conservative party

Is Democracy A Check On Power?

September 26, 2020 Nic Elliott Podcasts 00:59:49

The biggest encroachment on civil liberties has taken place in 2020, and under a Conservative government.  How did this happen without any scrutiny?

Democracy was one of the first things to be suspended, so how can it be used to check the power of those at the top?

Do opposition parties ever oppose when it really matters?  Or when they sense a threat to the entire establishment, do they buckle up for the ride, so as to maintain their place in the system?

And what of the rule of law?  Sacrosanct for some, but if bad laws are passed, isn’t it our moral duty to disobey them?

We discuss all this and more, in the latest edition of Sounding Board.

Photo by Jannes Van den wouwer on Unsplash

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Election Results 2019 – Who and what were the real winners?

December 13, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 00:42:50

It’s results day 2019!

In this episode, we discuss the UK General Election results. We look at statistics, trends, vote share and debate who, & what, were the real winners and losers this time around.

We may be relieved, but is the result actually bittersweet?

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General Election 2019 and the Current State of British Politics

December 11, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 01:11:52

It’s that time again! It’s polling day tomorrow, so we couldn’t record anything but a General Election special.

We discuss the latest YouGov MRP (whatever that stands for…), trends amongst other polls and the state of the current crop of political parties.

Just how close do we think the result will be? Will we be heading for a strong Tory majority? Or will we face another hung parliament? Are we really in a time of unprecedented political turmoil?

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Democracy, Libertarianism and the Trouble with Voting

December 5, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 01:12:23

Recorded straight after the last edition, we follow on with a discussion on the problems of our democratic system and whether we only have a choice of the “least worst” from here on in.

We talk about whether voting matters in a “safe seat”, and whether we have been unwittingly encouraging others to vote on twitter by pointing out how dangerous the Labour Party policies are.

Should Nic hold his nose and vote Tory to stop the Communists? Where do you draw the line with Socialism? Should you always vote for the least Socialist party?

We discuss all of this, and a hypothetical Libertarian Party that would have the power to dismantle all of it…if only they were voted in.

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The Leftwards Drift of UK Politics

December 2, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 01:09:54

In this episode we analyse the manifestos of all major UK parties. And the Greens.

Andrew reached for the short straw this week when he had to read all parties’ manifestos for the upcoming UK General Election on December 12th.

Why are they all so similar? Why is it so hard to tell the difference, these days? Is any party doing anything new?

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A La Cartism, Boris and the next UK General Election

November 14, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 00:50:00

Has Boris found the magic centrist formula for winning the election with his championing of both the free market and the public sector? Or will the Conservatives desire to spend, spend, spend, cause them to look like Labour Lite?

After writing this blog post before there was a general election set, has anything changed?

We review Boris’s first campaign video and discuss whether this is all very smart politics, or if by shifting the Overton window ever statewards without making practical and moral cases for shrinking the state and getting out of our lives, it’s only a matter of time before a Communist gets into power.

Blog Post in the intro – https://soundingboard.com/boriss-a-la-cartism-is-exactly-what-the-public-will-vote-for/

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Proroguing Parliament: What does it really mean for Brexit?

August 28, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 00:50:17

As predicted, Boris Johnson has decided to end the current parliamentary session (the longest in modern times), and trigger a new Queen’s Speech. Remainists are naturally going crazy, and talking of constitutional outrage.

But what does it actually mean for Brexit on 31 October? Is there time for fast-tracked, Bercow-enabled law that would either revoke Article 50, extend the deadline, or somehow prevent a “no deal”? What about passing a law that would stop prorogation itself? Is there even time left now in the parliamentary session?

We discuss all this and the finer details of the Fixed Term Parliament Act, and whether Boris has pulled a blinder.

Fixed Term Parliament Act 2011 – http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/14/enacted

House of Commons Library Briefing Paper on Prorogation – https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-8589

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Bit of a chat: driving whisky, ruining Monopoly and the Chuka Umunna Award

August 7, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 01:18:49

In this edition, we have a longer chat than usual, but try to get in all the smaller topics that we feel were too short to be podcasts in their own right, or that we just want to rant about.

We discuss gaming culture, and whether the terminology is creeping into political life, how Andrew feels like we’ve been brainwashed into thinking the game Monopoly is really capitalism, and Nic names the first recipient of the Chuka Umunna Award.

And over a whisky or two, we talk about how Brexity the new Boris Johnson cabinet can be, and whether the Tories are missing a trick with making everything about Corbyn.

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Should May, Not Boris, Prorogue Parliament?

July 16, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 00:19:48

How could the Remainer establishment blunt Boris Johnson’s threat of proroguing parliament to force through Brexit?

Maybe, just maybe, there is a way of playing politics that blunts Boris’s endgame ambitions for no-deal.
In short, what if Theresa May prorogued parliament now, before Boris gets a chance to?

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The Conservative Party splits. What happens now?

February 20, 2019 Nic Elliott Podcasts 00:47:36

Only two days have passed, yet another Labour MP has quit and, more significantly, 3 Conservatives MPs have too.

Now that the Independent Group has 11 MPs and eclipses the Lib Dems in all the polls, what does this mean for Brexit, the two old parties, and politics in general?

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