General News/Current Affairs Thread

Christ, what happened? Time to move to Scotland I guess, unless they want a union with the North East. Tory governments have just as much legitimacy here as they do north of the border.

I guess Scotland's just kept moving further to the left while England's moved further to the right. Sucks for those regions (and citizens) of England that lean left, but without Scotland to consider I can only see Labour moving back to the right now.

At least it's nice to know Kinnock agrees with me, this is all the stupid electorate's fault.
 

Lawrence said:
That said, even with our new Scottish 'barrier', I am a little worried that as long as the SNP and Labour are in the minority, the Conservatives can still impose their will on a country they don't represent. I mean, this raises some serious questions. What happens when a country has. by large, elected a party that objects to the renewal of Trident but the Conservatives support it?
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See, this is where nationalism just loses me. There are huge red and blue blocks in England that have never voted Tory or Labour, yet it's apparently fine for the losing party in those constituencies to impose rule on them at a national level - But when they constitute an historically defined "country" that's illegitimate?

Nothing against the SNP or the people of Scotland here (hell, the SNP's politics minus the nationalism are far closer to my own than any of the other parties), you've made your voice heard and how. They would still have propped up Labour in England, this is Labour's failure not the fault of the SNP.

Personally I think it's time we had some sort of partition plan like Israel/Palestine in England and Labour can govern the red areas and the Tories can govern the blue ones.
 
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I'm overall fairly satisfied. I didn't vote for the conservatives and they didn't win in my area either, so on the face of it it's a disappointing result - but I think in the long run things are getting more interesting than they have been in a while. I dislike nationalism yet seeing Scotland's results encourages me that the parties may need to reassess their priorities. If only the English parties could reorganise and actually produce a movement I believed would speak for me in future instead of a bunch of people it's difficult to tell apart. I wouldn't be averse to the SNP rebranding and setting their sights higher one day either if they ever feel like sharing the love.

I'm mostly just happy that UKIP ended up doing far worse than the insane media bias towards them implied. Pretty sure I'll lose my job if they ever get any actual power.

Oh, and importing anime is momentarily slightly cheaper than it was before. The real victory.

R
 
Rui said:
I'm overall fairly satisfied. I didn't vote for the conservatives and they didn't win in my area either, so on the face of it it's a disappointing result - but I think in the long run things are getting more interesting than they have been in a while. I dislike nationalism yet seeing Scotland's results encourages me that the parties may need to reassess their priorities. If only the English parties could reorganise and actually produce a movement I believed would speak for me in future instead of a bunch of people it's difficult to tell apart. I wouldn't be averse to the SNP rebranding and setting their sights higher one day either if they ever feel like sharing the love.

I'm mostly just happy that UKIP ended up doing far worse than the insane media bias towards them implied. Pretty sure I'll lose my job if they ever get any actual power.

Oh, and importing anime is momentarily slightly cheaper than it was before. The real victory.

R
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Some sort of British Nationalist Party? Oh wait....... :wink:
 
Things are definately getting interesting, but the country just seems more divided than ever. While I'm also glad UKIP failed to secure more seats, the fact that there are areas they pushed both the Tories AND Labour into third can only be a sign the English electorate at least are getting more right wing.

I don't have much hope for the future of Labour now. Without Scotland, with the English voters moving right, they can either go back to Blairism (under some godawful leader with mass appeal but no convictions no doubt, especially since Ed Balls has been a casualty) or they can disappear into irrelevance as the centre ground appears to have gone overwhelmingly to the Tories. Much as we might like a left wing alternative, if even Ed Miliband's moderate slight shift to the left produces a result like this, it just spells the wilderness for them.
 
britguy said:
Some sort of British Nationalist Party? Oh wait....... :wink:
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Haha, well I'd rather they rebranded that part of the name too :D

The BNP are another of my strong motivators for voting. I'd be less interested in bothering if not for the opportunity to lower their score by one each time I make a mark on a piece of paper.

R
 
I am pleased with how Scotland voted (even if I voted Green). My disappointment lies with the rest of the 'United' Kingdom and it only shows that Scotland is indeed more left-wing than England. Sadly, the independence last year vote used scaremongering tactics (which targeted the selfish baby-boomer pensioners) and that sealed the fate of Scotland under the status quo. I mean how could Scotland cope without England? In my view, quite easily.

Now I expect full dismantling of the NHS (shares being sold to Cameron's cronies), brutal cuts for those needing benefits, TTIP bill being stealthily passed through, scrapping worker's rights when UK exits the EU (if it happens), continuation of zero hour contracts and austerity measures (Con/Lib government has actually increased deficit despite austerity), right to buy instead of building homes (landlords will buy up properties and push up rent charges) and etc.

