<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Galadria1:

LOL. Sorry about that. I hate it when that happens. I have been reading In pursuit of the Proper Sinner by Elizabeth George, (an American, naturally)which seems to describe the UK that you are actually living in. I prefer to think of you all lolling about a stately manor inhabited by P.G. Wodehouse types, or, failing that, following Jonathan Gash's Lovejoy around the countryside. (sigh)<hr></blockquote>


Gawd blimey Galdadria! You don't wanna fink abaht us like that! We carnt see nuffin wiv all this bloomin fog abaht. Proper pea-souper it is. Gawd luv-a-duck , ain't that Robin Hood over there? :D

If you really want to know what it's like in England you shoud visit EPCOT centre in Disneyworld, they've got us down to a tee.

Speaking of Disneyworld and songs that you can't get out of your head:
This will do your brain in
It's a world of laughter
A world of tears
It's a world of hopes
And a world of fears
There's so much that we share
That it's time we're aware
It's a small world after all

There is just one moon
And one golden sun
And a smile means
Friendship to every one
Though the mountains divide
And the oceans are wide
It's a small world after all

It's a small world after
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world

(Repeat whole song)

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Barry the Sprout:
In the style of channel four, here comes this thread! Not in the style of channel four they are in no particular order. These are just coming off the top of my head so please anyone feel free to add to them. I will not add the Elgin Marbles, but if Sir Byronas wishes to then he is quite welcome.

1. When giving colonies independance we pulled out the entire civil service at once. 40 years on we look at countries in disarray due to civil war and economic crisis and act gracious in cancelling debt. Hmmm, how very kind.

2. We invented concentration camps. Dutch Boers were the first victims, in a war which we started for our own colonial gain. Thousands of women and children died in them.

3. We have no right to silence. Under the 1995 Criminal Justice Act if a defendant says nothing in court the judge has a duty to explain to the dury that it is probably due to their guilt.

4. The government currently sponsors arms fairs for British companies in both India and Pakistan. Tony Blair then goes to both in front of as many cameras as possible to try and start peace talks.

5. 92 members of our legislative are decided by birthright. It is the year 2002 and we retain 92 hereditary legislators, I love this country...

6. First Ireland then Northern Ireland... need I say more...

7. Our electoral system dictates that an MP represents a constituency, he must represent that even if it contradicts the wishes of his party. The Doctrine of the Mandate clearly destroys this principle.

8. Our education system states that if a couple earns £40,000+ a year combined then they are perfectly capable of financing a child through university. MPs earn £45,000 a year approx depending on their position and status in the House. They are currently campaigning for a rise as they can't cover their costs.

9. The Lord Chancellor sits in all three branches of the constitution, Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary. The current Lord chancellor has stood for election twice and lost both times. However he was deemed, out of all the judges in the country, most capable of this obviously contraversial position. The fact that he was Tony Blair's first employer is obviously unconnected. Similarly unconnected is the fact that the Solicitor General used to be Blair's flatmate.

10. Only 28% of young people from poor social economic backgrounds go to university (latest figures, talking this from the front of the newspaper in front of me). Guess which is the worst university for intake of poor students? Thats right - LSE! And guess where I am...

Off the top of my head. I am sure there can be found more through digging a bit. I am sure Norompolansis would like Mr Thatcher added as one of the reasons, but I really didn't want to type out all of the reasons I hate her. I am now going out for the evening (Monday = Burger at local Pub night) but when I get back I shall expect a large list of reasons from other people. I'm counting on you! May the hatred be with you!<hr></blockquote>


Nice to see someone criticise their own country rather than someone elses Barry. Good post. [img]smile.gif[/img] You can actually change your own nation with critique.

However I must say, that point 7. isn't a bad thing IMO. I wish that were the case in Oz. What's the point of electing a member to represent you , if their going to ignore your needs at the expense of party policy?

I agree with the former colony dissaray/Ireland/North Ireland points. Very very very unfortunate realities. :(

I agree with the hereditary Lords as well. An Aristocracy is 2002??!

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Yorick:



Nice to see someone criticise their own country rather than someone elses Barry. Good post. [img]smile.gif[/img] You can actually change your own nation with critique.

However I must say, that point 7. isn't a bad thing IMO. I wish that were the case in Oz. What's the point of electing a member to represent you , if their going to ignore your needs at the expense of party policy?

I agree with the former colony dissaray/Ireland/North Ireland points. Very very very unfortunate realities. :(

I agree with the hereditary Lords as well. An Aristocracy is 2002??!<hr></blockquote>

Thanks man [img]smile.gif[/img]

You miss my point about No.7 though Yorick. That is how it is meant to be (an MP represents a constituency not a party). If that were the case then our shite electoral system would not matter. In reality there is a section of our constitution called the Doctrine of the Mandate which destroys this. It states that because the MP's are members of parties the party has the right to enforce its will over them. So the partys can use whips to ensure the MP's vote the way they should do, despite constitutionally the exact oppposite being technically true. Our constitution is a mess to be frank, we need a new one quickly.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Epona:


Oh if only! Jeeves, could you fetch afternoon tea?<hr></blockquote>
Definitely. And watercress sandwiches. And then land us in some mad-and-merry adventure involving broken engagements, pigs, and Aunt Agatha hopping after Bertie with her hatchet. LOL. I love her. "She was rumored to eat her young and practice sacrifices at crossroads on the full moon."
Donut, I love it. Doesn't it make you angry when somebody tries to imitate East End accents, like that guy in Baldur's Gate II? Also, over here, they are starting to serve teatime, which they invariably refer to as "High Tea," meaning "high" as in "High Society." Sigh. What's an Anglophile to do?

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Barry the Sprout:

Our constitution is a mess to be frank, we need a new one quickly.<hr></blockquote>

Hey, Barry, who persuaded you that the U.K. actually has a constitution???

Before the importation of the ECHR into the U.K. we had precious few enforceable and inalienable rights. That's what you get when your "constitution" has grown up by common law, custom and prededent rather than than being founded on some sort of codified document.

That's what allows our Executive such unbridled power (the elected dictatorship). For example, it allowed Mrs. T to run roughshod over the miners by using the police force as a political tool under the guise of preventing civil unrest and prosecute the "Falklands War" with very few checks and balances.

Just my [img]graemlins/twocents.gif[/img]

Oh, and this may come as a surprise to those who think the U.K. is one big homogenous mass - the Scots have their own Parliament, judicial and educational systems and no established religion etc. etc. etc. :D

Another thing that annoys me about England, I live in a very small, quite old town called Thornbury, and though you might complain because London is overcrowded, trust me, I'd trade in just a little of the beautiful countryside we have for something to do without having to go into Bristol!!

I cant think of much about England that I hate.

Politics? everywhere you go democracy is just a clamber for the middle ground so eh, what difference does it make. Its what they do down behind their backs that matters not what theyre saying.

The Royal family? well some people derive amusment from them and since my taxes dont pay for their upkeep what do I care.


What I can say is England has LOADS of great writers and that I love.

Okay my points were taken to heart , which was not the intention isimply saught to raise a few points being ignored ...as if ne thing destroys my soul as much as ignorance in a serious debate meanwhile.......... AGHAST A VAMPYR - EXEUNT

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Epona:


Gabe, I was once told that Milton Keynes was the only town in Britain where you couldn't sit your driving test - because all the roundabouts mean that there isn't enough variation and a lack of potential dangerous situations! Is that true, or was my leg being pulled? There certainly are a lot of roundabouts though, one wrong turn and you find yourself driving around the outskirts for the next 50 years ...<hr></blockquote>
I think they were pulling your leg, we mainly have roundabouts on the major roads. So I normally take lessons on the estate roads or in the villages or towns we manged to absorb.
As for getting lost I can never understand how people mange it, the roads are in a grid patten, if you go down the wrong one turn around at the roundabout and go back the right way.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Mouse:
Hey, Barry, who persuaded you that the U.K. actually has a constitution???<hr></blockquote>

I get this a lot in my politics classes ;) . We do have a constitution, it is a common mistake to assume that because it is not of the same form as the American one it does not exist. Our constitution is for the most part written, but it is not codified, and it has been so since the Magna Carta. It comes from:

1. Statue law,
2. Case law,
3. EU law (regulations bypass parliament altogether),
4. Works of authority (Bagehot, Dicey, and the like),
5. Where all else fails - convention and precedent.

It is best to think of it as a string vest made over several hundred years. Bits of it don't fit very well, and there are absolutely whopping gaps in it. But the generally accepted view is that it doesn't need replacing, just patching up. I agree with you, it is so slapdash it might as well not exist. But if we didn't actually have a constitution we wouldn't be a country. We have one, it is just a complete mess (to say the least).