Bollitics The new leader of the Labour Party

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

If Greens got into a coalition, their popular policies will be introduced and all the batty stuff will be abandoned. The end result will make the Government a bit greener and more progressive. That's as a good a result as we can hope for in the age of moribund party politics.

 

They get my vote.

Edited January 20, 2015 by CarewsEyebrowDesigner

[tonyh29]

If Greens got into a coalition, their popular policies will be introduced and all the batty stuff will be abandoned. The end result will make the Government a bit greener and more progressive. That's as a good a result as we can hope for in the age of moribund party politics.

 

They get my vote.

 

yeah but what if too many people think like that and then they actually win  .... then we will have a bonkers governemnt and it will all be YOUR fault

[bickster]

"I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony!"

 

Better than asset stripping the nation, I reckon.

 

Yes, let's twin Brighton with, ooh I don't know, Kobani and see how they get on.

 

Brighton is clearly unsuitable, Merthyr is a better match

I was in Merthyr at the weekend, think I'd rather be sent to Kobani

[bickster]

The Green Party has been mentioned admiringly in this thread and to be honest I'd never really taken the time to check out their policies. The Torygraph today...

...New trade tariffs between UK and Europe - basically withdraw from the common market and end EU membership - how do the those screaming that exiting the EU is madness square this with their support for the Greens??!

Without going into all the rest and checking, that one is not Green party Policy for starters.

Their stance on the EU is to offer a referendum on membership but then to actively campaign to remain in the EU, whilst then attempting to reform its democracy from inside

[OutByEaster?]

The polls earlier this week that showed that the parties owned by Mr Murdoch and Citibank had lost a lot of ground on the smaller parties should be expected to bring some sort of a reaction - it's no surprise if there are attacks on the Green Party as they are the party most interested in change.

[chrisp65]

 

 

"I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony!"

 

Better than asset stripping the nation, I reckon.

 

Yes, let's twin Brighton with, ooh I don't know, Kobani and see how they get on.

 

Brighton is clearly unsuitable, Merthyr is a better match

 

I was in Merthyr at the weekend, think I'd rather be sent to Kobani

 

 

They actually sent an initial fact finding party across to Kobani about a month ago.

Three of them decided to stay.

[chrisp65]

A little tip for poor people with no income and woefully unable to pay the mansion tax, living in a two million pound property in London.

 

Sell up.

 

Buy a £750,000 house on the coast or in the country, somewhere really nice. Perhaps a yacht and a flat in a marina complex.

 

Use the remainder to live like a millionaire.

 

 

 

Or work out how to pay the tax - spongers.

[tonyh29]

That's the genius in Ed's plan though They wouldn't have to pay it until they die ... So they don't need to move

Though presumably they will die as a result of sickness due to the NHS collapsing caused by everyone deferring their Manson tax and thus not saving the NHS that Ed's cunning plan was for

Edited January 20, 2015 by tonyh29

[darrenm]

You're missing the point. You don't vote for the Greens as party of government, you vote for the Greens to get some alternative and progressive views in parliament to go some way to providing alternatives to the corrupt oligarchical neo-liberal Thatcherite bollocks offered by the major parties, whoch is simultaneously ruining our democracy and destroying the inhabitable planet.

That's why you should vote for the health and fitness party.

[chrisp65]

That's the genius in Ed's plan though They wouldn't have to pay it until they die ... So they don't need to move

Though presumably they will die as a result of sickness due to the NHS collapsing caused by everyone deferring their Manson tax and thus not saving the NHS that Ed's cunning plan was for

 

So, you're telling me that millionaires are moaning about a tax they don't actually pay?

 

There is absolutely nothing new in this world.

[Xann]

They actually sent an initial fact finding party across to Kobani about a month ago.

Three of them decided to stay.

 

Not as wet, is it then?

[chrisp65]

I've been on a couple of football trips to Merthyr.

It's not my favourite place in the whole wide world.

[tonyh29]

That's the genius in Ed's plan though They wouldn't have to pay it until they die ... So they don't need to move

Though presumably they will die as a result of sickness due to the NHS collapsing caused by everyone deferring their Manson tax and thus not saving the NHS that Ed's cunning plan was for

So, you're telling me that millionaires are moaning about a tax they don't actually pay?

There is absolutely nothing new in this world.

If they don't have an annual income of £42,000 then it can be deferred is my understanding ... Which presumably any millionaire with an accountant worth his salt can easily overcome

You could also have pensioners who by an inflated housing market have a house that is worth a million but who may not actually be remotely close to being millionaires ( unless they sell and move to a cheaper area ) but again Ed has kindly agreed that they don't have to pay until they die should they chose not to move from a house they may have lived in all their adult life.

You can see my sceptism about how much this tax will raise in the short term now

Put the tax on luxury items and I doubt Jo Millionnaire will bat an eyelid , he will still buy his Bentley or yacht ... Tax his house at a higher rate that he sees as unfair and he will probably pay an accountant £4k to stop him paying a £3k tax bill out of principal ...