I love living in the UK in 2015 where inequality is only widening. Humanity prevails.
 
oof, what a depressing result for England. What baffles me is why most of the Lib Dem seats went to the Torys. They felt betrayed by Clegg and so voted for Cameron :s
Anyway this country will now get 5 years of ****, and we voted for it, part of me almost hopes the conservatives get as evil as possible and really give us what we want and deserve.

One thing that is clear out of all is that we need a change in the voting system. It might mean more power to Ukip in the short term, which is pretty ******, but really if they get the votes they deserve it.

Was pretty gratifying to see the Lib Dems get completely crushed though. Clegg enabled the Conservatives to get the power they now have.
 
I've had a successful and fruitful existence over the last few years with quite a few job opportunities coming my way and reduced taxes, personal allowances and help to buy benefiting me a lot. I for one hope the next five years will be as good for me, if they're not then i'll just vote Labour!
 
"A Lannister always pays their debts."

Well, the majority voted for it. Did we really expect anything else - really? It's come to a stage where we're just looking out for ourselves to survive or pushing on to "higher plains" in the world. Only people in the same situation can really only understand their own similar situation - those on long-term benefits, job insecurity with 0 hrs, pensioners feeling the squeeze, families shifted to other counties... I can only imagine what they'd be going though.
Then - a super fast train service with more trains available... which will probably push ticket prices up now too for the "exclusive" upgrade. I mean, I want the upgrade but not if I can't ride it - as many commuters with know more about as they don't get that choice.

I actually voted for Labour to TRY to push another vote towards a manifesto that wasn't my 1st choice, but I felt more comfortable with. Otherwise, I'd vote Green, and how many seats did they get? And Labour? (At least it's red county around me.) Thing is, there was no consistency in success, accuracy or bravado in the group, and this calls for a complete wipe of the party representatives, not just Miliband. They deserve to be red in the face.

But in heart - I'm happy it's a majority vote. We can EXPECT things to go a certain way. There will be some positives in the tide of negativity. Like aforementioned, the trains will be better quality (when it finishes...), a chance of a pay-rise and no income tax for those contracted 30hrs+ (which I'm just short of - damn!). Not as good as No N.I.+Income tax, but themz the breaks. Time to dig in, even when I feel we should be spreading out more.
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Maybe this should be our new national symbol?
 
Well things are just going to get harder for people in poorer families like myself. I'm still going to university but if under 25s don't get housing benefit then I better get a secure job once I leave uni or I'm screwed and will have to go back home which I don't think I will want to do.
 
vashdaman said:
Anyway this country will now get 5 years of ****, and we voted for it, part of me almost hopes the conservatives get as evil as possible and really give us what we want and deserve.
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We had that already vash, it was called Thatcherism and people still kept voting for them. They can't keep going forever though, what will they do when they run out of things to privatise?

In one of the happier results to come out of this election, I don't think you need worry about the BNP any more Rui. They're apparently down from half a million in 2010 to 1,667 votes in the entire country, around half as many as the Monster Raving Loony Party.
 
black1blade said:
Well things are just going to get harder for people in poorer families like myself. I'm still going to university but if under 25s don't get housing benefit then I better get a secure job once I leave uni or I'm screwed and will have to go back home which I don't think I will want to do.
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Move back home anyway and start saving for a mortgage deposit instead of paying rent! I was never applicable for any housing benefits when I wanted to move out (apparently), even when earning very little and coming from a low income background hence why it took me longer to move out (had to wait until I was earning enough!)
 
britguy said:
black1blade said:
Well things are just going to get harder for people in poorer families like myself. I'm still going to university but if under 25s don't get housing benefit then I better get a secure job once I leave uni or I'm screwed and will have to go back home which I don't think I will want to do.
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Move back home anyway and start saving for a mortgage deposit instead of paying rent! I was never applicable for any housing benefits when I wanted to move out (apparently), even when earning very little and coming from a low income background hence why it took me longer to move out (had to wait until I was earning enough!)
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What happens if these under-21's who are looking for a place are kicked out by their family and have no one else to turn to? No housing benefit and no job? Thanks to the Tories, they will be literally on the streets, homeless.

The government wants to push more people into Uni or employment. Sadly not enough jobs or uni places for everybody. Society is turning into a US state system. I expect homeless and food bank levels to rise drastically.

In addition, The Department of Work and Pensions have released a document outlining that those on disability benefits will now not have any help on a work access scheme. Tories leaving the most vulnerable to rot as usual. :(
 
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