Elections!

[Tamas]

Seems kind of depressing across Europe.

It is really high time they start realising the EU is on a wrong track when the only people bothering to go to the EU election are the ones who don't really want an EU to begin with.

[Maladict]

Yeah. We always vote on Thursday but Europe votes on Sunday. So we don't count (or have exit polls) until the rest of Europe has voted because the results could get out and could influence the vote elsewhere in Europe.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah. We always vote on Thursday but Europe votes on Sunday. So we don't count (or have exit polls) until the rest of Europe has voted because the results could get out and could influence the vote elsewhere in Europe.

What was that? From what I read it was like the Dutch can't print election results but had to give them verbally if asked

It is really high time they start realising the EU is on a wrong track when the only people bothering to go to the EU election are the ones who don't really want an EU to begin with.

And if you oppose those forces I think it's time to stop sneering and laughing and actually come up with a popular European vision that people might want to support.

[Tamas]

Yeah. We always vote on Thursday but Europe votes on Sunday. So we don't count (or have exit polls) until the rest of Europe has voted because the results could get out and could influence the vote elsewhere in Europe.

What was that? From what I read it was like the Dutch can't print election results but had to give them verbally if asked

It is really high time they start realising the EU is on a wrong track when the only people bothering to go to the EU election are the ones who don't really want an EU to begin with.

And if you oppose those forces I think it's time to stop sneering and laughing and actually come up with a popular European vision that people might want to support.

Yeah. What is that though. I am all for a United States of Europe, but don't think it would be the best of ideas with this huge bureaucratic overhead.

[mongers]

Nationally seems like a bit of a Labour resurgence, all be it from last time's low base

[Agelastus]

Liam Fox saying that he wants us to stay in Europe as an "economic Europe and not a political Europe" which is what he feels the British public voted for and gave the mandate for back in the 1970s.

Which to be honest is something many in my family would agree with (since that is how they remember the way the campaigning for that vote was phrased); perhaps even myself since sovereignty's always been my biggest issue.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah. What is that though. I am all for a United States of Europe, but don't think it would be the best of ideas with this huge bureaucratic overhead.

I don't know. I'm 50-50 on whether to stay in at all. Personally I'd say they need to start with a new economic policy. They won't.

Edit: Incidentally Tamas I was just reading an article with this famous Thatcher quote 'we have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them reimposed at a European level, with a European super­state exercising a new dominance from Brussels', which is how the EU is understood from Britain. It's why I think your euroscepticismscepticism is quite interesting

Interesting that apparently the FN think Jobbik and Golden Dawn are too extreme

Nationally seems like a bit of a Labour resurgence, all be it from last time's low base

'We're doing better than last time!' Though last time was 2009 when they were lead by Gordon Brown during the expenses scandal and won 16% of the vote. They're not doing well. The Tory vote is holding up, Lib Dems have gone to Labour and it's not enough.

It'll change but outside London, Wales and Scotland they're neck and neck with the Tories which is embarrassing at this point.

[mongers]

Epic 3d graphics fail presentation from Jeremy Vine.

Wouldn't simple 2d graphs convey the information better?

[Agelastus]

Epic 3d graphics fail presentation from Jeremy Vine.

Wouldn't simple 2d graphs convey the information better?

Is it just me or did the noise they used when they showed the voting change sound like that of a toilet flush?

[Maladict]

What was that? From what I read it was like the Dutch can't print election results but had to give them verbally if asked

Votes were counted on Thursday but the official results were not published until all countries had finished voting.
However, the counting has to be done publicly, so anyone can go into a polling station and listen to votes being counted. And the official in charge has to tell anyone who asks the final numbers. Apparently the EU was informed of this in advance.

[mongers]

Epic 3d graphics fail presentation from Jeremy Vine.

Wouldn't simple 2d graphs convey the information better?

Is it just me or did the noise they used when they showed the voting change sound like that of a toilet flush?

Yeah, nearly as annoying as the fake house of commons sounds from Thursday's tv presentation. 

[Sheilbh]

Votes were counted on Thursday but the official results were not published until all countries had finished voting.
However, the counting has to be done publicly, so anyone can go into a polling station and listen to votes being counted. And the official in charge has to tell anyone who asks the final numbers. Apparently the EU was informed of this in advance.

Okay, that makes sense. Do you have to count straight away in the Netherlands or could you have just stored the ballot boxes until tonight?

I'm presuming that's what we did in the UK

Edit: Incidentally one consequence of this is that I assume the US-EU free trade deal is probably dead for the next few years.

[Tamas]

Yeah. What is that though. I am all for a United States of Europe, but don't think it would be the best of ideas with this huge bureaucratic overhead.

I don't know. I'm 50-50 on whether to stay in at all. Personally I'd say they need to start with a new economic policy. They won't.

Edit: Incidentally Tamas I was just reading an article with this famous Thatcher quote 'we have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them reimposed at a European level, with a European super­state exercising a new dominance from Brussels', which is how the EU is understood from Britain. It's why I think your euroscepticismscepticism is quite interesting

Interesting that apparently the FN think Jobbik and Golden Dawn are too extreme

Nationally seems like a bit of a Labour resurgence, all be it from last time's low base

'We're doing better than last time!' Though last time was 2009 when they were lead by Gordon Brown during the expenses scandal and won 16% of the vote. They're not doing well. The Tory vote is holding up, Lib Dems have gone to Labour and it's not enough.

It'll change but outside London, Wales and Scotland they're neck and neck with the Tories which is embarrassing at this point.

There is the desire to make the EU more efficient, and the desire to leave it / see it fall.

Europe needs the EU. But yeah it needs a laisez faire EU, not 68's lefties dream EU

[Agelastus]

Best news from the night - the BNP's vote has, as predicted by the polls, collapsed.

[Although I admire the tweet from Nick Griffin asking someone to tell him how to change the title of his twitter account so he can keep his current one.]

Second best (provisionally) - the Greens not improving their vote share.

Edit: Apparently the leading Labour candidate for the North-West thinks the destruction of the BNP is the best news of the night as well...then she went somewhat overboard by saying that the north-west had shown that they wanted the Labour party of Ed Milliband to represent them.

The figures are

Labour 3
UKIP 3
Conservative 2

[Valmy]

According to the BBC 30% of young voters in France voted FN

Again far-right picking up votes in old Socialist areas

Is it any wonder France's Jews are looking to leave France