British Election Approaching- how would you vote?

[billy07]

the tories ruined all industry in my native north east. the shipyards and coalmine closures led to extremely high unemployment, poverty and crime. i shouldn't even entertain the notion of voting for them. can they do worse than labour? i doubt it. that's why i'll vote BNP.

the british people are probably the most tolerant of any western country. that tolerance has been streched to breaking point. the BNP will soon be britains third party. in the real world nobody trusts liberals to run or should i say ruin their country. here at cc it's different, all you kids know is what some homosexual, paedaphile, liberal teacher tells you.

[Titanic]

the tories ruined all industry in my native north east. the shipyards and coalmine closures led to extremely high unemployment, poverty and crime. i shouldn't even entertain the notion of voting for them. can they do worse than labour? i doubt it. that's why i'll vote BNP.

the british people are probably the most tolerant of any western country. that tolerance has been streched to breaking point. the BNP will soon be britains third party. in the real world nobody trusts liberals to run or should i say ruin their country. here at cc it's different, all you kids know is what some homosexual, paedaphile, liberal teacher tells you.

BNP, really? You think the economies going to be better of with a protectionist party and an anti-EU one when over 60% of our international trade is done with just EU countries?

You think our agriculture sector is going to be able to maintain its incredibly high efficiency rates (even compared to the developed countries) if its harder for cheap and hard working Eastern European labourers to come over?

You think the country will be better of with a party which hates "non-indigenous British people" (w/e the fck that actually means) when 8% of our population is non-white, and a significant proportion of the white population is immigration from European or North American countries?

Oh, and "the british people are probably the most tolerant of any western country", stop talking crap and raelise the ridiculous irony that a BNP supporter could say that.

[khazalid]

the tories ruined all industry in my native north east. the shipyards and coalmine closures led to extremely high unemployment, poverty and crime. i shouldn't even entertain the notion of voting for them. can they do worse than labour? i doubt it. that's why i'll vote BNP.

the british people are probably the most tolerant of any western country. that tolerance has been streched to breaking point. the BNP will soon be britains third party. in the real world nobody trusts liberals to run or should i say ruin their country. here at cc it's different, all you kids know is what some homosexual, paedaphile, liberal teacher tells you.

LOL.

well there you go... i totally understand why people vote BNP. everyone's a little bit racist after all. and they are taking our jobs and our women. and curry is not a good odour to bring with you on public transport.

by the same token, i could totally understand why the 87 year old wwII vet at some anti-bnp march thing i once attended was advocating molotovs and stompings for 'em (which by his account was exactly what happened last time they marched here, some 50 years ago). as it transpired, they banned the march from going ahead after we successfully bitched to the council for a few weeks.

[khazalid]

oh yeah, i forgot to moralise. don't vote BNP. look at griffin's track record instead of the sanitised BS they've been busy pushing in the north of england for the last couple years.

if it's an ideology, or a personal creed... fine (ish) but don't throw your vote away without checking what you're voting for.

[Titanic]

I doubt the BNP will get more then a couple of seats, if any. The FPTP system is incredibly tough on small parties, the only reason they got some EP seats was because of the PR system which doesn't give the main parties the exaggerated majority that they are sued to.

[Pedronicus]

No one wants to win this election. That's why the conservatives have made f*ck all noise whilst the banking system collapsed.
The Tories were all for less legislation and the same thing would of happened with them in charge, instead of Labour. The next party will inherit the biggest pile of steaming shit since that scene in Jurassic Park.

Me, I'll be voting BNP. They won't win, but at least my protest vote will be there.

I live in London, and if you listen to a politician in front of a tv camera they will describe it as a vibrant multicultural mix but if you live in this "vibrant multicultural mix" instead of retreating to your rich, white only, enclave in the home counties, you know exactly just how little the various colours and religions interact.

I'm just hoping that with so many MP's standing down after the expenses scandal (approx 1/3rd are standing down), the new influx of MP's have enough of a grip on the real world to be able to make a difference to the average Joe in the street.

So many of these career politicians have known nothing except politics since leaving uni, they are fucking useless.

Oh and btw. UKIP is the BNP for people who food shop at M&S.

[Timminz]

Based entirely on the descriptions given in the OP, I would likely support either the Labour, or Liberal Democrats. Most likely Liberal Democrats in this election, as the Labour party is incumbent. I find that supporting an opposition party tends to help keep the government accountable on the things I think they're doing wrong. And we all know that no political party ever, will ever do everything right.

