The Press & The Establishment

[Nathaniel]

Re: The Press & The Establishment

(i) I am against all these career politicians who now consider being an MP is a way of life,an inflation proof pension etc etc.(ii) I want proper rules to be brought in to punish those MP's who have their noses in the trough such as being sent to prison,like any of us who are thieves,and they must lose their seats in Parliament. It is a disgrace to see some of these "crooks" back in Parliament- either in the Lords or commons. the law makers must be above reproach!(iii) MP should be elected for only 2 terms so that there is a new incumbent every 10 years- unless of course an MP is defeated after one election.(iv) MP's should be people who have had a job outside parliament before being allowed to stand as an MP- will stop all career politicians.(there is an old saying that if you can't get a job you should either become a Councillor or an MP!!!).

I am sure other members will have good or better ideas to mine.

[ST-EOS]

Re: The Press & The Establishment

Personally I think that if you have been given the vote then you should be made to use it.
They should make it mandatory to vote in elections etc

I had a conversation with friends in Australia about mandatory voting (they have it in Australia)
I like you thought it was a step in the right direction and possibly good if it was put in place here. However some people there think the opposite as they see it as being un-democratic and that compulsory voting takes away their perceived right to make their own choice on whether they vote or not.

[GORDH]

Re: The Press & The Establishment

I agree with you Dave but is more than that, its the resources and services we allegedly can no longer afford to support or run efficiently such as the N.H.S, schools, roads etc etc whilst at the same time giving £55 million per day to be a member of the E.U club which does nothing for the average guy/gal in the street except interfere with the running of our country, as you say we are a small island and are not part of the European land mass, the E.U especially the German and French want to control more of our lives, we went into this as the Common Market to trade with not be controlled through federalism
I have no gripe who lives here or where they come from as long as they want to work pay their taxes and enjoy our way of life, however we dont have the available housing, and aren't building them fast enough for the people that will need them now and in the future our schools and hospitals are at breaking point and Camerons view of there wont be that many coming in from the EU was debunked yesterday when the official figures were released and thats why the public are sick to death of the lies and deceit coupled with the above cost and control of our country, we've had enough and UKIP who really have no manifesto except to leave the EU are garnering so much support, be it a protest vote or not it still should indicate to the other major parties that theres large growing support for leaving the E.U and they will have to listen

Kind Regards
Gordon

[GORDH]

Re: The Press & The Establishment

I thought the Aussies on their ballot form has a box which say "Non eof the above" which registers your disgust or annoyance with the candidates or the fact that you dont really want to vote

Kind Regards
Gordon

[NickM]

Re: The Press & The Establishment

I had a conversation with friends in Australia about mandatory voting (they have it in Australia)
I like you thought it was a step in the right direction and possibly good if it was put in place here. However some people there think the opposite as they see it as being un-democratic and that compulsory voting takes away their perceived right to make their own choice on whether they vote or not.

I'm sure there are a few who, if forced to vote, will vote for the undesirables out of protest. Scary thought of the Monster Raving Loony party or something like UKIP suddenly getting 100 seats. Oh, hang on....

[Dave_S]

Re: The Press & The Establishment

I have no gripe who lives here or where they come from as long as they want to work pay their taxes and enjoy our way of life

Indeed Gordon so, but you 'can't fit a quart into a pint pot', and if you force it, the pot will break.

Then of course there are those that come here under the premiss of wanting to enjoy the UK's way-of life, then once here, they want to change our culture, way of life, and laws.

I have relatives that lay at the bottom of the Atlantic, in a cemetery near Arnhem, and beneath the fields of Flanders. Why are they there?, because they died fighting to protect our culture, and freedom. They must be 'turning in their graves'.

Yes, I know it makes me a 'grumpy old man', but I lived in this country long enough to see our how it was, and compare it to how it is now. .

Of course many things are better now, but there's an awful lot that isn't.

Dave

[GORDH]

Re: The Press & The Establishment

Dave I think I was saying more or less the same thing but in a more subtle way lol

I do totally understand your sentiment and whilst a lot on here may disagree with UKIP as a viable alternative in British politics as I myself probably do as they are a one trick pony, no one can deny that they have got the publics interest with regard to leaving the E.U when all the other parties just want to bury their heads in the sand and hope it will all go away

When Cameron came to power he said "we're all in this together", but we saw that this was not the case was it, the old, infirmed, disabled, the unemployed (and they're not all scroungers) the employed worker losing his/her job or having their wages frozen or reduced all hit hardest whilst the rich get richer and we give millions to the EU yep Dave we're all in this together.... not

Yes we are a democratic free country but I take your point that many things are better but some are a lot is worse, who would have thought years ago that a collection of foreign countries as a group can decide that an island not physically connected to them could decide that a "Cornish pasty" should only be called such if its made in Cornwall, there are other just as daft examples, and as you say our relatives who fought for a way of life and freedom through two World wars would indeed be turning in their graves now, see it all being eroded through the back door

We're all grumpy old men when we pass 40 ha ha

Kind Regards
Gordon

[Dave_S]

Re: The Press & The Establishment

Dave I think I was saying more or less the same thing but in a more subtle way lol

I think I read between the lines of your post Gordon, and came to that assumption

As for your last post, I am in 100% agreement with what you say.

I'm sure the vast majority of the British public think the same way, but are reluctant to say so (except in private) because of the PC aspect.

