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Election 2010!

After reading Slayed's breakdown it's looking more and more likely that I'll be voting for the Lib Dems. I have a question though, it's been confusing me for a while now.

Why have the Lib Dems suddenly gone up so much in popularity? I was always under the impression that they were a perpetual underdog party, surely they can't have changed their policy and beliefs that much in such a short amount of time?
 
TBH, I find it pretty impressive that a 3rd party has gained so much ground.

As the saying goes, governments are voted out, not voted in, so you get a situation where the incumbent eventually becomes **** at running the country, and the contesting party takes advantage of this and gets in with only minimal effort on the policy front.

But for you guys, we're seeing a situation where the 3rd guy is coming in and is genuinely making an effort with policy (Because they have to), and this is a breath of fresh air for people who are actually interested in this, and not your usual smear campaigns and typical "The other guy is crap, but im not going to say how I'd do a better job" type remarks.

I do hope they win a few seats....There was a famous quote from the founder of the Australian Democrats "Keep the bastards honest"....He wasn't so much out there to actually form government, but merely to have a presence and keep the blowtorch on the major parties.
 
Probably belongs in another thread (or two) but...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHR6-KN-8uI[/youtube]
 
Slayed if anything those figures have put me off Lib Dem, looks to me like huge spending in their first year then nothing following.

And the cuts include removing the winter tax credit, or at least slimming it. Big no that surprisingly wasn't picked up on.

Regardless, I hate the tories, but it would take someone with large levels of bias to claim Cameron won. The polls are awful, the Sun have been caught with their pants down by ignoring some of the YouGov findings and the Daily Mail have been caught resetting poll data which showed a MASSIVE advantage for Clegg.

Cameron's fake looks towards the camera, and the overall editing of the Sky product was revoltingly one sided. Boulton interrupting to comment on the articles in the Telegraph about the "Tory leaked" smear campaign was hugely out of line, as was the biased editing focusing on showing Cameron talking down the camera, but with Clegg and Brown talking focusing on audience members who looked bored.

And the reason Lib Dems are surging is because sadly, the majority of British people are stupidly fickle, and will vote for who they're told to. They'll watch the debates and think the winner was whoever wins the polls. Which is why they're trying so hard to keep Cameron in it by the way they edit it, present it, and manipulate it.
 
Smithy said:
Slayed if anything those figures have put me off Lib Dem, looks to me like huge spending in their first year then nothing following.
I think you misread it then - spending goes up every year!

Total spending..........................................3,730.....3,745.....4,115.....5,050.....5,360

Smithy said:
And the cuts include removing the winter tax credit, or at least slimming it. Big no that surprisingly wasn't picked up on.
Actually it was used by Brown last night.

What's the Lib Dems are actually doing is changing it: "Reforming Winter Fuel Payments to extend them to all severely disabled people, paid for by delaying age-related Winter Fuel Payments until people reach 65. We will continue to pay Winter Fuel Payments to all current recipients of Pension Credit."

nadroJ said:
Why have the Lib Dems suddenly gone up so much in popularity? I was always under the impression that they were a perpetual underdog party, surely they can't have changed their policy and beliefs that much in such a short amount of time?
Simple - until now, Labour & Conservatives have gone out of their way to BLOCK the Lib Dems - for fear that higher exposure could undermine their own support.

How often have YOU ever heard a Lib Dem comment before now? Exactly. They were never given the chance or platform (even in the Commons they've always heckled them down with insults), and huge chunks of the press are Conservative linked (Sun, Torygraph, Daily Express, Daily Fail, Daily Star).

Then they agreed to a Live TV debate with equal exposure.

Guess what? Clegg's good! And it turns out that people LIKE what they're hearing from the Lib Dems. This is the first chance they've ever had to hear it.

That's not why I'm voting Lib Dem though. I'm into politics and seek it out, have done for years.

THIS time, the Lib Dems a) have a strong leader, and b) VERY well thought out policies.

Whereas Labour (and Brown) have had their chance & screwed up royally for years, and Cameron is a ****.

