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| [ Login ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, [6], 7, 8, 9, 10 ] |
| Subject: Rule of thumb... | |
Author: Ed Harris (Venezia) | [ Next Thread |
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] Date Posted: 00:05:37 12/01/04 Wed In reply to: Ian (Australia) 's message, "Adjusted party figures" on 23:11:58 11/30/04 Tue The smaller the country, the larger its number of MPs per head. Look at the difference between, say, England and Scotland. England, with its population of 50 million, and Scotland, with its population of about 5 million, don't have an MP ratio of 10:1, but about 8:1. Clearly, Scotland is over-represented; but this is merely because otherwise Scottish constituencies would be so large that a single MP would not be sufficient to represent them. As it is, some MPs have to represent several islands, to travel between which one needs two or more boat rides (the islands being too hilly for an airstrip). But your point about ending up with 200 more centre-left MPs than centre-right is one of the things which is going to cause problems in Britain - or, rather, England. 1997 was the first time ever that a party other than the Tories had a majority in England, and as such is an artificial situation: even with Labour guaranteed another victory next year, they will certainly lose their majority in England to the Tories, since they only need to lose about 5 seats to do so. I therefore think that I am right in saying that one of the obstacles to the FCS idea would be the traditional English hostility to leftie, whale-hugging, peacenik, pinko, criminal-indulging, CND, long-haired, unshaven, sandal-wearing, vegetarian badminton players such as are exemplified by New Zealand in particular and the other former dominions generally (Australia, thank G-d, exepted). One whiff of a suspicion that England's foreign, environmental, economic or social policies could be decided by the likes of Helen Clarke and Paul Martin, and the FC would be dead faster than you can say 'hunting lobby'. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: I'm a badminton player... | |
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Author: Dave (UK) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 09:34:04 12/01/04 Wed but none of the other things thankfully... [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: I used to be quite a good minton player | |
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Author: Ian (Australia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 20:06:20 12/01/04 Wed I also wear sandals when it's hot and go through cycles of being quite scruffy and unshaven. Don't worry, though: I will clean up my act in time to become Australia's minister for Commonwealth Affairs. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Quite right there | |
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Author: Paddy (Scotland) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 09:35:21 12/01/04 Wed Although New Zealanders might actually start to vote more sensibly if they were a substantial part of a much larger Union. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Possibly | |
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Author: Ed Harris (Venezia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 12:26:22 12/01/04 Wed But could you convince Squire Western of that? It's hard enough to convince me of that, and I've met some perfectly sensible kiwis! It's just that all the headlines from New Zealand are either about Lord of the Rings or the Rainbow Cruiser. Such is NZ's reputation that nut-cutlet eating and boat-shoe wearing British luvvies from Hampstead Garden Suburb actually choose to emigrate to NZ because it is so associated with vegan, dendrophiliac, clean-energy whale sanctuaries. In fact, I had a music teacher once, who had to give notice because she was emigrating to NZ. I asked her why, and without hesitation she said "Because there's no nuclear power." I laughed hesitantly, until I realised that she was being deadly serious. "One earthquake in northern Europe," she went on, "and the whole nuclear establishment's going into meltdown." I refrained from pointing out that earthquakes are not plentiful in Shrewsbury, and that nuclear power stations are probably built with a bit of resilience in mind, the evidence suggesting that Force 9 gales don't tend to recreate Chernobyl in the British countryside, but there you go. This leads me, perhaps, to alter my original statement. Perhaps not all kiwis are totally pinko, but such a reputation has been forced onto them by all the ghastly immigrants from Britain: rather like all the English immigrants in South Wales voting Plaid Cymru! If only we had a member from NZ, this topic might have some more light thrown on it. Oh, and P.S.: I've played badminton too! [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Plaid Cymru? | |
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Author: Owain (UK) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 19:29:46 12/01/04 Wed "all the English immigrants in South Wales voting Plaid Cymru!" Is this true? Please tell me I am misreading. Sadly its so stupid I can actualy imagine it happening. This country needs some serious work. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Deduction | |
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Author: Ed Harris (Venezia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 20:25:36 12/01/04 Wed The number of 'pure' Welsh people living in South Wales is absurdly small. From a racial and cultural standpoint, the industrial revolution caused a massive ethnic shift in the population of South Wales. It stands to reason that, then and now, a great proportion of the increased population of the region came from across the boundry in England, particularly from Cheshire, Shropshire (which is half-Welsh in any case), and Worcestershire. The South of Wales is not "Welsh" like the North West of the principality, in the same way that the South of Scotland is ethnically and culturally anglicised and the North of England is ethnically and culturally scossified. In this context, it is safe to suppose that Plaid Cymru voters in South Wales must constitute in a great proportion people whose ancestry is hardly Welsh at all. On top of this is the phenomenon, which I have read about in the newspapers and seen with my own eyes (I've spent a lot of time in Glamorgan), of people who were born in England and have moved to Mountain Ash or Ponty Pwl mouthing off in a pub about bloody interference from London into Welsh affairs which should be left in the hands of Wales. I'm prepared to bet that there are similar English people in the South of Scotland voting SNP! [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |