Poll. Who will you be voting THE ELECTION

Plaid are one of the most forward thinking and creative parties in the UK right now with fantastic links with similar parties across Europe.

Ditch your prejudices and have a look at their actual policies. They're probably the best bet for small businesses in Wales and definitely the best bet to claw back our missing £300m from the Barnett formula.

Plaid are one of the most forward thinking and creative parties in the UK right now with fantastic links with similar parties across Europe.

Ditch your prejudices and have a look at their actual policies. They're probably the best bet for small businesses in Wales and definitely the best bet to claw back our missing £300m from the Barnett formula.

What is their policy on Wales running itself without the help from England ?

Whats their policy on the Welsh language and turning schools into Welsh schools ?

What is tgeir policy on Welsh industry ?

They have none, because Wales, i hate to say cant run itself without help.

Lib Dems for me.

Although I have no enthusiasm for this election.

They are all as bad as each other.

[/quote]
What is their policy on Wales running itself without the help from England ?
Look to use EU structual funds like Eire did to help build an independent economy

Whats their policy on the Welsh language and turning schools into Welsh schools ?
To reflect the demands of parents which at the moment is not being met

What is tgeir policy on Welsh industry ?
To develop a Welsh based economy and not a branch economy of England

They have none, because Wales, i hate to say cant run itself without help.[/quote]
I agree we would need the help of the EU to start off. But being tied to England is holding us back - we have the worst economy in the UK at the moment.

Some surprising results so far. Lib dems in particular.
I would imagine that a lot of their support has come from people not wanting to vote Tory, but who also know Labour have messed things up. It's good to see there's an alternative, but I wonder how many people have actually read the Lib dem manifesto, and know what they're policies are about? (in general, not just on here)
It should be an interesting election anyway!

I'm voting Lib Dem because I want something different from the same old Labour and Tories.

That said I'm always amazed that UKIP don't poll better because they have a strong immigration policy and would also tackle migrant immigration from the EU.

Some surprising results so far. Lib dems in particular.
I would imagine that a lot of their support has come from people not wanting to vote Tory, but who also know Labour have messed things up. It's good to see there's an alternative, but I wonder how many people have actually read the Lib dem manifesto, and know what they're policies are about? (in general, not just on here)
It should be an interesting election anyway!

I have read it Owain and find myself agreeing with so much of it.

I understand their thinking over an amnesty for illegal immigrants who can speak English and have a job, but they haven't explained what will happen to those who don't speak English and don't have a job, but there again they have at least acknowledged the problem which more than Labour and Tories are doing.

On nuclear weapons I totally agree with them, it is pointless this country buying an expensive deterrent which has the capability to flatten Moscow when the cold war is over.

They also want to cancel ID cards and other expensive IT projects which don't work and spend the cash on keeping Police on the streets and nurses and doctors in hospitals.

But more than that they are fresh and have stirred things up for the good IMO.

I definitely agree that it's good they've stirred things up, and now look like a genuine alternative. Some of the issues I don't agree with, but the ID card issue and scrapping other ££££ projects is definitely a good idea.

I'm sure plenty of people who will vote lib dem do know about their policies, but how many don't really know? I bet there are a lot who are voting for them purely because they don't want Labour back in charge, and don't trust the tories.

Lads, have a look at www.votematch.org.uk

25 questions and it matches your opinions with a party. I've had everyone doing it in work and its an eye opener.

The few lib dems "maybe" voters in my office scored very badly on LibDem match in it.

Interesting results.

Lads, have a look at http://www.votematch.org.uk

25 questions and it matches your opinions with a party. I've had everyone doing it in work and its an eye opener.

The few lib dems "maybe" voters in my office scored very badly on LibDem match in it.

Interesting results.

That's very interesting! Everyone should give it a go

Nice to see nobody is voting Green either

20% of the welsh population can and i'm learning-fast (and enjoying every minute!). Shameful the 80% cant but more will as the years go by and independence is only a matter of time. Until then we have limited power and limited identity in the world, start with that foreign flag the union jack-wales isn't even represented on it!! -Face it the english politicians dont care about us in Wales and never will. Vote Plaid - the Party of Wales and the only welsh party!!

