View Poll Results: Who would you vote for?
Independent Group for Change
0
0%
Plaid Cymru
0
0%
Democratic Unionist Party
0
0%
Sinn Fein
0
0%
Voters: 51. You may not vote on this poll
UK General Election
#136
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2011
Location: Somewhere between Vancouver & St Johns
Posts: 19,850
Re: UK General Election
Yes.
It isn't really a win/lose game, or it shouldn't be.
It is about asking the nation their wishes on a topic. However the topic and impacts should be made unemotionally, open, honestly and clear to those eligible to vote in a referendum otherwise how do they really know what they are actually voting about.
My beef was the campaigns and rhetoric. It was a referendum. Actual facts, figures and law should have been made plain.
It isn't really a win/lose game, or it shouldn't be.
It is about asking the nation their wishes on a topic. However the topic and impacts should be made unemotionally, open, honestly and clear to those eligible to vote in a referendum otherwise how do they really know what they are actually voting about.
My beef was the campaigns and rhetoric. It was a referendum. Actual facts, figures and law should have been made plain.
#137
Re: UK General Election
Same way a cabinet is formed now.
I suggest the PM is selected by majority 60%+ vote of elected MPs, subject to already having served at least 10 years as an MP to be able have gained experience of Parliamentary and government procedures...Cabinet Ministers would be other MPs with at least 5 years of MP service, nominated by the the PM and approved by Parliament....Ministers don't need to be specialists in their departments,
I suggest the PM is selected by majority 60%+ vote of elected MPs, subject to already having served at least 10 years as an MP to be able have gained experience of Parliamentary and government procedures...Cabinet Ministers would be other MPs with at least 5 years of MP service, nominated by the the PM and approved by Parliament....Ministers don't need to be specialists in their departments,
they have the Civil Service for that same as now. What Ministers are for is to direct the CS as the government of the day instructs, and to take the blame when things go wrong.
And the absence of party politics in my suggestions mean there'll be more incentive to do the job properly.
There'd be no restrictions on MPs being party members, but the party would have no overt influence on an MPs duties.
#138
Re: UK General Election
I'm afraid that's EXACTLY how the parliamentary system works - you vote for the PERSON who will best represent you. Despite what the parties might have you believe, you do NOT vote for a party. So if, for example, you voted for a Remainer Tory MP, he or she is perfectly entitled to think that you supported his/her views, not necessarily the party views. Otherwise we might all as well vote for monkeys with rosettes.
The problem is that most Brits vote without thinking.
The problem is that most Brits vote without thinking.
Many MPs have very little knowledge of the constiituency they represent! if you approve of a parliamentary system working in that manner we may aswell have 650 independant MPs all with their own agendas. Sounds organised.
And yes much of the public don't have a strong enough interest or opinion on politics, so they don't really know who or what they are voting for, its the same in Canada too, but thats just a fact of life always has been.
#139
Account Closed
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 26,319
Re: UK General Election
No I think thats just your personal opinion, thats not the way I have ever voted, I vote for the party I want to see in number 10, to be honest I think thats how most people vote, its pretty obvious why many people don't vote for independents, as its a wasted vote!
Which party they belong to doesn't come into it at local levels, but the party whose candidates win the post seats are the one chosen to form a government.
Many MPs have very little knowledge of the constiituency they represent! if you approve of a parliamentary system working in that manner we may aswell have 650 independant MPs all with their own agendas. Sounds organised.
And yes much of the public don't have a strong enough interest or opinion on politics, so they don't really know who or what they are voting for, its the same in Canada too, but thats just a fact of life always has been.
#140
Re: UK General Election
In practice very few voters decide on personalities.
Ask anyone who they'll be voting for and it'll be Tory, Labour etc. It won't be for a name because very few take the trouble to remember who their candidates are.
You could have the angel Gabriel standing for parliament as a labour candidate in a safe tory seat like Devon East and he wouldn't rate a raised eyebrow. Likewise he could stand as a tory candidate in Bradford West and they'd send him home defeated with a hot vindaloo up his jacksee.
Like it or not that's how ordinary people approach elections.. but this election will be different and voters will align themselves with the party that represents how they feel about brexit so now's the time to see who the angel Gabriel's voting for, it'll indicate who god wants to win.
Ask anyone who they'll be voting for and it'll be Tory, Labour etc. It won't be for a name because very few take the trouble to remember who their candidates are.
