[Politics] People voted Conservative?!?!?!

I just love the fact that despite all the similarities between the British and the Americans, folks over there cannot stand socialism, whereas we typically hate the idea of the free-market.

 

On the contrary, the basis of their economic policy is fundamentally different from Labours, which is based on their rather conveniently self-determined and flexible "fiscal rules." The Conservatives propose scrapping them and set out new forward looking economic constraints.

 

I was put off the Greens after reading this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2009/jun/01/european-elections-science-stem-cells-gm
http://www.layscience.net/node/581

Exactly my though. They just need to accept the fact that they are going to loose the next general election. They probably will do better with someone other than Brown, but they will loose nevertheless.

 

I hadn't seen that before, it's a bit disturbing, thanks for the links. My major gripe with their overall party philosophy is that renewable fuels are at the forefront of their campaign, but only one of their main candidates has said they're willing to even consider nuclear.

But as neither of those are really local council issues I don't have a big problem with them. They seemed to be doing good things when they got majority in Oxford a while back. Oh yes, and I now know that in my voting area my vote made no difference anyway. [/massive surprise/]

 

We need to stop voting for old freaking etonians and bloody Oxbridge graduates. We are supposed to be voting for our representatives - why are we surprised when wealthy career politicians screw over the working classes? Most of them have never worked outside of politics so how can they ever know the hardships that most Britons face on a daily basis? How can we take them seriously when they try to empathise with all the people who are losing their jobs when they have never had to contemplate going hungry or having their holiday homes in the South of France repossessed?

We blame the politicians for shafting us but we are the ones who drop the soap every time there's an election.

 

We, the British people have elected a pair of anti-semites to represent us in the European parliament.

We should hang our heads in shame.

 

I am no longer proud of calling myself a northerner.

Disgusting.

 

I don't think it's just the semites that they're "anti".

It is a sad state of affairs. If the current polls are supposed to be indicative, England is now a right wing, conservative country.

I hope this at least gives Labour an indication of where they can stuff their ID cards.

 

A Conservative Guv cannot succede, like they partially managed with Mrs Thatcher.

In 1979, we had stacks of North Sea Oil and there was some semblance of a free market economy.

Now thre is no free market economy worth talking about i.e. Capatilism is pretty much dead on its feet (or what remains of them) and is as impotent as Communism was in the late 1980s.

To further worsen matters, there is a vaccum of effective Government - certainly in the UK - and seemingly similar in other countries - I know Italy is run by a joke Governemnt now (IMHO) - they still vote in Berlusconi and various fascist groups.

 

I think the last time the UK could have been considered anywhere near left was 1945. Maybe the 70s at a push (although of course if you believe most the country was slipping in to an unbridled orgy of communism...)

 

Just a few random points relating to points raised by some of the excellent posts on this thread:

I now have as one of my 'representatives' in the European parliament, a former member of the National Socialist Party (which evolved into the National Front and then into the British National Party.) When I found that out I felt physically sick.

All the major parties have to share the blame for letting the neo-nazis get their foot in the door as a result of the expenses scandal.

The tories will get back in at the next General Election because people want a change. Many will then be hugely disappointed when they realise that David Cameron is just a soundbite politician, all spin and no substance; and that his cronies are just the same old shower who screwed up the country under Thatcher and Major. (Possibly with rather untidier moats though.)

The decimation of British manufacturing industry and the accompanying damage to the trade union movement during the Thatcher years destroyed much of the traditional form of working-class political organisation, which is largely why the Labour Party now has so few working-class MP's, and so many ex-lawyers just like the tories.

 

I didn't say their economic policy - I was referencing their rhetoric on welfare policy, and I can tell you now they are both geared towards 'activation' i.e. making 'useless' unemployed 'useful' employed - for the employer, which ties in with (at least for labour) policy on social cohesion, which is only good for problematising certain social and ethnic groupings in order to try to foster or point to some kind of common social identity that feeds in to the political. Unfortunately it is difference blind and is a thinly veiled re-attempt at assimilation. Because that worked so well last time...

And the conservatives may point to 'forward looking' rules for now, but once they get settled we'll see the market being embraced once again.

 

I thought I'd stick to truths I could actually prove rather than the ones that everyone knows but are difficult to prove.

 

But where's the fun in that? Things that are easy to prove aren't worth working on