General Election 2015 - Thoughts/Predictions/Results

[St Rollox]

Considering how much Scotland is reliant on the Barnet Formula by which English tax payers pretty much prop up Scotland, how on earth would Scotland be able to afford Home rule and independence? During the referendum we were told by Salmond and Sturgeon that north sea oil tax revenues would pay for everything. Well that turned out to be a lie as the oil price crashed.

Is this the Better Together view of Scotland.
Too wee, too poor, too stupid.
Makes you wonder why anybody in England wants Scotland to stay in the UK.

 

[ainsworth74]

Yeah I'm going to need the white rose of Yorkshire to be larger than the red rose of Lancashire before I even consider swearing loyalty to the People's Democratic Republic of Northern England.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Yeah I'm going to need the white rose of Yorkshire to be larger than the red rose of Lancashire before I even consider swearing loyalty to the People's Democratic Republic of Northern England.

Conversely, I refuse to swear allegiance to the PDR of Northern England if its flag has the symbol of the real enemy on it

 

[ainsworth74]

Conversely, I refuse to swear allegiance to the PDR of Northern England if its flag has the symbol of the real enemy on it

Well this new nation is off to a good start

 

[Marton]

Conversely, I refuse to swear allegiance to the PDR of Northern England if its flag has the symbol of the real enemy on it

Agree. Get rid of the red bit.

 

[Johnuk123]

One interesting scenario would be the Tories losing seven or more MPs in by-elections (quite plausible after 2 or 3 years)
Would they run as a minority government, or would there be horse trading with other parties mid-term.

It might be an interesting scenario but it's more likely labour/Liberals losing to the Conservatives thereby increasing the Tory majority.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Agree. Get rid of the red bit.

Well played.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

What about just using current regional boundaries then?
North West, North East, Yorkshire & Humberside, East Midlands, West Midlands, South West, East Anglia, South East, London etc.
And Lancastrians won the war against Yorkists so that's how the flag was decided, same as Tudor Rose.

First Past The Post should not be used ofcourse.

 

[TheKnightWho]

It might be an interesting scenario but it's more likely labour/Liberals losing to the Conservatives thereby increasing the Tory majority.

Highly unlikely. Incumbents rarely do well mid-term.

 

[radamfi]

What can we do to campaign against FPTP?

 

[EM2]

What can we do to campaign against FPTP?

You could join The Electoral Reform Society?

 

[radamfi]

You could join The Electoral Reform Society?

I've 'liked' them on Facebook for a few years. But they've been around for something like 100 years without success.

 

[DelayRepay]

Oh dear. I knew it was going to be bad, but did not expect it to be this bad.

May God help the low paid, the disabled, the sick, the students.

Stock up the food banks.

 

[Johnuk123]

Oh dear. I knew it was going to be bad, but did not expect it to be this bad.

May God help the low paid, the disabled, the sick, the students.

Stock up the food banks.

You're lot lost big time, get over it.

 

[47802]

I've 'liked' them on Facebook for a few years. But they've been around for something like 100 years without success.

Well the parties are only interested in what suits them best, so until if and when it suits the big parties best it aint going to happen.

Like the UKIP moaners, I expect those ex Tories in UKIP were perfectly happy with FPTP when they were Tory, but now it works against them there's a sudden transformation, not hypercritical at all then.

 

[Dave1987]

Is this the Better Together view of Scotland.
Too wee, too poor, too stupid.
Makes you wonder why anybody in England wants Scotland to stay in the UK.

To be honest I would of been happy to see Scotland go independent. I seem to remember that it was the Scottish who came to the English for help years ago because Scotland was bankrupt. Spending is around £10k per head in Scotland compared to £8k in England and far far more tax receipts come from south of the border than North. So as far as I am concerned Scotland is welcome to go independent, but there is no coming back to the union if and when it goes all wrong.

 

[Busaholic]

You're lot lost big time, get over it.