[Symmetry]

No one wants to win this election. That's why the conservatives have made f*ck all noise whilst the banking system collapsed.
The Tories were all for less legislation and the same thing would of happened with them in charge, instead of Labour. The next party will inherit the biggest pile of steaming shit since that scene in Jurassic Park.

Me, I'll be voting BNP. They won't win, but at least my protest vote will be there.

I live in London, and if you listen to a politician in front of a tv camera they will describe it as a vibrant multicultural mix but if you live in this "vibrant multicultural mix" instead of retreating to your rich, white only, enclave in the home counties, you know exactly just how little the various colours and religions interact.

I'm just hoping that with so many MP's standing down after the expenses scandal (approx 1/3rd are standing down), the new influx of MP's have enough of a grip on the real world to be able to make a difference to the average Joe in the street.

So many of these career politicians have known nothing except politics since leaving uni, they are fucking useless.

Oh and btw. UKIP is the BNP for people who food shop at M&S.

I don't see how voting BNP will help with cultural division in London. There's protest voting, and there's protest voting, and there's also voting for a party sympathetic to Hitler.

I did like your line about UKIP though, however abhorrent I find your stance on the BNP.

[b.k. barunt]

Hitler needs love too. Just sayin . . .


Honibaz

[Symmetry]

Based entirely on the descriptions given in the OP, I would likely support either the Labour, or Liberal Democrats. Most likely Liberal Democrats in this election, as the Labour party is incumbent. I find that supporting an opposition party tends to help keep the government accountable on the things I think they're doing wrong. And we all know that no political party ever, will ever do everything right.

I tried to be as balanced as I could about the major parties, so good to know that you found it useful.

One interesting thing that I should add is that while the winners of the election are almost certainly going to be the Labour or Conservative party, it's looking strongly like the winner will not have an overall majority. That means that the Liberal Democrats will have a great deal of power when it comes to passing legislation- their votes will be needed in order to pass legislation proposed by the governing party. The Liberal Democrats have strongly rejected forming a coalition with either of the other two parties, so some people are now calling Nick Clegg (Lib Dem leader) the "kingmaker". Essentially the power that, while not actually ruling, will need to be gained for anything significant to get done.

Politics- it's a funny business.

[khazalid]

on that note, everything clegg has said about siding with one of the 2 main parties is just politicking. you can bet your ass that if one of them is willing to cede PR he's gonna take it.

[Pedronicus]

I don't see how voting BNP will help with cultural division in London. There's protest voting, and there's protest voting, and there's also voting for a party sympathetic to Hitler.

I did like your line about UKIP though, however abhorrent I find your stance on the BNP.

What town / city do you live in Symmetry?
I just want to get a feel for just how mixed your area of habitat is.

[Symmetry]

on that note, everything clegg has said about siding with one of the 2 main parties is just politicking. you can bet your ass that if one of them is willing to cede PR he's gonna take it.

I'm not sure- the Libe Dems aren't promoting PR as a major policy in the way that they used to. If it were the case that PR was still a major part of their campaign, I'd expect to see it held out more often to the other parties as bait. Also I just don't think either of the other major parties is interested in PR at all.

An aside to anyone following this who might be baffled:
PR is proportional representation- the system whereby (almost) every vote counts when it comes to making up a parliament.

First Past the Post is what we have now- you just need more votes than anyone else to claim a seat, even if that means that most people voted against you.

PR is more democratic, but tends to lead to weaker governments and coalitions when more parties get represented.

Explanation over

Sorry Khazalid- I'm trying to keep this thread open to people who don't necessarily know much about British politics.

[Symmetry]

I don't see how voting BNP will help with cultural division in London. There's protest voting, and there's protest voting, and there's also voting for a party sympathetic to Hitler.

I did like your line about UKIP though, however abhorrent I find your stance on the BNP.

What town / city do you live in Symmetry?
I just want to get a feel for just how mixed your area of habitat is.

I'm not a big fan of disclosing huge amounts of information about myself on the interwebs, so I'll just say that I live in a major city.

[khazalid]

no, that makes perfect sense.

i'll add that PR has been adopted in scotland and wales for their respective parliament/assembly and in scotland this led to a power-sharing lib-dem/labour alliance last time around. it is also used in european elections nationwide, hence why the BNP (by way of example) is a much meatier proposition in these elections.

the reason the lib-dems stopped harking on about PR is just PR of a different sort. they want to be seen as a viable proposition under the current system, but that's just political savvy. if they're happy to do it in scotland, what makes you think that with the right incentives and a few policy concessions (trident springs to mind) they would do otherwise nationally?

