Be Excellent To Each Other

(courtesy of the 100 Songs compilation by )

Ok, we're still waiting for Mr Brown to ask Liz to fire the starting gun, but I thought it might be fun to start the topic now.*

In this phony war stage, I'm thinking about how to get the parties to make some effort to get my vote (although it's a bit of a waste of my time, as I live in a safe Lib Dem seat). As such, I'm trying to draw up some naive-but-nasty questions to catch them out. So far, I've come up with:

- As an MP, would you read the full text of every bill and amendment before voting? (of course they won't, but it'll be fun to see how they answer)
- Please give me three laws which ought to be swiftly repealed (go on, get on your hobby horse)
- And three laws which ought to be swiftly passed (go on, get on your hobby horse)
- Is it better to follow the party whip or stop bad laws being passed? (the former, natch, but again, dance like a monkey on a hot plate)
- Do you know the way to San José?

Any other suggestions? I could go into policy issues, but I'd rather phrase it carefully so certain parties think they might be in with a chance of getting my 'X'. Asking them to dance for my vote is going a bit too far. Possibly.

Other electoral chat welcome.

*LOL!OMG!FIRST!ETC!

I think the elections are fine every 6 months as they are, and I'm quite happy with the current crop of mods anyway.

Heh @ Mr Russ.

I hate this next election. Can't vote for Labour because 3k laws in their first 3k days and ID cards are just the tip of a massive iceberg (made of shit) and I can't vote Tory because my local MP is against gay marriage. I live in Wales so there's even less point in voting Lib Dem than usual. Ultimately my vote has a value and none of the top three parties have done enough to earn it, whilst I have no real idea who any of the others are.

It's going to be a meh election, but at least when Plastic Dave and his shower of cunts get back in we'll have a smaller government. So long as he doesn't convince all the proles they are socially mobile like Thatcher did.

I think things are fine the way they are. Why do we have to have elections to prove we are a democracy?

Are people seriously not reading the OP?

A meh election. Like it: sums up how I feel, and I used to be a complete politics geek. I might even just go to bed at the usual time and not stay up way past my bedtime, I'm that unenthused.
Why not ask your Labour candidate if he approves of the wretched policies, and ask the Tory if he thinks he should interfere in other people's lives? I'm certainly working on ways to make candidates work for my attention. I'd suggest that you reply to whatever they send you in response to your initial questions: the first letter is usually the form letter .

I don't think they're serious replies ;0)

I just assumed people were posting drunk.

I found out some of my bezzies vote Conservative and genuinely like David Cameron.

Format for the TV debates:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010 ... v-politics

Anyone planning on watching? Unless they're being shown on a big screen in a pub and we've devised a suitable drinking game I can't say I'm brimming with enthusiasm for 270 minutes of a trio who make the Marx Brothers look statesmanlike.

Course, I did waste 90 minutes of a holiday watching the US vice-presidential debates, so perhaps I'm being a bit prejudiced.

Yeah, but the US VP debates had Sarah Palin, so were worth it for the car crash factor.

Can't see the point of the debates except for yet again aping the US. We have debates here - it is called Prime Ministers Questions.

After sending a ('well-argued and concise') letter to my MP using writetothem.com I noticed they've got a 'bug the candidates' site set up:

http://www.democracyclub.org.uk/

What a good idea: it will be interesting to see what comes of it.

What's wrong with that?

My girlfriend, right, voted in the student union elections at her university last week. What she didn't realise is that student politics in the UK is pretty much party-orientated, although the candidates don't advertise that. She voted for someone whom she discovered later via Facebook was a Tory. She regrets it thankfully. (She votes Die Linke in Germany, a hardline left-wing outfit descended from the East German communist party, so she isn't the sort to knowingly vote for Tories.)

Was he the best qualified person to run the college bop?

One of the many things that put me off politics were the student political hacks and the priorities of the student union. Still, I'm sure that oppressed people throughout the world were grateful for all the motions of support and George Bush probably dreaded the outcome of the hours spent debating the war in Iraq.

We had recent student waste of time elections this week. Several candidates still haven't taken down the (often crappy looking and not even trimmed properly or laminated) notices they plastered all over the place. Tut.

