National Elections 2010 - Debate

[Vicky]

Lib dems released there manifesto today.

 

Sure do like there policies for moving the income tax allowance up to £10,000 getting rid of the trident submarines and they by far have the best plan for cleaning up the corruption in parliament....

 

I don't think any of the parties will help us locally though.

Still haven't recieved a reply from ANY of the candidates. Asked them all to clarify there stance and what they'd do if elected on a number of local issues (Viking, total, councillor corruption, whalsay tunnel etc)

[Gorgonzola Butt-cheese]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/6198708/EU-costs-Britain-118bn-a-year.html

 

Vote libdem for more of the above......

[Guest Anonymous]

vote lib dem to keep Carmichael, pretty damn good spokesman , couldnt give a toss about the lairds boy tho

[Styumpie]

Getting rid of that 118b millstone would nearly deal with the deficit, we are gluttons for punishment.

[JAStewart]

I don't really know who is coming off best thus far in the debate.

 

Clegg seems to be looking into the camera more than the crowd.

[Spinner72]

I don't really know who is coming off best thus far in the debate.

 

Clegg seems to be looking into the camera more than the crowd.

 

I thought Clegg came off very well and easily the best in that particular debate. He was definitely paying more attention to the TV presentation aspect than the others and played on the "same old two" aspect of Brown and Cameron particularly well.

 

Brown was as expected, better than he has been but a long way to go in that environment. Detailed answers and figures, no matter how accurate or informative, don't translate well to the casual viewer, especially with only 60 seconds per reply.

 

Cameron just looked out of place to me, not ready, and not close to the same level as the other two, and put his party across as the same. Plenty of rehersed waffle but no real answers. Somewhat of a relief to me as my current position is best described as "not tory"

 

 

Most entertaining moment of the nights political TV however is the woman who just forgot the question she was going to ask on Question Time

[shetlandpeat]

I thought Clegg was a bit rude in not talking directly to the person who asked the question or the audience. The other two addressed the auditorium, not the TeeVee masses.

The funny parts were that Cameron questioned the 6 billion Brown mentioned, then the next question, quoted 6 billion to push his policies.

Another was the removal of some quangos, but to create more to allow move oportunities to sack your MP, who will manage that? A quango.

The trouble is, Labour have done some good things, the other two can only promise, but to remove billions of pounds out of the economy while it is still struggling to level out is like removing a plaster from a broken leg that has not healed yet. Many questions were ignored with the answers and the host did seem to struggle at times to control them.

It was a first, on the whole, Brown came out on top I think, this due to his experience and intimate knowledge. Now, if the Liberals had Vince Cable there, the whole thing would have been so much more interesting.

I was upset a little that Clegg did not want to confirm some of the support for some of Labours policies that they had given in sessions.

If the Tories get in it will mean job losses, their refusal to note that they did try this before, and it was not too good.

 

Still open, two to go.

[unlinkedstudent]

^^ Shetlandpete, you say that there will be job cuts if the Tories get in. Whilst Gordon Brown states that frontline services will be protected, Darling has stated that the cuts will be tougher and more severe than under Thatcher.

 

My own personal view is that regardless of what party gets in (or all three), there will be cuts which, in turn, will lead to job cuts. In addition, has anybody read the Budget Speech that was prepared by my old MP in East London (Stephen Timms) - housing benefit is to be reformed but to date, I haven't heard any details of how Labour propose to do this.

[Spinner72]

I was upset a little that Clegg did not want to confirm some of the support for some of Labours policies that they had given in sessions.

 

I think Brown may have played him on that, by constantly mentioning the subjects the parties agreed on he pushed Clegg into a position where it was awkward to promote "change" if at the same time agreeing with Labour's policies.

 

If anything, thats what he needs to do in future, after all, there is nothing wrong with saying that they will continue with the things Labour are doing right.

 

It will certainly be interesting to watch the dynamics change as the debates roll on.

