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
E4 are going to shut down on election day in order to encourage younger people to vote. While it is an interesting idea, I do wonder how many complaints they are going to get.
Did you know this section has a character limit?
...especially since you can get E4 in Ireland...
They do have medals for almost, and they're called silver!
Never Trust
So curious, has Plaid Cymru's standing changed at all since the independence vote? I had the impression that it was traditionally considered something of a joke.
Trump delenda est
V
@ Alec: You haven't seen the Daily Politics' Andrew Neil, then? He's the one Miliband and Cameron have refused to debate with...
Keep Rolling On
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Leanne Wood appears to be impressing a lot of people. I think her participation in the national debates has given her a lot of experience, and she's starting to be noticed in Wales by people who traditionally have never given PC the light of day.
PC's profile is definitely rising and it is starting to be seen as a party that has more to it than just independence, especially since she's made it absolutely clear that she appreciates there isn't a big appetite for independence right now, so is focussed on fighting for parity with Scotland's devolution powers - she's made it clear that independence will never be off PC's agenda, but until people want it in Wales, she's not going to force it and will focus on fighting for a strong Wales with a strong voice in the UK - and that particular stance is going down very well with people.
As to how that will translate into actual votes on the day, I don't know. We'll have to see.
edited 23rd Apr '15 3:00:15 PM by Wyldchyld
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Is not actually from Lyniezia
E4 closing down seems like a great idea until you realise that they will not be closed down for the whole last three hours of polling (when people have most free time in which to go to the polls and yet are most likely to be tempted to sit down and watch telly) as well as the fact many young people seem to be moving away from conventional TV (or more likely to be doing so) and to the extent they do, surely will not just watch E4? This seems like a gimmick or token gesture to me, really.
HGW XX/7
I hear that that crook Rahman's been hammered in Tower Hamlets. Good news, and good news for the local journalists who were on his case from the get go.
edited 24th Apr '15 11:01:35 AM by Achaemenid
Schild und Schwert der Partei
V
Indeed. I mentioned it earlier (if anyone noticed).
Election 2015: Farage reveals hospital treatment
After addressing rumours about his health in a Daily Telegraph interview, Mr Farage told the BBC he was receiving private treatment. Campaigning left him no time to manage NHS appointments, he added.
The UKIP leader was injured on the day of the 2010 general election when the aircraft he was travelling in came down shortly after taking off from an airfield in Northamptonshire. He said people had noticed a difference in his demeanour since the start of this election campaign, that the speculation was "his fault" and that he had been "stupid".
"I've not been doing physio. I've not been doing my exercises," he said. "I've been so obsessed with the UKIP campaign that I put myself into a position where I wasn't really firing on all cylinders."
He added: "I'm not unwell at all but I did have neuralgic pain. I've sorted it out. I've reorganised my life." Mr Farage said he was having osteopathy treatment and taking tablets to help the inflammation.
Cameron: Conservatives will have first black or Asian PM
Mr Cameron also pledged to boost minority ethnic jobs, university places and police recruits by 2020. Of 306 Conservative M Ps elected in 2010, 11 were black or Asian. Labour had 16 ethnic minority M Ps elected in 2010, while the Lib Dems had none.
In that election, the Conservative Party only won 16% of the ethnic minority vote, which has historically favoured Labour. In 2015, it is fielding 56 candidates from black and Asian communities. Labour is fielding 52 ethnic minority candidates.
Setting out his vision to increase the number of black and Asian students, apprentices, entrepreneurs and police and armed forces personnel, Mr Cameron said he was also setting ambitions for the Conservatives.
"In the last Parliament, we increased our number of black and Asian M Ps from two, to 11. Now that's not enough, but it's good progress. At this election, there is one party fielding more black and ethnic minority candidates than any other and I'm proud to say, that it's us - the Conservatives."
Quite possible, considering the first ethnically-Jewish and female Prime Ministers were both Conservatives.
Keep Rolling On
I remember a politics discussion several years ago just after Obama became US president for the first time, regarding the likelihood of a black British PM. At the time, the discussion was focussed on a Labour MP whom Westminster widely viewed as a future candidate for first black PM (David Lammy, I think).
The interesting conclusion was while there is a barrier based on ethnic heritage, there's an even bigger one based on education background which creates a 'class' bias in Westminster. The first black PM is therefore likely to have a 'suitable' education for the Westminster establishment because this education issue makes it tough for even a white person to become a prime minister. Therefore, the ethnic ministers who break through to become prime minister will probably not initially break the social barrier - that'll be the toughest nut of all to crack (they were looking forward to the day when we see a black PM with the 'wrong kind' of education).
It's certainly not exclusive to Conservatives, but that party does tend to have the leg up on having the 'right kind' of education history. Lammy has the 'right kind' of education.
edited 25th Apr '15 8:13:55 AM by Wyldchyld
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Excuse the double-post:
Rightmove has put a quick interview with Cameron, Milliband and Clegg on its website regarding the future of house building and home ownership. As first-time buyer (who has spent over a decade trying to put together a deposit and get a mortgage), I've been following the housing debates quite closely.
So, this is what they had to say.
Speaking as a first-time buyer, and after reading the small print and discussing with mortgage lenders the options, I made the decision last year not to touch the Help to Buy scheme. No-one in their right minds should.
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Excuse my ignorance, but as someone who also wants to dip a toe in these waters why is Help to Buy bad, on a practical level?
We'll ignore the economic absurdities of 'solving' a runaway housing market by inflating it with government money for now...
That was an interesting interview, but I'm not so sure about the Lib Dem Rent-to-Own programme.
