Author Topic: Local Politics  (Read 174325 times)

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Offline Ian

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Re: Local Politics
« Reply #615 on: March 08, 2015, 09:37:14 am »
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I think it's totally wrong to blame Llandudno County Councillors

D'you mean those Llandudno councillors on CCBC?

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they couldn't stop or change anything, even if they tried.

They could stand up and be counted. Too many, it seems to me, are afraid of putting their heads above the parapet.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline norman08

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Re: Local Politics
« Reply #616 on: March 08, 2015, 10:47:18 am »
we have seven Llandudno councillors on ccbc and one has been the leader and is now the deputy ,not one of them is speaking up on our behalf .


Offline Blongb

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Re: Local Politics
« Reply #617 on: March 08, 2015, 12:42:39 pm »
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I think it's totally wrong to blame Llandudno County Councillors

D'you mean those Llandudno councillors on CCBC?
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Yes; with the exception of a Landudno Cabinet member.
Quot homines tot sententiae: suus cuique mos.
(There are as many opinions as there are people: each has his own view.)

Offline Bosun

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Re: Local Politics
« Reply #618 on: April 10, 2015, 05:57:11 pm »
I have just answered the front door at home to a man who asked for me by name. I said 'Yes' and he handed me a Labour party leaflet and began the patter... as I was cooking, a bit obvious I was busy, I had a tea towel in my hand, I had no intention of getting into a discussion but did not want to appear rude so I said 'Thank you, but just at the moment, no thanks' and I indicated the towel to show that I was busy, to which he replied 'well who do you vote for then?'
I replied 'That's actually private' to whereupon he snatched the leaflet back, turned and walked down the drive without another word.

Rude, belligerent and pompous.

Mike Priestly, you were on the other side of the road - he's one of yours. Undermines all the work that you have done locally.

Guess which party I definitely won't be voting for.
Being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. You may have been given a cactus, but you don't have to sit on it.

Offline SDQ

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Re: Local Politics
« Reply #619 on: April 10, 2015, 06:35:43 pm »
I have just answered the front door at home to a man who asked for me by name. I said 'Yes' and he handed me a Labour party leaflet and began the patter... as I was cooking, a bit obvious I was busy, I had a tea towel in my hand, I had no intention of getting into a discussion but did not want to appear rude so I said 'Thank you, but just at the moment, no thanks' and I indicated the towel to show that I was busy, to which he replied 'well who do you vote for then?'
I replied 'That's actually private' to whereupon he snatched the leaflet back, turned and walked down the drive without another word.

Rude, belligerent and pompous.

Mike Priestly, you were on the other side of the road - he's one of yours. Undermines all the work that you have done locally.

Guess which party I definitely won't be voting for.


I hope other people stick to politics when they cast their vote and not some silly misunderstanding on the doorstep. This is possibly the most important election in history as it could potentially change the face of British politics forever.
Valar Morghulis

Offline Fester

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Re: Local Politics
« Reply #620 on: April 10, 2015, 09:46:39 pm »
Not one of those prancing, pompous, self-important egotists deserves me to get off my backside and put a tick in their box.

I simply cannot endorse or support any of them.
Fester...
- Semper in Excretum, Sole Profundum Variat -

Offline Ian

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Re: Local Politics
« Reply #621 on: April 11, 2015, 08:49:04 am »
This is really more appropriate for National Politics but I agree with SDQ. This election is shaping up to be quite unlike any that has preceded it in my lifetime. Our absurd and essentially undemocratic system of 'First past the Post' has, for a long time, militated against genuine democratic representation. The truly obscene fact is that the two major parties are well aware of that, which is precisely why they 'hobbled' (or tried to hobble) the devolved nations with a form of PR; the voting system for both the WA and the Scottish Parliament was specifically designed to stop any one party from forming a majority.

Only the Lib Dems have consistently fought for PR and the lies and vicious rubbish that both the larger parties trotted out to sway the referendum their way in the early days of the coalition don't bear thinking about. But we might be seeing a change. As F suggests, the two main parties have lost the respect of the public in general. Tory MPs, in most cases, are utterly out of touch with most peoples' lives and their heartlands reflect that: the wealthy Home Counties and the South East, where even garden sheds require mortgages or the stockbroker belt of Wilmslow. Labour MPs, on the other hand, appear to have swung toward the left, started by the colossal error of electing the wrong brother, an unpleasant symptom of the Union block vote. 

I believe we need a change and we need to consider how that change should take place. Listening to their promises and evasions (not a lot new there, then) I find myself fatigued trying to work out exactly what they're promising. A good example is the NHS. The Tories have promised the £8bn that Simon Stevens claimed would be necessary for the NHS 'simply to stand still'. The LibDems have done the same and Labour hasn't - yet their shadow health spokesman this morning claimed the other parties were using 'fantasy money', while neatly declining to specify how much Labour would spend. But if there's one single, incontrovertible aspect of Government that every voter in the UK will need and does need, it's the NHS.

The NHS is the biggest employer in the UK, touches every aspect of everyone's life and yet is a political football, as well as being in hock to the insatiable appetite of 'Big Pharma', where the major drug companies have conspired time and time again to keep their prices high and extort the most they can from the NHS. A good example of that is Gaviscon.  In 2008 Newsnight identified the makers of Gaviscon as having attempted to delay the introduction of a generic and cheaper substitute thereby costing the NHS millions. Defended by many Tories, the company was later fined £10.2 million after they admitted it.

