Off Topic The General Election Countdown and Aftermath

[ManDingo 20"/20"]

What i am suffering from during this election is simply the fact that i cannot find any single person that inspires me to vote for them through optimism, my greatest fear however is that we have the very likely hung parliament and either Farage or Sturgeon get their hands on some leverage within power. The worst scenario is if this Sturgeon character gets anywhere near power as her agenda has no interest in anywhere but Scotland and she views the rest of the UK through eyes only focussed on what it does for Scotland and how near it may move her utopian dream of an Independent Scotland in which everyone lives in the aforementioned utopia due to oil and whiskey revenues.

The SNP's agenda was firmly rejected in the recent referendum, supposedly for a generation ( a phrase that suited at the time) but these SNP politicians are not straight (are any) and they will seek another and another until getting the result they wish, and so you can bet should Milliband rely on their support the price will be steep. We must always remember this was a party which openly resorted to blackmail by saying if they were not allowed to use sterling and thus have their financial institutions underwritten they would renege on a debt which was in part theirs. If a friend treated us in this way we would not forget it and so we should not forget that little number they tried to pull. Whoever is in Govt next needs work on a new replacement for Trident which has nothing to do with Scotland so that their bargaining chip is taken away, couple this with a hopefully continued lower oil price and renewable energy sources being developed and the SNP will find themselves without a leg to stand on with regard their agenda, at which point they will crawl away again. I remember Sturgeon before she had the make over and she looked very different a very out of her depth, I think Alex Salmond pulls the strings still and that is a man who hates the English basically and so if allowed to weald you can bet it will not be in interest of the UK as a whole.

Big bad SNP

You know what your problem is? You see the SNP as a one agenda party. It's just not true anymore, no matter how many scared MP's or pathetic excuses of news outlets try to say otherwise. You say you can't find one single person that inspires you to vote through optimism. A lot of people North of the border are voting for the SNP for that very reason. Please do take your nuclear deterrent though I'm quite happy to lose that particular "bargaining chip" if it means punting them elsewhere.

It's funny that you accuse the SNP of blackmail. This entire election I've been told a vote for anyone else is a vote for conservatives.

I'm voting green, by the way. I already know that nothing printed above had any real impact on your thought process at all. I just like to be right.

 

[rudebwoy]

Why worry -none of them have real control -global capital dictates what they can or can't do ---they're all career politicians, not really driven by principles

 

[Bluesky9]

Big bad SNP

You know what your problem is? You see the SNP as a one agenda party. It's just not true anymore, no matter how many scared MP's or pathetic excuses of news outlets try to say otherwise. You say you can't find one single person that inspires you to vote through optimism. A lot of people North of the border are voting for the SNP for that very reason. Please do take your nuclear deterrent though I'm quite happy to lose that particular "bargaining chip" if it means punting them elsewhere.

It's funny that you accuse the SNP of blackmail. This entire election I've been told a vote for anyone else is a vote for conservatives.

I'm voting green, by the way. I already know that nothing printed above had any real impact on your thought process at all. I just like to be right.

The reason people think they are a one agenda party is in the name MD 20/20 - They are called the Scottish Nationalist Party, they are first and foremost nationalists, hence my view that their agenda will always be nationalist towards one part of the UK and not helpful towards the whole. It's just like the UK independence party, it's in the name. It may not be their entire philosophy but it is most certainly what it is based upon and their most cherished agenda.

Your last statement also actually betrays your limitations in my view, as you do not 'know' that what you have written has had no impact on my view, you are 'presuming', not 'knowing', in fact had a view been proposed with insight and conviction it may well have shaped or developed an opinion in myself or another in an unanticipated direction, as it happens however it didn't because there was very little content there. As for the last statement which states that you just like to be right, you really should know that it does not matter what the view when it comes to personal politics you can never be 'right' as it's all opinion, but you may likely imagine you are always right and nothing is opinion.

 

[Ron]

I think I understand

 

[Bluesky9]

Keep up Ron - sorry I just got a bit pedantic and retaliatory as MD 20 had decided to reply me rather than the post and have digs at me personally, which is the bane of my life when it comes to debating. It should always be about points and opinions rather than the person as it then develops along healthy lines and you end up with an array of differing opinions and points that you had never thought about before, and all sides have their view challenged. When you answer the poster and dig however it just becomes a slanging match and ceases to serve the purpose of debate.

