General Election 2015

[heathgate]

It's a poll, you idiot, not the Guardian's opinion!

Ha....but if it had been Telegraph or Mail, all sorts of indignation would have ensued. ......... IDIOT

 

[heathgate]

It is worrying that Salmond rang rings round the Tories and particularly Labour during the independence campaign - and now Sturgeon is doing the same thing in the election campaign.

Did he?.... how did that vote go for him then?

 

[Bozza]

What do the bookmakers have?

Having just checked: Tories still heavily odds-on to get the most seats.

I'm out of the political discussions. To be accused of trolling by two of those who, at time, have been as good as NSC's trolls-in-residence is a bit rich. You both use NSC a lot so banning you for the accusations you have made would give some satisfaction but I'll just leave you to it. For now, anyway.

As I've said many time, it's clearly ridiculously close and it's going to be fascinating how it all plays out and what government we have. Labour had a 10 point lead not very long ago, 7 points when this thread has started. This election shouldn't even be close, but it is.

I only butted back in because, for all the "I'd vote for Nicola Sturgeon" comments coming from some South of the border, I believe many don't even know she's not running for Westminster. Which is both amusing and interesting, I think.

 

[promenader]

Did he?.... how did that vote go for him then?

Not sure if you followed it but there were a lot of concessions made at the death in desperation - kick started SNP to massive increase in membership

 

[Hampster Gull]

there are sites that graph uk debt to GDP ratio
I can't remember where I read on average we have run debts 9 out of every 10 years
for recent historical perspective new labour ran 2 years of surplus
the same as under the three previous Tory governments
The historical high point of debt to GDP ratio was after the napoleonic wars
preceding the economic success of the uk in the rest of the 19 th century
to be expected as the private sector is on the other side of the balance sheet to the govts
I am glad you realise that our government cannot run out of money because
I despair of an election campaign dominated by the notion the government
must balance the books or else it will not be able to pay its bills.
To sensibly debate what would be the optimum level of government sector deficits
in the next parliament for the prosperity of uk citizens we first have to reject
this nonsense that governments can run out of their own money
that the Bank of England can run out of £'s

Its factually incorrect but when you can present something let me know.

You have ignored my post on WeimarGermany. I know it contradicts your point but still...

 

[Hampster Gull]

If Miliband somehow becomes PM, I just pray he has to rely heavily on the Jocks as that should ensure we don't have another Labour government for 20 years once the circus is over.

I thinkthis is just the wake up call to those outside of Scotland. It will boast Tory votes and i suspect will now result in a tory lead coalition. If its labour and snp i think you are right, labour will be massively damaged

 

[Hampster Gull]

Not that I care for Labour whatsoever, but if I did I would genuinely be very worried about entering any form of partnership with the SNP as I'm not sure they realise just how badly that is going to go down in England. And unfortunately I think a lot of people in England are sleepwalking towards it and won't realise what's happening until it's here and they are faced with five years of it.

The fascinating thing about this election is that it is one which is going to be decided by a tiny number of seats. I think the Blues will pick up the most seats, but the crucial thing is going to be exactly how many they get. If they get the 270-275 some polls have them down for then we are pretty much nailed on for a Labour-SNP arrangement. However, if Dave and George can somehow hit closer to 290 then they should be able to continue their excellent work.

It really could be a case of two or three on the final total making all the difference.

I think some in england will start realising that a vote for ukip is a vote for snp which will rduce support. That will have a big impact on the election. If not as you say the ramifcations will be huge, for the Um as one country and for Labour

 

[Hampster Gull]

Babe magnet strikes again

http://www.bbc.com/news/election-2015-england-32381063

Its ironic!

 

[Hampster Gull]

Populus was the first of the polls to be released today , I wonder why it wasn't posted by [MENTION=36]Titanic[/MENTION] ?

LAB moves to 2% lead with Populus
Lab 34 (nc) Con 32 (-1) LD 9 (nc) UKIP 15 (+1)

Poll of poll has tories in front, again

 

[melias shoes]

Milliband as favourite to be next PM

:

 

[pb21]

I do wonder why people vote tory, that is unless you are first very very rich and then primarily concerned with how much more rich you can be.

I realise there is more to them than this, but IMO, this is what they represent. They are a party in the pocket of the oligarchs with the prime concern of keeping the oligarchy happy, yet try to portray themselves as being for everyone.

I can appreciate how some of the tories secondary policies may be appealing to voters, yet struggle to understand why someone would still chose to vote for them. If you are hungry and someone offers you food laced with poison you wouldn't eat it.

I'm not saying any of the other parties are much, if any better, but the tories are the biggest wolf dressed in sheep's clothing going, and I'm not saying they go around acting in a conspiracy, it's just who and what they represent, that naturally leads to this. It surprises me that people, normal people, consider voting for the tories most likely to improve their life?!

 

[nicko31]

Amazing how the country has crucified the Lib Dems, not sure what people expected.

What would be left if the Tories had been left in charge on their own? £1m inheritance tax gift to the rich for starters...

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

UKIP are only predicted to pick up three or four seats, but as you say they could be the crucial three or four seats that tip the balance away from DC. Let's hope the public come to their senses on that one.

The most important thing is that the Lib Dem vote holds up enough to give them 30+ seats. If they get savaged and only have 20(ish) then the Blues will be running out of partners, but if they could get 30-35 we could possibly get another five years out of this coalition.

I think the concern for the Tories is how many of their voters will vote UKIP in the marginals, letting Labour in.

 

[Kevlar]

Its factually incorrect but when you can present something let me know.

You have ignored my post on WeimarGermany. I know it contradicts your point but still...

what's factually in correct?
that governments generally run structural deficits?
is it 8 years of deficits every 10?
I did read somewhere it was 9
I have answered your points about Weimar in another reply
I doubt if there has ever been greater fiscal space between
current deficit levels and potential damaging levels of inflation

 

[Kevlar]

what's factually in correct?
that governments generally run structural deficits?
is it 8 years of deficits every 10?
I did read somewhere it was 9
I have answered your points about Weimar in another reply
I doubt if there has ever been greater fiscal space between
current deficit levels and potential damaging levels of inflation

hamster I am having a quick google search for history of uk debt
at the moment the furthest I can go back on yearly deficits
is on UK National Debt | Economics Help
shows a graph back to 1956
in the last 58 years there have been 6 years of surplus
graphs going back longer showing total debt to GDP levels
show a peak in the 19 th century
I think it is fair to say that the uk government has run deficits
the vast majority of the time

 

[Stato]

Amazing how the country has crucified the Lib Dems, not sure what people expected.

What would be left if the Tories had been left in charge on their own? £1m inheritance tax gift to the rich for starters...

Had the tories been left in charge on their own, they would have been a minority administration. The opposition would have had the numbers to vote down idiotic legislation that they wanted to waste our money on for ideological reasons, like the NHS reforms, free schools, giving away schools to private organisations & everything else Gove did to our education system on a whim. The Lib Dems voted this all through whilst trying to claim credit for keeping the tories in line. They sold their souls for a shot at electoral reform, but were too stupid to check the receipt. Cameron sold them a pup, and the first past the post system remains. Ironically, this will allow the LDs to keep a disproportionate number of seats compared with their expected vote share.

 

[Gwylan]

Cameron sold them a pup, and the first past the post system remains. Ironically, this will allow the LDs to keep a disproportionate number of seats compared with their expected vote share.

Not sure that's going to be true. They're polling about 9%, which under PR would mean about 58 or 59 seats. I'd be very surprised if they got that many,

You're spot on with the rest though