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Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24905 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
Nurse! He's out of bed again! Doctor forgot to give him his 4am jab :-) |
Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24905 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
It has been often mentioned on my threads that I "whinge" too much & sit on the sidelines... ...well, I hope the muppet that represents me in parliament has the guts to answer this... E-mail just sent to him: - Dear Mr Jackson With local & European elections held tomorrow, I find it disgraceful that any council can be inefficient, especially in today's technology minded world. For the past ten years, I have been receiving registration forms from Peterborough City Council which have been duly completed and returned. The problem has been & is still on-going in that I receive many such forms. Knowing that I have completed one, the rest normally get recycled with the last one received completed & returned as a precaution (being an ex-postman from London, am aware of errors & lost post). The issue has occurred again with the first & last completed & returned, yet I have received no polling card. Even though the registration was completed & returned on one particular occasion several years ago, I received a personal visit from the council to obtain the required information. On this occasion, no visit & four mailings received? Is that not a total waste of taxpayers money? I notice that ALL councils are damned efficient when it comes to council tax so why isn't the electoral roll linked into all councils Council Tax Database? It really does make one wonder as to who they actually are serving - themselves or the community. I look forward to hearing your reply on this matter. Yours sincerely Sirius B ...anyone care to bet that I'll get a lengthy reply that says absolutely squat? (asides from the now "automated" response which has already been received :-) ) |
Es99 Send message Joined: 23 Aug 05 Posts: 10874 Credit: 350,402 RAC: 0 |
It has been often mentioned on my threads that I "whinge" too much & sit on the sidelines... I once wrote to my MP when I was at university because I could not afford to stay in college once I'd had my baby, they were happy to pay for me to be on welfare doing nothing, but not if I was not studying. I thought it was ridiculous that there was no support for someone in my situation to finish university and therefore be much less likely to end up as a long term burden on the state. It took her over a year to reply and by that time I had graduated and was working for her in the civil service. I thought it was ironic and pretty insulting to take so long to reply. Reality Internet Personality |
Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24905 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
It took her over a year to reply and by that time I had graduated and was working for her in the civil service. Hmmn, did you get anything like this... From the automated response: - Stewart Jackson MP Peterborough’s Champion in Parliament To keep you up to date with my work as a Member of Parliament, I have subscribed you to my e-newsletter. If you wish to be removed from this list please reply to this email with the word UNSUBSCRIBE as the subject. ...cheeky git! I'll wait for him to reply then unsubscribe :-) Debatable! |
Es99 Send message Joined: 23 Aug 05 Posts: 10874 Credit: 350,402 RAC: 0 |
It took her over a year to reply and by that time I had graduated and was working for her in the civil service. It wasn't an automated response, but it was a vague, I'll look into it letter. I'm still waiting on a reply from my other MP who I went to see years ago when I discovered that my ex was legally entitled to half the equity in my flat because I couldn't get the mortgage company to take his name of the lease (he had at the time agreed to this), because his credit was bad which was effecting my credit because he shared a mortgage with me, so they wouldn't put the mortgage in my name only, because my credit was bad because I shared a mortgage with him (no, I didn't quite understand the logic either). He wasn't paying the mortgage or child support and because we never married I had no recourse to force the flat to be put in my name and all his creditors where coming after my home. The MP never even wrote back to me although I think after similar cases they did in the end change the law for unmarried couples. MPs are totally useless. Reality Internet Personality |
W-K 666 Send message Joined: 18 May 99 Posts: 19310 Credit: 40,757,560 RAC: 67 |
MPs are totally useless. Maybe I'm lucky but I have had positive outcomes with my dealings with various MP's. Even with Barbara Castle and Jack Straw. |
Es99 Send message Joined: 23 Aug 05 Posts: 10874 Credit: 350,402 RAC: 0 |
MPs are totally useless. I like the "even" you added there. Maybe it depends what riding you are in? I know that some are more overworked than others. Reality Internet Personality |
Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24905 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
Update. Received a reply which in my view only makes the situation worse: - "What is my home address?" Just proves that we really do have some dumb ****'s in Westminster! Home address & telephone number included in original e-mail. Received a call from the city council: "Good afternoon Sirius, can you confirm your address & postcode please" Did so. "How long have you lived there & if less than 3 years, can you provide your previous address" Did so. "Ah, that is a problem. We have no record of that or the previous" "Really? Can you then explain why I have received an annual council tax bill for each of those years?" "That's different sir, everybody has to register so that that they get the right to vote. As you're not on the register, you cannot vote today" "If I can't vote today as I don't exist, I have no need to pay the council tax for 2014-15" "I would not do that sir it will lead to legal action" "How can you prosecute someone who does not exist?" That got her tongue-tied. "Ah I'll pas this over to the Administration Team manager & have her follow this up" "Thank you. Can you do me a favour? Make sure this happens again so I can get Anglia TV & the Waily Fail involved." She hung up after wishing me a good day. :-) Don't you just love muppets & snivel serpents! |
Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24905 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
Southern England could soon be up in arms... Huge oil reserves in the South ...if its anything like the monitoring they gave the banks, god help the South! "However, a government report published in June 2012 concluded that fracking was safe if adequately monitored." Too late though, we're already feeling the first tremors & the earthquake's going to hit in 2015, around May/June... UKIP Earthquake Fourth party? Not for long as it will not take that long to become one of the top two as the other two, Liebour & Local Doozies will become "fringe" parties... ...that's "bring your own bottle" parties of course! |
Nick Send message Joined: 11 Oct 11 Posts: 4344 Credit: 3,313,107 RAC: 0 |
Southern England could soon be up in arms... Time Lib,Lab & Con all became "fringe" parties.... The Kite Fliers -------------------- Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes. |
Batter Up Send message Joined: 5 May 99 Posts: 1946 Credit: 24,860,347 RAC: 0 |
Fourth party? Not for long as it will not take that long to become one of the top two as the other two, Liebour & Local Doozies will become "fringe" parties... How does the party system work with you people? In the US we have primary and general elections. To vote in the primary most states require one to be registered with the party beforehand and one can only vote for party candidates. That elects the person who will represent the party in the general election. In the general election one may vote for anyone they want. The US is a de facto two party system. Only a small percent are registered other than Democrat or Republican. We see voting a third party as throwing a vote away as it is a winner take all election. I won't get into our electoral collage and popular vote for president. |
Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24905 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
Maybe you should! It's why I named the thread that title... ...it doesn't have to be restricted to the UK. All Western Governments have got too big & bloated. They have to justify their positions & paychecks! Maybe you need a 3rd party to keep the two pigs away from the trough. |
anniet Send message Joined: 2 Feb 14 Posts: 7105 Credit: 1,577,368 RAC: 75 |
Maybe you should! It's why I named the thread that title... Four pigs at the trough is hardly an improvement :) I vote we take away the trough :) |
Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24905 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
Incorrect Anniet, "three little pigs" & the Big Bad Wolf is at the door :-) |
Batter Up Send message Joined: 5 May 99 Posts: 1946 Credit: 24,860,347 RAC: 0 |
Maybe you need a 3rd party to keep the two pigs away from the trough.We have many parties, there were seven or eight on the ballot in New Jersey's last election. The problem we have is most elections are winner take all. I'll only use the presidential election to keep it simple. The last time a viable third party ran, Ross Perot, against the Democrats and Republicans he got 18.9% of the vote Bush the elder got 37.5% and Clinton got 43.0%, Clinton wins. So if a Perot voter would rather have Bush than Clinton, as most did, they threw away their vote. Of course the popular vote does not elect our president but that is another story. The two party system is not written in the Constitution it just works out that way. Even when we had a powerful "Whig" party there was only one viable opposing party. Do you have runoff elections if a candidate doesn't get a certain percent of the vote? |
anniet Send message Joined: 2 Feb 14 Posts: 7105 Credit: 1,577,368 RAC: 75 |
Incorrect Anniet, "three little pigs" & the Big Bad Wolf is at the door :-) Doesn't the wolf want the trough then? :) |
anniet Send message Joined: 2 Feb 14 Posts: 7105 Credit: 1,577,368 RAC: 75 |
Maybe you need a 3rd party to keep the two pigs away from the trough.We have many parties, there were seven or eight on the ballot in New Jersey's last election. The problem we have is most elections are winner take all. I don't think so - only if someone drops dread... goes to prison... or the vote is tied - but I'm not an expert. :) Someone will be along though who is I'm sure :) |
Jim1348 Send message Joined: 13 Dec 01 Posts: 212 Credit: 520,150 RAC: 0 |
The US is a de facto two party system. Only a small percent are registered other than Democrat or Republican. We see voting a third party as throwing a vote away as it is a winner take all election. You certainly won't get your third-party candidate elected, but if the alternative is staying home rather than voting, then a vote for a third-party candidate at least lets the other parties know that you are not happy with them. Otherwise, they will think they are doing a great job and you just did not bother to come out to congratulate them. I mention that because I never voted for a third-party candidate in my life until recently. I now feel the need to provide some alternative feedback, but unlike the free-market system where you can vote with your dollars, in politics you can only vote with your ballots. That is what they pay attention to anyway. |
Batter Up Send message Joined: 5 May 99 Posts: 1946 Credit: 24,860,347 RAC: 0 |
I mention that because I never voted for a third-party candidate in my life until recently. In the general election I often vote anybody but the big two. My local favorite is Jeffrey Boss of the NSA planned 9/11 party. This was before Snowden's revelation. It appears in a parliamentary system Jeffrey would have a say in running the show. The UK has a very colorful voter map for the common folks. With all the pretty colors they still don't like who they elect though. |
Jim1348 Send message Joined: 13 Dec 01 Posts: 212 Credit: 520,150 RAC: 0 |
With all the pretty colors they still don't like who they elect though. That is the problem. I am not suggesting a parliamentary multi-party system is better. The winner-takes-all approach at least forces a choice that enough people like that the winner will be able to govern. A coalition government is not necessarily liked by anybody, and you may not even know who the Prime Minister will be until someone else selects him/her. You also don't know how long they will be able to govern. It is just a question of how you express dissatisfaction in a two-party system when you have only two choices. |
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