General Election 2015

[Westdene Seagull]

UKIP would turn the country into a 1930's theme park but they will be a memory by the end of this year.
Tories will have the poor starving and living in slums while they refuse to build housing for the sole purpose of inflating the price of their own property portfolios and create a Morlock underclass.
Labour will lie and cheat but people will be better off and they will give dignity back to the people.
Vote labour.

Average number of houses built under the Tory 1979 - 1997 rule = 205,000 a year
Average number of houses built under the Labour 1997 - 2010 rule = 202,000 a year

So I'm afraid you're going to be sorely disappointed if you think Labour will build more ..... in fact historically they build less.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Only just spotted this and I can only assume you must have been on the Blue Nun a little early on this day

An interesting thumbs down [MENTION=1483]London Irish[/MENTION] - care to elaborate ?

 

[DumLum]

Bad news for you Torys in the news tomorrow. Hospitals unable to cope and declaring major incidents.

 

[Guerrero]

Unless you are incredibly rich,who in their right mind could vote Tory?
We're all in this together....
NO!
We non millionaires are all in it together,struggling to maintain a decent lifestyle while the top couple of per cent Lord it over us.
There is a bigger and bigger gap now between the haves and the have nots.
It will never change under the Tories.

 

[drew]

CMD was on Andrew Marr Show on Sunday (cue the usual 'typical left wing BBC posts) and was challenged about the massive reduction in meals on wheels services from local councils and how that correlates with being compassionate. His response was something along the lines of 'there are other ways of being compassionate like getting the economy moving'. So, a few people will starve but in the long run, that's not important!!!

 

[Guerrero]

Of course when you are living n a bus shelter,freezing cold and starving hungry,your first thought is that the country needs to get the economy moving.

Real world?

 

[jimhigham]

Interesting projection based on current polling in tonight's Newsnight.

Labour would be the largest party both with only eight more seats than the Tories. The LibDems would have their seats halved, UKIP would only gain one more seat and the Greens hold steady. SNP would get a big boost. Net result: hung parliament with a three party coalition required to govern.

 

[melias shoes]

Labour in power is like Harry Redknapp as manager. He may make things seems like they are really good for a while and then you'll realise he has spunked all your cash and you end up in league 2 leaving a mess for someone sensible to sort out.

Labour cannot be trusted to run the country financially and have consistently failed

 

[melias shoes]

Interesting projection based on current polling in tonight's Newsnight.

Labour would be the largest party both with only eight more seats than the Tories. The LibDems would have their seats halved, UKIP would only gain one more seat and the Greens hold steady. SNP would get a big boost. Net result: hung parliament with a three party coalition required to govern.

If this was the outcome then we are heading towards a nightmare of which the Italians are use to. 3 parties couldn't possibly govern/agree. Constant squabbling and posturing would be the case.

 

[Deleted member 22389]

I just don't understand why people are prepared to vote for Labour again after what they did last time, I really don't. Polititicans and the main parties are so bloody predicatable these days, it's why we have the endless debates on NSC. I can see it now, the fanfair as Prime Minister Millipede rolls up to No10 in the Jaguar. A speech specially prepared about outside No10 with Millipede letting everyone know how he loves our country, how he is going to make us great again, how we are all now "One Nation". Three months later, nothing would have changed, and the main debates around immigration and the EU will be shoved under the carpet once again. Let Labour do that, because I have a feeling people will become so fed up they will vote for change, not for the Tories, but parties like UKIP and others.

 

[Hastings gull]

CMD was on Andrew Marr Show on Sunday (cue the usual 'typical left wing BBC posts) and was challenged about the massive reduction in meals on wheels services from local councils and how that correlates with being compassionate. His response was something along the lines of 'there are other ways of being compassionate like getting the economy moving'. So, a few people will starve but in the long run, that's not important!!!

Whilst it is true that vulnerable people, alongside others less vulnerable, may fare less well when cuts are made, I think it is unfairly simplistic to make such a sweeping comparison. Politicians in central government do have to take some tough decisions and do not control how councils choose to allocate their cash. Of course, times are hard and it is very regrettable if such cuts are made. I watched a huge crane yesterday taking down Xmas decorations in town and by coincidence wondered how much that hire cost. I am not saying that we should not indulge in a bit of Xmas cheer, but one could argue that the money might have been spent on the vulnerable. Obviously the debate suited you with your simplistic conclusion; we could easily say just as sweepingly that if councils wasted less, then there would indeed be cash for the needy.

 

[Captain Sensible]

I heard Theresa May say that you can't teach kids without a successful economy.
I mean yeah, if you have regression for 20 years then that might affect schools but to make out that you need above a 2% growing economy to teach kids properly, is utter shit.
It's seems like the Tories are just screaming 'economy' at everything. The more they do, the more I believe they will screw it up with cuts that are too harsh. The big cutting from the Tories hasn't even started yet!
Lib dems and greens are a joke, ukip are fascists.
So labour seems the only option for me. I am starting to think maybe Ed will actually do some of the things he promises. Even if he only does a 5th of those things its better than nothing from our current government.
Funny thing is the Tories bang on about the economy and yet are willing to risk it all by threatening to pull out if the EU. Idiotic.
On the otherhand i do wince everytime I see Ed balls. I think I might just have to entirely forget about that moron. Then again, Balls is just stupid, whereas Osborne is a c@#*

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Interesting projection based on current polling in tonight's Newsnight.

