Interesting times - potentially

Find me a “democratic” country that doesn’t have the same problems as us please. :popcorn:

Exactly.

And until we recognise that we have a problem we will never find the solution. Thats half the battle.
Iceland gave it a good bash (funny how you never read about that in the mainstream media). Its too outdated and broken. Its 2015 not 1915.

Until people realise we need change and stand up nothing will happen. We will plod along in this illusion playing happy families. Blinkered by fear, conformity and laziness.

Governments should be scared of their People. Not the other way round.

Oh right, I thought you had a plan and country in mind. Instead you’re waffling.

Great comeback you toilet. Its people with attitudes like yours that the NHS, Military and Politics are a total state.
“This is the way its always been”
“My family always voted labour/Tories/equal idiots”

Theres.only so much you can polish this turd of a political system. But in the end its still a turd.

I just gave an example. Iceland. Which is leaning back to old school parties and to the right because this left wing crap doesnt wash!

There are far more qualified and intelligent people than me that could come up with a decent system.

I have a pretty simple and basic idea if you would like to hear it?

A system of proportional representation is commonly touted by parties and individuals who enjoy having a little whinge at the way things are without actually closely analysing what it would bring to the country.

Indeed, a system where there is no such thing as a ‘wasted vote’ is very appealing, but the disadvantages of PR are clear. MPs represent local constituencies in the current system and this encourages a clear focus to engage with local issues such that votes are secured; PR weakens this local degree of accountability between the electorate and their representatives. Additionally, PR would most likely result in the need to form coalition governments which are widely accepted as being weak, failing to get anything done as the internal ‘bickering’ (which you list as one of your gripes) would likely intensify and impede any accountable progress. There are further disadvantages, but these two are perhaps the most major.

First Past the Post is not perfect, but it’s likely the closest we can be to it.

I’d like to hear your idea, I’ve flirted with electoral reform studies for the past few years on my degree course.

I wonder if some of the strong parties in countries where they have PR or other multi-vote electoral systems and have to go into coalitions, secretly desire FPTP.
I have no idea how people go into a ballot box and think who would I like to come second. Faced with that choice all the “Freedom for Accacia Avenue” type parties would be getting a cross in the box. I couldn’t hand on heart vote Labour, LD or in the current time UKIP.

I do find Sturgeon an odd one. The Conservatives have said they will give full fiscal control to Scotland and Sturgeon turns round as says it’s not enough. Currently the Scottish Parliament are effectvely like kids living at home spending their money (Barnett handout) as they see fit as they know mum/dad (Westminster) do all the serious stuff. Once they leave home and have to use their money to pay all the bills that come with independence, things will be a lot different. This is IMO why despite all the drum banging about independence last year, the Scots voted to stay in The Union as ordinary people (and I suspect the SNP grandees) knew it would be an expensive move. In the next Scottish inpendence vote, the whole UK should be able to vote, given it affects the whole of the UK and not just Scotland.

Great comeback you toilet. Its people with attitudes like yours that the NHS, Military and Politics are a total state.
“This is the way its always been”
“My family always voted labour/Tories/equal idiots”

Theres.only so much you can polish this turd of a political system. But in the end its still a turd.

I just gave an example. Iceland. Which is leaning back to old school parties and to the right because this left wing crap doesnt wash!

There are far more qualified and intelligent people than me that could come up with a decent system.

I have a pretty simple and basic idea if you would like to hear it?[/quote]

Top bants fella. Well done.

So you plan to emigrate to Iceland? You said you planned to emigrate, it’s a simple question, where to?

The SNP are skating on thin ice with regards to fiscal independence from the UK - they worked out their independence case based (simplistically) primarily on revenue from “Scottish” oil.

Ah, since then, the price has dropped & there would be a large hole in their financial planning…several billions worth! :blink:

[quote=“MikeJenvey” post=24860]The SNP are skating on thin ice with regards to fiscal independence from the UK - they worked out their independence case based (simplistically) primarily on revenue from “Scottish” oil.

