Re: The General Election Thread : Sun Apr 05, 2015 9:54 pm  

I find it very sad that they've done this, I don't care which party they're representing, it's incredibly low in my opinion.

Re: The General Election Thread : Sun Apr 05, 2015 10:16 pm  

Him wrote:

I find it very sad that they've done this, I don't care which party they're representing, it's incredibly low in my opinion.

Cameron has never missed an opportunity to mention his son Ivan, especially if anyone dare criticise the systematic dismantling of the NHS by his party.

Lower than vermin

Re: The General Election Thread : Mon Apr 06, 2015 7:42 am  

cod'ead wrote:

especially if anyone dare criticise the systematic dismantling of the NHS by his party

You certainly won't criticise it, it's what you voted for.

Re: The General Election Thread : Mon Apr 06, 2015 7:47 am  

BobbyD wrote:

You certainly won't criticise it, it's what you voted for.

According to Cod'ed scaremongering the NHS died on 1 April 2013. What is left to talk about?

Re: The General Election Thread : Mon Apr 06, 2015 11:29 am  

Ajw71 wrote:

According to Cod'ed scaremongering the NHS died on 1 April 2013. What is left to talk about?

Your lack of basic economic theory and the fact the education system has let you down so badly you cannot answer simple straight forward questions?

Re: The General Election Thread : Mon Apr 06, 2015 6:00 pm  

JerryChicken wrote:

Not being a fan of the party whips and toe-ing the party line for five years of sheep-herding and establishing rules and dogma behind closed doors while conveniently ignoring the tales you spun at the sales pitch (the general election), I simply vote for my representative and not his party. He is a good bloke, works hard in the constituency, tweets every time he goes for a p1ss break in the Commons so I know exactly where he is and what he's doing, and he campaigns in the House on constituency issues.

All of which is 100% more than I knew about the previous Labour and Conservative MP's who held this seat before Greg Mulholland came along, admittedly they didn't have the advantage of a smart phone but nor did they ever bother to let anyone know via other media what they were up to.

Judging by the fact that Hetherington gave Mulholland a full page in the Leeds programme today to set out his case, alongside a picture of the pair of them and Sinfield, it seems Leeds are very keen for him to be re-elected

However I do think Mulholland's personal vote is very substantial indeed and this isn't uncommon in Lib Dem-held constituencies. My mum and dad have lived in Leeds NW since before I was born and voted solid Conservative from Donald Kaberry, through Keith Hampson to the various no-chance Tories in 01 and 05. But they are so resolutely in the "Mulholland is a great bloke" camp it's quite startling.

I live now in the other West Yorkshire constituency with a Lib Dem MP, albeit a slightly more controversial one. I'm going to vote for him, but he's unlikely to withstand being swamped by Labour - but again from what I can see his personal vote seems very strong.

Re: The General Election Thread : Mon Apr 06, 2015 6:03 pm  

The Ghost of '99 wrote:

Judging by the fact that Hetherington gave Mulholland a full page in the Leeds programme today to set out his case, alongside a picture of the pair of them and Sinfield, it seems Leeds are very keen for him to be re-elected

It might also help that Mulholland plays in the parliamentary RL team in the charity games they organise, I think they had one just the other weekend, he's also in the parliamentary RL group.

Re: The General Election Thread : Tue Apr 07, 2015 6:58 am  

cod'ead wrote:

Well, where to start?

The state grew during 1997-2008 simply because the previous tory administration had decimated the NHS and education to the point of near collapse. Patients on trollies in corridors, children educated in leaking "temporary" classrooms. Labour inherited that and something needed to be done to redress the problems.

Labour is not anti-business, it is however pro-business paying its share and making a fair contribution to the state costs of infrastructure. The US has a rate of corporation tax almost double ours and yet they still seem to allow companies to emerge and thrive.

"Building future slums"?

