General election

Quite excited that I got to vote today, makes being British feel that more special!

I suggest that you take off your rose tinted glasses and discover what REAL England is like!! I have no idea why you are so excited about voting!!!

England is where the unemployed will get sanctioned and their benefits stopped for weeks, even months, if they turn up just 5 MINUTES LATE for an appointment at their local Job Centre Plus, so, hence, they cant feed themselves or their families, no money to pay for necessary bills, and cant even get referrals for food banks(of which just 5 short years ago, there wasnt any in this country!!)

England is where in a NHS hospital there are patients in beds in corridors and also the NHS has failed anyway due to a severe lack of government funding and medical tourism!! Also, where hospitals and clinics are in such ill repair and antiquated that in all honesty I wouldnt take a dog in one!!! In fact, if any hospital here was in the USA, it would be declared unfit for even animal use!!

The same goes for schools, colleges and Universities here which are all falling down around the students!!

These are just 3 examples!!

Also the general population of the UK is nothing but simple-minded, brainwashed Hobbits, who have no minds of their own and hang onto every word that comes out of Camerons mouth and out of the BBC and Sky, and what they read in the Sun, Daily Star, Daily Mirror, Daily Mail and the Daily Express!!

The UK is not a Narnia land of Enchantment as you seem to think it is!!

I could go on and on about how dire the UK is!!

I suggest that you take off your rose tinted glasses and discover what REAL England is like!! I have no idea why you are so excited about voting!!!

England is where the unemployed will get sanctioned and their benefits stopped for weeks, even months, if they turn up just 5 MINUTES LATE for an appointment at their local Job Centre Plus, so, hence, they cant feed themselves or their families, no money to pay for necessary bills, and cant even get referrals for food banks(of which just 5 short years ago, there wasnt any in this country!!)

England is where in a NHS hospital there are patients in beds in corridors and also the NHS has failed anyway due to a severe lack of government funding and medical tourism!! Also, where hospitals and clinics are in such ill repair and antiquated that in all honesty I wouldnt take a dog in one!!! In fact, if any hospital here was in the USA, it would be declared unfit for even animal use!!

The same goes for schools, colleges and Universities here which are all falling down around the students!!

These are just 3 examples!!

Also the general population of the UK is nothing but simple-minded, brainwashed Hobbits, who have no minds of their own and hang onto every word that comes out of Camerons mouth and out of the BBC and Sky, and what they read in the Sun, Daily Star, Daily Mirror, Daily Mail and the Daily Express!!

The UK is not a Narnia land of Enchantment as you seem to think it is!!

I could go on and on about how dire the UK is!!

Wow. They were just excited to exercise their right to vote. They said nothing about the UK being a fantasy land. I'd be excited too if I could vote here. It would have made me feel slightly less powerless the last couple of days.

I suggest that you take off your rose tinted glasses and discover what REAL England is like!! I have no idea why you are so excited about voting!!!

England is where the unemployed will get sanctioned and their benefits stopped for weeks, even months, if they turn up just 5 MINUTES LATE for an appointment at their local Job Centre Plus, so, hence, they cant feed themselves or their families, no money to pay for necessary bills, and cant even get referrals for food banks(of which just 5 short years ago, there wasnt any in this country!!)

England is where in a NHS hospital there are patients in beds in corridors and also the NHS has failed anyway due to a severe lack of government funding and medical tourism!! Also, where hospitals and clinics are in such ill repair and antiquated that in all honesty I wouldnt take a dog in one!!! In fact, if any hospital here was in the USA, it would be declared unfit for even animal use!!

The same goes for schools, colleges and Universities here which are all falling down around the students!!

These are just 3 examples!!

Also the general population of the UK is nothing but simple-minded, brainwashed Hobbits, who have no minds of their own and hang onto every word that comes out of Camerons mouth and out of the BBC and Sky, and what they read in the Sun, Daily Star, Daily Mirror, Daily Mail and the Daily Express!!

The UK is not a Narnia land of Enchantment as you seem to think it is!!

I could go on and on about how dire the UK is!!

Hi,

Are you in the UK? or are you in the USA or in another country? You seem to imply you've visited each and every hospital, school, university in the entire nation - can I ask, is this true? Is there another country where there isn't a sector of the population  who aren't persuaded by what they see on the media?

