British Politics

[Peter Parka]

Thought this thread might be good to talk about what's going on generally in British politics and explain it to you others who don't understand it much. I've learnt a hell of a lot about your system and politicians since being here, the only candidate your average Brit has probably even heard about for your next presidential election is Hillary Clinton and most probably don't know much about her other than her husband screwed some bint and lied about it!

Anyway, I'll kick this off by explaining the main parties.

In government now is Labour - Generally speaking they are on par with your Liberals but these days are more conservative than the conservatives!
The main opposition - Conservatives (Tories) - Basically your republicans though our lot are stereotypically posh middle to upper class people
Liberal Democrats - Supposedly the "inbetween" party but generally make a fool of themselves by leaning to whichever of the main parties can give them more say.

So there you go to start it off. I'm happy to try and answer any questions you have about our politics as I'm sure other Brits here are too.

 

[GraceAbounds]

I'll look forward to listening to what you guys have to say about who you want to represent you and why. You won't really find me arguing about it though as it is your home, your country, and your representation.

I may ask some questions from time to time to possibly get some insight into things I've learned or read about.

Good thread Peter.

 

[gLing]

What does the royal family do?

 

[Peter Parka]

Thanks! Personally I'll be voting Conservative in the next election. For one reason I vote what's best for my community as well as the country. Our Constituancy is one of the 5 unsafest in the country. Labour only won last time by less than 100 votes from Conservative. Our Labour MP is very pro Iraq war and believes we were right to go in there and still believes Saddam had WMDs, he has earnt the nickname Bomber Bill for this, his real name is Bill Rammell. I have met him on a couple of occasions and despite our differences he was a tremendous help as a member of the foreign office in helping me get into Australia for my wedding 5 years ago when Australia refused me a Visa.
The conservative guy I have met a few times and despite not really liking his party I've found him to be one of the best politicians I've come across. He is a few years older than me and suffers from cerabal palsy but does a lot for our community including having done a sponsered swim and weight loss for charity. He has a lot of sympathy and understanding for the sick which is close to my heart and is very understanding and interested in what makes people tick. He is also opposed to the expansion of Harlow which would cause damage to natural habitat not to mention flooding and even worse traffic congestion.
The Lib Dems here are so far behind that the're a wasted vote though them do seem to have a grip on our council through their habit of sucking up to one or the others side.

 

[Peter Parka]

What does the royal family do?

Purely ceremonial work, in reality they have no power though the Queen is the head of the Anglican Church, our official religion. They do bring a hell of a lot of money in through tourism though and do a lot of work for charity!

 

[All Else Failed]

Purely ceremonial work, in reality they have no power though the Queen is the head of the Anglican Church, our official religion. They do bring a hell of a lot of money in through tourism though and do a lot of work for charity!

that always sort of freaked me out.

But anyways, carry on.

 

[Peter Parka]

I understand dude, but that's just a name in reality, nothing more, we have freedom of worship here which dosen't exclude you to any role except you position in line to the monarchy and that will probably change soon and lets face it, how many people have got a realistic chance of being king or queen of England?

 

[debbie t]

that always sort of freaked me out.

But anyways, carry on.

i dont much care for the royal family ,theyre uppercalss twits.
but i have a great deal of respect for liz and she will be what you yanks call a hard act to follow.
when charley takes over he will become defenders of faiths not of the faith.

 

[debbie t]

the labour party are now called new labour,and have suffered from blaire and now browns idiocy.
i was a paid up member of the labour party for many years but then im from the generation which had the likes of tony benn and michael foot,both of whom i respected very much.tony benn is now in the house of lords.
there is no party which has true socialist beliefs so im stumped next time around.
we also have lots of small parties which have seats in the house of commons,such as the british nationalist party(bnp)who i detest.their leader nick griffin is an intelligent and powerful speaker and i believe should be given a voice if only to show what disgusting party he leads(read that as he is a total racist faschist twat)

 

[COOL_BREEZE2]

How are the people taking to Camilla now that more time has passed?

I know she was very unpopular cause of the fresh memories of Diana at the time but have their perceptions of her softened somewhat with the passage of time?

 

[debbie t]

How are the people taking to Camilla now that more time has passed?

I know she was very unpopular cause of the fresh memories of Diana at the time but have their perceptions of her softened somewhat with the passage of time?

she keeps her head down ,ive never even heard her speak.she makes charley happy i suppose.

charles problem will be that he will wish to meddle in political matters which he should not...but he wont be able to keep it zipped(mouth not trousers)

 

[Tattva]

Brown doesn't stand a chance in the next election, so far, his time at the helm has shown him as a bumbling, indecisive moron, who is unable to handle the media.

What really put me off however was that atrocious display of stubbornness he demonstrated over the EU Treaty signing in Lisbon, the only member of the current Cabinet who perhaps has any sense, then popping in later and signing it in private.
I'm reasonably pro Europe anyway so his reluctance in the first place annoyed me but this was just embarrassing.

I cant stand the current government and while Cameron's media persona could use a bit of polishing up, i far prefer him to brown.

As for the Lib-Dems, i think Private Eye's summery of there leadership demonstrates how incompetent they are

Surviving 11 years under the leadership of an alleged murderer
7 years under an alcoholic
but only 16 months under a normal 66 year old

 

[Peter Parka]

How are the people taking to Camilla now that more time has passed?

I know she was very unpopular cause of the fresh memories of Diana at the time but have their perceptions of her softened somewhat with the passage of time?

She's gradually getting accepted. I personally accept her as Charles missus. However I will never accept her as a member of the royal family, in that respect she can kiss my arse!!! Nothing against her personally, but she'll never be my Queen!!!