on their web site. well worth a read.

[bignote1]

Furthermore, Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems all occupy (and fight for) the centre vote. UKIP occupy a far right position (but not as far as a party like the BNP).

I don't think the poll in the Independent on Sunday bears that out.
I Quote
"Voters do not regard UKIP as a party of the far right, but as one closer to the centre ground than the Tories. It suggests that attempts by Labour to portray Mr Farage as more " Thatcherite than Thatcher" have fallen flat."

If true that's a worry for both major Parties.

[GT93]

As we get closer to polling day it would appear the next government will be in coalition. Can we do a straw poll as to your preferred coalitions in order of merit. You don't have to be a Brit to do this; if you have formed an opinion as to what is best for the UK join in. You also don't have to give reasons if you don't want to.
Mine
#1 Conservatives & Lib Dems (I think its worked reasonably well up to now)
#2 Conservatives & UKIP ( Nigel will still want out of Europe but will revert to being a Conservative in all other respects)
#3 Conservatives & Labour (Anything to keep the SNP out)

I'd go for your #1. I'd give them a B- to date but at least I'd be confident they'd get that in the next 5 years. My worry is the EU and that Cameron has a tiger by the tail and the UK might end up leaving. I'd expect the NZ government to shrink the NZ High Commission in London almost immediately and to substantially expand our embassy in Berlin. OK, that won't scare the British government and media, but when the US does the same, there would be considerable concern.

Good to see you posting here Earnie as maaka in his Maori informality calls you. Ronan01 had posted a link on I think the same interview Earnest in another thread. I find it strange. I'd have expected plenty of quality people in the UK to want to be the Greens leader. One of the UK's greatest gifts to the world is its maverick thinkers.

[GT93]

Here we go again little earnie doing his playing his hate thing.
At least I had the bottle stay out here.

Yes, many farang need the bottle to live in Thailand! If we're sober life is probably better in farangland. High 5s to Earnest.

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Over the last 10 days I have been reading minor party manifesto's....thought there might be some original ideas there. Last night I got round to the Monster Raving Looney Party. For anyone who hasn't made their mind up you might want to give them serious consideration.

Sorry, but the Monster Raving Loony Party are headless without Screaming Lord Sutch at the controls.

[caducus]

In response to the request for a straw poll I will assume that the next government of the UK would be a coalition. As I am not the Queen I am unable to summon party leaders to Buckingham Palace and ask them to form a government for me, according to the wishes of the electorate.

Having been living away from home for many decades I am no longer on the Electoral Roll, but I still follow the UK political situation. I have watched the debates and read about the candidates and would like to see a coalition of, in no particular order (as a coalition should be a partnership of equals):

Green Party
SNP
Plaid Cymru

Plus some defections from the Liberal Democrats and Labour Party.

[bignote1]

Sorry, but the Monster Raving Loony Party are headless without Screaming Lord Sutch at the controls.[/quote]

You have got that completely wrong. Howlin Gale is an excellent leader and would make a good PM.
I also like the look of Knigel Knapp who just recently was proposed as the new "Shadow Minister for Big Fibs and Blatant Lies"
These boys are thinkers. Unlike the other parties they have just released a Campaign Song called " The Big Fibber" They are trying to get 8000 people to download it next week so they get it into the top 40 just before the election. I see today Baron Von Magpie Bum, the ex punk rocker has declared himself a candidate. Apparently his stage performances are finished and he now amuses himself Morris Dancing and singing in a Male Voice Choir; not at the same time or he falls over. His 2 key policies are the return of town and village stocks for people who litter and putting all parliamentary representatives on National Minimum Wage. He also proposes that due to the fact that the letter k is often silent it should be replaced by a honking sound and he thinks unicorns should be a protected species. He is going to create jobs for the unemployed by introducing Welsh pickled onion farms in his constituency.
I warn you don't underestimate these boys.

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Okay, you convinced and converted me with the policies about 'k', and unicorns.

[rick]

A couple of bits i have picked up.

UKIP will scrap inheritance tax and cut the higher tax rates. Is this their version of trickle down economics as pushed by Bush - which made the rich a lot richer? Nowt for the blue collar man, but they are easily mislead.

And, ONE party will restore fully uprated state pensions to Expats (and a much higher pension). Who? Do your due diligence research before jumping on the media hi-lited issues.

[bignote1]

As we enter the last few furlongs the race is hotting up.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general ... ngham.html

[BobHelm]

IFS despairs as it finds no party’s imaginary numbers add up

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... b-dems-snp

Both Labour and the Conservatives have called out the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) for political bias at various times over the years, so it is safe to assume the economics thinktank is about as independent as these kinds of organisations get.

“The Tories have not been explicit,” he monotoned, reeling off a series of numbers that would have been more meaningful had they originally been accurate.

Labour had provided disappointingly little information

the SNP had, like the Tories, not been explicit

the Lib Dems got a tick – a very small one, mind – for at least having some figures that more or less added up even if they were predicated on assumptions that “they would only invest in the things that will help our economy grow”.

The Tories’ numbers may have been by far the worst, the SNP may have been imposing greater austerity than Labour, but there were huge gaps in everyone’s figures. Nothing came close to adding up, everyone would have to borrow more and tax more than they claimed and most of the unprotected government departments would barely exist by 2019. If we thought we had seen austerity in the past five years, just wait to see what’s going to happen in the next five.

[bignote1]

The IFS?
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... ndspending

[BobHelm]

As I quoted in the piece..

Both Labour and the Conservatives have called out the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) for political bias at various times over the years, so it is safe to assume the economics thinktank is about as independent as these kinds of organisations get.

But, of course, Richard Murphy is not exactly an impeccably unbiased source of data about tax matters, is he???

Kevin Maguire, associate editor of the Daily Mirror has said:

We’ve got to take sides on tax. Rich individuals, corporations, well-funded special interest groups and much of Fleet Street is on one (the wrong) side and then there is Richard Murphy plus a few others, including yours truly. But it is Murphy who is the heroic figure. Tireless and forensic, driven by an admirable moral fervour, I take my hat off to a campaigner with Duracell batteries.

[bignote1]

7 leaders answer 7 questions
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general ... tions.html

[GT93]

Nice link bignote01. While watching the election campaign videos, I was thinking no wonder there's talk that the numbers don't add up. I have found in this campaign Farage constantly grabbing my attention even though I don't support his ideas.

[BobHelm]

Yes the way it is going it would seem that it will be an interesting result with a few strange questions requiring some thought.

It would seem that neither the Labour nor Conservative party will get enough seats to create a Government on their own.
The party with the greatest number of members after these two would appear to be the SNP.
At the moment (& there are still a few weeks for it to change) it would seem that whoever they decide will become the next Government. The other parties, combined (& they are a very different bunch) would not have enough seats.
Bit ironic seeing as the SNP didn't want to be a part of the United Kingdom a couple of months ago...

The other is the Liberal Party. While it was mainly a 2 party system in the UK the Liberals have always pleaded that the voting system was unfair & that some form of proportionate representation should be introduced.
The polls currently have them on 8% of the vote, but that will get them 26 seats.
UKIP, meanwhile, have 15% of the vote but are only expected to get 3 seats, at most.
I wonder if the concept will be quite so appealing to the Liberals in the future...