SuperMikey

Not sure the separatists would agree with you on that one! I agree with you on English & Welsh parliaments - I think it's only fair that matters solely concerning those countries should be decided solely by representatives of those countries as opposed to the UK as a whole deciding something that will only affect a smaller area of it. That's one of the issues that I disagree with the SNP on. In terms of taxation - I would happily pay more tax in return for better public services. I think that should be the case across the board in the UK, although some people seem to equate taxes with an attack on personal freedom and moan about all their money going to the state, but then complain about the state of the NHS or that the buses don't run properly or whatever. In order to have a properly funded and well-maintained public service system there has to be proper funding which comes from proper taxation. I think anybody that knows anything about politics will see that's always going to be the case if these things are controlled by the state. That's the price you pay for not having your public services controlled by for-profit organisations that will always put their profits first and the service they provide second. Also you seem to mock the "progressive" Scots but i'm not sure why that's a cause for scorn? It must be horrible living in a country that's been a leading light for gay rights, pushes for drug reform and wants a fairer distribution of wealth through the proper taxation that the Tories are incapable of delivering. I'd rather be progressive than living in a nice time bubble like UKIP supporters seem to be, desperately clutching onto the ideals of the 50's as the times go by them..

You're just a ray of sunshine aren't you? You know half of the reason that independence is a fairly popular notion in Scotland is that they don't feel represented by Westminster? It's a notion that's shared across many parts of the UK including the North of England, down in places like Cornwall and especially in parts of Wales. Would you suggest getting rid of those places as well so you can form your nice little garrett consisting solely of the South-East of England?

32% Yes against 68% No which is a resounding result - although there was some appalling propaganda going around from the No campaign. These 2 for example: Tbh this election has just gone to further illustrate the problems with FPTP. Feeling a bit of smug vindication now as somebody that voted Yes to AV, given that the general consensus now is that FPTP isn't a fair system - guess it just took an election for people to realise that..

Oh do f*ck off you odious little c*nt. Oops, must be my lefty undercurrent. Sorry about that old bean.

Er, I think that's what he's saying..

First of all, I don't begrudge people their votes - people can choose who they want to govern. I also agree that Cameron's the better leader but if you ask Tory voters why they chose him they'll probably mention how the Tories are "the best choice" and "a safe pair of hands" when they've had an appalling record over the last 5 years of failing to hit their targets. Cameron asked us to kick him out if he hadn't got rid of the deficit and reduced immigration to tens of thousands. He also promised no top-down reorganisations of the NHS (and then did one straight away) and no cuts to front-line services (which have suffered immensely). I don't think your average guy on the street will have that in their mind when they go to vote - they'll have the picture of Miliband eating a f*cking bacon sandwich sitting there. Forgive me for sounding like a raving lunatic going on about media moguls controlling the electorate but it just dismays me that we're so easily led to believe something that is clearly not accurate based on recent performance. Our media is a closed ideology echo chamber where the same mantras are repeated again and again until it becomes accepted as the norm.

As for my thoughts on everything, I was utterly shocked that the Tories got such a comfortable majority. The media has got Cameron back through that door, he wouldn't have achieved that without the constant fear-mongering from the papers and pundits as to what unthinkable things might happen if he wasn't re-elected. Just goes to show that the few that control the media in this country (Murdoch, Rothermere, Desmond et al) can spin anything to their advantage. And everyone lapped it up like the f*cking supplicants we are.

They already started to cut NHS funding in the coalition.. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/nhs-hit-by-stealth-cuts-of-2bn-as-tariffs-received-for-medical-procedures-are-reduced-10204414.html

Polls seem to be all over the place - guess we won't know until the results are official but it looks like we could potentially get another 5 years of ConDem coalition..

Uncanny! BFFs for lyf

I know there are some Sufjan Stevens fans on here, been spinning his latest album today. It's by far his best, really intimate, moving and atmospheric - no less than you'd expect from an album about a man looking back on his life after his mother dies. Really beautiful stuff.

