Polling Day!

[Mr Mystery]

So, it's local election day here in England.

Many pundits are touting it as a serious litmus test of how the next general election may go.

Rather than go on about who we're voting for and why (I suspect the general consensus on each 'don't care' to the next person) anyone up for speculating what we might see?

For me....I think we'll see a dent made in the Tories via UKIP, who seem better placed to attract the real nutters of the right. Tories also face an uphill struggle as they have annoyed a lot of people since taking power, making deep usually painful cuts for seemingly little gain. This will cost them votes, and I'm not sure it will really gain them votes, as most people who support that sort of thing (not necessarily the few gains of course!) are likely to already be Tory voters.

Lib Dems are in for a nasty time, seeing as they are largely seen as spineless little lickspittles who sold out all their principles at the first whiff of power (certainly true of Clegg, and this has reflected badly on his party).

Labour...Hmm. Really not sure. First up, they have the most to gain. They are the main opposition to the incumbents, but although under new management, haven't really made any great shakes. However, I think they'll see a certain amount of 'returning to the fold' and make vote gains in quite a few areas. Enough to win seats? No idea. But enough to signal a resurgence of interest, if not confidence in the party whole.

[Wolfshade]

Not all local councils are of course being elected today

Broadly speaking, Labour will be an anti-coallition/austerity vote. The toruble is I hear lots about what they are not going to do and very little about what they will do.

Fringe parties will benefit from general apathy and dislike of the who parlimantary process.

[Psychosplodge]

I'm not quite sure why disagreeing with a federal europe makes you a nutter?

We're not voting this year.

[Wolfshade]

I'm not quite sure why disagreeing with a federal europe makes you a nutter?

We're not voting this year.

You don't need to, Sheffield is the only place where the socialist worker is a mainstream newspaper...

[Psychosplodge]

Not quite, maybe it is in Barnsley, but it may as well be true when it comes to voting, previously in council elections you had the realistic choice of fibdem or libour, post coalition anything but libour will be a wasted vote.

[Mr Mystery]

I'm not quite sure why disagreeing with a federal europe makes you a nutter?

We're not voting this year.

It's more the 'we'll pull out and go it alone' which lets face it, really is not a sensible option. Oh. And the closet racism the party (not necessarily supporters) tends to exhibit. Xenophobia in the modern world is simply not the way forward....

[Wolfshade]

Enough "wasted votes" and all that claptrap.

My council is Labour, I am not sure what they have done for me other than ensuring my rubbish collection is "intermittent", oh and the new alleged wheelie bins (which I am in favour of, as there are some fellows along my road who fail to tie their bin bags)

[Psychosplodge]

Well what mine has done for me is move the local park the youths practice their antisocial disorder on from the place it's been for 35 years that's coincidently 100yards from a councillors house, to the playing fields at the end of my road. That was awfully nice of them.

[Wolfshade]

Also redesigning the roads of Sheffield so that no two journeys are alike (or that was my experiance driving to/from Sheffield to uni)

[Psychosplodge]

You were there when they were still doing it weren't you? Now it's in such a way as you can see where you want to be but it's going to take you 15 minutes and three miles to get there...

[Mr Mystery]

Royal Tunbridge Wells Council recently instigated deep cuts.

Oh. And awarded themselves a 20% or so pay rise. And increased expenses.

This is 'blue rosette hat stand' country after all. I know who I'm voting for, and it's not those self serving parasites!

[Psychosplodge]

Anybody who stands for election is instantly unqualified to do it.

[Wolfshade]

It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it... anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.

Once again Mr Adams helps us (Doug, not Jerry...)

[Denzark]

I am strongly considering voting UKIP. 2 reasons - my town is about to 'gain' a waste incinerator, against which 60k+ signatures have said they don't want it. I note Norwich, a labour run council, managed to get it moved further away in to Norfolk. Clearly our Tories are not paying enough attention to democracy.

That leads onto the second - the fact i did so would give me good grounds to write to my local Tory MP and warn him that as people like me have voted UKIP in the local election, purely to punish the tories, then unless they pull their fingers out it may happen again for the General.

As for right wing 'nutters' wanting to pull out of Europe, it is amusing that it is the nasty lefty plebian parties that don't even trust the electorate to have a referendum and give a mandate backing the EU, with its wonderful ECHR and multi billion budget...

