Same old Labour!!!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13913251


He is right, Labour has lost touch with the people and the country's needs but it was not the last Labour government that lost touch, it was in James Callaghans rule where they really lost touch with the people they say are the grass routes, the working man(no PC here).

The winter of discontent, unions against Labour was the time when the 'Working man' lost his political backing. The last labour governement was the one where the country lost it,s voice on the world stage and the ' rainy day' money to help us through rough times.

" Mr Miliband is also expected to defend plans to scrap elections for the shadow cabinet "
George Brown will be proud of him, no demoocracy just dictatorship. Surely it is better to 'elect' people rather than have a 'job for the boys' way of selecting a shadow cabinet.

Labour has not changed they are just weariing different clothes to fool the people they are supposed to represent.

There is no 'right ' party for the country these days, imo, so the only way forward as I see it is 'Coalition'.

Views and Opinions please and remember, no-one is right at this stage, history proves who is.

Re: Same old Labour!!!!

On the contrary - there are three "right" parties. All three of the main parties are right wing authoritarian groups which are pretty much the same with only cosmetic differences to try to fool the people. They all support global corporate capitalism, they all support mass immigration and they all support the appalling, self-serving EU, and they all despise the indigenous working class.

Re: Same old Labour!!!!

I think that a coalitiion government is OK only for a short time (in times of crisis), but for the longer term I don't think a coalitiion government is the way forward at all. Obvioiusly the conservatives only wanted the libs. joined up so they could gain some sort of majority and be in power and I believe the liberals are being, and will be, "used" by the conservative party for as long as is necessary. If the conservatives didn't need their votes the liberals would be cast aside. I also believe the liberals have been badly damaged as a party by this coalition. There always needs to be a strong opposition party and at the moment I do believe the labour party has lost its way. The people don't know Milliband very well; he is untried. Some might say he lacks the charisma and strength of a leader. I am not sure at the moment, it's early days. I would like to think that someone will come along within the labour party to shine some sort of a light for the future. I would not like to see the conservatives (with or without the liberals) in power for too long.

Re: Same old Labour!!!!

With so much going on at the time of the last General Election I would have expected more people to cast their vote. Even though higher than 2005, it was still put at a 65% turnout, meaning only two thirds of the electorate cared about their future enough to make such a small effort.

The turnout for the AV referendum later on varied between 50% and 35%, which is even more abysmal and the local council elections wer even worse in most areas.

Since old enough, I have voted at every possible occasion. A great many of my ancestors fought and made sacrifices so I have the right to do just that.

Maybe though, it is not altogether surprising that we seem to have lost our way. Many seem to have adopted the attitude that they have somehow become separated from society and feel they count for nothing in the community.

They are the same people that do not vote because "my vote makes no difference, they will still get in". To get decent representation we must all vote whenever we can.

We did not want another Labour term and we did not want the Tories in. We got the worst of both worlds, or so it seems thus far.

As far as Ed Milliband is concerned, a great many within the Labour party are having serious misgivings regarding his 'leadership', If you take his brother - the obvious replacement- out of the equation, exactly who are you left with Mr or Mrs Balls?, God help us all.

Re: Same old Labour!!!!

Aerolor, surely a coalition government has to do things that are common to all party's and in the best interests of the country.

I would NEVER again vote Labour, ever since Harold Wilsons days they have double crossed the electorate, promising one thing and then doing the oposite. The Tories say one thing and then double the size of what they say they will do so you know where you stand with them. The Libs, well, look at womens Lib and what it has achieved,I rest my case.

For me it has to be coalition from now on or until Britain is Great again and self dependent, not that I will be around if and when that happens.

Re: Same old Labour!!!!

I am not sure if this coalititon government is like the one after WW11 Antibrown. It seems more like the conservatives are the actual ones in charge and the lib-dems just try to hang on to their coat tails and try to act as a sort of curb or voice for the excessive, draconian things the tories are doing (I think thats what you mean by "doubling the size of what they say they will do" ). I don't think the lib-dems. have much clout at all. If the coalition were conservative and labour then that could be different and more positive - a lot more interesting. I think the lib-dems would have done better overall if they had stayed as a single party and not joined forces with the conservatives. They had gained so much ground in recent years, but I think they have damaged themselves with this alliance and it will take a long time before people get over it.

You don't want me to start knocking on about women's lib. do you. I am probably a lot more liberal than you may think.

