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The UK Election

I had decided I was going to ignore the UK election. Like many others, I have been angry at the Labour Party for getting involved with Bush and the Iraq War and have found their policies to be far more conservative than I had liked. I had expected a lot more from British Labour, particularly on the European front. But what are they offering? No entry to the Euro. No entry to Schengen (borderless Europe). I see Europe as a major part of the many ways to world peace. Britain under Labour wasn’t leading.

But what was the alternative? A return to Thatcherism under the Conservative Tory Party. In other words, a lose/lose situation.

Then bingo! Out of nowhere come the Liberal Democrats. Nick Clegg grabbed world headlines for his party as a result of a very good showing in the first of three debates, and polls now show that the Labour Party may be forced into a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. They have lost a little bit of momentum since the first debate, but there is still a good chance they could form a coalition with Labour.

The mainstream media, led by arch villain Rupert Murdoch, went berserk! Throwing all sorts of bullshit at the Liberal Democrats. Most of it was contrived. So much so that most of the general public didn’t buy it. May be Britain does have a real alternative to the two parties controlled by the establishment. I don’t know. But I would certainly love the chance to find out.

Nick Clegg is also very big on Europe. On that point alone Nick has won me. Nick has also said Brown must go, as part of the coalition deal. Two out of two ain’t bad.

Latest Guardian Poll.
Nick Clegg in Wikipedia.

1,360 replies on “The UK Election”

Chris, as I commented is the last thread, the Governor of the Bank of England reckons whoever gets in power in the UK will subsequently be out of power for a generation, because the fiscal measures required to keep the UK afloat and prosper are going to be brutal. Perhaps a win is a poisoned challice?

True KL, but for a five year guzzle on that chalice, lesser pollies have Fausted out. However the thought of the tories being drop-kicked to potitical buggery as one term wonders for the terms of their natural lives definitely appeals 🙂

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Briefly Sep-Side:

From the Unabridged Gopper Dictionary.
food chain: used to keep Mexican helpers out of the family larder.

———–

May 6:
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/tony-auth

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/85430

May 6: “Daddy, what are thought crimes and how do they prove them?”
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/pat-oliphant

May 6:
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/tom-toles

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/85344

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/85438

7 paddy At 5 seats difference. No one would be game to do anything. Considering the rate UK MP’s die in the etc. They would only have their majority for 1 to 3 years at the most.

Yes, Chris, there’s already a perch-fall by-election due in one seat. Factor in “the unknown terrorist” and the “Westminster System” as we know it could be in a serious spot of bovver!

Paddy, Nate is a good little psephologist. But this ain’t baseball where the stats are a “known known”. Hard data. These people are only as good as their data and there are a host of independent human variables that can’t be crunched.

Saw a report that said (BBC or Guardian) that 10% of eligible voters were still undecided. Precisely how their voting chains are jerked remains a matter of some conjecture. I wouldn’t bet Ireland on Nate’s forecast of a 5 seat result because the wind that shakes the electoral barley contains zephyrs indeterminate.

9
Actually Chris, with that sort of knife edge majority, I doubt they’d even last a year. 🙂
It’s going to be a bloody awful mess when they have to start the serious belt tightening.

11
Agreed Ecky. I saw that commenter on Nate’s blog talking about garbage in garbage out stats and it certainly rang bells. 🙂
SBS news tonight was quoting up to 20% undecided voters.
It will be fascinating to see how it all unfolds.
(I’m just glad I live here and not there!) 🙂

BTW
A bit OT for this thread.
(But that’s never stopped me before.) 😆
Bernard Keane was in the NBN lockup this afternoon and came up with this post.

NBN – can be done, on budget, on time, and it’ll cost $35 a month
The National Broadband Network will pay its way and return the Government about 6-7% on its investment once it is rolled out and privatised, the Government’s implementation study has found….more

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/thestump/2010/05/06/nbn-can-be-done-on-budget-on-time-and-itll-cost-35-a-month/

I can just imagine the squeals from the Telstra shills over the next few weeks. 👿

16
Chris,
I just watched Conroy on the 7.30 report and (to my surprise) he actually talked quite coherently about the NBN.
Chris Ullman spent the entire interview, either deliberately ignoring what the report had said or just proving he was a tool.
The ABfrigginC seems to be getting more than a little hysterical in it’s pursuit of the govt lately.
I’m hardly a fan of Conroy’s but that was a seriously crappy performance by Ullman.

Interesting site on the differing levels of value per vote in the various electorates in the UK.
http://blog.voterpower.org.uk/
Their electoral system really does seem to be borked. If nothing else comes out of this election, at least they might get some reform to their FPTP stuff.

18 paddy I get annoyed when the ignore whats in a report or document and go off on a tangent.

