Anti-austerity protestors riot in Central London one day after Election result - Polidicks

[quote]Anti-austerity campaigners and supporters took part in swiftly organised campaigns against the Conservatives this afternoon in London and Cardiff. The anti-Conservative protesters, some holding placards reading "I pledge to resist" and "Stop the cuts", took part in the rally organised just a day into the new Parlimament. Much of the protest was peaceful, with many attending calling for the introduction of proportional representation after the election results on Friday. A number pointed out that the Tories only won 37% of the vote, while minority parties like the Greens and UKIP came away with only one MP despite polling millions of votes between them. However, protesters were also criticised for calling for the removal of a democratically elected government. There was also outrage after a World War II memorial to women was vandalised with graffiti saying 'F*** Tory Scum'. Police were pictured holding batons as they confronted the crowds and controlled what they called an "unplanned" demonstration Protesters threw bottles, cans and smoke bombs at riot police in central London on Saturday in a demonstration against the re-election of Britain's Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron. Scuffles broke out when the demonstrators, blaring hooters, banging pots and chanting obscenities, confronted lines of police outside the gate leading to the prime minister's Downing Street residence. At one point a bicycle was hurled at police. Eye witnesses estimated a couple of hundred people took part in the protest, including a group of about 25 black-clad youths with sunglasses and face masks.[/quote] Sources: [URL="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/protesters-police-face-downing-street-5670007"]Mirror[/URL], [URL="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-10/riots-erupt-in-london-against-re-election-of-david-cameron/6458098"]ABC[/URL], [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32678518"]BBC[/URL] [t]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CElvHYyW8AAvJTL.jpg[/t] [t]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEk3PopW0AAIFMk.jpg[/t] I called riots before 2020 but it hasn't even been two days. Don't know about you guys but I'd say that's a hell of a lot more than a "couple of hundred"...

I had a good laugh on facebook looking at some of these protest pages and the people posting on them. Rigged election, police state etc etc

Riot might not be the best term to describe street protests though.

I wonder if this would have happened after a labour victory. "Get out Labour scum" Some tory voters going around vandalizing things with "fuck red ed millipede" etc. No doubt Labour would also win with like 30% of the vote.

[QUOTE=Deng;47694186]I wonder if this would have happened after a labour victory. "Get out Labour scum" Some tory voters going around vandalizing things with "fuck red ed millipede" etc. No doubt Labour would also win with like 30% of the vote.[/QUOTE] No, they'd just send their butlers to do it for them.

[QUOTE=Deng;47694186]I wonder if this would have happened after a labour victory. "Get out Labour scum" Some tory voters going around vandalizing things with "fuck red ed millipede" etc. No doubt Labour would also win with like 30% of the vote.[/QUOTE] Seemingly not, since Labour won in 2005 with a million fewer votes and a lower vote share than the Conservatives got this time

[QUOTE=smurfy;47694257]Seemingly not, since Labour won in 2005 with a million fewer votes and a lower vote share than the Conservatives got this time[/QUOTE] The electoral system really is a mess.

As much as I dislike the tories winning, vandalising a war memorial is a dick move and anyone involved in non-peaceful protests are terrible people.

I thought the title said "anti-autistry"

[img]http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03298/demo-09_3298512b.jpg[/img] That's disgraceful, on VE day as well.. [quote]The anti-Conservative protesters, some holding placards reading "I pledge to resist" and "Stop the cuts", took part in the rally organised just a day into the new Parlimament.[/quote] And also "fuck the Tories", "Tory Scum", "Wash away Tory filth", "Gun the Tories mate", etc. - nasty party who?

My party didn't win so let's riot!

[QUOTE=butt2089;47694741][img]http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03298/demo-09_3298512b.jpg[/img] That's disgraceful, on VE day as well.. And also "fuck the Tories", "Tory Scum", "Wash away Tory filth", "Gun the Tories mate", etc. - nasty party who?[/QUOTE] what kind of dumb cunt vandalises a war memorial, what kind of point is he/she trying to get across?

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32601281[/url] Interesting. Major parties would have significantly fewer, smaller parties would increase slightly. Personally I have no real issue with the current system. You vote for someone in your area, the person with the most votes wins. Saying you had 4 million votes nationally means nothing. You need to be the most popular candidate to win the seat in a much smaller area. I just feel that if the voting system changes the one above isn't quite the system to do it.

