Re: The General Election Thread : Wed May 06, 2015 10:25 am  

Cronus wrote: "No need to contact us if you are not interested...this is just an opportunity and entirely your choice." Anyway, the Indy came out yesterday and decided they can't even call their own vote. Astoundingly, they heaped plenty of praise on the coalition and specifically the Tories, and even leaned towards another Tory-Lib Dem coalition as the best outcome, with an increase in Lib Dem influence. Heaps of outrage in the comments section. They also seem convinced Labour WILL turn to the SNP, which, given their promises throughout the campaign would be entirely unacceptable. I'm not sure this is correct, I think Labour would reach agreement with the Lib Dems regardless of their 'red lines'. Elsewhere, Miliband couldn't explain away the IFS finding that Labour's plans would result in £90B more debt than the Tories over 5 years. They've also published some interesting charts showing the difference between the FPTP and PR voting systems. A Tory-UKIP coalition? Independent - Proprietor: A Lebedev Evening Standard - as above Daily Telegraph - Proprietors: Barclay brothers Daily Mail - Proprietor: Viscount Rothermere The Times - Proprietor: R Murdoch The Sun - as above The Express - Proprietor: R Desmond The Star - as above Notwithstanding Leveson and Labour's intention to introduce a truly independent press regulator, all of the above are either 'non-dom' status or have engineered "tax efficiencies" to reduce their contribution to the UK exchequer. Is anyone really surprised whose mast they are nailing their colours to?

Cronus wrote: "No need to contact us if you are not interested...this is just an opportunity and entirely your choice." Anyway, the Indy came out yesterday and decided they can't even call their own vote. Astoundingly, they heaped plenty of praise on the coalition and specifically the Tories, and even leaned towards another Tory-Lib Dem coalition as the best outcome, with an increase in Lib Dem influence. Heaps of outrage in the comments section. They also seem convinced Labour WILL turn to the SNP, which, given their promises throughout the campaign would be entirely unacceptable. I'm not sure this is correct, I think Labour would reach agreement with the Lib Dems regardless of their 'red lines'. Elsewhere, Miliband couldn't explain away the IFS finding that Labour's plans would result in £90B more debt than the Tories over 5 years. They've also published some interesting charts showing the difference between the FPTP and PR voting systems. A Tory-UKIP coalition? Independent - Proprietor: A Lebedev Evening Standard - as above Daily Telegraph - Proprietors: Barclay brothers Daily Mail - Proprietor: Viscount Rothermere The Times - Proprietor: R Murdoch The Sun - as above The Express - Proprietor: R Desmond The Star - as above Notwithstanding Leveson and Labour's intention to introduce a truly independent press regulator, all of the above are either 'non-dom' status or have engineered "tax efficiencies" to reduce their contribution to the UK exchequer. Is anyone really surprised whose mast they are nailing their colours to?

Re: The General Election Thread : Wed May 06, 2015 11:00 am  

Cronus wrote: "No need to contact us if you are not interested...this is just an opportunity and entirely your choice." Anyway, the Indy came out yesterday and decided they can't even call their own vote. Astoundingly, they heaped plenty of praise on the coalition and specifically the Tories, and even leaned towards another Tory-Lib Dem coalition as the best outcome, with an increase in Lib Dem influence. Heaps of outrage in the comments section. They also seem convinced Labour WILL turn to the SNP, which, given their promises throughout the campaign would be entirely unacceptable. I'm not sure this is correct, I think Labour would reach agreement with the Lib Dems regardless of their 'red lines'. Elsewhere, Miliband couldn't explain away the IFS finding that Labour's plans would result in £90B more debt than the Tories over 5 years. They've also published some interesting charts showing the difference between the FPTP and PR voting systems. A Tory-UKIP coalition? I dont think that Labour will turn to the SNP as such. I think they will present their Queen's Speech and budget and dare the SNP to vote against it or abstain. The trouble is that Sturgeon seems to think that if the SNP vote down a Labour budget, Labour will simply come back with something more acceptable. Because that's how it works in Scotland.

