Are there any Tory voters here?

[Zippy]

You wait until I start my thread about bears........

Nah - just keep winding up Metal mickey

[TimberWolf]

Will it make any difference? I might just spoil my ballot paper. I shall scrawl across some obscenity about GB. Of course the voting papers are untraceable so they will never know it was me......

Ballot papers should have an AndyW option. All polls should. How many times have you seen a poll that was biased or where you don't really want or care to vote for any of the stupid options? Aside from elections?

An AndyW option would show who's not really interested and whether the poll was flawed. Elections are unscientific.

[BrilloPad]

Ballot papers should have an AndyW option. All polls should. How many times have you seen a poll that was biased or where you don't really want or care to vote for any of the stupid options? Aside from elections?

An AndyW option would show who's not really interested and whether the poll was flawed. Elections are unscientific.

I thought that was the job of the monster raving looney party?

I always love it when they beat the BNP!

Imagine if there was an andyw option and he got voted in.......

[BlasterBates]

The thing is, what is the right thing to do?

Clement Atlee planted the seeds for the crisis in 1970's and Margaret Thatcher planted the seeds for the current crisis. "You can't buck the markets" (but you can fook them) worked for 20 years has now driven the country close to the same fiscal and currency crisis that Clement Atlee's direction shoved us to, Yes of course Labour have spent more than the Tories would have done but the crux of the crisis is in the out of control markets, not the public spending. The losses on these banks dwarfs any public spending deficit by a factor of 10.

[Coalman]

The thing is, what is the right thing to do?

Clement Atlee planted the seeds for the crisis in 1970's and Margaret Thatcher planted the seeds for the current crisis. "You can't buck the markets" (but you can fook them) worked for 20 years has now driven the country close to the same fiscal and currency crisis that Clement Atlee's direction shoved us to, Yes of course Labour have spent more than the Tories would have done but the crux of the crisis is in the out of control markets, not the public spending. The losses on these banks dwarfs any public spending deficit by a factor of 10.

Good point - everybody agrees the markets went mad and these were set up by Saint Maggie.

Does anybody know what the actual debt is when the bank bailout money is removed?

The banks will be profitable again (if not we are all fooked!) so how much of these bailouts and insurances can we get back

BTW - I agree with ealier posts - I've voted labour (before contracting) - we needed a change. Didn't John Major do well? I wouldn't know, anything but (Lib or Tory or maybe AndyW!).

[DodgyAgent]

And will the Torys do any better?

Why not? when was the last time they screwed up the economy and left another govt to sort out the mess?

[DodgyAgent]

The thing is, what is the right thing to do?

Clement Atlee planted the seeds for the crisis in 1970's and Margaret Thatcher planted the seeds for the current crisis. "You can't buck the markets" (but you can fook them) worked for 20 years has now driven the country close to the same fiscal and currency crisis that Clement Atlee's direction shoved us to, Yes of course Labour have spent more than the Tories would have done but the crux of the crisis is in the out of control markets, not the public spending. The losses on these banks dwarfs any public spending deficit by a factor of 10.

How on earth can you link Thatcher to the current crisis? the current crisis is thanks to labour failing to regulate the freedoms that Thatcher won and by gorging itself on borrowings, corruption, power and incompetence as it always does.

[BlasterBates]

If you noted I mentioned the seeds of the problem. In Clement Atlee's day there was no sign of a crisis, but both Labour and Conservatives persued his course of nationalisation that led to the 70's crisis. The current crisis, would have happened under John Major or whoever followed him, just in the same way as George Bush fooking up the US some of the same people in his cabinet that served under Ronald Reagen, Dick Cheney the vice president was in that administration. It was The Ronald Reagan/Thatcher partnership that set the seeds of this financial crisis, it was their vision that everyone should own their own home. I don't believe for one second that a conservative government would have reigned in the financial sector. Credit derivatives began when John Major was on the helm.

Yes no doubt Labour spends too much, but that isn't why we're in a crisis. Just look at the US.

[TimberWolf]

George Bush fooking up the US.

I thought it was Gordon Brown?

[Cyberman]

The thing is, what is the right thing to do?

Clement Atlee planted the seeds for the crisis in 1970's and Margaret Thatcher planted the seeds for the current crisis. "You can't buck the markets" (but you can fook them) worked for 20 years has now driven the country close to the same fiscal and currency crisis that Clement Atlee's direction shoved us to, Yes of course Labour have spent more than the Tories would have done but the crux of the crisis is in the out of control markets, not the public spending. The losses on these banks dwarfs any public spending deficit by a factor of 10.

There is no hope when you have people such as yourself blaming somebody that was in power 20 years ago. Labour have had 12 years to improve things and if they had a problem with Thatcher's policies they have had enough time to change them. They did not change her union policies because they had such a positive effect on the economy, but never had the guts to bring them in themselves. She had to fight the miners for years and she paid the price by being hated by just about every bigoted northerner.

Brown split regulation between the BofE and FSA which has caused the current problems due to one leaving responsibility to the other and thus nobody accepting responsibility. The usage of SIVs escalated under Brown's watch and this is the cause of the current meltdown. Brown must carry the can.