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Voting (Read 21566 times)

Stubbs

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#50 Re: Voting
May 01, 2014, 10:42:53 pm
Write to your MP or councillor if you care about something local or national. Use the new internet lobby groups: the best example, 38 degrees, has given people power en masse that has been as influential as the big industrial, charity or union lobbies. So much so the conservative party want to change the law to try and block them.

I remember 38 Degree working well on the idiotic forest sell off ideas, but it seems to have been pretty ineffectual on any more core issues such as the NHS.  I am convinced the government will do whatever they want to no matter how many people write to them.

Is there a good way of working out who will be best to vote for in the Euro elections to stop UKIP getting seats? All the farmers around here seem to be dead keen on them, and they seem to be the only party to have done any campaigning in our area so far.

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#51 Re: Voting
May 04, 2014, 10:30:51 am
I get the regular 38 degrees postings and they seems to be on the right side of nearly every argument they engage with. They have repeat posts on the NHS (attack) and the lobbying bill (defence) and have shaken things up quite a bit with their lobbying in both these areas, I'd say the NHS has likely been the area they have affected most through intelligent directed argument, even though the effects are less obvious as it's huge and difficult, whereas forests were pretty much a no brainer with a clear outcome. Internet people power and the bulk effect of small donations can be huge, for instance they were a key reason Obama got elected. The more people get involved directly on issues, the more politicians have to be careful, and it's never been easier to do this: all the old methods still exist (surgeries, letters, rallies etc) but for the time pressed, Emailing and adding names to an e-petition is trivial.  In the end if the people disengage and just lazily vote for the latest protest party they are as much to blame for the state of politics in the UK as the politicians.

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#52 Re: Voting
May 07, 2014, 01:22:27 pm
The very latest from 38 degress:

"Some very, very good news. We did it! The government has accepted our amendment to the hospital closure clause in the House of Lords. [1]

Without our amendment the hospital closure clause would have given the government new powers to close any hospital in England, even if local doctors were against it.

The clause was voted through by MPs back in March, after the government made some concessions. Their changes didn’t go far enough, but it seemed like the government wouldn’t budge any further.

The clause was due to be passed today. So the government’s decision to accept - almost word for word - the changes proposed by lawyers funded by 38 Degrees members came right down to the wire - and it was a big surprise.

Our people powered pressure worked and our hospitals are now safer. Thank you for everything you’ve done to make this happen. Hurrah!

David Lock QC, an NHS expert lawyer, has checked the government’s changes and here’s what he said:
“This is a very satisfying outcome. It recognises the compelling logic of the position taken by 38 Degrees members.”

38 Degrees members, alongside others like the Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign, have been campaigning on this for months:
•   Over 150,000 of us signed a petition calling for the plans to be scrapped
•   After meeting with 38 Degrees members, Lib Dem MP and ex-health minister Paul Burstow tabled amendments to the clause. The government, fearing a rebellion from within its own ranks, made some concessions but they didn’t go far enough.
•   The campaign then moved to the House of Lords. Baroness Finlay, a well-respected doctor and influential crossbench peer, led the charge. 38 Degrees members funded briefings and advice from legal heavyweights and we wrote to peers. [2]

In the end, everything we did together - alongside other campaigners and parliamentarians like Baroness Finlay, Paul Burstow MP, Andy Burnham MP - worked. The government has made the changes that they needed to.

Regardless of what happened today, we’ve still got a huge amount to do to protect our NHS. But wins like this, especially on the NHS, don’t come along that often. Today gives us more proof that when we work together, we can achieve great things, and make the government sit up and listen. So for today, let’s celebrate.


Thanks for everything you do,

Becky, Blanche, Rachel, Ian, Rebecca, Maddy and the rest of the 38 Degrees team"

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#53 Re: Voting
May 07, 2014, 01:29:14 pm
Great news :2thumbsup:


This sort of campaigning is only loosely related to the act of voting though.  Voting determines who sits in a given parliament which in turn affects what 38degrees will therefore have to campaign for/against.

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#54 Re: Voting
May 08, 2014, 10:12:06 am
I agree its good news but on the second point I see politics more as the whole package: vote them in but even if your vote wasn't for the winner keep whoever did get in 'on their toes'. Most politicians in the UK are amazingly accessible and as most folk can't be arsed with the political process, individuals with well argued issues or ideas can have significant influence, way above that of a vote.

