Just down the road, off Half Moon Lane. Probably saw you in the Commercial or Florence you hipster. Tories fecking up again with Fallon resuming personal attacks on Ed. It's playing out very badly for them.
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UK General Election 2015 | Conservatives win with an overall majority
- Thread starter langster
- Start date
Seems to be a theme in London. We were Hammersmith & Fulham, a safe Tory seat, but then after a bit of gerrymandering before the last election, we became just Hammersmith, but they threw in Shepherds Bush, which turned it Labour. Our old Tory MP, Greg Hands, is now the Chelsea & Fulham MP.
It may well be, yet even if the UK should decide to move on from submarines as a weapons platform, the savings ought to be returned to the MoD. There already exists a trend of cuts at the department and that element to the budget is the due of the armed services if anyone's. Looking at it from the Green Party's world view i suppose there is some consistency to their stance, although i doubt whether such a mindset is mirrored by most voters.
Seriously? So the EU's stance on GM crops for example, could have seen either the European Parliament or member states sued by the likes of Monsanto?
I certainly think there is room for improvement with the electoral system, however reforms which would increases the likelihood of coalition government are something i remain to be convinced about. Given the compromise of policy inherent to such situations, the public should have the means to intervene via referenda.
Whilst i am content to stick with FPTP for now, i would push for EVEL and lowering the costs of participation for new political parties/independent candidates.
Anyone watch the Scottish leaders debates over the past couple of days?
Sturgeon generally did very well again overall, however from someone who's not a Tory, Ruth Davidson was excellent. Very good speaker, actually manages to stay away from some typical big party cliches, and managed to hold some sort of stance most of the time.
Contrast that to Jim Murphy, who seems incredibly unclear about everything, and occasionally just talks about how bad poverty is, and how Labour's going to take everyone out of poverty with no clarity whatsoever.
Rennie was a bit drab and had the air of someone who knows his parties a bit screwed and just wanted to play for minimal damage. Scottish Green leader Patrick Harvie is an excellent speaker and far better than Bennett. Coburn for UKIP was shite, although was admittedly in the difficult position of being extremely hated in Scotland since he basically compared a Muslim MSP to a terrorist based on that alone a few weeks back, which Sturgeon rightly called him out for.
Sturgeon generally did very well again overall, however from someone who's not a Tory, Ruth Davidson was excellent. Very good speaker, actually manages to stay away from some typical big party cliches, and managed to hold some sort of stance most of the time.
Contrast that to Jim Murphy, who seems incredibly unclear about everything, and occasionally just talks about how bad poverty is, and how Labour's going to take everyone out of poverty with no clarity whatsoever.
Rennie was a bit drab and had the air of someone who knows his parties a bit screwed and just wanted to play for minimal damage. Scottish Green leader Patrick Harvie is an excellent speaker and far better than Bennett. Coburn for UKIP was shite, although was admittedly in the difficult position of being extremely hated in Scotland since he basically compared a Muslim MSP to a terrorist based on that alone a few weeks back, which Sturgeon rightly called him out for.
Ed says that national security is too important for political games, a pity that he doesn't think the same about the NHS. 
I've heard some good things about Davidson; despite her Tory allegiance she was apparently a respected voice during the independence campaign. Admittedly i do speak from a unionist vantage point, but if Labour's position in Scotland is going to be severely weakened the debate will need to find new figures to advance the cause.
I was reading an article in which Davidson attacked the Scottish Government over its new LBTT reform, did that come up at all?
Also, what appetite is there in Scotland for a second referendum in the near future? Sturgeon seems to want to keep her options open at this point, yet i have to wonder if people want to go through all that rigmarole again (and recent volatility in the oil market can't have helped SNP credibility on that head).
I've heard some good things about Davidson; despite her Tory allegiance she was apparently a respected voice during the independence campaign. Admittedly i do speak from a unionist vantage point, but if Labour's position in Scotland is going to be severely weakened the debate will need to find new figures to advance the cause.
I was reading an article in which Davidson attacked the Scottish Government over its new LBTT reform, did that come up at all?
Also, what appetite is there in Scotland for a second referendum in the near future? Sturgeon seems to want to keep her options open at this point, yet i have to wonder if people want to go through all that rigmarole again (and recent volatility in the oil market can't have helped SNP credibility on that head).
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Ed says that national security is too important for political games, a pity that he doesn't think the same about the NHS.
