UK Government disbanded! Parliament dissolved!

[Provost Harrison]

Well as I said, this one is a pretty safe Labour seat nowadays although it could shift dramatically looking at precedent.

And as for Hull where I am from, well they are some of the safest Labour seats in the country, my mothers constituency (where I used to reside) being Hull East, the home of Two Jags (Deputy PM John Prescott for those not familiar with that 'term of endearment')...that seat has been Labour since 1935!!!

[Provost Harrison]

I mean, look at that for a majority...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/330.stm

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Dauphin


If you are to judge the Tories on their actions 20 years ago why can't we judge Labour on their actions that were 20 years ago too?

1997 is twenty years ago ?

It's not like there was a cut-off point for Tory sleaze and mismanagement and boom-bust economics.

And then of course Michael Howard has been one of Thatcher's coterie of spineless cronies and yesmen.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by Dauphin


Before Labour were elected in 1997, did you have warm, fuzzy and nostalgic feelings about the winter of discontent, mass unemployment, the rubbish piling up in the street and the dead not being buried?

Getting elected on 05/05/05 would be the worst thing that could happen to the Tories. The next four-year term will see very tough decisions to be made, particularly around pensions.

The pensions crisis is a potential breaker for any party as the baby-boomers coast into retirement. The populist tax-cutting/spending-cutting policies proposed by Howard would break them for good. It just won't work. They will either wreck the economy or lose the grey vote entirely.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by molly bloom



1997 is twenty years ago ?

Thatcher was out of power some 15 years ago. The 'needless war in the South Atlantic so that men could die to save Thatcher's face' was over 23 years ago. The 'urban riots' were in the early 80s, some 20-odd years ago.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Dauphin


Thatcher was out of power some 15 years ago. The 'needless war in the South Atlantic so that men could die to save Thatcher's face' was over 23 years ago. The 'urban riots' were in the early 80s, some 20-odd years ago.

I was unaware that 'The Tories' came with a time limit (unfortunately). Or that Tory policies differed significantly from the Thatcher era to those of the Major period. If anything, the hypocrisy and sleaze increased during the 'back to basics' period.


Riots in Great Britain (excluding Poll Tax riots):

'During the 1980s there were significant disturbances in Bristol (1980) London, Bradford and Liverpool(1981), and in Birmingham and other Midland towns(1985). The 1990s saw outbreaks in the North East, Oxford and Bristol (1991-2), and Bradford (1995). The beginning of the present century was greeted with further outbreaks of rioting in Bradford, Burnley and Oldham (2001) .'

http://www.bunker8.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/misc/riots.htm

[Dauphin]

The riots continued into the Labour government. Does that mean that their causes were or were not the Tories policies then?

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

In the case of the Poll Tax it certainly was Tory policies.

[lightblue]

Hmm Cambridge has a 20% Labour majority. Guess it depends on where the students are registered mostly on whether or not the Lib Dems have a chance to overturn, as most people are thinknig of voting Liberal (aside from the proper stalwarts of the Tory/Labour CU clubs).

[Dauphin]

I would seriously doubt the Tories are going to reintroduce the Poll Tax though.

[Dauphin]

For the record, I'm not voting Tory, and I didn't last time either. My decision is/was not effected by events that occured in the 1980s. Its influenced by current policies and my general dislike for those who are seeking the power of government.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Dauphin
The riots continued into the Labour government. Does that mean that their causes were or were not the Tories policies then?

I was unaware I had said all riots were the fault of the Tories.

There were significant disturbances during the Tory administrations of Thatcher and Major that can be linked to Tory policies and their social consequences.

Unless of course you think that the Tories' economic policies didn't have anything to do with mass unemployment...

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by Dauphin
For the record, I'm not voting Tory, and I didn't last time either. My decision is/was not effected by events that occured in the 1980s.

Well that's understandable- you're younger than Molly and myself. I grew up firmly convinced that we were being ruled by the Antichrist.