Please, please not the Tories - anything but Cameron. Hung parliament, even Garryck for PM, just not them. I don't want to feel like I'm growing up as an 8 year old again.

Hi folks,

Intersting debate as per usual.

Personally my choices are quite simple, Lib dem, or spoil.

I would never vote conservative as it goes mostly against my principles, the leader is a sleazebag, and I believe their priorites are misplaced. A gonvernment's main responsibilities in my view are to keep it's people healthy, educate them, and provide them with job oppurtunities. Conservative priorites of cutting the national debt and making rich people richer don't really fit with that, not to mention the probable cuts in funding to the research councils upon which my livelihood pretty much depends.

However, I won't ever vote for labour as they took my country to war, pointlessly and have neither justified nor apologised for their decisions, I also vehmently disagree with their higher education policies regarding 50% in higher education and people having to pay for it all themselves. Universities should be an academic elite, we simply have no need for all the graduates we are generating, so why not massively streamline the system and save the govermnet and the individuals a significant sum of money?.

On a personal note, I find Gordon Brown far more tolerable as an individual than previous PM's I have known, for example, who would you rather have dinner with, Brown? or one of the last 3 incumbents of the post (Blair, Major, Thatcher)?, I know it's like asking if you prefer horse, cow, pig, or sheep's poo, but I have to speak up for Gordon on that one.

As far as outcomes go, it has to be anything but the tories, I'm with Walminski on that one. I think a liberal democrat-labour coalition would be the best possible outcome here.

One interesting running theme I've noticed on here, and between my friends, is that, whatever their political persuasion, they all agree that Cameron is generally just a greasy marketing man. I would usually vote Tory, but thanks to him, I probably won't. Same for my other Tory friends.

I'll be voting SNP. In the event of a hung parliament, it is the best way to try and prevent drastic cuts coming to Scotland. There will be cuts, but hopefully not as drastic as some figures that have been banded about.

cameron is a sleaze bag isn't he? - its all the botox and fake tan! Oh and the awful 'thumb point' - urgh! I wouldn't vote labour - mainly because I think Mandy has far too much say over things! But I would also say that gordon seems like a decent enough bloke. I would far rather have a 'plod along' PM who actually does work than a sleazy one who *talks* about getting stuff done but is more concerned with his popularity polls.

I've never really been sure where I stand on the war issue. I have always thought (especially after watching Spooks) that there must be loads and loads of info and stuff we don't even know about that's going on that they could never tell us. And I would say putting everything to referendum would probably be a disaster because you would end up like x factor, with all the chavvy people voting for the party with the best emotional backstory.

I was a bit confused on the leaders debate as to how they get away with only representing 3 parties. Surely ALL the parties should be represented at these things? I did catch nick griffin on BBC breakfast this morning which was highly amusing.

How can People relate Genocide with X factor games. The judicial system should play their role to bring the culprits to justice.
Only an enquiry is not enough. We having an already established system from counselor surgeries to MPs.

I was merely pointing out that if you want each individual in the population to be consulted about major decisions (i.e. referendums) it would end up with people either not voting or voting without a good understanding of the issue.

From my limited A level politics knowledge - doesn't the PM get a large say in who the judges are anyway? so its all a bit incestuous if you want the justice system to hold MPs to account. hmm I do notice that the country runs just fine in the summer recess - maybe we shouldn't have ANY government! 8-)

Sneaks, you're right about juducial appointments. Furthermore, have you ever noticed that "independent inquiries" are usually chaired by someone of the PM's choosing? Hence you end up with whitewashes as with the Kelly inquiry.

So my question is, who the hell do you vote for? I abhor Labour, Tories are my usual party but I can't stand Cameron, Lib Dems want nuclear disarmament to be unilateral, and will integrate us more with the EU, UKIP are too small to have an impact. So who else is there???!

I would say that UKIP are morons - a single issue party that have no idea about other policies. Don't they have a blanket 30% tax policy? That would cripple me! (well my hubs! - I've a scroungy student of course!)