 

[QuarterMoonII]

What i am suffering from during this election is simply the fact that i cannot find any single person that inspires me to vote for them through optimism, my greatest fear however is that we have the very likely hung parliament and either Farage or Sturgeon get their hands on some leverage within power. The worst scenario is if this Sturgeon character gets anywhere near power as her agenda has no interest in anywhere but Scotland and she views the rest of the UK through eyes only focussed on what it does for Scotland and how near it may move her utopian dream of an Independent Scotland in which everyone lives in the aforementioned utopia due to oil and whiskey revenues.

I think that you might be wrong about Ms Sturgeon only wanting to see her “progressive” policies in Scotland. Obviously her spend, spend, spend policy works well with the people who are going to vote for her party but I am sure that they also resonate with the impoverished in England who want to be further to the left than Marxist Miliband and might actually hope that the SNP tail wags the Labour dog. If the SNP seriously think they can run Scotland on falling oil revenues and whisky revenues, they are so misguided that we should let them go and try whilst we have a good laugh. Scotland needs immigration badly because most of their talented young people have come south of the Border so they need somebody to look after their ageing residents.

We must always remember this was a party which openly resorted to blackmail by saying if they were not allowed to use sterling and thus have their financial institutions underwritten they would renege on a debt which was in part theirs.

If I recall, the financial institutions in Edinburgh (like the big banks) all had people in place in their London offices to move their head office registration to the English capital the morning after a “Yes” vote. They would all still be using the pound sterling and paying their corporate taxes in England whilst the employees in their Edinburgh offices would be living and working in a foreign country. It was a hollow threat by Salmond.

Whoever is in Govt next needs work on a new replacement for Trident which has nothing to do with Scotland so that their bargaining chip is taken away

According to independent statistics, the submarine base at Faslane provides around 7,000 jobs. Presumably none of those people are stupid enough to vote SNP (turkeys voting for Christmas) but I am sure that we have already given thought to where on the English coast we could put a submarine base and people wanting to keep their jobs would move.

As the two big English parties favour renewal of Trident in some form or another, the SNP would be irrelevant in any vote on the matter in Parliament as the vote is already in the bag once they have haggled over three subs or four. They would just have to bring forward a separate bill for it rather than including it in any other bill.

 

[QuarterMoonII]

Why worry -none of them have real control -global capital dictates what they can or can't do ---they're all career politicians, not really driven by principles

True, the best example of that is the USA. They keep electing puppets as President but the country is actually run by big business and vested interests. Ultimately they do pull the purse strings and provide employment and prosperity.

 

[rudebwoy]

Huge disparity in wealth in the USA -also black people have lower life expectancy than Cubans -'---a small nation that despite all efforts by the USA have remained independent of American corruption -have better health Care and education -compare that to American influenced states in the region -Honduras, Haiti, Guatemala etc -so wealth and prosperity is not for the American working class -low pay,insecurity, bad health and exclusion are the norm -bit like what is developing in the UK for the last thirty years.......

 

[OddDog]

Huge disparity in wealth in the USA -also black people have lower life expectancy than Cubans -'---a small nation that despite all efforts by the USA have remained independent of American corruption -have better health Care and education -compare that to American influenced states in the region -Honduras, Haiti, Guatemala etc -so wealth and prosperity is not for the American working class -low pay,insecurity, bad health and exclusion are the norm -bit like what is developing in the UK for the last thirty years.......

The "haves" and the "have nots" ................... going the same way everywhere. If you've got money the global financial system is tailor-made for you to make more with tax loopholes left, right and centre.

This guy has it spot on

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[Cyclonic]

Not being professional investment analysts, we tend to under appreciate the workings of the global financial system. We just don't have the ammo to enter the fight in a decisive way. We in the first world might bitch from time to time about our perceived hard times, but we have what we have through the stratagems of those with their hands on the levers. This is not something new, we were all born into it. In reality, we have it really good. The following is a bit of an insight into what goes on behind the curtains. I'm glad that I don't have to do it.

http://investmentresearchdynamics.com/is-the-global-financial-system-on-the-brink-of-collapse/

 

[QuarterMoonII]

Vote Conservative... get discounted Lloyds shares...

Less than three weeks to go and they have resorted to bribery...