Ah, since then, the price has dropped & there would be a large hole in their financial planning…several billions worth! :blink:[/quote]

The whole white paper was a joke. It was just a fairytale list of everything they wanted with no plan. Then the “wee blue book” turned up which was just absolute garbage. The SNP manifesto and indeed the arguments on independence were just a pack of lies.
The SNP made all their assumptions based on a Price of oil of $125 a barrel (If I remember correctly) it fell to $45 in the past year, and is only just crawling up to $65 a barrel at the moment. (due to certain big companies in the middle east trying to force out American fracking companies, and russia).
They tried to use the NHS as a tool of manipulation, despite the fact that the Scottish NHS (which is a complete bag of excrement as it is) was fully devolved to the Scottish Government in 1999 and the reason why its crap is not because of the “English” but because of Sturgeon.
The new hollyrood building cost £144 Million. So much for Sturgeons “oh but food banks…blahblah english blah blah”

The SNP are nothing but a bunch of ignorant, english hating, left wing hippie, braveheart watching, bigotted idiots living hundreds of years too late.
The violence and intimidation towards people who dared say they voted no was horrendous. Truly appalling. All the independence is really about is 2 fingers to the English.

And theres a few places I would rather immigrate too. I gave an example of a Countrt thats trying to stand up for itself and make change, make a difference.
If you want a list of places I would rather immigrate too:
Israel
Austrailia
Albania
USA
Canada
New Zealand

Or my personal Favourite Antartica.

Interesting list, good job none of those countries have exactly the same social and economic problems we have, nor fringe SNP style lunatic parties.

This is a warning for people to not get personal and to watch their language. I will remove posts if it happens again.

Herein lies one of the problems with N Sea oil, it’s too small in reserve terms to ever be a player like the MIddle East and so on and therefore as said if they step up production the price drops like a stone, notwithstanding the usual suppy/demand scenario, I can imagine that the drop in barrel price, affected the British government’s financial planning, but not to the same extent I imagine it would a Scottish only plan.
The SNP has it all to lose. Their entire manifesto revolved around propping up a minority Labour govt in Westminster and I can’t believe the majority of the Scottish population are that naive to believe the vitriolic anti English (or more correctly anti Conservative rhetoric) the SNP leadership spouts. They are effectively toothless and clawless and will have to keep this up and it will get increasingly tiresome and you can see a loss of seats in 2020.
Mind you the woman from Plaid Cymru is just as bad, stating the Conservatives have no mandate in Wales, err Lab 25 MPs, Con 11 MPs and PC 3 MPs, my maths would suggest PC don’t have a mandate in Wales. Why are nationalists so blinkered, delusional or just plain daft? I remember a few years ago Nick Griffen from the BNP getting air time, the bloke was clearly off his chump.

Agreed. The North Sea fields are incredibly old and difficult to produce. And extremely expensive to run and maintain. (Keep your eyes on Africa when the price gets back up. Which China is getting amongst aswell…)
Aberdeen is being smashed right now because of it. So many people made redundant, lost jobs, refused retirment packages just up the creek because of this. Exploration and research has stopped, projects have been shelved and some big players in the Oil have taken some monumental losses. Huge losses. And it has a knock on effect down from the Oil, Interestingly I spoke with a guy who is a salesman in a 2nd hand car garage, which seem to be the only people reaping benefits as people are trading in the Chelsea tractors for smaller efficient cars.

We are at crunch point. We need to realise the oil is outdated(is that the right word?) and not a surefire industry.
Renewables is the way forward. We messed up by not following Norway with an Oilfund but we could claw it back. (Why isnt it a law that all new build housing/office must have Solar Panels?)
And why not combine wind, hydro/wave, and solar and push these units out to sea?
(I remember reading an article actually about Wind turbines being practically useless and having severe adverse effects on wildlife and environment and that Austrailia is removing them all.
And apparently Scottish Birds of Prey populations has fallen drastically in 2003 since the introduction of a lot of turbines and hasnt been recorded since as the SNP want to ignore it and use it as manipulation, I read it in the shooting times and cant find the article…)

Interestingly enough the beloved Scottish trade of Whiskey is under threat from the Japanese aswell…

Just look at the areas with the Yes majority…Glasgow and Dundee… says it all really and the yes voters have the cheek to blame the OAPs and “fear” (only fear tactics and scaremongering I saw was from the SNP…)
Glasgow and Dundee also had the lowest turn out for the referendum…