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UK PoliGAF thread of tell me about the rabbits again, Dave.
- Thread starter Chinner
- Start date
Although I love the speed and sheer amount of political interviews and political related materials liarpoliticians uploads, some of his tweets are absolutely ridiculous. There is cynicism of the political system, which I perfectly understand, and then there's borderline ridiculous..
phisheep
NeoGAF's Chief Barrister
No need to. Go incognito on Chrome and it just lets you in.
WayneMorse
Banned
Or just disable cookies for that site.
War Peaceman
You're a big guy.
I was going to suggest this, but isn't it borderline piracy? Or is it ok because it is so easy to circumvent?
CyclopsRock
Member
Holy shit a woman just phoned into LBC that drove me mental. mental.
In other news, they're starting their 3rd recount now in Tower Hamlets. A tory Council candidate was just on LBC (actually, earlier today) and said that between the 1st count and the first recount, his number of votes went up by 25%...
Such a fucking joke.
In other news, they're starting their 3rd recount now in Tower Hamlets. A tory Council candidate was just on LBC (actually, earlier today) and said that between the 1st count and the first recount, his number of votes went up by 25%...
Such a fucking joke.
Nicktendo86
Member
Ahhhh thanks!
Cyclops, you are a fellow tower hamlets resident aren't you? For the first time in my 28 years I don't want to live here anymore. The corruption is disgusting.
CyclopsRock
Member
I am, though because I'm a cheeky fraudster I actually voted in Islington - oh, to be an Islingtonite again!
I walked passed a school on my way to work, though, which was a polling booth and that also had about 4 (obese) dudes standing outside just staring at everyone that walked by. Obviously having a bunch of political wonks outside isn't unusual but in hindsight maybe that was an intimidation tactic. In some ways I wish I'd actually voted in TH - being a 6ft5 giant half-man-half-elephant figure, not to mention white as a ghost, I wonder if they'd have even bothered approaching me? Probably not. Most of the first hand accounts seem to suggest that they applied huge pressure to other Bangladeshi's and Muslims in the area to vote for our wonderful Mayor, but left other ethnicities alone.
War Peaceman
You're a big guy.
That Tower Hamlet election is very, very dodgy. I really hope the electoral commission looks into it. Obviously it is second/third-hand information, but I've heard a lot of terrible things about the polling there.
Nicktendo86
Member
I went to the polling station quite early as I had just taken my kitten to the vets, so it was pretty quiet. The was just a copper outside and a couple of other people, an elderly Asian lady shouted vote labour at me as I walked in. There was a Bengali lady inside with a baby who didn't move the whole time I was there, I heard the returning officer say to someone to ask what she was doing but had to ask in English or something.
I used to vote at St Mathias primary school (my old school) at bacon street near brick lane when I was living at home, there would usually be a lot of people outside and would feel quite intimidated. They need to sort this shit out.
I used to vote at St Mathias primary school (my old school) at bacon street near brick lane when I was living at home, there would usually be a lot of people outside and would feel quite intimidated. They need to sort this shit out.
CyclopsRock
Member
Apparantly they've said they're going to for every election since 2009.
Also, the local council put out a press release that was absolutely laughable, basically saying that they have the toughest rules in the city and that everything went swimmingly, the reason it's taking so long to count it is because of those tough rules....
Nicktendo86
Member
Good article on the tower hamlets goings on here.
It really is heartbreaking, I love this borough but it is rotten to the core. I honestly lay a lot of blame at the door of labour, they have controlled the council for decades and done sweet fuck all to help community cohesion.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...s-last-results-finally-announced-9442262.html
It really is heartbreaking, I love this borough but it is rotten to the core. I honestly lay a lot of blame at the door of labour, they have controlled the council for decades and done sweet fuck all to help community cohesion.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...s-last-results-finally-announced-9442262.html
War Peaceman
You're a big guy.
I'm not sure it is anything as complex as community cohesion. More that they allowed a dodgy, inappropriate representative to gain local representation. He then built up a power-based amongst networks he already engaged with, and along racial/religious grounds. He's exploiting racial diversity for personal power if you ask me.
Note: there may be problems with community cohesion - I wouldn't know - but I just think this is a dodgy man allowed to take advantage.
Nicktendo86
Member
Its a bit of both I would say. Years of neglect and tensions in the area, he got thrown out of labour for alleged links to extremists, he used it to his advantage and stood on a 'us vs them' position.
Sorry for shitting the thread banging on about tower hamlets BTW, just makes me so angry.
Sorry for shitting the thread banging on about tower hamlets BTW, just makes me so angry.
WayneMorse
Banned
Miliband is no better or worse than Cameron or Clegg.
Miliband would pass the lube around before proceedings.
Nicktendo86
Member
What are you on Wayne, Milliband can't eat a bacon sandwich without looking like a fool.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
So from 4 votes to 5 votes?
Nicktendo86
Member
Surprised there are as many as 4 Tory councillors to be honest.
