British elections
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Last week, the BBC hosted a programme in which leaders of all three major political parties fielded questions from a live audience. The British prime minister was given a hard time over his decision to invade Iraq. The leader of the Conservatives was also aggressively grilled over his immigration policy.
Personally I think some of the words used were rather harsh...such as Michael Howard repeatedly calling Tony Blair a liar. Wonder why Michael Howard is not worried of being sued by Tony Blair...btw, Michael Howard is Queens' Counsel.
When will we ever be able to take our prime minister to task without fearing being sued? -
michael howard looks equally evil. personally i would vote liberal democrats. voting day is on 5th of may. i have to go vote.
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Yes, it was a very good program. Re M.Howard, its probably because the british courts have always been wary about politicians using the law of defamation to suppress free speech. Also, Insults are generally non-actionable in defamation. Lastly, i dun think the electorate would appreciate what would surely seem to be an attempt to restrict the freedom of speech.Originally posted by oxford mushroom:Last week, the BBC hosted a programme in which leaders of all three major political parties fielded questions from a live audience. The British prime minister was given a hard time over his decision to invade Iraq. The leader of the Conservatives was also aggressively grilled over his immigration policy.
Personally I think some of the words used were rather harsh...such as Michael Howard repeatedly calling Tony Blair a liar. Wonder why Michael Howard is not worried of being sued by Tony Blair...btw, Michael Howard is Queens' Counsel.
When will we ever be able to take our prime minister to task without fearing being sued?
Tony Blair was a barrister too.
Heng -> Did you register to vote?
Ya, i also think that Micheal Howard looks sly...kinda like a boodsucking shylock. eheheh -
no i didn't. but they sent me a polling card to my name and asked me to go vote.Originally posted by lwflee:Yes, it was a very good program. Re M.Howard, its probably because the british courts have always been wary about politicians using the law of defamation to suppress free speech. Also, Insults are generally non-actionable in defamation. Lastly, i dun think the electorate would appreciate what would surely seem to be an attempt to restrict the freedom of speech.
Tony Blair was a barrister too.
Heng -> Did you register to vote?
Ya, i also think that Micheal Howard looks sly...kinda like a boodsucking shylock. eheheh -
Perhaps B.liar may be the one who's more worried, esp about his knowledge regarding the intelligence and his decision to enter the Iraq war tested in a court of law.....
Wonder why Michael Howard is not worried of being sued by Tony Blair...btw, Michael Howard is Queens' Counsel.
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The Tories were also behind the war in Iraq. They've got themselves in a real fix, criticising Tony Blair's intelligence reports on one hand and justifying the cause for war on the other.Originally posted by HENG@:michael howard looks equally evil. personally i would vote liberal democrats. voting day is on 5th of may. i have to go vote. -
I am going to vote tomorrow...a bit ironic...since I didn't get to vote in Singapore due to another walkover..Originally posted by HENG@:no i didn't. but they sent me a polling card to my name and asked me to go vote. -
Oh we all know Singapore's brand of tyranny. Making life difficult for the opposition is what the ruling party does best.Originally posted by oxford mushroom:I am going to vote tomorrow...a bit ironic...since I didn't get to vote in Singapore due to another walkover.. -
Hmm - That's odd. They sent a voter registration form to my house and my housemate prompty threw the forms away! I couldn't be arsed to find out if i could vote or not... o well.. what it could have been.Originally posted by HENG@:no i didn't. but they sent me a polling card to my name and asked me to go vote.
Wonder if the ST would run a story about the absurdness of the whole situation... -
i didn't register to vote. thats the strange thing.Originally posted by lwflee:Hmm - That's odd. They sent a voter registration form to my house and my housemate prompty threw the forms away! I couldn't be arsed to find out if i could vote or not... o well.. what it could have been.
Wonder if the ST would run a story about the absurdness of the whole situation... -
Originally posted by HENG@:i didn't register to vote. thats the strange thing.
I've heard that as citizens of the Commonwealth, we can vote in UK elections?Is that true?Kinda ironic that I cannot vote in somewhere like Ang Mo Kio but I can vote in Milton Keynes etc..
