[Archived] The General Election 2015

[thenodrog]

To put it bluntly, I do not want to see the profession go back to class sizes of 60, like it was under the Thatcher and Major governments.

'classes of 60' my arse. Absolute rubbish! I doubt you can lie straight in bed! Is it in a teachers remit these days to re-write history to suit or to teach it as it appears in the history books? Thank God my kids have left school and are away from the influence of you and yours.

as for this... "After much consideration, I'll be voting Labour. As a teacher........ "

No surprise there then. Care to comment on the state of the economy which pays for you lot? In fact it pays for everytyhing. Ed couldn't be bothered at his last conference could he?

[thenodrog]

I like you quoted him.

Sturgeon is the ten-to-two bird on the side at the nightclub. Ed's arse will be like a fiddlers elbow on Sturgeon before the nights out if he needs to.

Maybe I was hasty. No one can be that thick can they?

Options

1. Is Sturgeon wanting what she appears to want? If so that conversation would normally have gone on behind closed doors before being played out in public (for the second time) surely?

2. Is she sensing a slip in SNP support and a return to Labour in Scotland? It would make sense then to get him to appear anti scottish in public.

3. Is it Cameron whose scuttling her? Last night favoured him most and he wasn't even there! Softlee softlee catchee monkee tactics perhaps?

4. Salmond's gone quiet.... could it be him pimping her out to suit his agenda?

5. Must say I liked the 6" heels!

[ABBEY]

Do your six inch heels not damage the putting green ?

[Gav]

Do your six inch heels not damage the putting green ?

Don't mention golf Abbey he almost had a coronary early in the week when it was mentioned on another thread.

[Gav]

Farage is marmite though, i thought he was thoroughly marginalised.

The problem with Farage is he blames immigration for everything.

To say they'll build social housing for British born residents only is just stupid, it's not '1 size fits all'

But he was right about the audience, and saying what he did was very calculated and tactical, he achieved the objective of singling himself out.

[ultrablue]

He singled himself out as being singularly idiotic. You have to take the BBC at their word. There were several cheers for Farage early on in the debate, and the question on immigration was clearly written by a supporter of his.

His lack of applause was not down to a biased choice of audience members. It was a clear indication that UKIP is not saying what the majority are thinking. To me he just seemed spiteful and pretty petty. The majority of voters are turned off by divisive policies.

But then again Farage is not running for leadership. His sole mission is to pull the Tories further right.

[RibbleValleyRover]

A supply and confidence arrangement could be incredibly messy and politically unstable which Is why I think Labour will end up doing more of a coalition sort of deal with the SNP otherwise we will see another general election called soon after. Miliband did rule that out but frankly a) I don't believe him and b. I think he will have no choice.

Miliband might have won according to the Survation poll after the debate but it looked to me like he didn't do enough to damage the SNP. Labour is facing a wipeout in Scotland if polling is correct, instead of tory bashing which might strengthen his core vote he needed to blunt the SNP and in my view he failed on that.

Nailed on for a hung parliament now and likely a disastrous for the country Labour/SNP coalition.

[Gav]

He singled himself out as being singularly idiotic. You have to take the BBC at their word. There were several cheers for Farage early on in the debate, and the question on immigration was clearly written by a supporter of his.

His lack of applause was not down to a biased choice of audience members. It was a clear indication that UKIP is not saying what the majority are thinking. To me he just seemed spiteful and pretty petty. The majority of voters are turned off by divisive policies.

But then again Farage is not running for leadership. His sole mission is to pull the Tories further right.

Farage wasn't looking for the people in the audience to vote UKIP, that was the last thing on his mind. He was looking to single UKIP out to potential voters at home and it worked a treat.

You sound like my Mrs ultrablue, she won't even listen to what he has to say as he's a racist idiot in her eyes which is just nonsense.

I'm more open to peoples ideas, I listen to all the parties, even the far right, closing your mind due to preconceived ideas stops you making an educated decision.

I remember the Mrs being outrages that England First had been elected in the Lower Darwen ward, the reason he was elected is he campaigned on a ticket for getting a new zebra crossing in the area and he delivered that, so its silly to just rule out people because of preconceived ideas.

[Mike E]

General question aboit politics. Left and right wing is about socio-economic policy (money and social welfare). So aren't the policies of the Tories, UKIP (and even the Nazis, looking back) actually quite Centrist? The attitude to countrymen or foreigners is on the Libertarian/Authoritarian scale isn't it?

[yoda]

A supply and confidence arrangement could be incredibly messy and politically unstable which Is why I think Labour will end up doing more of a coalition sort of deal with the SNP otherwise we will see another general election called soon after. Miliband did rule that out but frankly a) I don't believe him and b. I think he will have no choice.

Miliband might have won according to the Survation poll after the debate but it looked to me like he didn't do enough to damage the SNP. Labour is facing a wipeout in Scotland if polling is correct, instead of tory bashing which might strengthen his core vote he needed to blunt the SNP and in my view he failed on that.

