The General Election was a disaster for the UK

Successful by what yardstick?

Getting re-elected?
Or laying solid foundations for the future of the country?

On the former, they were successful, on the latter, a complete disaster.

Why oh why can their not be someone between the tories and labour?

A group that:
– won’t reshape the tax policies to dramatically benefit the ultra rich and multi-nationals (tories)
– aren’t financially inept (labour)
– don’t have ridiculous notions of 50% of population being fit for university education (labour)
– after reaching zero deficit, won’t then impose tax cuts but instead invest in infrastructure, research, health and education (tories).

etc
etc

There is and they’re even better than that. They are UKIP !

Amiga – I think you’re correct. That part of my post was a quotation from The Scotsman, I think.

Hurrah!!!! Nigel’s changed his mind!!!:very_drunk::very_drunk::very_drunk::very_drunk::very_drunk:

Except for the fact that New Labour as an experiment was successful.

Successful by what yardstick?

Getting re-elected?
Or laying solid foundations for the future of the country?

On the former, they were successful, on the latter, a complete disaster.

Why oh why can their not be someone between the tories and labour?

A group that:
– won’t reshape the tax policies to dramatically benefit the ultra rich and multi-nationals (tories)
– aren’t financially inept (labour)
– don’t have ridiculous notions of 50% of population being fit for university education (labour)
– after reaching zero deficit, won’t then impose tax cuts but instead invest in infrastructure, research, health and education (tories).

etc
etc

That means this election has been a disaster for democracy and the UK.

The current form of representative democracy where unqualified people are placed in charge of principal ministerial posts is a disaster anyway.

For example; what qualifications or experience did Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling or George Osborne have in the field of economics?

2 historians and a solicitor? Aye, very good.

“The SNP is now the “principal opposition” to Conservatives in Westminster, Nicola Sturgeon has said as she confirmed her party will attempt to force another referendum in Scotland.”

I thought she’d been quoted as specifically saying she wouldn’t be pushing for a referendum (outside exceptional circumstances such as leaving eurozone) as they did not have it in their manifesto therefore did not have a mandate to do so…?

I believe (open to correction of course) that the SNP were going to use the local elections to put the referendum back on their manifesto, and if they got power in the scottish parliament, then they’d have a mandate for a second referendum.

…all the Tories need to do is continue with their cuts in the North, London and Wales, keep the rest sweet and they are home and dry.

And by ‘continue with their cuts’ you mean spend a disproportionately larger sum of public money in Scotland, the North, Wales and, to a much lesser extent, certain parts of London?

Now let’s scrap the human rights act, deport all the foreign criminals and hate ‘preachers’, have that referendum and tell the EU to go forth and mulitply…

As a strong supporter of the election result I think that is very amusing! A sense of humour is essential to ease the passageway through life!;)

Very disappointed to read that the new DECC Minister is likely to continue the deeply flawed energy policies. I hoped for Owen Patterson.

At least one business owner thinks so too

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/garden-centre-blackboard-proposes-10-tory-tax-and-tells-ukip-voters-to-shop-elsewhere-10240557.html

Now where is my blackboard and chalk…..

That’s undeniable but I cannot believe he is their only hope. If so I would suggest they have no hope. Nor can I see Blair sacrificing his millionaire lifestyle to return to British politics. Can you?

“A rigging of the constituency boundaries”? You clearly misunderstand what they are and how the system works. Nothing is being rigged – these changes are long overdue.

With Scotland out of the equation certainly for the time being, and a rigging of constituency boundaries on the way, it’s going to take a lot of work to pull Labour back, all the Tories need to do is continue with their cuts in the North, London and Wales, keep the rest sweet and they are home and dry.

Except for the fact that New Labour as an experiment was successful. Tony Blair and his supporters inhabited the centre ground of politics at the time -the swing to the left with Ed clearly didn’t work . Ed was trying to make the workers support him whilst ignoring the people who had made money in the Blair times -the small businessman and the self employed contractors

Whilst its shouldn’t be a popularity contest – there has to be an understanding in Labour that having a leader that people actually like or will warm to is a massive help!

I would have thought that with all his baggage past and present Blair is about the last person Labour needs to help them rebuild. They need fresh faces and a fresh philosophy.

As was 1997 to 2010………

And 1979 to 1997..

I don’t actually disagree with the OP. I think the Tories have at least 10 years now. Labour has a lot of work to do, and like him or loathe him, Mr Blair can show the way. He is after all, the only Laboir leader to be elected to power since 1974.

It would be a solution but I reckon a majority of Scots still know which side their bread is buttered!

We can only hope that she gets her wish and Scotland leaves the UK.

Moggy

“The SNP is now the “principal opposition” to Conservatives in Westminster, Nicola Sturgeon has said as she confirmed her party will attempt to force another referendum in Scotland.”

Seems to me Sturgeon needs a few lessons in a) arithmetic and b) politics. About 1.5 million voters in Scotland elected her 56 MPs out of about 30 million who voted in total.

But doing so has crushed the two opposing parties to such an extent…

I wouldn’t be so sure…..the British electorate are incredibly fickle!

Yes, my heart bleeds

As was 1997 to 2010………