 

Anyone else find the random mentioning of Bulgaria's cancer statistics a bit of a "what??" moment?

[Styles]

Bulgaria was mentioned as it was in the newspapers a few weeks ago them going on what a disgrace it was when we spend so much more money. Which i guess it is.

[shetlandpeat]

There are job cuts now, where I work. The policy is not to take on 1 in 5 vacancies, and wait 12 months for some upper management posts.

There are also redundancies, not forced but offered. From what I know, 4 at my work have done this, an annual saving of 250,000 pounds plus the cost of their employment ie admin, training, expenses and so on.

From my experience when jobs had to be cut during the depression with the Tories in power there were some ruthless tactics involved. There is no cut and drop, folk are offered other employment if available, retraining, of which, because it is adult education the government have to finance.

I also worry about a cap on immigration. This could be detrimental to the countries prosperity. You cannot tell a top class cancer reasearch specialist they cannot come here cos the numbers ar up and they would have to wait for some one to leave the country.

In the service I work for we have found new ways to maintain jobs and pay for them. I work in the commercial side of a local authority, we have to make our own money via tendering etc, but we finance other frontline services like travel care, the transport of service users. We do not get a budget.

There are always ways to cut costs without the use of a hatchet. The truth be known, we don't know what may really happen because you need to submit figures to the system to work it out, and it will always change as time goes on.

Our local council got in by promising not to raise council tax. So, our council are struggling, moral is lessening and good folk are thinking of leaving. We have a Tory controlled council. I feel Labour and the Liberals have moved on, evolved into something they were not a few years ago. I feel the Tories have the same attitudes at heart, as Thatchers children, they seem to still be hanging on to the apron hem.

But, the Shetland story involves the Scottish parties as well as those south.

[JAStewart]

David Cameron should stop using his dead kid to try to get sympathy/show he supports the NHS.

 

Also, he commented "When I was using the NHS I got great service blah blah blah" well that is because you are who you are! I'm willing to bet if me and Chris Hoy had the same accident and were arriving at the same hospital he'd be treated faster/better because.. well he's Chris Hoy.

[shetlandpeat]

He may have got better treated and looked after because of what the Government has done to improve the Health Service from the Tory Boy years. Perhaps...

[Gorgonzola Butt-cheese]

An excellent article from this journalist :-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2010/apr/17/general-election-2010-leaders-debates

 

Many of the readers comments hit the nail on the head too .

[Gorgonzola Butt-cheese]

Quote from the Share Crazy newlaetter today:

 

'Let's start with a little quiz based on the TV debate where the Lib Dem leader Mr Clegg made such a play on how his party was not part of the expenses scandal - it is different from the other two. So, as Saint Nick is lauded as the clean face of British politics, your four questions are:

 

1. Which party leader used, when an MEP, to travel to Brussels on a standard class fare while claiming First class on expenses? Hint: You the taxpayer have also paid for a new rose garden and garden path at this man's second home as well as for paper napkins, a cake pan, a brand new kitchen, cushions, and the list goes on. These are all vital items needed to perform ones duties as an MP natch.

 

2. Which party leader did, in fact, have material numbers (in percentage terms) of his MPs forced to pay back money wrongly claimed but unlike the other 2 party leaders allowed all his guilty men and women to stand again instead of culling the worst culprits? Hint: The party leader was among those who repaid certain dodgy claims (international phone calls) himself.

 

3.Which party leader (with a household salary of c200,000 pounds a year) made great play of how he was sharing the pain of the ordinary man during the credit crunch by downgrading his shopping from Waitrose to Sainsbury, but then claimed up to 400 quid a month back from the taxpayer for food on expenses to cover his bills anyway? Hint: It is the thinnest of the three.

 

4. Which party had most of its last election funded by money which it acknowledges was stolen and was donated by a convicted fraudster (Michael Brown) and which it has refused to repay a penny of?'