Well, the manifestos are presented and they are all accusing each other of not being able to add up their budgetry figures.
Labour is pledging all the things they have pledged during their 2 terms, but pledging to do them better.
Conservative are pledging more than Labour.
Lib Dems are pledging to be positive and not demean the other parties.
The labour party political broadcast showed Tony and Gordon doing a Mel and Grif routine.
The Lib Dem party political broadcast showed the UK turning yellow.
I haven't seen the Conservative one.
This evening there was a knock on my front door and a small, elderly gentleman, with a blue rosette that was nearly bigger than him, said
' I'm with the Conservative party' and then he just stood there and said nothing.
I should be taking this seriously but, over the years, I have seen so many pledges broken or misconstrued that cynicism takes root.
..and I'm now suspicious of any form of postal voting.
It is all very, very important but the politicians seem to be getting in the way.
Just thought I'd get the ball rolling.
Pete
UK Elections 2005
I don't trust either of them. Maybe it's time to give the underdogs a chance!I've just been watching Charles Clarke on Newsnight and all credit to Jeremy Paxman for stopping him in his tracks when he tried to ridicule the Tory manifesto.
"Talk about your own", Jeremy said
and as for Charles Clarke trying to justify the raising of National Insurance when they'd promised not to do so..........
so that's why I'm paying more...for the health service. Do I see more cleaners in hospitals?
damn... I think I'm getting interested
Pete
"Talk about your own", Jeremy said
and as for Charles Clarke trying to justify the raising of National Insurance when they'd promised not to do so..........
so that's why I'm paying more...for the health service. Do I see more cleaners in hospitals?
damn... I think I'm getting interested
Pete
The party I have voted for since I was young is not getting my vote again. My priorities are
1. Asylum seekers - get that sorted and then it will ease the system. I watched Crimewatch yesterday and nearly fell off my chair.
2. Hospitals - for God's sake how hard is it to clean. A new born baby dying of MRSA. Get a grip.
3. Education and food in schools. What has happened to our schools when children don't even know the basics and give that Jamie Olivier a knighthood.
4. Police - do we have a police force?
I agree with you on postal voting Pete recipe for disaster as we have seen with the prison sentences which have just been imposed on overly corrupt officials.
I do miss Screaming Lord Sutch.
1. Asylum seekers - get that sorted and then it will ease the system. I watched Crimewatch yesterday and nearly fell off my chair.
2. Hospitals - for God's sake how hard is it to clean. A new born baby dying of MRSA. Get a grip.
3. Education and food in schools. What has happened to our schools when children don't even know the basics and give that Jamie Olivier a knighthood.
4. Police - do we have a police force?
I agree with you on postal voting Pete recipe for disaster as we have seen with the prison sentences which have just been imposed on overly corrupt officials.
I do miss Screaming Lord Sutch.
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Scooby Doo
- Posts: 87
- Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2005 4:54 pm
The illegal war and occupation of Iraq should be an important election issue. £Billions have been found to bolster the UK government's position as The USA's junior imperial partner.
The two main parties are attempting to outbid each other in attacking asylum seekers and civil liberties.
The link below shows how your MP voted on the war. In the case of a pro-war MP, the underdog candidate would be a sane choice. Scooby, in Wales and Scotland the "wasted vote" argument does not necessarily apply.
http://stopwar.org.uk/new/resources/mpnames.htm
Rob.
The two main parties are attempting to outbid each other in attacking asylum seekers and civil liberties.
The link below shows how your MP voted on the war. In the case of a pro-war MP, the underdog candidate would be a sane choice. Scooby, in Wales and Scotland the "wasted vote" argument does not necessarily apply.
http://stopwar.org.uk/new/resources/mpnames.htm
Rob.
Last edited by Rob on Thu Apr 14, 2005 1:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Jonnie Falafel
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2003 9:36 pm
- Location: Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy
- Contact:
Reasons not to vote Labour:
Iraq war
Private Finance Initiative (extended into NHS)
Tuition fees
Proposed identity cards
They renaged on a promise to introduce proportionalality in general elections as soon as they got a thumping majority.
Reasons not to vote Tory:
Mostly 'cause they are self serving nepotistic scumbags who hand out favours to their rich mates & generally try to foster fear and suspicion of minorities (gypsies, foreigners, asylum seekers etc..).
