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Post by lastgoodbye on May 8, 2010 18:28:42 GMT
Yeah, he's talking about councillers rather than their MP. This is something which always get's me... like, most people don't bother to vote for local elections, but it's actually the councillers who have the most control over an area/constituency issues, not an MP.
Overall I think the local usefulness of an MP is quite limited, since all they tend to do is pass on concerns to the council (at best), but I think I'm a bit confused over it all, which stems from the unusual makeup of my constituency, because it has one MP and one council, and most areas are more mixed? Argh, I don't know.
In other news, I'm writing a letter to David Cameron. That's right guys, I'm being hopeful. Despite the find that I (and many other people) find him smarmy and irritating, I don't think he's a bad person overall. Let's be positive and shit.
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Post by Lemon Bloody Cola on May 8, 2010 20:13:37 GMT
^ Nice to hear Florence.
I think it would be foolish to not be at least a little apprehensive about what a Tory government might hold it's possible it'll be disastrous, specifically for the vulnerable and marginalised but also there's a very real possibility that it won't really make a huge amount of difference. A lot of the Tories "nasty" policies on say welfare are exactly the same as Labour's; forcing those out of work for two years into unpaid "work for the dole" (Labour were going to do that anyway), kicking more people off incapacity benefit (ditto). But as there's a lot more "boo hiss I PAY MY TAXES, BURN THE SCROUNGERS!!" Mail reader types among perspective Tory voters than Labour ones, so the Tory campaign has highlighted those aspects of their policy more. Also, as the comments on the Hari article pointed out, Labour councils have also made the kind of harsh service cuts discussed in some boroughs.
Also there's some issues on which I actually agree with the Tories over Labour. For example, Conservatives want to scrap the idea of ID cards, and take innocent people's DNA out of the databases, to reform and simplify some bureaucratic nightmares such as CRB checks. I'm sad to say that going on face value when it comes to civil liberties Labour are dead last out of the three parties. Another good idea is their child premium encouraging the best schools to take on more pupils from the poorest backgrounds.
Whilst it's hard not to cynically view the Big Society as a calculated smokescreen to sugar the pill of making savage cuts to the vulnerable (to pay for tax cuts for the richest of course) if you take that on face value it's kind of interesting to see how it will/would work out. I think people have misunderstood the policy a little.. as set out in their manifesto the idea isn't to have a "DIY state" based on the government pissing off and hoping people step in and volunteer to provide services (though volunteering is GREAT and any government to sincerely promote it gets my thumbs up) but a controlled/gradual privatisation of some services. Maybe that'll be Cameron's legacy as Thatcher's was the privatisation of industry.
As someone with a hidden disability who struggles with employment and is thus welfare dependant, I'm obviously studying the polices likely to effect me quite carefully. Whilst privatisation of anything can lead to things becoming less productive/value for money (see trains) and I'm very weary of it in this specific case I do think the idea of only delivering government funding to private and not-for-profit providers of employment support based on not only successfully finding people like me work but work that lasts at least a year is a pretty sensitive policy.. stop organisations slapping us in inappropriate jobs we'll lose in a month or two and picking up the check and makes sure support is consistent.
As for Cameron, himself. I don't really care for him on a personal level. I think there's two kinds of politicians, convictionists and careerists and I think "Cam" is deffo in the latter category much like Tony Blair. Though I have more personal respect for conviction politicians.. they can be so so SO much more dangerous/extreme, Thatcher for example was the very definition of one. There's some in the Tory party who feel he's not nearly Conservative enough (a Tory blogger I read described him as "blue Liberal Democrat.. not a real Tory!" a while back! lol) and others feels he's much more Conservative than he lets on.
While I find most Cameron bashing pretty amusing, to be honest I don't like it when people say he used his deaseaed son to further his ends. The british electorate are not a sentimental lot (they voted Winston Churchill out on a landslide.. in 1945, nuff said) and besides if they were surely Gordon also losing a child would balance the scales anyway? I say this because I actually find the things Cameron's said about his son quite touching. Little Ivan no doubt battled harder in his seven year of the harshest disability than Cameron has his whole career. I think he SHOULD talk about him, cos it can only encourage awareness of how awesome and heroic badly disabled kids are and that all life is worthwhile and never a curse, change attitudes?
...and concluding this staggeringly long winded attempt at positivity/ finding common ground, we might as well just admit it. Cameron has the best taste in music of any PM ever (assuming it doesn't take much..but) people who knew him during his teenage/uni years have confirmed that he was very much the indie kid decades before adopting that pose could have any PR value for him.
You see, some of this talk of Clegg "selling out" seems a bit childish to me, this isn't some punk band going on a major label or a footballer switching to a rival club. I think looking for dialogue, common ground and cooporation with "the enemy" is nothing to be ashamed of at all. Of course he should talk to David Cameron right now.
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Post by irrelevant on May 8, 2010 21:21:18 GMT
loveactually is all around.
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Post by lastgoodbye on May 8, 2010 21:51:36 GMT
Joeb ;D
But yes, after several weeks of anger, and several days of utter despair, I think the best we can do is see the positives.
A positive: The governor of the Bank of England has said that the austerity cuts implemented by the next government will be so severe that that party won't have a hope of being re-elected for a whole generation afterwards. Oops, guess that's you, Tories.
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Post by admin on May 9, 2010 8:26:29 GMT
...and concluding this staggeringly long winded attempt at positivity/ finding common ground, we might as well just admit it. Cameron has the best taste in music of any PM ever (assuming it doesn't take much..but) people who knew him during his teenage/uni years have confirmed that he was very much the indie kid decades before adopting that pose could have any PR value for him. Gordon Brown likes Lady Gaga. I saw him down the Polo Lounge in hotpants and high heels. I know it was him. Cheerio, Michael. xxx
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Post by Lemon Bloody Cola on May 9, 2010 9:03:11 GMT
Gaydon Brown is also a fan of Glee.
