Flare Sci-Fi Forums: UK Election 2001

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Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :

Well, if the Yanks got to blather on endlessly about their blasted election, then I don't see why we should be any different. Would the Brit contingent care to share their thoughts?

To get a clearer grasp of the issues that are being raised, click here. 8)

[This message has been edited by Vogon Poet (edited May 18, 2001).]

Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :

I'll say one thing:

Britney Spears Must Die.

Robbie Williams is cool, though.

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"Intelligence People. You guys are unbelievable. You dump a mess like this (that you created) on my lap, and then you come to me whining 'Where is our funding'? Well I'll tell you where your funding is. Can you say Health-Care"
- The President of the United States of America, The Long Kiss Goodnight

Posted by Gaseous Anomaly (Member # 114) on :

And John Prescott's got a mean left jab!

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At that point, McDonald fired his gun three times in the air to emphasize his point. The crowd, estimated at 350,000, loudly cheered the new candidate.

"Let me make this clear: I am the law! I am your ruler! And you will have fries with that, motherf*cker!"

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

I thought you british blokes were too civilized to punch people out over politics.

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The government that seems the most unwise, oft goodness to the people best supplies. That which is meddling, touching everything, will work but ill, and disappointment bring. - The Tao Te Ching

Posted by Eclipse (Member # 472) on :

That wasn't politics: it was an egg. In the ear.
Given Prescott's temper, could we have expected anything else?

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

What I do find brilliant is that, in one day, Tony Blair got verbally assaulted by a lsightly mad woman, and our deputy Prime Minister punched a guy in the face, and Labour went ahead in the opinion poles!

At the moment, Tony Blair could arse-rape the Queen Mum in the middle of Trafalgur Square, and Labour would still comfortably win.

Since I don't think any of the Brits have given inidcations as to how they are voting I'm interested in seeing how our foreign friends would vote. Or how they think we'er voting anyway.

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You know, when Comedy Central asked us to do a Thanksgiving episode, the first thought that went through my mind was, "Boy, I'd like to have sex with Jennifer Aniston."
-Trey Parker, co-creator of South Park

Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :

WAAAAAIIITwaitwaitwaitwaitwait....!

You fuckers have ELECTIONS?!?

Then what's all that "cricket" shit on about, then? I thought THAT'S how you chose your leaders!

That or soccer riots...whoever's left standing rules.

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"Boinky ensued, and a great time was had by all." --Book of Nigel, Chapter 4, verse 32

Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :

Nonono, that's Rugby. Teachers vs students!

I suppose Blair will stay for a while, I hope he gets the job done.

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"Babies haven't any hair;
old men's heads are just as bare;
between the cradle and the grave
lies a haircut and a shave."

Samuel Hoffenstein

Posted by Orion Syndicate (Member # 25) on :

Charles Kennedy's a red head, William Hague's a foetus, which leaves the Rev ARP Blair. I'm pro European and believe that the single currency is vital to our economic interests in this century - William Hague being the idiot that he is keeps harking back to World War 2 and how we've always looked after ourselves in the past and we can do it again. This is precisely why he cannot be allowed to govern - a man who's so out of touch with economic and political reality would be disasterous for the country.

I wouldn't normally agree with what Prescott did, but the other guy was Welsh, so I suppose that makes it okay.

Another thing, Soccer? Is that a sport of some sort? Oh, you mean FOOTBALL.

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The Worlds Ten Greatest 'Fucks' #10

Where's all that fucking water coming from? - Captain of Titanic

[This message has been edited by Orion Syndicate (edited May 22, 2001).]

Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :

Did you see that photo of Hague kissing a baby on "Have I Got News For you?" I'm assuming he was the one on the right because the head was slightly larger, but I'm still not sure.

By the way, all you Yanks are supposed to want the Conservatives to win. That way we ditch Europe and become a fully-fledged client state of yours, I know how you like to screw up people's lives, well here are 60 million more to fuck with!

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Phasers

Posted by Orion Syndicate (Member # 25) on :

Yeah, I saw that - Hague was the one on the right but people can be forgiven for not being able to tell the difference. Hague does have the ability to get himself into these disasterous photo opportunities doesn't he - the one with the antlers, the one where he's on a theme park ride with that cap - he's an arsehole!

