Elections

[Rhymes with Paris]

I first became aware of politics back in 1963, when the probable grandfathers of today's mutants were active.

There was a lot of campaigning going on IIRC in the Wilson/Heath camps aspiring to government.

I was shouted at in the street randomly by someone who had his knuckles very close to the ground, the battle cry was "Oop wi labour and down wi you"

Seeing as I was a child and apolitical due to no knowledge of the world and various other places at the time, this puzzled me somewhat.

It's all ok though, I understand now.

[Eddie G]

On 5/3/2024 at 5:51 PM, 2toyos said:

I hear labour is cleaning up, is everyone ready to have an even worse experience 😂 

Can it get any worse 😆 while we try to avoid all the potholes incase we lose some teeth 😆 at least it will save trying to get into see a Dentist! and for that matter a Doctor in person apparently they still exist 😆

[Mjolinor]

1 minute ago, Eddie G said:

 for that matter a Doctor in person apparently they still exist 😆

No lying in the forum please.

[Eddie G]

7 minutes ago, Mjolinor said:

No lying in the forum please.

Spoken to a locum doctor on the phone once but the last time in person was that long ago I've forgotten 🤷 nurse's seem to be taking up the slack where possible speaking from experience, Brexit Britain for you 🤷

Edited May 4 by Eddie G
Added information

[Mjolinor]

3 minutes ago, Eddie G said:

Spoken to a locum doctor on the phone once but the last time in person it was that long ago I've forgotten 🤷 nurse seem to be taking up the slack where possible speaking from experience.

I can't remember last time I saw a doctor either. Certainly more than four years I would guess. Doesn't seem right for an old git with diabetes, heart stents and one kidney due to cancer in the other one. 🙂

Still waking up breathing every day so no complaints. 🙂

[Eddie G]

9 minutes ago, Mjolinor said:

I can't remember last time I saw a doctor either. Certainly more than four years I would guess. Doesn't seem right for an old git with diabetes, heart stents and one kidney due to cancer in the other one. 🙂

Still waking up breathing every day so no complaints. 🙂

Got to still Rock n Roll 👍 but Doctor and Dentist wise it is quite shocking these days sometimes i wonder if I've woken up in a 3rd world country!

[2toyos]

30 minutes ago, Eddie G said:

Can it get any worse 😆 while we try to avoid all the potholes incase we lose some teeth 😆 at least it will save trying to get into see a Dentist! and for that matter a Doctor in person apparently they still exist 😆

Potholes, I thought they where the council saving money, instead of speed cameras and traffic calming solutions, just pepper the roads with holes, doctors?? What are they?? All I have now is someone handing out penicillin for EVERYTHING

[AJones]

5 hours ago, Haliotis said:

For example, years ago a Labour PM would probably have come from a working class background, earned his/her place in society by having a good education, and then worked his/her way up the government ladder.

Kier Starmer's dad was a tool maker and his mum was a nurse, he came from a typical working class family. He was smart enough to get into the local state grammer school and go on to university. He went into law and did well for himself, working his way up before going into politics.

Sounds like he fits what you describe.

[Rhymes with Paris]

1 hour ago, Mjolinor said:

Still waking up breathing every day so no complaints. 🙂

It's a start.

But I do know what you are saying.

[Rhymes with Paris]

53 minutes ago, Eddie G said:

Got to still Rock n Roll 👍 but Doctor and Dentist wise it is quite shocking these days sometimes i wonder if I've woken up in a 3rd world country!

Aye it's a bit puzzling when you are in A&E and the highly skilled nurse puts a blood pressure cuff on the same arm as a cannula.

The inevitable result is a swelling on the back of the hand the size of a avocado, and the heamatoma lasting a month.

But this is to do with elections, so it may be a tenuous connection.

 

[Haliotis]

Andy said, “Sounds like he fits what you describe.”

You’re right - I suppose there must be exceptions in both directions.  Wasn’t Margaret Thatcher a grocer’s daughter? I also recall hearing the expression, “Give a working man power, and it will go to his head.”

What has become apparent to me is that the differences between the parties has become blurred, making it difficult to evaluate which would run the country better.  

[Eddie G]

1 hour ago, 2toyos said:

Potholes, I thought they where the council saving money, instead of speed cameras and traffic calming solutions, just pepper the roads with holes, doctors?? What are they?? All I have now is someone handing out penicillin for EVERYTHING

Am not sure if i need a Tank or a Helicopter with the amount of potholes on my local roads 😆 

[Eddie G]

24 minutes ago, Haliotis said:

Andy said, “Sounds like he fits what you describe.”

You’re right - I suppose there must be exceptions in both directions.  Wasn’t Margaret Thatcher a grocer’s daughter? I also recall hearing the expression, “Give a working man power, and it will go to his head.”

What has become apparent to me is that the differences between the parties has become blurred, making it difficult to evaluate which would run the country better.  

I know what you mean i would never vote Tory but am no great fan of Starmer like most will vote Labour just to see the back of the Tories.

[Cyker]

I should be a Labour supporter as I believe in socialism and stuff like the NHS and schools and transport being funded by tax, but I just don't like what Labour became, stealthily privatising schools and hospitals, turning universities into businesses instead of places for higher education etc.

