TellYouGov

Europe and the Royals

This month’s discussions have been awash with contrasting views on Europe. This week Cameron gave what was possibly a career defining speech to the Commons. He promised to give the people an in-out referendum on Europe if the Conservatives win the general election in 2015. Despite this promise he also made clear his views on Europe stating that “with his heart and soul” he will campaign to stay, however it is safe to say some of his colleagues will have different ideas.

The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, stuck to Labours traditional pro-European stance and accused the Prime minister of being forced by his party into a referendum he doesn’t want.

Here’s what tygers think about EU membership and the EU:

·         “A rock of stability in an uncertain world.”

·         “Well done to Mr Cameron for promising us an In/Out vote, but why not until after 2015, we want it now!”

·         “Needs to be more democratic, not to abolish good legislation on workers’ rights”

·         “I think the pros far outweigh the cons”

Another hot issue this month has been the Royals, always a favourite topic among tygers. This week an interview with Harry, about his time in Camp Bastion, his views on the Las Vegas incident, and being an expectant Uncle, has brought the royals to the front of TYG discussions.

Here’s what tygers said about the Princes:

Harry

·         “A fine young man doing an impressive job.”

·         “Sounds like he did some good work on his latest tour of duty.”

·         “”One of the most popular royals” No real competition is there?”

William

·         “Always dutiful.”

·         “Royalty is just so last century. Played out now.”

·         “Great”

Party Conferences

Conference season is drawing to a close…

Let’s see what you’ve been saying about the parties in the last few weeks…

Labour

“The party with the best interests of ordinary people at heart and with an impressive leader in Ed Miliband.”

“Far too quiet for my liking…. come on!!!!”

“Needed more than ever now!”

“Don’t like their dependence on union paymasters”

Conservatives

“Natural party of government. The only party that can keep the economy on track”

“Will be fine once they rule alone - no Coalition partners holding them back.”

“I can’t see what they are offering me”

“Government by gimmicks.”

Lib Dems

“Sold out to the Tories, never vote for them again.”

“Not as bad as they are painted.”

“still have their own policies and some are being implemented such as high tax thresholds”

“More faces than Big Ben.”

Do you think the conferences have made a difference, or made you think differently about the parties?

We want to know if you heard any of the speeches and if so what did you think? Let us know on our Party Conferences page.

We want to know…

With the festive season coming up we want to hear your views on upcoming events:

Are you going to a local fireworks display, or having your own one at home on bonfire night?

What plans do you have for your Halloween costume? Or do you prefer to stay in and scare yourself silly with films?

Some shops are already setting up their Christmas displays. Do you think shops preparing for Christmas too early, or do you prefer to avoid the Christmas crush and prepare early?

In the news this week

The announcement that the President of Ecuador has granted Julian Assange asylum has sparked an interest in the case among TYG bloggers, here’s what you’ve been saying about Assange…

“Mr Freedom of Speech”

“Appears the rule of law is a relative subject for Assange. Something that simply doesn’t apply to him”

“Time to face the consequences of his actions”

“Brilliant man. Excellent for exposing governmental rubbish”

As the summer holiday reaches its end some of you have been sharing your views on the topic…

“Way too long. Dread them”

“Too long. Everything so expensive. “

“Holidays are essential and everyone should have 2 weeks leave and some of the Bank Holidays.”

“teachers need them, but maybe they are too long. 6 terms instead of 4? As for the Olympic legacy it will soon be forgotten as the rather smug Lord Runalot will be lost in history”

The ruling against members of the punk rock band Pussy Riot to be imprisoned for two years after staging a protest in a Russian Orthodox Church has stirred debate into Punk rock…

“Relevant as ever”

“They may have a point but do themselves no favours by anarchic tuneless presentation”

“ Usualy fairly generic anti-authority, while occasionaly you do come across intelligence in the writing proccess. I do like the Pistols.”

“lets have more of this on tv and radio, miss it”

Olympic week 2

With an astonishing week for Team GB here’s what you’ve been saying about some of the country’s finest athletes…

Andy Murray

“He did it.”

 “Arise Sir Andrew”

Mo Farah

“Way 2 GO Mo!”

“Great performance and with dignity”

Jessica Ennis

“Simple the best “

“SPOTY 2012!. Excellent performance” (SPOTY – sports personality of the year)

As the Olympics has shined a spotlight upon London what have you been thinking of its Mayor…

“Loony”

“Great asset for London”

“Consummately useless”

“Honest guy, 100% better than Livingstone”

The BBC has been covering all of the Olympics, but what have you thought of the coverage and commentary…

“Liking Clare Balding’s work this week – very good and well informed”

“Mostly inane rubbish talked by most”

“Clare Balding, Gary Lineker, Hazel Irving top notch. Lawrenson and Brendan Foster are naff.”

“What News, it’s all about the Olympics and nothing else?”   

A Summer of Sport… and Mushrooms?

What do you make of the Olympics so far?

“Let’s show case the Great of Britain, leaving a legacy which will incentivise foreign direct investment, tourism and a positive perception of a historically Great country.”

“The Olympics is a wonderful event and great to have it in Britain.”

“Will be cheering for Tom Daley.”

“Can’t even have Olympic games without it turning into a free promotion for the royal family.”

“Another world really from austerity Britain with the number of tax breaks open to Olympic sponsors.”

“I must admit there is one part I’m looking forward to, the closing ceremony.”

To view YouGov polling on the Olympics, please click here.

Reflecting on Bradley Wiggins & his sterling performance in winning the Tour de France:

“Top man, make him a peer of the realm or at least a knighthood!”

“Well done Brad, you did us proud.”

“Great sportsman.”

A terrific achievement. Tally ho for the Olympics!

“No doubt the media will now spoil his life.”

“Great achievement but too many are going way over the top about it.”

And finally… Mushrooms have been trending this week:

“Mushrooms are versatile.”

“Don’t eat wild ones they give you a rash.”

“Lovely raw, not so nice cooked.”

 “With garlic, button mushrooms work best but cut up big ones are not bad either. Wash and prepare them, put them in a pan with a little olive oil. Sweat them gently in the pan with lid on until they’re soft (loads of water comes out.)

At the start of the Jubilee, what have you been saying?

With the Jubilee upon us, what have you been saying about Queen Elizabeth II…

“Worth every penny”

 “Love, admire and respect her.”

“Jubilee celebrations going to be spectacular. Just a few killjoys staying away. Will not be missed.”

“Monarchy should be abolished”

 “Cares nothing for the real people of this country.”

To view YouGov polling on the Monarchy and Jubilee please click here.

Englebert Humperdink came second to last in last weekend’s Eurovision song contest, but are Tyggers still behind the singer and the contest itself…

“I liked his songs”

“Englebert still got it! Eurovision passed its sell by date.”

“He was a bit embarrassing. We have some world class acts and song writers - why don’t we field them?”

“Time we pulled out of this farce. Waste of BBC funds.”

And finally, Marmite has been trending…

“not keen”

“No strong feelings but each to their own.”

“Love it, love it, love it, love it, love it, love it,”

Want to know what Britain thinks of Marmite? Click here to see YouGov’s poll from last year.

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!”