StuartO Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Who would have thought it, the way the pundits wer forecasting a nail-biting close run thing and an inevitable hung parliament. But the people have spoken. Now we have a Conservative majority government, if only just, and Ed Milliband, Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage have all resigned as leaders of their party. It always saddens me that losing politicians so rarely seem to acknowledge personal failure and sometimes say, as if the electorate had got it wrong rather than their rejected ideas being wrong, that this is a time for their party to regroup and re-present the same ideas yet again. I suppose that's how politicians have to guard their corner these days because of the way the media latch on to things and make a meal of them, but I would respect Ed Milliband more if he had apologised for doing so badly in the Election rather than expressing only "sorrow" about the result. And of course Nicola Sturgeon, who was strutting her stuff as the back seat driven of a Labour Government, is now sidelined; she can make as much noise as she likes but she might well get largely ignored for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 The result will be a disappointment to the majority who did not vote Tory. No doubt electoral reform is even further away now its got the Government such a strong majority with a minority of the votes - Turkeys don't vote for Christmas. But nearly all the press were supporting the Tories, and concentrating on denigrating Milliband instead of seriously examining his policies, so I suppose its to be expected. Its a great result for the Scots as Her Majesty's Government will be sending them even more English taxpayers money to keep Balmoral and Faslane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Peter James - 2015-05-08 1:29 PM The result will be a disappointment to the majority who did not vote Tory. No doubt electoral reform is even further away now its got the Government such a strong majority with a minority of the votes - Turkeys don't vote for Christmas. Indeed this election has highlighted that the system needs changing like never before 8-) ....... The SNP ends up with 56 seats voted in by less than 1.5 million.......Yet nearly 4 million UKIP voters end up with 1 seat *-) ........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave225 Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 pelmetman - 2015-05-08 2:28 PM Peter James - 2015-05-08 1:29 PM The result will be a disappointment to the majority who did not vote Tory. No doubt electoral reform is even further away now its got the Government such a strong majority with a minority of the votes - Turkeys don't vote for Christmas. Indeed this election has highlighted that the system needs changing like never before 8-) ....... The SNP ends up with 56 seats voted in by less than 1.5 million.......Yet nearly 4 million UKIP voters end up with 1 seat *-) ........... I agree with your sentiments. However your numbers analogy is not excatly true. One really needs to look at the votes cast against to total available, and in that regard the SNP did well in the constuencies they stood in.You could argue the same case for the DUP and Sinn Feinn. But it is ironic that the Scottish Parliament set up by Blair insisted on a Proprotional Representation ballot, designed to ensure that Labour and their buddies the Lib Dems continued in power for eternity. That strategy however came unstuck in the last election when the SNP gained a large majority and all the Lib Dem MSP's were eliminated except for Orkney. Same as this time round so you might have thought someone in either Labour or Lib Dem would have recognised that the writing was on the wall. They had 4 years to do something about, but did absolutely nothing. However, the downside of PR is that you have so called List MP/MSP's and this means Party hacks get a seat despite not actually fighting an election constituency. Under that sort of system Ed Balls could lose his seat but still get elected, so there are bad points to it as well. One amusing thing ,except if you are a Lib Dem, is that the SNP will now get to occupy the offices at Westminster that Clegg and his cohorts used, and also get to present questions at PMQ's each week. I wonder if the Libbies will do a Clinton and remove some of the letters from the computer keyboards? I also guess Cleggie is going to be on Eurostar to Brussels within a week to get a cushy job there. What do they say about s.... floating ever upwards? Nicola was seen on TV earlier in the election baking some scones at a school. She is evidently going to invite Cameron for tea and offer him her new flavoured scones. 'This one has Strychnine, this one cyanide and they taste wonderful, David'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted May 8, 2015 Author Share Posted May 8, 2015 It's easy to be cynical about what politicians say and do but I was impressed and gratified to hear David Cameron speak well of the commitment to public service which he recognises in both Ed Milliband and Nick Clegg. I also thought Ed Balls also spoke well after he lost his seat, even though I won't miss the belligerent and uncouth approach he seemed to take to PM's Question Time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 The Tory press is crediting them with rising share prices - even though the rest of Europe has risen more today *-) FTSE 100 7,046.82 +2.32% Eurofirst 300 1,589.14 +2.72% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 StuartO - 2015-05-08 4:11 PM It's easy to be cynical about what politicians say and do but I was impressed and gratified to hear David Cameron speak well of the commitment to public service which he recognises in both Ed Milliband and Nick Clegg. I also thought Ed Balls also spoke well after he lost his seat, even though I won't miss the belligerent and uncouth approach he seemed to take to PM's Question Time. Well they have to pretend to be on different sides I suppose. When I worked at a supermarket chain we were good friends with staff at rival chains. The people you hated were your colleagues trying to claim the credit for your ideas, blame you for their own mistakes, or even put the skids under you to get your job >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antony1969 Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Ye what great news ... The people have spoken and put in the Tories with a majority government even after all the tough cuts we have had in the past five years ... Arise Sir David ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 antony1969 - 2015-05-08 6:03 PM The people have spoken and put in the Tories with a majority government even after all the tough cuts we have had in the past five years ... I see you have picked up the art of spin antony. Actually it was only 36 % of the people who voted who put the Tories in. ( Probably included a lot who were unaffected by the cuts ). ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antony1969 Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 malc d - 2015-05-08 7:11 PM antony1969 - 2015-05-08 6:03 PM The people have spoken and put in the Tories with a majority government even after all the tough cuts we have had in the past five years ... I see you have picked up the art of spin antony. Actually it was only 36 % of the people who voted who put the Tories in. ( Probably included a lot who were unaffected by the cuts ). ;-) 36% of the vote in what is now a multi party election ain't bad is it ? Three more seats in Wales despite the cuts and the anti Tory campaign by Plaid Cymru who didn't gain any seats ... Kept the Single Scottish seat while Labour got wiped and smashed the English vote ... All this on the back of poll after poll saying it was going to be a Labour/SNP victory and the ' vicious ' cuts put on folk No spin just a bloody great win Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 StuartO - 2015-05-08 4:11 PM It's easy to be cynical about what politicians say and do but I was impressed and gratified to hear David Cameron speak well of the commitment to public service which he recognises in both Ed Milliband and Nick Clegg. I also thought Ed Balls also spoke well after he lost his seat, ..... and the Latest tweet from Claire Perry (Tory MP for Devizes) about Mark Reckless (former Tory who switched to UKIP) 'Hallelujah, Mark Reckless out, dont let the door hit your fat arse on the way out ' *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek pringle Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 hi, we may as well just vote on which policies we believe in and not individuals as we seem to now. OK to vote in your own little bubble and how you personally are affected but we should think about the population as a whole. There probably is not a family in the country who will not have somebody in that family badly affected by certain cuts. Whilst most people [i believe] think some reforms in the Benefit System may have been sensible, I find it hard to believe any decent person could believe in all the measures already taken and about to be taken. cheers derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted May 9, 2015 Author Share Posted May 9, 2015 I think Cameron's claim to be supportive of the working families of the Country rings true and that genuinely working people will come to recognise this if this new Goverment delivers on its "one Nation" policies. If the Conservative right create the wrong sort of pressure or if there is another wave of expenses or other scandals we will have trouble but otherwise Cameron is making the right noises so let's help him deliver rather than snipe at him because he went to a posh school. Jobs and apprecticeships and entry-level houses are what we need, and lots of them. Some control of immigration too of course. How much credibility for delivering that lot did Labour have left? Labour has abandoned the centerist position (which Tony Blair dominated for many years, pity he turned into a crook) and drifted left again. It now seems more the party of the non-working (and in some cases don't want to work) underclasses, rather than of the proper working class folk which it claims t support, many of whom are still working and earning, but are no better pleased to be paying taxes to support the idle and grasping among the underclass than any of us. Hence their drift towards UKIP and even to the Conservatives. Not sure which welfare clipping policies you object to but I don't have a problem with what I've seen so far. We have laws to ensure that disable people can access working premises these days and there are plenty of sedentary jobs too (eg Call Centres) so let's concentrate on creating opportunity rather than cosseting failure to work. We need a safety net for the needy too of course but we shouldn't be taken for mugs by idle scoungers and there has been too much of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candapack Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 derek pringle - 2015-05-09 9:13 AM There probably is not a family in the country who will not have somebody in that family badly affected by certain cuts .derek I think the Windsors might just have escaped the worst of it. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 StuartO - 2015-05-09 9:50 AM Jobs and apprecticeships and entry-level houses are what we need, and lots of them. Certainly. But the Chancellor is more interested in borrowing and austerity to fund his obsessive housing market interventions. These benefit landlords, but not much else. The loss in disposable income from increased rents harms the real economy, but he counts rent increases as GDP 'growth' instead of inflation, and the Tory pres lets him get away with it *-) StuartO - 2015-05-09 9:50 AM Not sure which welfare clipping policies you object to Neither am I because they wouldn't tell us before the election. They penciled in £12 bn of welfare cuts, (presumably to fund more housing market interventions) but refused to say where the cuts would fall StuartO - 2015-05-09 9:50 AM We need a safety net for the needy too of course but we shouldn't be taken for mugs by idle scoungers and there has been too much of that. I quite agree. There aren't enough jobs so I don't mind paying the unemployed REASONABLE benefits, but the Windsors are just taking the p*ss >:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 StuartO - 2015-05-09 9:50 AM ...........................................but otherwise Cameron is making the right noises . No change there then. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 malc d - 2015-05-09 10:58 AM StuartO - 2015-05-09 9:50 AM ...........................................but otherwise Cameron is making the right noises . No change there then. ;-) He'll make all the right noises at Brussels too ;-) ..............then come back with sod all dressed up as a coup *-) ............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowtelse2do Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 StuartO - 2015-05-09 9:50 AM How much credibility for delivering that lot did Labour have left? Labour has abandoned the centerist position (which Tony Blair dominated for many years, pity he turned into a crook) Not sure if you have said the right thing here Stuart. You've accused someone of being a crook (although we get your drift), might be a good idea to ask the moderators to delete the post Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 nowtelse2do - 2015-05-10 4:14 PM StuartO - 2015-05-09 9:50 AM How much credibility for delivering that lot did Labour have left? Labour has abandoned the centerist position (which Tony Blair dominated for many years, pity he turned into a crook) Not sure if you have said the right thing here Stuart. You've accused someone of being a crook (although we get your drift), might be a good idea to ask the moderators to delete the post Dave Hypocriticrook would be more accurate >:-) ......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowtelse2do Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 pelmetman - 2015-05-10 4:33 PM Hypocriticrook would be more accurate >:-) ......... Sounds like a dodgy African beast 8-) Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 nowtelse2do - 2015-05-10 5:20 PM pelmetman - 2015-05-10 4:33 PM Hypocriticrook would be more accurate >:-) ......... Sounds like a dodgy African beast 8-) Dave Apparently it originated in Scotland 8-) ............ and looks like this........ >:-) ......... ;-)............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 I wouldn't plan any trips to inner cities this summer. I would lay good odds that there will be riots once the nasty party start the real cutbacks. They've waited five years for this and they will have a field day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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