whadda I do ?

[2scoops0406]

As an advocate of compulsory voting, I am dismayed that after "reasonably" good following of political debate, I am inclined to vote none of the above. I can't see any party offering anything other than lies, deceit, spin and false promises. Not that it actually matters where I live, as I'm in the one of the constituencies that has never returned anything other than a tory candidate. I'm starting to despair of this place.

 

[AdamW]

I'm in the one of the constituencies that has never returned anything other than a tory candidate.

Where I come from I don't think Labour even bother standing!

It is quite interesting seeing where the "safe seats" are. If you were to draw a map of them, the north is all red, places with names like "Bruntlethorpe", or "Hogginsthwaite" (made up northern-sounding names ) have had a Labour MP since they were formed in the 1920s. Posh southern places are often blue and again, have been since time began.

I currently live in a pretty safe Labour constituency (I didn't check before I moved here ), so assumed the surrounding areas were similar. I mentioned this to a friend of mine who actually became enraged and insulted at the suggestion she lived in a town with a Labour MP

 

[2scoops0406]

I'm in the one of the constituencies that has never returned anything other than a tory candidate.

Where I come from I don't think Labour even bother standing!

It is quite interesting seeing where the "safe seats" are. If you were to draw a map of them, the north is all red, places with names like "Bruntlethorpe", or "Hogginsthwaite" (made up northern-sounding names ) have had a Labour MP since they were formed in the 1920s. Posh southern places are often blue and again, have been since time began.

I currently live in a pretty safe Labour constituency (I didn't check before I moved here ), so assumed the surrounding areas were similar. I mentioned this to a friend of mine who actually became enraged and insulted at the suggestion she lived in a town with a Labour MP

Slightly extreme !! many places in Yorkshire routinely vote Tory, as voting labour is seen as unseemly. In my last constituency our (new) Labour candidate (read old Tory) lost his deposit!!

 

[IanDB]

You don't feel as though your vote counts do you? A fairer system would be the proportional representation method but the downside to that is that the main parties may then have to form coalitions with the fringe "looney" parties, BNP for example, in order to achieve an overall majority. Italy seems to have the record for most post WW2 governments due to this type of system.

Not surprisingly the mainstream parties in the UK are against this idea as many of the MPs would lose their seats. Despite my high principles on voting for what you believe in, I started to vote tactically a few years ago just to get the incumbent MP out. Don't know what the answer is but it is a fact that as soon as an MP feels that their seat is becoming unsafe he/she suddenly becomes very voter friendly.

 

[pipme]

Surely our system should be overhauled .. made into something fitting for the 21st century ... more like a business perhaps ?
Our local council removed kid's school bus passes some time ago ... and are busily chucking away another £40M on the totally mismanaged Bath Spa project disaster ... The whole bunch of incompetent anchors should be sacked forthwith !! .... telling us they have to pay large salaries to civil servants to get the best ... until they are called upon to perform, then the cracks show .. all that glisters just ain't gold !!

P

 

[ChrisR]

Why bother voting? I did once. It didn't do any good

 

[IanDB]

The whole bunch of incompetent anchors should be sacked forthwith !!

One rule for those in power and another for those without. If you are totally incompetent in your job you will get sacked if employed or your bank will foreclose if it's your own business.

Build something like the Millenium Dome, Scottish Assembly building, Bath Spa with mammoth cost overruns and what do you get? Probably promotion. Something not quite right somewhere, where did I put my kalashnikov?

 

[pipme]

Apathy cannot be the answer ... you have to vote really, otherwise you may miss that one day when it really did count !! Don't ask when tho'

 

[AdamW]

If everyone voted we should get a fairer representation of what the nation wants. OK, so this is a bit difficult seeing as it is impossible to tell specifically what a party will do in power. But you can get a general idea. All of the parties have a general gist to them.

Imagine if everyone had voted in the last US general election? I know their system works in a funny way, but Dubbya was not voted for by a majority. If EVERYONE had turned out, then perhaps there wouldn't have been the whole controversy over who won (assuming he loses by a clear margin), the stupid policies that Dubbya then brought into being wouldn't have come about, the US would have enjoyed a better image internationally, maybe even 11/9 wouldn't have happened. Who knows. We never will. They say hindsight is 20:20, but perhaps this shows that those with the right of suffrage in all countries should make good use of it.

 

[pheonix]

Not wanting to hijack this post but read this news article for another of Bush's idiotic policies.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2004-09-07-kids-sexeducation_x.htm

and I thought that sex disease prevention was through education, not cutting it out.

 

[IanDB]

11/9

my sentiments exactly.

 

[david and julie]

I can't see what difference it makes how many of us vote. The mainstream parties nearly always agree anyway.

Three examples I can think of are Europe, Iraq and capital/corporal punishment. It is obvious the public want changes(of some sort) in these areas, but their views don't matter.

What annoys me more is the deliberate deception. Recently I heard the PM going on about increases to the police budget, then read this.

http://w3.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/regional/story.asp?StoryID=60670

Now I agree with Pipme about pensions and that is a separate issue. However politicians have previously agreed these deals. They are now trying to claim credit for increases which are in effect cuts. So this is effectively lying.

 

[Studders]

OK so I don't vote at general elections for reasons I mentioned earlier but.....

You could argue that I should vote on a 'local level' basis for the person, regardless of national party, that I feel will benefit the community the most. I tried that route but it is just another waste of time and effort as one of two things seem to happen.

1. The MP is made to ignore local feeling and is 'forced' to vote for the parties policy even if that goes against the interests of those who elected him/her.

or

2. The MP decides how he/she is going to vote based on their own 'feeling' of what is right or wrong, ignoring the wishes of the people who voted them in.


What they say they will do, at election time, is usually very different from what they actually do once elected; and there is bugga all we can do about it for the period of office.

So, I don't waste my time voting and will not in future until a far greater, and quicker, means of accountability is available.

 

[jasy]

Surely our system should be overhauled .. made into something fitting for the 21st century ... more like a business perhaps ?
Our local council removed kid's school bus passes some time ago ... and are busily chucking away another £40M on the totally mismanaged Bath Spa project disaster ... The whole bunch of incompetent anchors should be sacked forthwith !! .... telling us they have to pay large salaries to civil servants to get the best ... until they are called upon to perform, then the cracks show .. all that glisters just ain't gold !!

P

Made me laugh on tv when the councillor responsibe for the Bath Spa project was interviewed...... she was not even ENGLISH

 

[jasy]

Voting is your chance to have a say. The party or person or muppet you voted for may not win but at least you have expressed your opinion and you are then obliged to have a point of view. It's the 'sitting on the fence'..'my vote won't mean anything' and 'none of them are any good' attitude that is keeping people in power who should not be there.