The Island of Madeira grows a lot of bananas, in pre EU days they would export these to Europe, and as such help to support the island's economy, and the jobs of many of the islanders. Now they are deemed to be either too straight, too curved, or too small (I can't remember which ), for import into the EU.

I should add, they I have been to Madeira, eaten their bananas, and they don't taste any different to the bananas that I buy in Tescos.

Dave

[Woolley]

Re: The Press & The Establishment

no one can be bothered to vote

The usual misinterpretation. Some clearly can't be bothered, many of us abstain out of choice. A distinct lack of agreement with, and dislike of the policies of the three main parties is only exceeded by my dislike and distrust of the alternatives. The only reason I would vote at the moment would be if I felt the need to try to ensure someone who really bothered me didn't get in. Happily I'm not forced down that line as I'm in a constituency where the result is never in doubt anyway. If someone comes up with something I support, I'll vote for them, but at the moment I'm in the 'none of the above' camp.

I still do my bit for the democratic process, though, having got home at 03:30 this morning after being in charge of the count for one ward. A promotion after being a presiding officer and count assistant for about 20 years. It's quite interesting seeing the process from the inside.

Interestingly, the successful candidate wasn't at the count, declaring themselves 'exhausted'. A bit disingenuous to those who'd been up at 6am to set up a polling station and left the count 21 hours later. Diddums.

[NickM]

Re: The Press & The Establishment

The only reason I would vote at the moment would be if I felt the need to try to ensure someone who really bothered me didn't get in.

That's the only reason I voted, for the first time in my life. Went for the least dangerous of the lot.
I'll probably return to abstaining after this, as no party has ever ticked all my boxes at once and given the choice I wouldn't want any of the ones we have in power.

I was surprised how any result can be gained, going by how few turn out. I was the only one in my station yesterday, and another single person wandered in as I left. I almost expected to see some tumbleweed float across the floor.

[the black fox]

Re: The Press & The Establishment

The only trouble with voting ukip is the memory of the rise of the nazi party ,at the moment it seems all above board ,but we only see the face of farage on t.v not the rest of the party and who and what there real ideals are .
Coming from 3rd generation immigrant stock myself I know only to well how racism is constantly under the surface and can quickly rear it's ugly head ,I to have relatives who died fighting for our freedom ,my dad's favourite brother was killed when his bomber was shot down ,a uncle who was a army ambulance driver was assigned to help clear out the death camps .

It's a rapidly changing world and you can't explain properly to someone that hasn't grown up with it the hidden dangers that are still out there ,all it can add is tread warily as you may get what you wished for and then find no way back if it's not to your liking

[Dave_S]

Re: The Press & The Establishment

I can't help but agree with you, but the other parties have needed a good kick up the a**e for a very long time. They have created most all of the concerns that the majority of British people have today.

I don't think we have anything to fear from UKIP, as come the General Election, we will see a very different trend to that which we have seen in the local elections.

Like them or loathe them, they have given the main parties a much needed 'wake up' call, in that they need to listen to the electorate, tackle their concerns 'head on', stop making empty promises, and pussy-footing around.

Successive governments created the problems, and now they must have the guts and determination to get on and sort them.

As someone once said, with regards to UKIP, they are the wrong people, saying the right things.

Dave

[ST-EOS]

Re: The Press & The Establishment

I thought the Aussies on their ballot form has a box which say "Non eof the above" which registers your disgust or annoyance with the candidates or the fact that you dont really want to vote

Kind Regards
Gordon

Gordon I checked with friends in Sydney, there isn't a "none of the above" checkbox on their ballot forms. However once the voter has collected their voting form from the official at the polling venue, the individual is registered as having voted. They can then of course not tick any of the voting choices on their ballot form.
I suspect that if they didn't check any boxes that would count as a spoilt vote.

[Wayne Els]

Re: The Press & The Establishment

I can't help but agree with you, but the other parties have needed a good kick up the a**e for a very long time. They have created most all of the concerns that the majority of British people have today.

I don't think we have anything to fear from UKIP, as come the General Election, we will see a very different trend to that which we have seen in the local elections.

Like them or loathe them, they have given the main parties a much needed 'wake up' call, in that they need to listen to the electorate, tackle their concerns 'head on', stop making empty promises, and pussy-footing around.

Successive governments created the problems, and now they must have the guts and determination to get on and sort them.

As someone once said, with regards to UKIP, they are the wrong people, saying the right things.

Dave

I'm not so sure this is correct. Unless the usual suspects actually show some genuine contrition I would not be surprised if UKIP grew in strength.
Most of the quotes I've read today from LibLabCon are just echoing the usual party lines and remaining "on message". That doesn't sound like tackling those concerns head on.

[NickM]

Re: The Press & The Establishment

Back to the OP, I don't think anyone should be in any doubt as to the press coverage. The papers are full of it today, hailing Farage as the next Messiah.
I have grave misgivings as to the future under UKIP. They may well get us out of the EU - god knows what sort of mess that will be - but it's everything else they will do which worries me greatly.
I fear we will go back to an era of times past, where many sections of the community will find themselves outlawed, and without the EU backing, the death penalty back.
If I could leave and move somewhere else, I would. Unfortunately, for reasons I can't go into, I'm not allowed to leave - I'm stuck here.
These are worrying times, that's for sure.