The sun has just come out :hatsoff:
Ask a British Person.......
- Thread starter HeyFellas
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- 'enry 'iggins best country in the world bollocks bonkers cheeky chesty brompton dumb yanks england great britain limeys limp wristers my arse scotland supreme race tea baggers the beatles hate you united kingdom wales wanker warm beer where are the dentist? where's my ear medicine? y-fronts rule!
The sun has just come out :hatsoff:
Sunny, cloudy and probably ready to start raining. But this is England so i wouldn't be suprised if it started snowing.
1) I've seen odd bits of British political debate going on in some threads, maybe we need a dedicated "British Politics, Have Your Say Thread" but I'm not starting it!
2) That is indeed a very good question! I'm amazed the Conservatives (Tories) have done so well in Europe and local elections. All the political talk has been of a voting backlash over MP's expenses, its bad enough having 'Mr Average' shaft the British Tax Payer, but sickening when we're shafted by Millionaires! Unfortunately, I think the rot has well and truly set in with British politics, and we're going to see-saw back to the Conservatives just as we've always done. Maybe there's to many generations of 'new voters' to remember the 'Tory Sleaze' scandals that were going on at the end of the last Conservative government, and the devastation of British society that Margaret Thatcher created. We still live with her 'social ideal' of a person being recognised for 'what they own' rather than for 'who they are'. Lets not forget, Tony Blair admired her greatly and we ended up with 'New Labour' who were basically 'New Conservatives' and took the middle ground of politics. Now we're left with Gordon Brown who's unelected by the British public, presiding over the greatest economic and political scandals we've ever seen. There's not much doubt Labour will loose the next general election, but that doesn't create a victorious Conservative leader, what we'll get is another insipid clown desperately trying to tell people what he thinks they want to hear. Therefore we end up with political parties with no desire or belief in creating their own identity, just opportunists who'll paint the front door to look good, and ignore the rising damp that's all around them. Now you know why I'm not starting a thread
British Politics - Showbiz for the uglyExcept Caroline Flint if you're reading
The problem with the Tories was that Blair simply stole their clothes which made being an opposition rather difficult!But in a sense we are repeating what happened in 1979 where the Labour government really blew it , the economy was in free fall and the country voted for a new broom to sweep it all away.
I lived through all these years-it's difficult to remember just how bad things were (many observers thought the situation impossible to turn round) but certainly society was well on the way to disintegration before Thatcher ; it's wholly inaccurate to lay it at her door.Changes were inevitable , for example the availability of really cheap gas meant the market for coal would shrink dramatically and this of course devastated many mining communities.
I know Tony Blair’s legacy was somewhat tarnished by the time he left, but he still was a million times better than W. Brits would be more interested in politics if they had to put up w/8 years of W.
om3ga
It's good to be the king...
:thumbsup: Vince Cable for PM!
I have plenty of time for Vince Cable...unlike Tony Bliar & Dave Shameron, he comes across as a politician with substance.
I don't dispute that some of the Founding Fathers were suspicious of religion or that the Constitution they chose to model the US Constiution on was secular in nature (I believe they chose Massachusetts, if I remember correctly). What I do take issue with is that the period prior to the Constitution America was not a religious land and that this period is meaningless to you. Also, the Articles of Confederation were the first national document and were based on a "higher power." You also don't give any merrit to states rights, which is wrong on your part because obviously states rights are very important - abortion and homosexual rights are obvious signs of states rights and the role of the federal government. And where you get I'm a "right wing extremist" is beyond me. Not trying to hijack the thread, just pointing that out.
True, Massachusetts?!? Articles of Confederation?!?
This is supposed to be a thread about GREAT Britain isn't it?!?
Anyway, just for you Seamus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-3ixIinLqc
Yeah. You guys banned the use of wrapping the F&C in newspaper because you found after all these years there were chemicals in the paper? :dunno:
True, Massachusetts?!? Articles of Confederation?!?
This is supposed to be a thread about GREAT Britain isn't it?!?
Anyway, just for you Seamus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-3ixIinLqc
Many thanks mrtrebus, never saw that before :thumbsup:
I've read many articles saying that it was the ink to blame but I cannot find an original source so it may be an urban myth.
IIRC the newspaper didn't come into direct contact with the F&C because there was always a greaseproof sheet inbetween
Its the same for me, I’ve lived through both a long term Conservative government and Labour government. So I’m not taking sides or defending either, just making observations.
The branding of ‘New Labour’, nominating a young leader in Tony Blair and dropping ‘Clause 4’ was Labour’s making. The problem for the public is its made the two main opposing parties end up with very similar objectives and policies.
I think the Conservatives are trying to replicate what New Labour did in 1997, I’m almost waiting for the ‘New Conservatives’ branding! What both parties lack today, is strong leadership.
With Thatcher, its interesting that you mention miners, which became Thatcher’s nemesis as Iraq became Blair’s. I don’t think it is ‘wholly inaccurate’ to lay it at Thatcher’s door, historically she has to bear responsibilty as PM for her parties actions, just the same as Blair has to for his. What I think Thatcher did in Britain was plant the seed for, what turned out to be, a negative social change. The ideal that everyone should own their own home and the selling of council houses started the idea of, as I said before, ‘the value of a person being judged by what they own’ typified by ‘Yuppies’, and more recently in people’s over extended credit. This, and the war with the miners, the extreme desire for privatisation, undermined the working class base of Britain, and has left us with a subclass of benefit dependent communities whose families have never worked. I’m sure it wasn’t a political agenda on Thatcher’s part but with the benefit of hindsight, today with live with the result.
Privatisation has in most cases brought Macmillan’s speech to light, ‘Selling the family silver’, ‘First of all the Georgian silver goes, then all that nice furniture, then the Canalettos go’.
The steel industry, railways, BT, National Coal Board, The car industry. If they had all stayed in British ownership it could have been called a success, but with many sold on and now foreign owned we’ve gone from an innovative industrial nation to a service industry.
Maybe the situation can be turned round again, but I doubt it can happen in the near future without fundamental grass roots change, and I see no sign of that at the moment, just more of the same!
I was and am against the privatisation of infrastructure. BT however has been a resounding success. Whether it would have been under governement ownership is impossible to say.
Rail privatisation has been a monumental fuck up. Then again, the rail industry has rarely run at a profit.
Rail privatisation has been a monumental fuck up. Then again, the rail industry has rarely run at a profit.
That's the one thing that's pretty certain.
Haven't had a British winner at Wimbledon since 2008
Haven't had an adult British winner at Wimbledon since 2007