UK General Election 2010

[Dante]

Again, why?

[Dunenewt]

Almost infinite energy without ruining great swathes of landscape.

[Dante]

I meant coal. I actually quite like the nuclear option myself, but not for a long time yet. Possibly long after fossils fuels are a memory.

[Dunenewt]

Surely promoting clean burn coal should be a priority, especially considering the amount of coal used for energy production around the world.  This could also allow some mines to reopen in the UK...

[Dante]

You say that like it's a good thing.

[Dunenewt]

I found another political survey site which calculates who you should vote for (out of Lib/Lab/Con/Greens/BNP/UKIP), unsurprisingly I got UKIP.  My results.

If you want to take it - http://www.voteforpolicies.org.uk

[Kiyouta]

Almost infinite energy without ruining great swathes of landscape.

I thought the majority of wind farms are being created off-shore?

Mind you, I don't know why we don't invest more in Tidal Power.

[Dragoon Knight]

Confirming what I already knew - my results.

I agree with the Conservatives on crime, Labour on Welfare, and the Green Party on Environment / NHS.  How... predictable. :P

[Dunenewt]

I ended up with BNP for Health, which I didn't expect, because one of their policies said something about doctors and nurses being badly needed in 3rd World countries, and I wasn't aware that the BNP cared about the 3rd World!

[Dante]

I got the same, which was somewhat surprising. Ah well, still largely in support of the Greens. Then the Lib Dems. *chuckle*

[athanasios]

Is the creation of the World's Largest Marine Reserve a good tactic for unpopular Western Governments?

Imperialistic tactic.

[Dunenewt]

How so?

[Edric O]

I found another political survey site which calculates who you should vote for (out of Lib/Lab/Con/Greens/BNP/UKIP), unsurprisingly I got UKIP.  My results.

If you want to take it - http://www.voteforpolicies.org.uk

My results:

Issue             Parties policies you chose

Crime             Green Party

Democracy     Green Party

Economy        Green Party

Education       Green Party

Environment    Green Party

Europe           Green Party

Health / NHS   Green Party

Immigration     Green Party

Welfare          Green Party

Wow. I expected to get the Green Party - in the absence of socialist parties from that list, the Greens are obviously closest to my politics - but I really did not expect 100% consistency!

[Wolf]

I didn't do all of them, but here's the breakdown thus far:

Crime -- Lib Dems

Economy -- Conservatives

Environment -- Green Party

Immigration -- Lib Dems

I guess I always was a "classical liberal."

EDIT: Took them all, here are the rest:

Democracy -- Labour

Education -- Conservatives

Europe -- Conservatives

Health / NHS -- Lib Dems

Welfare -- Labour

[Dunenewt]

My results:

Issue            Parties policies you chose

Crime            Green Party

Democracy    Green Party

Economy        Green Party

Education      Green Party

Environment    Green Party

Europe          Green Party

Health / NHS  Green Party

Immigration    Green Party

Welfare          Green Party

Wow. I expected to get the Green Party - in the absence of socialist parties from that list, the Greens are obviously closest to my politics - but I really did not expect 100% consistency!

A couple of times when taking the survey (I wasn't sure on some of these and had to think about it again) I got 'Green' on a few issues, such as education.

[Kiyouta]

I got an uneasy mixture of Greens and Conservatives. Now I really don't know who to vote for! :(

[Edric O]

The election is going to be on May 6, according to a really bizarre BBC article which talks in great detail about things that Gordon Brown will do tomorrow.

I don't think I've ever read news in future tense before... It even gives quotes from speeches that haven't been made yet! :O

[nemafakei]

Oh, that's a growing trend in the UK. It's cheaper and less time consuming for journalists not to have to actually leave their offices to cover stories, and it's easier to manage time and workload if you get your material in advance. PR departments know this, and know they've got a better change of coverage and probably also favourable coverage, and therefore they collude in making things easy for journalists. Moreover, if you feed them stories in advance, you are less likely to get journos turning up at the day and asking awkward questions.

I'm not sure if this practice descends from or gave rise to the modern concept of war correspondence, but it's very similar. This is where a country's armed forces will generally have PR people on hand at the hotel where they've recommended all the journalists stay. They then feed them the news, and the ones they can trust to report things favourably, they will then take out to the 'front lines' in armoured vehicles, where they may be allowed to talk to serving soldiers who have received media training and appropriate briefings. If they go off-message, the higher-ups can always mention the correction on the way back. The journalists feel they're dedicated because they're actually in the country where the war is going on - never mind that they're not at the front lines when there's any actual action going on and most of the 'locals' they talk to are hotel, restaurant, and cafe staff. The journalists' employers can say their correspondent is reporting from Baghdad/Jerusalem/Islamabad/Karbul/etc., so they've got all they need to sound authentic, and the military are very happy, as they have near total control over the foreign correspondents - the only thing they have to worry about then are the local journalists.

[Dunenewt]

Just waiting for Gordon to come out of Downing St and announce the start of the election campaign.

[Edric O]

There hasn't been a post in PRP in over a week, ever since the election campaign in the UK officially began...

I didn't know people here were so passionate about it that they all flew to the UK and are too busy campaigning to post.

[chatfsh]

Hopefully, they weren't all overcome by the volcanic ash.

[athanasios]

Even worse the name of the volcano: E y j a f j a l l a j o k u l l.:O

[Andrew]

British election upended by TV debates

Possible constitutional crisis looms as Labour, 3rd in polls, could get most seats

huh? That is crazy. 3rd place in polls will get most seats?

Any links to videos of these debates? sounds like you guys are in for a good time.

Both surveys also hint at a looming constitutional crisis. Because of the British first-past-the-post voting system, seat projections show Labour could keep a plurality in the House of Commons, while the Lib Dems may win the popular vote but still finish a distant third in the constituency count.

Sounds like proportional representation needed.

[Edric O]

huh? That is crazy. 3rd place in polls will get most seats?

That's nothing new. In the 1951 general election, Labour won its largest ever share of the vote - yet the Tories got the majority of seats in Parliament, thanks to the wonders of first-past-the-post.

[athanasios]

Then why do they ask for the peoples vote? It is ridiculous.