I've heard some good things about Davidson; despite her Tory allegiance she was apparently a respected voice during the independence campaign. Admittedly i do speak from a unionist vantage point, but if Labour's position in Scotland is going to be severely weakened the debate will need to find new figures to advance the cause.
I was reading an article in which Davidson attacked the Scottish Government over its new LBTT reform, did that come up at all?
Also, what appetite is there in Scotland for a second referendum in the near future? Sturgeon seems to want to keep her options open at this point, yet i have to wonder if people want to go through all that rigmarole again (and recent volatility in the oil market can't have helped SNP credibility on that head).
Surely nobody believes there is a credible way the running of Scotland can be funded by oil!
This is one of those situations where the short term pain feels like it might outweight any long term gain. I'd love to see a political system whereby multiple viewpoints are more accurately represented, rather than people having a choice between voting for someone kinda-vaguely-somewhat in line with their view, or having your vote make absolutely no difference. Particularly if, like me, no current political party represents your views.
On the other hand regular, truly multi-party coalitions would imo be unworkable & could lead to several parliaments, or even a generation, of inaction by Government, which could be a disaster.
Eventually people would get their arses in gear and figure out how to steer the ship as a team, rather than fighting for control of the rudder. But it could be hellish while we got there.
You've got a decent point in regards to Davidson and Labour being weakened. Since the left-wing vote will largely be split between SNP, Labour, Greens and Scottish Socialists in the 2016 Holyrood elections, the Tories up here might be able to pick up a few divided constituencies since UKIP are a bit of a non-entity up here.
I didn't hear much about LBTT reform, although I did miss a 5-10 minute bit of the debate near the start, so it could have come up. A lot of the conversation seemed restricted to devolution/referendum and party issues though, with not enough on actual policy. Took towards the end until health really came up and was discussed properly, for example.
As for the next referendum discussion, it's a tricky one. Sturgeon's in a difficult position with it. On one hand, a lot of the talk during the referendum painted this as a once in a generation thing. The SNP perhaps underestimated how much momentum they'd receive post-referendum though, and how much talk of independence would remain at the forefront. While she'd probably be seen as going back on her word if she pushed for a referendum in the 2016 election, she could also make the point that the SNP is by far and away the most popular party here. She also made the point that EU elections where Britain left, but Scotland voted not to could potentially garner momentum for another vote. While I don't think we should have another vote for a while, some unionists don't seem to realise that Yes voters not getting their desired result doesn't mean they're not allowed to still have that view.
Volatility in the oil market doesn't help the SNP, although Sturgeon's main argument is that our economy isn't completely based on oil, and that we'd be in just a well of position as the rest of the UK even if you exclude oil. While that's perhaps a bit too far since oil would've been a big part of our economy, she does have a point nevertheless that Scotland has more than oil.
Will be interesting to see what happens though come May.
I agree - I would also love to see any changes also incorporating a compulsion to vote (as in Australia where there is a small fine if you don't) and an increase in ways to make voting easier - internet - more postal etc)
The one thing that I really think would make a huge difference along with the compulsion plus a PR type system so people feel their vote actually can count rather than having to vote tactically is an option for NONE OF THE ABOVE.
Trust me if suddenly 25% of people vote for none of the above and that is potentially the largest (or at least one of the largest) block of votes out there you will suddenly see parties thinking they have to listen to people and engage with them by either getting over their policies better or more likely actually designing policies to engage those disenfranchised by the current system.
I think it would potentially drive the system into the 21st century - and I dont think any fine would need to be massive - just a little nudge to say its your civic duty to vote and if you want to vote none of the above because you dont care then thats an option as well - say a £25 fine either collected via tax or through your benefits so it would only potentially be say 50p a week for a year - not enough to be puniative but perhaps enough to nudge people into sending their ballot back or using a voting app / website they could set up.
Tories really are in full on Lynton-pushed flail around mode right now. Their entire campaign is Ed Miliband.
Yeah I just saw the word cloud of the document that is sent around to the Conservative members on what to say when interviewed etc. The word Miliband was mentioned in it like 99 times compared to 10 for Cameron.
The Indie article is somewhat over-egged. That or we missed the million lawsuits when minimum wage was introduced or financial services suing over increased regulation etc...
Its only a proposed trade agreement at the moment, and if you saw the paragraph in the article after the one I quoted it has already started in some places.
