bickster Posted May 31, 2014 Author Moderator Share Posted May 31, 2014 Oi yer in the wrong topic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Whether intentional or not Baselayers is making a brilliantly subtle point. So many people of a certain demographic are disinterested in politics and I put it down to politicians being so utterly out of touch. Caroline Lucas comes from an activist background, when she talks she sounds genuine. But she's rare, 99% of them are 'career' politicians and businessmen. We need a good mix of genders, and ages and so on, but most importantly we need people in politics that are there for the right reason - to serve the people, not themselves. I fear your myopic view of Caroline Lucas is mis guided... She did after all fiddle the expenses system like the rest of them and she is a little bonkers when it comes to comparing a flight to Spain to stabbing someone and a little hypocritical as she then takes the plane herself She may not be as male and as grey as the rest though I'll give you that much... I reckon The Peoples party Manifesto from 2010 had some of the best ideas Politicians should be made to wear the names and logos of companies that sponsor them Anyone in favour of I.D. cards will be banned from having curtains All members of the BNP to have their ancestry traced and the results published 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Whether intentional or not Baselayers is making a brilliantly subtle point. So many people of a certain demographic are disinterested in politics and I put it down to politicians being so utterly out of touch. Caroline Lucas comes from an activist background, when she talks she sounds genuine. But she's rare, 99% of them are 'career' politicians and businessmen. We need a good mix of genders, and ages and so on, but most importantly we need people in politics that are there for the right reason - to serve the people, not themselves. I fear your myopic view of Caroline Lucas is mis guided... She did after all fiddle the expenses system like the rest of them and she is a little bonkers when it comes to comparing a flight to Spain to stabbing someone and a little hypocritical as she then takes the plane herself She may not be as male and as grey as the rest though I'll give you that much... I reckon The Peoples party Manifesto from 2010 had some of the best ideas Politicians should be made to wear the names and logos of companies that sponsor them Anyone in favour of I.D. cards will be banned from having curtains All members of the BNP to have their ancestry traced and the results published Caroline Lucas MEP’s Salary and Expenses for 2008* Salary: £64,766 Secretarial Allowance: £145,068 General Allowance: £35,839 Travel Allowance: (€28,069) £25,605 Personal Travel Allowance:** (€4,000) £3,505 Daily allowance: (€35,157) £30,806 Caroline Lucas’s 2008 Total: £305,589 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 I really don't know how people can gauge whether we should be in the EU or not. A lot of people who vote UKIP want to get out of Europe, my parents do for sure, yet as much as I love my parents they aren't exactly the brightest, how on earth they feel they can understand and evaluate the complexities of what it means to either be in or out of Europe is beyond me? Well once upon a time the people were considered smart enough to chose whether or not to join the Common Market, so why with a far better informed and educated population should the people not be qualified to decide now? I certainly don't feel that (m)any politicians have such a superior intellect and understanding than the public that they are more qualified to decide such important issues for us. How many of them do you think will have read the Lisbon Treaty before voting on it in the Commons? The vast majority will have trooped through the lobbies they were told to by the party whips. For a truly informed decision about the EU to be made (should we ever get a referendum to decide the issue) then there should be a public forum established to discuss it, where all sides of the debate can air their views and have them scrutinised by the public. This could be integrated and take place across multiple media platforms, over an extended period of time. The most important aspect though would be to exclude politicians entirely, let them lie to each other on their own time and let the public examine, cross examine and then debate the evidence provided by actual experts, before make an informed choice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Whether intentional or not Baselayers is making a brilliantly subtle point. So many people of a certain demographic are disinterested in politics and I put it down to politicians being so utterly out of touch. Caroline Lucas comes from an activist background, when she talks she sounds genuine. But she's rare, 99% of them are 'career' politicians and businessmen. We need a good mix of genders, and ages and so on, but most importantly we need people in politics that are there for the right reason - to serve the people, not themselves. I fear your myopic view of Caroline Lucas is mis guided... She did after all fiddle the expenses system like the rest of them and she is a little bonkers when it comes to comparing a flight to Spain to stabbing someone and a little hypocritical as she then takes the plane herself She may not be as male and as grey as the rest though I'll give you that much... I reckon The Peoples party Manifesto from 2010 had some of the best ideas Politicians should be made to wear the names and logos of companies that sponsor them Anyone in favour of I.D. cards will be banned from having curtains All members of the BNP to have their ancestry traced and the results published Caroline Lucas MEP’s Salary and Expenses for 2008* Salary: £64,766 Secretarial Allowance: £145,068 General Allowance: £35,839 Travel Allowance: (€28,069) £25,605 Personal Travel Allowance:** (€4,000) £3,505 Daily allowance: (€35,157) £30,806 Caroline Lucas’s 2008 Total: £305,589 The only british party with a 100% openness record for their MEP's. Some more on Caroline Lucas expenses. http://www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/frequently-asked-questions-about-mep-pay-and-allowances/ I'll leave it at that as this thread is going way OT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Whether intentional or not Baselayers is making a brilliantly subtle point. So many people of a certain demographic are disinterested in politics and I put it down to politicians being so utterly out of touch. Caroline Lucas comes from an activist background, when she talks she sounds genuine. But she's rare, 99% of them are 'career' politicians and businessmen. We need a good mix of genders, and ages and so on, but most importantly we need people in politics that are there for the right reason - to serve the people, not themselves. I fear your myopic view of Caroline Lucas is mis guided... She did after all fiddle the expenses system like the rest of them and she is a little bonkers when it comes to comparing a flight to Spain to stabbing someone and a little hypocritical as she then takes the plane herself She may not be as male and as grey as the rest though I'll give you that much... I reckon The Peoples party Manifesto from 2010 had some of the best ideas Politicians should be made to wear the names and logos of companies that sponsor them Anyone in favour of I.D. cards will be banned from having curtains All members of the BNP to have their ancestry traced and the results published Caroline Lucas MEP’s Salary and Expenses for 2008* Salary: £64,766 Secretarial Allowance: £145,068 General Allowance: £35,839 Travel Allowance: (€28,069) £25,605 Personal Travel Allowance:** (€4,000) £3,505 Daily allowance: (€35,157) £30,806 Caroline Lucas’s 2008 Total: £305,589 The only british party with a 100% openness record for their MEP's. Some more on Caroline Lucas expenses. http://www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/frequently-asked-questions-about-mep-pay-and-allowances/ I'll leave it at that as this thread is going way OT. It was openness after the event in an attempt to look clean though You seem happy to talk about the greens in the Tory thread so I'm not sure why it's OT to talk about it in here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dAVe80 Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Good to see UKIP aren't ducking the issues that matter! The most dramatic Ukip policy isn't anything to do with immigration It's to do with what people should wear to the theatre It has been impossible to escape Nigel Farage this week. But in all the coverage and debate of his policies on Europe, immigration et al, no one has mentioned the one Ukip policy of pressing concern to readers of this page — should we dress up for the theatre? As Farage and Ukip celebrate their European and council election successes, and start to think about drawing up their manifesto for next year’s general election, it is only right to remind them of a clear commitment in their 2010 manifesto to make dressing up for the theatre compulsory. Will that clause surface again in the new Ukip programme? The issue rumbles on. Mr Farage was asked about it in a recent interview, refusing to comment about dressing up — a sure sign that it is a matter of extreme controversy. And in The Spectator, Charles Moore, biographer of Margaret Thatcher and former editor of both The Spectator and The Daily Telegraph,weighed in supporting the idea. He wrote: “It is now almost compulsory NOT to dress up for the theatre, even in the West End. This has had the predictable result that theatre-goers pay less attention, eat and send texts all through the performance. Although ‘audience participation’ has been theatre orthodoxy for 40 years now, the simplest way for an audience to participate in a production is to dress up. By doing so, they recognise they are part of the performance.” It’s unclear what Messrs Farage and Moore mean when they say dressing up. Is it suit and tie for men and smart frock for women? Or is it evening wear, bow tie, jewellery and the full Glyndebourne regalia? Whatever they mean, it clearly isn’t going to happen, unless we are to see the weirdest passage of legislation through the House of Commons, followed by theatre bouncers to turn away the underdressed. The more reasonable idea of encouragement rather than compulsion is also wrong-headed. It’s not that one can’t thoroughly enjoy dressing up. It can be fun, as has been realised by the organisers of such successful schemes as Secret Cinema, with its young patrons more than keen to put on their glad rags. But what one wears has no effect on one’s involvement in a performance. Most theatre, like most cinema, should not be an occasion, nor an irregular and glamorous treat, but a constant part of our lives which we take for granted, wearing whatever we feel comfortable in. Wrong-headed or not, I actually applaud Ukip for wanting to address the issue, and rather hope they keep it in their manifesto. It means that Farage’s party sees theatre as worthy of being considered alongside the big issues of the day. How many of the other parties will have the word "theatre" anywhere in their manifesto? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 The expenses scandal broke in 2009. Caroline Lucas and the Green Party only assumed office in Westminster as of May 2010. Before that she was an MEP and ranked #1 for transparency. (See link). In an attempt to bring this back on topic. How transparent and above board are Farage's expenses. Employs his German wife... Shall we delve into his tax dodging exploits? UKIP= same old shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baselayers Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 I'm not doubting the use and good things politics bring, but come on it's not interesting is it?It would appear to be very, very interesting to any of those who lose their funding. I wouldn't assume if I were you that I rely on government funding. For 13 years I had to work 3 jobs to do what I did. Only the past 18 months have I had government funding. And let's be honest I would have been at the Olympics without it anyway. And one final point.Any funding I was given, I have now given back so it can be used on people that need it more than me. If you are going to have a dig at me check the facts first please! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 (edited) If you are going to have a dig at me check the facts first please! I wasn't having a dig at you as I know nothing of who you are and what your life involves other than what you post on here. I was pointing out that people (whoever they may be) often seem to become, suddenly, very interested in politics when some part of it touches their lives directly (especially in a negative way - in this case I chose the example of athletes/sportspeople who have lost funding). This was a counter to the comment come on it's not interesting is it? and not anything personal against any snowboarder, ski dancer, ice slalomer or broom skater. To believe it was, is to very much miss my point - though, perhaps, I didn't make it clear in my post. Edited May 31, 2014 by snowychap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NurembergVillan Posted May 31, 2014 Moderator Share Posted May 31, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 I'm not doubting the use and good things politics bring, but come on it's not interesting is it? It would appear to be very, very interesting to any of those who lose their funding. I wouldn't assume if I were you that I rely on government funding. For 13 years I had to work 3 jobs to do what I did. Only the past 18 months have I had government funding. And let's be honest I would have been at the Olympics without it anyway. And one final point.Any funding I was given, I have now given back so it can be used on people that need it more than me. If you are going to have a dig at me check the facts first please! I don't think it was a dig at you but merely pointing out that the way the money is raised and distributed is unavoidably political. Choices have to be made about who gets it and who doesn't. I personally don't like the way money is increasingly channelled towards the elite. So for instance, the money which has been put into women's soccer, of which I am a fan, is being diverted towards England's best players, where I think the money would be better spent getting more girls playing. Choosing one priority over another is politics, short and simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted May 31, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted May 31, 2014 So what if politics is 'boring'? It's important. We seem to have an increasingly infantilised population that expects everything to be 'entertaining'. Which suits the ruling 'elite' very nicely. Electing a government isn't like the X-Factor or Strictly, it's serious stuff that affects all of us. You need to make an effort - to learn stuff - if you want to understand what's going on and what you can do about it. Oh, I forgot, learning is boring. If you want to opt out of thinking, fine, but don't then moan about how shit politicians are. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 So what if politics is 'boring'? It's important. We seem to have an increasingly infantilised population that expects everything to be 'entertaining'. Which suits the ruling 'elite' very nicely. Electing a government isn't like the X-Factor or Strictly, it's serious stuff that affects all of us. You need to make an effort - to learn stuff - if you want to understand what's going on and what you can do about it. Oh, I forgot, learning is boring. If you want to opt out of thinking, fine, but don't then moan about how shit politicians are. Although, in this case, after snowboarding down the Eiger northwall, with added tricks, most things will tend to seem boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted May 31, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted May 31, 2014 I wasn't having a go at Jenny, particularly, it was just a general rant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 It's time to worry if politics gets exciting. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baselayers Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Haha I like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugeley Villa Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Order in the courtroom! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers13 Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 It's time to worry if politics gets exciting. That was my thought exactly, most of the "exciting" leaders are genuine psychopaths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NurembergVillan Posted May 31, 2014 Moderator Share Posted May 31, 2014 I certainly wouldn't ever expect politics to be exciting. I do believe, though, that it needs to be relevant. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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