I posted this suggestion on Facebook today: "If Scotland has the SNP, and Wales has Plaid Cymru, why doesn't England have the English National Party? The party could have English devolution and independence from the United Kingdom as its raison d'etre. In the event of a referendum on either question, London would be completely separate meaning an English Parliament would not have authority over London (the London Assembly would) and if independent, London would become an enclave within England, remaining part of the UK. Cornwall would also be able to decide whether it would continue to be directly ruled by Westminster, or by the English Parliament, or acquire its own devolution, and would be given the option of remaining part of the UK or an independent England in the event of a referendum, but if it wanted independence itself, it would need to negotiate its own referendum. It could also pursue a progressive, anti-austerity stance modeled on that of the SNP and PC as a secondary, day-to-day ticket. Why do I think this, you ask? England needs the SNP. But it can't have it, because it's a Scottish party. But an ENP could act as a real voice to parallel that of the SNP and PC to be a progressive, anti-austerity platform for England. In addition to that: - the break-up of the UK would accelerate progress towards a federal Europe - it could be an opportunity for England to become a republic (though not necessarily) - it could lead to British federalism if not a break-up - it will address the rift between England and London Only issue is, the name 'English National Party' is associated with the far right, so another name would be needed."
He says Wales And yes - yes, they are. The UK won't break up for a long time. I can't see the majority of Wales wanting to break away, and last year proved that the Scottish don't want to break away just yet. And since England pretty much controls the UK, I can't see us wanting to break away either. Many people don't want an English Republic. I would support one, when (and if ) the Queen dies - the Monarchy is a pretty big part of our culture and we take a lot of pride in it, and it adds an extra layer of protection against some corrupt party taking over the country. I can't imagine Prince Charles or Prince William taking over for some reason, and the monarchy is becoming increasingly redundant. If there were a head of state separate from the Prime Minister that allowed an English Republic, I would love that. Also, yay for London being run by a separate government. We need someone to focus on England as a whole to stop the North and the South-East running into poverty like it is now, and to not treat London like its the only place in the UK - like the tories are now. I mean, yeah, its like, the trade center of the world and everything, but its not the government's purpose to look after it as if its the only part of four countries they have to look after. Welsh accents are cool D: (British women find them attractive on men over here, lel) Its a political party's advertisement for the 2015 general election (A.K.A deciding who gets to run the country for the next 5 years). Some parties come out with pretty 'eh' stuff, some pretty bad stuff, and some are downright offensive. I love them all National.
Are things a bit more civil in the UK? Here in America it seems like the politicians don't actually say why they would be good, only why their opponent would be bad . . .
It's UK-wide, to elect Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons. In addition to UK-wide parties contesting it (Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, UKIP, the two Green parties, one for England & Wales, one for Scotland), in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (and England, though to a much lesser degree) the local parties of each of those countries also contest this election. In Scotland, they have the SNP (Scottish National Party) and in Wales, as seen in the OP in the video, Plaid Cymru, which is Welsh for 'Party of Wales'. In both of these countries, the five nationwide parties also contest these elections. In Northern Ireland, the five main parties generally aren't contesting our 18 constituencies. The exception is the Conservatives, where they are flying in random people from London to contest the seats, our local branch of the Green Party, who are part of the wider Green Party of Ireland, and UKIP, who are standing in a few seats. Instead of these parties, we have our own set of local parties who dominate our politics. They are: The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), a party which strongly supports the Union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, recently embroiled in controversies over its attempts to legalise homophobia and an election pact with the UUP. Sinn Fein (Irish for 'We Ourselves'), an Irish republican party which supports a united Irish republic. Notably, Sinn Fein do not take their seats in the House of Commons in a policy known as 'abstentionism', because they do not recognise the legitimacy of a British Parliament ruling over the six counties which they believe should be a part of Ireland. The Social, Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), an Irish nationalist party which is sympathetic towards an Irish republic, also socialist. Historically, the SDLP opposed the actions of the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland, while Sinn Fein acted as their political wing. The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). In recent years, the UUP and the SDLP have rapidly lost support to the DUP, Alliance, and their splinter group NI21 (up until last year, when it imploded). The UUP is another unionist party. The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, which I am a member of. Unlike most parties in Northern Ireland, Alliance is neither unionist nor nationalist, it takes a neutral position on the matter in order to attract people from all sides of the community to end sectarianism and segregation in Northern Ireland, which the other unionist and nationalist parties have fostered and implicitly supported. There are also a few smaller parties, including: The Green Party in Northern Ireland The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV), a breakaway group from the DUP NI21 (its name refers to a 21st Century Northern Ireland), a UUP breakaway group, imploded last year due to massive internal divisions and a sexual harassment scandal. It will not be standing in this election, presumably due to the crisis. The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), a left-wing unionist party associated with the Ulster Defence Association, a defunct loyalist paramilitary group. It will not be standing in this election due to a lack of funds. Yes, really. Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol (CISTA), which popped up this year in NI and elsewhere. Polls predict they are on track to win the North Down seat; time will tell if this is the case. The People Before Profit Alliance (PBP), a far-left Ireland-wide party The Workers Party, another far-left party Hope that wasn't too much info, I like teaching people about how these things work
National. It's for the UK general election in may. This ad started off pretty weird but then kind of just turned into your typical party ad, but it was pretty interesting and a decent way to put their point across. As a welsh person who lives right on the border between wales and England I can tell you there is almost no support for Plaid Cymru here. They had the stereotype that they were just for welsh speakers a couple of years ago, glad they got rid of it, it was pretty damaging.
No I'd say it's still pretty similar to the US. The conservatives and Labour are constantly arguing why conservatives should be in charge and that labour can't be trusted and visa versa. They typically target their each parties weaknesses or past actions, e.g. labour can't be trusted with the economy, but the conservatives aren't for working people etc.
Kinda. I was thinking about this a day or so ago, but a real politician is not a good one. To actually be successful in politics, it seems to me that you have a knack for lying. So, if you find a politician that can't lie, let me know. My votes on them. Ahem, 72Volt.
They do that here too. The two popular parties, Labour and Conservatives/Tories, just say why the other would be bad and churn out empty promises. There is plenty of evidence as to why both are bad choices - the country is still recovering (or suffering from) things put in place by both of them. The adverts are all pretty stupid. Labour's one claimed to guarantee they'd open up over 30,000 jobs in the NHS or something like that - they didn't say where they'd be cutting spending, if they'd cut spending, and they don't seem to think everyone in the country upon seeing the broadcast was saying 'you can't guarantee anything.'.
