question for folks in england...

[Mike70]

i know that england is divided into counties. my questions are: do these counties have any kind of autonomy, legislatures, etc. do laws differ from county to county?

i know that the way things are in the US is quite different thanmost places in the world. the states here are more like individual countries that are part of a larger federation. the laws differ immensely between states. i have lived most of my life within a few minutes drive of kentucky. even though they are only seperated by the ohio river things legally(and taxation wise) in the two states can be radically different.

just a few examples: taxes are much higher in ohio than kentucky - especially on "luxury" items like alcohol and cigarettes - both of which are far cheaper in kentucky. gasoline is also cheaper in kentucky usually. marijuana is no big deal in ohio. less than 100 grams is a simple (albeit expensive) pay out ticket. no arrest. no court. just mail in the fine. in kentucky your in a bit more trouble than that for a much smaller amount.

ohio has an open container law - meaning if you are off of private property with an open alcoholic beverage in your hand, you are probably going to have to some trouble with the police. kentucky has no such law.


are there differences like this between counties in england? or is everything federalized out the ying yang?

one good thing about the US system is that the vast majority of americans have no dealings with the federal govt. (outside of the mail and when you retire and start drawing SS) at all in their daily lives. almost everything that you encounter governmentally is on the state or more often the county level.

[Andy]

i know that england is divided into counties. my questions are: do these counties have any kind of autonomy, legislatures, etc. do laws differ from county to county?


nope. its the same everywhere. apart from scotland which has its own parliment and laws now. :)

[MinionZombie]

And technically Britain is three countries with Northern Ireland tacked on as a 'bonus' if you will. England, Wales and Scotland. Although Wales is essentially just shoved in with England, Scotland however has it's own parliament - as Andy said.

What stinks though - and this is coming from me, a Scotsman - is Scottish politicians voting in measures in London which ONLY effect England and Wales and have f*ck all to do with Scotland ... then they go home across the border and vote in another way to suit themselves.

If they're going to have their own parliament then all Scots should be taken out of English gubment and Scotland should be provided total autonomy. Although perhaps that would be crap, because there's far too many bolshy Scotch-Socialist weasels in power over there, it's retarded.

As a Scot, living in England, I say English politics should be dealt with by English people only (unless it's a nation-wide piece of legislation) ... but NOT f*cking Labour, those assholes are the devil incarnate. Guaranteed they will go down in history as a disaster in politics - "Blairism" if you will ... I'd prefer to call it "Bastardism" or "Twatism" or "Wankerism" or "Take All Our Money And Waste It ... ism" ... bastards. :mad:

[zombiegirl]

Guaranteed they will go down in history as a disaster in politics - "Blairism" if you will ... I'd prefer to call it "Bastardism" or "Twatism" or "Wankerism" or "Take All Our Money And Waste It ... ism" ... bastards.

Gee. Sounds Like Bushism too. ;)

[Tricky]

Minion,your the man!know exactly what you mean there.I also dont see why gordon brown seems to think he can just take over as PM without an election,but thats another story.....

[MinionZombie]

Oh hell yes, I simply don't understand how we can have a change of PM without an election - if only to elect some Labour twat, at least it would be a minor choice. Darth Brown is a complete twat, another balshy Scot who shouldn't be in power in ENGLAND (this coming from me - a Scot).

Quite frankly they should have a full on election (2009 simply cannot come soon enough!) and get Labour out quicksmart, I seriously despair at how Britain has crashed and burned, it's shocking really.

I'm looking forward to getting out a history book in 20 years time and telling my kids (and/or nephews/nieces) about the horror that was 1997 through 2009 (I HOPE!). This Blairism wank will go down in history as a terrible time in British politics. Nevermind all the bitching about Thatcherism, that's old hat now, Labour and Blair are FAR worse with some of the most retarded politics and legislation I've EVER seen ... and quite frankly, this country has seen. :(

On another note, it's interesting to note the shared vibes of British and American politics - what I mean is when Blair came in, promising glory and good times for all (yeah right!) he was the golden boy, the cool, hip & happening rock star (:rockbrow:) just like Billy Clinton and his sax ... then Bush comes along, terrorism turns up (as if it was new! :|) and suddenly the Blair heyday is over. Bush wasn't popular and so began Blair's decline.

Everybody was shocked Bush got back into power for a second term ... and everyone was shamed that Blair got back into power for a (Labour record) third term ... it's both hilarious/terrifying though, that within a year they'd f*cked everything up so much. Labour simply can't handle anything more than 2 terms back to back. That's the maximum time any of their bullsh*t can last, because it's all "good for the papers, no substance or thought though" ... so here we are...:|