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Post by pawlo on Feb 17, 2005 0:27:57 GMT 1
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Post by ThrobsBlackHat on Feb 17, 2005 0:52:41 GMT 1
I met Mike Ion today, seems a decent enough bloke He came to a meeting about Mental Health and service providers in the town This guy knocks on my door and says "hi, how are the town doing" and I said "eh, how do you know that" and he said "I am Mike Ion, I have come for the meeting today, and i have been told the lad in the office called Dave is a mad town fan" ![:o](http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/scared/scared0015.gif)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2005 0:55:02 GMT 1
There are a lot of positives in there but:
8. Funding for every pupil to double (since in 1997) by 2007-08
this hasn't achieved yet so how can it be an achievement?
and:
48. Record number of students in higher education
I don't think this is necessarily a good thing as we'll be losing more of our skilled workers in areas such as plumbing or other skilled manual labour work.
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Post by SeanBroseley on Feb 17, 2005 1:09:03 GMT 1
I don't have faith in other people solving my problems for me.
I don't like seeing the erosion of personal liberties:
ID cards fellow citizens (OK subjects) being put under house arrest without trial
I don't like being lied to when the lies results in personal and irrepairable tragedies for familes across this county - the Iraq War
The erosion of the powers of directly elected national parliaments in favour of the national executive and also the Council of Ministers in Europe.
I definitely will not be voting Labour in this General Election and perhaps not for very many General Elections to come.
State power to intervene and snoop in our lives is becoming a serious blight, and the Labour party is accelerating that.
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Post by essofsteel on Feb 17, 2005 9:56:51 GMT 1
There is one even bigger reason. Have a good look at the present opposition, look at the quality, and remember who was a leading member of the last discredited Tory government! Case closed.
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Post by OldGit on Feb 17, 2005 10:21:15 GMT 1
Apart from Inflation and Mortgage rates, most of their claims are hard to measure - particularly when guaging effect. Take hospitals for example, they claim to have re-introduced Matrons and cut waiting lists, but what has happened to the quality of care? Something like 44% of hospitals have MRSA, compared to less than 3% in countries like Denmark.
Low mortgage rates are fine, but you need to buy a house to qualify for a mortgage, and how many can't get on the ladder at the moment because of house prices?
Record numbers of University students sounds grand, but what does this do to devalue the currency of a Degree, and as Phil says, where are the skilled tradesmen going to come from? Also, we have yet to see the impact over the long term of accumulated student debt. This from a Government who said "we will not introduce top up fees, and have introduced legislation to prevent them"......
Finally, Iraq. How will history judge Blair and his Government on that? If people like Clair Short and Robin Cook are anywhere near right, we were sold out. This had nothing to do with 9/11, or WMD. It was an illegal act of the grossest nature, and Blair sees himself as a hero. What happened to democracy and government by Parliament?
Sadly, Michael Howard is Blair's best ticket for another 5 yrs.
My advice is vote Liberal. It will emaciate the Tories who are history anyway, and give a fresh chance to a growing party to challenge Labour. Kennedy can't win but he can pave the way, and with a reduced Labour majority, he can make Blair sweat for his new ideas, whatever they turn out to be?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2005 11:26:25 GMT 1
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Post by soupie on Feb 17, 2005 13:12:59 GMT 1
I had you down for more than the "lad in the office" Dave. ![;)](http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/winking/winking0070.gif)
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Post by soupie on Feb 17, 2005 13:17:08 GMT 1
Apparently, even though George Bush is visiting Europe n ext week, he is keeping away from the UK, as it's thought that his presence may damage Blair's election prospects (allegedly!) Tony isn't going to be presented with his Medal of Honour until after the election - I wonder why?
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Post by ThrobsBlackHat on Feb 17, 2005 13:17:51 GMT 1
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Post by oranjemob 1 on Feb 17, 2005 14:55:26 GMT 1
Thanks Pab, but I still don't think I can bring myself to do it.
A wise man once said to me that the 'value' of any organisation lay in it's own values. I honestly believe that with Blair as the autocratic leader of the Labour Party, it's only values are those required to keep the 'supreme being' in power.
Not sure, at this stage, where my vote will go, but like many thousands of other life-long Labour voters, it will not, under any circumstances go to Blair
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Post by shrewinjapan on Feb 18, 2005 0:07:15 GMT 1
Can I vote? ![???](//storage.proboards.com/1258782/images/ZEjvtQKOmLArVPumuTsh.png)
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Post by dachshund on Feb 18, 2005 0:35:20 GMT 1
Unemployment is down 49% in Shrewsbury and Atcham since this governmen came to power. I shall vote Labour. How anyone could contemplate voting Tory is beyond me.
