Could have definitely been worse, but I don't think he did great. No real answer on how he is going to deliver on his NHS/GP pledges nor why he believes the voting age should be 18, no knowledge on what the minimum wage outside London is and not ruling out a coalition with the LGBT-bashing DUP. Plenty of material there for opponents to use.
May 7th | UK General Election 2015 OT - Please go vote!
- Thread starter Volotaire
- Start date
- Status
Could have definitely been worse, but I don't think he did great. No real answer on how he is going to deliver on his NHS/GP pledges nor why he believes the voting age should be 18, no knowledge on what the minimum wage outside London is and not ruling out a coalition with the LGBT-bashing DUP. Plenty of material there for opponents to use.
And another thing Cameron's really irritating me with is his insistence that we now have a strong economy again. Really? So how come my yearly pay rise this year is 0.9%, compared to the 4 or 5% i was getting each year 7 or 8 years back? He can take his for the rich only economic recovery and shove it.
dunno bro i've got bare cash
Let that money trickle down bro.
CyclopsRock
Member
In the middle of the recession I got a 30% payrise because I was super low on the ladder and changes and promotions have a bigger impact on your % payrise then. Sorry it's not working out for you, but you can't really argue with the numbers - wages are rising faster than inflation.
Edit: also, the minimum wage outside London is the same as the minimum wage inside London. You might be talking about the Living wage which, whilst nice and all that, actually has nothing to do with the government or Cameron.
Miles Quaritch
Member
What is the current rate of inflation again?
I'm just talking about yearly increases. I refuse to believe that the "recovery" is happening for if businesses aren't increasing pay.
I got promoted since the recession too btw, but I'm not talking about personal good fortune her, but the yearly cost of living increase.
CyclopsRock
Member
Super low obviously, but wage increases are basically irrelevant except in relation to inflation, so...
OK. That doesn't actually mean it's not true, though.
Only lately and that's mainly because inflation has plummeted due to the oil price crash. Hardly due to the actions of Dave and George. Forgive me if don't bow down when the average wage rise is 1.9%
Miles Quaritch
Member
No, I was genuinely interested. Wasn't trying to make a snide point or anything.
I stopped following it a while back when there was talk of deflation. I noticed that dried up, so I assumed it was on the way up again.
It was 0% last i looked. So wages have been increasing veeerrryyy slightly higher than it for a couple of months, compared to the 4 or 5 years when they were increasing slower. So yeah, everything is fine now. Totally.
CyclopsRock
Member
I'd say "so?" I mean, the original point was that he's sick of hearing about the recovery. The fact Dave and George might not have had anything to do with it doesn't suddenly mean it's not happening. We have employment figures which keep repeatedly beating the forcasts from the Budget and the Autumn Statements, and wages are growing faster than inflation. I don't really know what other criteria need to be met before he'll accept the definition of "recovery" as being an accurate description for the UK economy (which shouldn't be confused with "recovered", natch).
Edit: Refering to the "rich only economic recovery" bit, I mean. Share price growth is a rich only recovery, millions of new jobs isn't.
Aah, sorry - it's 0.3% at the moment, due to low oil prices primarily (which is pretty great, generally).
Edit: Nope, King Moc is right, it's 0%. But being oil driven, it's about as ideal as inflation gets. You have a lot of the stimulatory effects without the traditional drawbacks of deflation.
Miles Quaritch
Member
Thanks.
I guess at least it's not into negative figures, so that's good news.
Interesting point about it having a stimulatory effect without the concern of deflation. I'll admit such things aren't my strongest point, so it's always great to pick up bits of info here and there.
CyclopsRock
Member
Well as kmag said, we're pretty lucky re: the oil. Deflation's usually bad because people become hesitant to buy when they know it'll be cheaper tomorrow (the dreaded "I'll get it when it's on PS+" phenomina). BUT right now most prices are still going up. Inflation is so low because the oil price falling means things like petrol and heating your house become a lot cheaper which drags down the inflation figure. This is good because both of these things are basically unavoidable - unlike buying a new TV or sofa, you can't just wait til it's cheaper tomorrow. If it's cold you need to turn on the heating, if you need a shower you need the water to be hot and if your car's out of petrol, you need to buy some more. So in essence we don't have the usual effects of deflation - people lowering their consumption - because the only things cheaper are the things you can't avoid buying. And we have a stimulatory effect because those things being cheaper means people have more money left than they normally would. Yay!
Except it doesn't because the companies in charge will laugh in the face of anyone that suggests they lower their prices.
Not when you consider they were talking about him getting into bed with the DUP. I'd expect him to know exactly what he's getting himself into if he's doing that. It's not a great sign.
CyclopsRock
Member
EON and British Gas have both lowered their prices this year.
I disagree. When the woman asking the question consistently phrased it as LGBT, why did he choose to drop the T in return? Should have just responded using LGBT too.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...-far-will-gas-and-electricity-bills-fall.html
This article states that gas prices are 27% down over a year.
http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/gas-and-electricity/reducing-energy-bills.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30792208
And 2 of the big 6 suppliers, British Gas and EOn, have reduced their prices by 5% and 3.5% respectively. Fan-fucking-tastic.
