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[keasy]

You know I'm a lefty right ?

I think most people know that by now. But I'm not by any means a socialist, I lean towards socialism, I'm sort of just to the left of left of centre.

I was impressed by a recent party political broadcast tonight by the Socialist Labour Party in that they like me believe that nationalisation of many industries is what is needed to put the needs of the people first and not the needs of private share holders.

The term 'socialist' in their name does however raise concerns and the fact they really do look like rank amateurs acting upon ideology before reality and actuality. Frankly they would shit a fucking brick should they find themselves in any position of power and responsibility, IMO.  That may be patronising but I think it true, especially when you see their website...

http://www.socialist-labour-party.org.uk/policies.html


• To establish that women are treated equally with men in all respects, particularly ad far as pay and conditions at work are concerned and top prohibit by law any discrimination against women in any way.


Amongst other glaring mistakes.

[Wooster]

I'm all for coalition governments.
If an idea is shit it won't get the time of day, and some of the minority parties who do come up with good idea's are in with a chance of having them passed in negotiation for support with others.
It's sort of like the Tory Idea of the Big Smokescreen Society (which they are really into, so long as everyone does what they tell them to).

They need to put some of the bickering behind them though (the old "you say black, and I'll say white" party politics is fucking stupid and unproductive).
Fair does they're fighting for a job (the same as everyone else), but until the three or four months before run up to an election, most of their agendas appear to be 'fuck the voting public, just make the opposition look bad'.

With that in mind, I'm tending to look at those parties who are willing to negotiate at times (have to say the SNP and others haven't done too bad in this respect), Labour are still whingey bastards (why don't you like us any more, they plead), The Scottish Liberals appeared to be distancing themselves from the UK Liberals..until it came out they support the UK Tory privatisation plans for Scottish Water (so now they're fucked), and the Scottish Tories are an afterthought.

I reckon a lot of ex Liberal votes will go to the SNP and some Labour votes will go to the likes of the Socialists (even if they did do their leaflets on the cheap ), Tories might gain.
Something worth noting is that Margo MacDonald is seen as a shooty in and guaranteed a win.
Got a lot of time for her even though none of her policies affect me at all...yet. (big on pensioners rights etc.)
I like her stance on voluntary euthanasia for instance, definitely pro choice on that one.  

[keasy]

I'd welcome David McLetchie back as the leader of the Scottish Cons. Not because I'm a conservative but as an actual real viable leader of the conservatives and a true voice of the right in Scotland. As it stands right now I reckon Annabled (as in bled the natural resources we have left dry)  is just about the worse advertisement for Scottish conservatism there is. They were once a legit party up here and as a true democratic believer in  choice, I'd rather be trying to persuade people against a viable conservative leader as the plastic clueless witless half an idea leader that she is.
How they even keep her as leader in Scotland, it's beyond belief, she surely damages them further. She's better educated than me, she's got more influence than I will ever have yet she still manages to project herself as an compete fucking idiot.

I'd rather be fighting against a worthy Scottish opponent than a London led patsy.

In saying that, I've never been much of a SNP fan but I'm gearing towards them more than I've ever been. But only in Scottish devolved politics, in the UK side I reckon I'm going to side with Red Ed, just to keep the Tories out.

It's a definite strange time for democracy in Scotland, as a devolved country we are still relatively new, but what has been proven is that devolution sparks new thought and thinking when it comes to politics. Scotland certainly is a mixed bag of elected power, all the better for it too, it forces us to think beyond the two main parties.

[Wooster]

They were the Unionist Party (who ironically split from the Scottish Liberals), lost popularity and merged with the Tory party as a whole (my old man still voted for them into the 80's until he saw the rape of Scottish industry..'there' was an argument or loads between us   (another irony being that, while arguing against Thatcherism, I could see that the unions had to strike a balance with management)), anyhoo that merger (and eventual change of name) was the nail in the coffin as far as they were concerned.

By dropping the 'Unionist' in the title they were seen as an English party, and have been ever since.

Labour are pretty much the same, even though Keir Hardie was born only 5 miles from here.
|Next time I'm passing the Terex factory I'll keep an eye out to see if he's spinning in his grave..  

p.s.
I did not know this, but Keir Hardie saw Marxism as damaging from a socialist point of view and steered the party toward a more liberal stance.

[keasy]

It is kind of a given that Marxism is not suited to democratic socialism.


It is more an ideology than a practicable workable system.

[Wooster]

Isn't he buried in London?

Ironic that it's one of the major centre's of global capitalism.

[keasy]

I dunno, is he ?


Maybe they should rename the London Eye as the ' Karlousell'