The Tories

[Margaret Pilkington]

Yes Cashy, but the lord loves a trier.

[cmonstanley]

some more money wasted in a pay off .its a big merry go round BBC News - Ofsted chair Sally Morgan accuses No 10 of ousting non-Tories from posts

[Accyexplorer]

Originally Posted by cmonstanley

some more money wasted in a pay off .its a big merry go round BBC News - Ofsted chair Sally Morgan accuses No 10 of ousting non-Tories from posts

I know one thing,I don't remember seeing Downing Street on CH4's Benefit street

[Guinness]

Originally Posted by Accyexplorer

I respect your right to a different opinion G.
The people i blame are those with the blinkers up,The ones who cant taste the BS they are being fed from all parties.So i do the only thing i can do to stop them getting 'away with it',I don't vote an share my view.
"I'm not here to come up with some world Utopia" (No one will share my beliefs 100% even if i did).
I had my little rant an I respect folks right to a different opinion.

Thats kinda what we already do...you share your view, we bitch and whine. Some of us don't vote, some of us spoil our votes and some of us religiously trudge down to the polling station in the vain hope that our vote will matter, only to be totally disappointed when the guy who promises change and to speak for you does an about face, because he suddenly becomes 'in the know' and calls you lazy and ignorant of facts when you attempt to debate.

You blame the people. I blame the system.

You only have to look at the current government..a coalition..the libdems have an ideal position to effect real change with their casting vote..instead they sold their souls for cabinet seats, reneging on numerous manifesto pledges and actively voting the opposite to what they told their grass root voters before the election, selling them down the river for the proverbial mess of potage.

Think about it..liberal values agreeing with conservative values is an anathema to both, hell the words 'liberal' and 'conservative' are damn near antonyms... yet they go to bed with each other..not for the good of the people..but for the individual power, kudos and company directorships once they leave their political lives!

In this country you cannot form a government unless a political party has a majority, and oddly enough they can manage this with a minority of the vote..the people say no, the system says yes....

You are soooo.. wrong my friend...people are not stupid, they can see the wood despite the trees, they are just flailing around on social media like this forum, howling at the moon because it makes them feel better, but knowing full well that tomorrow will just bring more of the same.

We are supposed to have a parliamentary democracy, where the people really matter and have a voice...I'd argue that we have a feudalistic government, where the nobility (rich or 'in the know') govern for themselves and to hell with everyone else (serfs)...mother of all parliaments my backside! We have a 12th century system in 21st century Britain

[Accyexplorer]

Originally Posted by Guinness

Thats kinda what we already do...you share your view, we bitch and whine. Some of us don't vote, some of us spoil our votes and some of us religiously trudge down to the polling station in the vain hope that our vote will matter, only to be totally disappointed when the guy who promises change and to speak for you does an about face, because he suddenly becomes 'in the know' and calls you lazy and ignorant of facts when you attempt to debate.

You blame the people. I blame the system.

You only have to look at the current government..a coalition..the libdems have an ideal position to effect real change with their casting vote..instead they sold their souls for cabinet seats, reneging on numerous manifesto pledges and actively voting the opposite to what they told their grass root voters before the election, selling them down the river for the proverbial mess of potage.

Think about it..liberal values agreeing with conservative values is an anathema to both, hell the words 'liberal' and 'conservative' are damn near antonyms... yet they go to bed with each other..not for the good of the people..but for the individual power, kudos and company directorships once they leave their political lives!

In this country you cannot form a government unless a political party has a majority, and oddly enough they can manage this with a minority of the vote..the people say no, the system says yes....

You are soooo.. wrong my friend...people are not stupid, they can see the wood despite the trees, they are just flailing around on social media like this forum, howling at the moon because it makes them feel better, but knowing full well that tomorrow will just bring more of the same.

We are supposed to have a parliamentary democracy, where the people really matter and have a voice...I'd argue that we have a feudalistic government, where the nobility (rich or 'in the know') govern for themselves and to hell with everyone else (serfs)...mother of all parliaments my backside! We have a 12th century system in 21st century Britain

I agree with some of the points you raise G,it's a big boys club an we're not invited.
Half of voters are not represented in this so called "representative democracy".
Tories,Labour,Cons (the ones with a chance of success) only exist to implement the merger of state and corporate powers to further increase the level of power/control they have over your average bod (me and you).

