This thread exists to discuss British politics.
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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
HGW XX/7
BBC: Norfolk helicopter crash: Four feared dead
Police said a civilian aircraft with four people on board had crashed in Gillingham, near Beccles, at about 19:30 GMT.
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![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Another one!
...OK — we need to take care of our choppers better. -_-
Pronounced YAK-you-luss
Highly unlikely this was anything even approaching the same model as the downed police helicopters, which just makes this a weird and unpleasant coincidence.
What's precedent ever done for us?
Doesn't have to be the same model for a look-see at how good or bad the TLC is in general. The fog will, undoubtedly, be a major factor. But... too many are falling out the sky. It's getting beyond a gnarly statistical clump.
Pronounced YAK-you-luss
Three crashes? Is that statistically significant?
What's precedent ever done for us?
It's more if you widen it to just 5 years, mate.
It's worth noting that the article doesn't say in detail why the question was skipped.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
But it's easy to guess why.
Certainly. Because a section of that particular faith are pretty rapid about the existence of anything that doesn't conform to their views and are quite prepared to commit murder to enforce them.
But the left's reaction tells it all really. If it had been a church, there would have been an absolute uproar. Wide coverage on the BBC, the Guardian moaning non stop etc. Instead they seem to want to just keep this all under raps. A rule for some, and another for others.
If Three had an ounce of integrity, they should have ended the debate there and then and walked out. Between this and cancelling Mongrels I'm glad they're folding.
edited 14th Mar '14 12:16:12 AM by BigDannyC
BBC: David Cameron leads tributes to 'magnificent' Tony Benn
He said on Twitter: "Tony Benn was a magnificent writer, speaker and campaigner. There was never a dull moment listening to him, even if you disagreed with him."
RIP mr Ben. Damn if he didn't have principals which he stuck to.
V
An interesting poll from YouGov about Politicians and their backgrounds: SEX, DRUGS, MONEY AND OLD SCHOOL TIES
The second biggest irritation is rich politicians ‘using legal methods to minimise their tax bill such as setting up trust funds for their children’. On this, as on having been to Eton, there is a notable political divide. It is not Left-Right, but possibly more intriguing. Conservative and Liberal Democrat voters are more relaxed on both things, and Labour and UKIP voters more offended. This adds to the evidence from other recent YouGov research that UKIP appeals not just to people who are to the right of the Conservatives but also to many voters who feel alienated from the world of Westminster politics.
Two other factors concern between a fifth and a quarter of all voters: having become a millionaire as an investment banker before becoming an MP, and having the right political connections because one of their parents was an MP.
Note the sentence I've highlighted in bold.
Nor are Londoners significantly more ‘metropolitan’ in their liberalism than men and women from other parts of Britain. Their attitudes to, say, adultery and to past cocaine use, are in line with the national average.
The one issue on which there is a distinct regional pattern concerns the controversy that triggered this survey in the first place: the cluster of old Etonians around the Prime Minister. This offends Londoners least. Dislike of this phenomenon rises the further people live away from London, and his highest of all in Scotland.
Interesting, especially in relation to the Scottish Independence debate.
edited 14th Mar '14 5:36:26 AM by Greenmantle
Keep Rolling On
BBC: Michael Gove criticises 'ridiculous' number of PM's Etonians
Mr Cameron is himself an Old Etonian, as is chief of staff Ed Llewellyn and minister for government policy Oliver Letwin, among others.
House Lewis: Sanity is Relative
And yet Gove makes his living from and pandering to said Etonians and their ridiculous outdated notions of how the country should be run (i.e. into the ground). The sentiment is accurate, but he's hardly the right man to be expressing it.
My name is Addy. Please call me that instead of my username.
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Note the YouGov survey above — what's more important to voters is they've had a "real job" before they started in Politics.
House Lewis: Sanity is Relative
It doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Always been the way that managers who did their time on the shop floor and worked their way through competency were more respected than those trained specifically to be managers who parachute into the building through the penthouse window.
Of course, it's no longer practical for every manager to work their way up that way, but the feeling remains.
My name is Addy. Please call me that instead of my username.
BBC: Vince Cable says 'no-one needs to earn £1m a year'
"I've asked one or two of the more sympathetic bankers to explain it to me," the Liberal Democrat said in an interview with the Observer newspaper.
He said their response was "because others get it so I should, too".
House Lewis: Sanity is Relative
A rare burst of sanity from Mr Cable. He's absolutely right, no one needs to earn that kind of money. I don't believe in absolute salary caps, but it would be great if less people earned so much. The wealth inequality gap is a serious problem, and fixing it completely goes aganst the freedumb such business people love so much.
My name is Addy. Please call me that instead of my username.
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And in Northern Ireland:
- Belfast security alert: Device was 'under-car bomb'
- Belfast police targeted in Falls Road bomb attack
- Filipino family caught up in Falls Road bomb attack: I wonder if those behind the attack want them there?
- Filipino family caught up in Falls Road bomb attack
HGW XX/7
Oh for God's sake. Not again.
In fairness, by Belfastian facebook friends all seem to be completely fed-up. "The IRA, UVF, etc are just clubs for backwards-looking rubes or self-righteous gangsters with nothing better to do" seems to be the general gist of it.
Schild und Schwert der Partei
The Court of Appeal has backed a ruling to release the Prince of Wales' letters to government ministers under freedom of information laws
.
All in all, not a great week for Prince Charles then.
And let us pray that come it may (As come it will for a' that)