The Forthcoming General Election

[Mid A 15]

A lengthy article on Old Blue Steve Hilton, Cameron's "guru" if anybody is interested.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/p ... t=0&page=1

[englishangel]

Not sure about the Guardian one but David Cameron is the man for me according to this.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/ ... 637482.stm

[Hannoir]

can't believe the media waste their time on that sort of thing! especially when there are issues to be reported. don't know why i am surprised anymore

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

I have been bombarded by leflets, phone calls, more leaflets, etc etc, etc. ----all inviting me to vote Liberal Democrat.


I have been DELIVERING the same leaflets ---------What a waste of money.

I have some grave doubts about who organises these things !

I still don't think I can break 200 years of Whiggery in the Family !!!

[Katharine]

Living in a rock solid Plaid Cymru seat* we have had very little in the way of election here - no phone calls and few leaflets. The Labour Party even managed to print theirs with English language before Welsh language, a heinous mistake around here.

*Last time the Plaid Cymru candidate actually had more than 50% of the vote, not many MPs achieved that!

[John Knight]

Question. Why do so many people take an instant dislike to Lord Mandelson?

Just pencil in a little black moustache and he reminds me too much of a German politician from 1939 - 1945.

[sejintenej]

can't believe the media waste their time on that sort of thing! especially when there are issues to be reported. don't know why i am surprised anymore

I'm glad someone apopewars to be as cynical as me. Lab has had 12 plus years to put their ideas into place so why are they coming out with new ones when they can't use the old? As for the other parties, the Civil Service seems to have been so infiltrated by the last so-called government that they will fight tooth and nail to stop any policies / ideas which any other party has. IMHO the only possibility is to
a) close all quangos
b) stop state contributions to NGO's
c) require every meeting at which an MP, minister or civil servant is present to be held standing (which will cut the time-wasting by 90%)
d) halve the size of the civil service
e) scrap the existing human rights legislation and bring in a less wide version including every convict losing all human rights for three times the length of his/her sentence

(I also have some ideas to give parents, teachers and the police more authority and power)

Somehow I reckon I will get 1 vote - my own

[midget]

Which half of the civil service will you cut? As one who spent 11 years at the sharp end, ie in a DHSS local office, mainly chasing up people who didn't see why they should pay NI, we could never get enough staff, mainly because the council offices were just round the corner and paid more for clerical staff.

[Hannoir]

question - did anyone here vote whilst at CH? I missed the 2001 election by a few months - turned 18 in sept 01, don't recall anyone voting then but there is a polling station at CH right? Or did people have to vote by post/be shipped off to the nearest polling station?

[Hannoir]

senti - depends which quangos you get rid of - some are good such as the HCA - partic. in deprived areas - others not so good.

also that thing where you compare your likes and dislikes with party leaders - rubbish - i have the same music taste as mr cameron. does not make me tory though. BBC need to get themselves in gear.

was just phoning in a lab-tory marginal and spoke to a woman who said she would not vote tory or lib dem because the media was shoving them down her throat. sometimes i don't despair in humanity after all.

oh and neil - got a leaflet from local labour party asking if i wanted to get involved. i am involved. oh dear...

[englishangel]

You can't expect canvassing material NOT to be stuck through every door, there simply would not be time to say "oh no don't go to No 62 The LImes, he is Labour* party member already". Most of the literature is not delivered by party activists, but by professional deliverers who won't have a list of members anyway, and won't even notice if there is a Labour* party poster in the window, not that it would matter as the flyers are packaged with Dominos** and the local curry house anyway.

Interestingly, at the last (local) election my husbband received an individual letter from one of the parties and there was also a "dear electors" letter to the rest of us.

This time round, for some reason I received an individual Lib-Dem letter (possibly because a party activist lives in the Close and I am the neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator) and the rest of the family received a "Dear Barry, James Helen and Christopher", and Chris received an individual letter form the (sitting) Tory candidate, presumably because he wrote to her about something or other about a year ago. the rest of us got a joint letter.

* or Conservative/Lib-Dem/UKIP/whatever.

** other pizza deliveries are available.

[Hannoir]

we just got a direct mail from the lib dem candidate. he is the only candidate who is a city councillor - a council which is making at least 3,000 people redundant in the next 12 months alone - and he is basically negatively campaigning against the other candidates.
what he fails to mention is that he was pulled up for bringing the bar council (think that's what it is called) into disrepute and was nearly arrested over intimidation of rival candidates in one of his council elections. this is of course the candidate for the party that claims to be into "clean" politics.
interestingly enough clare short is backing him as she is standing down and obv doesn't like labour. the fact she hasn't done anything as an MP doesn't help him.

[anniexf]

Which half of the civil service will you cut? As one who spent 11 years at the sharp end, ie in a DHSS local office, mainly chasing up people who didn't see why they should pay NI, we could never get enough staff, mainly because the council offices were just round the corner and paid more for clerical staff.

My experience is very similar , midget, except it was 7 years more, and on "the other side of the house" namely Supp. Ben. / Income Support, dealing with Fraud & all the other delights some of the general public afforded us. And the Council poached our staff on a regular basis; we seemed to run on empty half the time.

[Mid A 15]

Which half of the civil service will you cut? As one who spent 11 years at the sharp end, ie in a DHSS local office, mainly chasing up people who didn't see why they should pay NI, we could never get enough staff, mainly because the council offices were just round the corner and paid more for clerical staff.

As a simplistic "rule of thumb" peruse the public sector job section of The Guardian.

Do we really need Climate change coordinators, diversity officers etc, etc when the types of front line posts you mention remain vacant?

The salaries in these non-essential jobs also appear to be far more generous than those offered for "proper" jobs!

[Richard Ruck]

question - did anyone here vote whilst at CH? I missed the 2001 election by a few months - turned 18 in sept 01, don't recall anyone voting then but there is a polling station at CH right? Or did people have to vote by post/be shipped off to the nearest polling station?

Yes, in 1978. It was a local council election, I think. The Polling Station was in the Scout Hut, there were 2 candidates (1 Labour, 1 Conservative, who happened to be the wife of one of the masters), and in Mid. B three of us were old enough to vote. I think there would have been quite a few in other houses, too.