Labour would be the largest party both with only eight more seats than the Tories. The LibDems would have their seats halved, UKIP would only gain one more seat and the Greens hold steady. SNP would get a big boost. Net result: hung parliament with a three party coalition required to govern.

Not good enough for the Bacon sarnie munchers. Votes for the incumbent government ALWAYS go up as the Election date nears. With stories like the South East Mansion Tax Paying for a 1,000 nurses in another country (SCOTLAND) in the papers today & a nice budget to come Labour will not be the largest party

 

[Bozza]

So, let me get this right. For the first couple of years or so of this government, the economic-guessers on the left were telling anyone who would listen that the coalition were cutting too far, too fast which would ruin any hopes of economic recovery.

Now, faced with a economy that is recovering better than most across the globe, they seem to be saying that:

1. the Tories/coalition didn't cut enough, debt is still too high.
2. the Tories will cut too far if they are form part of a government next time round.

It's like watching a group of blindfolded 4-year-olds trying to pin a tail on a donkey.

 

[Plastic-Fantastic]

So, let me get this right. For the first couple of years or so of this government, the economic-guessers on the left were telling anyone who would listen that the coalition were cutting too far, too fast which would ruin any hopes of economic recovery.

Now, faced with a economy that is recovering better than most across the globe, they seem to be saying that:

1. the Tories/coalition didn't cut enough, debt is still too high.
2. the Tories will cut too far if they are form part of a government next time round.

It's like watching a group of blindfolded 4-year-olds trying to pin a tail on a donkey.

Agreed

 

[Machiavelli]

So, let me get this right. For the first couple of years or so of this government, the economic-guessers on the left were telling anyone who would listen that the coalition were cutting too far, too fast which would ruin any hopes of economic recovery.

Now, faced with a economy that is recovering better than most across the globe, they seem to be saying that:

1. the Tories/coalition didn't cut enough, debt is still too high.
2. the Tories will cut too far if they are form part of a government next time round.

It's like watching a group of blindfolded 4-year-olds trying to pin a tail on a donkey.

It's you, the party you will vote for, and the media that cheerlead them that are engaged in economic guesswork. So, let's try to substantiate such a returned 'compliment':
1, the economy was growing when the Coalition took over. Such growth was precarious, so needed support...
2, ... yet the Coalition proceeded with its shrink-the-state agenda, which also led to negative to no growth for the first THREE years of the parliament (this, incidentally, is a disastrous record)
3, those countries that pursued a more activist agenda grew over that period (Germany, the US), and are now growing far faster than the UK currently is (the US)
4, all economies recover after a recession/depression at some point; the question is far more related to how prolonged the recession/depression is, and how sustainable is the rebalancing of the economy on its road to recovery. The record of the incumbent government, against all historical standards, is appalling.
5, the Tories/Coalition claimed that they'd get rid of the deficit in this parliament. They've failed in this. In other words, they've failed on their own terms. How this produces relentless crowing is beyond me.
6, the Tory plans for the next government has left an awful lot of commentators to question their ability to achieve their proposed cuts, and what kind of condition it will leave the country in.
7, and more importantly, because it doesn't involve a contemporary Tory-Labour debate, the past 30 to 40 years of neoliberalism has led to both lower growth and increasing inequality, when compared to the previous post-war consensus period. The downturns were brief and not sharp too, unlike with the current model...
8, ... and that's before we factor in what we now know as the key challenges of the 21st century: climate change and other environmental issues, such as biodiversity loss.

 

[Bozza]

It's you, the party you will vote for

I disregarded everything you wrote after making a wild and inaccurate guess about who I will vote for. Thanks anyway though.

 

[jimhigham]

Not good enough for the Bacon sarnie munchers. Votes for the incumbent government ALWAYS go up as the Election date nears. With stories like the South East Mansion Tax Paying for a 1,000 nurses in another country (SCOTLAND) in the papers today & a nice budget to come Labour will not be the largest party

It was stated that the projection was factoring in the likely increase in the Tory vote share between now and then. It was also noted that the Tories would get the largest share of the vote but slightly less seats, which does raise questions about the inherent fairness of the constituency boundaries.

 

[Surf's Up]

It was stated that the projection was factoring in the likely increase in the Tory vote share between now and then. It was also noted that the Tories would get the largest share of the vote but slightly less seats, which does raise questions about the inherent fairness of the constituency boundaries.

Not the old "constituency boundaries" chestnut again!!!!

 

[Hastings gull]

Unless you are incredibly rich,who in their right mind could vote Tory?
We're all in this together....
NO!
We non millionaires are all in it together,struggling to maintain a decent lifestyle while the top couple of per cent Lord it over us.
There is a bigger and bigger gap now between the haves and the have nots.
It will never change under the Tories.

Why do you have to be so simplistic? Life is never that simple, as I am sure that deep down you know. Are you really struggling to maintain a decent lifestyle, as you put it? Somehow, I doubt that. And in any case out interpretation of what constitutes a decent lifestyle is always going to be different. You are right in that there is inequality, and sadly, there always will be, given human nature. This is hardly a new phenomenon. Of course that is not to say that the obscene differences are acceptable, I realise. Millions of non millionaires will vote for the present government, because they believe in the virtues of working for themselves and their families, thus creating the wealth that can be spent to help those less fortunate, and bettering themselves financially in the process. These are the typical conservative voters, not your billionaires etc, so your assertion that they are not "in their right mind" is absurd. You might not like the fact that honest hard-working folk will vote Tory but please don't ascribe your prejudices to others.