I'd also like you to point out all else that's dire in the UK, can you do that?

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

I suggest that you take off your rose tinted glasses and discover what REAL England is like!! I have no idea why you are so excited about voting!!!

England is where the unemployed will get sanctioned and their benefits stopped for weeks, even months, if they turn up just 5 MINUTES LATE for an appointment at their local Job Centre Plus, so, hence, they cant feed themselves or their families, no money to pay for necessary bills, and cant even get referrals for food banks(of which just 5 short years ago, there wasnt any in this country!!)

England is where in a NHS hospital there are patients in beds in corridors and also the NHS has failed anyway due to a severe lack of government funding and medical tourism!! Also, where hospitals and clinics are in such ill repair and antiquated that in all honesty I wouldnt take a dog in one!!! In fact, if any hospital here was in the USA, it would be declared unfit for even animal use!!

The same goes for schools, colleges and Universities here which are all falling down around the students!!

These are just 3 examples!!

Also the general population of the UK is nothing but simple-minded, brainwashed Hobbits, who have no minds of their own and hang onto every word that comes out of Camerons mouth and out of the BBC and Sky, and what they read in the Sun, Daily Star, Daily Mirror, Daily Mail and the Daily Express!!

The UK is not a Narnia land of Enchantment as you seem to think it is!!

I could go on and on about how dire the UK is!!

You're as grumpy as I am this mourning....

But lessons were learned! Nor do we have to pretend to like Ed Balls any more...

I suggest that you take off your rose tinted glasses and discover what REAL England is like!! I have no idea why you are so excited about voting!!!

England is where the unemployed will get sanctioned and their benefits stopped for weeks, even months, if they turn up just 5 MINUTES LATE for an appointment at their local Job Centre Plus, so, hence, they cant feed themselves or their families, no money to pay for necessary bills, and cant even get referrals for food banks(of which just 5 short years ago, there wasnt any in this country!!)

England is where in a NHS hospital there are patients in beds in corridors and also the NHS has failed anyway due to a severe lack of government funding and medical tourism!! Also, where hospitals and clinics are in such ill repair and antiquated that in all honesty I wouldnt take a dog in one!!! In fact, if any hospital here was in the USA, it would be declared unfit for even animal use!!

The same goes for schools, colleges and Universities here which are all falling down around the students!!

These are just 3 examples!!

Also the general population of the UK is nothing but simple-minded, brainwashed Hobbits, who have no minds of their own and hang onto every word that comes out of Camerons mouth and out of the BBC and Sky, and what they read in the Sun, Daily Star, Daily Mirror, Daily Mail and the Daily Express!!

The UK is not a Narnia land of Enchantment as you seem to think it is!!

I could go on and on about how dire the UK is!!

If you are in the UK, and you are this unhappy, I would suggest that maybe it isn't the place for you.

People are entitled to be happy to be able to exercise a (in this case, their newly acquired) democratic right.

If you are in the UK, and you are this unhappy, I would suggest that maybe it isn't the place for you.

Well I don't know if "like it or get the f*ck out" is quite called for is it?

Well I don't know if "like it or get the f*ck out" is quite called for is it?

That's not what I said. If someone is unhappy, maybe change is needed.

That's not what I said. If someone is unhappy, maybe change is needed.

Well he/she could begin plotting a campaign.....could be another election pretty soon...

Like that guy who flew too close to the sun and then rose from the flames!

In all seriousness.....

The pollsters really missed this one.

Conservatives 37%
Labour 31%

They were way off.

Well he/she could begin plotting a campaign.....could be another election pretty soon...

Like that guy who flew too close to the sun and then rose from the flames!

 

I suggest that you take off your rose tinted glasses and discover what REAL England is like!! I have no idea why you are so excited about voting!!!

England is where the unemployed will get sanctioned and their benefits stopped for weeks, even months, if they turn up just 5 MINUTES LATE for an appointment at their local Job Centre Plus, so, hence, they cant feed themselves or their families, no money to pay for necessary bills, and cant even get referrals for food banks(of which just 5 short years ago, there wasnt any in this country!!)