Cronus wrote: "No need to contact us if you are not interested...this is just an opportunity and entirely your choice." Anyway, the Indy came out yesterday and decided they can't even call their own vote. Astoundingly, they heaped plenty of praise on the coalition and specifically the Tories, and even leaned towards another Tory-Lib Dem coalition as the best outcome, with an increase in Lib Dem influence. Heaps of outrage in the comments section. They also seem convinced Labour WILL turn to the SNP, which, given their promises throughout the campaign would be entirely unacceptable. I'm not sure this is correct, I think Labour would reach agreement with the Lib Dems regardless of their 'red lines'. Elsewhere, Miliband couldn't explain away the IFS finding that Labour's plans would result in £90B more debt than the Tories over 5 years. They've also published some interesting charts showing the difference between the FPTP and PR voting systems. A Tory-UKIP coalition? I dont think that Labour will turn to the SNP as such. I think they will present their Queen's Speech and budget and dare the SNP to vote against it or abstain. The trouble is that Sturgeon seems to think that if the SNP vote down a Labour budget, Labour will simply come back with something more acceptable. Because that's how it works in Scotland.

Re: The General Election Thread : Wed May 06, 2015 11:18 am  

cod'ead wrote:

Is anyone really surprised whose mast they are nailing their colours to?

Well, yes, given that they've been condemning and character assassinating Cameron and the Tories (and of course UKIP) for months.

I don't know if you follow their social media feeds, but it's been pretty relentless.

That article represents a comprehensive u-turn in policy.

Re: The General Election Thread : Wed May 06, 2015 11:30 am  

Cronus wrote:

That article represents a comprehensive u-turn in policy.

I disagree.

That article represents Alexander Lebedev fearing for his non-dom status

Re: The General Election Thread : Wed May 06, 2015 11:48 am  

Cibaman wrote:

I dont think that Labour will turn to the SNP as such. I think they will present their Queen's Speech and budget and dare the SNP to vote against it or abstain. The trouble is that Sturgeon seems to think that if the SNP vote down a Labour budget, Labour will simply come back with something more acceptable. Because that's how it works in Scotland.

And there's absolutely no reason to presume that it wouldn't work that way in a UK parliament

Re: The General Election Thread : Wed May 06, 2015 12:04 pm  

Chris28 wrote:

Is it just me or is this one of the nastiest, most spiteful elections we've had?

It's been like one long school break time in the playground. Silly name calling, who can shout the loudest and who can get who into trouble. A thoroughly uninspiring bunch, the lot of them.

Re: The General Election Thread : Wed May 06, 2015 4:11 pm  

cod'ead wrote:

And there's absolutely no reason to presume that it wouldn't work that way in a UK parliament

Well no, not if Labour are happy to be kicked out at the next election.

Re: The General Election Thread : Wed May 06, 2015 6:22 pm  

Cibaman wrote:

So a middle aged / elderly couple whose family has flown the nest is offered £5k to voluntarily leave their five bedroom house, with four unoccupied bedrooms, to make it available as a family home. I'm struggling to see the problem.

Buy yourself a cheap day return to Birmingham, you won't struggle then.

Re: The General Election Thread : Wed May 06, 2015 7:49 pm  

cod'ead wrote:

Independent - Proprietor: A Lebedev
Evening Standard - as above
Daily Telegraph - Proprietors: Barclay brothers
Daily Mail - Proprietor: Viscount Rothermere
The Times - Proprietor: R Murdoch
The Sun - as above
The Express - Proprietor: R Desmond
The Star - as above

Notwithstanding Leveson and Labour's intention to introduce a truly independent press regulator, all of the above are either 'non-dom' status or have engineered "tax efficiencies" to reduce their contribution to the UK exchequer.

Is anyone really surprised whose mast they are nailing their colours to?

My own opinion is that if media proprietors wish to influence the outcome of UK elections, they must be both full UK citizens and have paid their full amount of tax.

Re: The General Election Thread : Wed May 06, 2015 7:54 pm  

We should have two mew laws:
- UK residential property owned by non-EU citizens should be subject to an annual tax on value; and
- no newspapers / media outlets only to be controlled / owned by UK domiciled and resident individuals / companies.