On the plus side, this meant that the people who'd ill-advisedly put "VOTE FOR [SOME TIT OR OTHER]" on one of the most visible places on campus by printing each letter on one A4 sheet came in one day to find that their campaign message was now "ANTON FOR A PENIS".

Ah, seems connected to http://www.yournextmp.com/

This might prove handy

Let's see, leader-wise, we have:

1. An old fart who is a) Utterly incompetent at everything b) A nasty old school, power hungry politician.
2. An empty PR suit, who is trying to do an impression of Tony Blair, like that's a good thing.
3. An empty PR suit doing an impression of an empty PR suit, who is trying to do an impression of Tony Blair, like that's a good thing.

Fortunately, that's just the leaders. It's the parties that are important, man.

I've always voted Lib Dem, but I always try to keep an open mind as I want to avoid football team-style zealotry. None of these people have anything in common with me and they are all cunt-bag politicians who would sell their own grandmother. What matters is what I think they'll do once in power, which is not necessarily what they say they will do once in power. Nothing the Tories say has any bearing on what they will do, as far as I'm concerned. Gordon Brown in 'lying shocker' and the lib dems can say what they like because they aren't getting in anyway.

I find the TV debates a really bad thing. Who decides on the format of the show? What order the speakers get to argue their point? How long do they get? Who gets to cut them off? How long before Sky try to get the rights to do it? etc. etc. It's also another nail in the coffin for party politics being replaced by empty celebrity bollocks.

My choices:

Lib Dem
Labour
Tory

I think my learned friend Mr Baldry is going to get my vote.

Well colour me surprised.

In 2005, Labour came second with 27.7% of the vote, Lib Dems with 17.9%. Conservatives had 46.9% and one with a 4.5% swing from Labour to the Conservatives.

Given I've been most pleased with the current incumbent, (his responses to my queries and questions and his general "I've recently done this, here's Hansard" way have been most excellent) a vote for the Lib Dems being a wasted vote and the Labour PPC has a fucking great "Join UNITE" thing on his webpage and is a Union man, then I'm more than happy to vote for Baldry.

You could always go for one of the smaller parties.

4. A sad fat man with a pudgy nose who also happens to be a facist, which is clearly the worst option to anyone who isn't a complete dumbass.
5. Hippies.
6. More facists, but in suits. Okay, so maybe there's one worse than BNP.
7. Standing at the Back Dressed Stupidly and Looking Stupid Party, which is clearly the best option.

Tory logic in action? Perhaps we should only ever vote for the winners?

I think MaliA is confusing voting in elections at the polls with placing bets on election outcomes at the bookmakers.

A wasted vote in my constituency.

There's no such thing as a wasted vote; the point of a vote is to express your opinion, and if your opinion is that the Lib Dem candidate would make the best MP for your area then vote for them. Not to do so actually undermines the whole notion of a democracy, which is why the whole "voting for X is a wasted vote" thing is the most absurd, wrong-headed, counter-productive notion in politics.

That's good that your Labour PPC is a union man. He may actually remember what the Labour party was founded for then.

I've seen much more "Don't throw away your vote on X, you'll be letting the Tories in" from the Lib Dems and Labour in this campaign so far than from the Tories.

EDIT - Having said that, my seat is a Lib Dem/Labour contested seat, with a Tory vote being the "wasted vote", so I guess that would be the case.

What it was founded for isn't necessarily what its supporters believe in now. Politics is allowed to evolve - mainly because this really isn't the same country it was 100 years ago.

Sadly, as much as I disagree with a positive view on Mr. Baldry, the Labour PPC is much less of a union man and more New Labour through and through. And utterly, utterly hopeless. Unfortunately, the area is so deep blue that nobody else even bothers to try standing (this will be the PPC's fourth attempt at the Banbury seat).

Channel 4 are hosting a debate between Darling, Osborne, and Cable tonight, from 20:00

Not sure if I'll watch it, but might have it as background noise depending on my mood.

A well written little article by a chap who bumped into David Cameron in Starbucks: http://fasterfuture.blogspot.com/2010/0 ... on-in.html

I think I've read enough.