Simples :).
 
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKFTtYx2OHc[/youtube]

Apologies if already been posted
 
Vadge said:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKFTtYx2OHc[/youtube]

Apologies if already been posted

Vadge. I LOVE you. I want to share babies with you! That was quality!
 
Hahahaha! Genius vid David!

"All children to be uploaded to YouTube by 2012", and then.....

"MP safety paramount during planned genocide" - had me in stitches!

The other video was just childish and silly I'm afraid :lol:
 
Undecided who to vote for? Here's a handy tip which tells you what party YOU are!:

http://votematch.org.uk/

Answer a few questions, and it'll tell you what % each party you are!

EDIT: My results:


UK Independence Party:62%
Labour Party: 52%
Green Party: 47%
British National Party: 46%
Liberal Democrats: 45%
Conservative Party: 36%

Best Match:
UK Independence Party

HELL NO!


V maybe I missed it? I haven't seen it in the topic :S
 
She says like, two things, neither of which are at all clever, thought through, funny or original. What the hell?
 
You can clearly see Cameron lying through his teeth. Bursary's never do much anyway, I'm a poor student but I don't qualify because my parents earn over £50k a year.
 
That is my one fear if the Tories do get into power: lack of bursaries and higher Uni costs. I'm likely to be the first affected by it, and I can see me having to postpone or cancel any Uni plans I may have made by the end of 2010.

I can see why they would want to reduce places and make it more expensive - I mean, so many people go Uni nowadays that the qualifications from them are getting lower and lower in worthiness...

The Lib Dems idea of scrapping Uni fees is good on the face of it, but after picking it to pieces, is seriously not thought out well.

As far as I can see, Labour are the only party that can reassure me a Uni place at a good enough cost, even if they are reducing numbers and making cuts in funding...
 
ciallkennett said:
The Lib Dems idea of scrapping Uni fees is good on the face of it, but after picking it to pieces, is seriously not thought out well.
Really? What's wrong with it? The only complaint I've read is that it will make Unis reliant on Government funding, but then they are now and always have been.

• Scrap unfair university tuition fees for all students taking their first degree, including those studying part-time, saving them over £10,000 each.

We have a financially responsible plan to phase fees out over six years, so that the change is affordable even in these difficult economic times, and without cutting university income.

We will immediately scrap fees for final year students.

• Reform current bursary schemes to create a National Bursary Scheme for students, so that each university gets a bursary budget suited to the needs of its students.

These bursaries would be awarded both on the basis of studying strategic subjects (such as sciences and mathematics) and financial hardship.


ciallkennett said:
As far as I can see, Labour are the only party that can reassure me a Uni place at a good enough cost, even if they are reducing numbers and making cuts in funding...
They've made HUGE cuts in Education funding - up to £2 billion announced so far! My wife's a lecturer, so I already know the Colleges and Unis are having to cut budgets, courses, staff...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/feb/07/heads-must-make-1bn-savings
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6841387.ece
 
^ The Lid Dems are going to have to find that money somewhere. I think they stated where from, but I can't remember where...

And Labour have made vast improvements on education from all age ranges since they have been in power. Ok, it may not seem like it, but look back 15 years ago, and the standard of education has dramatically increased and is still continuing to do so. It was Labour who opened up many thousands more Uni places and, ultimately opened up this opportunity for many people who otherwise wouldn't have given a second thought to Uni.
 
This says it all.

At work we are getting no pay rise no bonus but they have had us set up 18 phones so people from the Conservative party can come here and make cold call to try and get people to vote for them.

I know other companies will be doing this for other parties as well just makes me think they have money for phone calls but not us.
 
^ Think of it this way, your company obviously thinks that the Tories are the right Government for your company's business.

If your management are correct and your company does perform better under a Tory government, they will recoup their losses for this exercise and hopefully make a profit. Remember, the Tories are Government for business/private sector, not for State. That's why many high profile business leaders recently acknowledged the Tory economic plans.

The more profit your company makes, the more of a bonus you'll get.
 
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