Pass the crisps: UK Election watch

497 Responses

First ←Older Page 1 3 4 5 6 7 20 Newer→ Last

  • Lucy Stewart,

    The BBC Friday Night Comedy Podcast is currently running four days a week (severely impacting on my productivity) running the Vote Now Show. This is basically how I get all my information on the British elections.

    I hold to this method of information-gathering such that I didn't actually know what the "Yew-kip"* thing they were referring to was until someone spelled it out in the Guardian's (also excellent) Science Weekly podcast. But looking it up would have ruined the fun.

    *UKIP. Viscount Monckton is their science spokesperson. No, I didn't think I needed to say any more.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    *UKIP. Viscount Monckton is their science spokesperson. No, I didn't think I needed to say any more.

    Wow! I knew of UKIP, but not the gory details. The party appears to attract a certain personality sort, doesn't it?

    Would their 16.5% share of the vote for the European Parliament be likely reflected in a proportionally representative vote for Westminster?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Holy crap.

    Twitter:

    New election day twist RT @SkyNewsBreak Sky News sources: light aircraft carrying UKIP MEP leader Nigel Farage crashes in Northants.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    The British people didn't want a war. (Just like the Iraqis and Afghans). But they got one, largely because they have an electoral system that lets governments discount and ignore public opinion.

    And I'd respectfully suggest the British people wouldn't like to get any closer to Athens-style mayhem than a matinee of Les Miz, but are actually capable of effecting constitutional change through the political process. It might just be a little tasteful to remember that.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart,

    New election day twist RT @SkyNewsBreak Sky News sources: light aircraft carrying UKIP MEP leader Nigel Farage crashes in Northants.

    Apparently he was only lightly injured.

    They are something, though, aren't they? Given their basic "Europe bad!" approach, though, I suspect their turnout as MEPs would be severely diminished in a proportional British Parliament election, where there would be less of a point to make. If "screw you, Brussels!" can be considered a point.

    (I did, however, like the brutal honesty of the candidate who, when asked why he wanted to be an MP, said if he'd wanted to be an MP he wouldn't have stood for UKIP.)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Wow.

    The plane crashed after it got tangled up with the UKIP banner, and Farage walked out of the wreckage.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    The British people didn't want a war. (Just like the Iraqis and Afghans). But they got one, largely because they have an electoral system that lets governments discount and ignore public opinion.

    According to Michael Bassett it was all due to the singular genius of Tony Blair:

    What I found most encouraging about Blair’s victory was that he won despite Iraq. The worst politicians in my mind are those who refuse to do what they know to be right because there’ll be a knee-jerk reaction that could frighten the horses. David Lange’s government did the right thing and was rewarded in 1987. Blair did over Iraq, despite some initial nervousness. Governments that stand for nothing except a few oddball agendas, which swivel in the wind, then cut and run every time the heat comes on, can survive for a time. If their opposition is weak or irresolute, they outlive their usefulness, yet still win re-election. However, they won’t have much of a place in the history books. Blair will. He’s a modern phenomenon with respect that crosses national as well as political boundaries. The real test will be British Labour’s fourth election. The auguries for Gordon Brown, to whom Blair has promised to surrender the leadership during this term, aren’t as good. Brown has no visible element of magic. These days real political skill is rare.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • FletcherB,

    Anyone who uses the phrase "Fanny getting arse-banged by a Doberman-dot-com" has to be winding you up

    A quick google of "fanny getting arse banged by doberman" brings up this very thread as the second to top link.... and if you spell it "ass" this is also second... but the top result is different...

    I'm not sure if this is a good thing?

    I deem it prudent not to check out the other links... especially not at work (guessing only?)

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    The plane crashed after it got tangled up with the UKIP banner, and Farage walked out of the wreckage.

    Paul Holmes over their doing a bit of political coaching, and offered to take the controls?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    The plane crashed after it got tangled up with the UKIP banner, and Farage walked out of the wreckage.

    As @MarkCubey says: It's event advertising

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    the top result is different

    Craig will be gutted #fail

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    It's an absurd description of an absurd front page. Was that not absolutely, utterly, 150% obvious?

    Well, the first time it was obvious. But then it was repeated, and it was like - hey, you weren't listening when Charlie Brooker said it, I want to make sure you all realise how bad this picture of David Cameron on the Sun is. As bad as bestial porn.

    The way Charlie put it wasn't funny either, but with the descriptor "embarrassingly lame" it was obvious he was being Charlie and deliberately shocking. Second time not so much. Yes it was a joke, but it was a really really unfunny one - on about the same level as "I saw the front page of the Sun and felt like I'd been raped". Would that have gone down well here? Even though it's obviously a joke?

    That said, my WhaleOil dig was also obviously a joke...

    Did I actually think it was literally "unspeakably hideous"? No, of course not. I was using hyperbole to a humorous end. It really is a very common thing that people do.

    I can see humour and hyperbole there.

    I just think that humour of the sort that invokes bestial porn (particularly in political debate) is really bad for civil society. If we start down that road, birthers and whoever will have something to hang their hats on. People will talk about others stealing elections, or being cancerous and corrosive, and public buy-in in the democratic process will suffer.

