Sooo, Where Do We Go From Here Then?

[Charles Flynn]

Let me know what happens. Personally I don't need any party but I'm willing to help if asked and if I consider it is in the interests of the Island.

 

I would prefer to pick my own group of people initially rather than take the risk of a lot of in-fighting for positions from those with widely divergent views. This is why the PAG couldn't make themselves into a party - the meetings comprised an assortment of individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds so they had to settle for just being a political forum which I think they handled pretty well.

[Albert Tatlock]

To be frank, it is my belief that anyone who attends a meeting with thieawin is in for a severe case of being talked at. Sorry to be a wee bit personal, but that is my belief.

 

That said, I really don't think that, for example, the one they call on this forum Albert Tatlock, is going to put up with that an awful lot of being talked to, although the 3 forum candidates might - who knows.

 

I seriously suggest they, and anyone else interested, arrange a meeting and have a jolly good tête - à - tête.

 

Then we'll ken.

That's why I would like to see the outline documents requoted below drafted on MF first.

 

With over 2000 members, and therefore no doubt a good few hundred comments on these matters, I think that MF will provide a very good indication of where we should be going with these 3 simple documents for the benefit of the island. Meeting now would just turn into a battle of ideas - and the equivalent of thieawin, myself and a couple of others discussing our own political compatibility. Pointless IMHO.

 

To meet, I feel we would need a remit (at least based on opinions and even MF online polls), with the aim of any meeting that follows being to analyse and sieve these comments to come up with what we thought might represent the final 3 documents. Only then could we move forward e.g. gauge public opinion through surveys, trying to develop those documents more fully along with the help of others interested in each policy topic, and perhaps talking to those elected individuals we know personally to guage their opinions.

 

This is everybodys 'show' - all I am suggesting is a practical way of getting it off the ground, but for anything we do to be representative of the many sensible opinions on issues I have seen posted on MF already i.e. One thread about constitutions in general - which bits do you like, and 10 (or however many)threads (polls about how each 'policy area' might best be dealt with).

 

I'm up for that, but first (as I mentioned earlier) I would like to see the following simple initial documents a] an outline constitutional statement text (agreed provisionally on here by those willing to attend/input), b] an outlined list of specific policy aims and objectives (each only a paragraph), and c] a list of specific aims and objectives for the meeting. Three pages in all.

 

I would suggest one approach might be to post a thread with a suggested constitutional statement (perhaps using the three main UK parties as a benchmark might be useful - and others perhaps) - and then allow people to comment/edit/suggest. Otherwise we will end up with a constitution based on the thoughts of only a few.

 

...then a series of threads discussing the best approach for, say, 10 key issues e.g. health, EU, immigration etc. At least then the first meeting would have some form of mandate.

[The Old Git]

That's why I would like to see the outline documents requoted below drafted on MF first.

 

With over 2000 members, and therefore no doubt a good few hundred comments on these matters, I think that MF will provide a very good indication of where we should be going with these 3 simple documents for the benefit of the island.

 

Can't help thinking it all sounds a bit Joe Rooney-ish

 

Anyone going to ask him along?

[John Wright]

Sorry AT, I don't agree.

 

I would prefer that two or three or five got together privately, no doubt with their ideas, policies and constitutions and saw if they were compatible. I want to know with whom I am dealing at this level, not pseudonyms

 

I'm not so sure it should be the or even a forum party, sure we might float ideas on the forums for consultation but thats very limiting, in that we don't know with whom we are dealing or how represenattive, of what, they are

 

How can we decide direction, how can we decide if we can work together without meting up. For those who fancy LV's policies off they go see Peter, for those who favour MLP off see David Cretney.

 

 

Maybe then they can come back here with their suggestions, and consultations if they ever get off their bums and do it.

 

Promise I won't talk at you. I will listen, analyse and give my views, they will be honest and to the point. I will fight my corner if I have to.

 

Aftere some two or three meetings and private e

-mailings we may have the documents you want to float on the web

 

What you sugest is several one man bands producing one man band stuff. Party politics should be about collaborative effort. I think we need to get off on the right footing

 

Then after the private 1st draft and get to know sessions, 1st public outing here, we also need to make private approachees to like minded individuals, existing politician, failed politicians, see if we can interest any one into public launch, then public meeting and launch followed by a conference to adopt constitution , a pathway document and the a policy conference.

 

I am away all this next week, with limited acces but am interested and would like to attend an early meeting

[The Godfather of Manx House]

Whilst I'd love to get involved, can I just ask for the following to be high on any agendae:

 

The Alcohol "powers that be" allowing us to keep the hour they "steal" off us in the clocks forward / backward Nightclub fiasco.

 

That's all for now, thanks...

 

...GOMH*...

[Albert Tatlock]

Sorry AT, I don't agree.

Can't help thinking it all sounds a bit Joe Rooney-ish

 

Anyone going to ask him along?

 

Let me know what happens. Personally I don't need any party but I'm willing to help if asked and if I consider it is in the interests of the Island.

 

I would prefer to pick my own group of people initially rather than take the risk of a lot of in-fighting for positions from those with widely divergent views. This is why the PAG couldn't make themselves into a party - the meetings comprised an assortment of individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds so they had to settle for just being a political forum which I think they handled pretty well.

One of my aims of discussing this online has been to try and stimulate interest and debate. Have you noticed how few people are coming forward on this? Maybe it is just early days, election fatigue, or perhaps people living in the vain hope that we have had an election and things are about to change.

