2015 Election

[Gatt]

Lol, will they have their faces painted and be carrying swords?

 

Yep, and it will be a new law as they take Parliament that we all wear Kilts

The Pound Note will come back and all non-scottish money will be illegal!

 

You will all need to speak Gaelic too...

[localzuk]

Yep, and it will be a new law as they take Parliament that we all wear Kilts

The Pound Note will come back and all non-scottish money will be illegal!

 

I can go with that. Although Scottish money is a little bit odd in my experience so far!

 

You will all need to speak Gaelic too...

 

Fastyr mie

 

Wait, that's Manx Gaelic, is that allowed?

[Garacesh]

Wait, that's Manx Gaelic, is that allowed?[/font][/color]

 

I thought Manx* anything was just 'u wot m8 ill hook u in the gabber innit i swer on me mum'

.. Although at first glance they both appear similarly gibberish.

 

* Yes I'm aware Manx is the Isle of Man, not Manchester, but would ruin the joke. Shut up!

[localzuk]

I thought Manx* anything was just 'u wot m8 ill hook u in the gabber innit i swer on me mum'

.. Although at first glance they both appear similarly gibberish.

 

* Yes I'm aware Manx is the Isle of Man, not Manchester, but would ruin the joke. Shut up!

 

Lunagh!!

[Garacesh]

Lunagh!!

 

Not helpful, Google..

[localzuk]

Hahaha. It's manx for rude person.

[TechMonkey]

People were too caught up in the rhetoric that the last Labour government caused the world wide financial melt down and didn't listen to anything else.

 

Sorry I have to pick up on this. I don't think people believe they caused the world wide financial melt down, but they did nothing to protect the country and actively put us in a worse position. It is all well and good saying the Coalition has been in power for 5 years and why haven't they turned the country around but Labour were in for 13 years. They should have had us shored up and sorted in that time, had the banks under control and the economy in a stable position. Except they decide to let the UK banks run rampant, advertise to the world that they are going to sell all our gold reserves and the exact date so the price plummets and we end up getting the worse price for gold in memory (slight hyperbole I know but it was certainly an all time low price) and just kept borrowing instead of being sensible and realising the boom can't last forever.

 

If you think that it was impossible to weather the storm lets look at Canada, Australia, even Germany.

 

I would love to vote Labour, I am a union man, believe in reasonable welfare and the NHS but they just have no credibility with me anymore. I am glad Ed Balls was beaten as he never took responsibility and continued to believe he did the best job in the world. Hopefully with a complete change of leadership they may have a long hard think and sort themselves out.

[Andrew_C]

This map looks better.

 

Show the constituency size based on population. More red, but still gloomy viewing for a natural green/yellow voter.

 

Sorry, wrong map; looks like the one I saw earlier with results on it, but can't find it right now.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Andrew_C

[Gatt]

I can go with that. Although Scottish money is a little bit odd in my experience so far!

 

 

 

Fastyr mie

 

Wait, that's Manx Gaelic, is that allowed?

 

Nope, Scots Gaelic only

[localzuk]

Nope, Scots Gaelic only

 

Dangit. That'll be annoying as everything is just that bit different.

[Gatt]

All joking aside, what would be the chances of the SNP getting in south of the Border?

[localzuk]

All joking aside, what would be the chances of the SNP getting in south of the Border?

 

Unlikely, as they're nationalists for the wrong country south of the border.

[Gatt]

Unlikely, as they're nationalists for the wrong country south of the border.

True, but do you think Salmond and Sturgeon are gonna stop at the border now they are the 3rd biggest party at Westminster?

I hope they do [stay up north], but they need to be kept in check!

[featured_spectre]

What a load of rubbish. The collapse of the American sub prime market and the collapse of the banks hit loads up I'll prepared countries and labour was miles ahead in the polls. I hope your memory and the Tory lies have clouded your judgement and you don't really believe that nonsense as that would be a real shame. The election of 2015 will notoriously go down in history and discussed like no other before it. The Tories have allowed the SNP to become a monster that will rip the UK apart for free with no conditions or clauses even though it was touted as a once in a lifetime decision.

 

Now we have an EU referendum to contend with ... We get all the snoopers laws and a mandate to squeeze the living daylights out of anyone who gets in their sights. I think I will see the desperation in peoples faces I have seen since the miners strike.

 

I agree that labour didn't cause the economic meltdown, but they were very very ill prepared and their answer was to sell the nations gold at low price which put us in an even worse position as we have little reserves to fall back on. They then did the "conservative" thing and swung in lots of cuts which made things worse, as it put people out of jobs and on to benefits. They left the nation in a bad state, much like how the conservatives left the nation in 1997. Yes labour picked it up and we became a strong economy, but it all leads back to the economic crisis of 2008 which will forever be lumbered at labours door.

 

As for myself personally, I am glad to have the conservatives in. I personally have been much better off, I am happy with the choice of the nation, and whilst I feel a proportional representation would be better we have to make the best of what we have. Currently the EU referendum is a big one, and I can see the vote going either way. UKIP will be pushing for the "less immigration" stance to try and get it going that way, conservatives dont want more powers handed to brussels and labour want to keep things as is. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the "nationalists" are going to vote to leave the EU.

[Gatt]

The Tories have allowed the SNP to become a monster that will rip the UK apart for free with no conditions or clauses even though it was touted as a once in a lifetime decision..

 

Explain?

 

I think the SNP's rhetoric of "Vote SNP & we'll stop the Tories" has helped a lot!

