If I may, I like how the Lib Dems have demonstrated the serious problems with a "first past the post" electoral system. Canada has a similar problem - our minority government was originally elected on something like 33% of the vote and remains several years later despite its general (non-Ipsos) approval rating never really breaking that.

The combination of district gerrymandering and the lack of proportional representation is starting to really wear me out on traditional electoral systems. Of course the guys who are winning as a result are not going to be campaigning on fixing it.

Look. I'm on a diet here. Will people PLEASE for the love of anything you hold holy, PLEASE STOP POSTING PICTURES OF FOOD!!!

Quote: Original post by phantom
I'll believe it when I see it; I remember the feeling for the 80s and early 90s, and for 'the average working man' having them in power is not, and will not, be a good thing.

Yes, the Poll Tax was a disaster and Mrs. Thatcher lost her influence and got booted out in favour of John Major. Let's not forget that the early 1980s recession was due to the horrible state Labour left the country in - the UK was within 45 minutes of total bankruptcy in 1976 until the IMF saved us, then there was the Winter of Discontent and a recession. It was a desperate situation which required desperate measures, and Thatcher brought those.

Quote: As a leader Cameron is another Blair;

Yes, people have said that. However, can they prove it? Cameron hasn't been in office yet so who knows how he'll do things?

Quote: lots of flash but I'm not seeing any substance.

Don't tell the Labourites that; they think Blair was wonderful (which he was in comparison to Crash Gordon)

Quote:
The Independent had an intresting article about a council area which Cameron has held up as a model for how they should do things... That model has included closing down homeless shelters, closing down youth centres (including one gifted to the area to trying and sell it) and leveling charges at the old and the sick.

This is not representative of the UK as a whole; this is one Conservative council which I agree appears to have done things the wrong way entirely and I disapprove. I wouldn't tar all of the councils with the same brush; Edinburgh Pentland (my old constituency before it got merged in 2004) was Tory run and everything was great, but there will always be anomalies in the system.

Quote:
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Labour are prefect but if anyone thinks the Conservatives will sweap into power and make life better for the working man.. well, they are sorely mistaken.

Thatcher crushed the Unions and, I think, quite rightly. They were throwing a hissy fit and brought the country to its knees without any form of justification or remorse - Unions are there to support the workers, not to flick switches and crash the economy into a wall.

Quote:
Personally, I don't think ANY of the parties deserve my support, and as there is no way to express this which counts I won't be voting. I believe the whole system needs to be scrapped and we need to rethink everything based on the age we live in now and the realities of it.

Yeah, I'm not exactly enamoured with the whole business of the party coming second or last getting to keep power in the event of a hung Parliament. In my view, the party with the most seats should form a Government, end of story. The House of Commons/Lords are relics that don't fit the 21st century, or even the 20th either.

Quote: Original post by ukdeveloper

Quote:
The Independent had an intresting article about a council area which Cameron has held up as a model for how they should do things... That model has included closing down homeless shelters, closing down youth centres (including one gifted to the area to trying and sell it) and leveling charges at the old and the sick.

This is not representative of the UK as a whole; this is one Conservative council which I agree appears to have done things the wrong way entirely and I disapprove. I wouldn't tar all of the councils with the same brush; Edinburgh Pentland (my old constituency before it got merged in 2004) was Tory run and everything was great, but there will always be anomalies in the system.

And I'd say that as well, if Cameron hadn't praised this area as the way forward for his party..

Quote:
Thatcher crushed the Unions and, I think, quite rightly. They were throwing a hissy fit and brought the country to its knees without any form of justification or remorse - Unions are there to support the workers, not to flick switches and crash the economy into a wall.

Agreed, but I'm not talking about the unions, I'm talking about every day life for people in general.

In my example, for most of my life despite both my parents working what 'luxuries' we had were generally second hand or rented (in the case of TVs or video recorders) and food was very tight at times. This defintely picked up in the Labour years.

I never knew a crumpet was an english muffin. If you're in england, shouldn't you just be calling them muffins?

Quote: Original post by ChurchSkiz
I never knew a crumpet was an english muffin. If you're in england, shouldn't you just be calling them muffins?

Nope, in the UK a "muffin" is one of these:



"English muffin" isn't a term used here, they're "crumpets".

Been following the campaign a bit on Andrew Sullivan's blog. Really enjoyed bigot-gate.

I have no bib and I must drool!

Quote: Original post by Katie
"Tea and crumpets look gross."

You have to imagine that the crumpets are sort of cakey, served hot and the point of the holes is that the butter soaks into the cakeiness.

I don't think those crumpets looked gross, just that yellow stuff sitting on top of them. Is that supposed to be butter?

Quote: Original post by ukdeveloper
Apparently one of the C-SPAN channels in the US is having dedicated coverage of the election later on tonight.

C-SPAN covers Prime Minister's Questions, so that wouldn't surprise me. What would surprise me is if they covered it on their two primary channels given that Congress is in session and those channels are dedicated to covering Congress when it is in session. They might show it on C-SPAN 3, but that channel isn't part of the basic cable package. At any rate, since the UK is 8 hours ahead of the US - five ahead of the East Coast - my guess is that the polls there are closing right about now (unless they stay open later than 8 pm) and the returns should come in within an hour or so. CNN might cover the elections, since their primary news shows run in the afternoon here.

As for US coverage of the UK elections. The style of the debate got some attention but not the substance of the debate. The performance of Nick Clegg at the debate also got some attention. Gordon Brown got some coverage for slagging that old woman when he thought his mic was off.

It seems to me that the UK wants Labour policies but not Brown. In which case a hung parliament would be the best outcome. Brown would have to step down for losing. If no government can be formed and new elections are called, then maybe Labour, with new leadership, can make a comeback. If Labour suffers a clear defeat then maybe the UK does not want Labour policies. Even if the defeat isn't clear, I would expect to hear a lot of spin asserting that the UK public doesn't want Labour policies. It's too easy to spin dislike for a person (Brown) as dislike for policy.

On an unrelated note, props to Tottenham for taking down Man City yesterday. Good luck in next years Champions League competition!

Quote: Original post by LessBread
It seems to me that the UK wants Labour policies but not Brown.

The thing is that there's a serious disconnect between the stated Labour policies and their actual behaviour. Theoretically they're mostly socialist, in favour of well funded education, national health service, welfare and policing, and aren't afraid to have (relatively) high taxes to fund those. IMHO these are all things that resonate well with the general public.

However their track record has been pretty bad - in particular their constant passing of knee-jerk legislation and walking all over civil liberties, combined with a long and unpopular war means that even if people agree with their basic philosophy they're going to vote for "the other guy" regardless.

Sadly when I went shopping yesterday they were actually all out of crumpets (!) so instead I've had to settle for (bread) muffins.