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I don’t have a preference to political parties and I have voted for all of them, at one time or another, except BNP and SWP ..
I’m definitely going to vote against labour this time, probably Tory .. for the first time in a general election.
You have a point GH…the Tories aren’t currently all that great but I’d vote them over Labour and Lib Dem anytime.
There isn’t a great lot of choice for voters, or a great lot of difference between the main parties, hence why I’ve been tempted to vote UKIP.
What I would like is a political party which would eradicate all forms of political correctness from society altogether.
My results
+ 20 Liberal Democrats<br>+ 2 Labour<br>- everything else though Tory was less minus than the others.
I find people’s voting habits fascinating and I can’t understand why people feel awkward about it (as many seem to). In America, admitting to being Liberal minded is a source of great hilarity in some areas (i’m a loony leftie on Fox News…or leftie loony…). It seems a bit off to admit being a Tory voter in some places. It’s pretty much evil in my house. No one votes Tory in this house. No one says nice things about them either!
If you vote, that’s grand – that’s what I feel. If you don’t and have a good reason – grand. If you don’t because you can’t be arsed – that’s kinda dodgy. (Incidentally, my brother attempted to sell his vote – money to charity – on Ebay earlier in the week. That’s incidental to ‘apathy’ rather than ‘not arsed’.)
Ian,
Billy Bragg is – they said on Have I Got News For You – voting Lib Dem this time around.
Considering he’s staunch Labour, I think his vote is an example of one that is wasted. The attitude of The Mirror is to vote Labour (despite their previously strong views over the war) to ‘keep the Tories out’. This is a sell out.
Tactical voting is a means to an end right? Your seeing the bigger picture?
For me the rules are simple, vote for the party in which you believe. If there isn’t one – and there isn’t for most people – vote for the party that comes closest to your views. For me that is Liberal Democrat. By voting to keep, or get, the Tories out you’re looking to give power to another party – locally and nationally. Well don’t bitch when that party does something you don’t like. You helped get them there.
I’m not about to become a Liberal Democrat member but they at least represent some things in which I believe. And if they screw up, I’ll take some responsibility as I helped them with my vote. I hope you don’t vote tactically but you can do with your vote what you want, pretty much.
Rob. <br>
GH .. Blair has to be punished for Iraq. Voting against Labour here means voting Tory, so Tory it is!
The election will be decided by a handful of the electorate and the postal ballot will undoubtedly be rigged, in the areas where it counts. Whoever wins the election will just be the best cheats.
The government has been warned about postal ballots, why are they powering on with them?
So to protest against the unjust and illegal decision to go to war in/against Iraq, you are going to vote for a party which fully supported the action, Dave?
Not sure I follow that logic…
The Opposition aren’t privvy to the information at the time of the decision, only the information which is presented to parliament, which the Opposition have to assume is true. Because your not supposed to go into Parliament and lie .. !!
If the real facts had been presented, then the decision would not have gone the way of the government obviously.
I also live in a constituency which is split Labour/Tory, a vote for anyone else is a pure waste .. instead of just being a waste .. :biggrin:
I take it your a LD NV .. ?
The Labour government have a very strong economic record, have ‘kept the heid’ over Europe, are handling the difficult immigration issue as well as I suspect any of the parties would and are making some real headway in the key domestic arenas of Health, Education and Crime (the ban on public smoking which is due soon in Scotland and will surely swiftly follow in England may be one of the most significant health measures ever introduced in the history of the country).
In addition, and I know these are minor issues really in the bigger world, but they got rid of the spectacle of hunting foxes with hounds and have been, generally, the most punter friendly government ever.
They also catalysed a certain level of independence for the Scottish and Welsh while also working wonders in the almost impossible situation in Northern Ireland, an initiative that has saved countless lives and allowed at least some degree of normality to return to that corner of the UK.
Now, if it weren’t for that darned war……..
I’m also wondering if Blair has indeed become a bit of a liability for his party. I for one can’t stand him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of labour supporters aren’t particularly fond of him either, and his lack of integrity.
So for Labour voters: do you think Labour would have a far better chance of maintaining their majority if Brown and not Blair was leading the party? I believe Blair will turn out to be a big vote loser for Labour this election.
Looks like I’m a Tory then.
As for the present government, I detest them.<br>Their sole purpose seems to be to find as many ways as possible to extract money from people.<br>They said they would not increase income tax but they increased national insurance contributions instead.<br>They couldn’t be bothered to process the long list of people claiming asylum and so they let everyone on the list stay. They want to prosecute parents for smacking their children, and they have invented a £100 fine for just about every minor offence under the sun.<br>They lied about student fees and they took this country into a war that wasn’t justified.<br>They are fleecing motorists by introducing ridiculous speed limits that a milk float would have trouble obeying and they encourage councils to rob drivers with extortionate parking fines.
