Saintandy666

On votes at 16, we seem to let 16-18 year olds do a lot of other stuff that is perceived at 'adult' - sex, army, gambling etc - so why not voting? The 16 year olds in the Scottish Referendum are an example of how it can work given the engagement and consideration of the issues they showed.

Stay in. Problems of the future need more international co-operation and less borders, not more division. Peace, prosperity and tackling the oncoming climate catastrophe* will require proper international effort, and more so going forward. We need to be part of that. On the economic front, the free market is also key to our own economy, and it seems plenty of jobs are integrated into that system. We need to be at the table, not on the side watching it go on, but not able to influence. * even if you are a global warming denier, you can not deny the ecological effects of deforestation and other degradation such as chemical contamination and so on. This will require a lot of thought and a lot of co-operation.

That should do it. Even a draw is an effective guarantee of 7th!

You got to think about it from their voter base and also their personal popularity. 19% for Clegg is a nice improvement on all that, so he will be happy. (his and the lib dem ratings have risen during the campaign)

It's bloody difficult to get a job just for the summer the last few years. I know I've had family who in the (somewhat distant) past over the summer break just put a CV in with a work agency, and they got odd bits here and there. But the days of ample amounts of that seem to have ended with the recession a few years back - but you never know, might be worth a shot! Have much sympathy on the need money front though if your location is Oxford, so expensive to live in and the maintenance loan is nowhere near enough.

As linked in the original post - but conveniently edited out of your reply, the poll is from comres who are very reputable. But you have an interesting point on the regionalisation, a poll I'd like to see. Though I suggest that this debate will not be that important in the long run - but it isn't interesting that Clegg outperformed his party and also scored very low on 'worst performer' as it suggests the vitriol against him has subsided.

You should just trust me blindly! Here's the link. It's part of a comres snap poll

[TABLE] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]This is an interesting poll. PERFORMED WORST 15% Cam 14% Mili 6% Clegg 20% Farage 25% Bennett 4% Sturgeon 16% Wood Well done Sturgeon, clear winner, but given her personal ratings she always was going to do best. Clearly Bennett did very badly, and if I was Green member I'd be very angry right now as she has wasted their big chance. Clegg getting 9-10% saying he won is good given his party's percentage wise, and not many thought he lost either suggesting the vitriol against him has declined. Edit to add the link as requested - [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

I think you are probably reading too much into this.

I know we had a slow start, and bossed towards the end (if I'm recalling correctly), but quite surprising we didn't run away with the league really given that team!

Free school meals have been very popular - seen letters from teachers saying it's improved the behaviour of kids, and there are big studies showing a proper meal can improve concentration and scores. And sorry, the £10k allowance was undeniably a lib dem thing, the Tories were arguing against it at the last election! It was on the front page of their manifesto as one of their top 4 priorities. The other top priorities were Green investment bank (done) Pupil premium (done) Political reform (okay, they tried but failed here, but they got an AV referendum at least)

That's not what I said at all. But the majority of the most popular and successful ideas like free school meals, pupil premium and the 10k tax allowance are all Lib Dem ideas and policies.

Clegg has never taken credit for conservative policies. He'll big up his own parties policies which have been delivered in government of which there are plenty. And then also will talk of the curb they have been on tory excess. Without Liberals in government, they'd be no Human Rights Act, a snoopers charter and a regressive draconian ban on 'extremist' (as defined by who?!) speakers on university campuses.

I was referring to current and recent 'size', which I admit is hard to measure, but what happened 50 years ago isn't as relevant as the current situation. When I said 'let down' - I was just saying those scores are lower, which they are. As I said, I broadly agree with the positioning, even if some of the methodology seems suspect - but it's only meant to be a bit of fun I know!

Annoying to consistently see Cameron take credit for Liberal pushed polcies with the 10k tax allowance, raising the minimum wage and the triple lock on pensions. (and various others)

Seems pretty reasonable for ordering. Let down by the league position and the trophies - there needs to be a way to weight that in, as we had a bit of a downward trend for a while. But tbh, I wouldn't put us that much higher. Our 'global fanbase' (whatever that means) being 11th sounds about right. Only teams above us which I think we could legitimately argue as 'bigger' than us (whatever that means) is definitely West Brom and Wolves and maybe West Ham.

I suppose Europa League won't be enough for him. Fair enough I guess, he is a professional and we shouldn't expect him to have any particular emotional attachment to the club. Have enjoyed watching him over the years though as he is a top player. Hopefully we can squeeze 20-odd million out of him and send him on his way to Arsenal or similar.

From what I've seen, they've always seemed reasonably level headed as a group of individuals. They were always going to have a shelf life. He's now a multi-millionaire, so he can pretty much do whatever the hell he wants. Good luck to him.

Lest we forget 3 #alwaysinourhearts

Interesting. I went to QMC, and am also currently studying in Oxford! I'm almost certain I went to Court Moor once I think whilst at secondary for an MUN event as well.

Good. Anyone else would be out of their job if they had physically assaulted one of their colleagues, so seems fair.

So you don't think the way in which politics is done and presented, and the balance of power between an MP and their party, has changed at all the past 20-30 years? What makes you think that?

What do you think Hutch, in your experience?

That's the technical truth, but there's a tension there as politics has become increasingly about the leader and party as opposed to the individual MP. Likewise with Brown, if there is a change of PM, there would be a lot of clamour for another election so the people can feel like they endorsed them.

If we had a presidential system, this could work. Even incumbent President has to be approved via primary system.