Question Time

[£3.73]

I think people are sleep-walking into giving an illegal organisation some sort of false legitimacy. They are not simply a party that sits somewhere along the political spectrum: they are, in my view, outwith it. Beyond any normal bounds of what amount to reasonable political differences. And all other parties agree on this point.

I agree that people are sleepwalking. For more than a decade they've been more interested in the football scores, Come Dancing, The X Factor & Britains Got Talent, The Internet, Video Games & a million other distractions ... and a totally controlled media spouting out FEAR, propaganda & bullshit.

Where do any of the mainstream parties sit in the political spectrum ? The Labour party have done things that Margaret Thatcher wouldn't have dreamed of doing ... The Conservative & Unionist party have even been advocating breaking up the Union and have no noticeable policies other than trashing Gordon Brown... The Liberals are as usual not doing anything, other than find a youthful frontman to compete with David Cameron & David Miliband. In effect, all 3 parties are now the same party .... no wonder they don't want any Johnny come Lately's like UKIP or the BNP stealing their votes.

[Mary G]

CURTAILED RIGHTS

Well,I know that I have more rights than my mother did when she was my age - and she has more than her mother had. And my daughter has more than I had, too, when I was her age. So I don't buy this line spun by the Express and Daily Mail that our rights are evaporating by the minute.

But the fact remains that we ALL HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS, whatever colour our eyes!

I dare say question time viewer ratings for thursday night shall be a lot more than usual

I am sure you are onto somehting there, humf ...

[£3.73]

And if you want to speak about illegal. Then explain cross party attendance at, for instance, Bilderberg meetings !!!
That is ILLEGAL.

i find it incredulous that you believe your daughter has more rights and freedoms than you did ! How do you work that out ? It's the kids I feel sorry for. All this disintegration of society has happened on our watch, and we have left them a terrible legacy. (kids aren't even allowed out the house these days .... what kind of freedom is that ?).

The thing is Mary, the country is falling to bits. It's not even an argument any more. Either the mainstream parties are going to fix it, or the fringe and lunatic parties will continue to pick up votes.

[Bobbie En Tejas]

Mary, can I ask what rights your daughter has that you didn't have?

[Mary G]

You can ask Bobbie. And I can tell you that the most obvious is the Convention on the Rights of the Child, an international treaty ratified by every UN member country except the United States of America and Somalia. Your new President has described this is as embarrassing, but as yet (as far as I know) he has not been able to secure ratification by the US. And before you ask, no – I was not a child in 1991 when the UK signed up to it!

I could also list rights that include equal access to education, equal pay, fairer pay through minimum wage, the right to do any job, now that restrictions have been lifted on certain occupations; the latter being important to teenagers (like mine) as they start to make their way in the world. And I cannot think of a single right that I had at their age, which they do not … unless you count the right to be belted at school

But I am left to wonder what stopped you asking £3.73 what rights s/he thinks don’t exist now that were around in the years of my youth.

It is quite fashionable to say that everything is awful nowadays, and it was all better in previous generations. That will be the generations that endured discrimination and where children were sent up chimneys for a ha’penny!

Anyway, this is about Question Time, and the BBC seems to have got itself a ratings winner. As I said, I agree that the BNP should be given the chance to expose their offensive, bigoted, hate-filled policies, but I would rather it was on a different programme. Like Andrew Marr’s on a Sunday.

By the way, on this sort of form Griffin may not cover himself in glory. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8317353.stm

[£3.73]

Mary, I generally like being in the company of people with a happy, sunny disposition & a joie de vivre ....
... and maybe you genuinely have a perma "glass half full" mentality.

I must admit however, that I'd be slightly less than the cynic I am ... if I didn't know you were standing for election.

For some abstract reason I'm reminded of this :-



There's nothing as sad as an optimist faced with reality ... and nothing quite as funny as a snakeoil salesman being run out of town by an angry mob ...

[Mary G]

My disposition is probably better judged by those who know me personally than those who don’t but seem to think they understand my motives, £3.73. And there are plenty on here who can vouch for the fact that I am not generally regarded as a grumpy person

And I would be astonished if anyone who will have the right to vote for me as much as looks at this forum, so the connection that you are trying to make is entirely spurious. My contributions here (pretty rare nowadays, you may have noticed) are done purely because on occasion I like to engage with people who care about Kintyre as much as I do.

As I have said before on here, I am all in favour of healthy scepticism, but cynicism does leave me cold. And being the sceptic that I am I am inclined to think that, behind your mask of anonymity, you are keener to have a go at someone whose views you happen to disagree than with exposing the BNP and its racist policies. Now that is sad.

[£3.73]

I freely admit to being the Devil's Advocate on this Forum, but would argue that it leads to more open, thought-provoking (and occasionally educational) debate .... nor do I read the Daily Mail or the Daily Express. In fact, being honest, the whole mainstream media leaves me cold, uninformed & victimised. You can learn more from studying history than any newspaper or tv show.

What intrigues me is the lack of debate !

Do people know what's going on ?
Do they care what's going on ?
Do they have an opinion on what's going on ?
Are they scared to comment on what's going on ?