Never understood people's mentality. Vote labour for decades, borough remains poorest or second poorest, still vote labour. Maybe, just maybe, labour isn't working?
CyclopsRock
Member
Haha. He said it was actually a few hundred!
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Oakeshott's resigned from the libdems following the poll furore.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27604131
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27604131
Poor people vote Labour. Rich people vote Conservative. The other 75% of the country is split equally between people that vote for the last winner, and people that vote against the last winner.
Thus ends my nuanced political analysis.
Nicktendo86
Member
I don't understand the point in releasing that poll data. It shows that yes, there MIGHT be a bit of improvement with Cable as leader rather than Clegg, but only a bit and probably still not enough to safe seats. All releasing that data has done is make Vince's life a bit more difficult and embarrassed the party further.
The fact that their polling would only go up a bit with another leader suggests to me that people don't have a problem so much with Clegg, but with the party as a whole. They are the most pro-EU party, can that not accept that perhaps they are just out of whack with the feelings of the population?
Edit: You're right Dave, but I question why poor people keep voting for a party which has not really improved things. I was always piss poor as a kid in a council flat but questioned the thinking of everyone unquestionably voting Labour, like that would somehow improve their lives. I dunno. Same thing with the Tories I suppose, I don’t like the idea of sage seats, the bastards should always be on their toes and never be allowed to take things for granted.
The fact that their polling would only go up a bit with another leader suggests to me that people don't have a problem so much with Clegg, but with the party as a whole. They are the most pro-EU party, can that not accept that perhaps they are just out of whack with the feelings of the population?
Edit: You're right Dave, but I question why poor people keep voting for a party which has not really improved things. I was always piss poor as a kid in a council flat but questioned the thinking of everyone unquestionably voting Labour, like that would somehow improve their lives. I dunno. Same thing with the Tories I suppose, I don’t like the idea of sage seats, the bastards should always be on their toes and never be allowed to take things for granted.
CyclopsRock
Member
I think the Lib Dems need to sort their shit out. They just got bent over a barrel in the elections that they're the only party who cares about, ending up with 1 seat and poor local council showings (and localism is their thing) and all they care about is who released the polls? Not even the results of the poll, but who released it? Oakshot was clearly on manoeuvres, but man, they need to concentrate on what's important.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Is Charlie Kennedy fully sober now?
He's the only person I can think of who can get them out of this mess that the party would actually accept
He's the only person I can think of who can get them out of this mess that the party would actually accept
CyclopsRock
Member
I think he'd a) need to be drunk to do it and b) be better if he was. We need more drunk politicians. They're all too clean these days.
Edit: Except the convicted rapists and thieves, of course.
PJV3
Member
Even at his most intoxicated he was more aware of reality than Clegg. Kennedy would be a good pick but I doubt it would please the Orange book brigade in Westminster.
War Peaceman
You're a big guy.
Clegg's the only choice. They've made their bed, they have to lay in it. Clegg has to take them to rock bottom, then let a successor rebuild their reputation.
Going into Coalition was always going to hurt them. Making compromises (especially true in coalition) will lose the idealist party votes. This is particularly true for going with the Tories. They've actually made some nice changes, especially the income tax threshold. But their actions over tuition fees are unforgivable. Perhaps if they'd - at least - abstained that vote, they may have saved themselves, But no.
Going into Coalition was always going to hurt them. Making compromises (especially true in coalition) will lose the idealist party votes. This is particularly true for going with the Tories. They've actually made some nice changes, especially the income tax threshold. But their actions over tuition fees are unforgivable. Perhaps if they'd - at least - abstained that vote, they may have saved themselves, But no.
WayneMorse
Banned
I just want Simon Hughes to lose his seat to be honest.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Always
that business with peter tatchell is some of the most hypocritical douchebaggery I've ever seen
JonathanEx
Member
That's pretty much it, isn't it? Pretending to be surprised that they're unpopular and now pinning it on Clegg, the writing's been on the wall since 2010. Saw this in a tweet, opinion polls over the last few years:
It's like, trying to think what they could do, but when it's an issue of trust and belief, good luck and there's not much to suggest is there. Apart from breaking rank on a big issue of conscience and still look like you stand for something, making a big deal of it. Doubt it'll happen.
Oh dear:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-27611563
Previously posted about how the Westminster Treasury was bullshitting in some of it's figures. Now the guy whose research they based their dodgy numbers on has come out and called the figures "ludicrous".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-27611563
Previously posted about how the Westminster Treasury was bullshitting in some of it's figures. Now the guy whose research they based their dodgy numbers on has come out and called the figures "ludicrous".
American here, but catching up on UK's forthcoming elections and.... how do Labourites put up with Ed Milliband? I mean, the guy appears to be quite the tosser and faces the very real possibility of losing out to Cameron. I understand it's too early to replace leaders, but damn. Was his brother David more personable? He certainly seems so based on online interactions, etc. Would Labour be in a better position with David at the helm, irrespective of policy? Personally, I was surprised Ed beat him out for leader in 2010. And yes, I know this is incredibly superficial but it has to influence folks.
