Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

sorry guys, but our resident pontificating non-voter keeps cluttering up the thread, so i move mine in the vain (vague?) hope i'll get some intelligent input from others

should anyone care if UKIP win a slab of seats in the local elections?
as i have frequently posted, i believe strongly that we all have an obligation to vote, and i care not for which party ....... unfortunately, the turn-out on 2nd may is likely to be little more than 30%, which in itself will always produce some odd results

for sure, the present incumbents will take a hammering, as is always the case mid term ..... in this instance, the general public has been badly mauled by the effects of the (very necessary imo) tough austerity measures imposed to bring this country back from the brink of bankruptcy ..... add to that the backlash against short-term or even illegal immigrants who are seen as taking an unfair slice of any jobs going and also benefiting from the generous state (taxpayers!) aid ranging from housing through medical care .... and of course, the tentacles of the dreaded brussels law machine with its massive gravy-train of passengers are deeply resented

thus, UKIP's populist and xenophobic policies will appeal to these "angry" voters, even if there is not much substance as to how that party would actually fund, let alone tackle these cornerstones of their manifesto

for all that, the fascists in the 30s could be similarly derided; and nor should one forget the clown party in the recent italian elections

so, 3rd may is likely to see a slab of UKIP councillors with labour also benefitting, not so much from people switching their vote to them, but more from a splitting of the tory and lib/dem vote .... BNP and other scary right wing splinter parties will also pick up a small but larger proportion votes

the real indicator of whether or not this country is indeed heading further right (that is where UKIP lies) will come in a couple of years time

I agree with your comments, cynic and I have always thought that people should make the effort to vote whichever party they support. A lot of people don't bother vote with the excuse that their vote will not make any difference - and the same people do nothing but complain all the time. I think UKIP will win a slab of seats in the local elections and it will be a protest vote against the Conservatives, Liberals and Labour. Immigration is becoming one of the major political issues in this country, along with the abuse of our benefit system and in my view both the Conservatives and Labour need to do more to address these issues.

Left wing knobheads mouthing off yet again! Why don't you all just Fxxk Off and die. Or bugger off to France.

ok Chris, now you've got that off your chest, would you care to comment on what i posted above?

DB - i recollect that in years gone by, every so often, there would be a surge of support for the then liberals and occasionally for the greens too (they seem to have disappeared entirely), but when it came to a general election, people voted more with their heads ..... with that in mind, do you feel that this is anything more than a truly angry but temporary protest? .... in saying that, it is a said that the two major parties will address the issues you raise (and of course the economy too) in their own slightly different ways

do you think that both labour and conservatives will also have to address seriously within the next 2 years the continuing uk membership of eu? .... do you think the conservatives will indeed make a referendum part of their general election manifesto - whereas labour will not (currently) even consider such a move?

I think that the extent to which UKIP will take votes from Labour has been underestimated. Ed Miliband has tried to counteract that process by hinting of a vote on Europe. The electorate is not fooled though. UKIP will certainly take votes from both the coalition partners and expect them to have some successes with the councils. A general election is a different business though and people largely return to type. There could well be a hung parliament again. It is no use saying that the Libs won't get into bed with the Conservatives again as they might not have an option. If there had been a coalition this time between the Libs and Labour it would not have lasted long as there was not a workable majority with that combination. A coalition like that would have been on a knife edge from day one meaning little legislation of any use could be passed.

Hays - do you think the conservatives will indeed make a referendum part of their general election manifesto? .... i'm afraid that we'll have to assume that any such referendum question will be fairly phrased (i live more in hope than expectation!)

I think after all the fuss made over the last few years then they will have to promise a referendum. Apart from anything, it is Cameron's trump card to crush UKIP in the election. The normally loyal Conservative voters will have a choice between an untried UKIP without a full set of general policies and the Conservatives offering an IN/OUT referendum. In that situation I would expect Conservative voters to vote along traditional lines.

Offering an IN/OUT vote could have considerable advantages in attracting Labour voters to the Conservatives. I am sure that Labour have seen this coming, which is why Miliband has been so coy about the subject.

I think the Conservative party policy makers have calculated that they must offer a referendum in order to get an outright majority.

The result of all this could be that everyone has to offer a vote on the EU and we risk getting bounced out of Europe by accident.

if you were to vote today, would you vote to stay or to leave?

Cynic - Can't disagree with your post, for sure Ukip will have an impact. History hopefully will not be repeated this time around. Proven fact Labour get into power, destroy the economy and everything else they lay their grubby hands on. Conservatives are then voted in inevitably, and somehow cock up as well despite getting the economy back on track. Osbournes tactics are working to date despite the whinging and whining from the left. Complacency has always been the enemy of the Conservatives, fingers crossed those lessons from the past are not repeated. As far as Fred and now sadly GF are concerned, Fred hypocrite, bitter, obnoxious twat! GF, completely lost the plot and a bigger hypocrite. Farage? would you buy a used car from him? neither would I.

Manuel.

Not sure if you are talking about the British Tea Party, or just discussing the fortunes of UKIP and the Tory party. The problem that you have, is that there are five main parties of equal significance to discuss.

Such as these:-

1) BNP
2) UKIP
3) WWTP
4) LRWTP
5) LSFTP

.

I know UKIP, who seem to be current flavour of the month (well organised PR), and of course BNP are a quasi-nazi party who seem to have lost traction (what a shame!)

who are the other 3 and do they have much relevance or following?

I guess they are variations of Tea Party in Fred's mind.

40% for both of you boys.

But I do see Hay's connection has value.

========


1) BNP British National Party
2) UKIP UK Independent Party
3) WWTP Wet Winged Tory Party
4) LRWTP Looney Right Wing Tory Party
5) LSFTP Lost Souls Fragment of the Tory Party

fred - thanks for wasting space and everyone's time .... now bugger off; i'm sure your mother wants and loves you

Fred
You missed the other also ran parties

The Silly Party (Libs)

and

The Very Silly Party(Labs)

If we're talking tea parties here, the Mad Hatter neglected to include his own party in the list.

Were you referring to a left or right handed Wanker dc? Or perhaps a liberal one with ambidestrous tendancies!!!!

Lol 3m.