Bajie

Complaints about Labour over the last four years. The Tories were much worse when they had their eighteen year stint! I saw many people go under as a result of their antics.
It seems to me the only party to actually admit they were going to cost us [the taxpayers] money this time around were the SDP. They said 1p increase in income tax to.
Labour attack my car.
Tories attack my [mongrel] children. The buffoon who made the comments should have been sacked. Mr Hague burying his head in the sand only endorsed the comments in my opinion
Well. I can sell the car, or keep my high speed antics to the confines of track days or trips to Germany.
Not being related to Michael Jackson I can't afford to get the kids bleached


The turnout for voting was disgraceful. If you didn't vote you have given up your right to complain so basically, shut up!
Look at the majority Labour have now. There is very little resistance to the changes the govt will try to push through Parliament now. Be it IR35, Speed Cameras, Hospitals, Schooling ... the list goes on.

And if they had NOTA on the ballot paper, I would have.

fast bloke

you lucky lot. At least you have the choice to vote for the party who will make you laws. We get to vote for one of the local bigots who will spend the next 4 years slagging off the rest of the local bigots. Labour or Tory or whoever YOU demm acceptable will then write the rules and apply them to us as they see fit. I don't think anyone should be allowed to enter politics until they have made a personal fortune of at least 20 million. Can you imagine what the country would be like if it where being run by sucessful people. That baldy tory short **** entered politics at 16. What has he done in the real world? Tony can't control his own kids. How does he hope to implement stratagies to make the rest of the country control theirs? He gave himself a 50% pay increase today. Will other public sector workers expect the same?


p.s. I didn't have the option to vote for the goverment. I didn't give them the job. I am not paying their taxes. I wish

andrew6321

Bajie,
Why should people vote if none of the parties appeal? I would rather not vote at all, than 'waste' a vote on a party that only partially addressed my views.

Anyway, show me a politician that is in politics for anything other than his own self-interest (apart from Tony Benn), and I'll show you a 400bhp scoob.

cheers
Andrew

KF

Pugie: "has everybody forgotten the 80's and early 90's".

You don't write like a 40 year old, but I would love to hear about your first hand experiences of working during the 80's.

KF.

Kevin Greeley

Pugie: Perhaps the intelligent people are amongst the 75% (or whatever it is) of the electorate that didn't vote at all or voted for somebody other than New Labour.

So 25% of the electorate are stupid! Seems perfectly reasonable to me

I know the alternatives aren't up to much. None of the above would have been my choice had it been available.

Kevin
(please get yourself a spell checker and learn some grammar,

andrew6321

BD,
call me a wierdo, but I would never vote entirely for my own benefit.

I used to be a keen voter - but now I couldn't give a monkeys who gets in as none of them, unsuprisingly, are offering anything truly radical. These days, committing to raise income tax by 2p is about as radical as it gets...

Anyone fancy moving on to a debate about a 'one-world' government..?

DavidLewis

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Jaggy Bunnet:
<B>You think you've got problems??! BOTH the women in my house voted LibDem. When did women get the vote anyway [enough smilies not to need my flame suit??]

JB[/quote]

My wife voted LibDem's. When I asked her why, she said.

"Well I read all the names and saw our MP listed, so I voted for him"

DOH!!!!

Bajie

There is no party out there that can totally address the needs of an individual.
But none of the parties are for an individual. Ideally, they operate for the collective good.
As I said, AND THIS IS MY OPINION if you don't vote, you can't complain. What have those who did not vote proved. Who will complain loudest about their lot and what is being done about it.
I had this argument with my wife. She came to the polling station and registered. I don't know who she voted for nor do I care.
People far greater than I fought for the right for us to vote. The least we can do is use that vote the best way we can.
I too listened with disgust at the pay increase the MP's just got. Mr Blair is now on how much ... £160,000. If you pay peanuts you get monkeys. It seems, to me, we still are.

Jaggy Bunnet

.... and just to make you feel better - this, from today's Scotsman:

"TONY Blair rewarded himself last night for achieving Labour's second successive landslide election victory with a 40 per cent pay rise that saw his annual salary soar from £116,339 to £163,418.

In a move that sparked criticism from teachers and other public service unions, the Prime Minister also announced the rest of the Cabinet will receive full salaries for the first time after a four-year pay freeze.

Instead of the £99,793 they have taken until now, Cabinet ministers will earn the full £117,979 recommended by a report from the senior salaries review body.

Throughout the last parliament, Mr Blair insisted on limiting Cabinet pay increases to set an example to public sector workers. To overcome the fury of some colleagues, the Prime Minister himself went further by foregoing any increases at all.

Downing Street said Mr Blair had waived 41 per cent of the total remuneration to which he had been entitled in the four years since May 1997, while Cabinet members had lost 27 per cent."

Now, I may be missing something here but, waiving 41 per cent of his TOTAL remuneration over four years (which, in itself, doesn't ring true) doesn't justify a 40% pay rise. Over the past four years, average pay increases in the public sector have been around 2-3% so how do these figures equate? Maybe one of the mathematicians amongst us can enlighten me ....


[This message has been edited by Jaggy Bunnet (edited 12 June 2001).]

Kevin Greeley

The trouble is with the system. Most people live in an area where a few votes will not make any difference.

In Sussex where I live, the Tory MP has a huge majority. I voted, but what's the point?

And if I hear somebody somebody say "But if everyone thought like that...." again, I think I'll leave the country (do I hear good riddence?)

I know there are problems with PR, but at least your vote would mean something. I can't see Labour changing a system that keeps them in power unfortunately.

You may as well give up working when most of your income goes in tax and NI.

Economy slowing down. NHS destroying itself. School standards getting worse. Crime up. Tax/NI up.

Public Services! What a load of b*ll*cks!
Jobs for the boys if you ask me (nobody did though).

Kevin
(rant over).

robski

Totally agree with Blowdog, I cant believe that that waste of time and resources that was the cencus is compulsory, but that you are allowed to choose whether you vote or not.

However! I still think their should be an IQ minimum in order to vote for who you want in power. I mean the number of people I challenged over why they were voting for either party who couldnt really say was scary!

robski

Mick

iTrader: (1)

How many times has an 'independant body' recommended all sorts of things including pay for teachers, doctors, nurses etc etc - how many times do these recomendations get taken on??????

Mick

boomer

Did anyone hear (yesterday) about the government plans to <B>force</B> farmers to sign the Official Secrets Act with regard to Foot and Mouth Disease?

Now this REALLY stinks - if that is not a blatant attempt to cover up the disgustingly crap way the whole thing has been handled, then i am a teapot!

How can we live in a democracy with this kind of governmental behaviour? Do those that voted for Blur know what kind of tricks they are prepared to pull? I am afraid that in my mind, New Labia have lost what tiny credibility they had left

It took a bit of searching, because for some reason (hummm?) this no longer appears on the BBC News website, but see