People who will blame politicians actions as the reason for there poor attitude are just kidding themselves. I would like to bet that most kids in secondary schools couldn't name more than 1 or 2 politicians.
I'd like to see reward systems in place for kids in less affluent areas of the country to do well and you could stretch that to the schools itself. I don't buy that kids from generations of less educated families don't want to achieve as I myself am a good arguement against that theory.
There is a definite class divide in society and voting conservative would only widen that.

And there's the big question. One I have no answer to either. We've developed a culture that simply doesn't value education despite all the talk about it being important. The media have a large chunk of the blame IMO with their obsession with celebrity and constant promotion of people who are living the good life simply because of their fame.

I don't know how to turn it around TBH. There are good people out their trying their best, but they are by and large fighting a losing battle.

What Government policies are responsible for the lack of regard for a decent education? There has been a huge amount of money and effort put into convincing people that education is important, but many still ignore the message. I blame a lot of it on the media, who like to moan about poor educational standards while celebrating people with little education and talent all over their showbiz pages.

Attitudes in this country (and the USA) are largely driven by the media, and they're only interested in ratings and circulation.

We actually have one of the least liberal societies in Europe, so I honestly think that's a Red Herring.


Too right. If anything I'm more cynical than you because I don't see something as relatively simple as a change in Government policy as the solution.

But doesnt this then link back in to one of my previous points about benefit state? Some people think its fine to get no education, get a council house, claim benefits, and pass the legacy to their kids. This is the demographic of our population that need to be forced into some kind of education/employment, someone somehow needs to get them to see the value of earning a living. Maybe im generaising too much here and i dont know the answers, but as a country we feel very broken.

What cringeworthy and patronising buzzwords?

I agree totally but I've signed off on this thread so ignore me.

Maybe. I started having two different discussion with two different people and I'm starting to lose track of which point belongs where.



The trouble with labelling something the 'benefit state' is that it tars everyone with the same brush, and there are a large minority (if not the majority) of people receiving one state benefit or another who are wholly deserving of it. When people talk about a war against the welfare state there's a real danger of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Which is why, IMO, great care needs to be taken with reforms and this will subsequently make them slower to implement than some would like.


I agree with that completely. The problem is how to do it without harming people who have done nothing wrong or ending up with families sleeping on the streets.


I'd say dysfunctional rather than broken. There are still plenty of good things about the UK despite all our troubles.

Big Dave T in "i dont know the answers" shocker.

Sorry, solving the countries issues entirely as they stand currently is one step too far for me, i dont mind admiting that some things are beyond me, not many though!!

neither should any non whites!

oow sorry was that exactly the same comment as above but with a right wing slant instead of a left wing one, thus making it unacceptable

I've been a watcher of Question Time and a listener to Any Questions on Radio 4 for many years now. In all that time I can't ever recollect any non-white or non-Brit participant advocating the forced repatriation of us Brits of northern european descent.

Your analogy is, quite frankly, garbage

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8313680.stm interesting. I agree the BNP should not be given an arena to spout their filth

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8313680.stm interesting. I agree the BNP should not be given an arena to spout their filth

We live in a democracy, two members of the BNP were voted for in free and open elections, as much as I dislike the BNP and everything they stand for, they should and must be involved in debate, they have a mandate to do so.

What he said.

Frankly this half-d attempt to ban them from Question Time on the basis of a dubious technicality is just plain embarrassing.

Quite. And Hain should know better.

Indeed.

His duplicity beggars belief

Makes you wonder if someone put him up to it TBH.

Absolutley..however by inviting the BNP to debate are we not recognising and legitimising them.

Unfortunately they are legitimate, disagreeing with the stance they take doesn't mean you can brand them otherwise, as I said, people have cast votes for them, it makes them legitimate.

Exactly, hopefully with them being involved in debate and in the public spotlight people will see them for what they are.

It would be interesting to see them pushed on wider policy issues, racist bigotry is all well and good as an immigration policy, but it wont reform the NHS (well, the immigration policy would mean we're a few thousand doctors, nurses, porters, cleaners short (to name but a few)

"So, Mr Griffin, were the BNP to gain power in the UK, how would you see our foreign affairs and relationships panning out, and what shape do you see for a future Commonwelath" I can hear the stuttering now!

Just look at [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/BNP_uk_manifesto.pdfThe BNP Manifesto[/url from the 2005 general election, it's a real hoot

They already are, sadly.

Get them on there, ask lots of awkard questions and get them shown up for what they are. Far better than banning them or trying to get them thrown out on a technicality.

Yup

Would love to get Griffin on one of those ancestry programmes!