The General Election (UK)

[Andromeda]

I don't really have anything to say on the subject since it's not my country, but I did have something mention and sort of ask. Since you mention that the debate I remember seeing the debate late night on Fox News. At first I was not sure what was going on, but I quickly realized what it was that they were showing. I've only recently started following politics and Fox News so I don't know if this something that they normally do.

Do the British debates normally get broadcast outside of the country? I can't recall ever hearing it being broadcast over here, but as I said politics and news is not something I followed until recently. So I may have easily missed it. I was sort of getting this impression that this year was very important for England/British Isles, is there a change in direction in policy or something major that could be happening soon?

I think it is pretty nice that Fox News actually ran the broadcast, I wonder if any other news stations ran the full debate.

[Storm]

I don't really have anything to say on the subject since it's not my country, but I did have something mention and sort of ask. Since you mention that the debate I remember seeing the debate late night on Fox News. At first I was not sure what was going on, but I quickly realized what it was that they were showing. I've only recently started following politics and Fox News so I don't know if this something that they normally do.

Do the British debates normally get broadcast outside of the country? I can't recall ever hearing it being broadcast over here, but as I said politics and news is not something I followed until recently. So I may have easily missed it. I was sort of getting this impression that this year was very important for England/British Isles, is there a change in direction in policy or something major that could be happening soon?

I think it is pretty nice that Fox News actually ran the broadcast, I wonder if any other news stations ran the full debate.

It is interesting to know that the US is taking an interest in British politics, as I had no idea whether countries outside Britain know much about what is happening. I think it is a good thing, considering how Britain and America have a strong alliance. The US elections definatly got the British attention too!

I'm pretty certain this is the first broadcast debate. It is quite interesting as you get to see the 3 main contenders debating on their policies. The only problem with it I have found is that a number of people seem to be judging the potential of the candidates purely from the broadcast. The party leaders have also been in a few broadcast interviews. There has been a lot of problems before with people not taking an interest in voting, so I believe this is a way to attract the public's attention to the elections so more people will vote (especially the 18-25 age bracket).

There are a few things which may happen soon. I know that a few parties are considering changing the education system by scrapping the SATS tests (exams you sit in Year 6 (age 11, end of primary school), and there is talk of abolishing the National Curriculum (a very acedemic schooling system) to introduce more vocational courses. I've heard rumours also of changing school leaving age from 16 to 18. There is a lot of talk also on making changes to the immigration laws, as Britain is becoming rather over-populated. A policy which more than one party wants to introduce is a 'points' system, which assesses on how well the individual knows English, and will benefit the country. Another main target is crime, as the country's prisons are very full, and the police force itself needs to be improved. It is daft how there is such an increase on crime when Britain has the most CCTV coverage in the world!

I'm not really the most well-informed person on the subject, as I am still quite new to politics, however it is interesting to see how different groups plan to improve the country.

[Andromeda]

What is the school leaving age about? Are you referring to the age that students are allowed to drop out and the limit of required schooling? Or is it graduation time?

Didn't know that there was a over-population problem. As long as you don't end up with a negative birth rate controlling immigration would help. Japan is facing a negative birth rate and being an island nation.

But US and UK politics definitely seem to be pretty connected. Though I guess with the economic state of the world, it has become quite important what other countries are doing. Considering the more socialist tendencies that the US is taking what happens to us is probably going to be of great interest. I wonder if there will be anymore broadcasts up to the General Election that will be run over here.

[Storm]

What is the school leaving age about? Are you referring to the age that students are allowed to drop out and the limit of required schooling? Or is it graduation time?

Graduation time. In England (and Wales I believe), we finish compulsory education at the age of 16, after the GCSE examinations. After this, we can go onto sixthform or college to study A-levels, National Diploma or equivelant qualifications, which are not compulsory. The Scottish system is slightly different, and I have no idea about Northern Ireland. Then, at 18, we have the option of studying a degree at University (our college and university are seperate things).

I think what they are planning is to make A-levels and equivelant qualifications for the 16-18 age bracket a necessity, so that all students are more likely to get decent jobs as they will have the qualifications to do so. I personally do not see, if this does happen, how it will improve anything, as there are students who really do not want to learn, and disrupt the classroom. It certainly made studying my A-levels more enjoyable, having minimum annoyance from disruptive students. A lot of other countries do have a graduation age of 18, however, so I can't really say much about this since I do not know first-hand whether it is a good course of action or not.

