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Lib Dems to push 'proud story' of achievements
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pcernie
Legend
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:30 pm Posts: 45931 Location: Belfast
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Sat Sep 14, 2013 2:08 pm |
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jonbwfc
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:26 pm Posts: 17040
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Student Fees. Privatisation of the NHS. Privatisation of the primary and secondary education systems. Privatisation of several emergency services. One million people on zero hour contracts. 2 trillion pounds handed to the city that they decided to just keep. 'Help to buy' schemes creating an almost instant housing bubble.
Wait, you mean those aren't the achievements they're going to list?
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Sat Sep 14, 2013 3:26 pm |
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pcernie
Legend
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:30 pm Posts: 45931 Location: Belfast
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You forgot Royal Mail 
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Sat Sep 14, 2013 3:38 pm |
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Amnesia10
Legend
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am Posts: 29240 Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
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Polishing a turd comes to mind.
_________________Do concentrate, 007... "You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds." https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTkhttp://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21
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Sat Sep 14, 2013 5:52 pm |
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bobbdobbs
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:10 pm Posts: 5490 Location: just behind you!
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To be fair labour can claim a lot of the credit for those Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4
_________________Finally joined Flickr
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Sun Sep 15, 2013 2:10 pm |
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pcernie
Legend
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:30 pm Posts: 45931 Location: Belfast
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24099255Nick Thick - Blurred Lines would be more like it...
_________________Plain English advice on everything money, purchase and service related:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/
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Sun Sep 15, 2013 2:42 pm |
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ShockWaffle
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2009 6:50 am Posts: 1911
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He's wishing for a miracle. His audience in this country is not capable of comprehending coalition government. They cannot engage with ideological competitors in the spirit of cooperation that pervades in the Nordic countries whose successes we all pretend we wish to emulate. People in Britain routinely regard opposing views as the product of evil intent. So the sight of somebody working with the enemy fills you with rage.
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Sun Sep 15, 2013 3:42 pm |
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jonbwfc
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:26 pm Posts: 17040
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Is that like how he said he would protect students from high fees at the last election? Here's Nick's problem - He's proved to be untrustworthy. It doesn't matter what he claims he's going to do if re-elected, because nobody with any sense is going to rely on him doing it. Thus the only thing he's got to campaign on is what he has managed to actually do in this period of parliament. Which is a pretty pathetic list, by anybody's estimation. I'm afraid he made himself a noose, walked into then pulled the lever. The fact he's a political busted flush is entirely his own work.
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Sun Sep 15, 2013 4:38 pm |
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jonbwfc
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:26 pm Posts: 17040
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The NHS being dismantled fills me with rage. People being turfed out of their houses because they have one bedroom too many fills me with rage. Someone with cerebral palsy being told by an ATOS inspector that it will probably get better within six months fills me with rage. Food banks in the UK fill me with rage. Note I am perfectly aware some of these existed under previous administrations of a different 'flavour'. I couldn't care less what colour tie they wear or who they are friends with yesterday, today or tomorrow. I judge them on their actions and how it affects those least able to fend for themselves, how it debases us and makes us all smaller as people. The point about the Nordic countries is not that their politics is collaborative whereas ours is adversarial, it's that their politicians (of whatever shade) seem to have retained some level of the notion of public duty and the necessity of the common good. They are, in essence, civilised. Ours apparently are not.
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Sun Sep 15, 2013 4:42 pm |
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pcernie
Legend
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:30 pm Posts: 45931 Location: Belfast
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Clegg and Alexander reject Cable's warning over Help to Buy http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... elp-to-buyAKA 'it probably won't be our problem by then'.
_________________Plain English advice on everything money, purchase and service related:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/
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Sun Sep 15, 2013 4:55 pm |
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rustybucket
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:10 pm Posts: 5837
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I would first ask the question 'Was there ever a time when politicians were civilized?' I can't help but think that the idea of a benvolent, representative, civic-minded legislature is now, and always was, a myth. But, assuming that a civilized political establishment did once exist, the question I would ask is which way the causality runs. The last time I looked, neither the press nor the general populace have managed to steer free of cynicism - I'm guilty of more than my fair share of it to be honest. If I were a politician, and everyone automatically assumed that everything I ever said was a lie, why would I bother telling the truth? If I were a politician, and I knew that it is rarely the colorful character that wins, would I not refrain from being colourful? If implausible, is it not at least possible that the current state of politics is the result of society's cynicism, rather than the cause of it? I just think it's too easy to blame politicians for everything. In truth, a pessimistic part of me says that we have exactly the parliament that we deserve.