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#55 Re: Voting
May 08, 2014, 11:52:13 am
What he said. Voting really is the least you can do. It's very easy to do a lot more.

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#56 Re: Voting
May 08, 2014, 11:59:07 am
Yes, but I was thinking more along the lines of the discussion on voting itself rather than more general campaigning/engagement with politicians and other governing bodies.

There are multiple threads on the NHS from when Lansley was trying to get his ill-thought out bill through such as NHS petition and everyone loves a thread ressurection don't they?.

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#57 Re: Voting
May 08, 2014, 05:18:57 pm
In my defense, I suspect more than the respondent above was unaware of how much good 38 degrees have done fighting the various bills on this subject. We are often too busy climbing rocks and getting on with living our lives after all.

You know something is working when the government try and legislate against you. Too many politicians buy in to plebiscite theory where the voters should vote and then leave the representatives to do their job as they wish until the next vote comes. I want them held to a tighter contract than that.

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#58 Re: Voting
May 09, 2014, 08:15:05 pm
I haven't seen any party election broadcasts yet (perhaps when the fie is out and the lube is at hand) but it seems like Labour is indulging in some political self harm once again.  Happy days,

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#59 Re: Voting
May 09, 2014, 11:04:01 pm

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#60 Re: Voting
May 09, 2014, 11:17:22 pm
Some fantastic comments on that Telegraph blog btw including.....

"Nick Clegg seems to be a supporter of cruelty to animals, in that he is "comfortable" with halal meat and would eat it. Lost the wife's vote there mate. People in the UK like animals, we don't like the idea of animals being hung upside down, alive, and having their throats cut. Because it is cruel. Nick Clegg supports cruelty to animals, he is not a true Brit. He is a nonce."

Wow.

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#61 Re: Voting
May 09, 2014, 11:36:53 pm
That's quality!

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#62 Re: Voting
May 13, 2014, 02:35:09 pm
How the Danish government decided to encourage people to participate in the upcoming European elections...

Voteman

 :lol:

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#63 Re: Voting
May 19, 2014, 10:10:35 am
From Private Eye...


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#64 Re: Voting
May 19, 2014, 02:05:25 pm

rich d

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#65 Re: Voting
May 19, 2014, 04:10:16 pm
I remember seeing Farage on some US news report slagging off starbucks, now they've paid some taxes is it OK to drink it again?

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#66 Re: Voting
May 19, 2014, 04:13:08 pm
I remember seeing Farage on some US news report slagging off starbucks, now they've paid some taxes is it OK to drink it again?

Yeah - starbucks is in - Nero is still a bad boy....

(or Cafe Nerd as my partially sighted mother likes to call them)


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#68 Re: Voting
May 20, 2014, 08:26:14 pm
Given the choice, I will be voting Green in the local elections and the nearest (non UKIP) equivalent to MRLoony in Europe.

(if one can use a camera in the polling booth I will post evidence).

On a more serious note did anyone else watch Paxo vs Farage last night, it just showed why Farage is riding high, he 'gets real people and politics in a way that Cameron has a loose grasp on an Miliband wll never get.

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#69 Re: Voting
May 20, 2014, 09:19:02 pm
Found something I agree with Farage on finally. Although who could disagree....

http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/11225097.display/?ref=twtrec

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#70 Re: Voting
May 20, 2014, 10:08:47 pm
 :lol: :lol:



What a complete and utter tit of a man. If Croydon really is such a total shit-hole (?) then perhaps they deserve him and he them, but it must be really really shit to deserve that cretin.

And what is it with white suits and independents/alternatives? It's like a uniform for the totally fucking delusional.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2014, 10:15:31 pm by petejh »

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#71 Re: Voting
May 20, 2014, 10:21:50 pm
Wasn't he in Starsky and Hutch?

Huggy something, I think....

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#72 Re: Voting
May 21, 2014, 06:49:23 pm

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#73 Re: Voting
May 22, 2014, 09:52:19 am
38 degrees helping people vote now! Not especially comfortable with such simplistic efforts to select which party to vote for but it is funny to see The Greens and Animal Welfare top and the Conservatives just missing out on last place to The Christian Alliance (with UKIP the only major no show).

Please go and vote even if you spoil your ballot  (its even raining to encourage boulderers not to get too distracted) and encourage others to do so as well.

http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/2014/05/21/eu-elections-where-the-parties-stand/

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#74 Re: Voting
May 22, 2014, 12:01:07 pm



 

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