The UK Politics and EU Referendum thread - merged

[RickBFA]

Summary of last day polls here :

http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/

[DaveShoelace]

Summary of last day polls here :

http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/

Thanks Tighty

[RickBFA]

Summary of last day polls here :

http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/

Thanks Tighty

 

Shortened version, not in Tighty's league.

[Woodsey]

There was a guy outside the polling station asking for my polling number, what's that about? Crossed my mind he was Working for one of the parties so he could chase people up, I guessed probably Labour as they always seem to have a lot of boots on the ground. Politely told him to do one....

[4KSuited]

It's not a point that's mentioned much by either of the main parties, simply because it's so frightening. Frankly, more frightening than the prospect of nuclear war, because it's a real and present threat:

http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05745/SN05745.pdf

Perhaps it's coz I'm old school, and my DNA tells me that my first financial priority is to pay off what I owe. What you see here is not only a ballooning of the national debt since the 1990s, but a corresponding, unshrinking, bubble of debt interest. Sure, it's sometimes an unavoidable necessity to borrow in order to invest in order to recover from recession (or fix the financial/banking crisis?) but at some point the debt must be repaid. Or are we all happy to proceed down the Greek road, whereby the debt mountain gets so huge that we just say "Look, this debt is just so vast we can't possibly repay it.... So just be nice to us and write half of it off, and we'll just pay back the rest.... pretty please?"

In the meantime, it's c.£45bn gross (£33bn net) - at current rock bottom interest rates - out of every annual budget that goes on debt interest rather than the NHS, policing, housing, social welfare etc etc etc

I guess this is why, in the end, I always end up voting Conservative when it comes to the crunch. I like JC as a human being far more than I will ever like TM - or indeed most politicians from either side, other than Caroline Lucas - but his "spend spend spend & re-nationalise" policies would, IMO, be financially disastrous for the nation. And, no, I don't think this is hyperbole.

There's no doubt that the majority of politicians start out with honourable intentions to do well for their constituents, and do the best for their country, within the context of their own political beliefs/perspectives. But, as with any career, you have to make compromises in order to advance. The difference for politicians is that they have the media (pro and con) putting them under the microscope in everything that they've ever said and done. It's no wonder they never give a straight answer to a question or ever commit themselves to an honest opinion. No-one with any real business acumen or talent with career aspirations would EVER think about going into politics, and it's our loss as a country. So we end up having to make do with a bunch of middle of the road talent in charge of the biggest multi-billion industry in town... yes, the national economy. FFS.

So, as a result of all of this, I find the whole process deeply frustrating and depressing. But I guess it's the price of living in a democracy, with a free press and the freedom of speech. I seem to recall reading about a piece of research that determined that a Benificent Dictatorship was the optimal type of government. Sound familiar? We ever gonna have it? No fkn chance! (Just another pipe dream, anyway)

On a positive note, the sun will set tonight and it will rise in the morning. A new dawn and a new day. Peace to all our brothers and sisters.

[Woodsey]

^ Same here mate, that's one of my strongest reasons for voting Tory, we can't piss away money we don't have. This Labour are too left for me to consider voting for them anyway, but if it was more centre left where I was more comfortable with their people and their policies I would have serious trust issues with what they are planning to spend. I simply do not believe their tax plans, 100% there will be a bunch of other taxes coming to pay for all the free stuff they want to give away.

In an ideal world I'd love to give away more free stuff, but I totally agree with you we have to get the debt down first, if it means some pain ahead for the next 5-10 years then so be it. In the whole scheme of things the country is still well off compared to many other countries....

[RickBFA]

There was a guy outside the polling station asking for my polling number, what's that about? Crossed my mind he was Working for one of the parties so he could chase people up, I guessed probably Labour as they always seem to have a lot of boots on the ground. Politely told him to do one....

I had the same thing - a guy with a Lib Dem rosette on.

He said it was so they would know who voted and then knock on doors of those that hadn't voted and offer to take them to the polling station.

Said everyone does it, so I asked him where the fook is everyone else then?

[DaveShoelace]

There was a guy outside the polling station asking for my polling number, what's that about? Crossed my mind he was Working for one of the parties so he could chase people up, I guessed probably Labour as they always seem to have a lot of boots on the ground. Politely told him to do one....

I had the same thing - a guy with a Lib Dem rosette on.

He said it was so they would know who voted and then knock on doors of those that hadn't voted and offer to take them to the polling station.

Said everyone does it, so I asked him where the fook is everyone else then?

That seems really dodgy, is it allowed?

[Woodsey]

There was a guy outside the polling station asking for my polling number, what's that about? Crossed my mind he was Working for one of the parties so he could chase people up, I guessed probably Labour as they always seem to have a lot of boots on the ground. Politely told him to do one....

I had the same thing - a guy with a Lib Dem rosette on.

He said it was so they would know who voted and then knock on doors of those that hadn't voted and offer to take them to the polling station.

Said everyone does it, so I asked him where the fook is everyone else then?

That seems really dodgy, is it allowed?

I have no idea, but he couldn't be more obvious if he tried, so the polling staff obviously know what he's up to and I assume they would have done something to stop him if it wasn't......

[RickBFA]

There was a guy outside the polling station asking for my polling number, what's that about? Crossed my mind he was Working for one of the parties so he could chase people up, I guessed probably Labour as they always seem to have a lot of boots on the ground. Politely told him to do one....

I had the same thing - a guy with a Lib Dem rosette on.

He said it was so they would know who voted and then knock on doors of those that hadn't voted and offer to take them to the polling station.

Said everyone does it, so I asked him where the fook is everyone else then?

That seems really dodgy, is it allowed?

I have no idea, but he couldn't be more obvious if he tried, so the polling staff obviously know what he's up to and I assume they would have done something to stop him if it wasn't......

I thought it was dodgy too, said aren't you suppose to not be campaigning etc? Especially as he had a Lib Dem rosette on!!

He said it isn't campaigning just helping get people out to vote.

Seems open to abuse to me.

[Jon MW]

There was a guy outside the polling station asking for my polling number, what's that about? Crossed my mind he was Working for one of the parties so he could chase people up, I guessed probably Labour as they always seem to have a lot of boots on the ground. Politely told him to do one....

I had the same thing - a guy with a Lib Dem rosette on.

He said it was so they would know who voted and then knock on doors of those that hadn't voted and offer to take them to the polling station.

Said everyone does it, so I asked him where the fook is everyone else then?

That seems really dodgy, is it allowed?

I have no idea, but he couldn't be more obvious if he tried, so the polling staff obviously know what he's up to and I assume they would have done something to stop him if it wasn't......

I had that last election from some Labour people - seemed incredibly dodgy to me as well, but it must be fairly common.

[Woodsey]

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-40201908/media-scuffle-outside-polling-station

[Woodsey]

^ Same here mate, that's one of my strongest reasons for voting Tory, we can't piss away money we don't have. This Labour are too left for me to consider voting for them anyway, but if it was more centre left where I was more comfortable with their people and their policies I would have serious trust issues with what they are planning to spend. I simply do not believe their tax plans, 100% there will be a bunch of other taxes coming to pay for all the free stuff they want to give away.

In an ideal world I'd love to give away more free stuff, but I totally agree with you we have to get the debt down first, if it means some pain ahead for the next 5-10 years then so be it. In the whole scheme of things the country is still well off compared to many other countries....

Things like this vid hardly inspire confidence either!

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3583477/emily-thornberry-forced-to-look-up-briefing-document-during-live-tv-interview-about-tax-hikes/

[titaniumbean]

Out of interest how old are you TBean?

he is 44

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Parsons

Sad thing is at my local sainsburys I got to know the manager and bulk of the staff and a bunch of them did just call me Sheldon 

I used to like using my rapport to complain about certain products being removed, or just plain moved about the shop 

[DaveShoelace]

There was a guy outside the polling station asking for my polling number, what's that about? Crossed my mind he was Working for one of the parties so he could chase people up, I guessed probably Labour as they always seem to have a lot of boots on the ground. Politely told him to do one....

I had the same thing - a guy with a Lib Dem rosette on.

He said it was so they would know who voted and then knock on doors of those that hadn't voted and offer to take them to the polling station.

Said everyone does it, so I asked him where the fook is everyone else then?

That seems really dodgy, is it allowed?

I have no idea, but he couldn't be more obvious if he tried, so the polling staff obviously know what he's up to and I assume they would have done something to stop him if it wasn't......

I thought it was dodgy too, said aren't you suppose to not be campaigning etc? Especially as he had a Lib Dem rosette on!!

He said it isn't campaigning just helping get people out to vote.

Seems open to abuse to me.

You should have told him that your grandparents and 18 other people in their old folks home needed a lift so they can vote for UKIP, thanks very much matey.