You’ll have to ask again in 12 hrs Jen and by then, we might even have a clue. 😆

( while we wait for UK results)

As well as vivisecting the acquisitiveness that both sustains and strangles Americans who define themselves solely through their net worth, the catharsis (rosebud moment) of this film (stage play) comes courtesy of the brilliant dialogue of Tennessee Williams. A top shelf drama queen can be a force to be reckoned with but one who can write this well is a literary treasure.
Newman’s acting is OK, Big Daddy Ives’ just pasable. These words will live forever in AmLit; certainly as long as Melville and Morrison and McCarthy are read.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVTFtmm5Vqw&feature=related

Tactical voting.
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In the United Kingdom general election May 6, “tactical voting” has become a serious issue as prominent members of the Labour Party push for it as a way to “keep out the Tories.” It’s an issue in upcoming US elections, as well.

Tactical voting is voting for someone besides the candidate you would most want to see win. Normally it is used to stop the candidate you hate the most from winning, by voting for your second or even third choice.

Take, for example, a district where the Conservative candidate polls at 38 percent, Labour is at 30 percent, and the Liberal Democrats are grabbing 20 percent. Imagine you are a LibDem supporter who hates the Conservatives and is simply unhappy with Labour; after concluding that your Liberal Democrat candidate will not win, you decide to vote for the Labour candidate because he or she has the best chance of beating the Tory. That’s tactical voting.

I wonder how many people will change there mind at the last minute, because of this? They may vote for Labour if their candidate had no chance. They may have no problem voting Labour if there was a good chance the would be forced into a coalition.
http://elections.firedoglake.com/2010/05/05/tactical-voting-a-problem-in-the-uk-and-the-us/

25
Oh my goodness. It’s the purple pussy cat, come home to visit the family.
Good to see you, you old fashion victim you. 😆
Hope you’re giving them hell and cracking the whip.

Republican Voter Enthusiasm Advantage Halved In Past Month: Gallup.
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Republican registered voters’ enthusiasm about voting in midterm elections this fall has dropped precipitously during the past month, cutting their enthusiasm advantage over Democrats almost in half, according to new Gallup polling data.

As Gallup’s Jeffrey Jones notes, registered voter party preferences remain in a statistical dead heat, so voter enthusiasm is a key measurement of likely election results — and Republicans historically have higher turnout. But the GOP’s current 10-point enthusiasm advantage is at its lowest ebb since Gallup began polling “2010 election attitudes” in March.

That will be well worth keeping an eye on. Especially if it keeps going the same way.
more here..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/06/republican-voter-enthusia_n_565793.html

Blame it on Bush. Will it work? Test it on a Democrat first!
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Joe Sestak’s campaign is out with a new attack ad bringing incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter’s party switch to the forefront of the firing lines in Pennsylvania’s Democratic primary race for Senate.

The 30-second television spot ties Specter to the likes of George W. Bush, who supported the longtime Senator during his 2004 campaign when he was still a Republican, and Sarah Palin, who Specter backed when she was Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) running mate in the 2008 presidential election.

more here…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/06/pennsylvania-senate-2010_n_526152.html

Bonus Quote of the Day
*******************

“What can I say — it’s true. Republicans are making love to Wall Street, while the people on Main Street are getting screwed.”

— Jim Manley, a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), quoted by the Huffington Post, elaborating on the comments his boss made earlier.

http://politicalwire.com

After seeing that attack ad. Its not nearly enough.
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Specter Still Leads by Single Digits
The latest Muhlenberg/Morning Call tracking poll in Pennsylvania shows Sen. Arlen Specter (D) leading challenger Joe Sestak (D) by five points in their U.S. Senate race, 45% to 40%.

http://politicalwire.com

http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/white_out_20100506/

http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/free_to_date_20100506/

“This one?……oh, me ‘n’ tha boys took out a WMD in Times Square…. Saved thousands of American lives.
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/85493

“Armed Madhouse” conditions set to continue
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/85495

Standard & Poors: market scatologists.
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/85439/

Here in Oz, the people who manage our super funds (if you’re not self-managed) still believe S&P’s are an honourable institution. For them, the recent GFC was a minor aberration.
These money sucking animals think that Aesop was a nuthin’ but a fable guy.

http://room42.wikispaces.com/file/view/death-stalker-scorpion.jpg/33410931/death-stalker-scorpion.jpg

At the moment the Lib – Dems are 10% down on percentage that was predicted. Still a long way to go!

The worry is Lib Dems aren’t doing much. Whoops! movemenet as I write. Picked up 2 seats.

Looking at Paddys link the neocons have certainly won the most seats at this stage but it still looks like a hung parliament.

