The fact there'll always be a wealth gap (which there will) doesn't mean you might as well let (or even help) it get bigger. A shift to the left wont suddenly mean anarchy either. In fact, if anything, the worse the situation gets, the more likelihood of an actual revolt there is (the London riots were larely the result of this situation, for example) and the less safe you and your kids will be from a marauding mob of kids after shoes and flatscreens. Then we'll see how much energy you can suddenly muster.
UK General Election 2015 | Conservatives win with an overall majority
- Thread starter langster
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I envy the synthetic ability of most of you.
Just to be clear, if I was still in England I'd be voting Labour. Either them or the Greens, depending on the candidate (not that my vote would make any difference, as I was living in a Tory stronghold)
My politics have always been to the left and probably always will be. I want to live in a society which does its best to reduce inequality. I just find some of the more extreme rhetoric hard to agree with.
We'd be even better in Portugese.
I know. I'm in argument mode!
But is taxing people a bit more that extreme? If crime and safety is the main issue (which is usually is once people have kids - with good reason) wouldn't a police force better paid out of swelling public coffers be the best way of ensuring that? It's not business leaders who are patroling the streets at night. Not to mention a populace less inclined to feel so helpless they turn to it.
The right wing attitude to crime is just to punish people more. It solves nothing in the long run. The idea they're "better" on that side of governance is largely a short term illusion IMO.
Thanks but it's not a language problem. I'm prone to wall texts in Portuguese as well
Economically the Tories would best serve my interests but I can't see myself voting anything other than Labour.
I did an online test on The Telegraph website that identified me as a Green from my answers. I wouldn't ever vote for them, however. I don't believe that they have the pragmatic competence to run this country. Would you vote for them if they had any realistic chance of getting in power?
There's more than one way to swell public coffers, though. I'm all in favour of progressive taxation playing its part. I'm also in favour of making the public sector considerably more efficient than it has been. I'd be far less reluctant to pay more tax if someone could convince me that whoever ends up spending my hard-earned would be sensible and prudent.
We've already seen what happens when an economic upswing bloats the government's coffers and there was an awful lot of money pumped into the public sector that was not spent wisely. Fixing that should be just as much a priority as generating tax revenue. It bothers me that it seems to take parties from opposite ends of the political spectrum to priorities these two (what should be complementary) issues. Which is where I get all apathetic, eat a biscuit and think, feck 'em all anyway.
If I was going with whacky ideas which might make lifer better for everyone, I quite like idea of decentralising power and giving it back to the community. In theory. No idea how that would work in practice. Especially when it comes to issues that affect more than a single community at time. Plus, can you imagine the amount of frigging politicians we'd have?
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This election is a really annoying one in truth. I sort of wish we could skip ahead one and miss a go. We've had a whole movement to get people more interested in politics recently, and it's built up to possibly the least inspiring election in decades. Everyone's a dickhead. Essentially we should all be voting for our local MPs anyway. Though I can't work out whether mine is Chuka or Kate Hoey tbf. I seem to be on the border between both of them.
Lambeth's a pretty safe Labour seat anyway, so the only question is whether I vote for the Greens as a tactical play. Which seems a bit dodgy and against the principle of voting to me. But I might do it anyway.
Lambeth's a pretty safe Labour seat anyway, so the only question is whether I vote for the Greens as a tactical play. Which seems a bit dodgy and against the principle of voting to me. But I might do it anyway.
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They formed a coalition government in Ireland about 7 years ago. It didn't end well.
Absolutely not. I enjoy spending my money, my cozy home and my holidays but I also believe that I am not immune to the problems the society around me faces. We can all stick our head in the sand like an ostrich and claim that what I can't see doesn't hurt me but sooner or later we'll all collectively pay for it i none way or another.
People feeding an addiction have been failed by one of the chains in the system that holds the whole society together, be that education, healthcare or even welfare therefore the notion still applies.
Far closer than that actually, the great depression was only in the 30's.
However extreme the cases may be, what I've said does happen and the further inequality rises the more likely they will get.
I feel like that this is extremely important. Even though I am a Labour supporter and an advocate of their policies I sadly have to report that I have voted and likely will vote Conservative, because the current MP has helped me and others I know personally on more than one occasion.
I don't support his parties policies but I do support him as an MP.
Its a frustrating situation to be in and maybe that's why I'm expressing myself more than I usually would in this particular debate
Yep, absolutely no personal responsibility on the individual's part.
I vote on ideological principle rather than for the relatively marginal personal gains I might receive from party x or y.
There's clearly some responsibility but a society with fewer people on the breadline will have fewer addicts. Drug addiction is generally fuelled a desire to escape the daily grind of being poor and/or the realisation that you're much more likely to earn a decent living in a sink estate by peddling crank than you are by trying to get a McJob.
I feel like that this is extremely important. Even though I am a Labour supporter and an advocate of their policies I sadly have to report that I have voted and likely will vote Conservative, because the current MP has helped me and others I know personally on more than one occasion.
