so now youve had chance to think about it....

I was going to vote Lib Dem. Thought long and hard about it but voted Green instead. Really glad I did. Recently found out that our local LibDem councillor liked the nursery nurse at his kids' day nursery so much that he poached her, and she now works full-time for him as a nanny to his 3 kids.
Public spirited of him, don't you think?

I'd quite like to join a political party, but I can't find one that truly believes in:
protecting the NHS and schools,
protecting civil liberties,
higher taxes for the rich,
a mixture of alternative energy sources,
an end to building on green field sites,
using empty houses to provide social housing as well as building new houses on brown field sites,
equal pay for equal work,
valuing and protecting farmers and small businesses,
promoting anti-racism,
nationalising public transport,
conserving old buildings,
promoting new architecture,
etc
Bored now, but I could go on ...

I voted Tory and am happy with the coalition but frankly I think they are missing massive opportunities. Not happy overall.

Cuts have to be hard, deep and fast before opposition builds. The cuts need to be aimed at high earners not at low earners.

Slash the civil service pay bill 25% by cutting from the top would be fairer and create less opposition. Simplify the tax system by giving a £10k personal allowance to low earners and give low paid people an incentive to work.

Too much incrementalism. Have at at em Dave!

By which of course I mean 4 years, 9 months and 20 days. Argh! Never try to count things after opening the wine ...

Voted Labour, got a Tory. I don't expect to be happy for the next 4 years, 2 months and 11 days .

Bugger

OK

NAS link here

Fio's link -costs-2 010 here

And fio's link from toehr day showing why it so drastically needed

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/in_the_news/1001523-Chjildrens-disability-charity-counting-the -costs-2 010 here

;;www.autism.org.uk/en-gb/news-and-events/news-from-the-nas/chancellor-announces-future-chang es-to-dla.aspx nas page]]

plenty of posts by scared people in sn too.

BA highly unlikely I reckon

Certainly not where my vote is headed

I voted Conservative and am delighted, overall. I think the Budget was reasonable - although I'd have preferred Child Benefit to be cut instead of just frozen.

The icing on the cake would be for Labour to elect Ed Balls or Diane Abbott as leader and their electoral annihilation over the coming years will be complete.

Theya re introducing a new test for eligibility (was in teh budget)

NAS (National Autistic Society) back me and many otehrs up in our concerns that many will be harmed by these- basc=ically someone comes to your house and assesses you with a checklist for 30 minutes, not a professional usually.

Past experiences with EMA and a simialr system show that many people with invisible disability are competely excluded and have to go to tribual, taking many months and strain.
There is a page on teh NAS website about this.

Take my ds1 as an example; if soeone comes to him and asks him questions such as 'can you pick up that over there' he will fly; however as well as his eating disorders for which he receives weekly treatment, he has an ASD that emans he has attacked family memebrs 6 times since yesterday (end of term) and needs contact 1-1. He can 'put it on' for strangers but within minutes of tehm leaving we are back in two adulst needed territory.

School was a great example of this; evewry eyar he gets a new teacher who reports he is 'cured'; within six weeks we are back to satge one (his statement has just been upped to 50% for this reason).

I also know people with MS who are scared; MS as you probaly know is something that comes and goes.

When tehy did the budget sppeches they talked about DLA being a barrier to working yet DLA is paid alongside work and used to cover the cost of disability. The one they meant I think was EMA- paid to people out of work. A few weeks later they announced changes to that too, and really I do think Osbourne simply hadn't perceived the differences.

Now, I won;rt lose carers as I have a clearly autistic 6 year old as well who attends an SNU, and I get CA for him. However the drop infinances would be enough to eman we lost the house (rented)- becuase we will still get teh costs of the ASD- trashed furniture, special diets, transport to playschemes, having to run 2 cars so DH can get about for work / Uni and yet still be able to access appointments as needed.....

