Thetownend.com

Still Labour I guess?

The Adver site doesn't seem to say yet.

There was no local elections in Swindon so the council is still tory run as it has been - there was only Euro elections

It's been Tory controlled for about 5 years now and there were no council elections in Swindon yesterday. But apart from that, good to see you keeping your finger on the pulse of current affairs :)

 :soapy tit wank: I'm on the ball.

Sorry, couldn't resist. We might get some new Euro MPs (for the whole Southwest region) though if that's any comfort

its obvious it's a tory council.they cut back on public services like they always do.still, we have a stagnant canal and a few tiny shops to look forward to.

I was still under the illusion swindon was a labour stronghold. obviously I'm about a decade out of date. :-[

oh yes - full of selfish thatcherlings who don't give a fuck about fuck all

Bristol is now under full Lib Dem control, if anyone cares...

You know what, this whole 'scandal' about expenses, the european elections, today's cabinet reshuffle has made politics (slightly) interesting again.

But on a more relevant note. Anita Anand. Oh yeeeesssssss

[url width=203 height=252]http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/presenters/media/anand_main.jpg[/url]

On TV on the Daily Politics and Radio 5 Live daily......

Fucking hell, pumbaa has turned into Fatbury.

Just because she's older than 12. You're just jealous.......

Jealous of...?

Fairly obvious it's a tory council, who in their right mind would close the park and ride!!  Towns smaller than ours have park and ride systems and they are successful, Bath are opening a third site.  Most places you go to there are big signs on the entrance to the towns that the park and ride is available, not here in Swindon though, there are plenty of park and ride shut signs now visible though.  Norwich has, I think, six park and ride sites, and claim they are so successful that they are reducing the off-peak bus fare!!  Would Swindon council think about doing something like that?  No, they just increase town centre car parking charges and force the commuters to park there!

Agree completely. The transport policy is wank. Now the prospective Granville St developers have gone bust, the New Swindon Company are on about building a supermarket instead. Great idea. You can get stuck in traffic and pay to park to get your weekly shopping. Unlike the two out of centre Sainsbury's, Wal-Mart, West Swindon Asda, Morrissons etc. Duh.

I say flatten the whole fucking lot and grass it over. Make the town centre one big park with free parking around it. We can exist without it. Well I do now come to think of it.

Both Swindon North and South have Labour MPs, it has been a Labour safe(ish) seat in general elections, but not at Local level

It won't be at the next one. Swindon usually mirrors the national situation. It is going to turn very blue.

Then we can look forward to Justin and the parachuted in Robert "Yet Another Lawyer" Buckland as MPs. Ugh.

Thought justin was your bumchum

Ah OK I'm not 100% out of touch then.

Justin is a nice enough guy but as an MP I couldn't imagine it - but he does like his picture in the paper though !!

Not sure what happened to him being a councillor as he just seemed to dissapear from the council

It does annoy me though that people stand as MP's (or councillors) and they don't live in the town but expect to know about local issues.

I think both Swindon MP's at the moment seem to do a reasonable job though.

TalkTalk hates all MPs now he's an anarcho-syndicalist green lizard alliance people's front against EuroTyranny person. Smash the system, man!

Nope. Nice enough bloke and I will give him the time of day but he is gagging to be a career politician. He might be rather disappointed when the expenses gravy train gets canned though.

You forgot the bit about compulsory denim and community service for socialists.

nAnnie Snelgrove was parachuted in from Stroud. I think Michael Wills comes from the Planet Zog.

Prospective Buckland comes from South Wales, although he has bought a house in Wroughton now I think and he is governor at Ridgeway. I'll give Justin some credit though, he has moved from Westlea to North Swindon to be in his constituency.

C'est la lutte finale
  Groupons-nous, et demain
  L'Internationale
  Sera le genre humain

:)

Labour run council was shit.
Tory run council are shit.

Nobody used the park and ride though, that's why it closed.

poorly located.and the wroughton one is so pathetic it beggars belief

You forgot the NOC run council in the middle. That was way beyond shit, primarily as a result of all three parties playing stupid buggers all the time. I seem to recall a time when Labour had the most seats but not enough to form a council, then they refused to form a council as did the Lib Dems, leaving the Tories running a minority council, then Labour and Lib Dem would vote everything down. Though I'm sure the Tories were just as bad. Wankers.

It was the NOC period that really fucked the town up.

So people are moaning that a poorly located and shit service has been stopped? Wouldn't it be better to stop spending money on it?

