General Election 2015 - POLL

[mmm-five]

Not sure if others have taken that quiz, but I ended up 90% UKIP and 75% Conservative.

Well, that didn't help much...

83% Tory
83% UKIP
80% LibDem
78% Labour

 

[StevenH72]

Not sure if others have taken that quiz, but I ended up 90% UKIP and 75% Conservative.

Well, that didn't help much...

83% Tory
83% UKIP
80% LibDem
78% Labour

I cME OUT 92% Tory, 86% UKIP and 76% Labour.....I think my views on devolution and the EU helped the UKIP'er in me....certainly don't agree with them re: immigration

 

[Bing]

Personally I think it all comes down to the economy. We need stability as a country, and introducing a completely new government naturally creates instability. I may not love the Tories, but a plan to revitalise an entire economy takes longer than 5 years to devise, implement, adjust and get right. I think handing government back to Labour or to a untested UKIP would be a mistake at this point in time, just because of the years of change and instability a new government would bring.

 

[ronk]

We trained hard . . . but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganised. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralisation.

 

[ronk]

Vote UKIP if you want your country back

And then what????

 

[pvr]

Not sure if others have taken that quiz, but I ended up 90% UKIP and 75% Conservative.

Well, that didn't help much...

83% Tory
83% UKIP
80% LibDem
78% Labour

Indeed not. But would love to know how the voting in general would be if it was on policies instead of generic colour.

 

[Bing]

We trained hard . . . but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganised. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralisation.

:wink:

 

[ronk]

We trained hard . . . but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganised. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralisation.

:wink:

So true of a lot of organisations I'm afraid.

 

[BRC]

We trained hard . . . but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganised. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralisation.

Absolutely spot on and I've seen this time and again. Net result is the majority of those affected lose heart and many just throw in the towel. Tends to happen in 7 year cycles and can be relied upon as surely as night follows day.

 

[Angie4m]

Watching the One Show last night and they advised that Ex Pats can also register to vote and that last time something like 35k people (IIRC) did so out of around 5 million. Sorry but if you've decided you wish to live in another sunny part of the world, WHY should you be able to vote on the daily running of a country you no longer contribute to?

Or are the Ex Pats that are voting the ones that still return from abroad to use our services like the NHS

 

[pvr]

I am an ex-pat but I have no voting rights anywhere in the world .

Sod it, there is also very little sun here :lol:

 

[StevenH72]

Watching the One Show last night and they advised that Ex Pats can also register to vote and that last time something like 35k people (IIRC) did so out of around 5 million. Sorry but if you've decided you wish to live in another sunny part of the world, WHY should you be able to vote on the daily running of a country you no longer contribute to?

Or are the Ex Pats that are voting the ones that still return from abroad to use our services like the NHS

Well, I was due to be an ex-pat, but unfortunately it fell through. However, it was due to be 2-3 year stint abroad. If I was not allowed to vote I'd be mightily upset.

1) I'd still have property in the UK
2) I'd be returning to the UK within the period of the next elected government

Both of the above are reasons as to why I would still want to vote. Not all ex-pats have abandoned the UK totally, but have to move for job opportunities etc.

 

[jimmybell]

I think 5 years is a reasonable number here - once you've been here 5 years and contributed, become part of society etc - i don't see why you can't become a British Citizen, likewise, if you choose to leave, after ~5 years, i don't think you should be allowed to maintain a vote if you continue to not reside in the UK, as you're spending more time out of the country over a significant period than you are in the country.

The alternative is either a longer period, or indefinite voting ability on policy that doesn't serve the national (resident) interest?

 

[CornishRob]

Watching the One Show last night and they advised that Ex Pats can also register to vote and that last time something like 35k people (IIRC) did so out of around 5 million. Sorry but if you've decided you wish to live in another sunny part of the world, WHY should you be able to vote on the daily running of a country you no longer contribute to?

Or are the Ex Pats that are voting the ones that still return from abroad to use our services like the NHS

Well, I was due to be an ex-pat, but unfortunately it fell through. However, it was due to be 2-3 year stint abroad. If I was not allowed to vote I'd be mightily upset.

1) I'd still have property in the UK
2) I'd be returning to the UK within the period of the next elected government

Both of the above are reasons as to why I would still want to vote. Not all ex-pats have abandoned the UK totally, but have to move for job opportunities etc.

Was your plan not more of a secondment rather than becoming an expat? I can't imagine any logical person coming up with a reason why you shouldn't get a vote in that instance.

 

[StevenH72]

Watching the One Show last night and they advised that Ex Pats can also register to vote and that last time something like 35k people (IIRC) did so out of around 5 million. Sorry but if you've decided you wish to live in another sunny part of the world, WHY should you be able to vote on the daily running of a country you no longer contribute to?

Or are the Ex Pats that are voting the ones that still return from abroad to use our services like the NHS

Well, I was due to be an ex-pat, but unfortunately it fell through. However, it was due to be 2-3 year stint abroad. If I was not allowed to vote I'd be mightily upset.

1) I'd still have property in the UK
2) I'd be returning to the UK within the period of the next elected government

Both of the above are reasons as to why I would still want to vote. Not all ex-pats have abandoned the UK totally, but have to move for job opportunities etc.

Was your plan not more of a secondment rather than becoming an expat? I can't imagine any logical person coming up with a reason why you shouldn't get a vote in that instance.

Well I wasn't being seconded anywhere, so not really, it was a fixed term contract.

 

[marchantsuk]

Well what a turn up for the books, imagine if the result so far mirrored the actual result!

 

[CornishRob]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzGyEXPDQBI

Anyone voting green should listen to this. They don't have a clue

 

[ronk]

The woman is bonkers!

 

[PerryGunn]

So the viable ideological models currently up for grabs are what?

'Green' - Fifty shades of pseudo-Marxism, which as we all know does not work in practice, unless you live in a Yurt in someone else's field, in Utopia and believe it's still the Bronze age. Still, it's nice to daydream while planning to do something you have no idea about and not getting around to committing it to paper.

LibDem - Pseudo-socialism, which as we all know cannot exist outside of another structure because it requires an opposition to work against. Can barely sustain itself even ideologically.

UKIP - The equivalent of the population of The Isle of Wight blaming their chalk cliffs for everything.

Labour - Desperately needs to be renamed 'Tory v2.0', as all the current version does is validate itself by idiotically attacking the Conservatives. Will never live down Blair or Iraq.

Conservatives - Far too engaged in pursuits of the 'Landed Gentry' to have any real clue about us plebs. For those voters who aspire to wealth without any hope of getting it. Winners of the next General Election because everything else on offer amounts to asking the panel of judges from Strictly Come Dancing to build the ISS.

Which I found mildly amusing...

 

[markeg]

Watching the One Show last night and they advised that Ex Pats can also register to vote and that last time something like 35k people (IIRC) did so out of around 5 million. Sorry but if you've decided you wish to live in another sunny part of the world, WHY should you be able to vote on the daily running of a country you no longer contribute to?

Or are the Ex Pats that are voting the ones that still return from abroad to use our services like the NHS

Ex-pat status isn't as cut and dried as most people think.

I classify as an ex-pat, as I work and am resident in Tokyo. I have a house in UK, pay poll tax in UK, am registered to vote in the UK, and pay taxes in both Japan and UK (my tax liability is split between the two countries). Also, from June I will be returning to work in the UK. So I believe I have earned the right to vote, and the right to choose to do so. I am sure there are a lot of other people like me...