That's just one example, however, and one choice we have to make at the coming election is whether we want to live in a society governed by those who are themselves millionaires and who believe completely in the profit motive, or whether we want to live in a society that protects the weakest and most vulnerable and whose MPs are approachable, decent and honest.

I'm not at all sure if any one party can deliver that, because most MPs seem to be less than honourable from what we can tell, and once elected they seem to view Parliament - by and large - as a non-stop gravy train.

So this is a crucial election; it will determine life for us all for the next five years. There's a huge amount of goodwill in the UK and some amazing examples of community spirit. If we want those aspects to be encouraged and continue to thrive we have to use our votes carefully. Otherwise, I'm not sure we're not on the road towards a fragmented Union, where not only the Scots would have independence.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline DaveR

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Re: Local Politics
« Reply #622 on: April 11, 2015, 09:35:47 am »
General Election Candidates for Aberconwy:

Victor Babu Liberal Democrats
Guto Bebb Conservative Party
Petra Haig Green Party
Andrew Haigh UK Independence Party (UKIP)
Dafydd Meurig Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales
Mary Wimbury Labour Party

Offline Bosun

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Re: Local Politics
« Reply #623 on: April 11, 2015, 04:11:12 pm »
SDQ, my post was a tongue in cheek observation of the idiocy and pompousness of a canvasser, who when trying to suggest or persuade a course of action desirable to their party alienates the voter against them, irrespective of the merits of that party and I am certain that some people certainly do make their voting decision based on such a triviality, just as some will vote based on the like or dislike of the candidates tie.

Ian's erudite post cannot be faulted; a serious, thoughtful and well written post that should make people think and stimulate debate.

I have met numerous minor and senior politicians in my time and have only felt a few to have been sincere, John Major and Tony Benn spring to mind, but the majority have struck me as purely self-serving wholly in the manner described by Fester and so well portrayed as Alan B'stard.

Sadly, I feel that many people will, for good reason, empathise with Fester's feelings and I for one cannot blame them.     
Being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. You may have been given a cactus, but you don't have to sit on it.

Offline DaveR

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Re: Local Politics
« Reply #624 on: April 15, 2015, 05:42:03 pm »
I read this news article with a lack of any surprise. Mr Bebb is unworthy of being our MP, in my view. &shake&


A Conservative politician seeking re-election has been accused by the chairman of his local party of playing "mind games" and told he no longer has his support.

Guto Bebb was elected in Aberconwy in 2010, but in an e-mail is told by Garry Burchett he has "spent the last 18 months making excuses for you".

Mr Bebb called Mr Burchett an "idiot" and "a disgrace" in response.

The e-mails were leaked to the Golwg360 website and seen by BBC Wales.

The exchange started with an email in which Mr Bebb queried the lack of involvement in the election campaign by Mr Burchett, a former mayor of Llandudno.

Mr Burchett replied on Monday, saying: "I have spent the last 18 months making excuses for you not using the Welsh Conservative brand.

"Making excuses why you do not live in the constituency. Making excuses why you do not support your Assembly Member.

"In a nutshell. You have used the Conservative brand and the Aberconwy Conservative Association as a means to an end. You have only ever had one party in your heart. The 'Guto Bebb Party.'"

Mr Burchett added: "You most certainly DO NOT have my support as Chairman."

Mr Bebb responded by saying: "What an idiot you are. We pay (Conservative adviser) Lynton Crosby a million per year for advice.
"His advice to me was clear - sell yourself not the party. Do you know better? You are a disgrace."
Mr Burchett, Mr Bebb and the Welsh Conservatives have all declined to comment.

A full list of the candidates standing in Aberconwy can be found here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-wales-32321696

Offline Ian

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Re: Local Politics
« Reply #625 on: April 15, 2015, 06:23:19 pm »
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Mr Bebb responded by saying: "What an idiot you are. We pay (Conservative adviser) Lynton Crosby a million per year for advice. His advice to me was clear - sell yourself not the party."

Interesting.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline Merddin Emrys

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Re: Local Politics
« Reply #626 on: April 15, 2015, 07:20:39 pm »
Luckily we are not in the same constituency, we had David Jones mp and his wife going round our area last week, seems very pleasant! No other candidates have bothered to call so far!
A pigeon is for life not just Christmas

Offline Fester

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Re: Local Politics
« Reply #627 on: April 15, 2015, 08:48:55 pm »
They all SEEM very pleasant.... but they earn vast sums of money to SEEM pleasant, and achieve nothing.

The emergence of this email exchange just sums up how much time they spend bickering with each other, even within the same party!    Yet they still manage to wander around, SEEMING pleasant.    &shake& &shake&
Fester...
- Semper in Excretum, Sole Profundum Variat -

Offline Bri Roberts

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Re: Local Politics
« Reply #628 on: April 15, 2015, 09:46:16 pm »
Luckily we are not in the same constituency, we had David Jones mp and his wife going round our area last week, seems very pleasant! No other candidates have bothered to call so far!

Are these politicians allowed to knock on doors in a No Calling Zone?

Offline Jack

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Re: Local Politics
« Reply #629 on: April 15, 2015, 10:00:15 pm »
Luckily we are not in the same constituency, we had David Jones mp and his wife going round our area last week, seems very pleasant! No other candidates have bothered to call so far!

Are these politicians allowed to knock on doors in a No Calling Zone?

Yes!