UK General Election - First past the post

A reminder than the UK General Election, which is only a few weeks away, is "first past the post" so if you are just one vote behind you lose everything. In the European elections I voted Green, but fear this will be a wasted vote in a "first past the post" contest.  Tactical voting will be needed.

For example, in my constituency Labour really have no chance of winning as they only got 6.5% of the vote last time. The Lib Dems (currently in coalition with the majority Conservative government) have a real chance of winning - they came a good second last time - especially as we have UKIP nowadays and the Conservatives could lose some votes to them. The most probable outcome is a Conservative win again in this constituency.

Nationally, the outcome is almost certainly another coalition government as the polls show Labour and Conservatives neck and neck nationally. UKIP support nationally is fading, although I always suspected this would be the case.

No brain? Very odd brain?

See Remove Katie Hopkins as a Sun newspaper columnist.

This woman is writing rubbish about poor and very desperate people trying to reach Europe in flimsy boats from Libya.  Most are fleeing war and strife.  Many have payed thousands for the trip and thousands have drowned.  The sooner she is stopped the better.  The petition is being signed by very many people and very fast.

Please sign and share on social media.

Delhi - the most polluted city on the planet

Delhi in India has the highest levels of air pollution on the planet but only now are the locals being made aware of it. Daily, its inhabitants breath in air that is so toxic that it can lead to death or serious diseases. We may think London, on a bad day, has problems but these are insignificant when compared with Delhi.

I have heard that pollution is also bad in China.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32352722 .

Churches blog updated

A few weeks ago we visited St Botolph's church in Cambridge. I have just updated the East Anglian Church blog.

See http://eachurches.blogspot.co.uk/ .

That General Election in the UK

Well, I look at the BBC pages on the polls and it is clearly going to be a hung parliament with some sort of coalition the most likely outcome.

Personally, I think the UKIP support will weaken and a coalition involving the Lib-Dems (with either the Conservative or Labour) could be probable. This would be no bad thing.

We have only a few weeks left. There is still plenty of time for politicians to make gaffs, that could lose them a lot of support.

Stranded assets?

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32320825 .

Will fossil fuels remain in the ground if we really fight climate change?

FTSE 100

At the moment the FTSE 100 share index is over 7100 - giddy heights! With the election not many weeks away and a very close run contest, I expect the markets to tumble with the uncertainty of the outcome. The last poll I saw showed Conservatives and Labour neck and neck. The UKIP vote could lose Conservative votes.

I shall probably vote Lib Dem again.