In theory it sounds quite promising, not requiring a deposit and letting you "cash out" should you choose, but I'd guess that it would need massive subsidies to make it worthwhile, so it could end up being a very expensive way of only building 30,000 homes. I may be wrong here and I simply missed it, but it doesn't look like they've told us where any of this money would come from, or even how much they'd need.
Anyone know something I don't?
"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost."
V
Labour's answer on this seem to be to cap rent increases to inflation — and a view on English Devolution from the centre of England.
edited 26th Apr '15 3:29:55 AM by Greenmantle
Keep Rolling On
HGW XX/7
Look at these tragic specimens.
Moral of the story: If they don't radically change their views to match yours they aren't worth calling friends.
"Yup. That tasted purple."
Pronounced YAK-you-luss
The Sun boldly uncovers the most heinous skeleton in Nicola Sturgeon's closet.
The Sun really is trying to dig up all the shit it can so it can take credit for whoever wins winning, isn't it?
"Yup. That tasted purple."
House Lewis: Sanity is Relative
Christ, that sound of a barrel being scraped is making my tinnitus even worse.
Sometimes, a picture tells a thousand words. This is a bit of an unfortunate one for Jim Murphy.
Are we starting to see the beginnings of social media rendering everyone unelectable?
"Yup. That tasted purple."
V
I think it's getting there already...
Also nice to see that the Star has it's priorities straight
◊. I mean, who cares about the 1300 earthquake dead or the electoral shitslinging. WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE SOAP STAR WHO'S GETTING TWITTER TAUNTS ABOUT A DEAD BABY.
X6: Some of those tweets are amazing. I love how The Sun stops even pretending not to be a joke when elections roll around, but hey, at least the Huffington Post has sufficient sarcasm to balance it all out? Sturgeon can only gain from reacting so well to this.
@singularityspot
Help to Buy: you lay down the deposit, and the Government gives you a loan to top it up to the equivalent of a 20% deposit. However, the mortgage lenders will not lend to you on the basis of a 20% deposit. They will only lend on the basis of the percentage you put in.
So, let's say you put down 5% and the Government lends you the remaining 15%. Your mortgage will cover the remaining 80%. As far as the mortgage lender is concerned, you have only given then a 5% deposit, so the LTV will be on the basis of a 95% mortgage, not an 80% mortgage. In short, you pay sky-high monthly repayments due to only having provided a 5% deposit.
It gets worse: when comparing 95% mortgages with the exact same mortgage bought under Help to Buy, your monthly repayments are even higher than if you'd provided a 5% deposit all by yourself without using Help to Buy to top up to 20%.
For example, if you compare a 2-year fixed mortgage on 5% deposit with a 2-year fixed mortgage (Help to Buy) on 5% deposit, the monthly repayments are not the same - the Help to Buy version of the 2-year fixed mortgage is more expensive. And we're not talking about a couple of pounds a month, I've been given differences of anywhere from £30 to £150 more expensive per month.
It gets even worse: After 5-7 years (depends on the exact scheme, it's usually 5 years), you have to start paying back the Government loan as well... at very high interest rates (and they've been very cagey with me about what sort of interest rate that will be).
So, not only do you begin with a mortgage that has unfavourable rates compared to even other 5% deposit mortgages, but after 5 years, you're paying back two loans on a monthly basis, instead of just one (the mortgage).
The sole advantage of Help to Buy is that a mortgage lender is less likely to reject your mortgage application on a 5% deposit than if you try to go it alone. However, given the kick in the teeth you'll go on to suffer on a monthly basis, being accepted for one isn't necessarily a good idea unless you're on a fantastic monthly take-home pay. And that, both mortgage lenders and independent advisors have mentioned to me, is the point: Help to Buy is only for people on fantastic take-home pay... and those people can usually afford to take out a 5% mortgage without going through Help to Buy in the first place.
@AlecwithaQ You're only missing the same as the rest of us: the Institute of Fiscal Studies has analysed the four biggest manifestos (Conservative, Lib Dem, Labour and SNP) and discovered that none of them are revealing any detail about where all their spending and savings are coming from.
edited 26th Apr '15 8:56:27 AM by Wyldchyld
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
You got me interested so I looked up the Help-to-Buy scheme and read that the government loan is in fact an equity stake so the government basically now owns 15% of your home and when you sell it. So this explains why the loan-to-value ratio doesn't improve- the ratio of your deposit to the mortgage+deposit (the fraction of the home you now own) becomes, to use the 5-15-80 split Wyldchyld does, 5/85 which is actually still under 6%.
Because the government has an equity stake, they get back not the amount they lent you but the proportion of the house- in our example 15%- which means that one of the biggest benefits of buying your own home, leveraging the increase in value, which is also one of the things that makes lending mortgages safer for a bank note , is now reduced and probably nullifies the 0.88 improvement in LVR.
I'm interested in the comparison you did between the mortgages- was it a same price comparison- i would think that when approaching the scheme the way to think of it must be that you have the same deposit size but now the bank mortgage is 80% instead of 95% so if the interest rate was the same the repayments should be about 15% cheaper. Then you get 5 years when the repayment is 15% cheaper and you aren't paying interest on the government equity loan and so if you move to a new place in five years you have an advantage but it frazzles my brain to think about how a 25 year term mortgage calculation is going to adapt to that.
That link has left me scared and confused.
Also, I don't think my YouTube suggestions will ever recover.
Paxman was always an exceptional journalist, but I'm not sure about the first "debate" with Cameron and Miliband. I'd like to think that it's just my personal bias telling me that he was overly harsh on Miliband, but I'm just not sure.
edited 23rd Apr '15 11:52:04 AM by AlecwithaQ
"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost."