This thread exists to discuss British politics.
Political issues related to Northern Ireland and the Crown Dependencies (the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) are also considered on-topic here if there's no more appropriate OTC thread for them.
If you're new to OTC, it's worth reading the Introduction to On-Topic Conversations
and the On-Topic Conversations debate guidelines before posting here.
As with other OTC threads, off-topic posts may be thumped or edited by the moderators.
- There is a dedicated thread to discuss LGBTQ+ rights in the United Kingdom. That doesn't mean it's always off-topic here, but unless something's directly linked to political events, that's probably a better thread for it.
- There's also a separate thread to talk about your favourite British Prime Ministers.
Recent political stuff:
- The vote to see if Britain should adopt Alternative Voting has failed.
- Lib Dems lose lots of councils and councillors, whilst Labour make the majority of the gains in England.
- The Scottish National Party do really well in the elections.
A link to the BBC politics page containing relevant information.
Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 3rd 2023 at 11:15:30 AM
Interesting, isn't it?
I can see a few options:
A) The Lords become really stubborn and refuse to pass it.
B) If so, Cameron pulls a Parliament Act (1949) on them, and passes it in a year.
C) If the Bill passes nonetheless, then we might be able to a) refer it to the SUPREME COURT or b) refer it to either the ECJ (it quite possibly breaches EU laws) or the European Court of Human Rights.
Unless, of course, this an elaborate April Fool's Day prank from the BBC. I wouldn't put it past them.
Spaghetti on trees!
Oh, that was fun.
Sans Seriffe Islands!
Oh, that was good.
Okay, granted, that was The Guardian, but still.
I've seen it on other sites as well, so if it is a prank it's gone viral.
edited 1st Apr '12 6:33:49 AM by Deadbeatloser22
"Yup. That tasted purple."
Do Not Go Gentle
Y'know, I'm going to be making a lot of calls to my friend Ahmed about my new Fantasy Football Team, the Jihadist Terrorist Bombers.
I always took pride in there not being a bill of this type.
It's your God, they're your rules, you go to hell." - Mark Twain
Well, I look at it this way - say you have two brothers living in the same home. Eventually the times comes for them to live as individuals and move out. They find their own identites, make their own decisions, live with their own mistakes and have their own lives. But they're still brothers, still family and still linked by something more important than just living under the same roof.
In this case, the "roof" happens to be the pointy facade of Westminster Palace.
And let us pray that come it may (As come it will for a' that)
Sneering Imperialist
So you think Scots will still be able to identify as "British" in the event that independence happens, then?
With cannon shot and gun blast smash the alien. With laser beam and searing plasma scatter the alien to the stars.
So that's what this does
Has anyone seen any statement about the monitoring plans (as opposed to criticising the monitoring plans) which actually came from an individual in a position to know what they're talking about? All I've seen is a nameless member of the home office being cited as saying it was happenning.
It's a weird thing to announce on a Sunday let's be honest.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Some would. Others wont.
Does it really matter, though? Aside from being something that most Scots don't identify as anyway, "British" is only a word or a title. The things that we have in common don't depend on their being 59 Scottish M Ps in Westminster - we'll all continue to watch the same BBC, speak the same language and live and work on both sides of the border. We're not talking about moving to Mars or something.
And let us pray that come it may (As come it will for a' that)
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
You're NOT?!
Damn, now I'm gonna have to cancel my Scottish vacation (golf, haggis, bagpipes...) in Mars!
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
Yeah, it's a shame. We called it off when we discovered that deep fried Mars bars are actually from Earth.
Worse - they backed the England football team a few years ago on their packaging. Bastards!
edited 1st Apr '12 8:43:35 AM by TheBatPencil
And let us pray that come it may (As come it will for a' that)
Cmdr. of His Supremacy's Armed Forces
V
Mars' UK Operations are based in Slough, you know...
Keep Rolling On
Decemberist
They were just talking about that 
Hypocrisy is bliss
I don't think so, IIRC, for the Tories to win England they have to take about 12 seats in the North East/West of England every election
edited 1st Apr '12 8:55:44 AM by whaleofyournightmare
Dutch Lesbian
Sneering Imperialist
Not really sure how the license fee will work in that instance...
Although really, that's one of a million minor headaches that will arise about who controls what, who pays for what, who has a say in what as far as shared British institutions go.
With cannon shot and gun blast smash the alien. With laser beam and searing plasma scatter the alien to the stars.
How does the BBC thing work in Ireland? I guess it'd be the same as that.
edited 1st Apr '12 7:07:43 PM by TheBatPencil
And let us pray that come it may (As come it will for a' that)
Looks like the latest bit of Big Brother legislation wasn't a prank.
Decemberist
It works in the whole of the Netherlands and Belgium as well I think
Dutch Lesbian
Tit for tat: I sometimes like listening to Dutch and Flemish AM broadcasts. Because I'm weird. 
V
I've also caught French Radio on the Isle of Wight, and sometimes get Midlands adverts on my radio (and once Bath-area) when I'm working.
Keep Rolling On
Well, I can get the BBC World Service here.
Shame it's in Bengali, which is a language I have no understanding of. *
edited 2nd Apr '12 4:31:43 AM by Inhopelessguy
Dreams of Revenge
@Alex Salmond:
I have to agree with Pagad. He's certainly no fool and thanks to the seemingly lethargic and half-hearted response from the Unionist parties is pretty much dominating the independence debate (though, of course, that isn't the same thing as winning it). However, he has always come off to me as a smug, faintly slimy figure who won't hesitate to try every trick in the book to gain the upper hand. Hearing him blame Westminster for all of Scotland's ills and insisting they don't understand what's best for Scotland no matter what was novel for all of 5 minutes. Now it's tedious.
...I think we need a Scottish independence thread - I would set one up myself, but I'm not sure where I could find informative, non-biased sources for people to clue themselves up on.
@Web monitoring act:
I find this sort of thing terribly alarming - I may be pro-state, but I feel there must be an upper limit to the surveillance they can undertake without proper safeguards put in place*.
Locking you up on radar since '09
Salmond is a crafty bloke, no doubt.
But the anomoly is that there's a "DEVOMAX" option. Now, of course, if he wanted independence, then that option would not be there.
It appears he wants D-Max. It would make sense. He has no tangible plans post-indie, but his plans post D-Max seem rather more thoughtful.
Honestly, I wonder what the press release is for this Bill? Probably something something terrorism something something freedom. We're Britain, not America.
Especially those, like Military Children, who are British yet are born outside the UK; well, they weren't born in England, Scotland or Wales, so they can't be wherever they are, so what are they? Especially if they would otherwise be English?
It kinda leaves them...um, me, without an identity.
Keep Rolling On