Iraq war
Private Finance Initiative (extended into NHS)
Tuition fees
Proposed identity cards
They renaged on a promise to introduce proportionalality in general elections as soon as they got a thumping majority.
Reasons not to vote Tory:
Mostly 'cause they are self serving nepotistic scumbags who hand out favours to their rich mates & generally try to foster fear and suspicion of minorities (gypsies, foreigners, asylum seekers etc..).
Is that allReasons not to vote Tory:
Mostly 'cause they are self serving nepotistic scumbags who hand out favours to their rich mates & generally try to foster fear and suspicion of minorities (gypsies, foreigners, asylum seekers etc..).
? What impossibly high standards you appear to impose, Jonnie.Jonnie I have no idea what Harrogate is like with regard to asylum seekers. I can only speak of my area. If you truly think there is not a problem and it is all in the mind of politicians trying to get your vote good luck to you. But where I live it is a problem and a major one at that. Almost everyone I speak to that is their main and ongoing concern.
Tony I don't think we deserve this Government. What could we possibly have done to deserve them? I am seriously considering voting Tory this time.
Tony I don't think we deserve this Government. What could we possibly have done to deserve them? I am seriously considering voting Tory this time.
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Jonnie Falafel
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2003 9:36 pm
- Location: Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy
- Contact:
Hi Paula,
Voting Tory isn't going to make hospitals cleaner you know. It was the Tories who first introduced Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) into hospitals which forced them to contract out their cleaning services to companies who charged the least. This had the following effect:
1. You pay peanuts and you get monkeys! Not to mention a high turnover of cleaning staff who feel no attachment to the environment they work in. And for a fiver an hour why should you? See Polly Toynbee's excellent Hard Work: Life in Low Pay Britain to understand some of the appalling pay and working conditions these workers have to endure. Prior to CCT, cleaners were NHS employees and enjoyed all the benefits that brought.
2 Hospital staff & private comany cleaners have different emplyers and therefore senior nurses have no authority over cleaners.
3. It created rigidity of roles and a jobsworth culture. More time is now spent arguing over who should clean up the shit rather than it being everyone's duty to ensure a clean ward.
4. The Tories "How hard is it to keep a hospital clean?" is fatuous... actually it's very hard! It requires strategic planning which is hard to do when cleaners and other staff have different employers.
5. The spread of MRSA is partly a result of the success of the Labours policy to treat a higher volume of patients. Bed turnover is high and there are more people passing faster and faster through the system. It means that staff don't have time to clean beds between occupants as thoroughly as they did in the past.
6. Private comapnies invest very little staff training.... they worry too much about the botton line. Additionally, the low pay means the jobs attract people with lower skills.
Voting Tory isn't going to make hospitals cleaner you know. It was the Tories who first introduced Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) into hospitals which forced them to contract out their cleaning services to companies who charged the least. This had the following effect:
1. You pay peanuts and you get monkeys! Not to mention a high turnover of cleaning staff who feel no attachment to the environment they work in. And for a fiver an hour why should you? See Polly Toynbee's excellent Hard Work: Life in Low Pay Britain to understand some of the appalling pay and working conditions these workers have to endure. Prior to CCT, cleaners were NHS employees and enjoyed all the benefits that brought.
2 Hospital staff & private comany cleaners have different emplyers and therefore senior nurses have no authority over cleaners.
3. It created rigidity of roles and a jobsworth culture. More time is now spent arguing over who should clean up the shit rather than it being everyone's duty to ensure a clean ward.
4. The Tories "How hard is it to keep a hospital clean?" is fatuous... actually it's very hard! It requires strategic planning which is hard to do when cleaners and other staff have different employers.
5. The spread of MRSA is partly a result of the success of the Labours policy to treat a higher volume of patients. Bed turnover is high and there are more people passing faster and faster through the system. It means that staff don't have time to clean beds between occupants as thoroughly as they did in the past.
6. Private comapnies invest very little staff training.... they worry too much about the botton line. Additionally, the low pay means the jobs attract people with lower skills.
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Jonnie Falafel
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2003 9:36 pm
- Location: Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy
- Contact:
In 2001 the government recognised that the high number of asylum seekers in the south east (especially london)placed extra burdens on local authorities and other welfare providers. It was for this reason that they introduced a new system of disperal of asylum seekers across the UK.