I will agree it was a waste of time and should have been planned and implemented propely and still should have some sort of go ahead, but the Town Centre hasn't got enough attraction to warrant it at the moment. Build the town, then build the park and ride.

why not keep the park and rides running but reduce the buses? people do use them.
they are  sending buses into witchelstowe with the grand total of one family living there.

That's private companies though arriba, no cost to the council.

A superb location to live. What a joke. I reckon that family are deaf (because of the adjacent M4) and have webbed feet (because of the flooding). The best of luck Bryant Homes you have a real lemon with that one.

well they are christians, so are clearly insane.
si i take your point with the running of buses,but we fund the park and ride service.a reduceed service,rather than the empty every few mins ones would work.

Personally I'd prefer my council tax not to go up to fund a service for a few hundred people. Those very people were unwilling to pay more for the service which could have kept it open.

The locations were wrong from the outset and they have realised this. There are plans to move to new locations but we know what the council is like for plans. Labour were just as bad and look how long it took to sort the library out.

labour repeatedly tried to get the library improved,the tories kept blocking it.now they claim it was all down to them which is complete bollocks.
i'd have park and ride a the hospital(a shuttle service already serves there)and out by j16 oif the m4.i'd also keep the groundwell one going at a reduced service.

Whatever you believe arriba, SBC has been shit whoever has run it and I don't think it will ever change.

agreed

The council has been better under the Tories. At least we finally got a fucking proper library instead of all the fucking around doing nothing that Labour did. Refuse collection is a lot better than it has been for some time now. The redeveloment may have hit some problems but let's be honest in the current climate I don't think you can really blame the council for that. Sure there are things that need to improve but the mess that the council was in prior to the change of party running it was always going to take a huge job.

Gotta correct you there.  Thamesdown Transport is run as a separate business but owned by SBC! 

Is it subsidised ronnie?

Their website says:

"In 27 September 1986 Thamesdown Transport became a limited company at ‘arms length’ from the owning borough council ready for deregulation.

Deregulation of local bus services came into effect on 26 October 1986."

On the money Rich. Rod Bluh, the Leader of the Council, is a one off. An honest politician who is doing his best for Swindon. I can't fault the man and he is a nice bloke as well. I have even got him to a few Town games undercover.

I think he is a cunt

Why? Serious question. What has he instigated that makes you loathe him?

Think the regeneration project was always doomed to fail. The canal idea and that fucking tree. They have have left swindon looking like a building site imho

They say you can judge a man by the company he keeps.

He had a go at me because i didn't label my bag properly when i did the half marathon

ahahaha that tree was so bad its fucking hilarious.as was bluhs defence of the monstrosity

Fair comment.

But I think you have to look at who is supposed to be delivering a rebuilt town centre. It isn't the council, it is the New Swindon Company. Another South West Regional Assembly unelected quango. You can trace their power back to the EU if you want. They were doomed to fail from day one and guess what? They are failing badly.

The only thing Rod has said that he will deliver on so far is the library and the canal. The library is finished after a million years of labour wibble. The canal is WIP and I am all for it personally.

Not that I support the tories and if you asked Rod on the quiet if he does he would probably say no - but it is the party that keeps him in a position that can get things done.

I think you are unnecessary maligning a good man Dean.

It is easy to criticise, isn't it?

Bloody hell, nobody has tried to do anything like that before and this town is full of people wanting things to fail and go wrong.

Either come up with better ideas or fuck off.

what tree is that?

not living near swindon but regularly using the town centre, i think it looks better than it used to - the problem is that smaller towns in oxfordshire are getting better for shopping, so a lot of people who would use swindon instead of oxford due to the hellish parking will no longer need to.

edit: nevermind

that tree deserved all the ridicule it got.it was pathetic,and took them two goes at putting up.
1 stingy string of lights added to the awfulness of it.
i absolutely guarantee i could have done better myself.
does that mean i dont have to fuck off now?

It's my personality type. I can't help it. Plus I am quite drunk.

Was that the christmas tree? Great idea, the fucked it up majorly. Looked like it had been put up by a bunch of retards

the magic roundabout one sonic

Then stand as a councillor and do better yourself. Stop fucking whining about other people's attempts and get stuck in. You are as bad as the posters on the Adver board. Sideshow fucking Bob.

Then offer your services to do the Christmas decorations next December. Jesus Christ.

Not living in swindon i didn't know about it untill i actually saw it. I'm not entirely sure how a bunch of men in suits will take to being told what to do by a 19 year old ginger lad

Did that anarchist libertarian ultra white manchild midlife crisis freemarket fantasy party you were pimping a few months ago bother to put up anybody for council elections anywhere this time?

that was the council? fuck, i thought it was a half-arsed attempt from some locals

Why would anyone in there right mind put a fucking Xmas tree up right in the middle of the busiest,trickiest roundabout in England....

