# BritDopers (and nosy foreigners) - The general election 2010 **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 6, 2010, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133 "2010-04-06T11:13:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Sri\_Theo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sri\_Theo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sri_Theo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/241 "2010-04-14T11:26:12Z")
I’ve changed my mind, I think I’m going to spoil my ballot. I think the political party’s are just too broad, if I vote Labour I have no idea whether I’m going to get a neo-liberal or a social democrat, if I vote Tory or Lib-Dem its pretty much the same. By being so broad the labels become meaningless… ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/242 "2010-04-14T11:32:51Z")
[QUOTE=Gyrate;12339759 On another note, the Conservatives have put up one of [these] ([Gordon Brown's record: 80,000 criminals let out early | Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/conservatives/4469610650/)) near my house, which has made me very angry. I’ve had _quite_ enough of politicians trying to frighten me into voting for them, thank you. “Vote Tory or criminals will eat your children! Booga booga!” Argh… [/QUOTE] Apparently quite a few people have taken these posters as pro-Labour… i.e. the early release programme is a positive programme. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/243 "2010-04-14T11:33:13Z")
www.theyworkforyou.com will give you an idea of your MPs voting record (assuming you were considering voting for the incumbent). If you’re considering voting for a challenger, they should still have left some kind of paper trail about their political ideals. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/244 "2010-04-14T12:03:50Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > The provision banning the death penalty is folly. Plus Labour after governing for thirteen years is well past the time to go. Hopefully Mr. Cameron will revitalize Britain and be a visionary leader in the mold of Thatcher or Reagan. Just wanted to make the point that your opinion on the death penalty if grossly out of step with British politics - it is not remotely a question for debate. FYI, one result of this policy is that the British Government will not extradite criminals who may face the death penalty in a foreign court - this includes the US. No doubt that will make your head explode. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/245 "2010-04-14T12:05:50Z")
> [@amrussell](#): > > www.theyworkforyou.com will give you an idea of your MPs voting record (assuming you were considering voting for the incumbent). If you’re considering voting for a challenger, they should still have left some kind of paper trail about their political ideals. I don’t know which frightens me more about what that site reveals - the record of the outgoing Conservative MP for my area or the record of the incumbent (as much as one can be) Labour MP for my redistricted area. Labour MP Jim Dowd: [ul] [li]Voted very strongly for Labour’s anti-terrorism laws. [/li][li]Voted strongly for introducing student top-up fees. [/li][li]Voted very strongly for the Iraq war.[/li][li]Voted very strongly against an investigation into the Iraq war. [/li][li]Voted moderately for allowing ministers to intervene in inquests[/li][li]Voted moderately against laws to stop climate change.[/li][li]Voted strongly against a transparent Parliament.[/li][/ul] The man represents everything I hate about what Labour has done in the past 13 years. If he hadn’t also voted strongly for gay rights and a smoking ban I’d want to punch him in the nose.\* Roll on, the LibDems. Or the Greens. Or an independent. Or indeed anyone I don’t want to punch. - Not that I’d do it, but I’d want to. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/246 "2010-04-14T12:46:36Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > He desperately wishes he was like Obama Agreed. But my point still holds 🙂 > [@](#): > > hence the “change” meme. Not really so sure about that: Obama didn’t invent the ‘Time for a change’ meme. > [@SanVito](#): > > Just wanted to make the point that your opinion on the death penalty if grossly out of step with British politics - it is not remotely a question for debate. Yup. > [@](#): > > FYI, one result of this policy is that the British Government will not extradite criminals who may face the death penalty in a foreign court - this includes the US. No doubt that will make your head explode. Not quite: we will extradite people to such countries on condition that they do not face the death penalty. > [@Gyrate](#): > > Roll on, the LibDems. Or the Greens. Or an independent. Or indeed anyone I don’t want to punch. My ex-MP is Margaret Moran. 'Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![Dick\_Dastardly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@Dick\_Dastardly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dick_Dastardly)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/247 "2010-04-14T13:06:40Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Weren’t all of these already long traditions in the UK anyway? I can’t see anything guaranteed by the act that wasn’t already a routine part of British life. Ironically, Freedom of Expression in the UK has been curtailed far more in the subsequent years since the act was introduced due to the War on Terror. Spot on. The human rights law seems to be a charter for crooks and criminals, compensation seekers and government types who want to increase privacy laws to prevent the country knowing things they don’t want them to know. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/248 "2010-04-14T13:59:28Z")
