scottdisco
rip this joint please
otm.
UK GENERAL ELECTION THURSDAY MAY 6th 2010
- Thread starter scottdisco
- Start date
otm.
crackerjack
Well-known member
indeed
OK, accept it's constituional, at least once the bill's passed, but what happens if the govt fails a confidence vote?
scottdisco
rip this joint please
btw T, dunno what you are on about!
next, you will be trying to imply that i have a problem w the nutty group of provocateurs that cluster around Frank Furedi, such as Claire Fox, Hume, O'Neill, Patrick West, that lot
next, you will be trying to imply that i have a problem w the nutty group of provocateurs that cluster around Frank Furedi, such as Claire Fox, Hume, O'Neill, Patrick West, that lot
hucks
Your Message Here
Good. Ringfencing the NHS was the stupidest way to go about cutting expenditure. Spending on the NHS has doubled in real terms since 1997. It's gone up by 5% (again, in real terms) since the start of the recession, which is just crazy.
OK it means he lied, but whatever
craner
Beast of Burden
Excuse me? I may not be "a nice person" but I think this is fair enough: polling stations are open all day and everybody knows they close at 10pm, it's a clear law and means ballot boxes can start being counted at a reasonable hour, and if people are refused admittance because they arrive late to vote then they have not been "disenfranchised" -- and they can always circumvent problems with timing by applying for a postal vote. So how fucking hard can it be? As far as I know or have seen, plenty of polling stations that were overwhelmed with late voters allowed anyone who arrived at the stations before 10pm to vote after 10pm, but in some this wasn't the case and queues of people were turned away -- well, sorry, that's tough, but it's not a scandal. Taken aback, I must say, by the hysterical and self-important tone taken by voters and commentators on this; it's like the expenses thing has inculcated -- or maybe just consolidated or aggravated -- this culture of hair-trigger hysteria. Anyway, enough. I don't think this story actually warrants much debate.
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baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
People in Hackney, for example, were queueing for an hour and a half, and were turned away. The only conclusion you can come to is that certain polling stations were massively underresourced. Not hysteria, just plain fact. The expenses 'scandal', I personally didn't give a fuck about.
People shouldn't have to apply for a postal vote just because they work long hours/live in an area which is underresourced. Maybe a public holiday on election day next time?
It's not the biggest scandal ever, true, but it's entirely symptomatic of utter contempt for people on the part of those organising the election.
People shouldn't have to apply for a postal vote just because they work long hours/live in an area which is underresourced. Maybe a public holiday on election day next time?
It's not the biggest scandal ever, true, but it's entirely symptomatic of utter contempt for people on the part of those organising the election.
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baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
How long did you have to wait to vote? If you'd been waiting for an hour and a half after a long day, and then told you couldn't vote, you'd be complaining too, and to deny that is rubbish.
It's called empathy for other people in more difficult circumstances, not hysteria. Really...
It's called empathy for other people in more difficult circumstances, not hysteria. Really...
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Obviously this is personal for you in some way I don't understand (which is fair enough, as everyone is alway speaking through their own experience when giving opinions), else there's no reason to ask that question.
Because everyone should be given equal opportunity to vote, and it shouldnt' be made harder for those with the most commitments, or who live in underresourced areas, which, let's face it, are usually poor areas.
Because everyone should be given equal opportunity to vote, and it shouldnt' be made harder for those with the most commitments, or who live in underresourced areas, which, let's face it, are usually poor areas.
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crackerjack
Well-known member
Absolutely. Since when are people supposed to factor in council resourcing or high turnout etc?
We're not all political anoraks
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
totally.
would be interesting to see where highest areas of non-partiicpation were (google search would sort that, actually!)
crackerjack
Well-known member
This 55% business is fucking fucked.
Do they need a 55% vote to pass it?
Do they need a 55% vote to pass it?
boombox
...
Fixed terms are a blatantly good idea, one that I have heard little significant opposition to. Giving the right to the Prime Minister to pick and choose the moment, having used short-termism to artificially inflate his position, is ludicrous.
Before the coalition I heard both of the parties putting forward this idea.
There's a lot of confusion here. It takes 55% of MPs, in a no-confidence vote, to trigger an election. The reason that the idea of fixed terms will not go to a vote is that it is widely accepted as being a more stable and more democratic way of doing things.
Before the coalition I heard both of the parties putting forward this idea.
There's a lot of confusion here. It takes 55% of MPs, in a no-confidence vote, to trigger an election. The reason that the idea of fixed terms will not go to a vote is that it is widely accepted as being a more stable and more democratic way of doing things.
boombox
...
As for people not being able to vote...
Yes, each individual station needs to be better equipped, but to invalidate the whole election is unworkable when:
The burden is mainly on you: You have had 15 hours to vote. They don't knock on your door.
Weeks in which to request a postal vote
There are 50,000 polling stations at which surely one person per election will be disappointed
You could have a by-election in a particular constituency if it's a particularly egregious case but otherwise...
Yes, each individual station needs to be better equipped, but to invalidate the whole election is unworkable when:
The burden is mainly on you: You have had 15 hours to vote. They don't knock on your door.
Weeks in which to request a postal vote
There are 50,000 polling stations at which surely one person per election will be disappointed
You could have a by-election in a particular constituency if it's a particularly egregious case but otherwise...
crackerjack
Well-known member
It takes 55% at the moment? I wasn't aware of this. So far as I know, this is new. Can I have a link?
crackerjack
Well-known member
Right, that's the bit that concerns me, not the fixed term (which I agree is preferable to the usual 4-year minimum, then go when the getting's good)