Is Miliband posher than Cameron? And do we care?

I am not sure about compulsory voting, but I feel that we should all vote, especially women as the right was so hard won. I do think that we should be able to register that we are exercising our right to vote, but do not want any of the candidates on the ballot paper, thus my wish for a 'none of the above' vote. It could be interesting if statistics showed that a high percentage of the electorate had turned out to vote, but not chosen the government that we eventually end up with. I know of so many people who just dont bother to vote because either (a) they are in a 'safe seat' and feel that their vote wont count or (b) genuinely do not wish to support any of the candidates. A 'none of the above' vote would indicate that these people are engaged enough to turn up and vote, and are not just lazy disinterested people.

No, roseq, I meant freak. In my dictionary it says enthusiast.
My son and grandson and friends are all football freaks. I know a few sci-fi freaks, as they call themselves.
My dictionary defines a geek as being someone unfashionably and socially awkward. I do not think even I would describe Cameron as that.

So, jingl, you do not want any state schools left, is that right?
Cameron wants to continue what his mate started and have all free schools and academies, with no local control over any of them.
Not what I want, or any people working in them that I know of.

I wish people would use their vote, even if it's to write 'none of the above' or something similar on it. I'm unsure about mandatory voting, though I can see the arguments for it. I veer to agreeing with FlicketyB's view that 'the basic decision to vote or not to vote lies at the core of democracy'.

I heard Ed Milliband speak at our local town hall in the run up to the leadership election. I'm not sure why i got an invite, as I wasn't a Labour party member at that time. He spoke to an audience of less than 100 in a small room and I found him to be both warm and to have the ability to engage with people. A number of journalists have commented he comes over well in personal, but that doesn't transfer to television.

I share the general unease about the choices at the next election. I'll be voting though.

There's always the option to vote by post, FlicketyB. I'm not sure about making it compulsory to vote in this country, but the turn-out rate is usually quite dismal.

If it was made compulsory perhaps those who never vote would take politics more seriously instead of just blaming whatever party happens to be in power for all the ills of their world.

If voting became mandatory I would stop voting, nothing to do with whether I wanted to tick an 'abstain' box. The basic decision to vote or not vote lies at the core of democracy.

I know there are democratic countries that make voting compulsory but to be taking the away from people the choice not to vote and not have to go to a polling station to do you have by definition restricted democracy.

Yes Gill I think it should be mandatory to vote and that there should be a box where we can abstain. I 'ruined' my ballot paper on one occasion because I wasn't happy in a local election but felt that I had to vote because our vote was so hard earned.

As I said before it is impossible for any of us to understand how people better or worse off than us live so all any of them can do is get their researches to do their best to find out. Not fair to blame anyone for not knowing what another's life is like.

Hammering people for the schools that their parents sent them to is not fair, hammering them for pretending they know what life is like for the majority of the electorate is fair, and this applies to all of them. I still think that we should have a 'none of the above' party to tick on our ballot sheets. As has been said, a plague on all their houses. If I was able to do so, I would cast my vote by post and then go and live in the hills of Spain until it is all over, a predict lots of silly and nasty talk over the next few weeks.

You offering then rose?

Word!

Obviously you are all thinking - well she won't be any good, she can't even spell

Lots of the last labour administration were 'posh' ( stupid wird)

What we need is well-educated.

He did actually mention George O amongst the people who would be available to follow him. Which I think was very generous of him!

Ana, who in the list is not an ordinary person , I mean ordinary as we are discussing it here, not public school educated, not titled or in line for a title, whose parents were not from the working classes, not bankers , not from the city . And I said the last labour government, yes they didn't win the last election which perhaps shows the people do not want ordinary people in government, they want posh because they got posh.

Well, durhamjen, I personally hope he gets the chance to complete his plan for education at the very least, because that in my view is one of the the most important things on the agenda. A plan should have time to be completed. And Heaven help the teachers if another lot decide to give it all a makeover now.

I think he knew what he as doing when he said that. He made it clear that he would continue for the full five years.

grumppa I was not saying derogatory to you, I was correcting my previous post.
You nipped in very smartly there! with a sensible post

Derogatory!

DGD is 'helping' so I will leave you to your 'political discussion'.

A rational discussion about politics, on Gransnet or anywhere else, in a run-up to a General Election is alas unlikely; those with strong political affiliations bang on at each other, the rest of us by and large can't be bothered. One used to be able to mutter "A plague on both your houses"; now it's more "A plague on all your houses" as so many parties clamour for attention.

And many people seem to vote consistently all their lives anyway. Roll on 7 May and let's get it over.

'Shy and thoughtful' are not derogarory terms.
Calling someone a 'freak' is, sadly, reminiscent of the unenlightened olden days when disabled people were carted around on sideshows at fairs to be gawped at by the public.

Perhaps you meant 'geek' djen

However, neither term would describe DC imo.

Millibrand looks if he can't tie his shoe laces let alone run a Country. Labourites should blame the Unions for picking the wrong Milliband. Have you noticed the quiet return of brother David to the Media spotlight? Is he being moved into pole position when poor little Ed resigns.

I don't have the time to come on here as often as I used to but see not a lot has changed. As soon as someone makes a point for anyone other than Labour they get attacked. Not a discussion of different views, a bit like EM, he goes in for personal attacks too.

Don't understand the blinkered views, they all use PR, why isn't that blindingly obvious to you all as roses has already said? There are more ways of being 'posh' than going to a private school, obvious isn't it?

Just looked up 'freak' and got:

'a person, animal, or plant with an unusual physical abnormality'
and
'behave or cause to behave in a wild and irrational way, typically because of the effects of extreme emotion or drugs.' No don't think that applies to DC, not even to EM!

Could we have rational discussion please? The thread won't die out so quickly if we do.

Yes, jingl, that's what they are saying on news24 at the moment. They are also saying that he wants the chance to finish what he's started on education and welfare.
Heaven help us in that case.

Flick - I thought TB's and DC's children got into faith based schoold - not on cachement

Weird isn't it. Taking it for granted almost that they are going to get in again.

Why is Cameron announcing that he is not going to stand for a third term?
Good PR? Hoping that people will vote for him because they know he will not be PM as long as Tony Blair?
Trying to get one over on Osborne, as he's announced that he sees Boris or Theresa following him?

So Miliband being shy and thoughtful is good Pr, is it, roses? If that's the case, why is he always being pilloried for it?

We need to remember that there are quite a number of state schools with academic records comparable with the top private schools, that ordinary families do not stand a snowball in hell's chance of getting into. The children of T Blair and D Cameron get into them, as do N Clegg's and no doubt in time so will D Milliband's.

When my children were at secondary school the biggest opponent to the state grammar school in the town, which took children from every state primary school in the educational authority area, was the headmaster of the best comprehensive school in the town. To get into that school you had to be able to afford one of the very expensive houses in the catchment area. It was, in fact, far more exclusive than the grammar school.

There are still many state comprehensives like that