[QUOTE=Memobot;47694824][url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32601281[/url] Interesting. Major parties would have significantly fewer, smaller parties would increase slightly. Personally I have no real issue with the current system. You vote for someone in your area, the person with the most votes wins. Saying you had 4 million votes nationally means nothing. You need to be the most popular candidate to win the seat in a much smaller area. I just feel that if the voting system changes the one above isn't quite the system to do it.[/QUOTE] Yeah, but when you have [B][I]three million[/I][/B] people who voted for a particular party and yet only have [B][I]one[/I][/B] member of parliament, that's a problem of misrepresentation. [editline]10th May 2015[/editline] It's just like Scotland, only slightly less than 50% of the population up there voted for unionist parties, and yet because the SNP had majorities in 56 constituencies, then they simply don't have representatives - and I don't think three is gonna cut it, if you were going to represent that quite large minority, then you'd need a lot more unionist scottish MPs, and our current system simply doesn't do that. [editline]10th May 2015[/editline] I think Winston Churchill summed it up well when he said "Democracy is the worst form of government, apart from all the other ones"

Those people seem not to understand how a democracy works :v:

[QUOTE=Mallow234;47694830]Yeah, but when you have [B][I]three million[/I][/B] people who voted for a particular party and yet only have [B][I]one[/I][/B] member of parliament, that's a problem of misrepresentation. [editline]10th May 2015[/editline] It's just like Scotland, only slightly less than 50% of the population up there voted for unionist parties, and yet because the SNP had majorities in 56 constituencies, then they simply don't have representatives - and I don't think three is gonna cut it, if you were going to represent that quite large minority, then you'd need a lot more unionist scottish MPs, and our current system simply doesn't do that. [editline]10th May 2015[/editline] I think Winston Churchill summed it up well when he said "Democracy is the worst form of government, apart from all the other ones"[/QUOTE] What do you propose? Sure 3 million people voted for them, but in their areas, most people wanted something else, if we move to a proportional representation system, most people would be represented by someone who would have no idea about the interests of the people in their consituency

[QUOTE=angelangel;47694770]what kind of dumb cunt vandalises a war memorial, what kind of point is he/she trying to get across?[/QUOTE] What better way to get your picture plastered on websites and in the papers than to vandalise something significant to a day.

The women's officer at my uni called for an emergency rally against FPTP and an 'illegitimate' Tory government. She swiftly banned anyone with tendencies that didn't match her own from the Facebook group and banned me even though i'd stated that I am an anti-FPTP leftist just because I said it was ironic that she's brutally cutting people out of a march for democracy, which she's now made exclusive for her special breed of feminist leftists. :v: It's bloody exam season too and she wants to run around campus making lots of unnecessary noise. Also, fuck whoever defaced the memorial, bloody idiots.

hey guys remember when you voted in a referendum to keep fptp wasn't that just peachy fun

[QUOTE=Lonestriper;47695056]hey guys remember when you voted in a referendum to keep fptp wasn't that just peachy fun[/QUOTE] Nice to have an Australian think he knows about British politics. AV was terribly represented. The media/major parties focused entirely on the increased cost and said it wouldn't make any different. This time millions of people are pining for change and proper representation.

[QUOTE=Lonestriper;47695056]hey guys remember when you voted in a referendum to keep fptp wasn't that just peachy fun[/QUOTE] AV is still a majoritarian system, true it is better than FPTP an it should've been implemented, but if we really wanted a representative system we should really use something like party list, STV or AMS.

So many people on facebook and twitter completely disregarding the fact police officers were injured, a war memorial was damaged and it was an unplanned protest. all of them demanding revolution, corrupt police, vote rigging etc etc

This is utterly pathetic behaviour. The majority of voters want Cameron in. They're completely undermining the concept of democracy.

There is something delightfully ironic about some lad using an empty Sony Bravia box as a protest placard at an anti-austerity protest.

And this is why we have proportional representation here. To prevent situations like this.

[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;47695134]And this is why we have proportional representation.[/QUOTE] So do we but we have an anti-austerity protest every week, including water protests.

[QUOTE=Mabus;47695140]So do we but we have an anti-austerity protest every week, including water protests.[/QUOTE] We just have people calling our prime minister a cunt three times a day on Facebook. These are truly harsh times.

[QUOTE=Baron von Hax;47695129]This is utterly pathetic behaviour. The majority of voters want Cameron in. They're completely undermining the concept of democracy.[/QUOTE] *Plurality. They got 37% of the vote.

[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;47695144]We just have people calling our prime minister a cunt three times a day on Facebook. These are truly harsh times.[/QUOTE] Yes but how many of those are actual complaints as opposed to contrarians going against any level of authority they can? [editline]10th May 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=CatFodder;47695173]*Plurality. They got 37% of the vote.[/QUOTE] Still, point is that the Conservatives won the majority of the seats fairly.

[QUOTE=Lonestriper;47695056]hey guys remember when you voted in a referendum to keep fptp wasn't that just peachy fun[/QUOTE] The alternative was to use AV instead which would pretty much only serve to eliminate tactical voting and wouldn't help with representing each vote instead of representing just the vote of a district.