In 1953 my parents and I moved from a back bedroom in my grandmother's house, into a newly built, 2 bedroomed terrace house on a brand new estate, built on the outskirts of Hull. Built on land that had previoulsy been agricultural, so acquired for a song. The estate was a mix of 2,3 & 4 bedroomed houses, 2 pubs, 2 parades of shops with 1 & 2 bedroomed flats above. A fair amount of "pensioner bungalows", an "old folks home", a coupleof six-bedroomed homes for foster families and two doctors' surgeries (actually two 2 bedroom houses). The original tenants were spread across a wide range of careers: manual workers, office workers, managers, shop-owners - even the doctors originally lived in coucil houses on the estate. There was no shame in renting and nor should there be.

You must be the only person in the country who isn't

Salmond will hold less power than Clegg. The main bitterness following the referendum has centered around Cameron's cynical attempt to make the result work to the Tory party, rather than the UK's benefit.

Cuts in the local authority social funds have directly led to problems in the NHS, hence the bed-blocking we see currently

Where to start?

You are very selective about the points you comment on - let's take your points:

The NHS needs to be more efficiently run, just pumping money in as Labour did just increased the waste that already existed. Not enough clinic staff too many managers. Whoever takes on the NHS will have some difficult choices, I can't see how this can be funded and developed without a serious overhaul of how it is run and massive cash injections especially in preventative education.

On education you have to question what we are getting for our money - it needs investment but it needs an overhaul. When you have the likes of Ian Murch calling for a strike on a whim that there might be job losses you have to question if some of the power in the teaching unions are in the correct vocation.

USA is very different economy to here - its internal market is the size of Europe - they put barriers up to stop non American competition. If the CT system is so good how come the likes of Apple, Google etc don't pay their share in the US? Labour is not pro business if it were it have policies to support business I don't see any?

Whilst I take your point about renting, ownership should be seen as aspirational and not elitist as you seem to view it. Renting is barmy in my view - you are just paying out ever increasing amounts to a landlord who will be paying out ever decreasing amounts as the property ages. If there was a massive housing shortage you would not be able to find anywhere to rent - that is simply not the case. There maybe issues in certain areas where renting is expensive but there is accommodation to be had.

We must agree to differ on Salmond - it wasn't just Cameron everyone went in to bat against him over the referendum.

Cuts in local authority funding may have lead to bed blocking but that is more a case of resource and departmental management. Let's face it few could argue that social care in this country has been well managed.

Re: The General Election Thread : Tue Apr 07, 2015 7:43 am  

Sal Paradise wrote:

Cuts in local authority funding may have lead to bed blocking but that is more a case of resource and departmental management. Let's face it few could argue that social care in this country has been well managed.

Interesting comment.
This government, especially the IDS operated part, could well argue that social care has been "well managed". Some of the "horror stories", that have done the rounds regarding elderly couples, one being a carer for another with multiple requirements and having "beneits" cut would seem to fit the IDS model perfectly and they could argue that this is a success.
Its down to perspective and original starting point. Cuts were all that IDS has wanted and implemented. Basic humanity was a long way down the list and still is.
The trouble is there is no "one size fits all" solution to social care, simply because everyone is different in needs, BUT there are core skills/requirements which could/should be in place and when these are being eroded/eliminated how can these people call themselves "civilised".
If people want more of the same, or worse, then people know to vote for.

Re: The General Election Thread : Tue Apr 07, 2015 10:44 am  

Leaguefan wrote:

Interesting comment.
This government, especially the IDS operated part, could well argue that social care has been "well managed". Some of the "horror stories", that have done the rounds regarding elderly couples, one being a carer for another with multiple requirements and having "beneits" cut would seem to fit the IDS model perfectly and they could argue that this is a success.
Its down to perspective and original starting point. Cuts were all that IDS has wanted and implemented. Basic humanity was a long way down the list and still is.
The trouble is there is no "one size fits all" solution to social care, simply because everyone is different in needs, BUT there are core skills/requirements which could/should be in place and when these are being eroded/eliminated how can these people call themselves "civilised".
If people want more of the same, or worse, then people know to vote for.

But if its not happening to them and have the "I'm alright Jack" attitude then they don't care if more of the same happens and prefer to stick their head in the sand or pretend its not as bad as "lefties" make out.......until it DOES happen to them and they have to experience the system, then the penny drops.