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…
[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) 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.
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.
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.
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.
Agreed. But my point still holds 
Not really so sure about that: Obama didn’t invent the ‘Time for a change’ meme.
Yup.
Not quite: we will extradite people to such countries on condition that they do not face the death penalty.
My ex-MP is Margaret Moran. 'Nuff said.
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.
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.
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.
Well done on getting the correct spelling of ‘mold’ for the context.
UK parties are disciplined. MP’s will almost always vote the party line. With a three line whip not doing so has consequences.
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.
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
And how is this different from Labour?
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.
Is Labour still actually affiliated with the trade unions?
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.
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.
He’s relying on bookmakers to assess the odds. Bet you they’re right, too.