So if we were to start the UK from scratch what you do differently?

[KnittedBreast]

We all seem to know whats wrong with the UK so if the country was cleansed of those in power and all our current instituions and we had the chance to start from scratch, what would you like to see?

oh god yes, change the voting system! current one is pants.

and make voting compulsary - but add an 'abstain' box to the list, for those who do not feel any of the candidates deserve their vote. And extend the voting period to at least 2 or 3 days.

population, what can you do? Don't think you could go down the 1 child per family route.

Immigration - change the system so that people who wish to move to this country must prove they have something to contribute in terms of skills needed etc.

People who flee their country and seek refuge here should be supported to integrate and given help to find work and begin contributing.

I don't really think there's much else you can do without closing your borders and / or denying people the right to reproduce.

Don't know exactly what we'd do re optimum population but Canada did it in various ways. Canada is 35 times bigger than the UK yet it has half our population! Houses are very cheap there!

Read somewhere that the optimum population for the UK is 50 million. We're at 62 million and rising and over-population causes a myriad of problems, not least high house prices.

But I don't really know enough so I suggest an immediate MN Government trip to Canada to investigate! Welcomed back by Maureen and Janet.

Amazed no-one has suggested cutting the guy-ropes and releasing Scotland to the four winds. It was their man that cooked up the whole 'UK' idea in the first place :)

Referendum on Scottish and Welsh devolution- we all hate each other so why don't we just call it a day?

Maureen and Janet are a wonderful idea.
I'll be part of the working party on the Canada holidaytrip

Btw Knittedbreast- I read your name as Knitted Beast- have an image in my head of a knitted Gruffalo

I'd start with giving Archduke Ferdinand a bulletproof vest.

If a political party breaks the promises it makes in the pre election manifesto, once they have won the election, it should be treated as breach of contract and they should immediately be sacked.

I would not allow any more ugly buildings to be built - tesco etc, retail parks and housing developments should not be concrete blocks, but should complement the historical buildings of the towns where they are situated.

Housing built with waste water usage tanks, under ground heating systems and solar panels along with design that retains heat in winter and retians cool in summer - therefore creating housing that doens't have utility bills any more than £10 per year for the whole lot.

trams, cycle paths opposed to lanes, buses, trains, and electric cars.

cycle parks at the supermarket
cycle parks at the cinema
cycle parks at the beach
cycle parks at schools

two seater electric cars the nor with an extra side car for two more people on the side if needed

If we were starting the uk from scratch, I'd have far fewer people in it. Maybe 10 million, tops. I get fed up of roads, pylons, giant farm storage buildings, horse maneges etc as far as the eye can see. The landscape has been tamed and despoiled, and I'd like more wilderness.

You didn't mean the suggestions had to be practical, did you?

Designated "No Children - Adults Only" car parking spaces at the far end of the supermarket car parks, so childless people can yell at anyone with children who park there.

Make it perfectly legal to charge 'waiting time' if you are kept waiting past your appointment time at doctors, bank, hospital, dentist etc.

Cap the highest salary earned by ANYONE at £250,000. Use the extra money to pay for the extra doctors, dentists, hospitals etc that we'll need.

Ban tobacco. Ban Alcohol.

(except wine, on prescription, for anyone with PMS )

Ban alcohol??!!

Fucking fuck off!!!

Sorry for rude outburst, 'twas the gin talking!!

I would ensure that house prices were actually affordable for everyone, so that even people on the minimum wage had a realistic opportunity of buying a modest flat/house. I would also make saving money very attractive, and borrowing money (credit) illegal.

This way people would be encouraged to save up for things, because if they did, they would be able to afford them.

I would make public transport cheap, widely available and reliable.

I would make imported goods much more expensive in comparison with home-produced goods, and try to find a way of encouraging people to use local shops/small businesses rather than relying on giant supermarkets.

love the idea of being able to charge when you are kept waiting at the doctors etc.

Much less enamoured of the 'ban alcohol' idea

I think we need a bit of ethnicity but post Harold I'd have kept it French and kept it catholic.

If you can work, you WILL work.

Oh and less of this nampy pampy state where everything is banned because of health and safety

some of these suggestions sound positively communist... nationalised power, transport and housing? Actually I think communism as an ideal is pretty attractive. Of course in practice it's rubbish because we humans can't help ourselves getting all greedy and elitist.

Anyway, starting from scratch.... I'd make voting rights similar to a driving test. You have to pass a written exam to get your ballot paper.

Being utterly impractical I would stop all spending on defence and spend the lot on education creating unbelievably good free for all schools. Ditto the NHS. I would have 100% inheritance tax, so everyone starts from the same point. No one has an advantage over anyone else.

I'd then attach huge giant tug boats to the Cornish coast and drag us about 1000 miles south :o

Headfairy - if we were to have ended up with an NHS - yes the idea of being able to hit it with an invoice when it keeps us waiting sounds brilliant, especially when consultants/midwives etc, wander in late for the first appointment and then spend 10 minutes yapping at reception about issues that have nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with the job.

Free cheese for everyone
free use of prostites for ugly people
thinner doorways on takeaways so fat people cannot get in
everybody should go to bed by 10pm
socks with sandles should not be mocked
bring back the stocks for wrongdoers
Yorkshireblue cheese should replace mozerella on pizzas
Change national anthem to the theme from Wallace and Gromits grand day out

No private schools (sorry everyone). That would focus attention on making local schools great for everyone. Oh and certainly no religious control over schools/politics - no bishops in house of lords or church schools.