As for Europe and the single currency, bring it on. All these people argue that we shouldn't go in because so many people fought and died in World War 2 to preserve Britain's sovereignty. WRONG! They fought against bigotry and oppression in the form of Hitler. And 56 years later, what do we have, a majority of Brits being bigoted against other Europeans - how sweet - I'm sure their parents and grandparents who perished will be very proud of them!

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The Worlds Ten Greatest 'Fucks' #10

Where's all that fucking water coming from? - Captain of Titanic

Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :

I wonder about the whole bigotry and oppression thing - that they were fighting against it. Most of them felt about Germany the way their children and grandchildren do. They never had a say in going to war against Germany, they just went along with it. It wasn't anything personal as such, in those days they were used to going to war every 20 or 30 years anyway. The upper class for the most part thought "Herr Hitler" was doing a sterling job over there.

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Phasers

Posted by Orion Syndicate (Member # 25) on :

They were fighting for the British cause, and the British cause was to fight the bigotry and oppression of Hitler towards Europe. It soon became the allied cause but people still went to fight.

I'm not quite so sure about whether people really went to protect British sovereignty. Hitler didn't want to fight Britain because he considered the Brits part of the Aryan ideal and he wanted to be friends - that could also have something to do with the fact that Britain was a major threat to his plans of lebensraum and expansionism across the globe.

Besides, I think there must have been a personal cause there, if not at first, then definitely later on as they realised the true atrocities of war.

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The Worlds Ten Greatest 'Fucks' #10

Where's all that fucking water coming from? - Captain of Titanic

[This message has been edited by Orion Syndicate (edited May 22, 2001).]

Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :

Do remember that until, what, 1914? the House of Windsor went by their traditional Germanic name. That might have had something t'do with it, too.

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"'I don't CARE who started it, I'm tired, and I WANT QUIET!!!!! Or I'm going to come up there and flatten the BOTH of you!' And he meant it. And we'd stop. Or he would." --Foreign policy as laid down by First of Two's dad

[This message has been edited by Shik (edited May 22, 2001).]

Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :

Um, that WWI thing sorta did it, actually...

Back on topic:

Blair's earned the right to win. He is, simply put, a good politician. He could have dick for ideas and policies, and yet he'd still be able to convince you he's smart and knows what he's doing. He came to Canada a few months ago and addressed our Parliament and sort of wowed everyone in that his address was coherent and interesting, unlike the majority of our political speeches out here.

Besides, we need a strong third-wayist on the international scene now that we've lost Clinton...

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"And as it is, it is cheaper than drinking."
-DT on arguing with Omega, April 30

Posted by akb1979 (Member # 557) on :

Politics - I hate it, they all talk a load of bollocks!
John Prescott's attacker is probably gonna get charged with assault - HE'S GONNA GET CHARGED!? Erm, pardon me but it was that tosser Prescott who assaulted him. Havin' eggs thrown in the face is part of being a politian. If Prescott can't hack it, he shouldn't be in the job. He is a thug.

As for joining the Euro - technically we can still be a part of it all and still keep the Sterling pound. How? Simple, we match interest rates as well as all other economic conditions as another country has done (I've forgotten which). This solution can keep everyone happy.

I guess Blair has done OK, but he really needs to get rid of tossers like Prescott. It doesn't really matter who's in charge, the real people who run the country from behind the scenes will still be there regardless of whether our PM is Blair or Hague. Just vote for the one who looks tough and sound like he knows what he's talking about!

Posted by Orion Syndicate (Member # 25) on :

No-one's getting charged - the charges have been dropped. That Welsh git got what was coming to him anyway - it shows that Prescott is actually human. Someone throws something at you in the middle of a crowded area, you're a politician, you'd probably assume the worst which is why Prescott tried to defend himself. All power to him! Did you see the look on that guys face when he pelted Prescott with the egg? He honestly didn't expect that Prescott was going to hit him, which made it even more sweet.

