Will you be voting in the general elections?

[MPUK News]

Will you be voting in the general elections?

Will you be going to the polling station?

[Freelancer]

nope, doesnt matter who you vote for at the end of they day they will screw u over :D

[m00]

Of course, only those that can be bothered to vote in the elections can be bothered to vote in the poll :-P

[Freelance]

yes, because i'd rather make the numbers add up for some candidate than be on the did-not-vote-could-not-give-a-monkey's-uncle group. even if the candidate/party i vote for doesn't win the seat, it's another vote to make the other one closer

[Boffykins]

No vote, no right to complain. (Hi Freelancer, long time no see)

[Dux0r]

too young :/ bleh

[pyro88]

Originally posted by Dux0r
too young :/ bleh

same, politics dept of my college got charles kennedy in for a talk today, didn't see much myself, except a TV crew and police, I was was off to catch a train home :)

[Cheez]

Those are two different questions there. What if I'm voting by post?

[Nivek]

then your probally forging it so you will be going to the polling station as well!

[Zenith]

Yes, and yes.

Boffbowsh hit it on the head. If you don't vote, you have absolutely no right to complain about who gets in.

[WeeJ]

Originally posted by Freelancer
nope, doesnt matter who you vote for at the end of they day they will screw u over :D

Well, don't complain when you are eventually 'screwed over' as you're giving up your vote and giving up your say in how this country is run.

Anywho, personally, I would be going to vote if my town had some skills. I live on the outskirts of Tamworth, not actually in it. To vote, I'd have to go to Lichfield which is miles away from me. I can't afford to take the time off work to do this and I don't have the facilities to get there atm.

I was kind of hoping to do the whole postal vote thing, but I don't think my town's doing it or something. We lack the skills to do that by the looks of it.

[Afty]

Originally posted by WeeJ
I can't afford to take the time off work to do this and I don't have the facilities to get there atm. If you work for yourself, then I could see how this would be a problem, but if you are an employee, I believe your employer is required by law to give you a reasonable amount of time on polling day to travel to and from the polling station.

[Zenith]

Polls usually open at 7.00am and close at 10.00pm.

[Silk75]

Originally posted by WeeJ
Well, don't complain when you are eventually 'screwed over' as you're giving up your vote and giving up your say in how this country is run.

Anywho, personally, I would be going to vote if my town had some skills. I live on the outskirts of Tamworth, not actually in it. To vote, I'd have to go to Lichfield which is miles away from me. I can't afford to take the time off work to do this and I don't have the facilities to get there atm.

I was kind of hoping to do the whole postal vote thing, but I don't think my town's doing it or something. We lack the skills to do that by the looks of it.

Postal votes are allowed for everyone, just read your polling card. You just need to follow the application instructions.
Widespread regional postal voting as in what happened in some regions in last years Euro elections is not being used this time.

[Gifted]

i wont vote..

but if anyone does... get Tony out of the bosses chair please.

[Zenith]

If you're able to vote Gifted then by all means use your vote to, as you say, "get Tony out of the bosses chair". Just vote for the party that is most likely to win in your opinion (apart from Labour).

Instead of sitting back and trusting everyone else to vote, stick your oar in and have your say. :)

[Murray-Mint]

Make voting compulsory.

And add a "none of the above" option

FWIW, I will be voting Conservative.

[Flufball]

May is a few months to early for me to be elligable vote :(

[Baz]

Originally posted by MurrayMint
I will be voting Conservative.

rar
me too

[wizard1974uk]

Originally posted by MurrayMint
Make voting compulsory.

And add a "none of the above" option

FWIW, I will be voting Conservative.

And we call ourselves a democracy by forcing people to vote?

[VonFaceless]

tbh if this was a real democracy there would be an anarcy option :D

[Murray-Mint]

Originally posted by wizard1974uk
And we call ourselves a democracy by forcing people to vote?

Did you miss the "None of the above" option? If people don't don't want to vote, then they just select that, at least then the non-voting people will have to make some effort to get there, it might just prompt them into considering to vote.

[Baz]

iirc in belgium or holland its Law to vote, although you can vote "none of the above"


but you have to vote.

[Afty]

Compulsory voting is interesting, it makes people get up and vote, but it also significantly increases the number of people at the polls who know nothing about what they're voting for, and who just put a vote in for the party they've heard of before, or the one their parents voted for.

[Zenith]

Look to Australia for an example of how compulsory voting works. Turnouts are in the high nineties percent. They also have the "None of the above" option.

[mikeydee36]

Originally posted by MurrayMint
I will be voting Conservative.

Big up Conservatives :)
They have good chances in my opinion

[m00]

Obviously everyone is too young to remember life before labour :rolleyes:

[Endor]

Oh and the labour gov have done so much to improve it eh? Boll0x!

Anyone remember old labour with 30% inflation???

[Crayons]

Originally posted by Endor
Oh and the labour gov have done so much to improve it eh? Boll0x!

Anyone remember old labour with 30% inflation???


