so then labour are back in... another 5 years.. how do we feel about that.. a lucky escape? maybe you would have liked to give the libs a chance.... and for fuck sake dont say " oh i wanted tories to win" or i'll shoot you in the face. to be honest it really doesn't bother me who gets in anymore.. this last election kinda said it all to me.. i think next election.. nobody should vote at all.. and when they say "why..why has nobody voted" then you can say "well to be fair.. your all a buch of tossers ( no offence meant to the single male population) and pretty much clones of eachother so why should i bother"
I'm not that surprised at the results, I despair at the limited choices and I despair at the people who voted Blair back in .. but there would be no benefit to the country for voting the Conservatives into office and the Liberals, although the only viable alternative, would never have won anyway In my opinion were 2 good things about this election 1. The labour party now have a reduced majority and therefore less power ... this could spell the end for Blair and a return to true labour socialism rather than his right wing bullshit. 2. We now have George Galloway rather than Oona King ... As a local I would say that, regardless of your opinions on him, was the best result of the whole election and a total poke in the eye for the government
If he had chosen a consituency with a complete know hoper , rather than (so i hear) quite a good MP.. Then sure ok that may have been helpful. Instead he picks on a constituency that he knew his brand of politics would hold favour. His subsequent rant after he won was truely embarasing...he is a complete self absorbed .$£%$£$£$%$$£
Galloway specifically trargetted an area with a high Islamic population ... but all candidates for all parties target their electorate, especially the leaders; Michael Howard chose a Tory safe seat, Blair did the same with Sedgefield ... The difference here is that he was the leader of a new party; formed when he was ejected from the labour party for being outspoken against the war He was one of the few who didn't sell out and tow the party line in the same way that other blairite lapdogs did. Labour are licking their wounds over his popularity, just in the way they licked their wounds when Ken Livingstone first fought against them for the Mayor's job. If Oona King was doing such a good job and such a good mp then (1) she would have won and (2) she wouldn't now be accused of attempting to rig the ballot ... (something that labour councillors have previously been found guilty of in local elections round here)
Labour are not as bad as the tories would have been. Thats a fact - but I'm afraid that where I am they've taken the seat back fron Labour who won it in 97 - mainly, it looks to me because a lot of lab voters went over to the lib-dems. Well - I don't blame them, but shit - a tory mp! I'm particularly pissed off about this because my previous mp was Paul Marsden, who defected from lab to lib-dem some time ago over Iraq.(he didn't stand in the seat this time) Since then, I've written to him several times, mainly on behalf of Amnesty International campaigns, and always got a very full and sympathetic approach, as well as copies of letters sent to ministers on the issue raised etc. Doubt I'll get that with the new tory. But at least they're not running the government.
The fucking system fucks over all the small parties. We need some sort of PR system in place, preferably the Single Transferrable Vote, which overcomes the problem of PR not providing constituents with their "own" MP. But, as we well know, a government in power will never favour a system that doesnt favour them.
Depends what your definition of good is. You seem to me to be very Blairite. If your belief is that Comrade Blair is always right(wing) then Oona King was a fantastic MP. If, however, you would rather see the Labour party take a turn back towards its more left-wing roots, then Oona King was an arch Blairite who has helped the right to hijack the Labour party....
All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. I don't mind Labour so much when they don't have the ridiculous amount of power they used to have. Hopefully there'll be less blind Blair-devotees to push mad ideas through. I really hoped we'd get away from the ID card situation forever, but meh.
That is true, i can't argue with that. Disagreeing is one thing, forming a one issue party.. and spouting all the conspiritorial crap ever uttered is another. Away from diagreeing with there 'masters' i don't think they share any other similarity. Well they may start regreting it prety soon, or wishing they had kicked her out before. I think they will start regreting it .. but i am biased i hate the chap. Of course she is being accused of rigging the ballot..nothing more than a banana republic we're living in, right ?. Seriously, i did not doubt that would be thrust upon her.. Some nobody knowere (in the grand scheme of things) tampers with ballot papers and every one gets tanished with it. I don't seriously believe those accusing her actualy believe she did try and rig anything, just well 'rigging' is the latest smear tactic. Saying that i thought nobody actualy put so many cliched arguements together, but Mr Galloway ticked them all off in his speach... so i would not be so complacent in my thoughts.
Respect isn't a single issue party, read their manifesto, it's almost identical to the manifesto of the Socialist Alliance....
I do apologise, only heard one issue from him. That was a little sarcastic oops (sorry) ..but i did only hear one thing from him. Even his acceptance spaech did not mention much about anything else ?.
That's true, he was elected by an anti war protest vote, but also by a campaign based on the community of Bethnel Green and Bow, which is a very poor area, which he has pledged to help improve with a raft of left wing policies. Respect have a councillor there, and are hoping to take control of the council at next year's elections. Then the depth of their manifesto pledges will be seen I think....
http://www.respectcoalition.org/pdf/041103_resolutions.pdf http://www.respectcoalition.org/index.php?sec=39 Lets see (i know a matter of opinion) if he does as much as Mr Livingstone ?. I think it is on consideration a good thing he won. we can see if he is a charlatan (that i think he is)or a all that you may think he is ?.
If galloway won because of him being white, how come the white green candidate did so miserably, and how did oona king get in in 2001?
Respect may not be a single issue party, but Galloway is a single-issue candidate. He's bad for that party, to be honest, he makes them look farcical. People may vote for Respect because of their policies in time, but Galloway's high profile (and go on, name one other Respect member without looking it up) is as damaging to their credibility as Kilroy was to UKIP.
wow, your so right. Respect do have some absolutely brilliant policies on things (in my opinion) but i dont think they are doing enough to promote themselves apart from having a famous name at the top. There wasnt even a respect candidate in my area. i wish i knew more about them though, are they a relatively new party? perhaps they are still "finding their feet" so to speak.
They've been around for a few years, but yeah, it's early days. They just remind me of UKIP, the way they've gained recognition off the back of a famous name who will almost definitely desert them. I think a lot of the people who voted UKIP were voting for Kilroy more than the party itself, and while that's a good way to get into the limelight, it's not a tenable position for a party.
Respect has only been around for a year. Also I can name a good deal of the Respect candidates, Lindsey German, Stop the War convenor and former Socialist Review editor, Oliur Rahman, Respect councillor and trade unionist, Tom Woodcock, who I've worked with locally, Salma Yaqoob, longstanding Birmingham anti war activist, John Rees, big name in the SWP, Yvonne Ridley, everyone's heard of her after she got captured by the Taliban. For people who have been involved with the anti-war movement, or Palestinian solidarity campaigns, or workers rights movements, many of these people will be household names. Also in the communities they're standing in they are long-term activists on very broad left platforms, which is why Galloway wasn't the only Respect candidate to get a very high vote. Galloway isn't a single issue candidate, even if his biggest issue right now is the war, it is for a lot of people I think. I think the real test of the pudding will be the eating though. If you're right, then Galloway will have just used Respect as a vehicle for his re-election, and their fortunes will dwindle. If not, then they will build on their gains, and continue to get high votes in different areas of the country, and start to gain more councillors nationally, I think they only have 5 at the moment. I do agree, they are quite heavily celebrity based, with Ken Loach, Mike Rosen, Mark Serwatka and other big names supporting them. They do need more activists and a broader base. Only time will tell, but I do hope they continue to get important issues raised in the circles that matter....