Thats a good comment fair play!!!! Well I will be 100% voting for plaid, always have done, they are the party representing wales & only wales. I think people would be surprised on how many people are learning welsh around the world!!!! independence for wales, and there is plenty of mining going on around wales. I got a large customer who at this moment in time is mining all over wales making a hefty amount. Theres plenty of coal out there. people just seem to think its all gone!!! right back to football!!!

20% of the welsh population can and i'm learning-fast (and enjoying every minute!). Shameful the 80% cant but more will as the years go by and independence is only a matter of time. Until then we have limited power and limited identity in the world, start with that foreign flag the union jack-wales isn't even represented on it!! -Face it the english politicians dont care about us in Wales and never will. Vote Plaid - the Party of Wales and the only welsh party!!

Thats a good comment fair play!!!! Well I will be 100% voting for plaid, always have done, they are the party representing wales & only wales. I think people would be surprised on how many people are learning welsh around the world!!!! independence for wales, and there is plenty of mining going on around wales. I got a large customer who at this moment in time is mining all over wales making a hefty amount. Theres plenty of coal out there. people just seem to think its all gone!!! right back to football!!!

Learning Welsh around the world, Most of the world dont even know Wales exist even in Europe

Conservative or UKIP for me, prob UKIP.

I will vote Plaid in the council elections but, barring a hung parliament, I can't see what they can offer the people of Wales. BNP seem like a one policy party; get past immigration and what are you left with? The Tories are the only ones who seem to have policies for the motorist. I do 300 miles a week and, looking at all the party's policies on transport, they seem the most motorist friendly

I will be voting for the BNP.
I'd like dispel the popular myth that we are a one policy party, you may have seen our election manifesto launch on the news.
Here's a link to the manifesto’s key pledges, there's also a PDF link to the full manifesto at the bottom of the article http://bnp.org.uk/2010/04/democracy-fre ... -launched/
I find it a crying shame that Nationalist parties such as Plaid and the SNP are pro EU, which means sooner rather than latter they will have no real power anyway. Trading links with Europe are one thing, but EU rule is something else. Remember when the common market was first introduced to us, we were told it would just be about trading partners, nothing was mentioned about a European super state, governed from Brussels. I see the only way forward for the UK, is for us to all stand together, yes have regional parliaments dealing with local issues, but united under the one flag. The BNP supports cultural things such as regional languages, for instance Nick Griffins lives in Wales with his wife and four children, each of which speak both English and Welsh. The love of the varied customs and cultures of the UK are what makes the BNP tick. Immigration is a very big problem for many parts of the UK, but it is by no means the only problem we face ie, peak oil, the NHS, education, a vanishing manufacturing industry, pensions, and even coastal erosion, to name just a few. The BNP has always had policies on issues such as this but the media always focuses on immigration, and then portrays us as a racist party, we have members from all parts of the UK, and as far as the anti-Jewish chestnut is concerned, we have many Jewish members, even a few in Wales, and not forgetting a Jewish councillor. So before you discount us please take some time to look at our common sense policies.

100% Plaid for me.

I think everyone should Respect everyones Opinions

Conservatives for me.

Plaid are one of the most forward thinking and creative parties in the UK right now with fantastic links with similar parties across Europe.

Ditch your prejudices and have a look at their actual policies. They're probably the best bet for small businesses in Wales and definitely the best bet to claw back our missing £300m from the Barnett formula.

what £300m?

Northern Ireland £9,385 per capita
Scotland £8,623
Wales £8,139
England £7,121

Scotland has the oil revenues that contribute towards central government, Wales actually contributes about £5,500 per capita in tax receipts so if we became independent we'd need to raise taxes broad brush by about 50% to maintain the same level of services, reduce services to match funding levels or improve efficiencies. As for the last point plaid are the most leftist of all parties with their socialist policies so it is unlikely they can strive for efficiency in government. There is anecdotal evidence in the fact that WAG are akin to the 11 English regions and all bar two of the regions out perform WAG in GVA and performance. So if you are happy to swallow a 50% increase in taxation, go ahead, vote plaid, vote for legislative powers for WAG and vote for making Wales the least effective economy in the EU.

try and be rational when responding, politics is a serious business and not one to be based on emotion i.e. I won't vote Tory because of thatcher - what, even if they are the best party for the job and future prosperity (I am not saying they are)?

