whooppee!! extravagant pension increase

margaretclare

chesky369 wrote: »

......Do not vote......

Never - people have died in this country and women suffered enormous hardship and indignity to ensure we have the vote. In dictatorships around the world, people are still denied this basic right.

I stood for the local elections in 2008 on behalf of the political party I support, the English Democrats whose motto is Putting England First. I have always voted because I am very conscious that voting is a privilege for which many people suffered hardship and some died. I didn't get anywhere, except that I managed to put the name of our party 'on the map' locally - the area is wall-to-wall blue and no one had ever heard of us before. However, on attending the count I was shocked by the low turn-out. Approx 30 - 35% of those eligible to vote actually did so. Now, if one-third of people bother to vote, that means that two-thirds of those who could vote did not, for whatever reason. And I find this quite shocking. Because if you do what you always did, you'll get what you always got. Our evening paper is always full of people complaining about the councillors, what they do, what they don't do, what they should be doing etc etc. Yet they were voted in by a minority of voters! If a third of eligible voters actually voted, and assuming there was a choice of 3 or 4 candidates of which all got some votes, even the majority party only got a small proportion of the votes possible if everyone had voted.

zygurat789

chesky369 wrote: »

......Do not vote......

Never - people have died in this country and women suffered enormous hardship and indignity to ensure we have the vote. In dictatorships around the world, people are still denied this basic right.

You didn't read the post.

I do vote, I just can't bring myself to vote for any of the useless idiots who are on the ballot paper. If the quality of the candidates is low it's not my fault.

chesky369

I did read your post quite carefully - more than you obviously - and while you stated you yourself voted, you also stated 'Do not vote' (start of fifth line down). I quoted from you directly. You think it's one rule for you and another for me.

And Margaret yes, you're right about turn-out. I also stood way back in the 70s in the GLC (or was it LCC then) elections, as an independent - I was staggered to get 1,300 votes and had a few nasty minutes, thinking I might actually be elected (which had not been in my plan - we only wanted to highlight an issue and get it publicity - which we did). Thankfully, the masses came to their senses before damage was done.

margaretclare

zygurat789 wrote: »

You didn't read the post.

I do vote, I just can't bring myself to vote for any of the useless idiots who are on the ballot paper. If the quality of the candidates is low it's not my fault.

Vote English Democrats next time!!!

Or, if you feel that the quality of candidates is so low, try standing yourself! All you need are 10 signatures on a nomination paper, of which one can be yourself. I got mine easily from just the people who live nearby.

There is no upper age limit. Ian Paisley is only now retiring from politics, and he's 83. The BNP had a candidate in his 80s last time round. Anyone can do it!

chesky369

......If the quality of the candidates is low it's not my fault......

Nobody ever said it was, nor even implied it - you should chill.

zygurat789

I can see why you stood as a politician

jammin_2

pollypenny wrote: »

Why bother to say this? I imagine Lilac-lady used 'Eire' to distinguish the country from Northern Ireland.

The word "Northern" is what distinguishes Northern Ireland from Ireland, in text.

Éire (not Eire) is the name of the country in Irish, so it is incorrect to use this when speaking or writing in English. Equally, it is incorrect to refer to Germany as Deutschland when speaking English, or to Spain as España and so on.

chalkysoil

My Post Office pension for the next year is going up zero. Food prices/council tax/petrol are going up a lot, but it's based on what was going on ages ago. Maths = a minus figure

zygurat789

jammin wrote: »

The word "Northern" is what distinguishes Northern Ireland from Ireland, in text.

Éire (not Eire) is the name of the country in [STRIKE]Irish[/STRIKE] erse (isn't it?), so it incorrect to use this when speaking or writing in English. Equally, it is incorrect to refer to Germany as Deutschland when speaking English, or to Spain as España and so on.

Sorry no accents

jammin_2

zygurat789 wrote: »

jammin wrote: »

The word "Northern" is what distinguishes Northern Ireland from Ireland, in text.

Éire (not Eire) is the name of the country in Irish erse (isn't it?), so it is incorrect to use this when speaking or writing in English. Equally, it is incorrect to refer to Germany as Deutschland when speaking English, or to Spain as España and so on.

Sorry no accents

I'm sorry, I don't follow?