h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

And they're all true.

Who are Tony and Chuck?

Or is that privileged information?

Not that it's a big issue for me either way.
The world needs Jar Jar Binks.

I think Chuck is HRH Prince Charles. He's getting wed soon.

I guess I hadn't ever paid attention to this before -- so general elections in the UK aren't on a set schedule, the top guy (who is presumedly running in said election) gets to decide when and/or if they happen?

As I understand it - they happen every so often, but the Prime Minister can call one early if s/he wants.

Someone's probably going to tell me I'm wrong though

Yes, I think there's a time limit but up to that point he can call it whenever.

I think.

Yes, the maximum length of time a government can last between elections is 5 years.

Almost, Mikey. The rule for UK General Elections is that each one must be held within five years of the last one, but within that limit the sitting Government can call the election whenever they like. Which means, of course, that they tend to call it whenever the latest news has put them in a comparatively good light. I think the American system of fixed terms is fairer, since it eliminates this inbuilt advantage for the incumbents.

In practice, though, UK General Elections tend to be held approximately once every four years, and to keep to that pattern Tony Blair has to blow the whistle for the kick-off pretty soon. Hanging on into the fifth year of your term is likely to be seen as a sign of a lack of confidence about the election. The last Government to do that was John Major's Conservative one, which delayed the election until almost the last legally possible week in 1997 - and was duly buried in a landslide defeat of historic proportions.

Landslide?

Historic proportions?




Why wasn't this reported?

Because they would have also had to report some sort of equal and opposite event on the other side, and one didn't happen

Of course a British governemnt can choose not to hold an election. Between 1935-1945 there was no election. On of the errr... advantages of no written constitution.

But isn't that unconstipational?

Here's the pertinent excerpt from the Welcome and Thank-You Message from Douglas Adams:

"You can create your own Guide Entries containing anything you want, from your opinions of world events to a description of your home town, and it all goes to make up the h2g2 Guide, the sort of guide which was not possible before we had the means of live, shared information resources."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/welcome-dna

Is it time once again to insert a footnote just after "your opinions of world events"?

How about we amend it to "You can discuss world events, so long as they aren't current and the Government doesn't have a problem with it."

Shall we add that before or after 'all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others' from George Orwell and 'you have the right to free speech, so long as you aren't dumb enough to actually try it' by The Clash.

The BBC has to remain impartial. Last time I checked I wasn't working for the BBC, I was just writing on a site that happens to be hosted on their servers. Obviously I'd be ok on TV, they could stick me on before or after a party political broadcast.

Oh for goodness sake.

Nobody is saying that you can't talk about - the format is yet to be decided. Hopefully it will be on a DNA site - because that is what we like.

Maybe the long standing message board users would prefer a messageboard forum as that is what they like.

Perhaps the BBC should just say - 'stuff this' and put their money elsewhere and we wait until a millionaire decides to host the site (who may will decide to actively promote his own party) or or end up in a void forever.

The BBC has legal obligations - done deal, end of story. It just so happens that these obligations mean that they must allow every party a fair hearing. (Is there something wrong with that particular ideal?)

Advanced warning has been given that your views may/will need to be expressed elsewhere but nobody is forbidding you to talk.

You are not having your right to free speech supressed - in fact you are probably going to be given a wider audience to hear your views so everybody just wake up and smell the coffee - or put your money where your mouth is and buy the site out.

A fair hearing. Lets give it a try.

"Perhaps the BBC should just say - 'stuff this' and put their money elsewhere..."

I beg your pardon - the 30p per £1.00 of Britith license fee payers' (*my*) money that goes to the BBCi/New Media department.

Someone else can do the maths of exactly how much of that goes to h2g2 - 1p? Less? More?

They provide a service for us - if you want bells on it then go to the private sector and pay a little more.

Just a small note that the PM can only ask the Queen for an election. The queen can (technically) say no, but will (of course) not do so.

The technical term for getting rid of the current parliament so we can get on and appoint a new one (which is what the PM asks for) is to "dissolve" parliament. This may explain why the Queen has never said no when asked.

Yours,
Bob McBob

Mort, as a professional finance and accountancy type of a person, I have my own theories as to the size of the h2g2 budget - it's a form of professional noseyness you see In my professional opinion the technical term for the budget in comparison to the BBC's spending on online services is " all".

As to the legal obligations of the BBC in election time, you're absolutely right, they have to be impartial and balanced. That obligation stretches to the commercial channels as well.

As I'm sure you can remember from previous times, when we get into the campaign proper, the flavour of the delivery of the news changes. The editorial necessity to remain fair and balanced is almost palpable in what we see. You can almost feel the editorial brains being wracked as the programme rolls

Then of course on the big day itself, there can be no mention of election news other than an election is taking place. It's almost as if the opening of the 6 o'clock news is going to run, "Today there is an election. And in other news, 3 little kitties were rescued from a tree near Oldham..."

I didn't even know there was going to be an erection, but then again, i am in France, using a french keyboard.

I am interested in the little kitties though.

zdt