Who do we vote for in the May general election and who do we not vote for?

[Platypus]

God, the North sounds absolutely awful

I'll continue to stay well clear

[eek]

God, the North sounds absolutely awful

I'll continue to stay well clear

I don't think its any different from places down south with the successful shopping centre pulling in custom from all the surrounding towns.

Years ago the opening of Bluewater destroyed every shopping centre between Bromley and Maidstone / Canterbury. Prior to that Lakeside did the same to that part of Essex.

The same will happen to us soon as Bicester North opens by Scotch corner....

[lilelvis2000]

No idea - I only knew three shops had announced they were closing since Christmas because the head at my daughter's school lives that way and mentioned it in passing (we were moaning about the council not having gritted the road to school, and he'd got some cheap because Homebase was closing down).

Pound shops, charity shops, coffee shops, and pawnbrokers - that's the high street here these days.

Could be worse - could be Rochdale.

Rochdale was on its way down 10 years ago. I only know because my relatives used to own shops their. The council then shutdown the "outdoor" market and then began shutting down the indoor market. Now the centre is a serious dump.

[lilelvis2000]

I don't think its any different from places down south with the successful shopping centre pulling in custom from all the surrounding towns.

Years ago the opening of Bluewater destroyed every shopping centre between Bromley and Maidstone / Canterbury. Prior to that Lakeside did the same to that part of Essex.

The same will happen to us soon as Bicester North opens by Scotch corner....

About 5 years ago a huge centre was planned to open just outside Preston. That probably would have killed Blackburn and Darwen town centres. The BwD council went to high court to get that killed. Peel has also been trying to expand the out-of-town properties they own without much luck. Good thing or the town centres would become ghost towns. There are already too many empty shops as it is.

[TheFaQQer]

Rochdale was on its way down 10 years ago. I only know because my relatives used to own shops their. The council then shutdown the "outdoor" market and then began shutting down the indoor market. Now the centre is a serious dump.

When McDonalds moves out of the town, that's a sign of where it's going.

[darmstadt]

From the monster raving looney party manifesto

Their policies have ahabit of coming true:

1. 24-hour licensing laws

The party campaigned for all day opening of pubs in the 1980s, which became law in 1995. So at the 1997 elections they went a step loonier with a manifesto pledge for all-night opening too. 24-hour drinking became legal in 2005.

2. Lowering the voting age to 18

Back, in the ’60s, before the Monster Raving Loony Party existed in its current incarnation, founding Loony “Screaming” Lord Sutch stood as a candidate for his National Teenage Party – their key policy was lowering the voting age from 21 to 18. Votes for 18 year olds were introduced in 1969.

3. Abolition of dog licences

It used to be technically mandatory for dog owners to hold a licence, although it was often ignored. One of the first parties to campaign for their abolition was… the Monster Raving Loony Party! Dog licences were abolished in 1987. There’s no word on whether the government will introduce the Poetic Licence the Loonies campaigned for in 2010.

4. The legalisation of commercial radio

Again another early policy of Loony predecessors the National Teenage Party: until Radio One started in 1967 there was nothing for kids on the BBC, so to hear pop music you had to tune into illegal pirate stations. Lord Sutch was no stranger to the world of pirate radio – he had run his own station, Radio Sutch, from a fort in the Thames Estuary. The first commercial radio licences were issued in 1972.

5. The pedestrianisation of Carnaby Street

Lord Sutch had heard from friends from Swinging London’s Carnaby Street that traders were finding the increasing congestion hard to deal with, and he joined the campaign for pedestrianisation, along with follow political eccentric Bill Boaks, joint holder of the record for the lowest number of votes won in a by-election.The Greater London Council gave in and pedestrianised the street in 1973.

6. Passports for pets

The party made a pledge in their 1983 manifesto to issue pets with passports so that they could travel abroad without lengthy stays in quarantine. Pet passports were introduced in October 2001.

7. Abolition of the 11 plus exam

Another policy from the Loonies’ National Teenage Party incarnation, because it’s “the wrong age to take an exam that affects you for the rest of your life”. The 11 plus was abolished nationally in 1976.

[Batcher]

Phones4U ? Accrington now is a a charity shop/coffee shop town now. Though recently SportsDirect is taking over the old JJB location and a new Much larger Lidl will be opening up. Any ideas what's going on with the old Arnold Clark site?

Arnold Clark's has shut down in Accrington? Someone better tell whinestrone as it will impact on his blank square map of the north of England

[DimPrawn]

God, the North sounds absolutely awful

I'll continue to stay well clear

If you steer clear of anywhere that tends to elect a Labour MP you can't go far wrong.....

[FatLazyContractor]

If you steer clear of anywhere that tends to elect a Labour MP you can't go far right.....

FTFY

[TheFaQQer]

If you steer clear of anywhere that tends to elect a Labour MP you can go far right.....

FTFY

FTFY