Getting Political

[IDGM]

Today's Metro paper, along with many others recently, is telling us all about El Blair resigning and Gordon 'Chubby' Brown waiting to take over the throne.

I'm actually under the impression that should Tony resign his leadership of the Labour Party, John Prescott will become Prime Minister (at Tony's behest) until a new leader is chosen by party members. Who's to say that is what the party at large want?

Personally, I'm concerned that Prezza will be in charge for a bit, and that 'old school Labour' Brown is going to be the saviour of the nation. I'm already 15% worse off in my nett salary under Labour as it is.

[Babs]

kill 'em all, I say

[moreno510]

anything is better than the phucking tories

[IDGM]

anything is better than the phucking tories

I dunno so much these days. What's the diference between the two? At least Mrs Thatch did what she said she'd do, for good or for bad. Let's hope 'Dr' John Reid doesn't put his name forward and win. He's had more jobs than a Boy Scout on bob-a-job week and he's been total ass at all of them.

What gets me is that every election the promises of righting the inadequacies of health and education will be corrected by pumping even more money into the respective systems. Round here the hospitals are hugely in debt and casting off staff and reducing facilities in newly built hospitals and all the GSCE and A-level results are better because you don't need the percentages any more.

I'm going to take over the country and lock down the situation for a few years. Any manifesto questions will be answered. The Lupo Party.

Edited September 8, 2006 by IDGM

[lupogtiboy]

i don't trust or like any of them! i only vote for the lesser of three evils, which is a tricky one these days.

[Tigz™]

Child care for Emma to go back to work when baby 3-4 month old.

£130.00 a week.

Family Tax credit.

£10 a week.

Voting labour.

Priceless.

Edited September 8, 2006 by Tigz

[andyp]

get them all out, they have done a ***** job... wasting money left right and centre on pointless things..

[lupodave]

I go to Uni in a couple of weeks and I'm potentially looking at a £19k debt thanks to Labour!! Where's the justice in that considering my mate that I work with at Tesco has entered their graduate scheme and is already on a salary of £14k, goes up to about £18 after first year I think. I know you have to look in the long term and say that in the end I will come out with a better paid job if I get a good degree but in the short term it's just ridiculously expensive. I know I won't come out with a £19k debt because the 'rents will help out, but potentially for a low income family it's silly daft money.

Rant over, I like the idea of a Lupo party... and what's wrong with the Torries?!

Dave

Edited September 8, 2006 by lupodave

[moreno510]

Family Tax credit.

£10 a week.

think your doing yourself there mate

[Petes 16V Sport]

Explanation:

The tories policies are founded from the right and so try to protect the interests of high earning people, hence they traditionally take money away from the health service, public transport, benefits and public sector workers, prefering to lower taxes on those who earn more, spend more money on things like roads, police and culture.

This is because most rich people have there own healthcare plans, don't need public transport to get around and if they need a job doing can pay someone to do it. And obviously, they want a nice place to live in, with good road links, generally.

Labour traditionally are from the left and so fund the health service, schools, public sector, benefits and public transport. But this means higher taxes on people who earn more, which conservatives (who traditionally are people who earn more) dont like!

However New Labour try to take ideas from both sides as this appeals to middle england (which makes up most of the people who vote... who arent rich and arent poor) and so tries to keep investment in the public sector, but tries not to put taxes for people on higher incomes up, keeping both sides happy. But in doing this they put stealth taxes on petrol, cigarettes etc, and bring in a few policies from the right for people in a minority, example student top up fees, and recently the new immigration laws, trying to keep everyone happy.

My opinion:

Obviously this isn't going to work perfectly, and in a perfect ideal, liberal democrats, who basically follow the new labour middle ground thing, but have less infighting as there past isn't as left as labour, would work fine, but the thing is, not many people are going to vote for a minority party, and so this will never work.

So my own personal opinion is id rather vote for labour than conservatives as conservatives tend to starve the country of the funding it needs, and yes this means under tories we get better roads, and more wonders etc etc... (such as the millennium dome was a conservative idea!) but the gap between low earners and high earners worsens, this means that poorer people find it hard to live, which means the extra money conservatives will invest in crime, is futile, as the more well off people are and better upbringing they have, generally the less lightly they are to turn to crime. I also feel that as I come from a single parent family (my dad divorced my mum when I was very young) where my mum works every day in sainsburys just to make sure we could survive, I wouldnt have had the chance ive had, without labour ideas such as the working families tax credit.

Neither party is ideal at the end of the day, whatever happens they are going to get it wrong, but id rather look after the interests of the many than the few, and its just up to your own personal preference at the end of the day.

Please don't judge me on this, its just my political views, I will respect whatever views you have yourself, at the end of the day, im just a man and politics means nothing!

You did ask! lol

Pete

(I suppose id least ive considered my decision unlike most voters!)

