moonraker

The problem with your solution to "Make your party more popular" is that this requires two things, first money and the big donors have vested interests in the 2 big parties so both give more consideration to their donors aspirations than to ordinary voters, the second is activists and building support without money is nigh impossible. Its a catch 22, politics is not about the best policies it is about vested interest and money hence the no campaign being supported by an unholy alliance championing the status quo which satisfies the big donors aspirations.

If you vote for the candidate that has the most votes but not a majority your vote will count in each run off count. Another elector who placed the least supported candidate ahead of your first choice but your favoured candidate 2nd would have their vote counted the same amount of times. Run off voting (a form of AV) is widely used in most other areas of society including the Royal Navy for elections to mess offices, the difference is that in true run off voting you do actually vote twice and therefore can change your selection, a tad impractical in a national election. The simple truth is those who are opposed are not opposed on democratic grounds but on selfish grounds.

If changes to our antiquated 19th century voting system was all he wanted then he would have got more than referendum from boy David. AV is not enough but it is better than the rubbish system we currently have. Even the Tory leadership uses a more sophisticated system than FPTP, similar to AV.

This is tragic incident for the families and the services and my prayers are with the families and crew of Astute. Most of the early theorising, who did it (hippies ha ha), type of weapon etc were way off the mark. There will be an inquiry which will not be a cover up. The incident under the ice that DD referred to was a SCOG or a Self Contained Oxygen Candle and was subject to a full coroners enquiry and believe me the verdict did not pull any punches. The simple fact is that RN Submarines are manned by members of the Armed Forces all of whom are trained in small arms with additional regular training given to those who are expected to act as armed guards on a regular basis. Boats have had armed trot sentries since the middle of the 80's (way before 9/11), before this trot sentries were only armed in special circumstances. There can be no legislating for an individual who losses it however as with all such incidents lessons will be learnt.

It depends on the child, my experiences are, two of mine at 4, now 10 and 13 both still Saints Fans, eldest son at 6 now 26 still a saints fans, eldest daughter 22 stills a saints fan, grandson was 3 first game Peterborough away absolutely loved it. So my answer is I don't know, but if you think they are ready give it a go.

This has generated a lot of anger amongst the Bath City regulars, no surprise. However in essence it is a loss leading marketing campaign and as has been stated above they are trying to get 3000 for this game. Interestingly the club like saints have always offered good deals or combined adults and kids, is this not discriminating against those without children. Twerton Park is a good old fashioned ground to watch footy in and when they get 1500 plus in it has a great atmosphere.

Nothing like S**t on a raft or babies heads or a train smash, but definitely no oxtail soup

Because the last time they were in power we had a two party system ad FPTP works for that.

So the national health service , state pensions, tax credits, were not sensible ideas then, all of which were policies either enacted by the Liberal party or first proposed by them and then taken on by others. FPTP is undemocratic which is why it so appealing to tories, the party that fought universal suffrage tooth and nail. AV is one small step on the road to the UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland returning to true democracy not this sham we have at the moment.

So we are not a laughing stock then, thanks penchant I agree this year the Third Division is a great place to watch football and the competition makes every game even more exciting. Good luck in the playoffs against Bompey!

Very rarely comment on away match threads as sadly I don't go to many away games, I did go to this one. A 300 mile round trip was well rewarded from an entertainment but not result perspective. I attended with my Grandson (his first Saints Game,3 yrs old, lives in Peterborough) eldest daughter and 2 sons. From the 5 minute I said that Smith would be the difference between the 2 teams and so it proved. Our defence could not contain him, his pace and physical approach were awesome. No saints player stood out but Seabourne is not good enough. A point at London Road is good, the game was entertaining despite the referee who was very poor. All in all a win would have been great but we didn't earn it, there is a long way to go and we do have a team more than capable of automatic promotion, the doomsayers can wait until the fat lady has sung.

Despite i coming from an MUFC message board this is a classic http://www.redcafe.net/f7/all-turn-kopites-26-1-40-a-317952/

Already had 2 plastic Manc fans I know phoning me to ask if I can get them a ticket, a two word reply was all they got F%%K off

Absolutely nothing wrong with his reaction, he is one of the most likeable managers.

Took all (4) of my children between the ages of 4 - 7, eldest now 26 youngest 9. All still follow Saints albeit in the eldest 2's case (rarely attend games) from a distance (Peterborough) youngest 2 go with me to Sat Games (6/7 a season) but not Evening games as its a 170 mile round trip. Have never had any trouble and the youngest is abosuloutly fanatical about Saints. We will all be going to the away game at Peterborough and taking my 3 year old Grandson for his first Game.

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This, saved me writing it.

You really are very self centred, you previously stated we have never had it so good, well thats an interesting statement form you considering you have always a hole heatedly derided the past 13 years of New Labour, 6 months of the coalition cannot have created achieved this.

Disagree, the BBC may have some problems and politicians like to use it as a punch bag, but believe me it is right up there with the very best broadcasters in the world, if it aint broke don't fix it.

From the two books you identified I am assuming historic, maritime themes are good, these two are a good read: The Floating Brothel: The Extraordinary True Story of an 18th-Century Ship and Its Cargo of Female Convicts, ADMIRALS, The Naval Commanders who made Britain Great, Andrew Lambert

Joke Thread !

There was a good article in G2 yesterday listing the six things all Children should learn about our (British) history, the six do not include any great inter state wars or battles, they are in the authors (Simon Scharma) opionion the key things that have shaped our nation, his choice in chronological order is, The Murder of Thomas Beckett, The Black Death and the Peasants Revolt, The Execution of Charles I, The Indian Moment, The Irish Wars and the Opium Wars. The key is it these events are key to our national psyche and are not those things that simply glorified us. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/nov/09/future-history-schools

I attended the Bonfire Night at Colerne in Wiltshire, it has been a notable village event since at least my childhood in the 60's, the bonfire is huge with guys from a competition sitting prominently atop the pyre and a big firework display lasting 25 mins, I reckon this year there were upwards of 1000 people in attendance which for a village of just over 2000 is pretty good going.

I attended the Bonfire Night at Colerne in Wiltshire, it has been a notable village event since at least my childhood in the 60's, the bonfire is huge with guys from a competition sitting prominently atop the pyre and a big firework display lasting 25 mins, I reckon this year there were upwards of 1000 people in attendance which for a village of just over 2000 is pretty good going.

In this instance I think intricate demographic and geographic accuracy was central to your post as your title defines a Geographically bounded area.