Re: UK Election
 

Oh I don't know. We have other fairy well-known parties with very different ideologies - it's just that not many people want to vote for them, and consequently they're not viewed as part of our "big three". I'll certainly agree that our two biggest parties have become similar, both vying for the centre ground - the Tories are centre right, Labour are centre left (though die-hards of both sides will dispute the terms left and right there!), and personally I happen to like that. Perhaps Americans would see them as even more similar than we do, because to you they both appear left wing, whereas to (many of) us they at least straddle that left/right boundary. It's just that our boundary is to the left of yours. Similarly, people here often look at US politicians from your two big parties and remark on how they're both so far to the right economically that there's little choice.

If you want British parties with ideologies further to the right (and yes I realise these left/right analogies are clumsy and often inadequate), there's UKIP, the BNP and the English Democrats. It's just that the country is generally not that far to the right so they rarely get anywhere (though UKIP did surprisingly well in the European elections a while back). On the far left we have the Trade Unionist parties, Respect, the Social and Democratic Labour Party, and others. We also have the Greens who gained their first Parliamentary seat yesterday in Brighton. And other much smaller parties like the Christian ones. For those of us who live in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, we have those plus our own: Plaid Cymru, the Scottish National Party and [Sinn Fein, DUP and others] respectively, all of which are big political forces. And the political ideologies between all these differ quite markedly.

Finally, while our current political system isn't set up to fairly represent smaller parties, around 25% of the country choose Liberal Democrat in each election, and as I mentioned, their policies are definitely more "out there" than the Tories or Labour. Understandably the Lib Dems want to change the first past the post system.

So maybe I'm wrong but I'd say, if anything, we might have a broader spectrum of political ideologies than you guys.

No teabaggers or birthers yet though. ;)

Re: UK Election
 

Try this page:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/p...es/default.stm

Re: UK Election
 

deckard - you forgot the best party of all - the monster raving loony party :D

Re: UK Election
 

Haha, they are class!

Choice snippets from their manifesto:

1) To combat global warming and climate change all buildings should be fitted with air conditioning units on the outside.

28) It is proposed that we change the English symbol of three lions to 3 badgers. How often do you see lions running round the countryside, we should be proud of the lack of wild and interesting species on our fair isle.

40) School will be dismissed if three or more pigeons make it into the central corridor.

80) It is proposed that we should get rid of three colour traffic lights, and replace it with a much larger spectrum.

4) To help the Israel/Palestine problems, we should get rid of the old fashioned road map, and give them a sat nav instead.

20) Semicolons should be banned;

etc etc

Re: UK Election
 

Well, there we go.

Conservative David Camera-on is our new PM in our first coalition government since WWII.

We should take comfort from the fact that:

• the Conservatives were denied their outright majority (haha! Take that, scum-sucking Tory press!)
• Labour weren't obliterated as many predicted they would be. Under a new leader they have every chance of coming back stronger
• We can look forward to fixed 4-year Parliaments
• Lib Dems have (apparently) been given cabinet posts
• We have been promised a referendum on electoral reform - AV is a start, and people are more likely to vote for that than full PR.
• By the sound of it, Lib Dems have managed to bag some key concessions on tax and education

And if all that fails to convince, we can take solace in the words of the Bank of England governor, that the budgetary measures necessary to deal with the deficit will end up keeping the governing party "out of power for a whole generation".

We live in hope...

EDIT: Oh no's.... George 'Gideon' Osborne is confirmed as Chancellor?!!! Fuck that shit!
I'm off to get drunk...

Re: UK Election
 

I should elaborate on that last point.

http://i42.tinypic.com/1g39rb.jpg

It shouldda been Vince.

Re: UK Election
 

Osborne is what scares me about this new govt. Clueless is an understatement.

Re: UK Election
 

Thanks for all the updates. They've definitely been helping me make sense of it all.

Re: UK Election
 

i feel sick..................

Re: UK Election
 

Correction: it's fixed 5-year Parliaments, not 4 year. The next election will be 2015. (Sorry Rog!)