Off Topic Political Debate

Will the average voter read the manifests of the political parties, understand their histories? I think not.
If your election decision is made just on opinions about these four men the United Kingdom has my sympathy, they are all poor candidates.

 

Lets face it the average voter is fairly clueless about politics or else the tories would be miles ahead in the polls. I'm not sure this one man one vote is all it is cracked up to be.

Maybe we should look to our friends in China, Russia or North Korea on how to instill a bit more certainty to the vote.

 

Once again the Green Party is not represented and UKIP are receiving more publicity than they deserve.

 

Natalie Bennett of the Greens is taking part.

 

there is 7 of them taking part

 

Such a well argued post - not a biased view or generalisation in sight

 

I do share some of his views about the Thatcher era but the generalizing of Tory voters is one I don't recognize. Some of my best friends are Tories and they don't mind that I put on a mask when I go out with them!

 

Well the Scots voters are fairly well clued up - and look where that got the tories....

please log in to view this image

please log in to view this image

please log in to view this image

 

Is that why they munch on fried mars bars?

England would be better off without the scots, we have subsidised them for too long.

 

I have to also admit that I have had misguided Tory friends in the past (and their German equivalents) - and although it doesn't come over here, I'm not interested in a persons politics but rather the person behind the ideas. I have met complete idiots who have agreed with every one of my ideas - and conversely some nice Tories ! I think that the way we actually arrive at our political convictions is largely a matter of chance, meet the right person at the right time etc. So I can forgive anything in the hope they will do the same for me.

 

There's so much fishing going on here I am worried we'll be getting complaints from Greenpeace.

 

its comments like this that make me proud to be a hornet

 

Your tory masters have really done a job on you, haven't they? With all the evidence to the contrary, you still believe that...

 

If we have the nightmare scenario of labour propped up by the SNP using their position solely for the good of Scotland then the English will demand the rebuilding of Hadrian's Wall long before HS2!

 

Perhaps against my better judgement I sat through all 2 hours of the leaders' debate. I ended up thinking I'd vote for the SNP if they put up a candidate in our bit of the south west .

 

Their policies are remarkably similar to the anti austerity nonsense peddled by Hollande in France which unfortunately unravelled within 3 days. It is easy to promise things that people want to hear but cannot be achieved.

 

As long as we aren't expected to pay for it too, they'd be very welcome to. And I'm sure that the Northumbrians living in the 90% of their county north of said wall would welcome the opportunity to escape tory clutches by becoming part of Scotland.

 

If the oil price remains low they won't have any money. The SNP will cause major problems in parliament to enable them achieve another independence vote. I hope they are successful next time.

 

Symptomatic of British politics is the tendency to be passive in relation to politics. Most people do not involve themselves in any way (apart from voting every 4/5 years) and then complaining that 'those at the top' do what they want anyway. We were in Belgium recently (as guests of the Green Party there) and they were explaining that there it is normal that 10% of the population are members of political parties. In Austria 17% are members of parties (the highest in Europe). In the UK membership is the second lowest at just over 1%. In other words only 1% of the population is active in the formation of political initiatives. At one time there were 4 million members in the UK - 2.7 million in the Conservative Party alone. The collapse is most dramatic for the Tories. During the Thatcher regime they had 800,000 members - but recently they have become so sensitive about this that they are no longer freely disclosing membership numbers - the latest calculation is under 100,000 ie. less than the SNP, and also the German Green Party. Labour is doing a little better with 170,000 members - but still way down on the 1.4 million they once had. With the Tories the average age of party members is, according to one calculation, over 70 ! So this may be the party's last chance !

Why is there so much apathy ? Why do the British not take over an active role in shaping their future ? It makes me sad to see people actually deciding their vote as the result of a TV debate (Has the political culture become so Americanized ?) where politicians become like performing bears for 2 hours and then voted on who gave the best showing. Does nobody read political manifestoes any longer ? What also makes me sad, and this elaborates on what Yellotoyou said, is that so many derogatory terms are used (mostly from the right) - apparently I am loony left, a leftie, a commie and a 'red under the bed' (although I have never been under a bed in my life) why do they resort to this ? Or do they have no content to argue with ? At any rate I cannot remember the left ever doing the same thing in return.