Steve Crook

Of course they keep records. But is there anywhere that has had a true democracy since the fall of Athens?

At least here they don't even pretend that it's a true democracy, it's a "representative democracy".

Steve

christoph404

I think the used ballots are kept at council stores for a year after which they are destroyed but a year is plenty time for MI5 or Special Branch or who ever to check who is voting for the BNP, SinnFein, The Communist Party etc. The fact that a secret ballot is supposed to be the backbone of British democracy is indeed a fallacy, interestingly breaking the secrecy of the ballot breaches the United Nations and European Human Rights treaties as well as our own UK human Rights Act. But never mind. In 1981, Gordon Winter -a former agent of BOSS, the South African Secret Service- writing in his book, "Inside BOSS", claimed that the South African government knew the identity of everyone who voted for the Communist Party of GB- thanks to British Intelligence using the simple vote tracing system.( ie matching the number on your ballot slip with the counterfoil number back to your name and address from the electoral register) The current British Government seems hell bent on introducing electronic voting which is open to corruption and distortion on quite a large scale as shown in the USA, so I guess we have that to look forward to.

David Brent

Many older houses and apartments in the London area and other major city areas of the UK do not have garages meaning cars have to be parked on the streets.
Some tenants have parking permits but for the others and for any visitors visiting those tenants parking really is at a premium.
I remember back in the eighties when a girlfriend and I purchased an old van in London, which we used to drive around the UK.
We lived for three months in Kensington and we could never find good parking. Some nights we had to park streets away from where we were living.

Of course we collected a whole swag of parking tickets but as decent, upright visitors to Britain we of course didn't pay them.

Dave.

christoph404

nice one Dave, the word is out on you now though Probably not possible nowadays to be such a prolific collector of parking tickets and get away with it, clamping or towing away seems to be the thing now especially if you have a foreign number plate. In the area where I live I see plenty parking tickets and if a car has a foreign plate and is illegally parked it always has a clamp on it, I think Westminster must have a policy of doing that in order to catch out naive tourists who have driven to London from Europe and assume they can park with impunity.

samkydd

The new immigration law "points" system coming out in September will prevent non-EU folk from abusing our hospitality (and parking laws), which includes Aussies and Kiwis "It's such a bloody marvellous lifestyle back in Aus, so much so that I spend all my time in the UK telling all the Pohms how bloody marvellous it is back in Aus!". So the bar staff across London will all change overnight to good old fashioned traditional Polish and Lithuanians!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

lordtednfs

So they are keyed up on the way the Yanks do things with regards breaking the law on driving related issues/parking fines ect? How will this affect you when you back home next time?

Ok Ned, oops sorry Dave, the games up!

________________
Hooked off the line

christoph404

I know a great way not to have to pay parking fines or speeding tickets......... don't park illegally and stay within the speed limits.........

batman

I never exceed the speed limit ..... I am such a good boy.

Daddy .... the frisbee has gone in the water .... what a finger puppet drama queen I am!

Mark O

Park naughty in Central London and this is one of things that may happen to your vehicle.........irony is there's a Car Park across the Street!

Mark

christoph404

I think if you have one of those little electric cars, the two seater type that looks like a 5 year olds drawing of a car brought to life, then you can park for free in a meter bay and don't have to pay the congestion charge. Sterling Moss lives in my area, I don't claim to know him but I've seen him tootling about the streets driving what looks like a tiny little 1970's white Honda van/mini bus with tiny little wheels and a scaled down body,which I think is electrically powered, its quite an odd site to see one of the worlds great racing drivers tootling about in that little thing!

samkydd

Whilst non-driver Ken Livingston gets chauffeured around free of charge in a gas-guzzling mayoral limo! (He only uses the tube and buses for press photo opportunities).

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

christoph404

At least Boris uses his bike on a day to day basis. Surely the Mayor of London should be traveling in a zero emissions vehicle such as an electric car or at least a hybrid vehicle. Does Ken travel in a gas guzzling limo? If thats true it smacks of extreme hypocrisy to me!

willan

They won't find me as I have stopped voting and also refuse to appear on the electoral register as I no longer have any faith in this "Big Brother" society of ours whatever the political make up of government.

penfold

Right on !!, that'll show 'em.....

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

willan

What is screwy about it? I am just watching the Channel 4 Cutting Edge programme entitled "Sleeping with my Sister" and people are being prosecuted in Britain today for having "incestuous" relationships, yet they don't prosecute the Royal family who have been having incestuous relationships for years.