_________________Jim
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Sun Sep 15, 2013 5:12 pm |
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ShockWaffle
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2009 6:50 am Posts: 1911
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The NHS isn't being dismantled. The bedroom tax would have been an ok idea if it wasn't implemented in advance of provision of the 1 bed places for which it will create demand (contrary to public perception I don't advise reliance on markets to fix everything in the universe). I would like to say that the ATOS claim sounds too stupid to be true, but I hear they do these sorts of thing so perhaps it is not. I'm afraid there will always be a requirement for charity even in a rich country. Furthermore, as a Liberal I would add that our immigration policy would remain morally offensive even if it were not a technocratic error of the highest order. And there are many other areas in which I diverge from our present government and all its predecessors too. However, joining a coalition and working together with the party that got the most votes was still the right thing to do and no apology should be made for that. It was correct for Clegg to allow Lib Dem desires to be trumped, and it was correct for Cameron to allow his own side's cherished schemes to be watered down too.If Labour scrabbles together only enough votes for a minority government next time round, then I hope my team are nice enough to join them in coalition. Below is a chart of interpersonal trust, showing what proportion of people are willing to assume others are trustworthy. It's unlikely that the Scandiwegians are twice as trustworthy as us, but they are much more trusting. Our politicians are mostly there because they want to do good. The grassroots organizations that assist them are largely composed of honest and decent people who only want to assist honest and decent politicians in the doing of good work. Many of the policies you hate so much (especially the ones involving private sector involvement in public services) are Scandinavian imports. The Scandinavian politicians were able to explain these policies to both left and right wing voters and secure consent for them. Ours seem to be up against a barrier. 
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Sun Sep 15, 2013 5:57 pm |
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jonbwfc
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:26 pm Posts: 17040
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Many people disagree. Quite a lot of them work in the NHS. I trust their opinion over yours. And if your auntie had etc. It's not OK to force people out of their homes without an alternative and then say "Oh, yes, I see. We really should have thought of that. Sorry?" I've seen a photograph posted of the (verified) ATOS report that says something along the lines of 'Applicant has symptoms of cerebral palsy. Check again in six months to see if condition has cleared'. I'll try and dig it up. All this stuff is happening, in the UK, today. You can deny it if you like, but that doesn't change it. That, no. But that's a simple act of political administration at the end of the day. I'm only really interested in the effect of the government, not which expedient flag it flies under. Fair enough. Excuse if I'm so cynical as to think it won't make a spit in a bucket's worth of difference. Is it? Why? What's your justification for that statement exactly? I personally think it's feasible, given they haven't had the best part of thirty years of a society which has become so so self-interested and amoral that we end up with the likes of the LIBOR scandal, massive (billions of pounds massive) insurance mis-selling, the hillsborough cover-up... there are numerous examples. We trust less than the Scandanavians because as a nation have become less trustworthy. Our politicians have been shown to be venal, self-regarding swindlers and have led us into wars we do not wish to fight. Our financial leaders have been shown to be duplicitous criminals. Our police have been shown to have falsified evidence and maligned the dead and dying. Our faith leaders have been shown to have sheltered peadophiles. Our press have been shown to falsify evidence, destroy evidence, spy on innocent people... We are less trusting as a society because the parts that should be the pillars of our society have been repeatedly shown to operate in a way that says they can't be trusted. And they reflect on us. I wouldn't disagree with either of those statements. However I consider people's actions to be more important than their intentions. Not really. All the Scandanavian countries have nationalised health care, rather than 'health care providers' in the private sector paid for out of taxation. They also all run what is called the 'Ghent system' of social benefits which is a fixed benefit without requirement for assessment. Our systems are in fact becoming much more like America's. This doesn't actually surprise me much, one of the constant political factors since, well, since I was child has been that politicians have looked across the atlantic for policy pointers. This may be because they are more euro-sceptic than me, or it may be that the American ethos fits more with their way of thinking. Not that we're talking 'Europe Good, America bad' in a dogmatic kind of way. But the simple truth is that you're going to have a much worse time in the US than in a lot of Europe if you're poor or disadvantaged. And, as the old adage goes, the true measure of a society is how it treats it's weakest.
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Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:21 pm |
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pcernie
Legend
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:30 pm Posts: 45931 Location: Belfast
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Clegg and Cable at odds over economy http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... legg-cableI can't get the image of Cable attacking Clegg out of my head now, Danny Alexander cowering under a table like daddy had just slapped mummy 
_________________Plain English advice on everything money, purchase and service related:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/
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Sun Sep 15, 2013 9:40 pm |
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Amnesia10
Legend
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am Posts: 29240 Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
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The problem is that the economy is still in a fragile state. The coalition will not do anything to save it. With Clegg trying to push for another coalition after the next election the public will probably be as good as they can hope for.
_________________Do concentrate, 007... "You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds." https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTkhttp://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21
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Sun Sep 15, 2013 11:59 pm |
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