You could have the angel Gabriel standing for parliament as a labour candidate in a safe tory seat like Devon East and he wouldn't rate a raised eyebrow. Likewise he could stand as a tory candidate in Bradford West and they'd send him home defeated with a hot vindaloo up his jacksee.
Like it or not that's how ordinary people approach elections.. but this election will be different and voters will align themselves with the party that represents how they feel about brexit so now's the time to see who the angel Gabriel's voting for, it'll indicate who god wants to win.
#141
Re: UK General Election
Well, they're not going to be disappointed in the options then......
The Brexit Party want to end it with a hard Brexit.
Boris wants to end it with his deal being accepted, or a hard Brexit.
Labour wants to end it by a public vote.
The Lib-Dems want to end it by revoking Article 50.
Any of those will break the Brexit bubble. Which way does your family member want it broken?
The Brexit Party want to end it with a hard Brexit.
Boris wants to end it with his deal being accepted, or a hard Brexit.
Labour wants to end it by a public vote.
The Lib-Dems want to end it by revoking Article 50.
Any of those will break the Brexit bubble. Which way does your family member want it broken?
#142
Re: UK General Election
I think it would be less divisive if it were not advisory but had a defined thresholds for being binding: e.g. 70% remain, give up on withdrawal forever. That's not easily framed though. A problem being that "remain" is clear cut while "leave" covers a multitude of sins. Offering specific choices "leave with May deal" "leave on WTA terms" "leave according to the Farage Fantasy" has the problem that few voters will take the time to understand the options and, anyway, they're not easily defined and some are plainly not going to happen (for example, anything written on a bus).
#143
Re: UK General Election
No I think thats just your personal opinion, thats not the way I have ever voted, I vote for the party I want to see in number 10, to be honest I think thats how most people vote, its pretty obvious why many people don't vote for independents, as its a wasted vote!
Many MPs have very little knowledge of the constiituency they represent! if you approve of a parliamentary system working in that manner we may aswell have 650 independant MPs all with their own agendas. Sounds organised.
And yes much of the public don't have a strong enough interest or opinion on politics, so they don't really know who or what they are voting for, its the same in Canada too, but thats just a fact of life always has been.
Many MPs have very little knowledge of the constiituency they represent! if you approve of a parliamentary system working in that manner we may aswell have 650 independant MPs all with their own agendas. Sounds organised.
And yes much of the public don't have a strong enough interest or opinion on politics, so they don't really know who or what they are voting for, its the same in Canada too, but thats just a fact of life always has been.
#144
Account Closed
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 0
Re: UK General Election
Actually it did, but many voters either didn't know (find out) what direction the European project was taking - or put their own spin on what it should be as opposed to what it would be. This is why UK style referenda are a bad idea!
#145
Account Closed
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 26,319
Re: UK General Election
Proportional Representation please!
#146
Re: UK General Election
That's not my personal opinion, that's a fact about how parliamentary democracy works. That you interpret it otherwise is your failing. A very common failing, granted, and one that the parties do nothing to dissuade, but there you go. As I said before, by definition, half the population is below average intelligence, so no point learnin' them stuff if it suits you better to keep them dumb...
I always like to look at the bigger picture, I have lots of friends with opposing political views, who have very good intentions for the local area, but if they were an MP I wouldn’t vote for them as I wouldn’t want their party governing the country…..to me the MP is not important. Its the Prime Minister and the cabinet that’s governing the country that matters to me, not some back bench MP who is going to have very little influence on decisions made in Parliament.
I do think that terming half the population as “below average intelligence” is a pretty elitist statement to make, It’s more likely that some of the population are uneducated in political matters, (as they probably have other priorities in their life) but not lacking intelligence, the two are very different.
#147
Re: UK General Election
Leave doesn't mean anything. It might mean a border down the Irish sea next year or it might not, Johnson doesn't know. It might mean a trade deal with the US but the US might not want one. It might mean that, after a year's negotiation the UK has roughly the same trade arrangement with the EU as now, or it might not. It's a pig in a poke offered to the public by a man saying it's a cow.
#149
Re: UK General Election
On the BBC News this evening, there is a focus on the severe flooding in the Doncaster area due to torrential rain over a swathe of the UK over the last 24 hours.
Quote from a resident "I am sure that the local authority could have done more to prevent this".
So, there's your average voter.
Quote from a resident "I am sure that the local authority could have done more to prevent this".
So, there's your average voter.