yeah i am figle but im not going to vote there is no one worthy

If you don't vote, you can't really complain later on if you don't like who got elected, so you should always use your vote somehow. These two links could help you decide:
http://www.votematch.co.uk/europe
http://www.euprofiler.eu

i am im using my vote to not vote, and i can always complain about who got elected as there was no one worth choosing

@ Biddis. According to Grid/Group Cultural Theory, Egalitarian means you advocate policy structures that use the principles of mutuality, reputation, reciprocation, rotation of office and communitarianism. Failures are blamed on disconnection between decision makers and the community and a lack of face-to-face accountability.

hahahahaha - im sorry Hereward, I just had to read that about 10 times before i understood any of it. I think i may be too unintelligent for this site, or at least my grasp of the English Language doesn't really compare.

Trim - How do you feel my use of non-text language is going? I'm trying, I promise.

P.S. This will be my last forum comment everyone, it's been fun.

My region is predicted to end up 2 tory, 1 lib dem, 1 lab, 1 UKIP and 1 for either Greens or BNP. Could I ask everybody who lives in the west mids to vote Green. I will be mortified if BNP get in and I expect a lot of people who think their vote doesn't matter or politics is a waste of time could end up waking up with a BNP member of the EU. If that is what you want, fine, but if you don't want a BNP member vote Green.

Oh and by the way, they seem like nice people :)

Right, nice time to attack this thread. I'm staggered no-one has asked for my view yet!

To answer one question about why should we bother to vote. Well, if you don't vote, you can't change anything.

Secondly, how would I vote. Well, I am going to vote Tory, as they are the only party that would promise to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. I won't vote UKIP as they are a bunch of nutters - it is impossible to get out of the EU, so why vote for them? The Greens are, frankly, hopeless and single issue, and the BNP are a bunch of racist thugs that don't deserve to be a political party.

The only way to stop the BNP voting is not to vote Green - it is to vote for one of the three main parties.

@cg your view is to vote tory so no need to ask :p

Well, I have two questions for you cg. If you couldn't vote tory, who would you vote for and why?

ooooooooooooooooo

Good question. I don't want to get into trouble though! Seriously, given the views I have outlined above, Labour have refused a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty despite promising that they would - this is after all a Euro election so I'm trying to stick to Euro issues.

If I was forced to actually vote for a party, it would be the Lib Dems, though I would much rather vote, and spoil my ballot paper.

which is the same as not voting

@cg - i think it ius misleading of you to say that the Tories are promising a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. In the event that the Lisbon Treaty is ratified prior to the Tories coming to power, they do not propose to hold a referendum.

If you need any further clarification on your party's policies, please feel free to ask :)

I would vote tory if I were able.

As for not voting- that achieves nothing but helping nutcase minorities such as the greens-who have the economic knowledge of the trees they want to save, or the BNP-who are bigots.

also @ cg - whilst normally I would agree that one should always vote for a party that represents your own views, there is sometimes an opportunity to express an opinion on how we are governed. I'm aware that these are Euro and County elections, but we both know they will be used by politicians of all colours to gauge public opinion for the next election. A resounding anti-'big-three' vote will make all politicians bend over backwards to get their house in order. People who have abused the expenses system will be ejected from the big parties and a better regulatory system will be introduced.

I am nearly 43 and have voted in every election where I have had a vote (always for Labour). But this time I'm voting Green.

@ghostmaker, If I'm correct and the reason you are not voting is because of your age, then I think you need to do some more research about Tory policies and core beliefs before making statements about the Green's economic knowledge. The tories are just as culpable as Labour for our current economic predicament.

It is my age.

The Tories are more likely with significant power to drift right. Labour would drift left. That is why I would vote for them. No party properly represents my views.

Also, the conservatives don't have to maintain the absurd idea that stimulus packages are a good idea, so they might just have some fiscal responsibility.

The tories would pledge £50bn pounds in loan guarantees to encourage banks to lend to businesses. Presumably if the businessses were economically viable the banks would lend to them anyway. I think this is an example of what you would regard as an absurd stimulus package.

But I doubt they would actually do it.

@ghostmaker - so you accept that it is their policy, but you would vote for them because you think they are going to break their election promises. That's priceless! They say that we get the politicians we deserve.

pirate party in germany ;)

@ghostmaker how are you not getting that im not voting as there is no party i wish to be in power and that i want to vote for, i would prefer the greens to any of the top 3 but im still not going to vote as i dont want them either

@Trim101 - as the late, great Spike Milligan said "Don't vote it only encourages them."

I'd never vote Labour (Jack-Boot Jackie may be going, but the ideals she espoused are at their core), the Lib-Dems would take us further into Europe (if they didn't press their Self-Destruct button first) and the Tory's are only saying what they think we want to hear, but they'll go back to their old self-serving ways as soon as they get in (remember why we kicked them out in the first place).

So I'm voting UKIP - They want us out of Europe and so do I. Many many bad things have come out of there and very little that I consider good. The corruptions they get up to staggers me.

Oh Maniac, I do so love your misconceptions of tory policies. I'll get back to you on these and set you on the right path (sorry, no pun intended) in the near future when I actually get a spare moment.

To sum up, the loan guarantee scheme is a good scheme - it's not to do with banks, it's for small businesses who can't get loans or credit because the banks have cocked up and stopped lending.

For the Euros, we have promised we would not let the matter rest even if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified - we can't be any more specific about a referendum if it has because we just don't know the constitutional implications. However it is unlikely that every country will ratify Lisbon before the UK general election deadline expires in May 2010.

An anti-big three vote is not as clear cut as it sounds. UKIP have just as much fraud as anyone else - I'll find the link for you, but essentially one MEP got done for defrauding the taxpayer huge sums of money, others are known for it too. Greens are pointless waste of time, and BNP are racist and not worth the vote.

If you don't want to vote, but want to express your dissatisfaction, spoil your ballot paper.

As for getting the House in order, it's being done now, as we speak. There are a lot of measures being discussed which we hope will restore the public's faith in politicians over the long run, if not for now. But what we need is a general election where people can pass judgment on individual MPs and the parties in power, not just a protest election hijacked from the Euros/locals.

The Euros and locals also have specific issues which are just being glossed over in the current system.

There you go - got on a roll and did it anyway. Off to bed, as I'm knackered now.

I hope you've all seen the excellent BBC TV series "House of Cards". It's so very appropriate at the moment. I could almost feel sorry for Gordon Brown... almost.

@cgwhite - you said "Well, I am going to vote Tory, as they are the only party that would promise to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty"

I said, "In the event that the Lisbon Treaty is ratified prior to the Tories coming to power, they do not propose to hold a referendum."

You then said, "we [the Tories] can't be any more specific about a referendum if [the Lisbon Treaty] has [been ratified]because we just don't know the constitutional implications."

I think we now both fully understand the policy, it seems strange that you have had to alter your understanding to closely resemble mine, yet you think I have misconceptions about the policy!

Whilst I accept that alll parties are desparartely trying to put the House in order, more has to be done. You know the uproar about the RBS boss being rewarded for failure. Well in the near furure Michael Martin will become a Lord and several MPs from the major parties will step down or be pushed out because of wrong-doing in the yes of the electorate. How will they be rewarded for their failure? Has DC had anything to say on this subject, or will he let it happen and then say it shouldn't have happened but there is nothing we can do about it now?

And what about the money that hasn't yet been paid back, Tam's bookcases, Hogg's cleaner, etc, etc. Will the parties they represent pick up the bill if the members retire and run off we our money?