Well give it a try Dave. Honestly, some of the councillors do actually listen.

Somebody who wanted to spread some Christmas cheer? That is so negative. Again, what are your ideas and what are you going to do about them?

Do you not think the point of electing people in the first place is for them to do this sort of stuff without the general public having to tell them what to do all the time? They are quite obviously shit at their job (or this job) in the first place.

i'm laughing,not whining.
i am also not concerned about what anyone from a football forum thinks of me.
i take it you will stop critisisng everything unless you are going to directly try to change it.otherwise you are a hypocrite

Lets ram my lorry up someones jacksy while pissing myself laughing at the excuse of a fir tree...what does it matter what my ideas are...i would rather the thousands spent on that joke be given to the old of Swindon on Xmas day....now that would cheer me up no end.

You have hit the nail on the head. The general public (i.e. that includes you) have become so nannied that we expect the state - or the local council - to look after our every need, including fucking Christmas decorations - that you don't want to get involved. Everybody has become so disengaged with politics and politicians that all we do is whine when it doesn't go the way we want.

I know from personal experience that the good councillors are crying out for their constituents to tell them what they want but nobody steps up to plate. They are not all shit, although a good percentage are. Don't tar them all with the same brush. If you want something changed then get involved.

are you surprised? there is as much news in the media about corruption, sleaze and expenses as there is about actual politics.

but of course, the media lie...

I thought the whole point of democracy was that it would be foolish to expect the general population to run itself. The system may be stuggling now, but thats more to do with incompetence of those in power. Give power to the masses and all we end up with is a situation like in that book with the pigs and the horses.

Like it is now you mean Dave!

Err well its not is it. We have an elected government and people can, and probably will, vote them out if things go wrong. The only issue i have with our system of election is the fact they can call one whenever they want. Should be fixed every 4 years like in america

they are fixed (sort of). it has to be held no longer than 5 years after the first assembly of a new government

No, I am not surprised at all. It is a vicious circle. But who can actually change anything? If you vote for the same then you get the same. It is down to us all to tell them to fuck off at the ballot box. As in do not vote for the three major parties at the next election. Vote for the bloody pensioners party or the Monster Raving Loonies, I really don't care. But we have to get this shower of shit out of power and give decision making back to the people. Or vote Libertarian at the next GE if they field a candidate in Swindon. I won't stand as MP for them now as I don't want a government, but that doesn't mean others might not be swayed.

Do they? Not too bad then. Still gives them some lee-way though which aint too fair.

You'll find that most governments historically have gone for at least 4 years of term anyway.

Quick question, if you don't want a government then surely that means you are aginst democracy. Why the hell do you go out of your way to vote then?

Aye i know that, but brown sure as hell won't be calling one this year

Us normal working class people...you know the masses have always been instructed by the rich and lucky few for centuries....who can forget the millions who died in world wars by listening to a precious few for example....how can being governed by a government who only got 48% of the nations vote be fair....it isnt.

Of course not. He was always going to go the full hog after he bottled calling one in 2007.

What are the alternatives. Proportional representation would only lead to further unfairness and inadequacys. Talk talk's hippy nonsense would ultimatley lead in some sort of dictatorship by the strong. And i dont fancy being run by a bunch of commies or facists.

I have obediently voted in every election, whether local, european or general up until three years ago. I defaulted the first time on a local because I couldn't bring myself to vote for Gary Perkins, the destroyer of schools in West Swindon. The next one I defaulted because Nick Martin is a cunt. A gaping, wet flapped hypocritical oozer of a quim.

Since then I have realised that voting just validates those in power and if you don't want the whole shebang then you have to do something different. Like spoil your ballot paper or start throwing petrol bombs.

Ime hoping the elections of yesterday is a landmark in voting and people have the bollox to vote like this in the proper elections...its about time this two party madness is given the boot....

Do you not think thats all a bit childish no?

It isn't hippy nonsense.

Why can't we collectively decide to let the free market and common sense run our lives instead of megalomaniacs?

Think outside of the box.

i'd rather we had no government than one run by tories.

oh well, at least i've got the easy option of residency in another country:)

Run by..?

Can't be any worse than the last 12 year of Labour Sonic.

Because it would quite readily be abused by some power hungry collective. I won't deny that its a pretty picture you paint. But it just won't work

vikings


it can get much much worse.

Were the first years of Blair really that bad?