No, it's the country and the people within it who lost. Personally, I don't have a 'lot' any more than I support West Ham, sorry, Aston Villa.

 

[Johnuk123]

To be honest I would of been happy to see Scotland go independent. I seem to remember that it was the Scottish who came to the English for help years ago because Scotland was bankrupt. Spending is around £10k per head in Scotland compared to £8k in England and far far more tax receipts come from south of the border than North. So as far as I am concerned Scotland is welcome to go independent, but there is no coming back to the union if and when it goes all wrong.

Sooner they go the better.

 

[radamfi]

Maybe parties against FPTP could boycott or disrupt Parliament until a referendum was promised.

 

[Dave1987]

What can we do to campaign against FPTP?

There was a referendum on voting a couple of years back and FPTP won. You are voting for your representative at parliament in your area. Its very simple, who ever gets the most votes wins. Wonder if there would be all this clamour for electoral reform if Labour were in govt propped up by the SNP? I think not!!

 

[radamfi]

There was a referendum on voting a couple of years back and FPTP won.

That was on AV, not proportional representation.

 

[Johnuk123]

No, it's the country and the people within it who lost. Personally, I don't have a 'lot' any more than I support West Ham, sorry, Aston Villa.

Oh dear another bitter loser.

 

[Trog]

Home rule for the North of England !!!!!!!

It is time to start resisting the likely perpetual control by the Tory-dominated south.

Who are you kidding the only time having more MP's etc. is a good idea, is when you are running out of people to put in front of a firing squad.



On a more serious note resisting the wishes of the majority unless they are trying to force through something really nasty like ethnic cleansing is not exactly very democratic is it.

 

[47802]

Sooner they go the better.

I expect they may bide their time until the Oil price goes back up, and a less hardball Government is in power (not Tory) to give them a better divorce settlement.

 

[Johnuk123]

I expect they may bide their time until the Oil price goes back up, and a less hardball Government is in power (not Tory) to give them a better divorce settlement.

Once the boundary changes come in labour will be finished for the foreseeable future so they may as well get out as soon as they can.

 

[Dave1987]

That was on AV, not proportional representation.

Proportional representation is horribly complicated and it doesn't work in our political system. How would I be able to stand as an independent candidate in my area with proportional representation? I couldn't. Which areas candidates get to be part of that percentage of a parties vote? If one party got 30% of the vote so was entitled to 195 MPs, which constituencies would be chosen for those 195 for that party? Its not a simple system at all!! AV was rejected by the electorate so we have FPTP, its worked for years, I believe if Labour had won you wouldn't mind the current system.

 

[radamfi]

The divide is really between urban and rural England, rather than north vs south. All the major urban areas mostly voted Labour, including Inner London, Bristol and even Cambridge.

 

[yorksrob]

There was a referendum on voting a couple of years back and FPTP won. You are voting for your representative at parliament in your area. Its very simple, who ever gets the most votes wins. Wonder if there would be all this clamour for electoral reform if Labour were in govt propped up by the SNP? I think not!!

I'm not a supporter of UKIP, but the fact that they received a third of the votes that the Tories did, yet they received a 331th of the seats, illustrates that FPTP is a barrier to democracy. The sooner it is confined to the dustbin of history, the better:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2015/results

 

[Trog]

Maybe parties against FPTP could boycott or disrupt Parliament until a referendum was promised.

That would either give the government a clear run to do what they like with no opposition, or in the second case probably get your MP's excluded for breaking the rules so weakening your ability to oppose the government.

 

[radamfi]

Proportional representation is horribly complicated and it doesn't work in our political system. How would I be able to stand as an independent candidate in my area with proportional representation? I couldn't. Which areas candidates get to be part of that percentage of a parties vote? If one party got 30% of the vote so was entitled to 195 MPs, which constituencies would be chosen for those 195 for that party? Its not a simple system at all!!

Have you seen how the Scottish Parliament is elected? It addresses your issue about constituency candidates. Scots seem to understand how it works well enough.