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Post by pawlo on Feb 18, 2005 1:28:15 GMT 1
Unemployment is down 49% in Shrewsbury and Atcham since this governmen came to power. I shall vote Labour. How anyone could contemplate voting Tory is beyond me. This will annoy a lot of people who may well feel i am being patronising. If this is the case than i apologise without question. But, there are a lot of people on here who are not old enough to remember how bleak and divided this country was in the 1980s, and in fairness, even less who remember how bleak it was in the 1970s. Many will not have had any political awareness of these years. I accept fully peepils ( ;D ) arguements one way or another. How you judge the success of a government is in many ways not down purely to just how successfull they where in terms of statistics, but as much down to your own perspective. But i will say this. Whatever anyone says, this country is a land of milk and honey, compared to the divided, bitter and broken land of the 70s and 80s. Some of you think Tony Blair is smug and arrogant, you may well be right. But it takes some kind of arrogance to put 4 million people on the dole and then blame those 4 million people for creating a huge welfare bill. It takes some kind of lunacey for a tory agriculture minister to feed his grand daughter a beef burger live on tv, in an attempt to give creedance to government claims that BSE is harmless to humans to find out a couple of months later it causes CJD. Iraq. Well they where wrong. Or where they. We see ourselves ( not personally ) as a global power, we therefore have a global responcibility. Am i to believe that 100 people and a dozen flocks of sheep on a God foresaken rock in the south atlantic are worth more than the 100s of thousands being slaughtered by saddam in Iraq. Not to me they dont. Gased, poisoned, tortured to death. Of coarse, i could be cynical ( not that one ) and say that going to war in the falklands was a political ploy as thatchers popularity was waining, the country was in termoil and she needed something to unite us. But then, that would be outrageous wouldnt it. Save a few brits and liberate a rock and your a hero, liberate a nation from tyrany and your an arrogant t**t. Council tax rises? Unfair? What about a family of three with an income of say £10:000 per year, paying the same as the duke of northumberland, his wife and son. Health care? Fact, 40% of the general public are infected with MRSA, you, your mates, you just never know till you get sick and your immune system is low. Fact, average waiting times now are a third of what they where when labour came to power. Quality of care? Well we are all living longer now than 10 years ago so the health service cant be that bad. Cant afford a house, tough. Youll have to rent a council house until you get a better job and are a bit older. Oh sorry, you cant cos the tories sold off all the council houses to make us all part of the property owning democracy. Claire Short? Well people hear what they want to hear. 15 years ago, claire short was part of the looney left and no one would take anything she said seriously. Of coarse when she slings mud in the same direction as you then.............. Finally ( sharp intake of breath ;D ) Orangemob ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) , i hope you change your mind. A great man ( T'elk from Stargate SG1 i think ![:-*](http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/love/love0051.gif) ) said " many roads lead to the great path " ![:-*](http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/love/love0051.gif) Bring on the election ![8-)](http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/innocent/innocent0009.gif)
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Post by kickinpretty on Feb 18, 2005 9:41:41 GMT 1
40. Free school milk for five, six and seven-year-olds in Wales WHY ONLY WELSH CHILDREN? Fair play to Labour, the Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits have been a revolution, they allow enterprising people the opportunity to be supported in starting up in business by providing funds for childcare and basic living expences, best thing that has ever happened to this countrys Job creation policies. Im now in my Third year of trading and should turn a profit this year and i couldnt have done it without the support from this government in the form of Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits. Supporting enterprise at the grass roots has i would say been a major factor in the low unemployment rates we have at the moment. Well done Tony Blair ![:-*](http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/love/love0051.gif)
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Post by oranjemob 1 on Feb 18, 2005 12:48:17 GMT 1
Well done Tony Blair ![:-*](http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/love/love0051.gif) Well that's just about done it. If Kickin's on his side, then that, very,very thin thread that may have still been attaching me to Labour - has just snapped. ![;)](http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/winking/winking0070.gif)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2005 14:00:53 GMT 1
and in fairness, even less who remember how bleak it was in the 1970s. Many will not have had any political awareness of these years. The Labour government that were in charge for half of them will though.
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Post by pawlo on Feb 18, 2005 15:34:32 GMT 1
The Labour government that were in charge for half of them will though. Which is why i said " in fairness ", cos the labour governments of the 70s where as responcible as thatcher for messing the country up. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2005 15:39:45 GMT 1
Which is why i said " in fairness ", cos the labour governments of the 70s where as responcible as thatcher for messing the country up. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) You ambiguous little Blairite you........ ![;)](http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/winking/winking0070.gif)
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