TellYouGov

What’s been on your mind this week?

Following its presence in PMQs this week, Wind Power has sparked a debate on TYG…

“Scarring England’s green and pleasant land.”

“I like the look of them. Do you think people complained back in the day when electricity pylons were erected, or were they just glad to move with the times?”

“expensive and unsightly but a useful option”

“wave power and tidal power, the way to go”

Tyggers were keen to express their views on the News Coverage in this country, this week…

“the wide range of newspapers and TV news allows people to obtain as much as they require and the slant they like”

“Full of distractions to stop you seeing what’s really going on and who’s really influencing events.”

“Cannot be trusted. BBC, sky, ITV all the same.”

OAP Bus Passes were being discussed by many users…

“Good idea even though I’ve never had one. I’m fortunate enough to have a car”

“Excellent for those genuinely on benefits, all others, including me, should pay a minimum of £10 handling fee annually.”

“All public transport should be free”

And finally, many Tyggers had nice comments about Tunnock’s biscuits…

“I enjoy a Tunnock tea-cake”

“Caramel Wafers. Yummeeeee!! How many have they made this week?”

“I enjoy a Tunnock tea-cake”

First Week of May

Boris Johnson renewed his title as Mayor of London on Thursday beating Ken Livingston to the job, but Tyggers are divided on this result.

“Well done Boris now we look forward to seeing you create all those jobs for the young that you promised.”

“unlucky London”

“A huge blow for Labour on a day they recovered the losses of five years ago.”

“Pleased he is mayor again”

Dennis Skinner attracted some TYG attention this week following comments made by the Prime minister regarding Skinner’s age.

“Didn’t deserve to be subjected to such despicable personal attacks as he was by the vile PM yesterday.”

“a very honest and open chap!”

“Hero of the left, Silly remarks about “so called “personal attack” on him. Has made his share of abusive remarks, over the years.”

Now into its 43rd series, Have I Got News For You made it to the leaderboard, with many of you discussing this week’s episode specifically.

“New series is the best ever; Ian Hislop flirting with Nancy Dell’Olio was hilarious.”

“brilliant!”

“Clarkson isn’t funny, he’s just a professional prat. Agree Alexander Armstrong is the best but perhaps he would outshine Hislop and Merton.”

Budget Week - what do you think?

This week the Chancellor announced the 2012 Budget which has caused a debate on the issue…

“Bad news for smokers and drinkers?”

“The best we could hope for under the circumstances. I’d love to see the whole Tax/NI system scrapped and re-invented: make it simpler and evasion becomes more difficult.”

“5p tax break is just a sweetener for those stashing their money away. Better to have taken lower paid out of tax altogether to release money to increase growth and consumer confidence.”

“A disaster for Pensioners and their hard earned savings sinking by the day with no opportunities to increase their income”

The man behind the red box, George Osborne, has also spurred discussion…

“Doing well considering we had the biggest deficit in the western world. Keep it up!”

“Great and fair budget”

“Coming down hard on tax avoiders who use overseas banks/corporations to buy properties over £2million. Another great budget FACT”

“Can’t believe he has introduced a pensioner tax. Why was that one not leaked? He is clearly not expecting people to march on the streets over this. You know what I am starting to have some sympathy for the Public Sector workers.”

“I don’t understand why he couldn’t come down hard on tax avoiders whilst the 50p tax rate was in place. What am I missing?”

And what do you think about the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls…

“Chancellor in waiting and not too long to wait judging by the latest budget offering from the so called coalition.”

“Can’t really be any worse than Osborne”

“Appears to have an understanding of economics for the public unlike the City led Treasury team”

“I want Balls to stay where he is because the British people can see his lunacy and nasty personality and that will help to keep Labour in opposition”

Mid March - What’s been on your mind?

Here are a selection of topics that were trending on the Leaderboard this week…

The annual “No Smoking  Day” last week, sparked a debate on Cigarettes between Tyggers…

“Too many underage addicts”

“Too much tax on them.”

“At the very least we should ban smoking in the confined atmosphere of cars. It is as dangerous as operating a mobile phone when driving, there’s enough to do when driving!”

“Some good points made on this subject, but I hate to breathe in their smoke due to inconsiderate smokers”

Following the Cameron’s visit to the White house, everyone has been talking about the Special Relationship between the US and UK, and more specifically David Cameron and Barack Obama…

“Still important for us and has historically been vital to our security.”

“America is our special friend when they want something, do very little for us but get us into trouble whereas we bend over backwards to give them everything they want.”

“I’m not against it based on politics, it just seems out of date considering what Obama has said previously.”

And finally, after Chelsea’s thrilling Champion’s league tie with Napoli, goal scorer Didier Drogba was trending, however many TYGs were concerning his alleged diving during the game and not his goal…

 “2 cheats don’t make a right”

“Deserved an oscar for his performance last night, just what was he hit in the face with.”

