The 2015 Popularity Contest (aka UK General Election )

[Bruce Wayne]

I do find it interesting though, the massive political bias some people have.

All this talk of the Tories taking from the poor and hard working people in society. What about the pillaging that Gordon Brown and Labour did of pension funds that millions of people had worked decades to save ? That ruined the retirement plans of an incredible number of people. I know a guy who had saved into a pension for forty years and has been forced to go back to working an 8-5 job instead of retiring, to make back the cash which was taken through taxation and as a result of lax banking regulation.

I don't particularly have an affinity with any political party, for the record.

It's sadly typical of the tribalism that infects politics. Coach appears much happier when he's bagging the Tories for something or other than he is discussing how to make public services better in an apolitical way.

The truly crazy thing is, the vast majority of governments in the western world now are coalitions, yet we live in an age where parties increasingly cannot stand one another and want no part in working together. And to be honest, the attitude of certain parts of the electorate, especially amongst the 'core' for each party, actively encourages that approach. Very sad.

 

[Coach]

Haha. I see, so now I am sad and crazy. Nothing to offer back in response to my points except anecdotes, condescension and ad-hominem.

 

[Blue 1]

Unless you're suggesting he wouldn't have gotten rid of DLA if his son was still alive, you have no point. He claimed it when it was available to all, and then changed the national policy. He didn't stop others from getting it while keeping it for himself. It's nothing to do with 'Do as i say, not as i do'.

You are quite right, but the rationale given for cutting universal benefits was that people of a certain wealth don't need them. So while the multimillionaire Cameron was quite entitled to claim for Ivan, it does smack of hypocrisy somewhat.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Haha. I see, so now I am sad and crazy. Nothing to offer back in response to my points except anecdotes, condescension and ad-hominem.

I offered you any number of examples earlier in the thread, all of which you ignored until there came another opportunity to have a pop at the Tories. Yes, I do find that sad, and I find the situation crazy whereby in a world where collaboration is increasingly important, the political landscape is so often competitive and toxic. Tribalism tends to help no one at all.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

It'd be pretty cool to have this sort of thing available in Britain

https://open.fda.gov/

I was at a hack day of the NHS the other week, and it really did suffer from a lack of open data to work with.

 

[steken1]

Murdoch and Cameron dislike each other a lot, so if anything the Murdoch press will be supportive of UKIP. Sadly.

His relationship with Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson and others would suggest otherwise.

 

[Tubey]

I do find it interesting though, the massive political bias some people have.

All this talk of the Tories taking from the poor and hard working people in society. What about the pillaging that Gordon Brown and Labour did of pension funds that millions of people had worked decades to save ? That ruined the retirement plans of an incredible number of people. I know a guy who had saved into a pension for forty years and has been forced to go back to working an 8-5 job instead of retiring, to make back the cash which was taken through taxation and as a result of lax banking regulation.

I don't particularly have an affinity with any political party, for the record.

Think the difference is one is perceived to have done it via incompetence, the other does it through desire.

Personally I find it hard to argue against the opinion that the Tories actively enjoy pounding on the poor and helping out the rich. Everything they do seems to be geared around that central philosophy.

 

[Coach]

I offered you any number of examples earlier in the thread, all of which you ignored until there came another opportunity to have a pop at the Tories. Yes, I do find that sad, and I find the situation crazy whereby in a world where collaboration is increasingly important, the political landscape is so often competitive and toxic. Tribalism tends to help no one at all.

I ignored them because they didn't address the central point that the NHS is the best healthcare system in the world. It goes without saying that there will be individual areas where others do things better (or that it needs to use the latest techniques and technologies) but that does not disprove the point that overall the NHS is the best. The examples given added nothing to the debate - in fact I would say they were a distraction.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I ignored them because they didn't address the central point that the NHS is the best healthcare system in the world. It goes without saying that there will be individual areas where others do things better (or that it needs to use the latest techniques and technologies) but that does not disprove the point that overall the NHS is the best. The examples given added nothing to the debate - in fact I would say they were a distraction.

Ok, whatever, you stick with your fixed mindset. I'll carry on trying to make the NHS better.

 

[Coach]

Yeah you carry on with your condescension.

Even the Tories are admitting that what they have done with the NHS is a mistake.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I just struggle to comprehend your approach I'm afraid. We have very different outlooks on life. None of the people I meet that work in the NHS complain about policy, but they do complain about day to day, operational things. Those are things that can very much be improved, and will need to be improved regardless of who is in Westminster, and regardless of what those in Westminster decide to do.

 

[Coach]

LOL. You must be meeting the wrong people then.

 

[Coach]

None of the people I meet that work in the NHS complain about policy, but they do complain about day to day, operational things.

Personal anecdotes again I see. Very David and Ivan.

The British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nurses have passed votes of no confidence in both Andrew Lansley and Jeremy Hunt. We have the first strikes in the NHS for over 30 years. I would say that is about as clear a complaint as can be.

 

[Blue 1]

I just struggle to comprehend your approach I'm afraid. We have very different outlooks on life. None of the people I meet that work in the NHS complain about policy, but they do complain about day to day, operational things. Those are things that can very much be improved, and will need to be improved regardless of who is in Westminster, and regardless of what those in Westminster decide to do.

Aren't the day-to-day operational things a result of policy, to a certain extent?

 

[toffee matt]

Both of the main party's are polling awfully atm, that labour figure the worst since May 2010. Which is really poor given the amount of ammunition this government has given them to use