Politics

[armb]

Tom Tomorrow sums up Obama's Nobel prize - it was actually won by the idea of Obama:
http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2009/10/13/tomo/index.html

Meanwhile, why are the Conservatives so far ahead in UK opinion polls? Does anyone really think they would have kept us out of recession by putting stricter controls on the banking industry? Kept us out of Iraq? I'm starting to think they might be a slight improvement on civil rights and privacy issues, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Comments

[crazyscot.livejournal.com]

I was reading last week that our electoral system is sufficiently biased that the tories need about a 12% poll lead to gain a majority.

[armb.livejournal.com]

Though that would change if Scotland leaves the UK, which Charlie Stross thinks is a serious possibility:
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2009/10/politics_1.html
"On the one hand, to give them their full title, they're the Conservative and Unionist Party, dedicated to preserving the union. But if they cut Scotland loose, then, in a 650 seat parliamentary system, they lose 80 seats, 78 of which belong to their rivals. Leave aside the fact that Cameron is committed to reducing the number of constituency seats in the UK: the 10% of them elected by Scotland are overwhelmingly not conservative. Ditching them will give the Conservatives an electoral lift that will last for a generation."