 “Does a lot for charity in his homeland, the press don’t tell you that do they!”

Spam up… the Leaderboard

With just under five months to go, the Olympics are still trending, but Tyggers are divided…

“Outrageous waste of money in these hard times”

“Organisation can’t even come up with a fair and efficient way to sell tickets how can they possibly manage to organise the Games themselves.”

“Will be way better than Beijing”

 “Good boost for the economy in a recession and puts Britain in the news”

 Many Tyggers shared their views on parking…

“Spent 35 minutes trying to find somewhere to park in Leek yesterday and didn’t have time to do any shopping. I wonder why town centres are failing!”

 “Anything that stops people using their petrol guzzling cars cannot be a bad thing. Walk, take a bus or train. Get some exercise.”

“Getting ridiculous trying to park nowadays.”

 John Bishop was also trending following his ‘week of hell’ in aid of Sports relief…

“Amazing achievement. Quite funny too.”

“Excellent charity work. Must be commended”

“Great entertainer always makes me laugh”

And finally…SPAM!

“A staple during WWII, now I just love SPAM fritters.”

“Needs to be banned”

“Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam….”

TYG Insights - End of February

Andrew Lansley and the Health and Social Care Bill have proved a divisive topic amongst TYG users over the last week….

“Now that many GPs are only working part-time it is difficult to get an appointment to see one, let alone discuss overall health care.”

“Won’t tell us the result of his own risk assessment into his proposed changes to the NHS. You may draw your own conclusions.”

“We all know the NHS is a joke and a total waste of money. So it’s good to see someone prepared to privatise it.”

“Wants to introduce ‘competition’ in the NHS. That’s a similar phrase Maggie used when she privatised our utilities. So where’s the competition, they all act like a Cartel which is actually illegal!!!”

Meanwhile, TYG users have also been keen to discuss their opinions on Self Service Checkouts…

“Unexpected item in bagging area. Think it’s called shopping. Why bother.”

“Much better if you only have a few items.”

“I refuse to use them. They are doing people out of jobs and rarely does everything go through properly.”

“Losing jobs, so many people steal stuff or put things in wrong, I’m stunned they haven’t seen a big rise in stock missing or people putting the wrong things in!”

“Very convenient.”

Adele has also been heavily discussed following her award winning appearance at the BRITS…

“Fantastic voice and seen her interviewed comes across as being down to earth, hope she stays that way.”

“Welsh ancestry in her blood, no wonder she has a fantastic voice – Bendigedig!”

“Over-rated as a singer. Needs a decent song or she will disappear.”

“No manners.”

And finally, TYG users were very positive over their enjoyment of spinach…

“Great stuff. If it’s good enough for Popeye it’s good enough for me.”

“It’s brilliant! So versatile and great in many dishes, even Indian!”

“Baked cod or haddock topped with spinach and poached egg and served with jacket potato, Bliss!”

“Had some last night - all good.”

Four mid-Feb TYG Leaderboard items…

Here is our selection of our TYGs from the past week…

Atheism, which has surged back into the public sphere following a High Court ruling preventing councils from having prayers on the formal agenda at council meetings…

“It is important to keep working against the ‘special’ place religion has been given in our society – it should not have an automatic place and true believers would understand the need for equality.”

“All about Me! Me! Me! How wonderful it must be to have a religion where you are free to worship yourself and trample on everyone else.”

“I do not believe in it.”

“Rational thinking is the only way forward”

Sean Penn, the American actor who has made headlines in the UK with his controversial comments on the future of the Falkland Islands…

“So is he in favour of the USA giving Alaska to Canada as it makes geographical sense? Or even Texas back to Mexico?”

“Don’t think may Brits could find the Falklands on a map either”

“He should learn some history. The empty Falkland Islands were settled by British farmers before Argentina was even invented”

“Talks a lot of sense”

“Making himself look a bit odd at the moment”

“Talented actor”

Speaking of controversy, the European Court of Human Rights often seems to be inflaming passions on both sides of the fence…

“Rubbish idea, scrap it and create a bill of rights. Who are Europe to say who we can’t deport out of our country”

“Who exactly decided that this court can out rule [sic] all others”

“Have all the right answers, it’s not their fault if people keep asking the wrong questions”

“Too politically correct.”

“To those who would do away with the safeguards to your rights and liberty that the court gives remember Niemoller’s admonition “when they came for me…””

And finally, a number of TYG contributors paid tribute to American singer Whitney Houston, who died last week at the age of 48.

“Lovely woman, wonderful voice for pop, drug addict, dead, sad. Again and again.”

“Terrible shame. Such a talent”

“RIP Whitney the greatest female voice the world has ever heard”

“what a shame, a waste, drugs win again”

Best wishes,

Tell YouGov Support

Second week of February: Despite the snow, winter’s slipped off the TYG Leaderboard…

The Queen, ever-popular as a subject of discussion on Tell YouGov.