Sorry Morrissey still beats Gaga though.
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yellowbelly1945
Empress
An Elephant Hawkmoth from my garden, released alive
Posts: 157
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Post by yellowbelly1945 on May 9, 2010 11:36:21 GMT
I notice that Patrick's Southwark Council, which he thought was excellent, has gone from a LibDem/Con coalition to an overall Labour controlled council. where did you see this? i'm looking at the bbc election site and it says his area is LD hold. www.southwark.gov.uk/news/article/18/elections-6_may_2010 and www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/4529Florence, I'll give you my view of the article on Hammersmith Council later. Atm I'm doing very selfish things like tidying up my house ready for renovations - it is a total tip, and also I must get some exercise, so after breakfast, (i've only just got up) I'll be going for a long walk. My initial reaction to the article was that if it is true then it paints a bad picture of that council. I always like to research the other side of articles written by openly anti-Conservative writers, to see, for example in this case, what was the reason behind the closure of the shelters. If they were closed because the Council didn't want homeless people hanging around then it's bad, but it may be that they were closed because better accommodation was being offered, so once I've done my research I'll comment, and I've been too busy to do any research. On PR I have been in favour for more than 15 years. The Dutch system , the Open List system, seems to be the fairest to me. It means multimember constituencies but I don't see that as a drawback. The Closed List system was used in the European elections, where you can only vote for a political party. In the open list system you can vote for individual canidates. So if you are choosing, (say) 5 MPs then you vote for the 5 individuals of your choice. These may all come from the same political party, or may be any combination of up to 5 political parties / independents. (In addition The Dutch tend to use voting machines, which makes the count of votes much easier and more accurate.)
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Post by lastgoodbye on May 9, 2010 11:38:43 GMT
This group against a Tory/Liberal coilition on facebook just posted this:
"Labour 258 + Lib Dems 57 + National Socialists 9 + SDLP 3 + Greens 1 + Alliance Party 1 = 329"
Haha... Would these parties joining together be a viable option for our government? I don't know. I'd like to think it'd work.
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Post by lastgoodbye on May 9, 2010 11:44:59 GMT
On PR I have been in favour for more than 15 years. The Dutch system , the Open List system, seems to be the fairest to me. It means multimember constituencies but I don't see that as a drawback. The Closed List system was used in the European elections, where you can only vote for a political party. In the open list system you can vote for individual canidates. So if you are choosing, (say) 5 MPs then you vote for the 5 individuals of your choice. These may all come from the same political party, or may be any combination of up to 5 political parties / independents. (In addition The Dutch tend to use voting machines, which makes the count of votes much easier and more accurate.) It's funny, I was just revising different types of PR this morning, for my Government and Politics exam (in two weeks! ) and Single Tranferable Vote (the system which the Lib Dems and Labour want to get through, yeah?) is the only one which I still don't fully understand. But it might just be that my notes weren't very good. And also.. if you've been strongly in favour of PR voting reform over the last 15 years, then why have you been supporting the Tories, who are strongly against it, all that time? Yeah, I know, you support other aspects of their ideology. But still, it's just another thing which confuses me.
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Post by Lemon Bloody Cola on May 9, 2010 12:02:01 GMT
National Socialists?! Typo I take it? that'was the name of the Nazi party... though I'm assuming it means the nationalist parties combined (SNP and Plaid Cymru).
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Post by admin on May 9, 2010 12:58:53 GMT
Sorry Morrissey still beats Gaga though. There's only one way to settle this... FIGHT!! It's looking like a safer option than an election at this point, anyway. Cheerio, Michael. xxx
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Post by lastgoodbye on May 9, 2010 15:38:10 GMT
National Socialists?! Typo I take it? that'was the name of the Nazi party... though I'm assuming it means the nationalist parties combined (SNP and Plaid Cymru). Erm, the post just said "Nats" so I guessed they meant either the National Socialist parties or the Nationalist parties or whatever shortened, referring to SNP and Plaid Cymru. Same difference
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Post by admin on May 9, 2010 17:02:42 GMT
Same difference Cheerio, Michael. xxx
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Post by lastgoodbye on May 10, 2010 7:37:47 GMT
That's exactly what I meant.
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Post by Lemon Bloody Cola on May 10, 2010 8:27:30 GMT
I'm confused,
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Post by lastgoodbye on May 10, 2010 9:18:50 GMT
And you're supposed to be the pop culture master!
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Post by Lemon Bloody Cola on May 10, 2010 9:24:25 GMT
I draw the line at talent shows/light entertainment.
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yellowbelly1945
Empress
An Elephant Hawkmoth from my garden, released alive
Posts: 157
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Post by yellowbelly1945 on May 10, 2010 10:57:50 GMT
And also.. if you've been strongly in favour of PR voting reform over the last 15 years, then why have you been supporting the Tories, who are strongly against it, all that time? Yeah, I know, you support other aspects of their ideology. But still, it's just another thing which confuses me. I belive in an ideology, a Conservative ideology, as expounded by Conservatiove PMs and Conservative philosophers during the last 150 years. I don't like PR systems which give voters a second (or third choice), such as STV and AV (Labour's choice), but do think the Open List system is fair to everyone.
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Post by Lemon Bloody Cola on May 10, 2010 11:00:00 GMT
Who are some of your favourite Conservative politicians/philosophers of the past 150 years YB?
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Post by lastgoodbye on May 10, 2010 16:50:22 GMT
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