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If Ian Curtis had lived, and enjoyed the ale…

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No one has really picked up on the fact that this is a fantastic result for Labour. They've been hammered for Iraq, immigration and Blair's personality but have still come through to win a third term for the first time in their 100 year history and are well positioned to win a fourth, as long as they get a reasonably good new leader and the economy doesn't go tits-up. It's also appalling for the Conservatives who have achieved less than 1 in 3 votes for the third election running.

If anyone had told you during the Thatcher-Kinnock years that that this would be the position in 2005 you'd have said they were pulling your pisser. If I were a Labour bigwig I'd be on a real high today. 16 years of continuous power is looking likely.

As for Labour's share of the vote, it's no great shame. Unlike the old days, people are most sophisticated and choosy and are less blinkered in party loyalty. Thus we have loads mroe parties now. Most people have 3 or 4 'big' ones to choose from and 2 or 3 'protest' ones, depending where they live. Under these circumstances, 36% is not a bad chunk of the vote for one party to win.

Of course, it is a bit unfair that the party in question can achieve a working majority with this share, but the alternative is a European-style coalitions, where you could have two of the smaller parties forming a government while the party with the largest share is left out of power, and where you often have small parties like nationalists in positions of power far in excess of their share of the vote (just look at the power the Ulster Unionists had under the 92-97 John Major administration - and that wasn't even a proper coalition!). And in general, coalition governments are not a great way of getting things done unless the country is united in its goals, such as during World War II, as politicians' egos get in the way even more than normal.

Rather than heading the European way we are heading the American one where it is hard to differentiate between the two main parties.

While I take on Muir's points the sad thing is that it's is not the Labour Party in power but a party reduced to appealing to the home counties daily mail readers in order to remain in office and is in fact what the SDP wanted to become. My family no longer votes for Labour and I must move to a marginal so that my vote means something in elections to come. As the old saying goes If Voting Changed Anything They Would Abolish It.

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If Ian Curtis had lived, and enjoyed the ale…

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If Ian Curtis had lived, and enjoyed the ale…

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All of them are egostical shites - and if they don't start out that way just watch what a pinch of power can do (ask Hitler - even he started out with a vision that did not include ethnic cleansing) - does anybody really believe that they care about the little people? ... as for the war issue - well it wasn't an issue for me - every single other party leader would have led us to war as Blair did - and they're lying (well it is politics) if they deny it. What really makes me laugh is when the tory shitheads say 'Ooh look what poodle Blair is doing to our country'...and I think 'the British public are not goldfish - we have extended memories and I remember how they squatted on the face of our country and left a whole load of shit that Blair has been cleaning up with political bog roll since....this is why I don't do politics - like a split condom, it's pointless. Right i'm off to think about furry bunnies and such other things...

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Jarvis Cocker or David Bowie or AVB or Johnny Borrell, she isn't picky

Cavey Cocker, Cup Cake Queen, Saint Thomas.

Anyone who missed the George Galloway interview with Paxman can catch it here



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