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John Henry · 04-06-2005, 05:11 AM

That's pretty much accurate, but there are a couple of things I would differ with. Charles I was actually executed for treason in 1649, but his successors had more sense.

Also, I believe that, technically it is Parliament which is split into two chambers, the Lords being one, while government extends to various other non Parliamentary bodies, but I'm just splitting hairs now.

As far as relation of British parties to American parties goes, I would disagree slightly with your asessment, but this is more a matter of opinion.

New Labour, under Blair, probably have a lot more in common with the Republicans than with the Democrats, as is evidenced by their close allegiance in international affairs. Blair is a big fan of privitisation, having introduced such measures as the Private Finance Initiative, under which corporations run schools into the ground in exchange for being allowed to brainwash the children with their marketing. Labour have also introduced or proposed several authoritarian measures, such as the right of the police to detain indefinitely without charge and mandatory ID cards. They have also introduced nationalistic measures, such as indefinite detention of Asylum seekers in prisons knowingly staffed by violent racists. To my mind, this places them firmly in the Thatcher camp if not the early Hitler camp.

While the all new cuddly Michael Howard may protest against these policies, those of us who remember back to the previous government will recall that these are exactly the sort of measures he was proposing as Home Secretary. (Although they seem to have been kicked out for being argumentative poofters, rather than for their politics - strange what the British electorate regards as important).

So in so far as we have a parliament dominated by two parties, one right wing authoritarian (Conservative party) and the other extreme right-wing extreme authoritarian (Labour), they reflect the Democratic and Republican Parties respectively.

The Liberal Democrats, formed as a coalition of the former Social Democratic and Liberal Parties have a line of Liberalism and lean toward the socialist side of economic policy. Sadly they are vague and ineffectual and recently demonstrated their complete contempt for the liberty of the British people by the failure of sixteen of their members to attend the vote which passed the Anti-Terror Bill (which allows the indefinite detention of British Citizens without charge) by a margin of thirteen.

The "Others" typically about 10% include:

The Respect Coalition - A Socialist/Liberal party, headed By George Galloway, an outspoken opponent of the recent war in Iraq.

The Green Party - Largely concerned with environmental issues, briefly a serious contender to the Lib Dems in the early '90s.

UK Independence Party - Headed by orange-faced, shit-stained, former chat show host Robert Kilroy Silk. Originally a single policy party - "Say no to the Euro" they have recently resorted to gypsy bashing and immigrant bashing in an attempt to garner votes fromn the inadequate and the elderly.

British National Party - Essentially the Political wing of the violent, white racist organisation the National Front an increasingly serious contender although I suspect they will lose some ground this year to the vaguely more respectable (if orange) face of UKIP.

04-06-2005, 05:11 AM	#12 (permalink)
John Henry Addict Location: Grey Britain	That's pretty much accurate, but there are a couple of things I would differ with. Charles I was actually executed for treason in 1649, but his successors had more sense. Also, I believe that, technically it is Parliament which is split into two chambers, the Lords being one, while government extends to various other non Parliamentary bodies, but I'm just splitting hairs now. As far as relation of British parties to American parties goes, I would disagree slightly with your asessment, but this is more a matter of opinion. New Labour, under Blair, probably have a lot more in common with the Republicans than with the Democrats, as is evidenced by their close allegiance in international affairs. Blair is a big fan of privitisation, having introduced such measures as the Private Finance Initiative, under which corporations run schools into the ground in exchange for being allowed to brainwash the children with their marketing. Labour have also introduced or proposed several authoritarian measures, such as the right of the police to detain indefinitely without charge and mandatory ID cards. They have also introduced nationalistic measures, such as indefinite detention of Asylum seekers in prisons knowingly staffed by violent racists. To my mind, this places them firmly in the Thatcher camp if not the early Hitler camp. While the all new cuddly Michael Howard may protest against these policies, those of us who remember back to the previous government will recall that these are exactly the sort of measures he was proposing as Home Secretary. (Although they seem to have been kicked out for being argumentative poofters, rather than for their politics - strange what the British electorate regards as important). So in so far as we have a parliament dominated by two parties, one right wing authoritarian (Conservative party) and the other extreme right-wing extreme authoritarian (Labour), they reflect the Democratic and Republican Parties respectively. The Liberal Democrats, formed as a coalition of the former Social Democratic and Liberal Parties have a line of Liberalism and lean toward the socialist side of economic policy. Sadly they are vague and ineffectual and recently demonstrated their complete contempt for the liberty of the British people by the failure of sixteen of their members to attend the vote which passed the Anti-Terror Bill (which allows the indefinite detention of British Citizens without charge) by a margin of thirteen. The "Others" typically about 10% include: The Respect Coalition - A Socialist/Liberal party, headed By George Galloway, an outspoken opponent of the recent war in Iraq. The Green Party - Largely concerned with environmental issues, briefly a serious contender to the Lib Dems in the early '90s. UK Independence Party - Headed by orange-faced, shit-stained, former chat show host Robert Kilroy Silk. Originally a single policy party - "Say no to the Euro" they have recently resorted to gypsy bashing and immigrant bashing in an attempt to garner votes fromn the inadequate and the elderly. British National Party - Essentially the Political wing of the violent, white racist organisation the National Front an increasingly serious contender although I suspect they will lose some ground this year to the vaguely more respectable (if orange) face of UKIP. __________________ "No one was behaving from very Buddhist motives. Then, thought Pigsy, he was hardly a Buddha, nor was he a monkey. Presently, he was a pig spirit changed into a little girl pretending to be a little boy to be offered to a water monster. It was all very simple to a pig spirit."