I also remember seeing that Monsanto lobbied the US government to cut aid to El Salvador when they refused to used their GMOs a while ago so there's a definite precedent for it
Anyone following the coverage on five thirty eight?
http://fivethirtyeight.com/uk-election-2015/
Current prediction is a Tory minority...that is very incongruous with the poll in this thread.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/uk-election-2015/
Current prediction is a Tory minority...that is very incongruous with the poll in this thread.
Old people always vote Tory, not many of them on the internet though.
@bishblaize @sun_tzu
I came across this BBC article a little earlier on, it includes a tool which extrapolates what the 2010 election would have looked like using various voting systems.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8644480.stm
In an unrelated matter, i was watching a report about GP services in which it was stated that the public have made 70 million more visits to the doctor since 2010. I don't think any of the parties' health policies could have absorbed such an increase without difficulty. Some pages back it was suggested that people pay a nominal fee when attending a doctor's surgery, i wonder if we might soon have no choice but to do so.
I came across this BBC article a little earlier on, it includes a tool which extrapolates what the 2010 election would have looked like using various voting systems.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8644480.stm
In an unrelated matter, i was watching a report about GP services in which it was stated that the public have made 70 million more visits to the doctor since 2010. I don't think any of the parties' health policies could have absorbed such an increase without difficulty. Some pages back it was suggested that people pay a nominal fee when attending a doctor's surgery, i wonder if we might soon have no choice but to do so.
By Tory minority do you mean they'll have the most seats of any party? If so, that's the general prediction all around, but that there will be too few seats for right-leaning parties to form a government. That's an awesome link though as I didn't realise 538 were covering it and it looks like they've got some pretty detailed stuff on there, cheers for posting.
It may be proposed, but those clauses are old, is what I was getting at. It seems ridiculous that governments would open themselves up to a whole bunch of avoidable liabilities.
Taking any action that reduces the chances of early intervention is a false economy.
Those alternative voting systems certainly all look like a recipe for a near endless run of coalitions.
The GP figure is staggering- I guess it needs adjusting for population growth, but agree that no-one would have been geared up for that in reality.
They seem to be getting very close to the ridiculous American slur campaigns. Latest one I've just read is that Putin would love Ed Milliband to be in charge.
I'd say it'll backfire on them but the Tory crowd will lap it up, the left ridicule it and the undecided already think everyone's a dickhead anyway.
Yep I'd be surprised if these campaigns will make any difference. If anything the torries will try and go overboard to lure some UKIP voters.
There's just been a spate of pretty good polls for Labour, the most eyebrow-raising result being that Miliband's approval has gone above Cameron's in the latest Mirror/Survation poll More than likely noise rather than signal, but entertaining for the moment nonetheless.
More than likely noise rather than signal, but entertaining for the moment nonetheless.Good reason for the English to vote to leave the EU there.
Anyone watching the Green Party political broadcast on BBC? My god it's bizarre.
What the feck was that? I want to like the Green Party but they're painful.
It's like watching a UK entry at Eurovision, you feel terribly awkward and know that other contestants have better songs. Or drums, pyrotechnics, and flowing skirts.
I particularly liked the key change.
Hahahaha! Awesome. The Farage actor him looks a fair bit on him, poor effort with Ed, far too good looking.
Caroline Lucas was on Newsnight last week complaining about negative campaigning
I've decided to go through with boosting Labour's national vote anyway. By one.
I've decided to go through with boosting Labour's national vote anyway. By one.
Well, credit where it's due. The Green Party obviously has the best drugs.
Lawl
Not a good day for CCHQ.
Not a good day for CCHQ.
Spain and Greece? (disregarding the examples of governements actually getting sued and losing in the international investor courtss)
The old 'don't use the NHS as a political football during the election campaign' political football during the election campaign.See polls. Told you Jippy that I was being objective, Crosby doesn't understand the Brit psyche. All this playing the man not the ball is seen as not really fair-play, a bit nasty party.
If you play this dirty this early in the campaign it says more about your character than is does your opponents. I don't know if the tactic will work but I hope for everyone's sake it doesn't. Such a blatant personal attack by Cameron the nasty party is truly back.
Louise Mensch is hot.
Can't see how anyone can have been impressed by the Miliband attacks today, don't really get who the Conservatives think is going to be converted by that line. Anyone that believes running against his brother makes Miliband untrustworthy will have held that opinion throughout. It's hardly a revelation and even those who think ill of him for it may struggle to follow the 'link' to coalition deals and Trident policy.