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.

Actually' I did maths and stastics at London. The stats was SO boring.

shame - the discussion re UKIP was actually starting to become quite interesting until the a certain self-centred egotist decided to applying his usual spoiling tactics because he wasn't centre-stage

so i'll post it (yet) again to see if an intelligent discussion can be sustained .....

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

.

Cyners,

Xenophobia is a fear or hatred of foreigners.

You don't have to hate foreigners (and you don't have to be racist) to realise that excessive immigration poses a serious threat to the UK economy. Sure, most eastern Europeans are quite diligent and hard working, but they also bring cut-price labour to this country that has got experience. Our own youth, meanwhile, offers cut-price labour without experience. It's therefore a no-brainer who an employer is going to take on. You end up with a resentful element of British youth who have no real prospects and who are a burden on the welfare state.

I'm guessing from your previous posts that you probably live somewhere between High Wycombe and Henley. If I'm right, I seriously doubt that the eastern European presence is that visible in your neck of the bois (my husband's cousin lives in Hurley, and they certainly wouldn't let any foreigners into his village, unless they could dissect one first to check what they were made of). Round by Nelson Mandela Towers, however, the eastern Europeans certainly have a strong foothold and it's also true to say that they are responsible for quite a bit of organised crime. I'm sure that many came into the country illegally when the French were running their refugee camp at Sangette so close to the channel tunnel. Many Bulgarians and Romanians would break into the back of goods vehicles and get into the UK that way. Sarf London is where they ended up when the lorry drivers stopped for a cup of tea - simples!

It's no wonder, therefore, that the popular London press are feeding off this and are getting increasingly vocal about the situation. For sure, the 2015 election is going to be fought over the EU battleground, with the excessive influence of the Strasbourg human rights court being just one of several key issues. Cameron and the Tory leadership know this. Cameron might be kinda-pro-European, and he might be doing his 'I agree with Nick' bit right now but, as I said a few pages ago, he wants to get re-elected and I expect him to start upping the ante in about 12 months time. The rhetoric should start to noticeably change as he looks to recapture the UKIP vote and pull on board the Labour vote who believe what they read in the Currant Bun.

Hilary
What is it like on the 14th floor of NMT?

I expect the coming general election will be fought in part on battles centering round which party can be the guardian of Britishness regarding immigration. This will spill over onto other battles over who can be tougher on the EU. it is a debate that will leave the Libs high and dry as they will be loath to mix in and take a real stance on these issues. UKIP are relishing the coming fight as they see the battlefield as their personal territory. They may in fact find that they have been joined on the field of conflict by bigger players.

The Conservatives will be the most content to be fighting on this terrain. Labour are and will be in a quandary. They are responsible for the mass immigration over recent years and those immigrants typically vote for them. Labour have a tricky tightrope to walk. They want the public to trust them on immigration and want to see a strong stance with the EU. Part of the grand plan for Europe was to be creaping federalism and socialism. Hollande and his party see a Socialist EU as a goal.

The election victory is up for grabs. The Libs will be also rans as usual. They are too bland to succeed. UKIP may find that they will be outflanked and outgunned by the two big armies.

Haystack,

Fortunately, we have gates to keep the bozzers out.

No doubt what Ken thinks of UKIP !

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/10023578/Ken-Clarke-Some-Ukip-voters-are-racists.html

Right wing extremist Party accuses right wing extremist Party alert!

Ukip has accused the Conservative party of running a "morally reprehensible" smear campaign by trawling through potential councillors' Twitter and Facebook posts.

Maybe it is time to turn the spotlight onto the left wing extremist party.

Haystack - 27 Apr 2013 12:02 - 24367 of 24420

The rebate from the EU that Thatcher obtained for the UK has netted us £79 billion so far. It would be more but Blair agreed to reduce the rebate in 2005. This has cost us approx £10 billion to date. The money that Thatcher saved us is worth several funerals.



And who's deal did she renegotiate ???? ..... the Tory deal signed by Heath so in effect they lost us money before she renegotiated it !

Heath was an idiot. We were discussing Thatcher who was more of a man then Heath.

So H/S you don't question that the Conservative Party are an extremist right wing party I see.. thanks for that.

Depends on your point of view. Labour looks pretty extreme left wing at times from where I am standing.

"Heath was an idiot. We were discussing Thatcher who was more of a man then Heath."

.. See what you mean H/S.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22328898

Local election 2013: Ken Clarke brands UKIP 'clowns'

Veteran Tory Ken Clarke has waded into his party's war of words with UKIP by branding them "a collection of clowns".

The pro-European cabinet minister said UKIP had no positive policies and was just "against" foreigners.

It comes as UKIP accused the Tories of conducting a "morally reprehensible" smear campaign against its candidates in Thursday's English local elections.

UKIP said it welcomed scrutiny but the Tories were guilty of "dirty tricks".

The anti-EU party has expanded rapidly, recruiting a record 1,732 candidates to contest Thursday's local elections. It admits it has not had the time or money to vet all of them properly.

Asked whether he agreed with David Cameron's 2006 claim that UKIP was made up of "fruitcakes and closet racists", Mr Clarke replied: "I have met people who satisfy both those descriptions in UKIP.

Stan,

Hays is one of Thatcher's children.

I do hope he doesn't smoke.

---------

I see that Clarke is blind to the racist pandering of many of the R/wing of the present torid party.

Mind he is old and grey and only kept in cabinet as a sinecure (I wonder if he is going to pay back the money, in a similar way that I.D. Smith is suggesting other wealthy pensioners should do.)

I forgot, it is Dave's way of pandering to the torie wets.

What a c------- inept government this one is.

cynic, sorry, for the meantime I have given up trying to respond to your political questions! Suffice to say I will be voting Conservative at my local elections on Thursday and not just for the reason that the Conservative candidate is the only candidate, so far, who has taken the trouble to knock on my door to enquire about my voting intentions.

Perhaps, that is due to the blue smoke coming out of your chimney and border control posts around the mansion.

8-)

I have signs around mine of "Attention Chien Méchant" and pictures "Theresa May".

Nobody has knocked.