 

[Ron]

Not being professional investment analysts, we tend to under appreciate the workings of the global financial system. We just don't have the ammo to enter the fight in a decisive way. We in the first world might bitch from time to time about our perceived hard times, but we have what we have through the stratagems of those with their hands on the levers. This is not something new, we were all born into it. In reality, we have it really good. The following is a bit of an insight into what goes on behind the curtains. I'm glad that I don't have to do it.

http://investmentresearchdynamics.com/is-the-global-financial-system-on-the-brink-of-collapse/

I think I'll read that when my brain is in gear Cyc. Looks interesting

 

[smokethedeadbadger]

I tend to vote for the person rather than the party when it comes to the General Election (although i'd never vote Conservative under any circumstance). But with this election i find my self struggling to like any of the leaders at all. I think sometimes i won't bother voting but then i think if i don't, i've no right to moan about whoever gets in power, if i didn't even bother having my say. I'm also thinking that the only two with a real shot at getting in are the big two (Labour, Conservatives) so i should vote for one of them because if i go for one of the so called 'lesser' parties who have no chance of winning i'll feel like i've wasted my vote because it was never going to matter. Last election i went Lib Dems, the first time i'd gone away from Labour pretty much since i could vote. I fell out with Labour when Blair left, couldn't stand Gordon Brown. There's no way Clegg would get my vote this time round as he's been Cameron's puppet and has lost any credibility he had with me. That leaves me looking back at Labour and where i think i'll be breaking my usual pattern and voting for the party rather than the person because Ed Milliband does not inspire very much confidence in me as a leader but it seems, in my opinion anyway he's the best of a bad bunch this time round and am willing to give him a shot.

 

[gazboy]

Regarding the SNP you do know the Scottish health service is failing to meet targets much the same as Labour controlled Wales?

Why was Sturgeon given the tv time anyway? She is the leader of the party in Scotland and is not part of the Westminster votes at all!

 

[Bluesky9]

This is a good point Gaz if she is not even up for election. I actually think the big turnaround from labour to SNP is due to the referendum and people voting for Scotland over the UK again by voting SNP in this election. They were never as popular before the referendum but presumably their policies were the same, the question is were there not a referendum last year would they still be looking at winning all these seats in Scotland? The referendum was a huge success for the SNP even though they lost, because the sheer amount of exposure that Salmond/Sturgeon got made them appear significant players in UK politics when actually they were not at that point, and hopefully wont be after this current election.

 

[Janabelle13]

Be thankful you don't live north of the border - we get Sturgeon rammed down our throats morning noon and night. Ironically she is one leader that won't be taking a seat in Westminster as she is not standing in any constituency

 

[smokethedeadbadger]

The wife just sent me this video

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[OddDog]

Did he mention that the government has acted in a reckless and provocative manner?

What a **** but they are all the fecking same

 

[Sir Barney Chuckles]

Some of the papers are at the moment presenting a New Labour / SNP coalition as a ‘fait accompli’. Those bookie chappies though are wagering 12/1 on such a scenario. Someone’s very wrong somewhere.

I must say that Sturgeon filly is a no nonsense, steely type and whatever your political leanings you have to be impressed. I would imagine that Glenn Milliband’s brother must be terrified of any such coalition and being alone in a room with her! She’d tie him up in knots and have Scotland independent by Christmas!

 

[QuarterMoonII]

I actually think the big turnaround from labour to SNP is due to the referendum and people voting for Scotland over the UK again by voting SNP in this election. They were never as popular before the referendum but presumably their policies were the same, the question is were there not a referendum last year would they still be looking at winning all these seats in Scotland?

The SNP anti-austerity “progressive” policies are the reason that Scotland have abandoned Labour and the LibDems. I am not that sure that the surge in popular support for the Nationalists is anything to do with the folks wanting independence but their spending plans clearly resonate well north of the border rather than the main British parties’ cuts. The SNP want to max out the credit card just like Gordon ‘Prudent’ Brown did for New Labour.

People voted for Syriza in Greece because they were the left-wing anti-austerity party on the ballot. Economically they look like a disaster waiting to happen. Somehow they managed to magic up several hundred million Euros to make a payment to the I.M.F. recently but when their German creditors come calling in a couple of months it will not be as easy. Greek debt has not gone away.