Blunkett resigns

[Quillan]

[quote]Compulsory voting?[/quote]

Sorry I was under the impression from what I was told and read that it is compulsory for French nationals to attend the polling stations for national government ellections. They can either vote for somebody or just tick the abstension box but they have to attend. I know for local stuff and for MEP's you have to go and register as that is what we have done. Strange we can vote for our French MEP and mayor and not French MP's. I think we can vote in something else but my French is not that good to work it out. To be honest we are only interested in voting for our mayor as he is the only face of government we ever see. Prefer the French system to the UK one, at least you know where you are with them, good or bad.

[BJSLIV]

OR PERHAPS....

Prefer the French system to the UK one, at least you know where you are with them, good or bad,....but my French is not that good to work it out.     

[Renaud]

Getting back to Blunket himself, I have a problem. This is that Prescott has come out to say Blunket has lied.

My problem is that this is the first time I have thought that Prescott was right about anything. That worries me.

Still after the next election I know which one of these will be in the cabinet and which will be the very important Govenor of the Falkland Islands.

[Teamedup]

From the Ministry of the Interiors web page.

 

L'inscription sur les listes électorales de sa commune est-elle une obligation ?

Oui, l'inscription sur les listes électorales est obligatoire mais la seule sanction consécutive au fait de ne pas être inscrit est celle de ne pas pouvoir voter. En outre, le vote n'est pas obligatoire en France contrairement à d'autres pays. Il repose sur la volonté de chaque citoyen

Citizens are obliged to be on the electoral lists, but they don't have to vote.

 

And re the cards. The french will eventually get around to all this fancy hi tech stuff, I believe it is simply the cost that is putting them off for the time being, especially as they already have a system in place. And another thing, all french people have to give their finger prints when getting an ID card, where is this information is stored. Never seems to make the gendarmes more ressourceful/efficace having everyone's prints on file.

 I am still against compulsory ID cards.

[Russethouse]

I really haven't got a strong opinion, but if it helped stamp out benefit fraud I might be persuaded.

[Mazan]

On BBC News 24 the two cards were shown side by side and looked identical except for the language printed on them. It was implied that they were being developed by this company (didn't mention their name) with joint funding from England and France and that they will be the same.

I think the operative word here is "will". If you compare today's French card with the proposed UK card they are very different. Given the EU propensity for endlessly increasing bureaucracy and citizen control I wouldn't be at all surprised if France (and Germany, Spain, Ireland and the other EU member states) didn't end up with obligatory biometric ID cards sooner rather than later. I hope I'll be long gone by then.

[Dick Smith]

Mazan - that was my point in posting about the Spanish version.

[0BRIAN WOODHEADI,m here in franceddMMyyyy0Falseen-USI,m here in franceTrue]

Dicky do you live in spain?no,I think that it would be best leave spain out off it,this a french forum,you live in england and when you come to france for your holidays just like every one else who comes to france,when you get here you must carry ID,it,s all very well saying whats going on UK side but the fact is here in france it is the law to carry ID.

[Cjb]

With regard to Mr Prescott, let's not forget that he did punch a member of the public in the face and still remain in his post!! O.K, he did have an egg thrown at him, but then again if someone offered me a choice between being punched in the face and having an egg thrown at me, the egg suddenly doesn't seem so bad!

Even though, as a teacher, I wasn't always in favour of some of Mr Blunkett's sweeping education reforms, I have to say that his policies have brought about one of the main successes of this Labour government.

[Dick Smith]

Outcast - read what I wrote - I was speaking to a friend from Spain who showed me his ID card and I posted that.

Cjb - I wouldn't give DB too much credit for the changes, I think they had been planned long in advance and had more to do with Michael Barber and Andrew Adonis.

[Quillan]

Thought I would ask a question to see if anyone knows the answer.

Having watched the documentary on Band Aid (the original) and Sir Bob taking Magie to task about people having to pay VAT on the original record, which was really very good actually. Then followed by a spotty young Tony Blair saying how disgusting it was that she insisted she could not let them off the VAT does anyone know if VAT is being paid on the new version?

[Russethouse]

Found this via Google

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Live Aid is to get all the VAT money paid on sales of its new DVD and the new version of the 1984 hit Do They Know It's Christmas? The decision by Chancellor Gordon Brown could hand the charity more than £4m. Mr Brown said Band Aid's impact had been huge and he wanted to do all he could to help its latest project.

Live Aid founder Bob Geldof called the decision a "remarkable gesture" which would help alleviate the misery of the hungry in Africa.

The possible £4m price tag on the VAT refunds are based on the DVD, which is released on Monday 8th November 2004, selling 500,000 copies and 1m copies of the new CD.

The new Band Aid 3 version of Do They Know It's Christmas, which comes out next month, and is rumoured to feature artists such as Chris Martin from Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Dido and Ms Dynamite.

Next month marks the 20th anniversary of the Band Aid single. Midge Ure, who masterminded the Do They Know It's Christmas? record in 1984, said: "It's a sad indictment that it's taken 20 years for this to happen again. It's 20 years next year since the event, and it's still the biggest concert. Nobody has bettered it."

The Conservative government in 1985 gave a donation to charities working in Ethiopia and Chad equivalent to the VAT collected on sales of the original 1984 Band Aid record.

Announcing a repeat of the exercise, Mr Brown said: "Ever since its launch 20 years ago, Band Aid has had a huge impact, raising the plight of the world's poorest and raising funds to help them.

"More than that, Band Aid has won millions to the cause of fighting global poverty.

"I want to do everything I can to support their work and so people can buy the DVD and record this Christmas knowing that all the money they spend will go to support the vital work of the Band Aid Trust in the poorest countries of Africa."

Geldof said Mr Brown had telephoned him while he was in Africa. "I just came back from Africa. I was with child witches in the Congo two days ago, and the telephone rang, and it was Gordon Brown," he said on Sunday at the launch of the DVD.

"He said to me: 'Ah, Bob, hello, what about the VAT on the record?' I said:'Yeah, I hadn't thought about that. I forgot all that stuff.'

"But they hadn't, because Gordon Brown and Tony Blair are the same sort of generation, so they're my age, and so I just had tea with them, as you do on a Sunday afternoon.

"It's £8 million saved on VAT. That's a serious wedge, and shows a political climate change," he added.

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