After a lifetime of voting Labour, I’ve just decided to join the Green Party. The thought of voting Labour again just makes me depressed. Just as duplicitous as the Tories, and worse still utterly lacking in balls (other than that sweaty self-serving one). I can no more imagine Ed Miliband as Prime Minister than Jimmy Savile, and he’s dead.

I was inspired by a coment in another thread:

I see a vote for the Green party as a vote for general principles, rather than specific policies – they don’t stand a chance of winning in my constituency, but every vote for them is a nudge to the Labour MP that some of her constituents would like her to nudge a little further to the left and that we quite like wind farms and bikes and polar bears. In the same way, I always considered a vote for the Lib Dems to be a vote against ID cards, the Iraq War, tuition fees and the like.

Sadly there isn’t a hope in hell of anyone other than the Tories winning in my constituency, and I’m pretty sure I would have still voted Labour tactically where I lived until recently. I remember being really cross with my Green voting friends last time around who contributed to the Lib Dem unseating Labour by a handful of votes and contributing to the coalition.

So I’m a hypocrite and a turncoat. Feels great right now though.

perhaps you should vote based on the issues and policies put forward at an election rather than pinning colours to a mast

Interesting

My wife and son joined today to get them a head of UKIP

I might vote labour as although its a safe Tory seat their are still more Non Tory votes than Tory. Also UKIP could damage them here.

I once voted tactically in an election and regretted it. Lib Dems nearly kept Tories out of a seat but I voted Labour having been told they were in second place

If there was a way to prevent tactical voting it would be great for democracy..

I say vote Green, unless you’re an idiot, in which case still vote Green
Their membership has surpassed UKIPs in the last day or two, and I think UKIPs success at the last ballot will have given a good number of politically apathetic progressive types the kick up the arse they needed to get them to stand up and be counted

So I’m a hypocrite

Green is a good fit. 🙂

Sounds to me like you did the right thing~ very easy to be disillusioned by politics these days, but the Green Party’s policies make a lot of sense.

The tactical voting trap is a tricky one… surely everyone should just go balls out for what they believe in, rather than pandering to archaic tradition?

Policies make a lot of sense? Some of them, others are ludicrous and some are plain stupid.

specifically Mike?

http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/

inclined that way too TBH. And I think if my wife (old style Labour voter type, who hasn’t voted Labour in years, now English person voting SNP) joined any party now it would – possibly – be Green for UK presence. That or SNP.

I don’t get it.

Do you need to join a political party just because you want to vote for them?

Does that mean if you want to vote for other party you will join them too?

Crikey, talking about people putting their faith in zombie politicians (regardless of the products they are selling) … you are doomed!

🙄

Why do you need to be a member to make a party win? Do you get an extra vote?

The need to join the Green Party for me was driven by a desire to make it even remotely possible for it to fight for seats. It needs both money and volunteers to help get the messages across and encourage people to vote for it.

Voting is the most important bit. Also enabling others to see it is worth voting is even better!

Rachel

specifically Mike?

http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/

Their policies on GMO’s and Nuclear Power for starters.

perhaps you should vote based on the issues and policies put forward at an election rather than pinning colours to a mast

There’s a pick n mix option great I’m in how does that work?

allthegear – Member

The need to join the Green Party for me was driven by a desire to make it even remotely possible for it to fight for seats

Do you have to join to volunteer?

Do you need to register with charitable cause/club/party etc as a person in order to help others?

😯

The Pub Landlord would get my vote, if only for calling his party the Free United Kingdom Party – FKUP 😆

Genuinely no idea how I will actually vote. Naturally right of centre. Don’t trust Labour, don’t like the impact of the Tories policies on genuinely vulnerable people. Liberals too pro-Europe for me, UKIP too anti-Europe as well as being general dicks. Greens too idealistic and impractical.

But I do believe that everyone should vote – even if there was a “none of the above” option. If you don’t play you shouldn’t moan about the results.

If there was an anti HS2 party I’d vote for them, surprised that hasn’t been organised, would make a right mess of the Tory vote along the route.

No chewk it costs literally nothing for the greens to operate and if they had no members at all they would be just as powerful and useful as they are today

Anythign else puzzling you?

Junkyard – lazarus

No chewk it costs literally nothing for the greens to operate and if they had no members at all they would be just as powerful and useful as they are today

Anythign else puzzling you?

So they will still be powerful if not then donate money to them, volunteer, help out etc …

But why do you need to become a member?
You have not answered my question but rather explain about their ability.

Yes, it’s still puzzling explain yourself.

Cant see Miliband as PM…

Cameron not so convinced about either

Clegg.. well.. just really?

perhaps you should vote based on the issues and policies put forward at an election rather than pinning colours to a mast

Would be fine if the parties actually got on and did what they said they would in their manifesto’s… but they don’t. They’re usually empty promises – more like short-term advertising slogans than genuine statements of policy.

Last two opportunities I voted green.
They really don’t do themselves any favours though. and need some new people to make the party more contempary there is however a wave to ride if anyone’s intrested IMO.

