British Elections

[juanpe]

Tony Blair has won the elections again...

 

with less support due to the war in Iraq but he has won again...

 

what do you think about it? Do you think he should've "punished" because of his involvement in the war in Iraq and lost the elections? or do you think that he deserved to win again?

 

just to hear your opinions, friends

 

Juanpe

[Bizud]

Prime Minister, not President.

 

Okay, so Labour won a majority of seats again. However, due to Britain (and Canada's) funky electoral system, that majority was won with only 37% of the vote. Furthermore, many people who voted Labour were still not happy about the war; it's just one issue out of many. So I don't think this can be interpreted as support from the British electorate for the war.

[ToadMan]

I fixed the title.

 

While from outside we only see the issue of war, there are many issues to be considered in an election. One could draw connection to Canadian politics and how the liberals would likely win another election despite the obvious corruption. It is an issue of choosing the leader who is the lesser of evils. While I am not entirely sure of the political parties in the UK, the labour party is similar is policy to Canadian liberals. In that effect the conservative party would likely be more "pro war" than the labour party. In effect UK voters have likely voted the lesser of two evils.

 

A link if you'd like to read up and correct me:

http://bubl.ac.uk/uk/parties.htm

 

Peace

Edited May 6, 2005 by ToadMan

[juanpe]

(sorry for the President thing, you are right, in the UK they say PM)

 

I do think that somehow the reason why British voted him again is because they have forgotten Blair's lies about the war.

 

We Spaniards have a closer example of this: the previous Spanish president lost the elections basically due to his support of this war (against 80% of the population who was against this illegal war). Of course there may be many other reasons for a president/pm to lose the elections but in the case of Spain, this support to the war was crucial (together with the terrorist attack in Madrid as a consequence of this support) and it hasnt happened in the UK

 

I do think that T. Blair should've been punished somehow in the elections

Edited May 6, 2005 by juanpe

[Moonlight_Graham]

i don't know much about British politics, so i can't really comment.

 

But he seems like a nice and honest enough guy. But doesn't mean shit.

[juanpe]

well, according to some people, he doesnt seem to be such a nice and honest guy...

 

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issue...liesiraqwar.htm = The 50 Lies, Exaggerations, Distortions and

Half Truths About the Iraq War

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vot...age/4475689.stm = Howard makes 'Blair lies' claim

 

http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/anarchism...irjobforus.html = Doing our job for us...

 

http://www.bushflash.com/brits.html = Tony Blair's values (animated flash page with Bush and Blair)

[ecnarf]

The choice in the election was either Blair, or the party of Margaret Thatcher.

 

So, really, it's like the last election in Canada, re-elect the libearls, or elect the Tories. Nobody wants the Tories in, so they're willing to keep the liberals in power - "better the devil we know" sorta stuff.

[juanpe]

according to some politics experts, there was another choice: it was to "punish" Blair in the elections voting the liberal democrats (like something in between conservatives and democrats) so that Blair didnt have absolute majority in the Parliament (I think you say so in English, not very sure) and had to negotiate the government with the liberal democrats

 

but, I guess, the british citizens preferred just to give the power to the Labours

[HoboFactory]

Is there a limit to how many terms he can serve?? Not like in the US where they have a 2-term limit??

[juanpe]

I dont think so (not very sure, though) because this is his 3rd term and there doesnt seem to be a problem for his reelection. Unlike in the USA, I don't think there is a limit (in Spain there is no limit either, the previous socialist president before this one right now was ruling Spain for 12 years) and if we remember Margaret Thatcher, she was in the power for a loooong time (too much, in my opinion)

[Bizud]

Most parliamentary systems don't have term limits. I don't agree with term limits myself.

[juanpe]

I kinda agree with that system because sometimes the president/prime minister who lasts for 12 years - for example, the case in Spain I mentioned before - at the end he/she is not the same compromised, loyal person that was at the beginning...

 

I think power corrupts people (not generalizing, of course) and too much time in the same powerful post as a government can be harmful for the citizens: this spanish president I'm telling you about (Felipe González) at the end was a totally different person from who he was at the beginning, he started to do things which were not typical of a socialist party, his govenment started to get "stained" with political scandals, his social view had changed and he was "getting off the main road", forgetting the social compromises he had promised the spanish society...

 

don't know, maybe this is just a very particular case and the situation cannot be generalized...

[ToadMan]

Although the party lead becomes the PM, parliamentary systems are not about electing the PM. The parliament is formed by members from each riding. As such, the people vote on their local representative. This is much contra to the President system, where the president elected almost totally forms the government.

 

Peace

[ecnarf]

The problem with term limits is that the leader becomes a sitting duck - he can't get re-elected, so he has no need to try and make the world a better place.

[Moonlight_Graham]

i would have voted for the party that is for not brushing their teeth or changing their underwear? Oh wait, thats all of them. HA!

 

[sockcrotch]

i would have voted for the party that is for not brushing their teeth or changing their underwear? Oh wait, thats all of them. HA!

 

i have a couple of british friends.... my drummer, on the other hand, only has a gap in his front teeth, but they're not yellow or anything.... if he ever went back to britain then they wouldn't even know he was british

 

we're so proud of our tristan...

 

tristan is on the left, sharing his kiss with dylan... i think his girlfriend at the time was very amused by this...