[Symmetry]

no, that makes perfect sense.

i'll add that PR has been adopted in scotland and wales for their respective parliament/assembly and in scotland this led to a power-sharing lib-dem/labour alliance last time around. it is also used in european elections nationwide, hence why the BNP (by way of example) is a much meatier proposition in these elections.

the reason the lib-dems stopped harking on about PR is just PR of a different sort. they want to be seen as a viable proposition under the current system, but that's just political savvy. if they're happy to do it in scotland, what makes you think that with the right incentives and a few policy concessions (trident springs to mind) they would do otherwise nationally?

Fair point, but I see the Lib Dems moving away from some of their roots now. I think PR is an important issue for some of their members, but I don't see it being a major issue for the party as a whole. I guess something similar would be Labour on public ownership, and the Conservatives on privatisation. It's still part of the party background and philosophy, but they don't want to actually take too much action on it.

I agree that it's politicking- but they are a political party. It's all politicking. To address your point more specifically though, it might well be possible that they would introduce PR if one of the other parties offered it. I don't really think either of them would, and if they did then you'd have the vast majority of elected officials in the UK supporting that kind of reform. For me, it's a bit of a non-issue. I just can't see it happening, and I don't think the Lib Dems are proposing it.

It's a shame really. I don't fully stand behind PR, but I would like to see a debate about how we go about our elections unfettered by tradition and the notion that cosmetic change is all that's really viable.

[Pedronicus]

how long ago did you live in EltonJohnLand?
ever been back there since?

[BigBallinStalin]

how long ago did you live in Watford?
ever been back there since?

look at him hounding for personal information.

don't be such an ass.

[Pedronicus]

how long ago did you live in a hamlet north of Harrow?
ever been back there since?

look at him hounding for personal information.

don't be such an ass.

Shut up stalin.

It's pertinent to the discussion of the influx of johnny Foreigner.

[BigBallinStalin]

how long ago did you _____?
ever been back there since?

look at him hounding for personal information.

don't be such an ass.

Shut up stalin.

It's pertinent to the discussion of the influx of johnny Foreigner.

It's interesting to see you support such drivel, while you bear a minority in your avatar.

[Pedronicus]

how long ago did you live in a hamlet north of Harrow?
ever been back there since?

look at him hounding for personal information.

don't be such an ass.

Shut up stalin.

It's pertinent to the discussion of the influx of johnny Foreigner.

It's interesting to see you support such drivel, while you bear a minority in your avatar.

I can enjoy the blues and I listen to many other types of black orientated music and still be a racist. My racism isn't towards just black people. I'm just as racist to white Europeans.

[MeDeFe]

how long ago did you live in Watford?
ever been back there since?

look at him hounding for personal information.

don't be such an ass.

Pedro's just living the British lifestyle of total surveillance.

Yeah, I'd probably vote for the Pirate Party UK, btw.

[BigBallinStalin]

how long ago did you_____?
ever been back there since?

look at him hounding for personal information.

don't be such an ass.

Shut up stalin.

It's pertinent to the discussion of the influx of johnny Foreigner.

It's interesting to see you support such drivel, while you bear a minority in your avatar.

I can enjoy the blues and I listen to many other types of black orientated music and still be a racist. My racism isn't towards just black people. I'm just as racist to white Europeans.

Oh man! Your racism is so inspiring! Stand tall, and puff that chest out, son! Walk the earth to inspire the millions with your primitive thinking and misled thoughts! What a legacy, we have before us. We should be thanking you for your continued contribution to the human species. Let us not take one step forward but two steps backward with you, Pedronicus!

[wild and enthusiastic applause for Pedronicus]

[BigBallinStalin]

how long ago did you live in Watford?
ever been back there since?

look at him hounding for personal information.

don't be such an ass.

Pedro's just living the British lifestyle of total surveillance.

Yeah, I'd probably vote for the Pirate Party UK, btw.

We have 3 core policies:

• Reform copyright and patent law. We want to legalise non-commercial file sharing and reduce the excessive length of copyright protection, while ensuring that when creative works are sold, it's the artists who benefit, not monopoly rights holders. We want a patent system that doesn't stifle innovation or make life saving drugs so expensive that patients die.

• End the excessive surveillance, profiling, tracking and monitoring of innocent people by Government and big businesses.

• Ensure that everyone has real freedom of speech and real freedom to enjoy and participate in our shared culture.

At least they're on to something.

[Phatscotty]

Which party is running a candidate that is publicly speaking about the dangerous fact the British Debt requires a higher percentage of GDP to service that debt than any other country in the world. And what does that candidate say he/she will do about it? Is there a plan? Is everyone in denial? fill me in please