Christmas Tree

I think it would have been very interesting if the crunch hadn't happened - the tories would have been able to promise quite large tax cuts and Labour would have been able to pursue a quite radical agenda to combat that. I think now both are a bit timid (understandably) knowing we're skint. I listened to a bit of the debate on five live with Victoria Derbyshire interviewing George Osbourne. The big talking point of the election is about who is going to reduce the debt quickest and the least painfully. Not really inspiring stuff for the man in the street who really just wants to know when he can borrow some more!!!

But you cant for all time hold every conservative government responsible for what a previous government did? Where would you draw the line in history?

There was a lot of excitement and hope in 1997 when Blair strolled in. Britain was cool and all that. Thats not here now, even after so many years of one party, im not sure that there is a great appetite for change, even in closet tories like me. I really do think apathy has really taken hold and something needs to occur to jolt it back to life. As always with old governments, this one has used up all the good people and seems to have no ideas.

Or perhaps some people have strong convictions and actually believe in something other than this being a popularity contest, or about personal gain. The sheep imo are those that are led by the popular media in this country. problem is I don't think there are many convictions left in politics. Snouts in the trough (3 at court yesterday) illegal wars ( thousands killed for oil) Tories any better? Convictions....... There are other parties. As much as i loathe and despise the BNP I'd rather people voted for them (or the Lib Dems, Green, UKIP etc.) than not voting because of apathy towards the Tories and Labour. A 30% turnout and hung parliament isn't really the kick in the arse the two parties that have shared power for over a century need. They need to get out and start trying to win some votes then. I've never had an candidate knock on my door (lucky escape for them Used to love a good old doorstep challenge with the mormons) I guess its because we live in a "foregone conclusion" area. That aside they should still try. I live in South Tyneside too and I'm constantly getting flyers from David Miliband, the BNP and the local independents. Not so much from the Conservatives. The lass that's running in South Shields as the Tory candidate was in all my classes as at school.... http://southshieldsconservatives.co.uk/karen_allen_55.html http://karen4southshields.co.uk/index.php?...3&Itemid=10 She's a friend on Facebook so I posted on her wall how shocked I was that someone with a similar North Eastern upbringing to mine could end up a Thatcherite disgrace (there's photos of her meeting the witch on FB). For some reason she removed the comment though. Definitley would though. Excellent Aye aye

Or perhaps some people have strong convictions and actually believe in something other than this being a popularity contest, or about personal gain. The sheep imo are those that are led by the popular media in this country. problem is I don't think there are many convictions left in politics. Snouts in the trough (3 at court yesterday) illegal wars ( thousands killed for oil) Tories any better? Convictions....... There are other parties. As much as i loathe and despise the BNP I'd rather people voted for them (or the Lib Dems, Green, UKIP etc.) than not voting because of apathy towards the Tories and Labour. A 30% turnout and hung parliament isn't really the kick in the arse the two parties that have shared power for over a century need. They need to get out and start trying to win some votes then. I've never had an candidate knock on my door (lucky escape for them Used to love a good old doorstep challenge with the mormons) I guess its because we live in a "foregone conclusion" area. That aside they should still try. You are a forgone conclusion Tree.

Booyaka!! The Green party are the least flexible and most dogmatic party of all. Take their stance on nuclear power. Idiots. I don't for one second think that the Green party would get in though, that's the point. A vote for either of the main two parties or not voting at all is the same thing. It shows support or indifference towards their almost identical approaches. An increased vote for extreme left and right wing parties will both pull the main parties out of the centre towards opposing extremes as well as increasing the flexibility of the extreme parties who will push to increase their vote by becoming more centerist. The greens time has come and gone. People are too busy struggling to make ends meet to worry about green issues. The BNP. Well that will always be a nothing party as well regardless of peoples genuine concerns over immigration and the effect on some communities. Whats needed is a new party to rise up and try and put honesty at the forefront of all they do. They should not get bogged down in "convictions" but more interested in the solutions to the days problems. Steer away from soundbites and get back in the communities at grass root level. there must be another way and I think we are crying out for it. Labour and Conservatives are now just the same old tricks with slightly different clothes.

Or perhaps some people have strong convictions and actually believe in something other than this being a popularity contest, or about personal gain. The sheep imo are those that are led by the popular media in this country. problem is I don't think there are many convictions left in politics. Snouts in the trough (3 at court yesterday) illegal wars ( thousands killed for oil) Tories any better? Convictions....... There are other parties. As much as i loathe and despise the BNP I'd rather people voted for them (or the Lib Dems, Green, UKIP etc.) than not voting because of apathy towards the Tories and Labour. A 30% turnout and hung parliament isn't really the kick in the arse the two parties that have shared power for over a century need. They need to get out and start trying to win some votes then. I've never had an candidate knock on my door (lucky escape for them Used to love a good old doorstep challenge with the mormons) I guess its because we live in a "foregone conclusion" area. That aside they should still try.

I think in this day and age, ALL clubs need one. However getting a good one is probably as difficult as getting a good manager.

Theres always McDonalds

An award-winning porn director has been selected as a Liberal Democrat candidate. Anna Arrowsmith, who has twice been named adult entertainment director of the year, is standing for election in Gravesham, Kent. Party leader Nick Clegg said her work was "not exactly my cup of tea" but praised her for not being a "cardboard cut-out Westminster politician". He told GMTV it was important that people like her, who care about their local area, get involved in politics. When news of her selection was confirmed, Mrs Arrowsmith wrote on her Twitter page: "From porn to Parliament, here I come!" Using the pseudonym Anna Span, she has shot more than 250 explicit scenes for stations such as Television X. She was named best director at the 2008 and 2009 UK Adult Film and Television Awards and now runs adult entertainment company Easy on the Eye productions. Mrs Arrowsmith, who has an MA in philosophy, said she wants to make porn more female-friendly. She decided to stand as a reaction to the expenses scandal and the lack of women in Parliament. "If people don't know what I do for a living then they would never know. The local party and the local people who I have so far met have seen that I'm very driven," she said. "I'm not campaigning on behalf of my old industry. I'm campaigning on behalf of the people in the Gravesham area. "When people get to see me, they will realise that I'm used to project managing and that I'm driven to achieve change rather than just promising it." The married 38-year-old lives in Groombridge, near Tunbridge Wells.