Wages and job growth are usually the last thing to recover after a recession and it can take good few years depending on the strength of the recovery.
If you believe in basic supply and demand economics there is plenty of reason to think that this process may take longer than normal.
Anyone else go to a screening of the Russell Brand/Michael Winterbottom documentary last night? It's called The Emperor's New Clothes, for those who are unaware of it, and I'd very much recommend it and agreed with the message it set out to convey.
I have to say though, he didn't come across half as well in the Q&A afterwards - I think Brand really benefitted from having someone to edit his thoughts rather than letting them get lost in a sea of incomprehensible nonsense.
I have to say though, he didn't come across half as well in the Q&A afterwards - I think Brand really benefitted from having someone to edit his thoughts rather than letting them get lost in a sea of incomprehensible nonsense.
He has been strangely shit in the debates too. I've never agreed with him but he's usually a good speaker and can sound convincing but he hasn't been in this campaign at all.
CyclopsRock
Member
The fact the falls in bills aren't sufficient for you doesn't actually mean they don't contribute to lowering inflation.
CyclopsRock
Member
If the polls don't change and they're an accurate representation of the final vote and the various seat estimates are more or less accurate - a coalition of multiple parties with a very small majority - I wonder how long it'll last? Will there be another election soon? This year? Next? It's hard to imagine too much getting done when one dodgy curry at a select committee lunch causes the government to lose a vote.
Edit: Are select committee hearings catered? If not, replace for dodgy barrel of ale in one of the commons bars.
Edit: Are select committee hearings catered? If not, replace for dodgy barrel of ale in one of the commons bars.
If it remains as is, and it's accurate, then it's probably going to be Labour + SNP. Who knows if it'll work. I don't buy Cameron's scare tactics, but Trident may decide the future of it. Labour doing slightly better than expected and forming a coalition with the Lib Dems may work better.
QuicheFontaine
Member
Same, on the basis that I want something interesting to happen. Which inevitably means it won't.
Has this been posted? Mark Steel on the "but the Scots!" fearmongering.
Current poll numbers say that's very unlikely. The Libs are going to get hammered. The most likely outcome is Lab/SNP in a confidence and supply agreement. It'll be worth it just to watch Murdoch lose his shit.
Now that would be a sight to behold.
I can see that being a problem. Is there a possibility of a Lab/SNP/Lib Dem coalition should the need arise? Or has Nick Clegg completely ruled out doing deals with the SNP?
Edit: Oh. Well, guess we'll see how true they are to their word...
Edit 2: Oh again. Don't know what to think anymore.
Those numbers just aren't adding up at the moment.
They'll need to be a decent shift in the polls for that to happen (or the polls will need to be wrong)
I'm guessing they'll either go fully Fox News and claim democracy has been destroyed or they'll pretend they were supporting them all along and it was them wot won it.
killer_clank
Member
The funny thing is the Scottish Sun is a pro SNP paper these days. They regularly run leaders in Scotland saying it'll be good for them to hold the balance of power, usually the same day as they spew anger about them in England.
CyclopsRock
Member
Well they do have different editors.
Ahoy thar!
Ahoy thar!
They'll take the former option for sure. "Nobody in Engand voted for them, how can they hold power over Westminster? Rabble, rabble, rabble!"
QuicheFontaine
Member
Which numbers? The national polls? They don't say it can't happen.
It all depends on the extent of the Lib Dem collapse. They could poll what they're getting now (~8%) and still retain 30+ seats depending on where that 8% is localised. And if they do keep 30+ seats the present coalition could stumble on.
Granted, I haven't seen many actual forecasts putting LD above the mid- to high twenties...
Depends which Lib Dem MP's survive, I'm not sure Farron or George maybe even Huppert could be persuaded to vote for the Tories again. They might all come down with something the day of any close Queen's speech.
industrian
will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
If only we had a voting system where the % of the popular vote determined the number of seats. A proportional system if you will. Or at least an alternative system to what we actually use.
Oh wait...
CyclopsRock
Member
Tbf though AV is dogshit.
STV is ok. Makes the counting a bit of a bitch though.
industrian
will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
What a difference four years makes.
The Sun always back the winning horse. And since the 2007 election, that means the SNP.
But that's some "we've always been at war with Eastasia" shit right there, son.
QuicheFontaine
Member
I didn't know we still had some of those bothersome 'conviction' politicians left!
All three voted against the "bedroom tax" when George raised a private members bill to get rid of it. And all 3 have basically said they don't see the Lib Dems going back in coalition with the Tories.
George:
As Farron is likely to stand for the leadership post election, he's not been so explicit, but he was scathing about the 2010 deal back in March, and indicated that he'd only agree to any future coalition with either on vastly better terms. Terms which the Tories would find more difficult to agree than Labour given Farron's left leaning politics.
industrian
will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
When you factor in the "options" for Prime Ministers and governments that you're voting for in Australia compared to the UK, it's elevated to a sidestep.
- Status