Nicktendo86
Member
If David was in charge labour would be heading for a clear majority. As it is, they will be lucky to be the largest party in a hung parliament.
The unions had the deciding vote and they went for ed, and the rest is history.
The unions had the deciding vote and they went for ed, and the rest is history.
War Peaceman
You're a big guy.
If David Milliband couldn't win an internal election how could he expect to win a national one? 
The guy's rotten though, it is better for everyone involved that he is out of British politics. Fuck him.
The guy's rotten though, it is better for everyone involved that he is out of British politics. Fuck him.
PJV3
Member
If David Milliband couldn't win an internal election how could he expect to win a national one?
The guy's rotten though, it is better for everyone involved that he is out of British politics. Fuck him.
Yeah, just vote fucking Tory. I'm still glad he lost. There's hardly a gaping chasm between the parties as it is with Red Ed leading the workers revolt.
For every 8 quid the coalition cut, Labour were going to cut 7, apparently this was going to cause the UK to crumble into the sea if the LibDem's hadn't sacrificed themselves to save the nation.
The three parties should gather on some oligarchs yacht and split the difference, save the election money for a royal christening or something.
CyclopsRock
Member
Is that 8:7 ratio based on what the coalition have cut vs what Labour planned to cut? Because originally the coalition planned to cut a significantly higher amount than they have, so the chasm presented in 2010 may have been larger than an 8:7 ratio.
Nicktendo86
Member
Wtf are the EU doing asking for an extra £3.8billion? They have just seen huge anti EU voting and decided now is the time to increase the budget?
Business as usual then. Where will they find this extra money?
PJV3
Member
To be perfectly honest I can't fucking remember, age is catching up with me. Darling was fairly up front about the shit hitting the fan either way.
phisheep
NeoGAF's Chief Barrister
The perpetual cry of politicians is "the money has to come from somewhere".
Well actually no it doesn't. Like every other enterprise, whether it is a charity, a business, a household or an individual or whatever you have to work with what you have got (or what you can get credit for and either outlive the deal or not depending on the small print).
Plus, someone needs to work out (I guess GAF will help) just how much friction there is between the money got and the money spent.
Just to illustrate: If I give £10 charitably supporting a local foodbank via a church or whatever then the foodbank gets £13-ish (because of gift aid or something like that, the £3 balance comes from the rest of the taxpayers somehow). If I spend £10 in taxes to support foodbanks then it goes to supporting a huge bureaucracy of foodbank-monitors-and-distributors and probably the foodbank gets about £7. Now, I'd rather give £13 than £7 to the foodbank, so I vote Tory. And all I get is an earful from Labour about there being more use of foodbanks?
I really don't understand what is going on here. But I do know where the local foodbanks are.
Today in Northern Ireland: Peter Robinson defends an Enoch Powell quoting, Fundamentalist preacher who calls Islam "evil and satanic", Robinson himself says he'd "trust Muslims to go to the shops for him" (but not much else), says he couldn't support other religions. And these are the guys Cameron invited to No 10 a month ago to discuss electoral pacts...
Important to note, this is happening alongside a spate of racist attacks in east Belfast
Important to note, this is happening alongside a spate of racist attacks in east Belfast
As an aside, and although I do not support the Lib Dems nor am I particularly fond of politicians either, it is rather impressive that Clegg appears on his weekly LBC radio schedule. You and I can attribute it to an incentive to keep the Lib Dems relevant or a strategy to shrug off the bad publicity Clegg and his party has received, but I think it shows quite a bit of dedication to the role. I am still in favour for his replacement.
QuicheFontaine
Member
I just read about this on the Telegraph website, and raised an eyebrow at this: "Britain's bill for EU membership more than tripled over the last decade, increasing from £2.9 billion in 2002 to £9.5bn in 2012". Does anyone think that's acceptable during one of the worst recessions in living memory? We don't exactly have this money just lying around.
Well they either need to raise it and further affection going to eurosceptic parties or they have to cut the budget and reduce the federalism - get rid of CAP, get rid of the President of the EU, make decision making simplistic on a 100% vote for policy directives and treaty changes to be passed.
Nicktendo86
Member
No, it is bloody mental. The shuffling between the two parliaments is a massive waste of money in itself, for all the good the EU does it just screams vanity and needs serious reform.
One could argue that it needs to stop any political union ASAP I still don't remember any good things coming out of the EU that benefits me directly.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
There's tons of good things that come out of the eu mostly based around consumer protection, for instance mobile data roaming charges and antitrust suits. That's what the EU is best at, it's the expensive and wasteful crap like the protectionist CAP and moving between brussels and strasbourg that it really annoys me(though these at least are excesses of an earlier age only really still about because of France).
I'm sure there's excess regulations and a few powers that probably shouldn't be on the eu level, but in general it's a force for good. But it's far too arrogant and takes decisions precipitously.
Like every government really, but it's a lot less accountable, which is the root of the issue