Ex Lion Tamer

And yet that's where they put labour and the lib dems! https://www.politicalcompass.org/uk2015

I struggle to imagine what kind of psycho would be further out into the blue territory

My recollection of this in the past is that no one comes out right wing https://www.politicalcompass.org/yourpoliticalcompass?ec=-5.38&soc=-4.51

I think I'm right in saying that if Labour wins the election it will be the first time the Sun hasn't backed the winner (or something like that anyway). That said, their campaign against Labour doesn't seem particularly to be following public opinion when Labour is supported by in excess of 30% of the electorate

More evidence for Whitey Grandad http://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2015/apr/29/election-2015-miliband-tory-12bn-welfare-cuts-russell-brand-interview-live#block-5540fbe3e4b090ea3d998578

The trade unions are membership organisations paid for by ordinary people and with elected leaders. Tory donors are unelected rich people whose sole focus is making money for themselves and their shareholders. In not saying the unions always have it right but the two aren't really comparable

https://twitter.com/hrtbps/status/593016296540868608

The tripartite system was effectively a deregulation. "In 1997, The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the deregulation of the banks and other financial institutions. They freed the Bank of England from direct government control and removed the power by the Bank of England (and therefore by the government) from controlling the financial activities of banks in the UK." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deregulation

Exactly. As much as I think some of Brand's views are idiotic, its arrogant of Cameron to simply dismiss him and his followers as a joke rather than engage and try to explain his arguments to them. But then that's sort of what Cameron is doing with all the parties, scaremongering rather than engaging with the policy.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jan/27/poorest-hit-hardest-coalition-changes-report

It was meant as two separate points, tories on one hand and a misguided blairite labour government that got too close to big business (and sucked into the economic orthodoxy) on the other

I agree they should have regulated the banks more. Labour was too right wing at that time

I didn't agree with that either!

Tory policies hit the poorest hardest, and wealthy bankers get off scot free for tanking the economy, but it only gets called class warfare when someone dares to complain about it

PS: Ukip has more men called Dave or Steve than it has women http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/ukip-has-more-men-called-dave-or-steve-than-it-has-women--xy8_P6r6wx

You see, what I've done is talk about the overall trends, and I even admitted that all parties need to improve their diversity. You've taken one example where the Tories can say they have done better than Labour and tried to use it to prove the broader point

I'm not a fan of Harriett Harman, and would like to see more diversity in all the parties, but it is a particular problem in the Conservative Party which seems to be run by a cabal of privileged male old-Etonians. I'm not saying they should be excluded from having an opinion but coming from that sort of background is relevant and will have influenced their views, so needs to be balanced by other voices

Two of those are responses to generalisations and one is a verifiable fact!

And it's just a coincidence that the outcome of these "external factors" is that the rich get to keep all the proceeds of economic growth?

Yes I think there are plenty. Mainly because they don't really think that hard about it

Why does it always have to be a binary choice between liberalism and socialism? I consider myself a social democrat, committed to capitalism but with effective controls and safeguards

I agree that conservatives can be perfectly pleasant people (my parents are among them). But they've deluded themselves that what's best for them is best for everyone, often because they don't really have personal contact with those less well off

Funny then that since Thatcher's neo liberal revolution in the 1980s (which new labour carried on) wages have been stagnant

Whereas right wingers can only see things through their own experiences, rather than empathising with others less fortunate than them. It is possible to go public school and still make a rational judgment that they are harmful to social mobility and equality of opportunity