Edit: re above about Clegg, I’m always impressed by him when he’s on radio or whatever, not sure what others see that I dont.

Both I and t’other half joined too – increased numbers raises the profile and may help others to thing… you know what… perhaps we DON’T have to just vote for the status quo.

The only way this country is going to change is through a radical shift in politics away from the self serving “elite” career politicians. No, I don’t agree 100% with their policies but they are the best fit to what I do believe, and they are a driver for change.

If people actually voted with what they believed, for change and to better the country then perhaps… just perhaps… we may start to steer this country towards a more democratic, representative and sustainable future.

Or… you know… we could just carry on as we are, let the socio-economic divide widen and let an ever narrowing proportion of the country decide our future.

If there was an anti HS2 party I’d vote for them, surprised that hasn’t been organised, would make a right mess of the Tory vote along the route

UKIP are anti HS2

I have voted for all of them in the past from Lib Dem, Green, Labour, Tory to UKIP.

Crikey, you lot are really giving too much credit to zombie career politicians.

😯

On their core competences, the Greens talk some sense, but on the economy they make AS look literate, which takes some doing.

But given their momentum especially vs UKIP perhaps Dave is right in having them included in any TV debate. They could help us understand their economics a bit better.

Having read through the Green’s “policies”, about a 1/3 are well intentioned, 1/3 would break the economy and the other 1/3 will only work with the help from the fairies at the bottom of the garden.

“PD302 On inspection, there is little or no threat of direct invasion of the UK by any nation. Commitment to a large standing army, a navy of large warships around our coastline, squadrons of fighter planes and a cripplingly expensive missile defence system is therefore unnecessary”

We can all feel safer now, what with the russian’s running regular military air sortie’s over UK airspace and sailing their subs into our coastal waters.

here’s another good example…

“PD432 We will end all subsidies to arms exports, close DESO (Defence Export Services Organisation) and the Export Credit Guarantee Department, and disband service units that presently demonstrate British defence equipment.”

So that pretty much wipes out a good 50,000 – 100,000 jobs in the UK, enough corporation tax to pay for the NHS for half the year and would wipe out a lot of development that leads to civilian applications via tech transfer and associated revenues for the country.

teamhurtmore – Member

… core competences, …

FFS! Well done with bureaucratic zombie jargon.

If the Green starts to use this term then we are doomed. Doomed!

Even the “nicest” party has gone corporate.

Try to use a “green term” rather than those corporate BS.

😯

edit: told you they are all in it for the £££ …

Alex Salmond.

House!!

Can’t vote green, there’s no point them standing here (safe Tory seat + first past the post system).

I think the main problem for the greens is that, in order for their policies to be successful, it would require people to make big changes to how they live and actually face the fact that we can’t carry on living the way we do. While all the other parties are promising us the earth, I don’t think most will vote for a party that’s asking them to consume less.
Who eats the cous-cous at the buffet when there’s steak on offer…

Also, I think the green’s policies on GMO and nuclear power aren’t that crazy if you put them in the wider context of more sustainable consumption.

Then there’s the matter that people will consider voting for a man who wants to ban data encryption but ridicule well meaning attempts at sustainable consumption…

Of course, official party policies only account for so much when your party is stacked with nutters and fruit loops

See UKIPs totally not racist immigration policies as an example 😉

Edit:

“PD302 On inspection, there is little or no threat of direct invasion of the UK by any nation. Commitment to a large standing army, a navy of large warships around our coastline, squadrons of fighter planes and a cripplingly expensive missile defence system is therefore unnecessary”

Allied with their policy on Ukraine

Calls for a peacekeeping force to be placed in areas at highest risk of renewed conflict

Hmm, now, where are you going to get that peacekeeping force, and what are you going to equip them with? Asparagus spears?

Green grows the privet, O!

deadlydarcy – Member

Alex Salmond.

House!!

Should be … Road House! (Peter Griffin)

just5minutes – Member

We can all feel safer now, what with the russian’s running regular military air sortie’s over UK airspace and sailing their subs into our coastal waters.

What exactly do you think Britain’s armed forces are going to do about that? Do you imagine that Putin’s sat at home thinking “Man, I wish I could invade Britain, but they’ve got that aircraft carrier with no planes!”

chewkw, are you on some sort of pay per zombie scheme?

ut on the economy they make AS look literate, which takes some doing.

BOOM TISH

It gets funnier the further away from relevance it gets Swiss Tony

nickc – Member

chewkw, are you on some sort of pay per zombie scheme?

Well, you tell me.

I say they are all career zombie bureaucrats and at the end of the day they retire handsomely.

😛

Retire handsomely? They do indeed

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/11348337/William-Hague-splashes-out-on-2.5million-Welsh-country-estate.html

Well, you tell me.

OK,

please stop with the zombie thing, it’s getting tedious now

thanks

Hague had a good stint in industry before politics though – he worked for McKinsey who generally employ only the very brightest of minds – McK tend to be the pipeline for industry CEOs so Hague is probably worse off than his peer group with “only” having achieved a £2.5m gaff in wales.