They haven't given me any confidence in how they've been presenting themselves, seemingly just blindly opposing whatever the tories want to do even if it's something that should be in line with their beliefs.

I'm just praying they're more competent than they've shown...

[Primus1]

22 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Illegal Immigration Act 2023 for one ...

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/illegal-migration-bill#bill-documents

Back to the topic subject please - Elections

They are claiming asylum when they arrive 

Under existing British law, it's illegal to enter the country without a visa or special permission. That means someone who reaches the UK on a small boat could face up to four years in prison. But people who make the Channel crossing are protected by international law if they claim asylum once they arrive.27

[Roy124]

20 hours ago, Cyker said:

My issue with Reform and their predecessors is the same with other 'populist' parties - All that stuff they say, I get the impression they just say it because that's what people want to hear, not because they intend to actually implement it or how they will make it work.

They're basically selling you a dream.

The same tactics they used to sell Brexit, and look how that turned out - All the things they promised, they now say they never said that or their words were taken out of context.

Richard Ticehurst was accused of popularism,  but actually all parties do just that.

The party that promised to increase Defence spending to 5%, cut the NHS budget by X% by excluding all gender reassignment services and raising income tax to make up the difference etc would not be elected. 

[Roy124]

12 hours ago, Haliotis said:

What has become apparent to me is that the differences between the parties has become blurred, making it difficult to evaluate which would run the country better.  

And deliberately so.  The opposing sides of the electorate will always have the Government they want/don't want.   It is the centrist was will swing the result. 

At the moment the right, or is it the left, have the majority and the other 80 seats less.

A fact I heard yesterday,  no party in history has overturned an 80 seat majority in one election.   I remember the surprise victory by John Major in 1992.

Harold Wilson in 1964 just scraped in but got a workable majority the next time as did CMD in 2010.

Will WishiWashi change history?

[Roy124]

12 hours ago, Cyker said:

They haven't given me any confidence in how they've been presenting themselves, seemingly just blindly opposing whatever the tories want to do even if it's something that should be in line with their beliefs.

Sadly,  if they accept opposing good ideas they are accused of copying.  But from a Centrist POV  that is exactly what they should do.  It's probably also the reason that what A does is rarely reversed by B.

Outside the EU we can set or abolish VAT. The only change IIRC was abolition of the tax on tampons.

Will a future Government abolish abolition of smoking? Smoking giveth with one hand (tax and reduced future pension draw down) and taketh with the other (NHS).

[DAF XF]

33 minutes ago, Roy124 said:

Will a future Government abolish abolition of smoking? Smoking giveth with one hand (tax and reduced future pension draw down) and taketh with the other (NHS).

Reminded me of this classic

 

[Haliotis]

The Labour Party was formed by the Trades Unions.  Prior to that we only had Tories and Liberals.  At the time, the Labour Party was badly needed because the working class were treated little better than a few steps beyond slavery.

Where things went wrong is that the Unions became the Masters of the Labour Party, Union-led restrictive working practices were rife, and there were two tiers of working class - those with Union protection and those without. 
 

Margaret Thatcher tamed the Unions, and it was necessary for the survival of a the UK economy.  Recent activity by the Rail and NHS Unions has supported this fact - just imagine the increase in chaos that would occur without government control.

Today, elections are a mess for three main reasons - the profusion of small fringe parties, the bombardment by the “experts” on media-generated platforms, and the apathy of the general public (probably created in many instances by the contradictory confusion produced by the aforementioned “experts”).

[Primus1]

Yes, but there’s lots to thank the unions for…

[Haliotis]

1 hour ago, Primus1 said:

Yes, but there’s lots to thank the unions for…

Very true - they did a great job until they became over militant, and nearly killed off British industry.  I was a union member for many years, but did not support the excessive demands.  Later I transferred to a Technical and Supervisory Staff (TASS).  Perhaps it would have been better if they had remained politically neutral, nd collaborated with whichever party was in office.

[Primus1]

52 minutes ago, Haliotis said:

Very true - they did a great job until they became over militant, and nearly killed off British industry.  I was a union member for many years, but did not support the excessive demands.  Later I transferred to a Technical and Supervisory Staff (TASS).  Perhaps it would have been better if they had remained politically neutral, nd collaborated with whichever party was in office.

I agree, they let the power go to their heads, they should have been more like Germany where unions and management work together for the good of the company and employees 

[Haliotis]

5 hours ago, Primus1 said:

Yes, but there’s lots to thank the unions for…

Without a doubt, the Unions did a good job and the workforce needed them.  It was unfortunate that they turned so militant and used the muscle of the masses to virtually cripple industry.  It might have worked better if they could have become politically neutral - working in collaboration with whichever party was in power.

Although I was a member of an engineering union, I voted Conservative and withdrew from the political levy.  One shop steward did try to force me into paying the levy, saying that my political views did not fit into Trades Union policy.  I upset him by saying I hadn’t realised that the unions were communists, and he did stop when his area representative told him to back off.

[Haliotis]

When I worked for a machine tool company, two of our machines were taken to a show in Earls Court, London.  A couple of our electricians were also sent to connect them into the power supply (they had to be union members).  When they had finished the wiring, one picked up a brush to clean up the bits of cable strippings - WOW! He was pounced on in milliseconds and told to stop.