Election For Cannabis

[Embryo]

@@JimmyPage my post was about not being myopic.

And I do think parties policies on cannabis are irrelevant because I firmly believe that change isn't coming to our shores anytime soon.

Edited May 12, 2014 by Embryo

[GreenVision]

From what I have been reading it seems to me that the 3 main parties focus soley on Tax issues, and If I understand correctly the Conservative are almost reasonable from a business point of view.

However they seem to show no interest in this country's unbelieveable justice issues, and in fact want to make the sentences for smaller crimes harsher.

The labour party is taking my eye as they are a little more easy on tax from a smaller income point of view, and are apparently more interested in crime issues by preventing and reforming.

I cant work LibDem's out, they seem to just stand back and wait then put themselves in the middle.

Have I understood any of this right or am I well off ?

Edited May 12, 2014 by GreenVision

[JimmyPage]

From what I have been reading it seems to me that the 3 main parties focus soley on Tax issues, and If I understand correctly the Conservative are almost reasonable from a business point of view.

However they seem to show no interest in this country's unbelieveable justice issues, and in fact want to make the sentences for smaller crimes harsher.

The labour party is taking my eye as they are a little more easy on tax from a smaller income point of view, and are apparently more interested in crime issues by preventing and reforming.

I cant work LibDem's out, they seem to just stand back and wait then put themselves in the middle.

Have I understood any of this right or am I well off ?

You can only bring your own views to the party

I suggest you ignore everything *all* political parties say. It's irrelevant. Instead, look at the people who support them. That should give you a much better idea of what they are really about.

You could also do worse than look at the track record of the parties. Ignore what they say, look at what they've done.

The bottom line (for me) is that fundamentally, the Tories despise anything that the state does - they believe it should all be done by private companies, so people can make profits. Basically it's a return to the values of Victorian Britain. A Britain where being disabled was the only crime worse than being poor. A Britain where the governments job, ABOVE ALL ELSE was to protect the wealth and privilege of the few. Their hatred of Europe (bear in mind nearly all wealthy Tories will have second homes somewhere in Europe) derives from the belief that there is a socialist agenda to Johnny Foreigner, to side with the working masses, and actually suggest that the very few wealthy might want to do a bit to help the least wealthy.

London has more billionaires than any other city on earth. If they were to donate one THOUSANDth of their wealth (that's at least £1,000,000) each, you could eradicate homelessness, not just in London, but the whole of the UK. Yet I still had to put a pound in a homeless guys cup yesterday.

Not really sure what Labour really believe in. But they acted like Tories last time they were let near power, and I can't see anything to suggest they won't do so again. As to your point about Labour and crime ... well this is the party that completely ignored the recommendation of the ACMD, and sacked it's chairman when he pointed out they were ignoring evidence, just so they could out-tough the Tories and increase the penalties for cannabis offences. Judge them by what they did, not what they promise. See ?

Historically, LibDems were truly an anti-Tory party. If you know your history[1], The Tories came about as they opposed any relaxation of the UKs anti-catholic laws (Catholics could not hold certain jobs, and were restricted in society). Whereas the Whigs wanted to see a liberalisation (hence "Liberal") of the laws. The tories tended to be from the landed gentry. However, it was still two old Etonians thrashing it out, and the working classes started realising they weren't being represented. Hence Labour replacing the Liberals as the opposition. However, it's my opinion, that in a stunning long-game (although it maybe wasn't planned) Labour became infiltrated by people who pulled it into the realms of lunacy (discussions about blackboards, and having a stance on Israel spring to mind) far detached from the pressing needs of the people being shat on by the man. Eventually you got the likes of Blair leading Labour. Blair. A fucking barrister. Made it easier to carry on Thatcherite union bashing.

