I have touched on this before, but with the current fiasco I am wondering whether it really is worth spending time voting at the Euro election and the national ones next year?

If all the parties are as sleazy and uncaring as each other then what is gained by choosing one over another apart from the act of choosing?

Are there any thoughts on which current party is slightly better than another?

Also I am seeing more and more mentin of the BNP. They have put a flyer through my letterbox and I am seeing them on TV, however the media is going to pains to say how bad they are and it makes me wonder if that is because the media is the current patsy of Labour and the BNP is a genuine threat because they may offer more to the people than Labour? Are the BNP as bad as they say or not?

Any thoughts welcomed - I am just fed up with being fed dribbles of mis-information via my tv and in the papers.

RT

Elections are usually about choosing the lesser of the various evils. Even the most idealistic candidate can succumb to the temptations of power once elected.

But the next elections are for Europe and local councils, so nothing much to do with choosing a government. For the Europe election I will vote UKIP purely to register my objection to our membership. Not voting achieves nothing. It can't even be seen as a protest because you could have just forgotten or been stuck on the A1.

For my local council I choose the best individual. Most of our local candidates are independent.

I also got a BNP leaflet. It went straight in the bin. Fascism thrives in times of downturn and the BNP have links to some very dubious and openly Nazi groups around the world as the following link shows. Yes i have posted this link before but i make no excuses for posting it again.



www.hopenothate.org.uk/the-real-bnp/

I dont' think that the views of the BNP are anywhere near as bad as the media paint them. They always bring out the 'this is how hitler started' theories when they see any support gathering for the BNP. Wishing to cut down on immigration in order to save jobs and help the economy is a million miles away from exterminating jews to create a 'pure' society.

That said Nick Griffin is a nasty piece of work. What they need is a new reputable leader.

The BNP is indeed a powerful threat,to both main parties.However they are not an answer in my opinion,however nor are the 3 main parties either.
Unlike in national elections we have PR in these european one.Means you can protest vote,and it'll count.
The more pressure we put on our politicians the more they'll do the job we ask of them.

Interestingly, a BNP councillor here in Nottingham has been removed from office because she has not bothered to attend any council meetings in over 6 months.

For the local elections I shall be voting Lib Dem as they have a good record on local issues in my area, for example staunchly opposing a potentially disastrous housing development.

In the European elections I haven't decided between Lib Dem and Green yet. I need to read up on things.

No way would I ever vote for the BNP with their policy of creating a new class of "ethnic foreigners" (the BNP's term) for black or Asian people (even those born here). The BNP plans to encourage those "ethnic foreigners" to "return home" - errm, if you were born in this country and have always lived here where would they expect you to return to, exactly?

Also as the BNP is homophobic and I am a gay man, I'd be damn silly to vote for them anyway

People must vote. They must vote with whom they think is the best bet to sort out the issues.

I feel that despite all major parties being mired in sleaze if the Tory party under Cameron does well then at least he has the GUTS to challenge these things - I dont see class in society - I treat everyone the same and I have no problem with someone from Eton or Southwark Comprehensive running the UK as long as they are decent and as long as they are good leaders. That is why we employ them - and why we should vote for them.

The BNP only offers conflict. New Labour offer nothing as far as I can see because they have run out of ideas. UKIP are a single issue group as are the Greens and many of the minority parties. The Liberals seem to have some good ideas but at the end of the day if we want change in our current system a protest vote wont do - it needs to be to give the Tories a mandate to call a General Election OR our protest is a waste of time.

I agree with JC and BR that we should use our votes, whatever our views, that's what democracy is about.

BR wrote:
People must vote. They must vote with whom they think is the best bet to sort out the issues.

I feel that despite all major parties being mired in sleaze if the Tory party under Cameron does well then at least he has the GUTS to challenge these things - I dont see class in society - I treat everyone the same and I have no problem with someone from Eton or Southwark Comprehensive running the UK as long as they are decent and as long as they are good leaders. That is why we employ them - and why we should vote for them.

The BNP only offers conflict. New Labour offer nothing as far as I can see because they have run out of ideas. UKIP are a single issue group as are the Greens and many of the minority parties. The Liberals seem to have some good ideas but at the end of the day if we want change in our current system a protest vote wont do - it needs to be to give the Tories a mandate to call a General Election OR our protest is a waste of time.
As you claim the powerful few are running the planet what is the point of voting BR?

People should certainly turn up to exercise their democratic right. I wish all those who believe there is no party worthy of power would turn up to the polling booth and deliberately spoil their paper.

40% of votes spoilt would send a really powerful message that we are sick of the way we are treated in this country.

Well, thank you all for the thoughts. It was funny yesterday - me thinking about the vote and then two reporters from the Times ring on my bell and ask me about the same thing! Thankfully I had been doing some reading here and voiced a few thoughts. They asked me about who I was going to vote for and I said I was going to have to do some more research before deciding. It certainly is a very unsatisfactory situation. I read some more about the BNP and they sound a rather unsavoury gang - so no vote there.

Thank you again - you really helped with my unexpected Times interview.

The majority voted against Labour in this election but because they were split between 5 parties Labour won.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8062826.stm

If you aim is a protest or to get Labour out - which is certainly my aim because I am not a massive fan of any party - then you need to vote for the party who is most likely to beat Labour.

Otherwise vote with your heart. But the turnout for this election was 17% which means 83% of voters have no say in their local councillor which means that we could end up with a one party state if things get this bad across the UK.

good thread ReadyTeddy, you should post here again

this site is a great haven of free speech.

Well David, the Times asked me what I thought about the expenses business, who I would be voting for, what should be done in the future and has it changed who I voted for. I had just put in the first mouthfull of a really nice bit of spicy chicken but I gave it my best shot. They took my photo so I may appear in the paper. The reporter was v pretty too:P .


I have always voted Conservative, and I may well do so again. The other independent parties just don't seem to have it together and I am not even sure they want to run the UK...

On another point, although we are voting a party in, if fact what we are doing is voting a group of individuals in whom we know really nothing about. Names, yes, but not what they truly want from being in the party. It may be for reasons that are quite unrelated to actually wanting to lead the UK in the right direction if we but knew. People are more selfish and self-centered than you know.

TH

Sorry to reply to my own post, but the Times today has a two page spread with the article I was interviewed about. Quite good. My comments did appear and I am glad that I was not misquoted as is often the case.

RT

As Tony Hancock said in "The Election Candidate"

"I'm going to put a cross through all of them and write Get Knotted underneath"