Voting today

[aquaholic]

..probably sticking my neck out here, but..

I do wonder why the British public (if the representations on this thread are anything to go by..) always use the Government in London as the yard stick for voting in LOCAL elections, rather then what has/is happening in their LOCAL area.

I personally cannot vote in the UK national elections - being an alien with a foreign passport . I CAN vote in local and european (and German national elections). I also work for the LOCAL council.

Do I vote? Yes.. usually Green - just to maintain a thorn in the elected sides.

Do I give a toss about national elections in either the UK or Germany?

No. I live in England, pay my taxes here and am affected by national politics- especially as part of my work schedule - but cannot make my voice heard officially, even if I was bothered, and the other has no effect on my life, so why should I vote in Germany?

So, do ask yourself if your LOCAL parties have made any difference to YOUR life and situation where YOU live, rather than rant on about the national politics for this once.

I think the Labour govenment in Leeds over the last decade, and the joint party one in place now are actually doing quite a good job for the city.
Leeds Council has a good a green policy with good waste recycling facilities and home collection for garden waste, paper, plastic etc. They also have a 10 year plan and vision which must be a bit of a novelty in UK politics, and certainly does not appear to exist at national level.

My local parish council cost me extra taxes per months and is dominated by Labour, but the most vocal fraction are the Independant councillors who tend to create the most junk mail through my door, and more scarily there is now a BMP councillor too.

The most notable impact on me personally so far has been the introduction of EIGHT speed cameras over a road stretch of 5 miles which I consider a ludicrous waste of resources - thanks to the Independants. The occasional sightings of Community Police officers walking down the main road only generally at the same time of day, which hasn't prevented a lamp being stolen from my garden wall, nor several burglaries in my neighbourhood in broad daylight in a quiet, off the main road, residential estate. Not exactly value for money from my point of view.....

... just my 2p worth...

[chrisch]

..I do think that many Londoners will vote B***s for exaxtly the reason you said.
But I think they will regret it.

Regrets are a constant feature of our political life. I can't imagine anyone not regretting voting for Blair, but the dishonest and useless twats he replaced really had to go. Now we "must" be rid of Brown as he is evidently not very good (media spin really but he does have some fairly big faults I admit) So the liars and crooks party will probably get a few more votes this time round.

So it is with the mayoral elections. The Mail group of papers has tried very hard to get rid of Livingstone. Sadly he will be replaced by a bigot and buffoon of a man who, if he really is the best the tories can muster, will surely blow away any chance Cameron (or his replacement) actually had at the next general election.

London is the economic heart and engine of this pointless failing little country. I fear that putting such a person in charge of it will deepen and elongate the hardship we must all suffer following the deceit and dishonestly of the wonderful finance industry that is believed to be our saviour.

I have some big issues with "Ken" but I hope he wins. No one else really cares about London.
Chris

[SoggyFox]

Is the appearance of freedom to vote another bunch of wa@nkers into power really any freedom at all or would we all be better off under a nice dictator, at least you'll know from the start you'll be royally fcuked by a dictator rather than royal fcuked by the pr!ck in the tie lying to you on your doorstep.

[pieater]

Boris could be so dangerous, because he has no idea of balance or realism.

Sorry, you're having a laugh. Did you see the pointless peurile shite that Ken used to do? Did you watch a television in the 90's at all? Ken and Boris - different cheeks of the same arse.

Not that I give a toss. I won't be voting. Where I live they could pin a red rosette on a donkey and it'd win. That's why Ian McCartney (that well known Wiganer *cough*) spent many years as our MP whilst also managing to be Chairman of the Labour Party, the poncing sweaty git.

[nickb]

I do wonder why the British public (if the representations on this thread are anything to go by..) always use the Government in London as the yard stick for voting in LOCAL elections, rather then what has/is happening in their LOCAL area.

For me, it's an opportunity to give feedback to the government.