The UK political system is designed for a two-party hegemony. Which is why it's fucked. In the mysterious absence of PR (and the fact that Labour couldn't get into bed fast enough with the Tories to oppose it should have told you something) then the next-best way to weaken any future government is to ensure it gets the lowest possible vote. And the best way to do that is to NOT vote Lab/Lib/Con. Anything (even UKIP) but.

If we get to a situation, for example, where Cameron gets a majority in the house of commons, but only 10% or less of the vote, then it would be entirely appropriate to question the legitimacy of such a government.

[HEAVY_SMOKER]

I WAS BAFFLING

Edited May 12, 2014 by HEAVY_SMOKER

[GreenVision]

@@JimmyPage

So the parties are not in any way obliged to carry out the will's and wont's they speak off before a General Election ?

I definately understand you point on the Tories, in fact reading over the day about each party I got a sense of almost everything you have said about the Tories.

As for Labour, was it the party or Blair himself ? Could a new party leader not bring anything to the table. I cant help but laugh every time I see ED', but surely one party must stand out as being better than the others, and like I said in an earlier post the Labour party has caught my eye. If there is such a thing a second in a general election, I know it doesn't quite work that way with elections, then Labour got the silver didn't they ?

To be honest, I have read about the various parties, what I can in a day, which isn't enough I know, but the Green Party is not what I would call "today" unfortunately.

So I am left with the main 3. And the more I read and learn the more it becomes clear they are 97% identical in the way the operate the things that matter to the average person. So Labour has maybe a single point above the others for me if what I am reding is acurate.

Also, did the down grading of cannabis to 'Class C' not happen durin the "Blair Reign" ?

If I'm honest, I wanted to find a party to support in this thread, but i think I would rather not vote because it doesn't matter anyway.

[mad elf]

i will be drawing a spurting cock and balls on my ballot paper.

the trouble with ed analbeed, is that he thinks watered down tory policies are gonna win him support, but no one likes watered down tory policies, neither tory supporters or socialists. the labour party needs to throw caution to the wind, get shut of analbeed, balls and co, and become a real socialist party again. either that or the unions sever links and create a new socialist party.

[HEAVY_SMOKER]

uk420 party here we go

[Guest]

Since it is the EU elections and all votes count I'll be voting Green.

Without campaign finance reform and media restrictions how can any election be fair anyway? Our system of 'democracy' in the UK is totally fucked and that is how the big 2 parties like it.

In elections like these it is a rare chance to allow your vote to count. Please do not waste it.

[JimmyPage]

@@JimmyPage

So the parties are not in any way obliged to carry out the will's and wont's they speak off before a General Election ?

I definately understand you point on the Tories, in fact reading over the day about each party I got a sense of almost everything you have said about the Tories.

As for Labour, was it the party or Blair himself ? Could a new party leader not bring anything to the table. I cant help but laugh every time I see ED', but surely one party must stand out as being better than the others, and like I said in an earlier post the Labour party has caught my eye. If there is such a thing a second in a general election, I know it doesn't quite work that way with elections, then Labour got the silver didn't they ?

To be honest, I have read about the various parties, what I can in a day, which isn't enough I know, but the Green Party is not what I would call "today" unfortunately.

So I am left with the main 3. And the more I read and learn the more it becomes clear they are 97% identical in the way the operate the things that matter to the average person. So Labour has maybe a single point above the others for me if what I am reding is acurate.

Also, did the down grading of cannabis to 'Class C' not happen durin the "Blair Reign" ?

If I'm honest, I wanted to find a party to support in this thread, but i think I would rather not vote because it doesn't matter anyway.

Once a party is in power, they can do wtf they like, as long as a majority in the HoC votes it through. It's a tradition that if a government is defeated on a manifesto policy, they resign, and call an election. But you couldn't make them. Very few people actually read manifestos anyway. Politicians know this, and will sneakily talk of "policies" in campaigns. However lots of "policies" don't find their way into the manifesto. A good example of that is the [in]famous "EU referendum". Lots of people *thought* the Tories had promised one in their manifesto. They hadn't. Just talked about it a lot.

