General Chat

Haven't read all the thread sorry Hayley but to answer your question - I wish I understood a lot more about politics and I wish I had the time and inclination to study current affairs more but I don't. I've always voted for the same party since I was able to vote because when it comes to an election, they seem to me with what knowledge I do have, to be the most in tune with the way I see the world. Not saying I will always vote for them but I have so far.

Maggie stop confusing me lol

The only major party that didn't agree with the war were the Lib Dems.
Now, if Vince Cable was the leader, they may stand a chance!


...I just hope the Monster Raving Loony party are standing - a bit of sense may be in their manifesto!!!

The main argument as I remember was the WMD which he said he hasnt got any of and never did have. Even before the Iraqy invasion Iraq has suffered god knows how many air attacks from the UK and USA...I do think George Bush was a bit too keen to invade Iraq and Mr Blair was even abit too keen to offer OUR boys services but thats by the by.

George Bush said the same thing Muffy, and it's him behind all that, policing the world as he did.

OK, the perception was that Saddam was just a pain in the backside, until 9/11, when the perception changed to one of threat. Would sound reasonable until you remember that saddam was never a threat in the terrorist sense because he had nothing to do with Al queda.

They may have seen him as a threat in that they were believing he had WMD at the time, and as he had already invaded Kuwait, was a despot to his own people, who had committed genocide etc etc....but...


It, or he, had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11. 9/11 was just an excuse for GW to go blundering in and finsh what daddy Bush started.

Bush said 'jump', Blair said 'how high?'

I think Hayley you'll find the only main party that would withdraw from Afghanistan...is the Lib Dems..I could be wrong on that though xx

Totally understandable Hayley...and yes there has been little 'peace' in my lifetime, which is longer than yours :( a statistic I heard on the radio this week

"a total of 256 British servicemen and women have now died since the conflict in Afghanistan began in October 2001 - one more than the number who died in the 74-day campaign to retake the Falkland Islands in 1982"

It IS possible that we might not have gone in had the Conservatives been in power.. the only way to come down on one side or other now..is to hear what both parties (all parties) will do about Afghanistan if elected.

Tony Blair confused the hell out of me at the inquiry by suggesting that their view on Saddam changed in light of 9/11

BUT what on earth did Saddam have to do with that !!! most odd imho

xx

The biggest spoke in the wheel in my opinion is the Iraq war. Where young lads were ripped from their mother’s sides and sent off to fight in what I considered an illegal war. Ok this is my very personal over dramatic view but it turns me completely against Tony Blair. But being the dither I am I do understand that everyone had to make a stance against the terrorists but looking back over the years this country seems to be at some sort of conflict or another since I can remember.

I think you're swaying blue Hayley.

Hayley, to decide on that, you really have to look to the past and base the decision on experience, and the experience of the politicians that want to lead us forward.

I dont' think any party is capable of leading us forward any further than a mediocre economic growth, perhaps some serious green policies, and some half way decent defence polices maybe. Whichever one gets in , the NHS, the education system, the student grant/loan system, and the welfare system will still be crumbling in their foundation, thanks to the damage that has been done over the last thirty years.

By the way are any of you picking up which I MAY sway baring in mind I dont have a clue myself is it left or right but please answer in colours thank you :))))

They would have if they hadn't changed the boundaries to swallow up labour and lib strongholds. lol

You have talk a lot about the past, but what party do you think will lend us forward in the correct direction or will it always boil down to the class of society we live in?

Much like Nu Labour now the Tories went off on one at the end lol....sleaze, politicians out of touch with the electorate. I certainly DID NOT vote for them in 1997 as I felt they'd lost touch with real people.

They'd have been better off losing the 1992 election imho. They'd run out of steam by then.

**BUT it's 2010 now...David Cameron isn't John Major...in the same way that Gordon Brown isn't Michael Foot.

Times move on xx

Yes but only under enormous pressure....

But hadnt the polltax been changed then to council tax whch the labour government has kept?

no it wasn't in a good position. OK we were not in recession as such, but we were very very close to it, the whole country was disillusioned with the tories after the wishy washy John Major took over, we'd had black Monday, which nearly crippled us financially, the poll tax debacle, and lots was wrong.

That's why the tories were kicked out of power by the electorate. If the country had been in a good position after 18 years of power, the voters would have kept them in.

arggghh But the last Tory government were in power for for 18 yrs by the time labour took over the country was in a good position or was it?

Ah, but don't you have to look long term? You have to be aware of what each party is going to do long term too, as well as the short term policies to get us out of recession. There is no instant fast solution from any party.

I agree it's going to be the NEXT general election before we see the end of the tunnel with this mess, as it was when labour took over from the tories....there was a huge economic mess to sort out then.

We've spent decades upon decades bouncing from left to right, and all the time there have been boom and bust economies, with both parties. It's about time one of them at least managed to learn something. We still have a boom and bust economy, we will under either party.


No I don't think europe is such a good thing, and has led to a lot of knock-on problems of it's own, but that's a different topic really. Our domestic politics need to be heeded and changed where necessary. We never had a referendum over that either, and that was under the Tories, thanks to Ted Heath.