Nailed on for a hung parliament now and likely a disastrous for the country Labour/SNP coalition.

I think the conservatives and lib dems are playing a long game here, as the election day gets closer a lot of the electorate will get the jitters about the SNP being able calling the shots in Westminster. (and effectively breaking up the UK)

The squabbling with the SNP and Labour is now in the open has only just begun, as the day gets closer more people will come to think how could those 2 parties have any hope of governing the country.

Will be interesting to see how the polls go now.

Cameron and Clegg can now make the squabbling a big issue and the SNP and Labour would have no come back over it.

UKIP is an insurance policy for the conservatives.

[K-Hod]

I think the conservatives and lib dems are playing a long game here, as the election day gets closer a lot of the electorate will get the jitters about the SNP being able calling the shots in Westminster. (and effectively breaking up the UK)

The squabbling with the SNP and Labour is now in the open has only just begun, as the day gets closer more people will come to think how could those 2 parties have any hope of governing the country.

Will be interesting to see how the polls go now.

Cameron and Clegg can now make the squabbling a big issue and the SNP and Labour would have no come back over it.

UKIP is an insurance policy for the conservatives.

I'd tend to agree with that, though the Lib Dems and the Tories managed to co-exist despite being poles apart politically.

The media is doing its best to show Milliband up, though opinion polls seem to show that people see through that. As someone alluded to with their Thatcher quote the other day:

'If they can't attack you politically, they attack you personally'

(I still maintain, seemingly along with many others that he can't possibly be the strongest candidate for leadership that Labour have to offer, surprised his brother didn't get a look in tbh.)

Three weeks or so to go at any rate, it will definitely be an interesting race!

[ultrablue]

Farage wasn't looking for the people in the audience to vote UKIP, that was the last thing on his mind. He was looking to single UKIP out to potential voters at home and it worked a treat.

You sound like my Mrs ultrablue, she won't even listen to what he has to say as he's a racist idiot in her eyes which is just nonsense.

I'm more open to peoples ideas, I listen to all the parties, even the far right, closing your mind due to preconceived ideas stops you making an educated decision.

I remember the Mrs being outrages that England First had been elected in the Lower Darwen ward, the reason he was elected is he campaigned on a ticket for getting a new zebra crossing in the area and he delivered that, so its silly to just rule out people because of preconceived ideas.

Gav I dont doubt Farage is calculating in what he says. I am not closed-minded to his message either. It chimes well with some but I think he is a pillock precisely because I've listened to what he and his have to say.

They want a 5 year freeze on unskilled immigration, an Australian style points system to get in, and then another 5 years of paying NI and tax before you are covered by the NHS?? Do UKIP know how many doctors and nurses come from abroad? They'll have to work 5 years and buy their own insurance to get treatment in their own hospital. No one is going to want to come. That'll trigger a crisis in NHS staffing.

Their manifesto is a list of scapegoat soundbites designed to pray on the insecure. Fortunately UKIP have little to no chance of getting into a position of passing any of them.

[jim mk2]

A supply and confidence arrangement could be incredibly messy and politically unstable which Is why I think Labour will end up doing more of a coalition sort of deal with the SNP otherwise we will see another general election called soon after. Miliband did rule that out but frankly a) I don't believe him and b. I think he will have no choice.

Miliband might have won according to the Survation poll after the debate but it looked to me like he didn't do enough to damage the SNP. Labour is facing a wipeout in Scotland if polling is correct, instead of tory bashing which might strengthen his core vote he needed to blunt the SNP and in my view he failed on that.

Nailed on for a hung parliament now and likely a disastrous for the country Labour/SNP coalition.

Ignore their public statements, Miliband and Sturgeon will have done a deal privately. All the parties will be talking about potential coalitions.

A Labour/SNP coalition would be bad for the 1 per cent and good for the 99 per cent so it depends on your point of view.

[yoda]

Ignore their public statements, Miliband and Sturgeon will have done a deal privately. All the parties will be talking about potential coalitions.

A Labour/SNP coalition would be bad for the 1 per cent and good for the 99 per cent so it depends on your point of view.

It would also be the death knell of the Union

[jim mk2]

I think the conservatives and lib dems are playing a long game here, as the election day gets closer a lot of the electorate will get the jitters about the SNP being able calling the shots in Westminster. (and effectively breaking up the UK)

The squabbling with the SNP and Labour is now in the open has only just begun, as the day gets closer more people will come to think how could those 2 parties have any hope of governing the country.

Will be interesting to see how the polls go now.

Cameron and Clegg can now make the squabbling a big issue and the SNP and Labour would have no come back over it.

UKIP is an insurance policy for the conservatives.

I don't normally respond to your posts because you always make infantile comments but I will in this case.

