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[smjjames]

Welcome to the system that we have in the US. Wonder how long it'll take before you settle into a two party system.

We've had a two party system for a long time now. Lately it's also become more personality driven and about the leaders than the parties, with Televised debates between PMs who are just regurgitating what they've been told by the people in their party who are the actual 'experts' in what's being asked that inevitably let to things devolving to being less about issues and more about "I am not as big of a Country Matters as that Country Matters over there". So...more American, I guess. Yeah.

At it's current rate, I have this horrible feeling the current political system is going to lead to riots again.

But you have multiple successful parties, not two big ones who block everybody else out, I think.

Also riots? Ours doesn't result in riots.

[MorleyDev]

But you have multiple successful parties, not two big ones who block everybody else out, I think.

Yeah, but 1st past the post means that the practical result of voting for one of the other parties is often no different to spoiling a ballot or not voting at all. Unless you live in one of the few places that have been historically anything but Conservative or Labour, I guess. It's a 2-party system where the other parties are generally used as scapegoats (For example: Better vote conservative, otherwise UKIP will get in, is a depressingly common reason for voting Conservative).

Also riots? Ours doesn't result in riots.

The UK has a bad history of large protests turning ugly in London, a few years ago they happened in multiple cities simultaneously. The miner's strikes of the 80s got ugly pretty quickly too, from what I've heard (wasn't exactly alive at the time). In general, when the British stiff-upper lip crumbles, it's not pretty. With the general mood at the moment, I can't see anything but more large protests happening, which will most likely result in more riots.

[Owlbread]

The UK has had a two party system for longer than the United States has existed. We pretty much invented it and the Americans inherited it. It's only in the last while that the Liberals, the token third party (which only served to influence potential coalitions/pacts) has died a death and other, more radical parties have moved in.

During the election campaign it looked like we were moving closer to a European-style rainbow parliament led by wide coalitions but Labour were just a bit too terrible to carry us over the line.

[penguinofhonor]

Since when does the US political system not result in riots? There are riots happening here now.

Heck, the last wave of riots in England was because of a police shooting. Does that sound familiar to anyone else?

[sjm9876]

In clarification on my early comment of the conservative majority being somewhat due to the SNP.

A) It was something of an overstatement, but in my defense I am thoroughly angry and disappointed at how my county has voted.
B) A large number of Conservative voters I've spoken to swung from the Lib Dems as they didn't want a SNP coalition. Purely anecdotal ofc.
C) Yup, Labour was shit. Sadly, as someone in England, there wasn't even a better option IMO -_-. In Scotland, there was the SNP, which knocked Labour off a gigantic powerbase and thus ensured they didn't stand any chance.
D) No comment is intended as an assignment of blame. I'm just.... disappointed.

On UK politics, what Owlbread said.

On riots.... well, the miner's strikes I feel were justified. They were symptomatic of massive problems caused by Thatcher, which resulted in the fact that some parts of Northern England (can't speak for elsewhere, not living there) are very much still in a kind of rut today (places such as Scunthorpe, for example).
The Tottenham riots, much less so. They were a bloody shambles on all sides, with a massive influx of people only interested in rioting rather than any cause. I really cannot defend them.

[MorleyDev]

The Tottenham riots, much less so. They were a bloody shambles on all sides, with a massive influx of people only interested in rioting rather than any cause. I really cannot defend them.

Honestly, when you have that many people it's closer to a force of nature, a symptom  of general mood of the people. When many people are just generally unhappy with the state of things, that's the kind of thing that happens. Am I exactly fond of what happened, no, but and a clusterfuck is what happens when things boil over like that.

[NJW2000]

To paraphrase, I think, largely "thugs" riot, and politicians condemn them, but if you make sure there's jobs, housing, or at least a non-horrific welfare system, "thugs" go out of production. What happened to the American "superpredator"? According to some people the condom, and thus a bette rstandard of living for people.

But yeah, the stupid year 7 history ideas about long term and trigger causes apply here, with institutional racism being short-term/trigger, and institutional classism being long term, I guess. And now the Tories are back.

[Frumple]

Since when does the US political system not result in riots? There are riots happening here now.

Heck, the last wave of riots in England was because of a police shooting. Does that sound familiar to anyone else?

Maybe the difference in consideration is due to the UK being so much smaller than the US? Like, geographically. And population wise, for what that's worth. A riot that covered all of britian would only destabilize a relatively minor portion of the states, in terms of land and people covered. So riots seem like a smaller deal vis a vis the states.

[ChairmanPoo]

Population wise not that smaller. It's one fifth of the US population, in an area that is one fortieth of the USA's. So popdensity is pretty big.

By the way, in unrelated news, whereas I'm no big fan of the EU as it stands, I'm concerned with this referendum of Cameron's and what it might mean to convalidation of European titles in the UK. I've been planning my exile in the British Isles (which would begin the jure next year at the soonests) for some time, and it would throw a wrench in the works if the relevant laws changed significatively.

[Frumple]

That's what I'm talking about, actually. For a US riot to be comparatively equivalent to a UK riot in a rough numerical sense, it would have to involve five times the number of people and effect forty times the land. Even just the body count difference involved there is staggering, and the geographical disparity makes destabilization that's anything but regional notably unlikely. 1/5th the population is only a small difference looking at the fraction itself. A riot big enough to effect all of the UK could be literally unnoticed by much of the US. Certainly one that size could (probably has, honestly, but I can't say I keep that kind of information in the back of my head) have minimal effect on most of the population's day-to-day, over here.

[Graknorke]

Police are starting shit at a protest outside No.10

Nice to know that some things never change.

[palsch]

Priorities.

[lijacote]

Police are starting shit at a protest outside No.10

Nice to know that some things never change.

And when the people inevitably stop behaving politely, the moralists will come out of the woodwork to condemn them for not taking the baton and the arbitrary arrests and captures and the violence and the repression peacefully.

[Helgoland]

What's the object being thrown around 5:10?

[SirQuiamus]

Priorities.

Gerrymander constituencies, spy on people, and abolish Human Rights Act?

Tories confirmed for Fidesz / Cameron confirmed for Orban.