What is their policy on Wales running itself without the help from England ?
Look to use EU structual funds like Eire did to help build an independent economy

we've had this discussion before, you are replacing one benefactor with another, that is not independence. you are moving your paymaster general further away, not nearer. Why assume that we would be in the EU. The UK is the EU member, if we leave the UK, we leave the EU. We would probably not satisfy the criteria for joining.

Whats their policy on the Welsh language and turning schools into Welsh schools ?
To reflect the demands of parents which at the moment is not being met

you mean like landsdowne road school in canton?

What is tgeir policy on Welsh industry ?
To develop a Welsh based economy and not a branch economy of England

that really isn't answering the question - let me rephrase, what do Plaid propose to make Wales a self sufficient nation and how would they address teh current 33% deficit in GVA?

They have none, because Wales, i hate to say cant run itself without help.
I agree we would need the help of the EU to start off. But being tied to England is holding us back - we have the worst economy in the UK at the moment.

that's because we have some of the laziest workshy fops in the UK, the mines shut 20 years ago, in that time Newcastle, Derby and Nottingham have all managed to reinvent themselves based away from manufacturing. why not south wales? people always hark back to thatcher this and that and yet the mine closures devastated the local economies but we have had a whole generation since that. It is time people moved on and took responsibility for their own actions. I come from a single parent family in Ely yet still managed a university education and now run my own tax practice - I managed it because I wanted to get on in the world and not mope around saying the world owes me a living. it doesn't. I'm not a special case, if i can manage it then so can anyone else.

As for our poor economy, you only have to look at WAG who much prefer populist politics like free prescriptions and milk for school children rather than developing a much needed infrastructure that provides the opportunity for a future. Look at Holyrood, they have authorised £500m for a state of the art tram system for edinburgh that will provide cheap and reliable public transport yet WAG would prefer to give away milk and prescriptions, lauding this as making Wales the envy of the western world. Cardiff and Wales need infrastructure, since devolution, we have got none. Granted the SRA and rail network are not devolved matters but the road infrastructure in Cardiff has not improved (the PDR) and the fact that CWL now operates at less than half of what Bristol does is nothing short of criminal considering the starting point when WAG came in to being and the fact Cardiff can make use of its capital city tag.

Think some one else should have a go other than cons or labour. See if anyone else can drag British (Welsh) back to being British (Welsh) again.

Plaid for me - only welsh party who really care about the people of Wales - fek all the other foreign parties, just cant relate to a political party from another country......

Fair comment. I cant stick Plaid, want independence but want money from England to sustain us, cant really see what they are about.

I will take some stick for this, but i cant stand the welsh language, to me its useless. It does not benefit Wales in any way and unless you take a trip to Argentina, no one else speaks it.

Classic attitude of an anglicised 'Welshman'

Whats the point of being Welsh at all then?

Why dont we all do what the English have been trying to get us to do for centuries and just class ourselves
as English?

I'm pretty sure you wouldnt dream of suggesting the people of Bhutan give up their national language, even though
there are only 700,000 people in the country, Dzongkha is useless outside of the Country.

The Welsh language is the reason we all call ourselves Welsh today, its why we have a separate football and rugby
team, its why we all feel 'proudly different' to the English. Its the Welsh language's stubborness and refusal to die
that has kept Wales together. England tried every trick in the book to kill off the language and failed, which in turn
meant they failed to take our national identity.

There are now waiting lists to get kids into the Welsh Medium primary schools in Cardiff. Maybe these kids wont
use Welsh when they get older, but they will have a sense of pride in their country, and their parents will be proud
that they done their bit to preserve a little bit of WELSH CULTURE.

Hundreds of thousands of schoolkids in Wales are bi-lingual, and it gives them a massive advantage when trying to
learn other languages too. I wont call the language useless just cos some journalists fron The Sun or Ann Robinson
say so

Above a classic view of a National Fundementalist.

I think it's useless, there you go i said it again.

It is pointless and just makes you feel more Welsh. Well i am Welsh and proud but still hate the Welsh language. Hate the fact that its being forced down my neck.

You say its choice, then how come all correspondence from any companies must now be in Welsh as well as English if there is choice and what people want.

If there was a purpose to the Welsh language then fair enough, but there aint, it is useless. If Wales built on building a workforce and industry to compete with the world the the Welsh language would die, simply because there is no need for it outside Wales.

