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Great Britain goes to the polls today

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T_i_B Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 02:29 AM
Original message
Great Britain goes to the polls today
You could see a new British Prime Minister in the shape of the Conservative David Cameron.

There is also a possibility of a hung parliament, with minority partyies such as the Liberal Democrats, the SNP or the Northern Ireland parties holding the balance of power.

IMHO it's not been a very good election campaign, but please feel free to ask any questions. The DU UK forum link is below and there's plenty of useful stuff down there for your reference.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=191
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Prophet 451 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 02:38 AM
Response to Original message
1. Dear Lord, NOT CAMERON!
I lived through Thatcher's reign of terror the first time around. I have no wish to live under her clueless, priveledged and even more vicious lovechild.
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T_i_B Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 02:44 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. Well maybe we ought to get our American friends clued up...
...on what would happen with Prime Minister Cameron in charge.
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miscsoc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 04:04 AM
Response to Reply #2
9. He is more or less GWB but with a servicable grasp of English
"Compassionate conservatism"
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Prophet 451 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 04:27 AM
Response to Reply #9
11. and brains
Think what GWB would have been like if he hadn't fucked up everything he touched.
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miscsoc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 04:29 AM
Response to Reply #11
13. cameron will fuck up everything he touches
but he'll do it ON PURPOSE, which is worse
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Prophet 451 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 04:37 AM
Response to Reply #13
14. Exactly n/t
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Prophet 451 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 04:26 AM
Response to Reply #2
10. Cheeses, where to start?
Thatcher = The Antichrist, George W Bush but with brains, Reagan but more vicious. Systematically defunded education, destroyed the manufacturing sector, caused 12% unemployment, deliberately made the NHS as inefficient as possible in hopes of convincing us to accept American-style triage-by-wallet (it didn't work). Caused nationwide rioting by attempting to implement a literal poll tax. Remains popular with those who were upper-middle or upper- class at the time as they made out like bandits while everyone else suffered. We're still cleaning up her mess today.

Cameron is looking to rerun Thatcher's policies. A Cameron administration would mean (and this is first because I rely on it) massive cuts to the social safety net. For the last two years, the tabloids have been running a hate campaign demonising anyone claiming social benefits as unworthy scroungers who live the high life at taxpayer expense (think Reagan's "welfare queen" with an implication that they should be hanged; there is very little actual truth to this). Cameron would use that to enact crippling cuts to the welfare state, condemning ever more to abject poverty. As far as the Tories are concerned, there is no such thing as someone too sick to work and no such thing as being unable to find a job. Thatcher was notorious for saying "there is no such thing as society", Cameron embraces that.

In terms of economics, the Tory party are inextricably wedded to trickle-down economics. Some of Cameron's announced policies include a cut in capital gains tax and a cut in the estate tax, both moves that would disproportionatly benefit the very wealthy, shifting the burden of making that tax up to the middle and working classes. Cameron has said he would like to model our economy after Ireland just when Ireland's economy is collapsing. His party is mostly funded by big business and the superich who he would be indebted to if he got elected and, based on past actions, the Tories would run the government for their benefit.

On social policy, the Conservatives are, well, conservative. They opposed the gay-marriage-in-all-but-name bill. They were responsible during the Thatcher years for Section 28 of teh Local Government Act (which forbade local government's from "promoting" homosexuality and was universally interpreted to mean you couldn't support or mention gay people at all). Abortion is pretty much a done and dusted deal here but if Cameron smells a vote in it, you can be sure he'll bring it up. The Tories have historically done badly in areas with higher immigrant communities and more social integration so you can expect them to try and prevent integration. Around 85% of immigration talk is code for racism anyway and Cameron's party barely bother making the pretence.

In foreign policy, a Cameron government would be even more bombastic than Blair was. Cameron has already courted allies in Europe among those who deny climate change and anti-semites. He is fairly likely to pull us out of the EU (which would flatline what little export market we have left) and, like many conservatives, seems to relish the idea of being hated by the rest of the world.
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Turborama Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 03:25 AM
Response to Reply #1
3. The stuff that political nightmares are made of!
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JCMach1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 03:26 AM
Response to Original message
4. With a chance for Lib Dems to write the script tomorrow
:bounce:
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tmyers09 Donating Member (706 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 03:43 AM
Response to Original message
5. Go Clegg!
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miscsoc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 03:45 AM
Response to Original message
6. The Sun
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T_i_B Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 03:56 AM
Response to Reply #6
7. As Charlie Brooker said on Twitter
That Sun front page somehow manages to be embarrassingly lame yet more offensive than bestial porn at the same time.
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Prophet 451 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 04:28 AM
Response to Reply #6
12. Oy vey
I'm not sure where to start as to how offensive and inaccurate that is.
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muriel_volestrangler Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 07:22 AM
Response to Reply #6
17. A selection of parodies
(soundtrack NSFW - John Cooper Clarke)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoP6AL-dGI0

And one of them it right - that picture does make Cameron look like the Phantom of the Opera.
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miscsoc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 04:01 AM
Response to Original message
8. nigel farage's plane crashed lol
Edited on Thu May-06-10 04:03 AM by miscsoc
it's okay to laugh, he was only injured, the lucky pinstriped tosser. the injuries were not life threatening, alas.

actually it would be okay to laugh if the bastard was burned to a crisp in a jet fuel fireball

edit: hahaha it was flying a ukip banner behind it.
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T_i_B Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 05:10 AM
Response to Reply #8
15. Just so US DUer's know what are talking about
Farage is the former leader of the UK Independence Party, who are basically loony wingnuts. He's fighting a high profile campaign in Buckingham against the Speaker of the House of Commons, who many right wingnuts detest for not being right wing enough.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Farage
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miscsoc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-06-10 05:24 AM
Response to Original message
16. just saw gordon brown voting
in a drizzly north queensferry community centre. crowd of about 20 people behind the totally unnecessary barriers. depressing :(
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