General Election 2015

[beorhthelm]

...It will be interesting to see how George Osborne's experiment of devolving Health in Greater Manchester goes. It might be a model that works. "Postcode lottery", people will scream if such changes were brought in on a wider scale.

its most interesting how its happened with such a low profile. its not entirely experimental though, Scottish and Welsh have had devolved NHS for some time, which has lead to re-allocation of funds according to their perceived priorities. we already have scenarios where treatments available in England are not available in Wales and so on. (and very interesting claims by SNP during the inde vote of what they'd do, when they are already in control of NHS Scotland.)

 

[Sunnymead]

That is exactly right. When the NHS was founded hospitals did little more than take out you appendix or deliver your baby. If your kidneys, liver or heart packed up - you died. If you got cancer - you died. Diseases like AIDS (and all the expensive treatments) didn't even exist. Plus there was full employment and most people worked in tough jobs and promptly keeled over a few years into retirement and probably didn't even get back in care and pensions what they'd paid in via NI. Yet even then the original model couldn't be sustained and amid a lot of recriminations prescription charges were bought in.

It needs someone with a bit of vision to plan where we go in the next 50 years.Using it as a political football doesn't help.

This.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Totally correct in your view that the NHS should be de politicised, it serves no one any good for it to be used in a national debate when the difference in the political perspective is about giving or with holding finance from it. It will definately need to change and I feel that a seperate levy should be made on individuals and business to pay for it. Instead of our NI money being spread over many areas there needs to be a direct conduit from tax payer to the NHS, It is the envy of most of the world but it has to be paid for and if there was more transparency for the payments then we could see that this service was adequately funded. But keep the politicians away from it!!!!!

I've been saying this about education for decades now. Let education types figure out the best approach....leave the government to raise the cash to pay for it.

 

[Triggaaar]

That, my friend, is a ****ing good question.

Thank you. I took my time over it and had it tweaked by my PR team. It was worth the effort I think, I'm very happy with the result.

 

[Titanic]

I've been saying this about education for decades now. Let education types figure out the best approach....leave the government to raise the cash to pay for it.

That sounds like privatisation? Like the railways??

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

That sounds like privatisation? Like the railways??

No, an independent arms-length body like some other countries have.

 

[Titanic]

No, an independent arms-length body like some other countries have.

Do we have an example of one of these in the UK?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Do we have an example of one of these in the UK?

I guess the judiciary is possibly an example. It's certainly a body which is staunchly and proudly independent of government meddling. There are educational examples in Europe though.

 

[Camicus]

I have just been informed by a green party official that they are the political wing of the ALF

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

http://gu.com/p/46fbd

Tories draw level but is it enough?

 

[knocky1]

I have just been informed by a green party official that they are the political wing of the ALF

Garnett?

I am impressed with the Greens campaign in West Hove. They managed to deliver their Leader style paper just in time for it to be collected by this mornings recycling pick up.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

http://gu.com/p/46fbd

Tories draw level but is it enough?

Er is 13 ahead level? (& counting)

 

[Machiavelli]

At least one NSC member contributed to this:

https://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/PSA GE Election Predictions Report.pdf

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

http://gu.com/p/46fbd

Tories draw level but is it enough?

That poll projection has UKIP with 4 seats , which are already in the bag but there are another 6 seats where they have a small lead or are neck and neck with the incumbent party (5 CON , 1 LAB)

 

[simmo]

At least one NSC member contributed to this:

https://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/PSA GE Election Predictions Report.pdf

Interesting...I would sell Labour though and buy SNP based on those projections.

 

[Simster]

That poll projection has UKIP with 4 seats , which are already in the bag but there are another 6 seats where they have a small lead or are neck and neck with the incumbent party (5 CON , 1 LAB)

We had a guest speaker at work: Joe Twyman Head of Political and Social Research (EMEA) and founding director of YouGov give a presentation to our staff on the UK General Election only yesterday. He confidently predicts between 3 and 5 seats for UKIP. He might be wrong but it does suggest those 4 seats are pretty far from "in the bag".

 

[Westdene Seagull]

At least one NSC member contributed to this:

https://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/PSA GE Election Predictions Report.pdf

Interesting so it'll be a bun fight between Labour forming a coalition with the SNP and the Tories and Lib Dems trying to form one if those figures are correct.

 

[Machiavelli]

Interesting...I would sell Labour though and buy SNP based on those projections.

Think I put SNP on 40, so we're not too far apart.

 

[Machiavelli]

Interesting so it'll be a bun fight between Labour forming a coalition with the SNP and the Tories and Lib Dems trying to form one if those figures are correct.

Have a look at that analysis by Patrick Wintour that HT sent around. Its basic thesis is that not only will no single party gain overall control but, on current projections, the arithmetic will rule out two party coalitions (apart from the unlikely grand coalition). That should make the days following May 8 interesting. If Wintour is right, I'd favour either a minority Tory or Labour admin or, perhaps more likely, Lab-Lib Dem-SNP coalition. But we're really talking about what happens in about 50 (?) marginal seats.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Poor old Miliband, seems to have all the luck of Neil Kinnock as a leader. This from the BBC website...

On Tuesday evening - in an apparent reference to an interview Ed Miliband's wife Justine had given to the BBC - Clarkson tweeted: "Sorry Ed. It seems I knocked your 'I'm a human' piece down the news agenda."