Britain is still "Great" but not in the way we once were - the World has changed and, rightly, everyone now wants a part, but our value on the World stage is still considerable. I think other countries do respect and listen to us, but we obviously do not have the mineral and naural resources or land wealth anymore. Other countries have far more money and potential to exploit their resources. It is imperative that we strike solid alliances with other countries and help to maintain some sort of harmony in the World - that I think is where our strength lies these days as negotiators, with the tolerance and skills that others lack. I don't think we will ever have the riches that we once had (mind you those riches were always the privilege of the few and not the majority anyway). The vast majority of the population struggled and were always exploited by the rich and powerful few and used as cannon fodder in the colonial wars and the wars that followed.

I also think that Hammer hit it on the nail (notice the pun) when he said we must all vote at elections and not think that voting doesn't matter or make a difference.

Re: Same old Labour!!!!

Yes Mick my friend I agree and with Milliband's latest pronouncement on the abolition of democratic control over the selection of 'Shadow Ministers' he is not only taking the Labour Party further to the 'right', but is in danger of losing many more members of the party because of that pronouncement. I don't think even Beria could do a better job.

Re: Same old Labour!!!!

I dont remember what the country was like, parliamentary wise, after the second world war but I do rememeber getting money back of empty bottles that we collected, now they are throw away, waste, as is the society we now live in.

The country still has a role to play on the world stage but other country's do not take as much notice these days of our advice. Yes we do have to make solid alliances with other world members and try to maintain harmony in the world but since the late 90's we have been known as war mongers around the world sticking our nose in where it is not wanted.
I am not talking about the world stage Aerolor, I am just talking about this country's needs and what we need to do to put it back into some sort of order after Labour ruined everything and gave away most of our rights to self rule.

Miliband is preaching like the two B's did, not democracy but dictatorship and this is not what the country needs. We need a strong coalition, albeit one party mainly in control, to bring the greatness and stability back into our land. People need to, in the words of Kennedy, 'ask not what the country can do for you but what YOU can do for your country@.
I would willingly pay more taxes and more for health care if it meant that the country could redeem itself and move on to better times.

As for Hammers remarks, I agree with him, what we need is to make Voting compulsary. People gave their live for voting rights but now people are more Me,Me,Me orientated and not bothered about their neighbours needs. Some people do help their nieghbours but the majority are only interested if it helps them to make a profit.

Re: Same old Labour!!!!

I don't remember the post war government either Antibrown (I'm not that old ). I was born in 1946 and as I grew up my dad (who was a staunch conservative all his life) was a great influence upon me and we discussed many things including the post war years and how hard things were, particularly in London (and probably other large cities which had suffered destruction). I do remember dried egg, having to live communally in a bombed city and being rationed though, because it all went on for a long time in London.
If there does need to be a strong coalition (and I am not sure about that), how can it be called a democratic coalition if one party is so much stronger than the other and in control?
We as a country cannot live in a bubble and be in isolation to the rest of the world - what the rest of the world does matters so much to how Britain fares. Our country needs to get back on its feet, but many countries are suffering the same recession as we are, we are not the only ones. I also don't believe we are regarded as war-mongers by everyone around the world, but we do need to be firmly with the USA whether we like or not and we are the poor relations in the alliance.
I am not a politician and to be honest I do not trust any of the parties. I firmly believe in democracy and choices and I think it is better than no one party stays in power too long and we continually go from left to right to centre regarding who is in power. The country will get fed up of the conservatives just as they got fed up of labour - I think it has always been like that in recent history.
Some things should be removed from politics in my opinion - things like health and education and security of the country - but I doubt that will happen; they become tools used to gain votes and all politicians dabble with them. I think most people would pay more taxes to preserve the health service, but health is an ever improving and demanding issue. I believe that the private sector will do much more than it should if the conservatives have their way - and then, as per usual, the tax payer will be left to pick up the bill when the profit margins fall and they want to get out.
There are no easy answers and I cannot claim to know what actions will preserve the things we have, let alone make improvements in our country. I know that we must learn to live in an inclusive society (and also an inclusive world) and sections of society should not become marginalisied. We are so dependent on what will happen next in the world arena anyway, so as (I think it was Robbie Burns wrote) "the best laid plans of mice and men are........"

Re: Same old Labour!!!!

Oooohhhhhh AntiBrown matey, do I have to remind you who it was who destroyed our 'Society' and then denied there ever was such a thing as 'Society', who demolished our manufacturing industry and put thousands out of work - all for the sake of dogma. In case you're not familiar with the person to whom I am referring - that person was Maggie Thatcher (phth, phth, phth!!!!)