[chrisp65]

But sometimes, like charging people £14 for a room they don't use in a house they can't move out of, it's more of a gesture, to show we're all in it together.

If there's no tax to actually pay, I don't see why people are upset? Surely everyone is happy?

[HanoiVillan]

 

The Mansion Tax is a ridiculous idea though.

 

Absolutely most people in london will be the ones suffering because of it.

 

You can get "mansions" bigger outside of london but because they are not in capital they wont be applicable as its not worth as much. silly idea from a silly little man

 

If they want to save money on the NHS charge people who fail to turn up for their appointments, and stop wasting millions of pounds on interpreteurs

 

 

Can they translate from novelty French?

[snowychap]

Ex-Lib Dem peer donates to old party and Labour to boost anti-Tory drive

An unusual £600,000 donation has been handed to 30 Labour and 15 left-of-centre Liberal Democrat election candidates by a former Lib Dem peer in an attempt to create an Ed Miliband-led progressive government.

The money has been provided by Lord Oakeshott, a wealthy and now independent peer, who resigned from the Lib Dems in May after warning that the party was “heading for disaster” under Nick Clegg’s leadership.

Oakeshott described the donations as “doing his bit to save our country from a Tory government cringing to Ukip”. The peer also disclosed he has given a further £10,000 for the campaign to re-elect Caroline Lucas, the Green MP in Brighton.

The donations were given discreetly over the last two months but are due to be made public in the normal way by the Electoral Commission shortly. They are intended to encourage voters to vote tactically and elect a reforming parliament with a “Labour led government headed by Ed Miliband as prime minister”.

Oakeshott, once a close political ally of the business secretary Vince Cable, has distributed his money equally between the Lib Dems and Labour . The Lib Dem tranche has gone to the campaigns of 15 politicains – eight MPs and seven candidates in marginal seats.

Oakeshott has clearly backed those Lib Dem candidates he hopes are probably more likely to want to go into coalition with Labour than the Tories, but he stresses his donation has been entirely unconditional.

He said: “All of them are robust, progressive, rooted Lib Dems, with whom I was or would have been proud to sit and vote in Parliament.” The seven sitting Lib Dem MPs who he has given cash to are Norman Baker, Lorely Burt, Tessa Munt, John Pugh, Martin Horwood, Adrian Sanders and Jenny Willott, all of whom, he believes, need additional support to win.

Oakeshott gave £10,000 each to 30 Labour candidates in marginal seats across the Labour political spectrum. Twenty-nine are attacking Conservative marginals with small majorities and one, Melanie Onn, is fighting to hold Great Grimsby for Labour against Ukip. He added: “There are of course, many more Labour than Liberal Democrat candidates in winnable marginal seats, so I’ve had to concentrate my cash on first time Labour candidates, rather than ex MPs.”

Ed Miliband was made aware of the donations.

Oakshott believes the Tories are outspending progressive candidates, and believes the appetite for anti-Tory tactical voting remains strong, especially since so much of the polling by Lord Ashcroft in key marginals can be used to guide voters on how to vote tactically.

Oakeshott resigned the Liberal Democrat whip after controversially funding opinion polls in Lib Dem-held seats showing how the party was in danger of losing a raft of seats including Clegg’s. Oakeshott clearly hoped the polls might prompt a revolt against Clegg’s leadership, but the revolt fizzled out.

Oakeshott said: “Britain stands on the edge of a cliff with the general election only 105 days away. Will we vote Tory or Ukip for Euro referendum chaos, lasting two years at least and putting thousands of businesses, millions of jobs and our long-term peace and security at risk?

“Or will Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green and all progressive voters come together in the marginal seats that matter to elect a parliament for progress and reform, and a Labour-led government with Ed Miliband as prime minister? He has stood firm against the clamour for a referendum with considerable courage and nous. Scotland shows how referenda, even with 55-45 vote, can settle nothing, just open a can of worms.”

He added that his spending would only do something to redress the spending imbalance saying that many Lib Dem and Labour candidates had told him that the Tories have “spent over £100,000 campaigning against them, even before the official election campaign – and spending limits – started in December”.

A property investor who began his City career at Warburg before a spell running the pension fund at Courtaulds, Oakeshott runs his own business, OLIM Property, managing commercial property portfolios for pension funds, investment trusts and charities.

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

Why is this still legal?

 

Granted it isn't as obscene as it is in 'murica, but I find 'donations' very, very troubling.

[tonyh29]

But he's not bitter

[snowychap]

Why is this still legal?

 

Granted it isn't as obscene as it is in 'murica, but I find 'donations' very, very troubling.

Which governing political party is going to outlaw (sizeable) donations?

[chrisp65]

 

Why is this still legal?

 

Granted it isn't as obscene as it is in 'murica, but I find 'donations' very, very troubling.

Which governing political party is going to outlaw (sizeable) donations?

 

 

plus, I guess the alternative is we find something we can cut in public service so we can fund them out of our taxes

 

perhaps they should get a cut of the idiot tax instead of giving it to sport?