The 2005 general election is nearly upon us. Which way will you vote, and you reasons why. Here is a brief list of the potential contestants, please add your own.


More tax!
Less tax!
Dont know!
Death to all infidels!
Who gives a shit?

The great pretender.

Sorry GF-can't agree with you at all. The economy was stable due to Lawson and Clarke when Brown took over the good times were just around the corner. All Brown did was continue with many TORY policies, saw sense on staying out of the Euro ( TORY policy-thank goodness though Clarke wanted us in) handed over interest rate decisions to the bank of England- good sense-- and then brought in the 66+ tax rises and extra fuel duty, zillions of speeding fines which are tax by any other name!, robbed the pension funds so many poor pensioners now haven't got one, filtered off the lottery funds-think stupid Dome etc and gay black onelegged support groups etc-- took on 4 Billion more civil servants to reduce the unemployment figures or moved them to incapacity benefit which has gone up 7 times! Poured money into schools and hospitals which areeven dirtier and more badly managed than ever.
Just seen a man on working lunch saying he prefers to work but would be 50 a week better off if he stayed home and lived on his benefits. Where's the sense in that!
I used to employ 3 trainees and now have to turn them away, can't afford them. They are not productive for a year and the promised help just doesn't go anywhere. Put them on a training scheme 2 days a week for a year then tell them they are qualified---no employer would touch them let alone afford them!
Get proper training on the job and our youngsters stand a better chance, as it is they don't have a chance to get out of the colleges and don't know what service means when working in shops etc-they'd rather chat with their mates! I have no problem with pushing jobs and help up North I'm sure its needed but remember our friend Gordon is piling the bills very high indeed and his stealth taxes are going nowhere near paying for them. The **** will hit the fan after the election and only us poor mugs are here to pick up the tab!!
I should think the Tories would rather not win because they will get the blame for the mess that's around the corner the sensible answer is to leave Tony preening his way to the absolute pits and then the Tories try to sort it out in 4 years time!
Even better put 50 women up there and ban men from politics- I'd have a go! Condy's looking good in the states. cheers MP

moneyplus,

You are out of touch with reality, you can't trust anyone.

Point taken you old cynic!

gf
Prescott got his comeuppance 'up north'. They told him to sod off with his extra layers local Gov. Now he wants to knock half of the place down and make the same mistake as the fifties-sixties. Go upward.
But he is intent on a big building scheme.....down the South-East where it's jam packed already. Brand new rabbit hutches for 60,000. One builder said the only way he could get that price was if they were all wood construction.
I wonder what they would call the place? Domesville maybe? Prescotts pipedream?
They would have to ban the sale of Heinz Beanz that's for sure.

What a sad state of affaires it's all come to. Not one politician or party we can trust completely to do the right thing for this country and all it's people. No wonder we're fed up with the decision makers. And the real sad part is there's nothing on the horizon, no one better, no guiding light. So it's Hobson's choice.
Oh well think I'll roll a fat one.

MS

Good post MS, my point entirely, its all about trust this next election and lets face it you cant trust Dracula thats for sure.

GF.

The best vote might be a non vote, anyone else subscribe to this theory?. Might show them that we are all fed up with the lot of them.

GF.

What about giving the libs a chance??? They cant do any worse.

GF

Got to say I'm wondering if I should bother, especially as The Red Lion is opposite the village hall. With the non vote I just keep getting the feeling that with so many countries not having the vote we all should use it. But then we're back to where we were, Hobson's choice. I have a feeling that 'Stella' might get mine. Oh I don't know.
The only problem I have with the Libs is their policy towards europe. I'm not anti but I'm not totally pro. I think they would give too much away and I just couldn't bear the thought of being told what to by the French and Germans.

How about Jordan as PM. She has a couple of big points in her favour guys.

MS

The Libs.......



LOL !

moneyplus suggested I paid a visit here, knowing I was a great fan of her investment prowess and hoped it would spill over to her politics. Not far out actually: I think I would give women a chance to run the show; can't do worse than the men. I don't include Maggie as a woman; she was strongly against any competition from other women and thought like a man. As to the result: propose a narrow Major-like margin for Labour. They would then be hounded from left and right and collapse in a compost-like heap. If they didn't they would have to cut out any thing extreme and we might even get some decent decision-making. So my suggestion is that you should give 50.5% of your vote to labour and 49.5 to the conservatives. Best done by a CFD, of course (you would expect me to say that)! kivver suggests the liberals but they disappeared 20 years ago!

