british elections

[Peter Korsten]

Op 6-5-2010 18:34, The Dong schreef:

> So. What you're saying is that this is an English election and that 10%
> (let's say that probably works out to be all of Scotland and Wales)
> shouldn't even be allowed to cast a vote? This is complicated.

No, what I'm saying is that as far as I know, everybody in Scotland, 
Wales and Northern Ireland can vote for a candidate of one of the three 
largest parties (those that participated in the debate at least). The 
English, Welsh and Northern Irish cannot vote for the SNP.

You have to draw a line somewhere. If the debate had included just 
Labour and the Conservatives, it would have been unfair to the fairly 
large part of the population that votes LibDem. If the debate had 
included the heads of all parties like the UKIP, BNP, SNP, Monster 
Raving Loony Party and the Union of Welsh Sheep Shaggers, there would 
have been too many people talking (and generally saying silly things, as 
politicians are wont to do).

So to me at least it seems like a reasonable compromise.

> It's either the United Kingdom / Britain, or England, Scotland and
> Wales, all separate. P' people tend to use the terms United Kingdom and
> Britain at different, appropriate (or inappropriate) times.

It ought to be mentioned, though, that - how shall I put it - the entity 
that represents the people with a British passport has easily the most 
complicated set-up of Europe and probably the entire world, deftly 
beating even the Russian Federation.

I mean, you have the countries of the UK. Scotland has a parliament, 
Wales has an assembly, Northern Ireland has... something, and England 
has nothing. Scotland has its own money - three different kinds of it, 
no less. The Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and some other island; 
they're not part of the UK, but have the same head of state, and are 
still considered British citizens. And they all have their own kinds of 
money, obviously. Which are tied to the Pound Sterling. Then there's 
Gibraltar and the various other overseas possessions, which may or may 
not have their own kind of money - I haven't kept track.

You cannot blame foreigners to get confused about that. :)

- Peter