SD on 6/4/2010 at 17:20
Yeah, the Alliance Party are our sister party in NI, and in the unlikely event that any Alliance MPs were returned at the forthcoming General Election, they would take the Lib Dem whip in the Commons (FWIW former Alliance leader John Alderdice sits as a Lib Dem in the House of Lords).
As you see though, sectarianism pollutes the political scene in Northern Ireland, the Alliance is the only (more or less) non-sectarian party there. While sectarianist parties dominate, you'll never get mainland British parties organising there.
SubJeff on 6/4/2010 at 17:24
Quote Posted by SD
Depends if you trust the Tories on the NHS or not I suppose!
Which constituency is that, btw?
I don't really trust any of them since politics is driven by popular opinion and not what is actually sensible or good for us/the country! I wish someone would have the balls to tell it like it is when people moan about the NHS. I'm really tempted to not vote at all tbh :(
(Case in point: A&E 4 hour waits were set up largely because the public were horrified at people being in A&E for 12 hours on a trolley. a. The 4 hour wait is unrealistic given staffing levels/workload and causes a target, not safety, driven operation. b. The underlying reason for the long waits should be tackled without setting stupid goals.)It's Birmingham Hall Green btw. BBC (luuurve BBC's election coverage pages. Every time :thumb:) lists it as LibDem target number 62 or something. There is quite a lot in it, in terms of numbers, if you look at the 2005 stats. But it could swing big (I hope!). Tbh its likely LibDems or Labour given the, errr, type of people who live here. Next door we have Solihull. Now that's going to be interesting.
SD on 6/4/2010 at 18:36
I am with you about the targets, I hate all that populist shit that panders to the media. At least I can say that Liberals are only responsble for the NHS in theory, it's Tory and Labour who have implemented it ;)
Birmingham Hall Green is an interesting seat because it is vastly changed from the previous seat of the same name, which was safe(ish) Labour. Yes, that one is going to have a big Lib Dem challenge, and Respect will expect to do well here too. Tories will be nowhere. So if you don't want a Labour MP, your choice is the Lib Dems or hardline Marxists ;)
SubJeff on 6/4/2010 at 19:03
As an owner of Manifesto of the Communist Party I feel I know where my loyalties lie then. :p
jay pettitt on 6/4/2010 at 19:22
In a couple of weeks time we'll have a Tory (Think John McCain) government - god help us.
Still, (
http://www.labservative.com/) Labservatives! Best bit so far.
Otherwise - until one of the parties can tell my why - if 95% of the economy is in the hands of the top 1% (or whatever it is) - putting all your efforts into a percentile or two of economic growth isn't going to miss 99% of the population 95% of the time - then I'm just not much interested.
As far as I'm concerned politics is something you do between elections.
Matthew on 6/4/2010 at 19:42
Quote Posted by jay pettitt
In a couple of weeks time we'll have a Tory (Think John McCain) government - god help us.
To be fair, at least Call-Me-Dave wasn't crazy enough to pick a Palin as a running partner.
PeeperStorm on 7/4/2010 at 03:54
Quote Posted by SD
Bit unsporting of you to pick one of the few policies where there's a moderate level of consensus, though, isn't it? Surely it's only fringe lunatics like UKIP who think we should leave the EU?
Wait you offered to prove that the policies are all different, but only as long as he picks one where they're not the same? (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_sharpshooter_fallacy) I call shenanigans.
Scots Taffer on 7/4/2010 at 05:24
Quote Posted by jay pettitt
In a couple of weeks time we'll have a Tory (Think John McCain) government - god help us.
Do you think Labour has the country in any better of a state after however many years running the show?
Namdrol on 7/4/2010 at 08:53
Certainly haven't forgotten the introduction of tuition fees for higher education.
From a Labour government? What. The. Fuck.
Still, up here in Scotland we have a Parliament that actually believes that an educated population is a desirable thing.
I'll be voting for the Scottish National Party because as I said earlier, they might be able to actually influence things in Westminster this time round.