    The true purpose of political argument is not to convince others but to be convinced by others. When people start seriously talking about political enemies rather than political opponents, and comparing - even humorously - their 'enemies' to pornographers this will never happen.

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    When people start seriously talking about political enemies rather than political opponents, and comparing - even humorously - their 'enemies' to pornographers this will never happen.

    By that logic, it never has happened, then, because that's always been what people do. You're making your own little hyperbole, right?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    That said, my WhaleOil dig was also obviously a joke...

    That wasn't apparent, and I really was offended by your comparison of this forum with him and Wishart. They've actively vilified and harassed many people. Wishart in particular has blighted lives. He's a horrible little bully.

    I really don't think an off-colour joke about a newspaper front page comes close to that. It made me doubt your good faith.

    I just think that humour of the sort that invokes bestial porn (particularly in political debate) is really bad for civil society. If we start down that road, birthers and whoever will have something to hang their hats on. People will talk about others stealing elections, or being cancerous and corrosive, and public buy-in in the democratic process will suffer.

    I appreciate your concern for civil society. I value it too. I don't think the joke was that bad, but I accept you do. But loading all this on a bad joke seems, as Ben says, hyperbolic.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Meanwhile, the David Cameron cut-out mask, from the BBC's Election night Party Pack is alarming.

    No, I'm not picking on him. His mask was just the weirdest of the bunch.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Another story on the BNP's webmaster mutiny:

    The dispute relates to the BNP's use of a Marmite logo in a recent party political broadcast -- and the subsequent legal action by Marmite's parent company, Unilever.

    The BNP has been beset by internal conflict in recent months. In April, Mark Collett, the party's publicity director, was arrested on suspicion of threatening to kill the BNP leader, Nick Griffin, and its fundraiser, Jim Dowson.

    Earlier this year, the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight published a full investigation into the divisive role of Dowson, a hardline Protestant anti-abortion campaigner from Northern Ireland.

    UPDATE: as of this morning (6 May), the BNP website is down again, replaced by a "temporary" message. The party has also been locked out of its Facebook and Twitter accounts, with the latter now bearing the message "BNP - Bennett's Nationalist Politics".

    In other developments, Bob Bailey, the BNP candidate for Romford has been filmed by a BBC news crew fighting with hecklers on the campaign trail in East London.

    Far out.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Jake Pollock,

    What is the precedent- does the Queen ask the party with the most seats to try to form a govt first- or is it open slather horse-trading and deal-making as soon as votes are counted and no party has a majority?

    I skimmed the thread so don't know if this has been answered yet, but the speaker's rules(forget the technical name)/convention says that the prime minister from the previous government is to be given the opportunity to make a queen's speech (i.e. form a government) first in the event of a hung parliament. And if that fails then anyone else can try. But it's not a binding thing, and Clegg apparently isn't too bothered about it, so horse-trading it will be.

    Raumati South • Since Nov 2006 • 489 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Jeez, Michael Portillo's a good sport:

    In the last two weeks my name has been in headlines for the first time in years. Will a cabinet minister suffer the humiliation of losing his seat in the full glare of national publicity, as I did in 1997? Will he (oh please, please yes!) endure "a Portillo moment"? My name is now synonymous with eating a bucketload of shit in public. I am on the brink of becoming a noun and so passing into history, alongside Captain Boycott and the Hooligan family.

    When I am asked whether anyone at today's election is likely to suffer the same ignominy, I say, "Balls to that", and for good reason. But strictly speaking, if the children's secretary is defeated tonight – if Ed Balls falls – it won't qualify as a Portillo moment, because a genuine Portillo moment has to come out of left field.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Austin,

    Right, time to go vote. Destiny etc..

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    That wasn't apparent, and I really was offended by your comparison of this forum with him and Wishart. They've actively vilified and harassed many people. Wishart in particular has blighted lives. He's a horrible little bully.

    I really don't think an off-colour joke about a newspaper front page comes close to that. It made me doubt your good faith.

    At the risk of continuing this beyond all reason, I would note that my 'humourous' contrast with Whale, was not about the joke, but about the link. You'd found something worse than bestial porn, but were still prepared to link to it.

    However, I am sorry for the offence I've caused you.

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    Right, time to go vote. Destiny etc..

    The Destiny Party's in the UK, now? Bishop Tamaki certainly gets around.

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Over there, he's Archdeacon

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Austin,

    Graeme, a Promise is for life you know

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    Apparently in Chingford and Woodford Green someone who changed his name to "None Of The Above" is running for election - Mr Above whos name starts with 'A' is of course listed first on the ballot

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    No, I'm not picking on him. His mask was just the weirdest of the bunch.

    Is it ever -- then again, the picture editor at The Guardian really earned his Christmas bonus picking that eww-some front page picture of Cameron lurking behind a half-open door.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

First ←Older Page 1 3 4 5 6 7 20 Newer→ Last

Post your response…

Please sign in using your Public Address credentials…

Login

You may also create an account or retrieve your password.