Perhaps we could have a simple poll....

Okey dokey jingl!

I think quite a few members will not want their views known on here.

What about me - I'm really not sure!

Ana then they can ignore the threads simples !

But abstentions are counted aren't they?

Nor am I to be honest kitty, can anyone say that they undoubtedly agree or disagree. It's not a black n white issue for me, it's a gut feeling.

How can abstentions count in a public poll?

This is a simple Yes/No exercise - if the 'silent majority' want to stay silent then that's up to them!

roseq will jings, if she's counting know how many have seen the thread and not voted either way. I don't see how abstentions can be counted.

Yes, nina, of course they can ignore the poll threads. But the poll results certainly won't be a true representation of GN opinion.

How can abstentions count in a public poll?

Riverwalk when poll results are published, the 'Don't Knows' are always given as a percentage, and when parliamentary votes are counted, the number of absentions is always given.

There could be as many 'don't know' or 'absentions' as yeses or nos; if not counted it does not give a true account of the number of people polled.

But Rosequartz this is a simple poll on Gransnet and doesn't come under the auspices of the Electoral Commission.

No one is being 'polled' as such just invited to express a Yes/No.

The result will give a general overview of how GN members feel.

No it won't because very few will dare to post on the Yes thread.

Why would they not dare to post?

We are in the main anonymous.

I don't agree. Until recently I would have posted 'yes' and would have been happy for my view to be known. The situation is so complicated and we don't know all of the facts, no matter how much we read up on them. It was only when I felt that my initial reaction was a knee jerk one similar to the knee jerk reaction that resulted in Afghanistan [to which I was opposed at the time] that I started to change my opinion.

Tee hee, 'Simple Poll' indeed

Could there be such a thing on GN?

No obviously not rosequartz already a smiley is taking the threads off track. Thanks jingl for starting both threads. This is a straightforward poll, I really don't think anyone apart from gransnetters will be interested in the results. We won't all be held to account.

Don't know so will abstain. They have no respect for those who won't fight for their beliefs and they attack where they think they see weakness, but every act of aggression creates martyrs and generates more aggression, in each direction. Damned of we do and damned if we don't.

'but every act of aggression creates martyrs and generates more aggression, in each direction'....thanks Elegran. I've been trying to put that into words for days but couldn't think of how to put it . I kept thinking of the sort of monsters you get in sci fi films that are blown up by the 'goodies' only to fragment and come back more numerous.

Thanks Jingle for the yes/no threads.
I've voted No and hope it's ok to say on this thread that it's not because I'm a pacifist who will never vote for war or bombing. It's because I don't feel David Cameron has made the case for bombing. I have also been influenced by a number of military/former military senior officers, who are clear that they don't believe bombing will add anything positive to the problems in Syria.

It'll be fascinating to compare the results with my other [mostly male] forum; they have had a very in depth discussion about this for quite a while. If no one objects I'd like to tell them the result of our poll in a week or so [and vice versa].

Can I just say, I opened the yes and no threads with a smile simply as a welcoming gesture. I really hope some people who don't usually post on here will vote.

I'm not trying to take away from the discussion at all Pogs. I just think it would be interesting to hear what peope of our 'time of life' (slightly later years) think.

Agree Jing. there's a similar thread on mumsnet. I looked a couple of days ago and my impression was most were voting No - that may have changed of course, or maybe I saw a snapshot.

Can I just say, I opened the yes and no threads with a smile simply as a welcoming gesture

I was just going to post that myself jings, thinking that it seemed a friendly gesture after all the angst on other threads.
I didn't see how it was taking things off track really.

As there is nowhere to post 'undecided', don't know enough, may I abstain

Well, that was an overwhelming win for the 'nos' on GN. 26 'no' and 6 'yes'.

So now we can only hope and pray that the result in the Commons turns out to be the right one for all, except IS.

Thank you for voting.