SNP and Labour are rival parties in Scotland but I don't see any "squabbling" beyond the normal election noise. I think you'll find behind the scenes they've already done a deal in the event of a hung parliament.

[Gav]

Gav I dont doubt Farage is calculating in what he says. I am not closed-minded to his message either. It chimes well with some but I think he is a pillock precisely because I've listened to what he and his have to say.

They want a 5 year freeze on unskilled immigration, an Australian style points system to get in, and then another 5 years of paying NI and tax before you are covered by the NHS?? Do UKIP know how many doctors and nurses come from abroad? They'll have to work 5 years and buy their own insurance to get treatment in their own hospital. No one is going to want to come. That'll trigger a crisis in NHS staffing.

Their manifesto is a list of scapegoat soundbites designed to pray on the insecure. Fortunately UKIP have little to no chance of getting into a position of passing any of them.

I thought Farage gave a good response to the NHS workers from overseas, he said why are we looking overseas for doctors and nurses?

I agree with him, we're clearly doing something wrong here if we can't British people to be nurses and doctors.

But you're right ultrablue, far to many UKIP policies are Ill thought out and although UKIP is trying to clean up its act they've a long way to go yet until they can be taken seriously.

[yoda]

I don't normally respond to your posts because you always make infantile comments but I will in this case.

SNP and Labour are rival parties in Scotland but I don't see any "squabbling" beyond the normal election noise. I think you'll find behind the scenes they've already done a deal in the event of a hung parliament.

Yes Jim, he who got banned for that very crime.

If the SNP wipe out Labour in Scotland as is likely and they do a deal with them, there is the red line of Trident and also the SNP demanding another independence referendum.

In that scenario it is probable that Labour would never be in power again in an independent England.

[Mike E]

Regarding Farage and the concerns about applause and left wing bias, Labour and UKIP were the parties who garnered the most applause in that debate (just watched on Iplayer). In fact, Farage actually answered very well on most points.

It disturbs me a little that Farage addressing immigration by being anti-EU is perceived as racism. His wife is foreign, right? Why is 'wanting to trade with the EU rather than be a member' (what was originally voted for by the public) deemed racism? It's nothing more than an attempt to 'shut up' someone who disagrees with the boys already in there imo.

[ultrablue]

I thought Farage gave a good response to the NHS workers from overseas, he said why are we looking overseas for doctors and nurses?

Unfortunately responding to a question with a question is not a solution.

When pressed for solutions, UKIP still can't get away from their one and only idea- blame immigration first, tackle the actual issue later.

[Paul]

For all the talk about the minor parties for anyone living in England the choice is still Conservative or Labour, nothing has changed. UKIP, the Greens, Lib Dems only have one choice - who to sleep with for the next five years? I'm sure we will end up with a hung parliament or a minoriity government - a Labour/SNP coalition formed only to keep Cameron out or a Tory minoriity doing deals where it can.

Voting for a negative is hardly the way forward.

From my perspective it would be good to have a serious third alternative to consider. Sadly in England there isn't and will not be in the foreseeable future.

Election night is going to be very interesting but what is one night's entertainment against five years of weak government?

The minor parties are far from bringing a serious and

worthwhile alternative are this time proving to be a real distraction from the very serious business of the type of government we want.

[Gav]

Unfortunately responding to a question with a question is not a solution.

When pressed for solutions, UKIP still can't get away from their one and only idea- blame immigration first, tackle the actual issue later.

He does have a very valid point though ultrblue on this issue of not enough homegrown doctors and nurses. It's interesting to note that many of them that do come through move abroad!

[Al]

Unfortunately responding to a question with a question is not a solution.

When pressed for solutions, UKIP still can't get away from their one and only idea- blame immigration first, tackle the actual issue later.

When I examine what has had a negative effect on my life I have to say that immigration was and still is the major factor. It has reduced wages in this country, is a strain on our benefits system and worst of all forced me out of the town of my birth. There is very little or nothing that Farage says that I do not agree with and he has my vote.

[Gav]

When I examine what has had a negative effect on my life I have to say that immigration was and still is the major factor. It has reduced wages in this country, is a strain on our benefits system and worst of all forced me out of the town of my birth. There is very little or nothing that Farage says that I do not agree with and he has my vote.

The only person that forced you out of Blackburn was you Al, I've lived here all my life, lived in Bastwell for many years, never felt the need to move? Strange that.

[thenodrog]

I remember the Mrs being outrages that England First had been elected in the Lower Darwen ward, the reason he was elected is he campaigned on a ticket for getting a new zebra crossing in the area and he delivered that, so its silly to just rule out people because of preconceived ideas.

Logic would suggest then that she must believe an 'England Last' philosophy. Isn't that close to treason?

[yoda]

The only person that forced you out of Blackburn was you Al, I've lived here all my life, lived in Bastwell for many years, never felt the need to move? Strange that.

Thing is, Al is not on his own, a lot of people have moved out of Blackburn,

Why is that ?