“Congratulations to a wonderful lady doing a terrific job. Pity there aren’t more people prepared to work as hard for as long.”

“Outdated anachronism in a modern society!”

“She is The Queen and our head of state. Those that oppose her are traitors to this country and our heritage. Shame on you.”

“Why are we celebrating her 60^th? Didn’t we waste enough money on her 50^th?”

“The Queen has always performed her role with dignity and without controversy, the monarchy is a link to tradition and enables politics to be performed closer to the people”

John Terry, whose recent sacking as England captain kicked off a series of dramatic developments in the world of football.

“Should have stood down as captain”

“Pity we can’t judge everyone the way the FA has judged Terry. No need to pay for judges and courts, everyone guilty. Just like it was in the Middle Ages.”

“I have no sympathy for John Terry but this kind of witch-hunt only serves to promote racism.”

“A difficult call for the FA but one they probably had to make. They should now select a captain from one of the younger players and make a break from the problems of the last few years.”

… and Harry Redknapp, cleared of tax evasion charges this week and favourite to become the new England manager.

“Needs a year back at school”

“Too good for England manager. Boring job with only a few games a year.”

“Cheeky chappy, not that dim, always see him coming out with the FT from the Sandbanks paper shop.”

“Doubt he’ll take the national job. Won’t be able to get any % of transfers, but you never know with Harry”

The NHS, after the government’s planned reforms have again been in the news this week.

“It is always there for us. I have had nothing but first class treatment and care. It must be awful to worry about affording medical treatment if you ever have a serious illness.”

“Usually worth the money, but not above reform and criticism – and reformers should not be scared off by leftist fearmongering or union aggression.”

“When the Tories took over the NHS was in the best state it’s ever been in with a very high rate of patient satisfaction. The Tories’ ideology has ruined a masterpiece. Now they’re moving onto education.”

And finally, Parking on Pavements, which has attracted a range of predominantly negative TYGs.

“A damned nuisance especially when pushing a wheelchair, there are some very inconsiderate motorists.”

“The main problem is that there are too many cars on the road. Should be limited to one per household.”

“Consequence of the 1960s (or even earlier) town planning, when planners couldn’t possibly have foreseen so many cars on the road. See also: Potholes.”

TYG freeze-frame as January turns into February

The 2012 Olympics have been dividing opinion on TYG over the last week…

“Good boost for the economy in a recession and puts Britain in the news”

“Outrageous waste of money in these hard times”

“Looking like a big washout”

The weather has, predictably, blown Winter towards the top of the TYG leaderboard…

“It’s the national hobby, complaining about the weather……there doesn’t have to be any logic. I blame it for David Cameron.”

“Look at the positives, you don’t get mobbed by wasps when you have a picnic in February.”

“At least it’s here!!!”

“Hate British winter. Roads always a nightmare.”

Meanwhile, Babies have been attracting attention, some serious and some less so….

“Only good if they are made out of jelly.”

“Babies are a huge responsibility, not only for 18 years. For the rest of your life.”

“If nice people had more children, the world would be a better place.”

And the debate about Cats rages on, particularly in relation to dogs…

“Clever but not loyal like a dog”

“Not that clever. Stupid thing persists trying to walk across a wobbly fence and my Jack Russell just loves to rattle that fence when the stupid moggy’s on it!”

“They’re so sweet!”

“Woof”

Finally, Welsh Language has provoked considerable debate on TYG over the last week…

“Lovely language and enjoy speaking it when the English are around”

“Lovely to retain the language and something of their heritage.”

“Out of date now and should be consigned to history”

“Byw a gadael i fyw————Live and let live.”

TYG snapshot: fourth week of January

Here is a selection of tygs from the last week…

The Big Issue

“This and Private Eye are the only decent reads out there”

“I must admit that I have never read it, or seen anyone reading it, or seen it left on the Tube, does it self-destruct after purchase?”

The Queen

“Great respect for her, has devoted her whole life to our country”

“I’m born and bred in Britain, but the queen is no part of my identity or tradition”

“Has done a good job, better than most of us would do in the same position”

“The monarchy should be abolished, along with all other feudal relics such as the Lords”

OAP Bus Passes

“Excellent. Public transport should be free. It would ease congestion, create jobs and improve the environment”

“Why are pensioners grateful for it, it is not free, they paid for it!”

Tesco

“It’s what people asked for… Give me everything under one roof. Too late to complain now.”

“They may have asked for ‘everything under one roof’. But they didn’t ask to be ripped off and given bad service. Also, it’s never too late to complain, it’s a right”

And finally, a late entry onto the TYG leaderboard…

Andy Murray, who lost in the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Friday.

“Pretty good but just not good enough”

“Brave fight Andy. It is getting closer”

“Choker”