He could've twitted all that in a single tweet

It's a strange point of view, there's quite a few folk guilty of trying too hard on twitter never mind politicians. It's somewhere they (or their press officer) have complete control over how they put themselves across. How would it be any more honest than usual?

So even if they all started talking shite on the Interwebs I'm not sure we would "...end up knowing who and what we're expected to vote for" any better than we already do.

I actually kind of agree with his point about politicians thinking before they speak. Ideally, of course, they shouldn't have to be so careful, but, y'know, being realistic, it'd only take something that sounds a bit off to cause an international incident. And we all know how barely literate the average muppet on the street is. Hell, anyone can misinterpret something online by sheer accident, let alone with malice.

Plus, frankly I'd imagine they're busy enough. If I were running a political party, I doubt I'd be arsed updating the latest internet fad just for some cheap brownie points with a tiny minority of people. That's time that could be spent selling missiles, looking up rent boys, or whatever Cameron will get caught doing first.

Ever had a conversation where a friend points out that last year you thought the opposite?
Now imagine an archive of everything you've ever thought: say you are for 'X' and your enemies will say 'aha! In 2002 you were against it!'.
There's nothing wrong with changing your mind, but the game of politics these days seems to think it is. Better keep quiet then say what you think. Depresses me immensely.

We need an annual BeeX Scandal Pool, to go with the Death pool.

This, also. There would be people at every newspaper literally paid to sit around pressing F5 all day, and copying and pasting everything that results into a little file.



I've got £5 on "selling missiles to rent boys".

Interesting Chancellor debate. Well, not from a policy perspective, but for two connected reasons:

1- Osborne and Darling had obviously been told by their respective parties only to argue with each other, but leave Cable untouched, as neither is going to win an argument against him. Also, apparently the Treasury have also unofficially chosen him as chancellor if there is a hung parliament. This was alluded to on the news beforehand apparently. This was reinforced by-

2- In a 'No heckles, No Applause' debate, Cable scored three spontaneous rounds of applause but I didn't catch anything for the others.

Oh, and I have met one of the people who asked a question. Lamest claim to fame ever.

Eh?

The Treasury can't choose a chancellor, and Gordy B said today he'd appoint Darling.

On a related point, Nick Robinson has said Tony B is going to be Labour's secret weapon.

I believe the argument that in a hung parliament, neither Tory or Labour will allow the other, which means Cable gets through.

I've seen somewhere that the Treasury would prefer him, and also they called him in for a briefing a couple of weeks back.

In a hung parliament, it won't matter what the party that doesn't get Lib Dem support thinks - who is chancellor would be down to the lib dems and the leading party out of the other two.

You're assuming one or other party will get Lib Dem support.

Must admit, I thought Cable came across much more favourably than Darling, and especially Osborne.

The Tories' NI freeze is surely a naked, blatent, uncosted electoral bribe and totally at odds with their hitherto overriding 'cut the deficit' message? As for their boast at using Brown's previous advisers in the matter, as if some kind of fantastic PR coup, isn't that a bit like saying 'great news guys, we've persauded MG Rovers' outgoing board of directors to advise us on business investment and sustainability'?

Notwithstanding my wrath for Labour and all the terrible things that they have done, I do have real concerns about the credibility of the Conservatives at present.

Not to mention that the Tories hugely slagged off the Gershon review done for Labour a few years back.

Neither of the two main parties has been even remotely consistent on, well, anything.

I wonder why Maddog Murdoch is asking the Tories to reform Ofcom. Oh.

Well, 'business lobbies politicians for it's own self interest and profit' is hardly news - just ask Messrs. Byers, Hewitt and Hoon on that score? Plus, Brown was the City's bitch for years and look where that genius economic strategy has got us now.

(As far as Murdoch goes, I well remember Labour's gloating that they'd got The Sun on side, falling over themselves to please their master).

Dude, no need to get all defensive for the scumsucking rat weasled cunt faced Tory politicians by attacking the scumsucking rat weasled cunt faced Labour ones. I was more pointing it out for the scumsucking rat weasled cunt faced Murdoch.

You're not allowed an opinion, Dimrill. You vote for achievements and not for fun. I see you haven't voted in the European elections since you maxed it out with 'Vote BNP for shits and giggles - 25GS'.