British Politics Thread.

[Mr Mystery]

Hell no, carry said grudge.

That's one of the things I will always hold against Labour - the end of free University.

That was the day the post-war generation were blatant in their ambition to pull the ladder up after them. I nearly punched someone who said 'why should I pay for your Uni'.....BECAUSE SOMEBODY PAID FOR YOURS, YOU SELFISH SOD.

[Psychosplodge]

After that the fees were only going one way it was inevitable. Labour being the party to introduce fees is against everything I thought they stood for.

[Mr Mystery]

Indeed.

Sure, some of the more frivolous courses should be paid for out your own pocket. But stuff useful and essential to the country (Doctors, Nursing, Teaching etc) should always be free. Those career paths aren't for everyone - so there should be absolutely no barrier to those with the will to do them.

[Denzark]

I concur to some degree MM - the government should pay for people (such as those you called) who give service to the state - maybe 1 year return of service for each year of the course?

But anything without a benefit to the state is a luxury that the state shouldn't pay for - bear in mind that 18 (A-level) is quite a long time to be in education and is probably a reasonable point to finish free universal education.

On the subject of tuition fees - is it not the case that what the government did was lift a restriction on universities charging - and the up to £9k fee is a decision of each university?

[Mr Mystery]

Issue is, Univsrsity leads to better employment prospects, and in theory a citizen of greater tax worth going forward. So how we measure 'worth it' courses all gets a bit hazy.

But locking the less advantaged out entirely is just counter productive. Get social mobility going. I'm all for elitism in schools, but we need a meritocracy for the entry system, and not the old boys club.

[CoffeeGrunt]

I discovered today how awkward it is voting for the first time. You'd think that, being something we value as a country, we'd get taught how the government works, how voting works, etc, but I realised that no-one had ever told me how it works until today.

So I ended up registering for a postal vote, missing the deadline, got told I didn't actually need the card to vote, searched up my local polling booth, got there and was told it was the wrong one, got to the right one, and found out I was marked absent because I was a postal voter, and that I'd need the postal ballot in order to vote.

Said ballot was on my desk because I thought I'd not need it, and it was 6:40, I was a 30 minute cycle ride away, and the place closes at 7:00PM.

Given my apathy for the vote I just went home and felt grumpy and irritated for a bit. Seriously, I remember endless "Citizenship" lessons about not carrying knives or doing drugs, but hell if they taught you the one most important aspect of being a Citizen...

[Al Shut]

How odd, I thought I read that polls close at 10, at least that's how long I have to wait for proper election coverage that isn't about dogs or strange polling stations.

[Mr Mystery]

Polling Stations should still be open until 22:00......

[The_Gonk]

I discovered today how awkward it is voting for the first time. You'd think that, being something we value as a country, we'd get taught how the government works, how voting works, etc, but I realised that no-one had ever told me how it works until today.

So I ended up registering for a postal vote, missing the deadline, got told I didn't actually need the card to vote, searched up my local polling booth, got there and was told it was the wrong one, got to the right one, and found out I was marked absent because I was a postal voter, and that I'd need the postal ballot in order to vote.

Said ballot was on my desk because I thought I'd not need it, and it was 6:40, I was a 30 minute cycle ride away, and the place closes at 7:00PM.

Given my apathy for the vote I just went home and felt grumpy and irritated for a bit. Seriously, I remember endless "Citizenship" lessons about not carrying knives or doing drugs, but hell if they taught you the one most important aspect of being a Citizen...

They opened at 7AM, which may explain your confusion. They close at 10.

[Wildeybeast]

Decided I was voting Conservative for the locals as he's pretty decent and was going to spoil my ballot for the general. Then I got there and there was a UKIP guy outside the polling station which made me irrationally angry and I ended up voting conservative to make sure he didn't get anywhere near power. My local MP has done all right and I'm convinced Tories have the best economic plan, so I'm not too upset about having to do it.