Poll: Who will you vote for next General Election

[platypus]

Why do you get the option to abstain yet when other people do it then it is not voting properly? Maybe (and this is an impossibly long shot) the other people are abstaining because they don't view any of the candidates as worthwhile either. I've often wondered if there is some truth in the saying that "we get the government we deserve" (possibly paraphrased from Alexis De Tocquville).

For the little it matters I'm certain you've given the matter much more thought than most people who simply don't vote but to deny them the same option you wish to give yourself doesn't seem entirely consistent.

What are you talking about? Where have I said other people abstaining is not voting properly?

"We get the government we deserve" - exactly. Because people don't turn up to vote. Not turning up to vote is not abstaining properly. Not being arsed to turn up to vote is not exercising your "democratic right" however you look at it, it's being bloody lazy. The proper way to show you don't agree with the choices on offer is to abstain by turning up and spoiling your ballot paper.

 

[doyle369]

Good point

 

[Sankari]

I want to turn up and spoil other people's ballot papers.

 

[Dolph]

For those that doubted the scale of Labour's economic incompetence...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8057450.stm

New government borrowing rose sharply in April, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

Public sector net borrowing rose to £8.46bn this April compared to £1.84bn in the same month last year.

It was a new record for the public deficit in April, with government coffers hit by higher social benefits payments and lower tax receipts.

Significantly, ratings agency Standard & Poor's revised its outlook for the UK to negative due to borrowing worries.

The ratings agency said that Britain's triple-A rating for its government bonds was at risk in the future if the next government did not produce a credible plan to put its debts on a "secure downward trajectory".

It will be the first time ever the UK government has had it's credit rating downgraded...

 

[dirtydog]

Question for everyone not voting for Torries

Why are you no voting for Torries ??

Dunno, who are the Torries?

For those that doubted the scale of Labour's economic incompetence...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8057450.stm



It will be the first time ever the UK government has had it's credit rating downgraded...

I have no doubt about the scale of your apostrophe incompetence

 

[Rich_L]

For those that doubted the scale of Labour's economic incompetence...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8057450.stm



It will be the first time ever the UK government has had it's credit rating downgraded...

Where has the credit rating been down-graded?

 

[dirtydog]

Where has the credit rating been down-graded?

His link seems to be about candidates for Speaker

 

[Pixel]

It's almost as if Brown is intentionally trying to kill the economy because he won't get voted back in at the next general election.

 

[dirtydog]

The ratings agency said that Britain's triple-A rating for its government bonds was at risk in the future if the next government did not produce a credible plan to put its debts on a "secure downward trajectory".

It reaffirmed the UK's actual credit rating, but said the outlook had deteriorated because of massive borrowing to deal with the recession and the banking crisis.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8061019.stm

 

[Dolph]

Where has the credit rating been down-graded?

Where did I say it had? They have just said it's likely conisdering the country's economy.

 

[dirtydog]

Where did I say it had? They have just said it's likely conisdering the country's economy.

So you were criticising Labour for something which hasn't happened yet and may never happen... I see

 

[Rich_L]

Where did I say it had? They have just said it's likely conisdering the country's economy.

Well no, they didn't say it was likely at all.

"The rating could be lowered if we conclude that, following the election, the next government's fiscal consolidation plans are unlikely to put the U.K. debt burden on a secure downward trajectory over the medium term," Mr. Beers said. "Conversely, the outlook could be revised back to stable if comprehensive measures are implemented to place the public finances on a sustainable footing, or if fiscal outturns are more benign than we currently anticipate."

 

[sixty]

*sigh*

Like it matters who I vote for.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

*sigh*

Like it matters who I vote for.

Stop being so apathetic and grow some.

 

[elroberto]

So you were criticising Labour for something which hasn't happened yet but probably will... I see

Fixed that one for you.

The markets have taken this report quite badly, FTSE's down, gilt market is dropping and the pound will most likely lose the recent gains against the dollar. I'm not one for conspiracy theories but the Gordon Brown/Scorched Earth idea won't go away.

 

[Monkey Puzzle]

It would have been cheaper and better for the taxpayer to keep those people on the dole in the vast majority of cases as the work is non-productive.

Are you really so misguided in your love for all things, and only things private-sector, that you believe that tosh?

 

[dirtydog]

Stop being so apathetic and grow some.

He is right, whoever he votes for things will continue much the same, whether Labour or the Tories get in.

Not being apathetic, just recognising facts?

 

[dirtydog]

Fixed that one for you.

The markets have taken this report quite badly, FTSE's down, gilt market is dropping and the pound will most likely lose the recent gains against the dollar. I'm not one for conspiracy theories but the Gordon Brown/Scorched Earth idea won't go away.

It is a silly theory IMO - he wants to retain / regain power and the only likely way to do that, is for the economy to recover before the next election. I have no reason to believe he isn't doing everything he can to make that happen, and evidently the IMF agrees as they have praised the UK's response to the recession!

As for the markets falling, well it's a self-fulfilling prophecy isn't it? S&P bringing out a gloomy report is bound to have that effect, and vice versa.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

He is right, whoever he votes for things will continue much the same, whether Labour or the Tories get in.

Not being apathetic, just recognising facts?

You're pretty damn narrow-minded if you think the only end result of not voting is that "Labour or Tories" get in.

By not voting, you will increase the proportion of votes the likes of the BNP, Greenparty, UKIP party have. If you don't go to the ballot box and tick "abstain", you directly increase the minority party proportions.

Not to mention, you should be voting Tories anyway, to purge Westminster.

 

[Rich_L]

A 2% drop after a 4-5% rise is not 'taking the news badly' - taking the news badly is when the £ plunged to 1.35 or so against the $

Indeed Peston's blog http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/

And, strikingly, the Debt Management Office has this morning completed the biggest ever auction of gilts in history. And it sold the lot very comfortably indeed, with far more bids than it needed.

Hardly a sign of panic in the market...