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i dunno. but yeah i voted. ironic that 22 years in singapore and the 1st time i vote is in UK. not like theres actually anything in singapore to vote for anyway.
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It is true...citizens of Commonwealth nations residing in the UK can vote. I did not even register my name but somehow my name was listed on the electoral rolls. Perhaps the University might have given my name to them. I voted too.Originally posted by LazerLordz:
I've heard that as citizens of the Commonwealth, we can vote in UK elections?Is that true?Kinda ironic that I cannot vote in somewhere like Ang Mo Kio but I can vote in Milton Keynes etc..
It is really ironic that I don't get to vote in the Singapore elections although I have been paying taxes for years. -
external events will not have major impacts on electoral result.
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Yes. But in the end, it shows how much a gap exist between a British democracy and our type of 'democracy'- if u still call it a democracy.
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Originally posted by oxford mushroom:I am going to vote tomorrow...a bit ironic...since I didn't get to vote in Singapore due to another walkover..
Which party did you guys vote for?Originally posted by HENG@:i dunno. but yeah i voted. ironic that 22 years in singapore and the 1st time i vote is in UK. not like theres actually anything in singapore to vote for anyway. -
Lib Dem..used to support Labour until Blair started learning from Singapore and stood too close to Bush for my liking.
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It's just a democracy in name..Originally posted by timothytsgsg:Yes. But in the end, it shows how much a gap exist between a British democracy and our type of 'democracy'- if u still call it a democracy.
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When our ministers become more mature?Becoz we know that some ppl can grow old,but cannot grow up.So although we have a bunch of old man in the parliament,we still have to wait until they mentally grow up,then by that time,we n the opposition party can criticising them without fearing being sued.But i dont know we have to wait until what day.......Alamak!!!Originally posted by oxford mushroom:When will we ever be able to take our prime minister to task without fearing being sued? -
sama.Originally posted by oxford mushroom:Lib Dem..used to support Labour until Blair started learning from Singapore and stood too close to Bush for my liking. -
When we have more street-smart and mature people in Parliament.Not pimply, cocooned scholars.It takes more than brains to run a country you know..Originally posted by drawer:When our ministers become more mature?Becoz we know that some ppl can grow old,but cannot grow up.So although we have a bunch of old man in the parliament,we still have to wait until they mentally grow up,then by that time,we n the opposition party can criticising them without fearing being sued.But i dont know we have to wait until what day.......Alamak!!! -
What? No conservative supporters? I guess their anti-immigration stance does not sit well with commonwealth citizens....
Are you thinking what we are thinking? Rofl! -
based on Michael Howard's slimey looks alone, I'm already discounting him. Besides, their hypocrisy towards the Iraqi war issue puts them even lower than Labour in my eyes.Originally posted by lwflee:What? No conservative supporters? I guess their anti-immigration stance does not sit well with commonwealth citizens....
Are you thinking what we are thinking? Rofl! -
As I said before, the Tories had a tricky situation with the war in Iraq. It was virtually impossible for them to avoid accusations of hypocricy.Originally posted by HENG@:based on Michael Howard's slimey looks alone, I'm already discounting him. Besides, their hypocrisy towards the Iraqi war issue puts them even lower than Labour in my eyes.
Lazer, are you a fan of Milton Keynes Dons FC (formerly Wimbledon FC)?Originally posted by LazerLordz:
I've heard that as citizens of the Commonwealth, we can vote in UK elections?Is that true?Kinda ironic that I cannot vote in somewhere like Ang Mo Kio but I can vote in Milton Keynes etc.. -
Wonder why Michael Howard is not worried of being sued by Tony Blair
First part of the above, In british law you can only sue if the claims are false i.e. B.LIAR could only sur Howard if he wasnt a liar. All politicians in any country are so full of shit you could run a sewage works of them so they would all be suing each other.
When will we ever be able to take our prime minister to task without fearing being sued?
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Singapore seems to be opening up more and more, ever in the three years i have been here we have seen the bungee, bar top dancing etc, however i cant see that happening for a few years, or at least untill most of the 'old crew' of the government move on and are replaced by younger people