No substance to the UK Election Campaign??

reply to post by belial259 I dont see how more points of view & contention leads to more corruption. Just the opposite imo. The more consensus there is, the more opportunity for MPs to turn a blind eye to each other's failings. In fact that is what we have seen.
What we need is a damn good argument about the direction this country is going in. We're not getting that out of the crew we've got now. There will be a huge influx of new MPs this parliament & there will be tough times economically, so perhaps we can drive the agenda somewhat.

i completly agree!

as a super apethetic voter ... i thought their woudl be SOMETHING from someone that woudl try and entice me to vote, if anything this year seems WAY mor epointless than previous years, like you said, its wet, noone seems to have any policies thats different, noones covering any other subjects , i mean, its not hard! ... how about putting more government control and fairness into the council tax system.. legalise "you no what" and tax it, in the process making millions (if not billions) ... be genuinly more open ... no more fighting americas wars!

its not hard, if anything this GE has made me more apethetic and glad even more than last time that i dont vote! .. this year prooves its COMPLETLY pointless!

of course the elections are a damp squib, the best way to protect our democratic way of life in these difficult times is to remove the possibility for change from our elections. the last thing democracy needs right now is a lot of people voting for something they believe in.

reply to post by boaby_phet


I am unsure why they are making it so pointless or does that reflect the will of the British people at the moment???..

Not long ago each side had a strong points of view on the economy, on immigration, on the EU, and even on expenses, points of view that seem to have turned to vapor now the Election campaign is here..

I'm seriously begining to feel a hung parliment actually reflects the will of the British people at the moment.

Originally posted by pieman
of course the elections are a damp squib, the best way to protect our democratic way of life in these difficult times is to remove the possibility for change from our elections. the last thing democracy needs right now is a lot of people voting for something they believe in.

I actually think (at times) the will of the British people right now is stuck somewhere in a void unsure of which direction to take, which is reflected in the types of leaders we have on show..

Leaders, who appear equally as directionless (perhaps that is simply a reflection of my point of view)

To clarify my stance,
My politics is utterly confused right now, I am, for want of a better word a little Englander, I think Europe is great, but only want a trading partnership with them.. Yet I will be voting Libdem as Norman Baker (my MP) is a someone I respect deeply, partly for his stance on Dr David Kelly, and partly for his defense of local issues.. So I will be voting contrary to my beliefs, which I think is reflected through the whole country..

Vote Tory to get Labour out, or voting Labour to ensure the Tories don't get in..not what I would call a good voting strategy.

[edit on 12/4/10 by thoughtsfull]

reply to post by thoughtsfull


i agree! i dont think anyone cares as everyone knows its a big charade anyway!

Whoever is going to win has probably already been decided......as it is either Labour or Conservative and so exactly the same as always.

And so the slow and inevitable destruction of the United Kingdom, of Great Britain of what once used to be a lovely and even a wonderful place to live continues.....unabated.

We cannot wake our brothers and sisters up as they are glued to the God Tel-Hi and if not they are sat on 'My Face' enjoying hours upon hours of pointless and fruitless existence and slowly but surely the rug of their 'security' is pulled from under them.

One morning they and hence we will wake up and find that if we are female we must wear a burkha to cover our 'shame' of being female and if we are male we must get down to the Mosque immeadiately for indoctrination.

And so, as much as I love my muslim neighbours who came here to escape the above tyranny and yet chose to luxuriate in it once they realised 'bonus points' were awarded in the UK for being 'different' in any way from the indiginous population, they understandably wore their 'difference' as a badge of honour.

Bonus points are paid for any form of 'offence' that may be incurred whether they are imagined or real but some of us are just plain old fashioned English and too honourable to pretend to have some kind of difference that could give up 'bonus points' and so are battered into the ground and inevitable oblivion by the difference of those who came here to be like us but found the price was too high and not worth paying.

The election is boring, because it is MEANT to be boring.

No parties other than the three main contenders are given a voice on the MSM because of the risk that some of us, or even enough of us might wake up and realise that it really is possible to wake up from this living hell we are slowly but surely being pushed into.

There are other parties but they are just called 'Others' and the majority of the dumbed down UK public are either too idle or too ignorant to take a look and see that there are other less well trodden paths that we can take.

Slowly and surely, like cattle, the public is herded gently and kindly towards the abattoir where the plan is complete extermination of a dumbed down and mentally unathletic nation.

There are NO fireworks in this election because you cannot risk the population waking up and looking around or even thinking.

Labour or Conservative, Blue or Red are the only mantras!

I know! I've spoken to British people and there is not much going on in the minds of the vast majority.

I would say that only 5% of the popoulation have their brains switched on in the morning and the rest are distracted by all the distractions that have been designed for that very purpose.

So! Wake up people!

But I know I'm wasting my time........perhaps I aught to emigrate!

But what will happen to this lovely green island of Avalon in a bright blue sea?