Edited September 9, 2006 by Petes 16V Sport

[lupodave]

Haha, I did ask lol. You've got a pretty solid arguement there Pete, well put. I guess it comes from personal experience and views the way you vote. I have yet to vote in a General Election! I'm just p*ssed off that my age group is the first that is getting looted of money just to go to Uni. I can't see that it's fair for students to be faced with high levels of debt for getting a degree when it is these people that keep our country a leading economically developed country in the world. I'm refering to the doctors, researchers into science for medical cures, etc. Especially when a medicine degree is what, 6/7 years long?! Think how much that's going to cost! I think the government should be trying to encourage people to go into higher education, but by increasing tuition fees along with cost of living it actually causes more segregation. This is because low income earners will probably not want to be faced with huge amounts of debt to train to become a doctor. Whereas the kids from the higher income households are more likely to be backed from their parents in terms of financial backing, thus reducing the amount of debt the idividual student takes on. But the kid from the low income family is faced with all the debt and worries about how they're going to pay it off when they could just start a job straight out of school and be earning straight away, like my mate from Tesco for example.

Stealth taxes are just full on gash and I think my Dad would disagree about New Labour trying to reduce the amount of tax on higher earners.

Rant over, each to their own obviously. But you can't deny that Blair and Brown are a right pair of idiots sometimes. I mean c'mon, Brown's on what his 2nd/3rd chance after being demoted or whatever?! And he still ends up as 2nd in command?!

[nfbr]

Vote UKIP lol.

Edited September 9, 2006 by nfbr

[Picola]

When in doubt, beatbox

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=...=genre%3ACOMEDY

[lupodave]

Hahaha LMFAO that's quali-eh!

[Ardent]

I am from a working class background and I am still working class. Yet I have always voted blue.

The only red I had any respect for was Robin Cook. Tack sharp mind.

Unlike tone "show me the bombs, three words at a time" blair. Cannot even bring myself to give his name capitals.

What troubles me is, given the amount of back stabbing and general in fighting that the reds are currently going through, why have the blues not capitilised on the situation. They have not utterd a word in an attempt to make political gain.

I am strongly of the opinion they do not want to be in goverment because the national accounts are in such a mess.

Mr stealth took over one of the strongest economies in world, left to him by the blues. Yet he has borrowed more than any other chancellor on record.

House prices. The govt has no reason to curb house price inflation. Every house over 125k is a wedge in stamp duty to happy gordon. Inhertence tax, this was supposed to tax the rich, many working class families now fall into this bracket. No fault of their own they cannot control the rise in prices. But fear not gordon will have his wedge. This is one of the highest taxed places on earth.

liked Cameron while in the contest for leader, but his ideas about telling local party voters who is going to stand for election because it looks good for the figures, is not good. I vote on merit not becuase it puts a tick in the box of equal representation.

Stealthy boys roll of honour. 150 backdoor taxes, speaks volumes to me, but make up your own minds.

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/garbagegate/item2/stealth.htm

And one that is close to all our hearts

Speed Cameras • The money raised from them is either used to buy more cameras or paid to the Treasury. As the government has no intention of removing cameras from sites where the death and serious injury rate rises after the camera is installed, it is obvious that speed cameras are there to raise revenue by stealth rather than to improve road safety.

February 2005 The revenue from speed camera fines in 2003/4 was up 63% compared to receipts in 2002/3. But then we knew tat anyway.

jayson votes, without fail.

[lupodave]

A-men to that Ardent.

[gargoil]

Tommy Sheridan for president!!! style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />

[IDGM]

Cor. I'm off the web for the weekend and there's real debate here.

My girlfriend started teaching in 1997, the year that 'things could only get better'. She is still in the lower tax band but as a percentage, is 15% worse off due to increases in PAYE and NI deductions. My pay packet will be the same. Her school is a success and as such has it's budget cut to fund schools that are failing! Her exercise books have not arrived yet. Stealth taxes hit us all elsewhere. Insurance, flights, fuel tax, should VAT be applied to Jaffa Cakes? etc etc.

After she was knocked down last year, there were just two plates available for her legs, one too short. The result, it snapped 4 months later, so it had to be replaced causing another 2 months hospital hopitality. It was found that she had also caught MRSA during her first stay there too. In November last year, the local social services prioritised her status for a back step and ramp to be installed at our house for wheelchair access. We've heard nothing since.

The 18yr old girl who knocked her down on the pavement got 5 points and a £135 fine for driving without due care and attention. Rachel has to live with all manner of problems and looks forward to knee, hip and shoulder replacements within the next 5-7 years as a result. Our plans for a family have stopped mid way through fertility treatment with no idea on when things might get going again.

We have more ministers that you can shake a stick at, why? I saw one the other day, The Minister for Social Inclusion or Exclusion, whaaatt???? Now, as you know, I'm not one to moan (!) but considering how much money (mine, yours and borrowed) Labour have poured in to health, education and justice, where are they going wrong? There is a saying that if you throw enough **** it sticks. Unfortunately, the same doesn't apply with money and a public service.

You know what they say, a change is as good as a rest.

Edited September 11, 2006 by IDGM

[lupodave]

Sorry to hear about your girlfriend, I hope things turn out well in the end. This has turned into a real debate lol. Anyone else going to enlighten us with their Labour/Torry views?