Didn't know that there was a over-population problem. As long as you don't end up with a negative birth rate controlling immigration would help. Japan is facing a negative birth rate and being an island nation.

It is not in too much of a desperate state at the moment, however the risk is running higher since we have such lax border management controls at the moment. For this country, however, I'm not sure if we will suffer the same issue as Japan with the low birth-rate as we have a problem with underage/teenage pregnancy. Also, there are some families who have a lot of children and don't work as they can recieve benefits from the government. You can also secure a council house if you've got a child. This is a very difficult situation, because of course you cannot put children at risk, but there are people taking the benefits system for granted. There are also some people who cannot be bothered to find a job, and live on "job seeker's allowance", which is intended for people who do not have a job to keep themselves fed and housed until they find a job and can support themselves. Again, it is a tricky situation.

But US and UK politics definitely seem to be pretty connected. Though I guess with the economic state of the world, it has become quite important what other countries are doing. Considering the more socialist tendencies that the US is taking what happens to us is probably going to be of great interest. I wonder if there will be anymore broadcasts up to the General Election that will be run over here.

I do agree that we can learn more about our own situation by looking at what is happening in other countries. Of course, it is not always certain that things will run the same, however I believe there is no better source to make a model on how to improve a situation than finding out how that system works elsewhere.

[Andromeda]

Huh, I didn't know that it was 16 for you. I guess I just figured 18 was a bit of a standard everywhere. How does that end up changing the curriculum? I always did feel there was a bit of overlap with some of classes. It is actually quite fascinating to see how the school system is different. So used to hearing High School being 9th-12th grade or about 15-18 in the age group. But there is no middle ground between High School and high education for us. Colleges can be stepping stones into Universities for us, but it is not a requirement. For us Colleges and Universities are different because a University is multiple colleges on the same grounds more or less and colleges are more focused.

What sort of classes are placed in the middle ground after age 16?

[Storm]

What sort of classes are placed in the middle ground after age 16?

It depends. A-levels are the more acedemic route, which are much more advanced than the GCSE qualifications. How many you take depends on the school, however the typical number is 4 subjects on the first year, and then you drop one on the second year. The classes are typical subjects, such as Biology, Mathematics, Geography, Art, Music, History, French etc. There are also a few extra ones such as Business, which are not typically studied at GCSE level. To be able to study A-levels there is a minimum qualification level (I cannot remember what this is, but I believe it is about 5 C grades at GCSE).

There are vocational courses such as the National Diplomas, which are typically aimed at people who did not do so strongly in their GCSEs, or want to take a more practical route. There is a wide variety of these, such as TV and Film Production, Hair and Beauty, and Childcare. Each course has the equivelant of a certain number of A-levels (normally 2-3 depending on the course, however I am not entirely familiar with these).

EDIT:

Ironically if the party Storm is supporting gets into power, Britain will be a right-wing country in reflection of the centre-right standing of the Conservatives. We won't really be all that socialist if that happens. The US becomes more left-winged and the UK becomes more right-winged. Guess that's some sort of cosmic balance thing.

Aye, that as true. I have no background political bias, but from doing the two tests and from reading policies from the 3 main players, I have to say I prefer those of the Conservative party. I think that Labour have a few good policies, but I also feel that they have done a fair bit of damage. Conservative may be a bit of a gamble, as last time they were in power, although things started off well, Maggie did screw things up in the end. I also believe that one of the biggest problems at the moment is the economy, and I believe that allthough the economic situation will not be easy to solve, Conservative are more likely to help the economical situation of the country.

[Heartless Angel]

Can't say I've been watching much for campaigning, since I'm American, but based on what I've seen of the candidates, I'd have to go for Cameron. I watch the British House of Commons all the time, so I see alot of the things he suggests, the way he feels about current policies, etcetera etcetera. From what I've seen there, Brown is a clown. He'll be the first to take credit for any improvement made, and the first to change the subject whenever anything else is mentioned. Out of all the questions people ask him, I think he actually answered about 5% of them. The rest he just starts babbling about the good things that have happened during his term to avoid acknowledging problems. But then, I'm extremely biased against politicians in general. I hate em all. That's not to say I hate politics, I love politics. I just hate politicians.