Very bad result for the LibDems. Labour has done better than expected in terms of seats, I think. It is going to be tricky for anyone to govern, but I think that the Conservatives have the best chance at a minority government – Labour and the LibDems will not have enough to form a majority coalition, unfortunately.

Or maybe not. Labour Lib Dems and Social Democratic & Labour Party and green = 285 Conservative = 285. Still going.

All of those are of the left and not likely to go to bed with the Conservative.

Sorry. I confused the Alliance with UKip. Alliance is liberal. Left by four seats.

Conservative need at least 40% of the seats left to govern in there own right.

Well what can you say? The Brits sure know how to stuff up an election.
And as for the BBC coverage…….Talk about old white men!!!
Those graphics and bullshit CGI looked lame on the US elections.
But done with even less flair on the Beeb, they’re just downright embarrassing.
That cobblestones to Number 10 Downing street thingy was real “reach for the bucket stuff”.
They need Antony Green on the front desk and Possum doing their graphics.
This gem from twitter sort of sums it all up. :mrgreen:

Why doesn’t the Queen say ‘Balls to this! King James I was wrong – you’re all shit and this is my gaff. Now GTFO’

Chris @ 68

Not 40%, matey… 40 seats out of the remaining 49! Not gonna happen!

Let the games begin! 🙂

Chris @ 72

I’m actually riveted! They’re taking their sweet time in updating though… grrr! LOL

I am only using the BBC site. So I don’t know whether it is slow compared to others.

The Tories need 38 of the remaining 43 for outright majority… pffft! LOL

It’s official! 35 seats left, and the Tories needed 36 out of 35 for majority, ie. impossible!

Hung Parliament, here we come! 😀

and the Greens actually won a seat for the first time. Might seem paltry, but the whole election indicates a cultural, as opposed to a party change. People are fed up with Old Politics.
😆

The robot submarines have managed to plug one of the three leaks in the well. They are now in the process of transporting the big box over the pipe with a hope of containing it and being able to pump the leaking oil in to a boat/barge. I hope they are successful.
There is a lot of photos in the accompanying gallery. Worth a sad look.

Two weeks into the crisis that began with an explosion on the rig Deepwater Horizon, robotic submarines sealed one of three leaks on the sea bottom. The mile-deep plumbing fix did not diminish the amount of oil flowing from the blown-out well, but it simplified the next step in the emergency response.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/05/AR2010050505369.html

82
Jen says:

and the Greens actually won a seat for the first time

Perhaps we’ll be saying the same thing about INDI in a few months. 😉

86
gaffhook Unbearable…… :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
It would be worth every bit of it to see the look on Sophie’s face. 👿

paddy @86-
why would it be unbearable??
I would have a PA to correct all my typing errors – and to clean my bathroom.
What more could anyone ask for?…
Apart from a successful capping of the oil leak.
Reminds me of the contraceptive diaphragm of my younger days- it’s hopefully more effective (she says, 3 children later.)..
be afraid.
And btw: dontcha just love Tony of The Speedos declaring Burkha’s offensive???
The Irony.

and Miss Cat-
so glad to see you. The litter tray needs cleaning, my nails are a mess and the world has gone to hell in a basket.
Humph.

89
Jen Saint Tony of the budgies is indeed a valiant little crusader for religious freedom and women’s rights. 😆
Come the revolution, he could probably get a job cleaning your bathroom. (Suitably attired in sackcloth and ashes with a paper bag on his head of course.) After all, we wouldn’t want him to offend anyone by gratuitously displaying those ears. :mrgreen:

Where has all the seafood gone
When will they ever learn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_ptqXqjsZw

TUCSON, Ariz.— Even as the BP drilling explosion which killed eleven people continues to gush hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) has continued to exempt dangerous new drilling operations from environmental review. Twenty-seven new offshore drilling projects have been approved since April 20, 2010; twenty-six under the same environmental review exemption used to approve the disastrous BP drilling that is fouling the Gulf and its wildlife.

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2010/post-disaster-permits-05-07-2010.html

It appears that not many want to suck on Joey the Rats Warfarin laced bait which calls on persons “deemed” to be members of a terrorism organisation to be expatriated from the US.

Nobody’s Showing Up To Joe Lieberman’s TEA Party

It’s probably a safe bet that if House Republican Leader John Boehner backs away from a conservative, terrorism-related bill called “TEA,” the legislation both goes too far, and isn’t going anywhere.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) captured big headlines, and interesting supporters, when he proposed the Terrorist Expatriation Act, which would amend current law to allow the State Department to revoke the citizenship of Americans they deem to be members of foreign terrorist organizations. Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) joined his push. So did House Democrat Jason Altmire, who hails from a competitive district in Pennsylvania.

But that’s about all she wrote.

http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=111449

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