England is where in a NHS hospital there are patients in beds in corridors and also the NHS has failed anyway due to a severe lack of government funding and medical tourism!! Also, where hospitals and clinics are in such ill repair and antiquated that in all honesty I wouldnt take a dog in one!!! In fact, if any hospital here was in the USA, it would be declared unfit for even animal use!!

The same goes for schools, colleges and Universities here which are all falling down around the students!!

These are just 3 examples!!

Also the general population of the UK is nothing but simple-minded, brainwashed Hobbits, who have no minds of their own and hang onto every word that comes out of Camerons mouth and out of the BBC and Sky, and what they read in the Sun, Daily Star, Daily Mirror, Daily Mail and the Daily Express!!

The UK is not a Narnia land of Enchantment as you seem to think it is!!

I could go on and on about how dire the UK is!!

Then move. If the UK is the irredeemable hellhole that you think it is, then you'd be better off finding someplace that better meets your standards.

And which schools and universities are falling down around the students? I work in an area filled with seven universities and far from falling down, they're all expanding (due to the money provided by non-EU foreign students). Just visited my alma mater recently and I didn't see any students desperately running from crumbling walls covered in ivy there either.

If it weren't for the NHS, I would have died years ago from a severe asthma attack in the dead of night. They also provided amazing care for my father-in-law when he had a triple heart bypass, for free, in one of the best hospitals in the country. Due to their care, he's healthier than I am at 31 (he's almost 70). My sister-in-law and friends also work as doctors and medical staff and they work their damnedest to provide fantastic care to their patients. Who are you to dismiss their hard work? And medical tourism is what's wrong with the NHS? What propagandist Tory nonsense. And wrong: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/reality-check/2013/jul/03/health-tourism-cost-nhs-jeremy-hunt, http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/apr/07/treating-uk-tourists-in-europe-costs-five-times-more-than-equivalent-cost-to-nhs. In fact, foreign workers help the NHS to run in an age of harsh Tory cuts.

People vote to fight against the Tories' post-Thatcherite nightmare. What gives you the right to insult anyone engaging in their civic responsibilities? I voted against the Tories because after working in a law centre for years I got to see up-close how badly people were suffering due to ideological, not economic measures. It made me even more determined to engage in activism, not less. I'm completely gutted that the Tories are back in power, but I'm still proud that I was able to vote for the first time in the UK as a British citizen, because my ability to do that was a culmination of years surviving the Tories' war against immigration.

And let's not pretend the the British populace is any worse than the US (where lots of people are totally fine with black people being murdered in the street by the police), France or loads of other places in Europe where people vote against their interests and are made purposely unaware of any news not reported in major media sources. The only way to fight the horrorshow that is happening is to get out there, protest, educate and build community. Not just throw in the towel and say, 'oh well the UK sucks, I just won't bother.' That makes you part of the problem.

The only way to fight the horrorshow that is happening is to get out there, protest, educate and build community.

So true.

We on the left can only blame ourselves. What was Labour's message? Tory lite? We have got to come up with robust policies, clear direction and strong leadership.

The Conservatives controlled the discussion all along.....focusing on irrelevant public expenditure and wolf-at-the-door immigration crap. Every time Milliband had a toe in the door...say over public transport nationalisation, they fumbled it. No mention of the collapse of financial industry oversight....nothing about growth initiatives....nothing solid on the NHS. There was nothing there.

To be fair, the Lib Dems are also to blame. Turning their backs on their electorate and abandoning their manifesto 5 years ago not only allowed the Tories to force their horrific policies on the British populace, it also allowed a situation where many of their former voters last night went to the Tories or UKIP instead. God, I'm so depressed right now.

 It felt weird to be watching election results with so little knowledge of how the process works! I'm usually a huge election/politics nerd but I just haven't had the time or energy to really immerse myself in UK politics. Not to say I support the Tories in even the tiniest way, but given the embarrassingly pathetic state of affairs in my home state, I can't get behind the gloom-and-doom of a Tory victory today. Yeah it sucks but at least they're not arguing about whether or not evolution is a thing.

(This is not to negate anyone's upset feelings today, this is just my personal perspective.)