And yes, technically we can be part of the Euro and still keep the pound, but there's the HUGE problem of the exchange rate which at current levels would be disasterous for British industry. Sterling is very strong against the Euro at the moment which means that British manufacturing is losing out to continental competition. Remember Nissan and Corus who had to shed so many jobs because of the strength of Sterling? Nissan only stayed because they expect Britain to join the Euro in the next few years. The other country you were talking about may have been Denmark, but since their main export is probably Bacon, they aren't going to be affected by the Euro as much as us, as we still have a large manufacturing base which will become uncompetitive if we don't join. If we don't join, they'll be going to mainland Europe along with many other key firms. Anyway, the proposal for the Euro is precisely because exchange rate risk for trade between European countries would be eliminated, and we could therefore be more competitive against foreign (non European)competitors. This isn't 1945 any more, globalisation means that no country can truly govern themselves any more - we're all at the mercy of economic forces which means that any measure to reduce the effect of these economic forces can only be a good thing for the economy. The European trade bloc will be a good thing, and if the British people actually stop believing the bullshit that William Hague and the UK Independence Party are feeding them, the referendum can support joining and we can then move on with making Europe more competitive against other trade blocs and better supporting our citizens.

EURO! EURO! EURO!

Shik: Yeah, King Edward VII changed the name from Saxe Coburg-Gotha to Windsor because of World War 1. Kaiser Wilhelm II also had this love hate relationship with Britain because he was Queen Victoria's nephew and enjoyed the pageantry of British upper class life, but was also jealous of our military strength at the time. As I said earlier, Hitler didn't want to fight us because of the Aryan thing and probably due to our military strength. I'm not sure how much the royal family had to do with it. He did entertain King Edward VIII/Duke of Windsor quite a lot, but that was usually just to get him drunk so that the Nazis could get some information out of him.
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The Worlds Ten Greatest 'Fucks' #10

Where's all that fucking water coming from? - Captain of Titanic

[This message has been edited by Orion Syndicate (edited May 23, 2001).]

Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :

"He did entertain King Edward VIII/Duke of Windsor quite a lot, but that was usually just to get him drunk so that the Nazis could get some information out of him."

And thus the insidious plot to place a double agent in the Palace in the form of the Queen Mum's knickers was born...

Posted by akb1979 (Member # 557) on :

Thanks Orion Syndicate, I knew that someone here would know more details than I would. But it just goes to show that I was paying some attention in my Financial Markets and Services lectures!

We do still have one major British export - the Mini! When my friend saw the new model his first comment was "What a bag of wank!". To be honest, it looks like a cross between a Mini and a Beatle - CRAP in other words. And yes he is a Mini freak, check out his site at: www.mini-mag.net (if you like Mini's that is, otherwise stay clear).

Posted by Orion Syndicate (Member # 25) on :

Financial Markets and Services eh? I stayed well clear of that one, and being the massochist that I am decided to study an Investment Management module - oh to have the module choices again.

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The Worlds Ten Greatest 'Fucks' #10

Where's all that fucking water coming from? - Captain of Titanic

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

My word, what a boring election we're going to have.

Since it'll be my final week of halls residence, I'm staying up for all the votes. Does anyone know a good drinking game to play to the votes? Because basing them on how much either the Tories or Labour win will result in either

a/ about one drink every 3 seconds
or
b/ about one drink for the whole evening.

I don't really want to drink for the Tories winning anything, but I think I'd die if I tried to support Labour.

Posted by Orion Syndicate (Member # 25) on :

You could drink according to how many times Peter Snow makes a tit of himself on TV.

How many decent looking 'Blairs Babes' get elected. Although judging from the last lot, you'd be drinking less that if you did the Tory winning game.

Or you could drink 10(or was it 18) pints to honour William Hague's reign as leader because after the election, he won't be able to come out with stuff like that again.

Alright, they're not very good but it is difficult to come up with an election drinking game. Failing a good drinking game, just go out and get laid!

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The Worlds Ten Greatest 'Fucks' #10

Where's all that fucking water coming from? - Captain of Titanic

[This message has been edited by Orion Syndicate (edited May 25, 2001).]