[Guinness]

If you look at our MP's Twitter bio....'whip since 2010'.....worn like a badge of honour.

What a whip actually does is enforce other MP's to vote the way the party wants..OR ELSE!!!!

Or else..you won't progress, no cabinet positions, be sent to coventry, won't get selected at the next election, or other career smashing threats.

For four years, Graham Jones has been coercing freely elected representatives to vote the way Ed Milliband wants them to and this is all perfectly legal under our parliamentary system. In fact he and other whips (of all parties) actively boast about how few rebel votes slip through their spider like mandibles.

Now if you told your colleagues/employees 'vote monster raving loony party or I'll destroy your career..you'd be arrested.

The system actively encourages vote fixing, this is not democracy its feudalism, and it's one of the myriad reasons why 60-80% of people at every single ballot box do not give them a mandate to govern. The people speak at every election by refusing to vote on an undemocratic outcome, the system ignores them.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Hooray, Hooray.......someone who can actually see this is not a democracy...that the people have no power to influence anything....that the government do not have a mandate because a lot of those who have a vote do not feel confident enough to use it(for whatever reason).

Many years ago I voted, but always felt that I really did not understand the process.....that politics was full of stuff that I didn't understand.
Then I must have grown up or something because I did understand that politics wasn't boring...that it touched every part of my life.
I voted with confidence for the party which was closest to my own core values.
Alas, despite politicians telling me what they believed in before they were elected, it seemed to change radically once they were in power. Power is like that......it makes people lie...say things to the electorate that they do not mean, that they have absolutely no intention of following through on.

I was duped.....more than once. I was disappointed - more than once.
I became suspicious and cynical - and I suspect that many people felt the same.

I am not the kind of person who will follow a party political dogma come hell or high water. I wasn't brought up in a household that voted for one particular party and followed it doggedly, unwilling to listen to what other parties had to say. I think about things. I mull over the messages that the parties send out.

The biggest message that is being sent out right now by all the parties is 'I'm alright Jack - bu88er you'.
It doesn't fill me with any kind of confidence.

[davebtelford]

The biggest message that is being sent out right now by all the parties is 'I'm alright Jack - bu88er you'.
It doesn't fill me with any kind of confidence.

The biggest issues in UK politics should be electoral reform & reform of the House of Lords. Instead we bicker about things that we really have no control over.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Yes, that and membership of that money sucking corrupt organisation the EU.
The politicians have no idea of the concerns of the electorate and those in the House of Lords are even further removed from reality.

[Eric]

Originally Posted by Accyexplorer

Tories,Labour,Cons (the ones with a chance of success) only exist to implement the merger of state and corporate powers to further increase the level of power/control they have over your average bod (me and you).

Really! Maybe you should keep this in mind: "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." (Daniel Patrick Moynihan.)

[Eric]

Originally Posted by Guinness

We have a 12th century system in 21st century Britain

Maybe the 13th ... around 1215 (I don't know if that is am. or pm.) when the first tory manifesto was adopted.

[cmonstanley]

i give you owen paterson. not only did he try and fail with an inhuman badger cull to please his hunter toffs he cant manage his department. the tories ,if your a shareholder in a privatized utility here is a endless pit of money to pay your dividend. if your area needs flood defence your knackered. Battered Britain: More wet weather... and there's still no sign of leadership - Nature - Environment - The Independent the tories not fit for purpose

[DAV007]

Originally Posted by cmonstanley

some more money wasted in a pay off .its a big merry go round BBC News - Ofsted chair Sally Morgan accuses No 10 of ousting non-Tories from posts

wrong,.
her contract had ended.
she was complaining as she wanted to keep riding the public sector gravy train.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I don?t begrudge Bob Crow his holiday but I do mind his strike - Telegraph

Seems that this man is feeling our pain too.
I wonder how many of his RMT members could afford a jaunt like this. Must be nice to be able to get away from all this bad weather bad news etc. etc.

[Gordon Booth]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I don?t begrudge Bob Crow his holiday but I do mind his strike - Telegraph

Seems that this man is feeling our pain too.
I wonder how many of his RMT members could afford a jaunt like this. Must be nice to be able to get away from all this bad weather bad news etc. etc.

When you're still living in a council house £145,000/year goes a long way.

Sensible of him to arrange the strike to happen while he's on holiday, it won't affect his travelling.