Eric

If you watch the TV programme with Alan Sugar called The Apprentice, I can't help think most women haven't got what it takes to be high achievers. There is the odd exception of course, but generally it should be left to us men. If Churchill was born a woman we would all be speaking German. No not for me, I like people who know their place in life.

MS

My goodness!

Prepare to handbagged micky!

mickey

The obvious reply: if Chamberlain had been born a woman, we wouldn't have needed Churchill!

Eric

I am only young, and inexperienced in the general way of the world, but allow me to demonstrate my opinions on the forthcoming election.

Liberal Democrats - a party that likes to sit between two sides as much as possible in order to find its position on an issue. 'What do you think Tony? and you Michael? Right, well, I very much think it's a case of compromising.' Great, right up until you're leading. Then how do you find your position? I agree with the principle of raising taxes on the highest earners - those who disagree are entitled to their opinion, but in my view when you are earning that much you can afford to give a little to people worse off than yourselves. Nonetheless, I don't think the Lib Dems have the ability or strength for effective leadership.

Conservatives - where to begin? A party that seems to consist entirely of rich self-serving egotists. The statistics from previous Tory governments speak for themselves. As for cutting tax, this is a joke. Our public services are already underfunded, so where exactly is the spending going to be cut? At the moment, their answer to this question is 'we'll cut out all the middle managers'. Well, that's great and all, but as a long term cost-cutting exercise the flaws are fairly obvious I presume. Perhaps their plan is to continue that greatest of ideas, privatisation. After all, look how successful it was for the transport system. Hang on, it's in a ruinous state. The Conservatives have a proven track record in messing things up. A party that cannot even find itself an appealing new leader, and instead resurrects a semi-fascist Thatcherite, is hardly going to run a country very well. The party is in chaos. Expect Howard to be replaced as soon as the Tories lose in May; if he is not replaced, then the Conservatives are in an even worse state than it seems even now.

Labour - smug, spin-oriented, but look at the figures. This is an effective government. Stable economy, record employment, a successful scheme in the New Deal and the minimum wage (that the Tories opposed because of the dangers to the economy - I think we'll all admit that was yet another Conservative mistake). The downside to Labour seems to come from their forcing through of bills; however it is my opinion that this is more down to hugely ineffective opposition than as a result of any untoward leadership. I do not agree with every policy and bill that they draft, but I almost invariably find their position to be far superior to that of the ramshackle opposition parties.

The solution? Keep labour in, with a lesser majority. Luckily this is almost certainly what will happen.

Just a couple more points:
- Watching prime-ministers questions is always hilarious. It demonstrates how good Blair is at argument, and how inept Kennedy and Howard are. Watching this every week makes me more and more sure that of the three, he is the only viable option as a leader of our country. So he's stubborn? Good. I want the leader of my country to be able to stand his ground.
- Some may consider speeding fines to be a stealth tax but there's a simple solution. Don't speed. It is after all illegal. Would you complain about a fine for any other criminal offense? I doubt it. Either continue speeding and accept that you get caught, or don't speed anymore. You know the fines that can be imposed when you get in your car.
- Petrol prices had better bloody well be going up. Because there isn't that much left.

Thanks if you got to the end of this, and good luck with your investments. Personally I began investing only 1 month ago, I'm happy to report a 70% profit so far.

Adios

kshammas: after that nonsense, I suggest you retire and you can talk about your success as an investor for the rest of your life! EWR

maxk,

terrific header!


Mickey,

Bit near the mark!


Eric,

post 51, superb reposte!

It would be nice to have a government of any persuasion who put more emphasis on the quality of life than they do on 'growth'. Perhaps we should become more like the civilised Northern Europeans and less like the violent Americans?

Eric, with all due respect, what part of my nonsense did you particularly disagree with? Am happy to be enlightened by more senior people on politics, but in my 21 years of life, I can only comment on what I have seen. I have a great deal of respect for you after following many of your comments on SEO and ASC in recent weeks, so am keen to hear your in-depth opinions on the matter!

Also, 70% was not a boast, I realise I will almost certainly lose most of it!

Regards
Kevin.

On the final day the day we vote, you know whats going to put the party in power pure greed because as humans we always resort to that. The NHS, Schools, social services , crime etc it all goes through the window.

Its whos going to let you earn more dosh and keep most of it. It as to be Labour, yes we hear the ramblings of Howard and well er, well er, well er' well er, sorry dont know any of the conservatives, harping on at how they will cut back taxes in TIME, yes IN TIME, but just who for?????????????.

The top 10% of people in this country.

YOU JUST CANT TRUST THE TORYS.

GF.