I agree with sonic, it can get worse. I don't want anyone to prove that statement though.

It has been tried before in a few cultures in Europe in the early 18th century. Successfully. Iceland was a good example.

So it hasn't been attempted on a large scale since, but why not give it a go? It can't be any worse than the utter mess we have now. It needs a chance. If it turns out to be a crap philosophy then we will have learnt something and we can adopt Gordon Brown's son's political philosophy instead. Erm...

Fucking hell. Would you like another barrel to scrape at? We haven't used horse drawn carriages since the early 20th century, you don't see people clammering to see them bought back

You cannot be serious. Every single labour government that this country has had has brought it close to ruin, financially and socially. It generally takes a two term conservative administration to get it back to stability (which the electorate do not like as it is painful medicine) and then it goes back to the "spend like madmen, tax like Genghis Khan" labour government.

Boom and bust my arse. Socialism is a busted flush and conservatism is a busted aspirin.

We need a completely different approach.

....so in come the Conservatives... Great.

(I always vote, I've never voted Labour or Cons)

But how can it? We're in the middle of a crippling recession. The economy is all but fucked, unemployment is higher than it has been since the early 90s. I don't see how a Tory government can fuck up anything else because Labour have already completed the list.

<unabusive post for Mex's and Sonic's delectation>What are you saying?

I don't understand your argument.

</unabusive post for Mex's and Sonic's delectation>

It's a sad time when David Cameron is seen as a saviour. Fucking depressing.

Agreed.

Fucking dire.

What do you think the freemarket is talk talk?

i don't understand how you can equate new labour to socialism at all. neither government is solely responsible for destroying the country over the course of history, it's been a series of fuck ups. but that's politics.

anyway, i expect i'm just naïve, young and ignorant (but of course!) but i do recall the tories being in power during the last major recession...

I was suggesting that the fact that you were comparing 18th century iceland to 21st century britain was a very poor excuse for putting forward your system of government. You could say i thought you were scraping the barrel somewhat.

I then backed up this point by saying we don't use horse drawn carriages anymore. These were used in the 18th century too. I used this phrase to try and portray my emotion that i believed the idea to be extremely outdated for the modern world, in much the same way a horse and cart is now seen by many to be an inferior mode of transport, in relation to the motor vehicle.

I hope this clears up any confusion, and i will gladly answer any further queries you may have regarding my post.

Unregulated, unencumbered capitalism.

Unlike anything we have seen in this country ever.

The closest the world has ever had was the American midwest before the US government got it's sticky paws on it. It was a time of peaceful free trade co-existence where the population got on with their lives and bought and sold the things necessary for existing. The market decided the price of goods and land. Law and order was not a problem (contrary to what Hollywood would have us believe) because the settlers would not stand for anything that encroached on their well being. When the government interfered it fucked it up with taxes and laws that perverted a natural balanced economy.

I wasn't comparing 18th century Iceland to the Britain of today.

I said that a free market economy without a government had been tried at that time and it was successful.

<abuse> Are you thick? </abuse>

You are making the point that a system which worked in 18th century iceland worked, so why not try it now. Which is like saying horses and carriages worked in the 18th century, why not try it now. The world has moved on.

r u a m0ng@lo1d

Bit of a dodge there. What do you think unregulated, unencumbered capitalism is?

If you take the philosophy of freemarkets to an extreme - then isn't the forming of governments and other ruling systems, democratic or not, a consequence of that, and not some mystical outside force?

Yes. I have seen Devo live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWmf7r_37eA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWmf7r_37eA)

i think it's interesting that the question of war hasn't been raised once in this thread.

That's because it's good for absolutely nothing sonic.

alright edwin

Spoiling the ballot paper achieves jack shit and is infantile. Petrol bombs? Its nice to see you occupying the middle ground TT.

Can I get back to you, Ben? I am very very drunk (ace night at the Foresters, Common Platt - great pub, good atmosphere and the food was good - the chilli is bloody hot) and I need my bed with the warm woman already ensconced in it.

Yeah no worries.

you won ben! :D

You could probably buy the whole of Iceland for 50p. Anyone up for buying it and testing out the free market theory? Thought not.

Maybe tomorrow.

Got to let Talk Talk check if anybody's written out the answers for him on one of his favourite blogs.

A drinking excuse, what a cop out.

Lucky for me really.

My two penneth: the tree was a great idea, poorly executed; Nick Martin is indeed a massive weapon; I will vote for whoever is likely to win an election over Brown next election; I voted for Blair and am not ashamed.

I've signed up to help make the tree better this year, god knows it can't be any worse.