> [@ColdPhoenix](#): > > Really? There was a pretty cool guy who lived 2,000 years ago. He said things like forgiveness were important and turning the other cheek. I think he also said something about only people without sin injuring a condemned man. You know, I never really thought about it before, but that’s sort of a Catch-22. If only he who is without sin can cast the first stone, then there won’t be any stoning, since people who don’t sin are awfully unlikely to want to chuck stones at people. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/249 "2010-04-14T14:13:46Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > The man represents everything I hate about what Labour has done in the past 13 years. If he hadn’t also voted strongly for gay rights and a smoking ban I’d want to punch him in the nose.\* What’s more interesting is whether he’s rebelled against the party whips at all. From that list he looks like a labour loyalist - i.e. votes with the party line regardless of his own views. To me that says as much about his character as the particular issues the votes were about. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/250 "2010-04-14T14:20:57Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > The provision banning the death penalty is folly. Plus Labour after governing for thirteen years is well past the time to go. Hopefully Mr. Cameron will revitalize Britain and be a visionary leader in the mold of Thatcher or Reagan. Well done on getting the correct spelling of ‘mold’ for the context. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/251 "2010-04-14T14:24:16Z")
> [@Wallenstein](#): > > What’s more interesting is whether he’s rebelled against the party whips at all. > > From that list he looks like a labour loyalist - i.e. votes with the party line regardless of his own views. To me that says as much about his character as the particular issues the votes were about. UK parties are disciplined. MP’s will almost always vote the party line. With a three line whip not doing so has consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/252 "2010-04-14T15:51:10Z")
Any recent polling? Could Labour hang on? ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/253 "2010-04-14T16:15:16Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Any recent polling? Could Labour hang on? Some polls put them within 3% and Labour’s vote distribution will give them more ‘bang per voter buck’. My gut feeling is that the polls are wrong and when it comes to it, the electorate has had enough. I’m not voting Labour, I’m voting against the Tories. I lived through the 80’s and know what vicious lying, let your friends loose to loot, scum the Tories are. The best I’m hoping for is a hung parliament. Expect the tories to have a 30-40 majority. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/254 "2010-04-14T17:04:26Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Any recent polling? Could Labour hang on? Not according to most pundits, no. Not even Labour-leaning ones. To my mind, the most trustworthy polls are betting exchanges. That is individuals putting their money where their mouths are. And on Betfair right now, the odds look like this: Tory majority: 5/4 on No overall majority: 13/8 against Labour majority: 15/1 against Tory biggest party: 11/2 on Labour biggest party: 11/2 against LibDem biggest party: 160/1 against ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/255 "2010-04-14T17:56:28Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > I lived through the 80’s and know what vicious lying, let your friends loose to loot, scum the Tories are. And how is this different from Labour? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/256 "2010-04-15T00:03:42Z")
It seems weird to me that people bring up manifestos. Nobody remembers manifestos after elections, including the winning party, so why pay attention to them at all? They are just election PR. It is better to try to get a grasp of what the current leadership of the parties really think, rather than what they say they think. To wit: Cameron/Osborne: Fiscal conservatives, more than they are letting on. Probably social liberals but I don’t think they are too interested in those issues, and will probably go wherever the voters want them to go. I think their election would mean status quo for minority rights. Brown/Darling: Fundamentally believe in big tax and big spending. On social issues, not significantly different to the Tories. Perhaps even more conservative, in some ways. Clegg/Cable: Nice to have a shadow Chancellor who is actually a professional economist, unlike just about all the Chancellors we have ever had. Shame that Clegg’s CV is so feeble. Anyway, they’re either an economically liberal party with a nice face, which is what the Tories are claiming to be, or they’re social democrats who don’t hate the market, which sounds a bit like Labour. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/257 "2010-04-15T00:08:34Z")
Is Labour still actually affiliated with the trade unions? ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/258 "2010-04-15T01:49:12Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Not according to most pundits, no. Not even Labour-leaning ones. > > To my mind, the most trustworthy polls are betting exchanges. That is individuals putting their money where their mouths are. And on Betfair right now, the odds look like this: you seriously rely on betters to assess how 500+ \*individual races \*are going to pan out over the next coming months? They don’t 'put their money where their mouths are, they put it where the polls say they should put it - and rightly so, because it is the best information they have to go buy (if still imperfect): far better than either their own voting preference (why would you follow that if your a Labour or a LibDem voter and you know you’re going to lose?) or whatever the people around you IRL or on message boards are saying they’re going to vote. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/259 "2010-04-15T01:50:57Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > I lived through the 80’s and know what vicious lying, let your friends loose to loot, scum the Tories are. Amen. What Labour has done over the last decade or so (and I’m not a huge fan of it) pales in comparison to the destruction that Thatcher wrought on the fabric of my country. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/260 "2010-04-15T01:56:07Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > you seriously rely on betters to assess how 500+ \*individual races \*are going to pan out over the next coming months? They don’t 'put their money where their mouths are, they put it where the polls say they should put it - and rightly so, because it is the best information they have to go buy (if still imperfect): far better than either their own voting preference (why would you follow that if your a Labour or a LibDem voter and you know you’re going to lose?) or whatever the people around you IRL or on message boards are saying they’re going to vote. He’s relying on bookmakers to assess the odds. Bet you they’re right, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133.md?page=14)