Frankly, I hear more debate & hatred expressed about a pair of Irish twins on X-Factor !!!

A positive attitude is a tremendous asset ... but if you're standing on the deck of the Titanic and the icy seas are already over the bow & creeping up the deck ... it's not the most appropriate of times to point out how good the band are ... or what a lovely job they made of the funnels ...

The BNP and their like have been seen many times throughout history & nothing good ever comes of it.
It is however a sure sign that the electorate are scared ... and as someone much more eloquent than I quipped (Yoda from Star Wars) .... "Fear is the path to the Darkside. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering".



The current situation reminds me of the game Buckaroo ... how many burdens can you place on the donkey before it .... BUCKAROOS.

[Gallus]

As odious as the man is, he has the democratic right to be on the programme. It's only by the ineptitude of our judicial system that most of the other heap aren't in jail over their parliamentary expenses. Personally, I would rather listen to what he has to say than Blair with blood all over his greedy hands . . . or come to that, Chakrabati . . . or Mandelson . . . or the non-elected PM or indeed any of the other non-elected representatives that have destroyed this country. We are sick of uncontrolled immigration and that means British people of all creed and colour btw, you know. The only answer Labour have is 'Vote for us cos we're not the BNP' which is pathetic. Oh aye Labour are running scared but they have no-one to blame but themselves.

And I could also list rights that include equal access to education

That's the best joke I've heard all year! We are fed this idea that we can choose the school we want when in reality it doesn't happen. The party I voted for all my life has even taken away the right to go to University and the cost of fees is too prohibitive now for the poorest in society. And yes, whoever said it earlier, kids don't have freedom today. And that's the biggest loss imo. Convention on the rights of the Child? Aye, try telling that to the poor.

[Mary G]

Gallus

It might be an idea to learn some Gaelic before you try to use it in your signature. I think you mean "Bàs agus Buaidh". There is no such word in Gaelic as 'buadish'.

I hope this is helpful to you, and welcome to the forum.

[Gallus]

Jeez missus, is that how the government is going to tackle the enemy tonight? "Well, Mr Griffin, we won't be answering your statement on immigration controls. More important is how you have mispronounced 'fascist thug".

My apologies to all for such an unforgivable error. I am proud of my roots and can't believe I did that My old granny will be turning in her grave. However, if I make a mistake again, can someone let me know more discreetly on that PM thingy instead of humiliating me? Thanks. Not a good start, eh?

[Mary G]

Gallus, I am very happy to engage in meaningful debate. Especially with people who can engage positively in a healthy exchange of ideas and views.

But in your first ever contribution to this forum you - as a brand new member - chose to attack me personally. Either that or you are a regular here who chose to create a new identity to be able to attack me anonymously. That rant was hardly a very civilised way to introduce yourself, was it? Either way, I found that to be a bit off ... more playing the man than the ball, so to speak.

On Gaelic, (as ionnsaigh knows) I think that most people would like to get it right. For all I knew you were going to tattoo 'Bas agus Buadish' to your forearm . It would not be the first time that someone had wrongly translated or mis-transcribed something into permanent body-ink. Best to warn you directly, I thought, and it would serve as a useful reminder to others too before they get out the perma-dye .

Anyway, I am - on balance - content that Nick Griffin came across as he should. And Bonnie Greer should get a medal for her performance, and for having to sit beside him.

[Gallus]

Oh dear, after watching this forum for 6 months and too afraid to contribute, I can see why I was so fearful and why everyone was warning me to steer clear. I am at a complete loss as to why you think I attacked you personally? I don't know you. I was simply responding to something you said. Sorry, is that not allowed? I'm very confused. Seriously. Attacked? Personally?

Not often I'm speechless but... I shouldn't have bothered, I can see that now.

[£3.73]

I can't see what all the fuss was about !!!

However, I'm more convinced than ever now that Nick Griffin is just another Oxbridge educated politician who's been drafted in to play the Dick Dastardly / Nasty Nick / Dirty Den evil villain in a scripted political soap opera for the masses. In the 50's he'd prolly have been playing spy games with the KGB, CIA & M15/6 along with the Kim Philby's of the world. As is, at least he's taken the heat off Gordon Brown as Britain's most hated one-eyed man. Let's be honest, if any of the main political parties were remotely concerned, they'd have fielded the big hitters, and Nick Griffin would have been slaughtered.

Britain is now part of Europe & I can't even recall the last time it wasn't a G8 or a G20 making decisions.
World Government is racing over the horizon it would appear ... and British politics is no more relevant or real than Katie Price & Peter Andre's on again/ off again reality soap. As Stalin said "I'm not worried about the opposition, I am the opposition" & to also quote The Sex Pistols "ever get the feeling you've been conned".

Happy voting people !!!

[EMDEE]

I thought Nick Griffin came across as a bit of a buffoon with very little in the way of answers to questions put to him, and an exceptional habit of having since changed his mind when challenged about unacceptable public statements that he was on record as having previously made. Interesting how there was a ripple of laughter in the audience when someone (mistakenly?) referred to him as "Dick" Griffin. I wouldn't imagine he'll be the next occupant of 10 Downing Street on tonight's performance.