Right, and what have inflation levels been during the current governments stay of power?

Vote according to who you think will run the country best NOW. If you think that's a xenophobic guy with a grudge against the public services, that's entirely your choice.

[Cabe]

Originally posted by Boffbowsh
No vote, no right to complain.

Damned ****ing Straight.

[Chicane]

i wanted to vote lib dem, then i found out they want to join the euro eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek.

so it look likes im voting tory, god help me

theres no alternative :(

if u live in blairs constinucy vote for that guy who lost his son as hes up against blair :D

also did anyone else see the times on wednesday in which blairs father was enjoying a nice picture with his local TORY MP :)

[Matt]

Originally posted by Crayons
Right, and what have inflation levels been during the current governments stay of power?


Erm well lets looks at this in more details.

House prices have trippled since Labour came in.

Council Tax has doubled.


If we got payed more to catch up with these skyrocketing prices then inflation would be considerably higher.

[Matt]

Also I liked Lib Dems idea of lending them a vote to get the Tory's out.

Unforutanatly for them, I would normally vote Lib Dem, but I'm going to be lending my vote to the Tory's to get Labour out!

[CyberDrac]

Sometime I feel that if everyone who 'votes Conservative because the LibDems can't get Labour out' voted LibDems they might succeed anyway ... soo many people say that they would vote LibDem, but tactical vote instead so LibDems never seem to get anywhere, bizarrre, ring in proportional representation so that we end up with the political party we actually vote for.

CD

[Valane]

Well there is always the odd one.. I shall be voting labour.

[Crayons]

Linky:

Channel 4 FactCheck (http://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/)

An interesting site, if a little wordy. Discusses the claims and accusations made by the three main parties, and attempts to reveal what the truth really is.


Edit: "House prices have trippled since Labour came in."

And what makes you think they wouldn't have done under any other government?

Economy is a complex issue, and I'm perfectly happy to admit I'm no expert. But some things directly result from governmental actions, and some result from market forces.

MRSA infections are another example. Yes, I do think hospitals should be made cleaner and more hygienic. But MRSA occurences have been increasing for years as bacteria become resistant to constant abuse of antibiotics. Labour did not go round injecting people with MRSA!


*End of Rant*

[Matt]

First rule of Government - Everything is the Governments fault.

They CAN control house prices but CHOOSE not to.

They CAN charge 10x the council tax on second homes.

They CAN make it illegal to own multiple homes.

They CAN make homes only available to first times buyers.

They CAN put the interest rates up to stop the housing boom (well could of 5 years ago)

So it IS the governments fault for ignoring this until it was too late.

You can make excuses for them and blame them on other reason - some of which are valid factors - but the truth is this Government could of done something about it!

Shelter is one of the neccessities for survival and should be available to all not just those who were in the right place at the right time.

[Matt]

I like the factsheet about popularity of websites.

Labour is probably only popular because of the google search for liar.

[Afty]

Originally posted by Matt
They CAN charge 10x the council tax on second homes.

They CAN make it illegal to own multiple homes.I would *absolutely* support (slightly more reasonable) measures such as these. I think in a country where we cannot build enough housing to keep up with demand it is wrong that we are allowing citizens with a large amount of capital (or who can obtain a large amount of credit) to obtain secondary (and more) residential property for the sole purpose of profiteering from the fact that such purchases increase the very market they seek to exploit.

Example : free markets work on a supply and demand basis - the best economies in the world are based on free markets where sufficient information exists for consumers to make an informed decision.
By purchasing second (and subsequent) homes, these investors raise prices of the market, raising the barrier to entry - yet supply cannot increase. Every purhcase they make DECREASES supply and INCREASES demand. This is broken, very very broken.

I believe measures like the above would be excellent in curbing this disturbing trend, which is basically ensuring any child who does not inherit property is likely to die in poverty.
-] Extra council tax on non-primary homes
-] No tax on first time buyers whatsoever. Perhaps offer grants.
-] Special "second home" taxes.
-] Land Taxes - Each person/family unit is allowed to own X square metres. You are taxed for every square metre of residential property beyond this.

[Matt]

Found this from sky news - got to love the poeple who are against Blair.


"The Sedgefield Constituency has received 15 nominations for the General Election on Thursday May 5.

They are: Berony Anne Abraham (Independent); John, alias John Bradfield Barker (Independent); Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (Labour Party); Cherri Blairout-Gilham (Pensioners Party); Julian Fraser Brennan (Independent); William John Brown (We Want Our Country Back); Robert Woodthorpe Browne (Liberal Democrats); Jonathan McQueen Cockburn (The Blair Must Go Party); Mark Neville Farrell (National Front Britain For The British); Helen John (Independent); Reginald Thomas Keys (Independent); Alan John Lockwood Conservative Party); Fiona Chistina Luckhurst-Matthews (Veritas); Terence William Pattinson (Senior Citizens Party); Melodie Elizabeth Staniforth, commonly known as Boney Maloney (The Official Monster Raving Loony Party)."