 

I'm not suggesting it be a 'forum' party at all, only that there is a wide range of people on the forum, and that this at least represents, if people respond, a survey sample of the population. I don't mean any party should be based on consensus politics either, but I think that there are many on here that feel that they would like to be involved and comment, albeit anonymously at first.

 

Of course we both have our own ideas, but if we are not able to stimulate debate and get at least a few others interested, what chance have we of taking this further forward anyway? If this is the case, we may as well volunteer our services and support to the likes of LV or the MLP etc. - in the hope that we could push LV or MLP etc. more in the direction we feel it should go. We all know that many parties have not worked, and LV is unlikely to get anywhere unless it works very hard for four years.

 

I still insist that these three documents are needed for any meeting, even if it is you and I putting the documents together at first, and then perhaps publishing them for debate, with a view to forming a new party. Our 'compatibility' can be determined electronically at present with a few relatively simple core documents (which can be limited to three or four pages at present). This is simply a matter of deciding what we are going to talk about at the first meeting.

[Snaipyr]

 

 

Remind me - what did they achieve?

 

An inner warmth knowing they were willing to put their hats in the ring for the good of the country they live in I would imagine.

 

I'd be interested to know how you spent Thursday?

 

More like a bruised ego, I would imagine.

 

And how I spent Thursday is feck all to do with you.

[Snaipyr]

 

 

Remind me - what did they achieve?

 

An inner warmth knowing they were willing to put their hats in the ring for the good of the country they live in I would imagine.

 

I'd be interested to know how you spent Thursday?

 

Maybe he was the one who asked me what I would do about a broken window in his Corpy house?

 

 

I'm a she, and having heard you on MR I wouldn't even ask you the time of day.

[Ripsaw]

I'm a she

I know dear, and Manx to boot...

 

How patronising. Let me guess - you're English.

 

When I achieve my rightful place as Queen of the IOM I'll banish everyone I don't like (mainly English people with posh accents - but there's quite a few Manxies on the list as well!)

 

Leave the lovely weathermen alone - at least they have Manx accents.

 

{Cats should be rendered extinct.... Worthless little sh;t machines.} Same could be said of many men

 

...the only ailment I've ever caught was from other human beings (the nastiest ones being from men!).

and best of all....

Another uninformed, opinionated comment - amongst the many from you.

 

As somebody who proudly annouced their paid up membership of the SPMCE I thought you'd have taken time to dig into my past to find why Charles (the Chairman) was so happy to publicly support my standing?

 

By the way, I don't know if you responded in the thread where I was asking for copies of the National Anthem to teach my Beaver group (90% Manx born, 0% taught the anthem by the Manx Education system), but I found it, and I taught them. I am also actively introducing them to Manx history and respect for the local environment and culture.

 

You carry on with the chip on your shoulder and I'll carry on promoting the things that you claim to hold dear, dear.

[nipper]

 

 

Remind me - what did they achieve?

 

An inner warmth knowing they were willing to put their hats in the ring for the good of the country they live in I would imagine.

 

I'd be interested to know how you spent Thursday?

 

Maybe he was the one who asked me what I would do about a broken window in his Corpy house?

 

 

I'm a she, and having heard you on MR I wouldn't even ask you the time of day.

 

I thought this thread was going to turn into one of those:

 

*pulls up chair with bag of crisps and watches* moments.

 

And Ripsaw in the middle of it all

[Old George Woods]

When it came to cutting the hay, we used a mower. The cutting blade was about four foot long, a series of sharp triangles clacking backwards and forwards, driven by the turn of the metal wheels. We used to draw the mower with a horse, but in later times, fitted a towbar to pull it behind the tractor. You sat on the metal seat of the mower, alongside the blade. An uncomfortable bounce of a day, was mowing.

 

 

Now when I first started using that machine, I had no idea how it worked. I just got on behind the horse and always, on the first day of haymaking, you could guarantee that the blade would hit a stone and the whole thing would grind to a halt. In those days, because I did not know how things worked, I would not have any spares, so it meant a stop to work and getting the bus into Douglas to Corlett Sons and Cowley for a new part. I learned in later years to have some in stock. And to walk the field beforehand looking for large stones.

 

Sometimes the driving mechanism from the wheels got jammed and it took days for me to sort it out. Then I asked and found out how it worked and what to do, and I could sort it out in a few minutes.

 

Also, when I was younger, I just cut the hay, in one continuous cut, going round and round the field.

 

Poor results that way, you kept going over your own tracks and lost some hay. Then I found out the real way to do it, by asking how it worked. I found that before mowing, you needed to get the scythe and hand cut away the four corners of the field, and then when you mowed, you had room to do a loop in the corner, turn back on yourself and then go along the next side of the field, keeping the mowing a perfect rectangle, and not running over and spoiling uncut grass.

 

Like everything in life, you need to find out how it works before you can fix it, or get it right.

 

Still. If it went right, you had a mighty day. And the smell of fresh cut grass is the best smell in the world. The second best is when the hay has dried and you lay in it with your woman.

 

And you hope she doesn’t notice the backward ‘Bamford’ embossed on your backside.

[Lonan3]

Wise words!

 

Mostly incomprehensible and irrelevant - but wise!

[Ean]

It's been a while George! That was a fantastic story, thank you

[nipper]

Aye I'd agree with that Ean,

 

You see, George was about long before they invented that there lateral thinking.

 

And foam for mower seats.

[Albert Tatlock]

Steve Babb put up an excellent performance and should quite easily take the now vacant seat on Onchan commissioners. 5 years to get his feet under the table, then take on Earnshaw & Quirk in 2011.

Last day for nominations for Onchan according to MR. Only one runner so far.