The SNP won all but 3 seats, wiping out Labour and the Lib Dems..

 

So the SNP's plan spectacularly backfired.. Everyone voted SNP, but without its Scottish MPs, Labour were in no position to fend off the surge in Tory votes (former Lib Dem / UKIP voter i believe) allowing the Tories in.

 

I expect to be shot down in flames for saying this but, personally, I believe the right decision has been made..

[tmcd35]

I think the SNP's rhetoric of "Vote SNP & we'll stop the Tories" has helped a lot!

 

So the SNP's plan spectacularly backfired.. Everyone voted SNP, but without its Scottish MPs, Labour were in no position to fend off the surge in Tory votes (former Lib Dem / UKIP voter i believe) allowing the Tories in.

 

Labours scottish MP's wouldn't have made any difference, Cameron would still have the same majority right now. The problem for Labour was south of the boarder. Had Labour done better south, as we were expecting going in, they could have worked with the SNP on some level. Ideologically they're actually pretty close. Certainly could have kept Cameron out of Downing Street. It looks like Labours biggest problem was the effects of the Lib Dem crash.

 

Alas it was the Lib Dems not the SNP that let the Tories in, again.

[flyinghaggis]

I'm quite disappointed that the result leaves the Conservatives with an overall majority since it means they can effectively ignore the opinion of all the other parties and push through whatever legislation the like providing their own MP's agree to it. Ironically despite the landslide SNP victory it actually leaves Scotland with very little influence in Westminster.

 

I've a feeling the next 5-10 years could be a the most important this century for defining the future of the country. Especially with talk of an upcoming EU referendum. Following on from that the SNP will almost certainly insist on another referendum in the event of the UK voting to leave the EU. Suspect it'll mean moving to a more devolved federal style system if we want to keep the United Kingdom united.

 

Interesting times ahead......

Edited May 8, 2015 by flyinghaggis

[featured_spectre]

I have to agree. First past the post is horribly buggy in its use. A person with 30% of the votes can rule where 70% didn't want them too.

 

We need mixed member proportional representation. It's a system which you elect locally who you want and who has done good but nationally you select the party you want to be in power.

 

In this instance UKIP would have 12% of the seats, conservatives with 35% etc...whilst locally the best man for the job is there. Feel free to Google it if I haven't made it clear how it works.

[flyinghaggis]

I have to agree. First past the post is horribly buggy in its use. A person with 30% of the votes can rule where 70% didn't want them too.

 

+1

 

We have a situation in the UK where a third of voters claimed an overall Majority in Westminster for the Conservatives and around 50% of voters in Scotland translated into nearly 100% of seats for the SNP. I personally would like to see several parties discussing policies and working together rather than a single party having absolute majority control in parliament.

[SpuffMonkey]

I agree that labour didn't cause the economic meltdown, but they were very very ill prepared and their answer was to sell the nations gold at low price which put us in an even worse position as we have little reserves to fall back on. They then did the "conservative" thing and swung in lots of cuts which made things worse, as it put people out of jobs and on to benefits. They left the nation in a bad state, much like how the conservatives left the nation in 1997. Yes labour picked it up and we became a strong economy, but it all leads back to the economic crisis of 2008 which will forever be lumbered at labours door.

.

 

With respect - that's nonsense - Brown sold the gold in the 1990s, not as an answer to the banking collapse. Probably not a good idea - but the money wasn't just spent, but reinvested in foreign currency "instruments". I believe Labour should have done more to restrain the banks irresponsible actions - but to be fair the Tories were shouting for an even more relaxed regulatory system at the time. Leaving the banks to fail would have been catastrophic for most people - as salaries paid through the banks would have just stopped and any savings would have been forfeit - not a pretty thought...The economy was actually growing quite nicely in 2010 until Osborne started his austerity drive which put the mockers on any growth. Its worth bearing in mind that the Tories have failed in all of their financial plans in the previous 5 years and have borrowed more money than the combined total of all the Labour governments ever!

[localzuk]

The outcome of austerity is going to be a quite simple truth - the deficit simply won't go down. Our debt will continue to grow and the deficit will remain the same or grow also. Tax receipts will drop and these will offset any and all savings made through cuts.

 

Its a dumb idea, implemented badly by people who can't operate a spreadsheet.

[Arthur]

Election 2015: What difference would proportional representation have made?

 

The Conservatives would have won 75 fewer seats but would still have been the largest party in the Commons. Labour too would have taken fewer seats.

 

The SNP's dramatic increase in seats of 50 would have been curtailed to 25.

 

But UKIP, the Lib Dems and the Greens would have fared much better.

 

UKIP would have been a force to be reckoned with in the Commons with 83 seats.

 

http://vgy.me/6LBJRk.png

[Arthur]

the deficit simply won't go down.

It's not as bad as it used to be though.

 

http://vgy.me/iZ10bo.png

 

http://vgy.me/kb5MpZ.png

[featured_spectre]

Those 2 HUGE spikes are WW1 and WW2 respectively.

[Gatt]

I always look at the deficit reduction working in the same way as repaying a loan or mortgage

 

You spend years paying off the interest, with very little change to the current balance (it fluctuates up or down depending on interest rates, etc)

Then, when you finally pay off the interest, the balance dramatically drops with each payment..

 

So similarly with the UK deficit, all we are doing in paying off the massive interest accrued over the years...

As soon as that "interest" is paid off, the deficit will drastically come down..