I despise them, and I would sooner pull my teeth out with pliers than vote for the b*****d
s.Quote from Ted – "I despise them, and I would sooner pull my teeth out with pliers than vote for the b*****d s."
I just hate it when people sit on the fence!!!
I’m not sure if I’d agree with your analysis Corm.
Economy: they’ve had a laissez-faire attitude which worked initially as they benefited from the fact that there happened to be economic expansion at the time.
However, in the last few years, the economy has been crumbling.
The signs are there. For example, you don’t raise the retirement age when the economy is doing well.
There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors involved in the "Labour economic miracle".
However, it’s a lot like the Thatcher government cutting taxes while letting the social infrastructure to waste away (eg railways).
If you take money needed tomorrow and spend it today, you can look like you’re doing well.
Europe/Euro: They had no opportunity to join the Euro even if they wanted to.
Firstly, politicians are followers, not leaders. If they had joined the Euro, they would have lost their jobs at the next election.
Also, the strength of the pound make it impossible to join at the beginning.
They had 2 choices: "never" or "maybe". The latter is the least committal and least controversial. It was the logical choice.
I’ll give them credit for not being exceptionally stupid on this one, but that’s as far as I could go.
Health: are we getting healthier? The country is getting fatter and less healthy.
The average woman in Britain has a larger waist than me and I’m 5’11 and no Kate Moss.
This is obviously happening all over Europe, but the UK seems to be the fattest in Europe.
This’ll be a disaster for the country in the coming decades.
I’ve just seen something on BBC news 24 which says French kids are getting fatter, so the government changed the food in schools and banned junk food adverts aimed at kids.
Our government are finally getting off their arses on the former, thanks to a TV chef but show no signs of doing the latter.
The ban on smoking would be a big step in the right direction. However, this still hasn’t been implemented (even in Scotland) and we’re behind other countries in this.
Education: are we getting smarter? Some articles I’ve read recently on child literacy suggest that it’s worse than it was 20 years ago (when I was at school).
Crime: Is this worse or better than 8 years ago? I’ve no idea.
It’s pretty bad nowadays, but I think this is due to the decline in basic values and that no party can fight that in a meaningful way.
We need a change in social attitudes and that’ll come from people, not politicians.
Immigration: why has this become such a big issue?
When I left the UK in early 2000, it was hardly mentioned. When I came bak in early 2001, it was all over the news.
What happened in those 12 months?
Fox hunting… don’t get me started on that shabby vote scoring.
I can’t comment on the Welsh assembly, but the Scottish Assembly fills me with embarrassment.
A bunch of jumped up councillors showing why they were never regarded as good enough to send to Westminster.
Northern Ireland: I’ve not been to NI for over a decade so I can’t say for sure, but it would appear that Labour have improved things there.
That would be my labour report card.
Steve
There is no fundamental difference between the major parties .. apart from packaging and presentation.
The economic stability which we are currently suffering, is down to presentation and not fact, because the facts are buried under a mountain of spin and constantly amended methods of measure.
I personally don’t like the 1984 style of spin which most people don’t seem to have caught onto yet ..
ID Cards .. we all have to be a little more less free .. in order to us to be free.
Europe .. we must join the Euro in order to remain competitive within Europe .. our economy is out preforming all of the countries in the Eurozone by several hundred percent on all fronts.
Immigration .. we must encourage immigration because we need more people .. Prescott is starting to build government funded house to alleviate the countries cronic housing shortage.
And on, and on ..
Gordon Brown has been a very successful Chancellor
But what’s he done?
Inflation is low, but it’s been low since the early 90’s. And it’s low around the western world.
For example, 1.9% over the year to March 2005 in France.
It’s just the economic cycle.
My point about the economy was that Labour’s claims of doing a good job is a nonsense.
They don’t deserve any credit for the good years between 1997 and 1999. This would have happened with or without them.
Conversely, they aren’t responsible for the economic deterioration from 2000 onwards (or for the fall in the stock market since early 2000).
Of course, any government standing for re-election when the economy looks rosy, is going to take credit for it.
But, to me, the praise heaped upon Gordon Brown is just laughable.
It’s like if I invited a friend over to visit me in June and I got credit because it turned out the weather was unusually good.
All that would have happened is that their visit would have coincided with good weather. Same with Labour and the economy.
If, as expected, they are re-elected, you’ll see their reputation go out the window. <br> <br>Steve
If, as expected, they are re-elected, you’ll see their reputation go out the window.
Correct .. agree with all of what you have said Steve, but that bit especially.
The rate of tax on fuel and the ban on smoking in pubs, is going to cost lots and the money has got to come from somewhere.
Another thing I don’t like about the times we live in is the compensation culture, ‘getting a claim in’ .. I think they call it. The whole nation is turning in a bunch of Ocean Finance Customers (sorry .. OFC’s).
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