But this is my opinion.

What would happen to Cardiff City and Newport,Swansea, Wrexham if Plaid ever gained control and we became independent ? Would we have to join the Welsh League ?

Vote PLaid and Wales will become a Welsh speaking joke. Speaking Welsh dont make you any more Welsh than the next proud Welshman.

If anyone wants to learn Welsh by the way, that is up to them. I am happy speaking my mother tongue and i am still Welsh.

Above a classic view of a National Fundementalist.

I think it's useless, there you go i said it again.

It is pointless and just makes you feel more Welsh. Well i am Welsh and proud but still hate the Welsh language. Hate the fact that its being forced down my neck.

You say its choice, then how come all correspondence from any companies must now be in Welsh as well as English if there is choice and what people want.

If there was a purpose to the Welsh language then fair enough, but there aint, it is useless. If Wales built on building a workforce and industry to compete with the world the the Welsh language would die, simply because there is no need for it outside Wales.

But this is my opinion.

What would happen to Cardiff City and Newport,Swansea, Wrexham if Plaid ever gained control and we became independent ? Would we have to join the Welsh League ?

Vote PLaid and Wales will become a Welsh speaking joke. Speaking Welsh dont make you any more Welsh than the next proud Welshman.

If anyone wants to learn Welsh by the way, that is up to them. I am happy speaking my mother tongue and i am still Welsh.

Erm.... I wouldnt vote Plaid, they will bend over and take it up the arse from Brussels and we will be
flooded with more immigrants.

"If there was a purpose to the Welsh Language?" Thats a naive statement just spat out to get a bite.

The purpose is communication. Nearly half a million people use it daily in one form or another, Welsh is
useless outside Wales, but quite handy if your working or passing through a Welsh speaking area.

Serious question. Would you ban the thousands of languages in the World and call them all pointless??
I doubt the thought ever crossed your mind. just Welsh eh? There are some arrogant Welsh speakers,
some that look down their noses at Welsh people who dont have the language, a kind of 'upper middle class'
type Welshman. I'm not one of them. Sadly, you sound like the polar opposite of these lot.

Maybe we should ban that gobbledegook Welsh National Anthem then too eh?

And f**k the Welsh flag off??

Oh, and regarding the Welsh literature you get through the door... throw it in the bin. See.. you DO
have a choice!!!

I like the Welsh flag. Why would you want to f**k it off ?

To be honest, living a life is more important to me than the Welsh/English language bullshit. But i like your point about "nearly half a million people use it". In Wales a population of just under 3 million, half a million use it, f*cking pointless.

I know people who have learned a bit, some have gone a bit further and some like me could not care. I will never speak Welsh, just not my thing. Unless they made you and you had to order your beer in Welsh, then i would have to learn a few words... Cwrw (which is beer) and Larger (which means, Larger, handy really, now i know i dont have to bother.

[quote="shinyBlueGlue"]I like the Welsh flag. Why would you want to f**k it off ?

To be honest, living a life is more important to me than the Welsh/English language bullshit. But i like your point about "nearly half a million people use it". In Wales a population of just under 3 million, half a million use it, f*cking pointless.

I know people who have learned a bit, some have gone a bit further and some like me could not care. I will never speak Welsh, just not my thing. Unless they made you and you had to order your beer in Welsh, then i would have to learn a few words... Cwrw (which is beer) and Larger (which means, Larger, handy really, now i know i dont have to bother.[/qu

Gotya!! The Welsh flag is close to your heart so it not pointless and can stay, even though its
just a flag.

But the language can f**k off and die cos its 'not your thang'

Sorted.

What the f**k I also like Snowden and some of the decent beaches we have and i still think the language is pointless. But to me the Welsh language is not all Wales has to offer, in fact if you have not guessed by now, i am not fussed on it.

But i am still Welsh, as Welsh as Tom Jones. Can he speak Welsh ?

Whoever has the best chance of keeping out the Tories.
Of all the issues, the one that an old duffer like me can judge best is the NHS, and that is vastly improved under Labour compared to the Tories.

The lib dems leading, not good and it will def lead to a hung parliament.

Labour ahead of the Torries.

Labour will always have a stronghold in Wales. On the news last night they were talking about the Lib Dems actually LOOSING seats in Wales not gaining