When can we get rid of this government?

[abraid]

When is the earliest we can throw them out? I feel like starting a calendar and ticking off the days.

When can you get rid of them?

When a majority vote aginst them is when. Sorry you cant do it alone.

I know which party refused help when we asked(Labour), which didnt even reply to my email (Tory) and which responded to my begging with a home visit and a trip to the council to ensure my Sn ds3 got some support at school; I shall therefore vote for them (LD).

agree nancy

and if oyu don;t vote, you can;t complain about things

i tend to vote for the local parties. central government is going to be same old same old, and i cannot bring myself to vote for any of the main three. but you hvae to vote.except not for the BNP!!

I agree about women voting, I think I should.

I'm interested to see what a completely new party would do though. I admit to not knowing an awful lot about LibDems' policies but I don't see how, especially when most of us think both Labour and Conservative have been shite, LDs could be any worse, iyswim.

I don't know who to vote for.
I've been a life long labour supporter but this time....
How on earth during a period of unequalled tax income did GB manage to spend every penny and borrow even more? Did he just assume that that level of wealth would continue ad infinitum? Clearly the global crisis is not his fault but where was the fabled prudence for any down turn?
And what about Guantanamo Bay? And the new detention without charge laws? Can I really be living in a country where I can be slung in prison without being charged??? Really???
Grrrr.

Agree Lulu / nancy

Dh grew up and lived in a LD area for many years and thinks very highly of them.

I doubt they're perect but on balance I think they will do for me.

It's hard to reconcile myself to voting Lib Dem. The election is essentially a two horse race - so do you back a guaranteed loser or do you choose the lesser of two evils?

I come from a family with a long and proud history in the Labour movement of seeking political representation for ordinary people.

And I'm ashamed of this so-called Labour government. Not merely the economic mess - don't see the Tories would have been any better and in fact it's Labour following Tory philosophy of deregulated free markets plus treating the City as King that caused the problem. But the endless assaults on democracy and civil liberties. Look at the policing of the G20 protests, the arrests of 100-odd people for merely planning a protest against a power station, sending the coppers into Parliament - something no-one's done since Charles 1 - to threaten an MP for daring to do his job and the creation of 3,000 new offences.

They are shameless bullies.

Nancy the LD would claim that if everyone voted for who they actually wanted, rather looking at it in the way you describe, then they'd do a heck of a lot better and could even overtake one of the 'major' parties.

That's how I feel, Edam.
And it's not enough to say that the Tories wouldn't have done anything differently. I expect it of them. Sadly, I expected something better from Labour.

Juxa - I know and it's a valid argument but the reality is that it will never happen. the LD's are like Ch5 - lots of people don't even know they exist...

it can be said that it is bad for any political party to stay in power for too long, it encourages arrogance and complacency.

I do agree Edam - they are bullies.

Nancy that depends on where you live;in some areas LD's holdseats or come close second.

And voting for someone you don't want to rather than the ones you want but don't think will win- self defeating claptrap and a surefire way to create a parliament you dislike,surely?

The next election is already won - unless David Cameron is exposed as a paedophile or they spectacularly fuck up in the most sensational way - they are the next government.

Brown has to go to the country in the next 12 months.

I hope not nancy- their record on S education petrifies me

Sorry, SN

Gordon Brown will have to call an election by May 11 next year as the current Parliament expires on May 10, so the election would take place 17 days later (3rd June)

Governments don't usually like to leave it till the last minute, so they will probably be looking closely at the local government elections & any possible economic revival to work out the best date. It's still technically possible that they might decide to hold it on June 4th this year, coinciding with the European Parliament elections.

What really upsets me is that the current Labour administration are pissing all over the history of the party, and the memory of people who made real sacrifices in the cause of the universal franchise and proper representation of ordinary working people.

My godmother's father was sacked and thrown out of his tied house for daring to stand for the council as a Labour candidate (the mine owner was the local Tory MP). In the days before benefits, my godmother, her parents and brother and sister were thrown on the street to starve.

Her father risked everything for a just cause, for his principles and beliefs. This was at a time when the police routinely broke up union and Labour meetings with their truncheons.

Gordon Brown, Blair and the rest are stamping all over that proud legacy. Horrible to see.

I hate to say it but I agree Edam

However a significant number of people will vote not from aspirations for the country uit fromfear of what the Tories will do to WTC etc; it may b that the recession exaccerbates that by making people aware of their vulnerability.

It will happen when Brown runs out of time for calling the election. He will lose and most likely the Tories will be in. Thank God.

Gordon did not cause the depression, but he did nothing to prepare us for it. And there were some things he could have done.

What I need to surviv this depression is lower taxes. And the only party historically know to lower taxes and downsize an overgrown government is in fact the Tories. Go David!!

Peachy - every political pundit I know says that it's a done deal.
People I know and was at Uni with who used to go on rallies and be members of the CND are now considering voting Tory - I think everyone has the old 'well they can't do any worse' mentality.

It's a shame things went so badly tits up for Labour and the biggest mistake they made was forcing a PM on us that was not elected by the people.

Blair did some great things for education and the NHS.

I agree entirely with edam. I don't want to vote for the disgusting and illegal practices of Tony and his cronies. Not at all

but I don't know what to do with my vote, because there isn't a viable alternative IMO. Voting LibDem is a waste of a vote, as they are not a party of government in any serious sense - and voting Tory essentially because this Labour govt is too right-wing for me - well that would be a bit like getting rid of Thatcher and bringing Hitler in to sort the mess out

there are lots of good things labour have done in last few years, off the top of my head
. home start/ sure start - fantastic local resources
. child tax credits - problems I know but has helped LOADS of people i know
. maternity/ paternity pay
. childcare vouchers
. about 3 of the primary schools in my area are new or completely refurbished
. lots of improvements to local hospital
. new high school built about a mins walk from where I live. It looks fantastic

there are still probs/ issues but if anyone thinks the tories would have put a stop to the credit/ bank gravy train they must be mad. Tories would ahve done exactly the same.
I do despair at all this mcbride emails/ expense claim nonsense though.. it looks sooo bad and is immoral but I would never vote for Cameron/ Osbourne.

no not everyone Nacy, nobody I know.which may represent a difference in where we live (no idea whrw you do BTW)

Perhaps its a done deal; the idea petrifies meas I know famillies like minewill be sufering if the old Tory Government is anything to go by. I can hope though, and I will contimue to do that.

(home start NOT a governmental thing, set up in late sevneties as a charity- Surestart certainlya s you say but an ex HS worker that was often misnderstood)