[edit on 12-4-2010 by Elliot]

Well, it seems these people are trying to do something:
POWER 2010
I signed up. I'll be harassing my local PPCs to do the same.

Originally posted by thoughtsfull

Is it me, or are we in a really damp, wet and soggy election campaign?

I see zero substance, and zero passion on any side.. no new policies.. no one really saying anything, and no one fighting for the heart and soul of the nation..

Personally, I thought all sides had not only everything to fight for, but also everything to lose, so I find that lack of anything substantial rather puzzling.

I have to admit I was expecting a bit more gusto on topics like immigration, the EU, the economy, the expenses scandal etc..

It is almost is no side wants to win..

If I was on a conspiracy site I would be saying something along the lines that they know something is going to happen so are going through the motions only..

Am I alone in thinking this election campaign lacks substance?

Not only the campaign but people's reactions to it are quite damp, i think people in the UK have realised that the outcome of this election isn't going to change a thing for us. The dissillusionment with politics in this country has got to critical mass, i can guarantee this will be the lowest turnout election in Uk history "Which barefaced lying bastard to vote for?..hmmmmm" My vote will be going to Deek Jackson of the Landless Peasants Party

reply to post by Bunken Drum


Cheers for the link

I will have to read through it in more detail later... but seems someone is doing something to try to turn this around.

reply to post by electrobadgr


I know quite a few people who are a tad upset the monster raving loony party is no longer putting forward candidates, since that is where they would like to place their vote.. and to be honest I can't fault them on that approach..

I've been polling people I know, and most either can not be bothered to vote, or simply voting to ensure x party doesn't get in... what a sad state of affairs.

reply to post by thoughtsfull


Yeah, my mate has been trying to get me to tactical vote for Labour so the Tories don't get back in. He can remember all the # with Thatcher in the 80's and thinks the Thatcher Era is responsible for where we are now, I've tried to explain to him that there is a bigger picture going on and it goes beyond Labour and Conservative, whoever wins, we lose as far as i am concerned. Tell your friends that in the absence of the MRL party, Deek Jackson from FKN news is running as the Landless Peasants Party, he's got to be worth a vote:-)

Having the "Presidential" style debates will trash political discussion in the UK.

- They only include the big main parties which locks out precisely those that should benefit from the expenses scandal, the smaller non-mainstream parties.

- The BBC has asked the public for questions but will only be putting a random selection of the "best questions" to the party leaders.

- The BBC will be "theming debates"

- This leads to the obvious questions...

>>>> Just who is to decide what is a "main party"?
>>>> Why should "main parties" benefit at the expense of the smaller ones?
>>>> Who is to decide what is a "good question"?

In 2002, the new Blair appointee to run the BBC made it clear that it was "my way or the highway". One in three BBC executives left.

This is control of politics by the media. You will think only about the "issues" that we decide.

reply to post by electrobadgr


Tactical voting seems like a excuse for not having a clue who to vote for.. and who can blame people for feeling that way..

Thanks for the tip.. will have a look at that party

reply to post by abcdef


I can't help but have deep miss givings about using such phrases as "Presidential" debates..

Kinda feels like we are being set up to see our leaders as presidents..

Your other main points are spot, in this is a media organised event that will only forward question the media/Establishment want to answer..

Who will they spin into being the next PM??

What I am fearfull of is that we'll start seeing more teleprompters *shudders*

reply to post by thoughtsfullThese are the 5 points that POWER 2010 want candidates to pledge to support in parliament:

1. Introduce a proportional voting system
2. Scrap ID cards and roll back the database state
3. A fully elected second chamber
4. English votes on English laws

5. A Written Constitution

These were the top 5 issues voted for by the public out of a shortlist of 29.
www.power2010.org.uk...

For some reason I cant edit my above post but I just wanted to add:
POWER 2010 have got a campaign going to get questions about these issues asked during the party leaders' debate on Thursday. That might provoke some actual political discussion instead of platitudes for a change.

I really fear for the future of this country.

The apathy towards this election is no surprise. From personal experience, you only have to engage a 'normal' person in political discussion and their eyes start glazing over. God forbid you even begin to mention some of the stuff that gets frequently discussed here on ATS.

You would have thought that after 18 years of sleezy, self-serving, hypocritical, and destructive Conservative governments, and 13 years of sleezy, self-serving, hypocritical, lying Labour Bullcrap... the British public would be literally up in arms and determined to see the backs of both mainstream parties.

Instead there is complete and total apathetic acceptance that one or the other will be elected. As has been mentioned, most people's voting intentions seem based on keeping the one you like less out. There's just this pathetic acceptance that whatever happens, one of them will get in and nothing will change...... and the worst thing is that people don't seem to care. They are more concerned with who wins 'Celebrity Come Dancing' than who governs them for the next 5 years.

They are right in one sense... Labour or Conservative, whoever gets in, it will be business as usual after the election... Same old BS... Same old slide into terminal decline.

We are so screwed!