Regarding Labour, the problem isn't just the leader. It's the entire apparatus that got him there. Remember I said the infiltration was a long game ? It took decades to replaced the old-style socialist labour with the 1990s champagne socialists of the Blairs acquaintances.

e2a: You're spot on, the B->C "regrade" of cannabis did happen under Blair. However (as was typical of nuLabour) it was a bit of smoke and mirrors, since at the same time they upped the penalties for Class C to be the same as Class B used to be.

Please try to vote. The more people who don't vote, means WHOEVER gets in knows that's that many more people who they can ignore. Look at pensioners. Why do you think they are exempt from the Bedroom tax ? Because a fuck of a lot more pensioners vote than unemployed single mums. And there's more of them. When a million people marched through London, to stop the war, the government looked at them, worked out most of them didn't vote, or didn't vote Labour, and decided they could ignore them. Quite correctly as it turns out, since they were re elected in 2005.

Edited May 12, 2014 by JimmyPage

[GreenVision]

@@JimmyPage

To be honest I was unawre they did change the laws sourrounding the punishment of Class C at the time.

I would love to vote, in both the local and general. I will see what I pick up over the next week or so.

With the Green Party, i know alot of members on the site like them and I do agree with 99% of the polocies, but can a party like this ever run a country ? It seems they are very one sided in the approach they take, I really do like the sound of the Green Party, and in a perfect terror free world they would get my vote outright.

But in the world we live in I cant see the Green Party getting a serious notice from the masses in the UK due to their inability to mention more pressing issues like tax & welfare etc as they do the more "Green" side of their ideals. Which is a shame as they sound like they have alot of very good ideas for everyone.

Edited May 12, 2014 by GreenVision

[JimmyPage]

@@JimmyPage

To be honest I was unawre they did change the laws sourrounding the punishmentfor Class C at the time.

Nor did anyone else. It was hardly discussed.

[sam-i-am]

With the Green Party, i know alot of members on the site like them and I do agree with 99% of the polocies, but can a party like this ever run a country ?

In the long run they would be much better at running the country on the basis that the others could well leave us with a planet unable to sustain human life and being alive is an essential prerequisite for running a country.

[JimmyPage]

@@JimmyPage

To be honest I was unawre they did change the laws sourrounding the punishmentfor Class C at the time.

I would love to vote, in both the local and general. I will see what I pick up over the next week or so.

With the Green Party, i know alot of members on the site like them and I do agree with 99% of the polocies, but can a perty like this ever run a country ? It seems they are very one sided in the approach they take, I really do like the sound of the Green Party, and in a perfect terror free world the3y would get my vote outright.

But in the world we live in I cant see the Green Party getting a serious notice from the masses in the UK due to their inability to mention more pressing issues like tax & welfare etc as they do the more "Green" side of their ideals. Which is a shame as they sound like they have alot of very good ideas for everyone.

Well, I am voting Green. I'm in my mid 40s, and they cannot possibly fuck up any worse than any of the other governments I've had to endure. Over the years, not once has the candidate I have voted for got in. So measured by that, it makes no difference if I vote Green and they don't get it - it'll hardly be a shock.

My sincere hope is that we are moving - whether the big parties like it or not (they don't which is why they conned the public into voting against PR) - towards a future where no single party can hold power. At that point we'll see deals being done, and a more pick-n-mix approach to policies.

[JimmyPage]

In the long run they would be much better at running the country on the basis that the others could well leave us with a planet unable to sustain human life and being alive is an essential prerequisite for running a country.

I don't think there's any one party that would be best-suited to government. We need a blend.

[sam-i-am]

I don't think there's any one party that would be best-suited to government. We need a blend.

I agree but the greens seem to be the only party that are serious about the giant elephant in the room that is ecocide. The rest just seem to talk shit about the movement of small green pieces of paper.

“This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movement of small green pieces of paper, which was odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.”

― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy