Liberal manifesto

[HatfieldClaret]

97 pages, half of which are pictures....

Page 71 advocates the legalisation of pimping but against forcing women into the sex trade. Legalising prostitution has its benefits but a bit difficult to fight coercing women into the trade if you legalise pimping.

Also, if you legalise Cannabis, what will those with a slightly rebellious streak turn to to get one over the authorities. Selling dope to a 14 year old will be as serious as selling fags to a teen.

Does the Liberal manifesto even matter ?

[hampsteadclaret]

That little three foot ginger squirt Farron is an irrelevance for this election. and there is no way he' will get my cross against his name.

Even most 'remainers' think that the Brexit bandwagon is rolling now, we have voted and decided, and trying to get a second referendum going just isn't going to work. I think they will get quite a few Brexit votes but few extra seats.

Soon there will be a vote for a new leader.

[HatfieldClaret]

Hello Hampstead, I trust you are keeping well.

I think Farron comes across as a nice guy in a sort of way, in that he's like the one down the pub who knows everyone and is really friendly but doesn't actually have any mates.

I don't think they have enough MPs to keep changing leader too often.

1 edit for above is that prostitution is of course perfectly legal but so long as they work alone. Maybe they just want parts of our cities to be like parts of Amsterdam. A tad seedy.

[fatboy47]

Owt about tuition fees in it?

just askin.

[Chobulous]

He's a Stewards fan and from Preston.

[Imploding Turtle]

Also, if you legalise Cannabis, what will those with a slightly rebellious streak turn to to get one over the authorities. Selling dope to a 14 year old will be as serious as selling fags to a teen.

How many seconds of thought did you give this before choosing to share it with us? Did you think about looking at places in the world where cannabis has recently been legalised to see if this potential consequence is at all realistic?

Do you really believe that a significant number of people consume cannabis simply to get one over on the authorities?

[hampsteadclaret]

4..fatboy

Good morning.

I believe that they are not touching tuition fees [that is an expensive one to fund, is it not]

I believe that they intend to re-introduce 'student grants'...I don't know how big these will be, but I guess they will be means-tested.

[fatboy47]

maybe they'll be generous enough to cover the 24k that their grovelling aquiescence to Camerons cronies cost me last time out then hampers.

[Chobulous]

It would be an own goal of epic proportions for the Lib-Dems to do anything with tuition fees, even bigger that their previous tuition fee own goal. Can you imagine Farron's explanation of that - "We know we promised not to raise tuition fees and then reneged on that promise for a sniff of power when we were in coalition, but trust us with power again and we will put right what we did wrong - honest"
Their proposal on student grants is a way of trying to buy the younger vote without crossing the tuition fee minefield. It's shallow and crass and most young people who bother to vote will see straight through it I suspect.

[Lancasterclaret]

One thing the coalition government taught everybody is that the Tories nick all your policies that everyone likes, and blame you for all the policies that they don't.

[Lancasterclaret]

I reckon there are good bits in the Lib Dem manifesto, good bits in the Lab one, and the winter fuel allowance being removed from rich pensioners is the only good one in the UKIP/Conservative manifesto.

Nice to see that looking at a different solution to the drug issue going down well! Don't you think its time we tried something that might actually work for a change?

[Sidney1st]

How many seconds of thought did you give this before choosing to share it with us? Did you think about looking at places in the world where cannabis has recently been legalised to see if this potential consequence is at all realistic?

Do you really believe that a significant number of people consume cannabis simply to get one over on the authorities?

Do kids start drinking, smoking and doing recreational drugs as a form of rebelling against parents / society?
Yes they do, but it can also be down to peer pressure.

Cannabis smoking then just evolves into a habit like drinking and by the time they're adults they smoke cannabis as often as some people smoke cigarettes.

[SonofPog]

Most studies show that legalising weed reduces use and long term problems in all age groups. Just one such example.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 49546.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's about the only thing good in the Lib Dems manifesto. They'll probably gain a few seats from tactical labour / left opposition, but feeding off scraps from an already bare table is not a winning strategy.

[Dom]

I don't smoke weed but I can't see any reason why it shouldn't be legalised. Tax it and regulate it. Make it illegal to drive under the influence of it. Easy. It's less harmful than alcohol.

