Would you vote conservative again?

The Tories-putting the ‘n’ in cuts since 1834.

@Blossomtoes I respect your opinion, truly. But I’m unconvinced it will raise the funds needed to support the extra state school places needed plus the extra in teachers pension contributions (rising to 30% next year) that the private sector currently funds, but will switch to the taxpayer as private teachers move back to state.

Compassionate conservatives? They just don’t exist

Well, they did. My parents are compassionate people, and they voted Tory. I think any signs of compassionate Conservatism in the government would be hounded to death.

My folks now won't vote Tory again as they think that the Tory party has zero compassion, and trade in division, populist policies and stoke hatred and distrust. My parents wouldn't trust them to make a sandwich now, never mind manage the economy.

It took them a while - I likened it to turning a tanker around - over years of seeing the Tory party become a bloated, incompetent shower of utter bastards - but they're there now, thank goodness.

If you live in Lewisham you do know the level of poverty some people are having to live in unless you're really not looking.

Those kids can go to state schools. Which are good in Lewisham.

I'm sorry for kids when they are uprooted and upset of course. I hope your kids adjust well if it happens. But do you know the level of poverty summer people are having to live in as a direct result of this Tory government's cuts and attitude of 'pull yourself up'? Would you really rather that some people's kids have to rely on other people's charity to eat than yours have to change schools? I do find that attitude really hard to comprehend. We all want the best for our kids of course. But the Tories' recent handling of the economy has meant that people's bills and mortgages are cutting into money for food, and an education is free even if it's not the exact one you would have chosen. That personal sticking point seems unbelievably selfish.

@StoneofDestiny but the 27 out of 90 kids in DC’s 6th form on bursaries? And the other 60 odd throughout the rest of the school - not to mention the 20 Ukrainan children they’ve provided free places for. They will go, I’m in Lewisham, SE London. It’s not a particularly affluent area, these kids value their places and add huge, huge amounts to school life.

Sorry @edwinbear, much as I value education and believe every child should have the best possible, I can’t summon any sympathy for someone who spends the thick end of £4k a month on school fees when there are kids whose parents can barely afford to feed them. Your son will be through his GCSEs by the time the policy comes into force. I’m sure he’ll do just fine in a state school for his A levels, millions of kids manage it.

Oops -stories? - Tories

Never voted for them.

@Blossomtoes they are going to add VAT to school fees. For us, given my kids ages, that’s £50k we have to find which we won’t be able to. I can pay more income tax over the remainder of my career, I can pay more inheritance tax, I don’t mind paying tax on my pension contributions. All that is fine. But another £750 a month on school fees, (on top of all the other tax rises we’ll face) over a relatively short space of time, I can’t. Neither can many private school parents. There are only 600,000 kids in private school, and I get it’s politically popular, but it will be devastating for those kids who will have to switch schools, in DS’s case, halfway through his GCSE’s.

I honestly don't think you understand the British political system to say something so silly.

But leave my kids education out of it

Sadly the stories have been leaving all Childress education ‘out of it’. They have brought schools to their knees all over the land and teachers are leaving in droves.

As for the wider education of children - shame on this government for teaching children it is ok to ship refugees and asylum seekers off to Rwanda, to force families to food banks and to allow the aged to die in care homes because of the lack of planning - or indeed to die for the want of a hospital bed because of lack of investment

Compassionate conservatives? They just don’t exist.

David Cameron called himself one. Remember what he did to disabled people? All that shit pre-austerity about the people with broadest shoulders bearing the load? An out an out lie with the wealthiest quadrupling their wealth in the first four years post 2010. And disabled people treated like crap which they still are.

I'll never vote Tory. It's an ideology thing and a lack of trust that whatever they say it's from a belief in things I don't agree with.
There are others who are equally aligned to Tories.

The thing is neither of Therese groups matter in an election. The votes that change our politics are the people who switch based on the current situation.

So the only folks who matter are those who are open to switching and voted Tory last time.

All polls suggest they will switch and we'll get a labour government at the next election.

Obviously I think that's a good thing but those who don't and are staunch Tory will be grumpy but it doesn't matter any more than my ideological dislike of Tories mattered for the last few elections.

Thank you. A fact that a lot of people prefer to forget.

I’ve never once voted conservative. And never will. They’re immoral.

Not to be (too) smug, but the high ground I stand on for never having voted Tory and not voting for Brexit just gets a bit higher every day.

When Labour left power in 2010, NHS waiting lists were the shortest in NHS history.

All they’re planning to do is remove private schools’ charitable status. How does that threaten your kids’ education?

I’d happily vote for them - increase my income tax, take my pension tax relief away, increase inheritance tax, increase my NI contributions. But leave my kids education out of it. That’s honestly all I need.

I'd happily vote tactically for the Conservatives to keep Labour out.

So do I.

So keep voting Tory @edwinbear. I genuinely don’t care. I’m not here to change anyone’s mind.

My problem with modern Labour is the very high levels of immigration we had when they were last in power. I believe they would repeat this again and bogus asylum approvals would go through the roof.
I'm all for the other policies though.
I belong to the patriotic section of the Labour party that doesn't really exist anymore.