[DrLove42]

See an EU referendum would be interesting. I'm not sure which way that one would go really.

The Scottish Referendum on the other hand is a waste of time, and its very clear which way it'll go

[DeadPanda]

If I were to vote, it would be UKIP.

[Mr Mystery]

See an EU referendum would be interesting. I'm not sure which way that one would go really.

The Scottish Referendum on the other hand is a waste of time, and its very clear which way it'll go

I see it as a master stroke of Politicking. Salmond literally cannot lose. He promised a referendum, and he's delivered. Job jobbed.

And never, ever write off the bloody mindedness of the Scot.

However, Cameron has a lot more riding on his would be referendum. I don't think we'd leave Europe. It's genuinely not in our interests at all. Yet, hold the referendum and lose, UKIP kind of have to STFU, as the people have spoken. This brings people back to the Tory fold. Pull out of Europe? Well we'll see how that goes (I'm betting not well at all).

So what's the difference? Cameron went too far. He promised to blag us a better position in Europe. Which the rest of Europe isn't interested in. He's made a promise which is simply not in his power to deliver!

The trouble with Britain in Europe is that we've been one foot in, one foot out, and all down to BS national pride. Oh but we beat them in two world wars blah blah blah. Yes. Yes we did. And we all fought each other. But whilst we were patting ourselves on the back, the rest of Europe realised we needed now to band together. And they did. And we missed out for the most part, because we'd won two wars, and felt they should be coming to us....

[Psychosplodge]

Europe should be for nothing more than trade. That's it trade. That's what they asked people originally wasn't it? So why have we got this monstrosity we have now?
It clearly doesn't work anyway.

[eldargal]

See an EU referendum would be interesting. I'm not sure which way that one would go really.

The Scottish Referendum on the other hand is a waste of time, and its very clear which way it'll go
Yup, the polls are quite clear independence will fail, thank god. I love Scotland and I'd hate to see it turn into Spain pretty much overnight, contrary to the bollocks the SNP like to come out with. I mean you start by leaving wit hhundreds of billions of pounds debt and then you need to borrow a heap more right off the bat at a time when debt is rightly considered poison? Yes that's a sensible plan for national economic security.:rolleyes:




The trouble with Britain in Europe is that we've been one foot in, one foot out, and all down to BS national pride. Oh but we beat them in two world wars blah blah blah. Yes. Yes we did. And we all fought each other. But whilst we were patting ourselves on the back, the rest of Europe realised we needed now to band together. And they did. And we missed out for the most part, because we'd won two wars, and felt they should be coming to us....
Actually much of it was rooted in a fundamental distrust of where Europe wanted to go with it, and the fact is we were right to be wary as recent events have shown. The EU expanded bureaucratically too rapidly and the eurozone expanded too rapidly and too stupidly, particularly in regard to southern Europe which various British figures were warning off back in the 70s.

Amusingly it was also the Tories who were in favour of joining the EEC/EU with Labour opposed.

[Mr Mystery]

I'm kind of hoping for purely selfish, ex-pat tax rate, reasons that Scotland does split! No idea if it's a good idea or not.

[Wolfshade]

How to win votes and influence people:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22381347

[eldargal]

Aw, I was hoping it was 'UKIP inducts dozens of burlesque dancer candiates'.

[Wolfshade]

Sorry to disapoint.

[Mr Mystery]

Aw, I was hoping it was 'UKIP inducts dozens of burlesque dancer candiates'.

Nope. Just a bunch of racist, far right goits so far I'm afraid! :p

[Wildeybeast]

I mean you start by leaving wit hhundreds of billions of pounds debt and then you need to borrow a heap more right off the bat at a time when debt is rightly considered poison?

Worse still, they want to contaminate our glorious English pound with their ruinous national debt. I think if we have learned anything from Europe, it's that a shared currency without a shared economy is a cluster f£%k waiting to happen. No thank you Mister Salmond, you want independence you can have it and the first stage of that is you can stop sponging of England.

Does anyone know why city councils aren't voting this time round? In the past city and county elections have always been at the same time, but now they aren't. I can't for the life of me think of any reason for this change.

[Psychosplodge]

Our's does a third a year with a year off? could it be something like that?