Every person on DLA will be reassessed during 2013. Carer's is dependent on DLA receipt.

And of course the other question is how DLA could be a barrier to working when recipients can be kids? Unless they mean parents, in which case DLA means nothing: stopping it would not, sadly, cure the boys.

SMA, I dont recall anything on DLA in the budget - are amounts being reduced?

A quick google says the paper application will be replaced by a medical - that doesnt seem to be too bad - surely an independent doctor will stop any claims not needed - the benefit is not means tested so can be claimed regardless of income apart from the carers part.

I voted Lib Dem although have a Tory MP but I am happy with the coalition Government. Labour have caused severe damage to the economy and the country as a whole through their reckless and inefficient spending.
They took their eye off the ball on the banks and didn't put in effective regulation and in the good times allowed public and private debt to get out of control and now sadly we are having to pay for it. The economic model they pursued was not sustainable as you cannot have a never ending boom.
I also find it refreshing to see politicians working together for a change instead of behaving in a very tribal and unconstructive way. The cuts will be hard and painful but they are necessary to restore the public finances as the country couldn't carry on spending money that it didn't have.

Happy are you happy bout DLA reform?

Remembering it is the least fraudulently claimed benefit yet is the first targetyted.

Ivy, I dont think gas and electric are on full vat anyway - seem to recall its only 5% or something low like that.

I voted Labour (for the 1st time ever) and am glad I did. Anything else other than green would have made me feel sick, I think.

I voted Lib Dem as Labour has absolutely no chance here - Theresa May has been our MP for years with another Tory before her.

I voted Tory, and an happy, although I may be less so after the SDSR in the autumn.

Wish they were more Eurosceptic as Longfingernails said, as there is an awful lot of money wasted here in Brussels by the EU. We need to cut down what we pay.

Am also not pleased that they have stopped Cornwall using the convergence funding (not a waste of EU money for once) as we need it.

On balance though - action being taken to tackle the deficit - a spending review coming up and legislation which will hopefully make plain what is going to happen rather than all the press speculation; I am happy.

happymum - will you be happy to see pensioners pay another 2.5% of their pension on heating and lighting?

I voted Libdem in an attempt at tactical voting (Labour stand no chance round here.) Tories still got in.

Had I known what would happen I would have voted Labour - would not have made any difference to the result but when I saw the actual numbers of votes polled being used as to promote the Liberal Party at the expense of Labour I realised my grave mistake. Sorry Gordon! Tried me best; thought I was doing the right thing.

I voted Labour. Never crossed my mind to vote Tories and glad I did not go for Lib Dem now.

I earn under 10k and in the next three years am having a pay cut along with my 5 colleges of 4.7 %

I feel like i am paying for the bankers bonus as my enhanced pay has been cut for working evenings

i didn't vote for the tory party and don't trust them either

i do wonder if things would be far worse if it wasn't for the fact of the libdems being there - it suppose could be worse.

But when the goverment is going to take away a large % of my pay and still give in to the bankers i feel resentment that a banker will get a bonus larger than my 5 colleges wages put together..

It is a weak and greedy goverment that lets this happen

Oh they will give me a tax break and they will rasie my wages by 3250 but they have already taken all that away with the subtraction - so worse off as inflation isn't standing still

I voted Tory and am still happy with that. Yes it meant some cuts/rises that affect us personally but cuts needed to be made to get us out of the debt the country is in. The VAT rise was fair as it affects everybody not just raising taxes on those that work.

The benefits reform is a start, not as harsh as I would have liked but nevertheless a good start.

Labour had too many voting gimmicks that simply spent money that was not there - all aimed at certain voters. They made benefits a lifestyle choice rather than a last resort safety net and hopefully the Tories will be strong enough to reverse this.

To clarify, I only voted Lib Dem since felt had to vote tactically. I does piss me off hearing the Lib Dems bleating about their share of the vote etc. They must realise their share is only x amount since so many vote for them tactically.