UK General Election thread

[kentonio]

i read a poll today which said that 72% of scottish people said they were 'certain' to vote in the election. this compares with between 50%-55% i the rest of the UK. if i were a labour party supporter, i would be very worried. of course in the long term, things may be different, labour has a lot of residual support and could certainly reinvent itself; though it's hard to see it happening for a good few years.

Why is that so bad for Labour? Remember it was Brown giving the speech of his life that won the independence vote, yet we seem to assume that a high turnout automatically means an SNP landslide. I don't get it.

[History049]

well the point i was trying to get across is that there is very little real difference between the main parties. they agree on most things, and even with those they disagree on, the disagreement is about degree rather than principle or ideology. the centre of gravity of american politics is further to the right than that in british politics, and there are certain other key differences - there are no culture wars in the UK for example, there is a broad consensus about these issues - that make a comparison of the two quite difficult; certainly trying to superimpose UK parties onto the US political context is a waste of time.

UKIP have been rather adept at not pinning themselves down to too much in particular except for being anti-EU and a vague feeling that things are getting worse and it's all those nasty foreigner's fault; they're picking up a lot of protest votes from people disgruntled with the current situation. there are actually quite a few different, and sometimes conflicting, political groups that make up the party. they will though, eventually, have to coalesce around something and it will probably be a slightly modified version of the right-wing populism and more or less overt racism that the front national espouses. there's a decent portion of the electorate: the racist working class; the scared witless middle class daily mail readers, and; social conservatives who feel left out by the liberal consensus; that can be reached with such a programme.

Sorta like the tea party. But they never seem to win any seats.

[kentonio]

Not really like the tea party, more like mainstream Republicans. The political spectrum isn't as far right in the UK as the US.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

So, what you're saying is that you agree with the Lib Dems?

.

I'm agreeing with what the LibDems are saying in the run-up. If they get elected, they will go "Oh, actually instead of scrapping the House of Lords we'll make it three times as big and powerful instead. You've got to make compromises!".

[C0ckney]

Why is that so bad for Labour? Remember it was Brown giving the speech of his life that won the independence vote, yet we seem to assume that a high turnout automatically means an SNP landslide. I don't get it.

the SNP majority in the scottish parliament, the surge in SNP membership in the wake of the independence vote, and the election of jim murphy, who i suspect will be fairly ineffective against the SNP, as scottish labour leader.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

News today-

The Liberal Democrats are pledging to eliminate child illiteracy in England by 2025 if they remain in power after May's general election.

Leader Nick Clegg will unveil a manifesto commitment, with extra money for poorer pre-school children.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-30869083

Which means that if they get elected, they'll go "Yes, when we said we'd eliminate childhood illiteracy what we meant was that we'd triple it. You have to be realistic when you're in government and not just a minor party."

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

I get the strong feeling the Tories are a lot more conservative than Kentonio would have you believe,

They are, in terms of social policy, but they have to let it out in tiny instalments or they'll lose the middle ground and get butchered at the polls.

Their membership has no shortage of flag-waving hang-and-flog Little Englanders.

Not so much in economic terms though. Economic libertarianism is practically non-existent in Britain. When the single most respected establishment in the nation is the NHS, libertarianism doesn't stand a chance.

[kentonio]

the SNP majority in the scottish parliament, the surge in SNP membership in the wake of the independence vote, and the election of jim murphy, who i suspect will be fairly ineffective against the SNP, as scottish labour leader.

I thought they were crying out for Jim Murphy as someone who could save Scottish Labour? Genuine question, I avoid Scottish politics where possible.

[kentonio]

Their membership has no shortage of flag-waving hang-and-flog Little Englanders.

Sure, they do, they've mostly run off to UKIP.

[C0ckney]

I thought they were crying out for Jim Murphy as someone who could save Scottish Labour? Genuine question, I avoid Scottish politics where possible.

he can shore up the foundations a bit and rally some demoralised members of the party, but the appeal of a blairite bruiser to voters invigorated by the independence campaign will be limited.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

I'd say that graph should worry the Tories, but actually I think they'll just become more reliant on business donors.

[C0ckney]

all major parties are reliant on donors. the age of mass political parties is over.

[Sava]

Which party plans to ban more types of porn but expand the MP child rape ring?

and do they also hate muslims?

[C0ckney]

yes.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Which party plans to ban more types of porn but expand the MP child rape ring?

and do they also hate muslims?

Well, the Tories have banned the production of porn featuring basically anything other than plain vanilla shagging, but not its possession. Possibly one of the most pointless pieces of legislation from the last 100 years, really. Still, got to keep those Daily Mail "DISGUSTING FILTH" readers happy.