Local politicians in the UK have very little power and kicking out the incumbents to send a message to those in government that they're a bunch of tw@ts has very little effect on one's daily life.

IF someone were to knock on my door and convince me that they cared passionately about issues that mattered to me or the local community, I'd vote for them no matter what party they affiliated to. The problem is that the party affiliations usually matter more to the usual dickheads that put themselves up for council elections than any issues.

The party political system in the UK is rotten and has corrupted politics beyond redemption and we're the ones that continue to suffer from their corruption & constant meddling with things they don't even begin to understand.

[Ahmed Adly]

It is so much simpler in Egypt
We are given one candidate to vote for...... Mobarak wins every time....

[JasonP]

Sorry, you're having a laugh. Did you see the pointless peurile shite that Ken used to do? Did you watch a television in the 90's at all? Ken and Boris - different cheeks of the same arse.

What do you mean, used to do?

How about him sucking up to that leading democrat, Hugo Chavez, who amusingly was too busy to see him.

Or his description of the Cuban revolution as "one of the high points of the 20th century"? And why were London taxpayers paying for him to go to Cuba in the first place?

Or him inviting an Islamic preacher, who has since been banned from the UK, and who has made misogynistic, homophobic speeches and has supported the use of suicide bombing.

Jason

[dry suit diver]

To be fair, the transport system is the biggest gripe going. Ken's policital meddling is all very well but I am sure that you will fine those paying the greatest amount to TfL are the commuters coming. Bendy bus?..Don't even start. The new emissions zone? Just north of me is Warlingham and just north of that is Greater London. When the zone is extended it will mean people like my next door neighbour will be unable to run us anywhere north in his small (non-business) flat bed. It also means no truck related favours for the school in Croydon at which he works. Only commercial business will be available.
On the plus side, there have been some plus sides. We have endless fun thanking our London resident colleagues for paying for the Olympics, and ribbing them about all the money they give away to corrupt causes.

Daniel

so this business man can't be bothered to think about the shite that comes out of his filthy diesel engined lorry exhaust ( yes I drive a diesel with a DPF)

if he has a flatbed and not using it as commercial then technically he is dodging tax in a loophole thats getting smaller all the time.
you want to have cheaper VED then pay the fee to come in the zone. or get a car and pay VED at a higher rate and don't pay the LEZ charge.

personally if older high polluters can't come into london all the better.

if you read the tfl website it tells you how to continue coming into the zone if you have an older vehicle. you fit filters as a retro fit.


why shouldn't we have a state of the art sports facility, for years we in London have had shite all in the way of world class sports arenas /facilities for the public, and the the one that we did get in Hackney clissold leisure centre was a disaster from day one but with Hackney council in charge what do you expect.if it costs me £1000 pounds its more than I could do with the same money.


oh and I concur Bendy buses are bollox thats in my original post.

pie eater is right about the same ass different cheek, and yes ken might well have made some gaffes in his past but as bad as Boris, who was made to go back to Liverpool to apologise. probly not

[Daniel Taylor]

so this business man can't be bothered to think about the shite that comes out of his filthy diesel engined lorry exhaust ( yes I drive a diesel with a DPF)

As I said in my post ["the school at which he works"] my neighbour is not a business man at all. He does not use the truck for any business purpose. He uses it to run [free] occasional favours.

Why does London not have state of the art sports facilities? I would suggest that this is either because they have been relatively unused and so do not merit the investment, or because they are badly run by either local councils or quasi-council bodies. Added to which, many of these places, following council policies, then give free entrance to youths for many services even at peak times and turn the places into youth clubs which actively discourages those of us that pay from actually going. Hence, well attended, but only by those that do not pay.

Do you think that the Olympic facilities will be any better after a few year of council rule?

[PeeBee]

Couple of clear winners here, it will be interesting to see how representative of the whole country we are. But if we are at all representative then my prediction is that Gordon will be gone by Christmas.