When anyone presents for asylum, if they wish to receive support & accommodation from the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) they are offered this on a no choice basis. They have to go where they are told. Additionally, even though the government says that the level of Income Support is the minimum which anyone can live on, asylum seekers are forced to get by on 70% of this! Many of them would like to work [and there are millions of empty low skilled/paid jobs], but under asylum law they are not allowed to!
A few years ago I knew an Iranian married couple who sought asylum in the UK with their two year old son. They were persecuted and hounded in Iran for speaking out about health care shortages and there was no doubt that they faced cruel punishments or even death if they returned. Now the interesting thing about this couple is that they were very well educated (as are many asylum seekers). They were both medical doctors and both spoke perfect English (and French & German too!). Both were trained in Germany to standards higher than in the UK and yet in the 2.5 years it took to allow them to stay here they were not allowed to work. I though we were short of doctors but the government knows best.
A few years ago Harrogate opened it's arms to Kosovan evacuees. Shelters were set up over night and donations of bedding and equipment poured in. Locals went to Leeds/Bradford airport to greet people! When the crisis was over and people started to return to Kosovo there were a few who wanted to stay here. They had made friends and their children were in local schools. The goverment insisted they return and yet locals - mostly well heeled, middle class and middle aged revolted and started a campaign for them to stay! The government had them forcebly repatriated in the middle of the night to prevent outcries/protests.
The Tories want us to withdraw from the 1951 UN Convention and thus our responsibilities towards those escaping torture, persecution & exectution. They want to place limits on numbers allowed in. What do you say to someone who's been beaten, raped, poisoned or electrocuted by their governement, "I'm sorry, we reached our quota we're full"? MICHAEL HOWARD IS THE SON OF ASYLUM SEEKERS!!
Look at the facts and figures. Britain is way down in the asylum league... there are plenty of other coutries who take more than us. Indeed, most of those fleeing oppression go to a neighbouring country ... often a dirt poor country who still feel it their duty to abide by the 51 convention.
The tories are despicable.
When anyone presents for asylum, if they wish to receive support & accommodation from the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) they are offered this on a no choice basis. They have to go where they are told. Additionally, even though the government says that the level of Income Support is the minimum which anyone can live on, asylum seekers are forced to get by on 70% of this! Many of them would like to work [and there are millions of empty low skilled/paid jobs], but under asylum law they are not allowed to!
A few years ago I knew an Iranian married couple who sought asylum in the UK with their two year old son. They were persecuted and hounded in Iran for speaking out about health care shortages and there was no doubt that they faced cruel punishments or even death if they returned. Now the interesting thing about this couple is that they were very well educated (as are many asylum seekers). They were both medical doctors and both spoke perfect English (and French & German too!). Both were trained in Germany to standards higher than in the UK and yet in the 2.5 years it took to allow them to stay here they were not allowed to work. I though we were short of doctors but the government knows best.
A few years ago Harrogate opened it's arms to Kosovan evacuees. Shelters were set up over night and donations of bedding and equipment poured in. Locals went to Leeds/Bradford airport to greet people! When the crisis was over and people started to return to Kosovo there were a few who wanted to stay here. They had made friends and their children were in local schools. The goverment insisted they return and yet locals - mostly well heeled, middle class and middle aged revolted and started a campaign for them to stay! The government had them forcebly repatriated in the middle of the night to prevent outcries/protests.
The Tories want us to withdraw from the 1951 UN Convention and thus our responsibilities towards those escaping torture, persecution & exectution. They want to place limits on numbers allowed in. What do you say to someone who's been beaten, raped, poisoned or electrocuted by their governement, "I'm sorry, we reached our quota we're full"? MICHAEL HOWARD IS THE SON OF ASYLUM SEEKERS!!
Look at the facts and figures. Britain is way down in the asylum league... there are plenty of other coutries who take more than us. Indeed, most of those fleeing oppression go to a neighbouring country ... often a dirt poor country who still feel it their duty to abide by the 51 convention.
The tories are despicable.
Please read this article on the misinformation being promoted about asylum seekers during the election build up.
http://www.unhcr.org.uk/press/press_rel ... pril05.htm
Rob
http://www.unhcr.org.uk/press/press_rel ... pril05.htm
Rob