This is MP of the Year 2014 Caroline Lucas you're referring to is it? Perhaps she got tips from Liam Fox, Louise Mensch, Boris Johnson, Tristram Hunt and Kwasi Kwarteng on how to write a book while serving as an elected politician? You're right in saying that this kind of thing is endemic but Lucas has actually managed to be an excellent MP as well as finding the time to write a book (which spans the 5 years she's just served as an MP, which suggests the whole thing may not have been written in a week off in Sardinia). I think the larger problem that she was addressing with MPs having "second jobs" is that many are advisors, directors and consultants to large businesses that benefit from government operations - there's a whole section in Owen Jones' excellent book 'The Establishment' that chronicles a few of these tales (seems that this was pretty rife among New Labour MPs especially). Writing a book doesn't quite compare to some of the examples given in the book..

Taking the politics out of that article (which kinda gives itself away if you hadn't guessed already by asking 'Are You Voting Labour?' at the bottom of the page), this is the reality of cuts to welfare and other areas. People may prefer to look dispassionately at the cuts as simply numbers on a piece of paper but at the end of the day there are people that are driven into poverty or far worse by cuts that have hit those at the bottom the hardest. In contrast to that, UK banks have given out over £80bn in bonuses since they were bailed out in 2008. Even as somebody who works in that industry, that sickens me. Considering the effect that austerity has had on people in the UK with wages falling and over a million people using food banks, you would've hoped that our glorious leaders maybe would've used their noggins and temporarily suspended bonus schemes on banks that were bailed out by the taxpayer and used the money to cover our shortfalls. Much easier to demonise the poor and then cut their money than to explain to your mates in the city why they're not able to get that nice villa in Tuscany this year though isn't it?

I would say we're a Top 8 club now, but I agree that we're not Top 6 material yet. If we can get 6th this season that's great but we need to finish there at least next season as well to be considered at that level. Don't think Spurs will relinquish that 6th spot too easily either, they'll spend and strengthen in the summer whereas we'll have to find our feet on the European stage (hopefully) and maintain our league performance. Won't be easy.

Waiting for "Spurs weigh-up move for Gareth Rogers" stories to hit the paper tomorrow..

I won't stand for that kind of misandry, it's 2011 ffs.

Oh my god Pap :lol:

Guess you're in Bristol West then - unsurprising that they'd vote Green considering it all kicked off when Tesco were going to open a store there! Edinburgh South & West is my constituency, formerly Alastair Darling's seat for a number of years. Looks like they're going to be ousted by the SNP like everywhere else in Scotland although personally i'll be voting Green. Would be surprised if they managed to break more than a few thousand votes where I am but it's a matter of principle..

That came out of left field, very nice! Was annoyed that I missed them when I went in 2007 so glad that i've got another opportunity. Weller's aways good as well.

Move there then

I read Batman's reply to my post and just assumed he'd left his random post generator on. Half expected him to post about how Pelle offers us no mobility up front either. I forgive you Jamie, those burgers can't flip themselves. You must be a very busy man and can't be expected to read 6 words of my post to establish that I have moved there already.

Talking about affordability, I moved to Edinburgh in November and looking at property prices here it's unbelievable what you get for your money. Just goes to show it is all about location. Seen houses change hands where I grew up in North Hampshire for around £350k that probably wouldn't fetch more than £180k here.

And why should they? Their mandate is to do the best for the people they represent, which is people living in Scotland. If people moan about not being properly represented by the politicians that are supposed to represent them in the Commons then why vote for them? I think politics in the UK needs to be more devolved, there are huge areas of the country that feel that they aren't represented by those in Westminster (notably one of the reasons why the SNP are so popular in Scotland right now) that would benefit from more devolved powers. Cameron doesn't give a f*ck about Hull or Wigan or Carlisle, and neither do Milband, Clegg, Farage et al. Really not sure why the regional assemblies were scrapped because they'd have much more of an impact on people outside developed areas in the South and it'd mean that people may actually feel more represented by the people they scrawl their votes for. Just saying.

Tories popular in the world capital of small gene pools? Well, I never.

Arsenal are supposedly going to bid for Aymen Abdennour in the summer - it would be highly unlikely he'd leave Monaco for us but if we didn't sign Toby he would be the perfect replacement. Quick, strong, aggressive, good in the tackle and has shown he can play against Premier League opposition when he shut Arsenal out in the Champions League. If he'd be interested in entertaining the idea of a move to us he'd definitely be worth splashing out for.