Hairyloon, closure of this forum would be a great loss to budding democracy in this country. I say 'budding' because by and large people are pretty switched off politically. I think the level of interest shown in the election accords with pub brawls or motorway accidents and was largely media-driven. In as far as the media circus got their attention the election may have registered on many more people's radar as an act with consequences. There is also an age differential at play because age-groups have different radars and priorities.
As a regular visitor to this forum I have of course noticed that the space it offered was not used as extensively as it could have been. That could be down to the novelty of the thing. Online facilities like Democracy Club or Straight Choice have created a valuable, largely unmediated space for engaging the interested public on questions about how we are governed. Both have barely scatched the surface of potential they hold as alternatives to Tweeter or Facebook, mere registers of mental ephemera, soundbite generators [I tweet therefore I am].
Me, I'm actively striving to slow down a bit, to avoid experiences like fast food, fast bucks, fast thoughts and fast lanes. Because the devil is in the very details that are skimmed over to get on with it fast.
This election may be over but the next one is at most five years away. Could we not experiment some before we turn off the light; wait a bit for forum members to slow down a bit to think about what they want this forum to do?
The next General Election is allegedly just under 5 yrs away. I did not vote for fixed length 5 yr Parliament, only as a max, because I do not approve of a Party having an unassailable majority for more than 5 yr without an electorate mandate or an interim oppostion vote of no confidence. I suggest this forum allows debate of Coalition Govt & Opposition proposals. We are less than 30hrs from an emergency budget. What measures do subscribers recommend? Increase in VAT? Increase in CGT? Should it be tiered? Should public sector pensions be more benficial than the average private sector pension? Which benefits should be means tested? What is the effect of change on tax take? All adults should complete a tax return every 5 yrs, irrespective of tax status. (20% pa) The current economic crisis is mainly due to bank bailouts. Why are recipient banks not being taxed 100% on current profits pro rata to capitilisation? The Coalition has recently cancelled promised Labour Govt loans to several private Compnies eg Sheffield Forgemasters, £80M, they could have required our banks to provide the fnance on similar terms.