I don't support his parties policies but I do support him as an MP.
Its a frustrating situation to be in and maybe that's why I'm expressing myself more than I usually would in this particular debate
Yeah. It's why I'm torn voting tactically. It's basically ignoring a huge part of politics, not to mention 90% of the MPs actually running.
This where @Mockney makes me feel ancient by pointing out that no right-minded drug dealer has used the phrase "peddling crank" since the late 80s...
It's "shotting" now. 
Of course there is personal responsibility but that can easily be negated by failures in the system as I have mentioned in a lot of cases. Addicts, be that alcohol, drugs or even smokers are not so by choice and given the chance in hindsight they would probably choose to never have touched the stuff. I say that from personal experience with smoking. It was extremely difficult to quit and even though I stopped smoking a pack a day 4 years ago I do have the odd fag on rare occasions.
This seems like fairly good summary of where the election is going...
http://www.spectator.co.uk/features...the-new-class-war-it-even-works-for-miliband/
http://www.spectator.co.uk/features...the-new-class-war-it-even-works-for-miliband/
Yeah. Take two kids, one born into wealth in the home counties, one born on a council estate in Manchester. Give one a home filled with educated high achievers to look up to, the other a family who achieved nothing in their lives. Send one to Eton, the other to a failing comprehensive. Send one to Oxbridge, give the other a part time job in Sainsburys. Watch which of them lands a big job in the city on a six figure salary aged 22, and which tries to add some thrill to their moribund life by peddling and smoking crack. Then tell me with a straight face that they each ended up where they did simply because one took responsibility for their life and the other didn't.
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The probability of cuts in every department save for Health and Education, increasing the tax burden of middle earners, i highly doubt if this would pass muster as populist come the Autumn.
Just saw the Prime Minister have the gall to lie at an event in Leeds and say he "wasn't invited" to the debate tonight. You were and you outright rejected the chance you condom-headed gimp.I feel like that this is extremely important. Even though I am a Labour supporter and an advocate of their policies I sadly have to report that I have voted and likely will vote Conservative, because the current MP has helped me and others I know personally on more than one occasion.
I don't support his parties policies but I do support him as an MP.
Its a frustrating situation to be in and maybe that's why I'm expressing myself more than I usually would in this particular debate
I feel like the problem is that party whips will often hold back individual MP's who would otherwise be capable of making some change. They're largely forced to conform to whatever the party line is at that time, or face having little influence.
While ostensibly true, there are other power bases in parliament like the PLP and the 1922 committee. Plus these days select committees are increasingly powerful so that offers another way to influence without having to completely toe the line.
I feel like you're trying to tell me exactly what I'm saying? Did you mean to quote Jippy's post?
I feel like you're trying to tell me exactly what I'm saying? Did you mean to quote Jippy's post?
Was agreeing with you.
Article about the awful turnout in Manchester Central constituency.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics...-registration-manchester-westmorland-lonsdale
http://www.theguardian.com/politics...-registration-manchester-westmorland-lonsdale
Jesus, to put Miliband's Labour anywhere near the likes of Podemos and Syriza is absurd. The mansion tax is about as radical as it gets, and that was originally thought up by the centrist Lib Dems for 2010. The right seem to need to semi blame the public for the fact that Miliband could be PM in a few weeks, having tried their best to assassinate his character (and that of his dead father's) over the past five years, rather than contemplate that the post-Thatcher consensus of free markets being the greatest force for good is starting to wither away, as Attlee's did in the 70s. There is anger, yes, but it's primarily around a sense of unfairness that many feel to permeate the system. The Tories used this sense to cut into welfare spending - highlighting the unfairness of people being paid not to work when they were capable of it. It didn't matter to them that these cases were a very small minority and it wouldn't raise much money, it was about people not taking the piss with the system. They then used that narrowly defined characterisation to justify massive wide-ranging cuts to the system as a whole that did save a lot of money. But when Labour try to reclaim back from the wealthiest in the forms of property taxes, raises in income tax and the like, they're decried essentially as commie bastards or "leftist populists" engaging in class warfare. It's bollocks, they're a centre-left party still heavily committed to capitalism, they'd just like to get a bit more from the richest folk than has been the case of late. The Tories haven't won a majority since 1992, maybe the public aren't as right-wing as they think they are any longer?
No surprise given the make up of Manchester central really.
Out of interest is anyone planning to pull an all nighter on election night?
If I can swap a work day, indeed I am.
I have Thursday-Sunday off that week so I might do.
I might.
To be an active participant in elections was something i had long waited for, instead of walking pat the polling station opposite the church i'd actually be going in. I have little sympathy for the student representative in the piece, a lack of understanding in 2010 needn't result in laziness now.
If at all possible.
No doubt the counters in Sunderland will see that their result is one of the first to be declared.
Usually do, dont know why. Hopefully don't have any important meetings in the morning
Richard Desmond as donated 1.3mil pounds to UKIP . So we know who The Express are backing.
One of their MEPs was an editor there I think, they've had a close link for a while.