[martin_p]

Alistair Campbell wrote an article about politicians and football allegiance earlier this week. He bemoaning politicians who change teams and writes about Farron

'It’s why my respect rose a little for Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, a Blackburn supporter, when he said that if his kids voted Tory or Labour he could live with it, but if they supported Burnley that was quite another matter altogether.'

Do not vote for this man!!

[Quickenthetempo]

We can't ever win the war on drugs and it costs us a fortune.

Legalising weed with taxation and strength on packets will be a great move.

Doing similar with Cocaine could be an option too. The government might mix it with vitamins instead of the harmful shite dealers do and having the strength known to the user could prevent a lot of hospital visits.

The countries debt would be wrote off within 5 years if the banks that lend allow it.

[Dom]

It is mad to think we are now behind the US of A when it comes to marijuana law, they were the instigators of the war on drugs and now in many states it's now legal. They are making huge sums of money through taxation. Only ones who are winning in the war on drugs are the criminals who make billions churning out drugs with no quality control, no taxation, no regulation. I can't believe we are so progressive on some issues but drugs remains one where we are so antiquated.

[Spiral]

The ignorance and prejudices of Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre has had a lot of influence in the UK's approach to cannabis. When Labour downgraded its classification it appeared as though the direction of travel was towards a more sensible approach to cannabis and Westminster was beginning to listen to the science and statistics, but Gordon Brown reversed this, pandering to Darce's ill-informed prejudices, in exchange for the support of the Mail when it began to look as though the country was turning against the gotv. on other issues not relating to pot. He traded away a (relatively) progressive policy for political expedience.

[dpinsussex]

97 pages, half of which are pictures....

Page 71 advocates the legalisation of pimping but against forcing women into the sex trade. Legalising prostitution has its benefits but a bit difficult to fight coercing women into the trade if you legalise pimping.

Does the Liberal manifesto even matter ?

Is it because liberals need pictures to understand whats in there

[HatfieldClaret]

How many seconds of thought did you give this before choosing to share it with us? Did you think about looking at places in the world where cannabis has recently been legalised to see if this potential consequence is at all realistic?

Do you really believe that a significant number of people consume cannabis simply to get one over on the authorities?

Been there and done it. Was a teen myself once and new a few others. Life experience counts more than 'studies'.

[AndrewJB]

Legalising weed is a sensible move, but I'd like to see a more complete - holistic if you will - policy around drugs. It's possible, through decriminalisation and control, to pretty much shut down the illegal drug trade. Prescribe UK produced, and contaminant-free heroin for addicts. Then work with them to bring them back into society - jobs and somewhere to live. Different drugs would have to be dealt with in different ways, but as long as we go away from the current method of criminalising this behaviour we'll be on to a better thing.

The win for everyone else will be massive. Right now eighty percent of prison inmates have drug related offences - especially via petty crime to feed their habit- so it could mean a huge reduction in insurance costs, not to mention in policing, judicial, and medical costs.

[Spiral]

Been there and done it. Was a teen myself once and new a few others. Life experience counts more than 'studies'.

No offence, Hatfield, but try applying your logic that 'life experience counts more than studies' to the argument that, say, 'despite the studies, cigarettes aren't carcinogens because I smoke and don't have cancer', without looking like a moron.

[HatfieldClaret]

I wouldn't equate the two though.

[Spiral]

Perhaps I could have been clearer but my point wasn't about equating smoking cigarettes with smoking cannabis. I was arguing against your rejection of scientific studies as a way to guide policy.

[HatfieldClaret]

Well with the number of people I've known or seen with COPD or lung cancer I would say that I wouldn't need a study to tell me that it's generally smoking related.

[Spiral]

Do you approve or disapprove of the commissioning of scientific study or even drawing upon the conclusions of existing scientific study as a way to guide govt. policy?

[ontario claret]

Any cannibis legislation at this point in time isn't about punishment, but about control. We're going through the same process over here right now, and they brought in one of the top cops in the country to oversee the introduction of legislation. If you think that people are just going to be walking down the street with a spliff in their mouth, or driving while under the influence, you're wrong. People will "enjoy" in the confines of their own homes, or in licensed establishments, just like alcohol. And this idea that youth will be thrown to people lurking in alleyways, or just off school properties, is ludicrous. What it will do is make it easier for the police to identify traffickers, and put them where they belong, behind bars.