You could vote for me! The Sneaky Party. My 5 key policies are..

1) procrastination at all levels of life
2) free tea for all
3) bring back the stocks so we can publicly humiliate wrong dooers and politicians (not me though)
4) ban on leggings/jeggings or similar
5) to ensure equality - have a house swap system so we all move one to the left every year. This will mean that we could live in a bedsit or a mansion depending on the year. On leap years we go 2 to the left.

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4matt, you could try the Green party, or my new personal favourite, the Monster Raving Loony Party! They sound like they would shake things up a bit!
Personally, I think the Lib Dems are the best of a bad bunch this year, I'd emmigrate before I'd vote for the Tories and the puppet that is David Cameron, and I've seen enough of Gordon Browns big fish mouth gaping open after every bull-spouting sentence to last a lifetime.

that made me giggle hee hee!

Seriously the Sneaky Party is the way to go! (up)

Sneaks: These should be secondary issues. But in your discussion you also suspected that judges are appointed by PM and hence they will be biased. What a democracy is this then??:$ Thats why a majority of British People think that the whole system is Crap and Obsolete. We public are just being used and abused by people who still think we are living in the 18th Century that hold the majority of our lands and £s. The secrets could be that how still we pursuing a methodology of colonialism and will do anything to grab resources like oil for the benefit of a few.. There are other scandals as well like Euro fighters.. We all should work hard to ask the so called champions of parties how they would resolve these issues once they come to power not compromising on their petty manifestos.
Sry, I even did not study Political Science in my GCSEs.;-)

Let's reprise this thread after the second leadership debate. :-) What did everyone think?

Personally I thought the Conservatives have obviously changed tack after last week and gone a lot more right wing - DC showed himself up in the discussion of European issues, and let NC get in what was for me the quote of the day: "How does it help anyone... to join together with a bunch of nutters, anti-semites, people who've denied climate change exists, homophobes?". I'm hoping that this will steer any protest votes against Labour away from the Conservatives at least. :-)

I found it extremely irritating when they stole each others catchphrases e.g. DC stealing 'get real' from GB, and GB stealing 'political pointscoring' from NC. One thing that gave me pause was that none were very convincing on pensions.

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Well I'm defintely voting lib dem. there are a few who think they are too idealistic, but I actually think we need that. What's wrong with AIMING for renewable energy? even if we have to back it up with burning tory MPs for fuel??

They obviously tried to attack him on nuclear arms, which as far as I can see is the LD chink their armour - it worries certain people. Not me I have to say, because my cousin works in a nuclear submarine - he is mental and all 'tim nice but dim' and he's pretty much said that its a waste of money.

It also dawned on me last night that whatever party gets in, they are the ones going to be setting up what I get as a parent, if I choose to have a child in the next 5 years which is very probable. When I realised that, and understood that I shouldn't just vote for what is best for youngish PhD students :p the Tory party seem way off the mark. I don't like their DIY britain view, i totally agree with this http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/apr/14/election-2010-conservatives-big-society - I want professionals doing professoinal jobs, not some netmums wanna be running a school!

Happy St Georges Day people!

"howed himself up in the discussion of European issues, and let NC get in what was for me the quote of the day: "How does it help anyone... to join together with a bunch of nutters, anti-semites, people who've denied climate change exists, homophobes?"

The most telling line of the night. Clegg is getting a bit too big for his boots. The Movement for European Conservatives and Reformists is not, and has never been, composed of nutters, homophobes, or anti-semites. This is just a popular lefty tactic of smearing anyone you disagree with. Hence overuse of the word racist, homophobe, islamophobe etc. These should be saved for real far right parties such as the BNP. Further, grouping people who "deny" climate change (look at how he's trying to link holocaust DENIAL with climate change DENIAL) with the the others is totally ridiculous.

Cameron showed his strength on foreign affairs, especually the EU, last night. With either of the other two in charge, we'll just be bossed around by France and Germany, who only follow EU rules when it suits them.