Or perhaps some people have strong convictions and actually believe in something other than this being a popularity contest, or about personal gain. The sheep imo are those that are led by the popular media in this country. I would also add if it wasn't for people changing there vote we would be stuck with one side in all the time. That wouldn't be any good.

Or perhaps some people have strong convictions and actually believe in something other than this being a popularity contest, or about personal gain. The sheep imo are those that are led by the popular media in this country. problem is I don't think there are many convictions left in politics. Snouts in the trough (3 at court yesterday) illegal wars ( thousands killed for oil) Tories any better? Convictions.......

exactly the same in South Tyneside.

I agree, but there are some pearlers in there.

So it looks as though May 6th is the big day and that we are now going to spend 8 weeks being cohersed into supporting one side or the other. Obviously there will be the sheep on both sides who can only manage to vote one way, but for the floaters out there, who actually decide elections, are there any big real differences to excite them. 1 year ago most would have seen this as a fore gone conclusion however now it's all looking very tight and muddy. None of the usual election bribes as both sides promising cuts to tackle the debt. Are there any election bribes coming? Will a scandal or two swing it? I think this could be one of the greyest elections ever.

Huw Borland, Sky News Online The Duke of Edinburgh asked a sea cadet if she worked at a strip club, according to reports. Prince Philip had joined the Queen on a visit to Wyvern Barracks in Exeter on Thursday when he asked Elizabeth Rendle what she did for a living. The 24-year-old, a member of the Barnstaple Sea Cadets, told him she worked in a nightclub. Philip, 88, then asked if it was a strip club, before joking that it was "probably too cold for that anyway", she told The Sun. Miss Rendle added: "We were all laughing and I didn't take any offence. I think he was just putting people at their ease." The incident was the latest in a long line of Royal gaffes by the Duke. He once told Paraguayan dictator General Stroessner: "It's a pleasure to be in a country that isn't ruled by its people." He also dashed a 13-year-old boy's ambitions when he told him: "You're too fat to be an astronaut." And he once told a group from the British Deaf Association who were standing near a band: "Deaf? If you're near there, no wonder you are deaf." In 2002, Philip asked an indigenous Australian: "Do you still throw spears at each other?" The same year he asked a driving instructor in Scotland: "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to get them through the test?" Back in 1986, he commented to a group of British students in China: "If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed." The Royal visit to Exeter was part of celebrations to mark 150 years of the Sea Cadets movement.

I think both attitudes reflect human nature to a degree. I can see how Brits in Spain or Pakistanis in England could "desperately" cling to a very localised culture where all their needs are met (religiously, socially etc) and feel no need to try. Then again as we all know other people are more outgoing in any new situation and would make the effort. Maybe its a bit presumtious to dicate to people that they should be more outgoing when its obviously a common human trait to be insular. I still feel overall that over time the answer is a dilution/mixing of culture that can only come with subsequent generations - as exampled by West Indian and probably India immigration over a longer period. That's one of the reasons I'm so opposed to faith/sectarian schools and also private education. I think for the good of future society, the more people are "forced" to mix the better. totally agree

that's very true. I know plenty of "dark skinned" people and most have integrated and fully mix in the community, are friendly and outgoing. There are a few though who clearly have raised barriers to the community and make no effort. There attitude seems a bit like the gypsie community in that it's ok to make a living off us but we are to heathen to mix with.

The problem is quite a lot don't want to be embraced. This is where the problems fester on both sides. Personally I think if you choose to live in another country you should make every effort to intergrate but that does not mean giving up your roots ie football team. If I decided to move to Spain I would want my whole family to learn the language and attend a Spanish school so they could intergrate into their new surroundings very quickly.

Couldnt agree more with that. No surprise that you'd agree with the glaring contradiction that people should (or even could possibly) "continue living like they do in their native country" even while Britain pursues it's "global interests" in those countries. Are you saying we shouldn't have any global interests!!!

Hopes Mike Ashley gets struck by Lightning while cleaning his pool and that Mrs Ashley takes over and reveals her secret schoolgirl soft spot for Kevin Keegan. Sports direct is sold to the highest bidder and all funds are re-directed to KK to win the Prem, then Europe. KK strides into St James with Brian Kilkline and frog marches Llambias to the Tyne Bridge where he is greeted by a large crowd and a plank. Expectations. Mike realises how close he came to really losing a ton of money and backs Hughton in the transfer market. Chris turns out to be one of the greatest managers the country has seen and Leads to Newcastle to 10 trebles before leaving to takeover England.

The Blind Side 8/10 Better because it is or is based on a true story. A nice tale, well told that had the women in the family oohing and ahhing as only women do. Sandra played a canny part as well.

I think I'm having that hoo Andy, coming from Burnley, you should know EXACTLY what I mean yeh, in fact ive mentioned it a few times that the history of my town and the effect that pathetic, hateful ignorance has had on a number of good friends of mine is why I fucking hate racists aye, its a shame that people come to Britain and have no intention of integrating properly because they want to continue living like they do in their native country, including demanding seperate schools, not bother learning the language, and opposing our flag and those who defend its global interests and territory. Couldnt agree more with that.

This is brilliant