empathise with someone who is feeling the pinch of the abolition of the 10p tax band? How can he 'feel their pain'? Why hasn't he committed himself to overturning the policy if the Conservatives win the next election? How exactly does he intend to 'abolish poverty'?
This isn't meant as a dig, I'm genuinely interested as I've heard a lot of rhetoric from him with regards to this yet little in the way of how he would sort this mess out.
Its too soon for him to commit
himself to any specifc policy. It could prove politically suicidal.
But yeah, its a fair question and one to which the answer is very interesting.
I'd really love to know
how the Conservatives would tackle this if they were in government. It's easy to pour scorn on something - anyone can do that. I want to know what they would do differently.
Not much
The thing is though, I'd fully expect the Tories to tax the poor more!
quite
I'm not sure they could really.
They didn't exactly tax the poor more last time round (apart from the Poll Tax and we know how that turned out). Rather they just made it easier for those with some capital to vastly increase it.
At the moment the cost of living is apparently very high (I don't really know how it all goes) so I'm not sure they'd tax the poor more without it just becoming a total riot.
Oh Theo
I wasn't being serious
Sorry.
:D
i know it's the same for all politicians
but it's infuriating watching him tell gordon he has to over turn the 10p tax thing, when he has no feasible way of doing it himself.
I'd be surprised if he could empathise
given his background, but then that applies to almost all successful politicians. They tend to follow a well-trod career route giving minimal contact with all levels of society (other than crude consultation).
Sloganeering will typically trump pragmatic analysis so he is very wise to remain vague in his policies.
I agree completely
about the 'well trodden path' that politicians seem to take.
In addition then to my previous point, why are people unable to look beyond slogans and actually look for policies, or lack of?
it's depressing
but in my opinion I think it boils down to the fact that ultimately most people don't really care that much and so aren't very discerning voters. They are happy enough to let politicians get on with it, and vote based on very crude processes or social allegiances. It's only when something really impactful/dramatic happens that the wider populace starts to express an interest. I include myself and most people I know in this, even though I am sure there are a lot of people who are far more apathetic.
I think the people that really care tend to be the grass roots activists of which there are a relatively tiny number.
Beyond this, and a few politics freaks, most elections are governed by appearances, charisma and platitudes and until this changes it will be the level at which politics operate in the public arena as well.
Agreed
but it's not going to change is it?
No
^
although I think government has a responsibility to act in a more collaborative and mature way, which I think would engage people more.
^ this
If you want people to show a real interest in politics, some honesty and maturity would go a long way, along with some real policy every now and then.
I thought he handled that guy
fairly poorly yesterday. It's not that difficult to explain that either
a) No, I won't, but I would ensure that *all* those that lost out will get backdated payments from the date elected to recompensate them.
b) No, I won't promise it, but I'll examine the books as soon as in power to see what can be done, and I'll make it a priority in our first budget. We'll look at all options, such as...
Anything less when he's pushing Labour for just that smacks of exactly what Brown keeps trying to accuse him of - opportunism and salesmanship without any substance. All he did yesterday was avoid the question, which (particularly in these days of spin) just gives the impression that he'd do nothing, regardless of how true of not.
It's fair to say that he may not be able to make concrete promises until in power, but he can certainly make promises at that level without seeing the current finances.
But the time will come
possibly within the next 12 months or so where he's going to have to make some kind of concrete commitment... He's spent the last 2 and a half years saying a lot without actually saying very much at all...
The problem is that Labour keep trying to enact any policy the Tories think of
I mean, it's been their method of keeping power for most of their time now. It's actually pretty difficult for the Tory party to make themselves seem different or special.
I mean, if Cameron starts banging on about the poor working man and how the Tory party will come to their aid he's taking a bit of a risk and we know full well that such rhetoric never made Labour electable.
Right now he knows his best bet is to keep very quiet and not rock the boat: Gordon Brown is an absolute mess to the point where the Tories will have to start promising to put babies on spikes to NOT get elected when the General Election comes around.
We've been reduced to two almost identical parties to vote for and it's really rather sad.
The point though is
yesterday someone made him look stupid because he's banging on about the poor working man and that *something* should be done, but now seems completely unwilling to do that something himself.
Now, I don't disagree that it'll be difficult to not get elected at this rate whatever he does, but he could end up turning the politicised away from him if he carries on in this vein.
I have to agree..........
he should stop pussying about and either pledge to abolish it or STFU.
I wish to god somebody would just introduce a 10,000 personal tax free allowance, the savings on bureaucracy and handing people their money back in the form of benefits would pay for itself.
Something like this would be ideal
My biggest bugbear about politics and politicians is their ability to try and point score by poking the opposition in the eye. If the opposition said "Your policy is clearly bollocks, here's how we'd address the issue" rather than saying "Your policy is clearly bollocks, life would be utopian under us but I'm not telling you how" I think people would be less apathetic towards voting etc.
I agree
they act like a bunch of public schoolboys having a debating competition.
No they don't!
I say, novvers, pass the ginger beer.
I megaLOLd
at the promise to "abolish poverty".
I just had this mental image of Cameron introducing a Poverty (Abolition) Bill declaring the illegality of poverty from the date of enactment... which I thought was somehow fitting.
The Royal Navy will patrol the seas
Looking for Poverty, and smashing it
The Poverty Policy will regularly raid Lidl
and will instantly imprison anyone wearing any gold purchased in Argos
*police
I shopped in Lidl when I was at Benicassim
There was some "Strong Continental Lager" I thought, "Oh, that'll be like Stella". So I bought some. Fuck it, it was only 27c a can.
Got back to the campsite, and discover it's 12.3% - it was fucking Special Brew. So I'm stuck in a camp site in Spain with 12 boiling hot cans of Special Brew. I tried drinking them, but in the end I gave them to this Scouse skin head to stop sitting on my tent
the heineken mini kegs things were the best thing to buy from that lidl
:D
The Ronson's Woodseal of lager!
I would honestly have rather had a pint of Ronson's to be frank
Anyway, I've massively digressed from the topic.
Cameron, yeah he says a lot of things. But then so do most politicians. He'll probably get elected at a saunter but at the mo he just keeps going "Oh you're wrong" like an 80s Labour backbencher (well actually in the 80s I don't think they had enough people to have a backbench but the point was illustrative purposes.
Maybe he's got an amazing manifesto but he's just being elusive so it doesn't get leaked onto Napster
Maybe he has...
Maybe he's going to conquer the sun. Or The Sun. I don't know.
At the moment though I really get the feeling that I could be leader of the opposition and win the next election such is the mess that Gordon Brown and Labour are making of things.
Yeah like a hustings
And Brown would be all like "Here's what we're going to do.dun dun dun dun"
And then ht27 "Hello, I'm the opposition. Good day"
"In a historical result ht27 has been swept into power on the back of mass popular support"
He'd sweep the board with his statistics
:D
To be fair
in Cameron's world, poverty means not being able to employ an under-Butler.