Why do people say ‘all the parties are as bad as each other’ ?

It is an actual campaign strategy of the Conservatives this time round to land this message, particularly on scandals and propriety issues - because they can’t defend their record. I think it is terrible for democracy to court apathy, but there you go.

The conservatives have been horrendous but really the electorate is completely mad - Boris Johnson etc.. what did people think was going to happen? Rishi Sunak has had enough. Labour were not much better when in government. Gordon Brown sold off the gold and pensions, PFI was a horrendous expensive cost to the NHS sold under the guise of shiny new buildings. Iraq war etc... I like Keir Starmer but am not convinced by the Labour party. I have no idea what their policies are except the VAT on private school fees. I feel so despondent generally. I wish we had PR so could have seats from a wide variety of parties so at least together they have less chance of making things worse.

Most of the people I work with are Tory/Brexit voters who are in denial about the sheer level of criminality this lot have engaged in.
Say what you like about Keir Starmer but he wouldn't have moved his pregnant mistress into no.10 or given his American shag £100,000-odd of public money.

No manifestos have been released yet, as far as I know.

I do too.

Things are much, much worse under the current tory government.

To be honest, I think we have reached the point where anyone - bar a select few who have done very well out of the tories - who looks at the shit show of the last few years and goes "yeah, but the other lot can't do any better" has to be considered a bit insane.

I had to explain to my 17 year old that the pig fucking was a) real b) done by someone I respect more than the last 3 prime ministers.
Is face was 😱🤢😱

I remember it clearly. Short NHs waiting lists, minimum wage introduced, Surestart centres, more teachers, TAs introduced, more police, less divisive politics, no Brexit it was hugely better than now. Things they could have done better though was no Iraq war, started building council houses again and no arms length companies.

They all have policies that i strongly disagree with.

Exactly this. This Tory party have realised that they can just siphon off public funds in plain sight. I find it baffling that people think it's okay. Cameron was a saint in comparison and he happily fucked a pig.

Because governing is hard and it's unlikely that any party will create massive change.

It's not true though. I was so much better off during the Labour period than Tory. They didn't do everything right (Iraq war was horrific) but it was so much better than the bunch of corrupt narcissists we have. Even the old Tory party of 2010 were better than the rot we have now.

For me, it's because I don't agree with some policies from all parties and agree with others. I can't stand the jeering and mocking that goes on in the House of Commons, or the constant criticism of other parties in the campaigning rather than talking about their own policies and how they will work and benefit the country.

I will vote labour this year but I won't be celebrating any result, I will remain cynical and hope to be proved wrong.

Some of us lived through the last Labour Government and remember what they were like.

No, they aren’t. There are individual MPs in each party who work incredibly hard, really understand what needs to be done and genuinely do their best for the country. There are also individual MPs in each party who are ill-informed, arrogant and blinded by their own hobby horses and prejudices. And the overall calibre, particularly at the top of the parties (although that presumably reflects the pool lower down it’s drawn from) is embarrassingly poor. Across all parties.

I think sometimes people also say this because they just want a bland/ generic/ dismissive phrase to end the conversation. Not everybody wants to talk about their politics.

If there were an MP standing in my area who'd say, been a nurse for 20 years full time, then started with union or politics stuff, I'd probably vote for them

We had one of those locally. She was awful.

Only really hear it from people who want to vote Tory. They're honest enough to admit that the Tories have done some terrible things while in power, but want to justify why they continue to vote for them, so they like to pretend that the other parties are just as corrupt. The justification isn't really for us, it's for the Tory voters' own peace of mind.

What they're actually saying is not that the parties are literally the same, but that all politicians are the same - mostly lying, self-serving narcissists that make it very difficult to choose between them.

This! And because when they’re interviewed they never answer the question. They just dodge it and speak about whatever policy they are lying about.

Nonsense. Patronising piffle

It's said by those who see the good and bad in both, (I am only talking Con v Labour), wonder which one might actually follow through with their proposed policies and which ones outweigh the others.

It might seem a no-brainer to get the Conservatives out after what they've done (and not done) but I'm not convinced by Kier Starmer and I don't agree with some things and I don't trust them on others.

I am genuinely stuck and I've been able to vote since 1965

Starmer isn't one to actually mean what he says, though, so I doubt he really would let a loved one suffer the NHS when he's wealthier than most of us.