Poll: Who will you be voting for on May 5th?

[nero120]

actually, there is now the most people in employment for 20 years.

Where did you get your figures? Also, I think there is a helluva lot more personal debt than when the tories were in power, oh yeah, and the government debt! So, what is happening is we are getting more and more in debt and out of control, and people think our economy is in a good state??? Madness.

 

[nero120]

How about an education minister that's actually worked in education for a minimum of a decade? How about a doctor or nurse to run health? And a novel idea .... let a businessman run Trade and Industry

Have you ever read the Tom Clancy book Executive Orders? I think President Ryan had it spot on there!

 

[nero120]

Unemployment might be down but then again the method of measurement has changed. The figures you are seeing are not straight forward comparisons.
It is like saying education has improved because more people are getting higher grades and yet from these very forums alone it is obvious that standards of English are dropping.

Exactly, that and the fact that government figures are intended to make the government look good. If 'unemployment' is down thats a good thing, because you'd assume the people who were unemployed before are in work now. But since university places have risen massively whilst labour has been in power, that must have taken up some of the slack right?

 

[nero120]

People who vote for her have never met her or are clinically insane IMHO

MB

Why, pray tell?

 

[nero120]

Errr.... When? Tuition fees were introduced in September 1998. And yes, that makes it Mr Blair's doing.

Then in 2001, after saying he wouldn't introduce top-up fees to the tuition fees, he has, and they then passed a bill to introduce them in January.

It was even printed in their manifesto that they wouldnt introduce them, but did that stop them? Hell no!

 

[nero120]

The right to vote should not be based on any sort of contribution; it means there is no stop on those who do ‘contribute’ abusing those who are deemed not to. The vote being granted to all is how democracy works – limits, in this sense, create abuse. The vote is effectively your voice, if I take that away from you (for whatever reason), I can stamp on you and you can't even whimper.

Depends what side you approach from. The greeks believed that giving a vote to everyone was madness and mob rule, as such each democratic city state had strict rules on who was allowed to vote (examples are must be over 35, male, etc). I agree with that approach because it gives voting and political say worth. It says "if you work hard for our society then you shall be rewarded with a say on how it is run", whereas what we have now is complete political apithy from most voters. This is not because of politicians, but because none of the people either understand their commitment to democracy or really give a carp either way.

Also, part of a liberal democracy means the views of the majority cant oppress the views of the minority, so just because you don't get a say doesnt mean you are unprotected, it just means that you don't get a say on how the country is run. That seems pretty fair and logical to me.

 

[nero120]

Its quite funny - all of the arguments going around about "we need a change" and "change those at the top" are exaclt the same ones around when the Tories last lost power. Just shows that nothing changes, the goverment always eventually lose an election - and Labour are seen in exactly the same light as the Tories were...

Which is exactly how it needs to work! While a government is doing good it should stay in power, but in reality no government can keep doing positive things for more than 2 terms. Constant change is definitely what keeps the country sharp and competitive. Having a party in power longer than they are doing good is actually quite dangerous! Labour and Consertive are really two different sides to the same coin, but they create the balance and cannot exist without the other. To have too much of one is dangerous and the balance needs to be maintained by playing one of the other. I believe this is the only way our party-based democracy can properly function. The roles of the lesser parties are not important, but add to the scenery, it is the two main parties that define our government.