aibu to wonder why someone who worked as PR for ITV can now run the country?

Vetile; yes, and if it reached them that would be an amazing achievement.

But we need to audit where it does and does not. I am 100% behind helping where we can, but not buying airposrts, especially airportsd in aplces where there is still extreme hardship that the Government there is not tackling.

Foreign aid is paid to countrys where people are on $1 a day and have hardly, no matter what happens in the next few years no-one will find themselves in that position in this country.

Who knows claig?

it's great that tehre is Tory opposition- but it's a Tory decision.

not that I am opposed to foreign aid; i think it's absolutely essential. Done properly.

There is an article in the Daily Mail about the increase in the foreign aid budget. There is Tory opposition to it. I think the foreign aid budget is about £12.6 bn, which is about the same as the DLA budget. they are increasing the foreign aid budget and decreasing DLA. Why can't they at least freeze the foreign aid budget, so as not to reduce DLA?

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1322745/Foreign-aid-budget-cost-family-500-Fat-cats-earning-90k.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Dh and I haven't had a child free night for a decade LOL- they just refuse. DS1 still tries it on, at ten. We keep thinking: one day (actually that's not true: we went to a hotel about five eyars back, after an awards do i go so hammered I passed out in the kkiddle of a road in Yeovil. Ooops)

Yes of course there are moderate Tories, of course there are; trouble is, the ones I know- my ex boss, my sister- are far from that. Ban Sn kdis dfrom schools, no state at all, etc- and they have an influence too, they are the darlings of the local groups becuase they talk big. I am not sure the people who ehar them relaise they actually mean what they say.

Yes SWC but as you would not vote Lab without ahcking off your arm, neither would I Tory: I couldn;t, I don;t believe equality is achievable through promotion of big business but through individual sahred responsibility and consideration.

That's not a Tory ethos, at all.

I also belive the state has an important role, and should be safeguarded, not absolutely minimised. That's not tory either: Tory belief is that state removal is filled by private enterprise but private enterprise in the sectors of disability etc often suck- I;ve worked in MH homes where my success at getting people into training proograms were rejected as a danger to the profit margine.

Yet we have concils seeking advice on privatisation of CP services with an admitted raising of the threshold for taking someone into care. i;ve sat on CP panels and argues for 7 year old wandering the streets at 3am to be taken into care with no joy. I can;t support that, sriously a huge no-no for me.

See SWC, my personal absolute priority is 'with an effective safety net'.

That's the clincher for me. Plenty of ways to build a successful state with a shite safety net after all- see pre-crash usa

Which all emant I did not vote for them last time, and a lot of others too.

So we want something better. And Labour membership has risen since I joined (in August) a lot; new members.

But Gideon what about the Iraq war and support of Bush? What about Caroline Flint telling the unemplyed "work or lose your home"? What about the hundreds of other things that they have done, that Labour supporters would not agree with? Only after 13 years did they find out that Labour supporters had had enough.

Yes of course they have real power. I mean the opposition, Alan Johnson etc., is pantomime. They have a plan and they will carry it out, and the opposition will shout "you lot are nasty" and "yah boo sucks". But the plan will be implemented.

Claig, I have a philosophy (and religion) degree- I ahve my own developed ideology and take little crap; I get positive joy out of screening candidates etc LOL. My bullshit monitor is pretty honed too.

Most people attracted to labour as members have a shared ideology IME (course there's the Thatcher haters etc too), that's a power base to start with.

I feel powerless at the moment to be honest

AS we discussed earlier, there is a part of Dave that means I think Dave will relish demonstrations, almost get off on them. It's a sign of his power

I think it is very dangerous to believe it is all pantomime

They might want you to believe it is all pantomime but they have real power. To do stuff. To real people. Like we are finding out.

The pantomime is just an act.

Yes demonstrations etc. are good, just don't follow pied pipers.

I agree with you. You have to pick the party that you think are both best for your interests and the interests of society as a whole. But make sure that they aren't spinning you about their ideology.

No, htere is no alternative yet

if we accept we are poerless in improving things well, we may as well give up posting here hey?

You try. I try. One day, something might happen. Better than accepting it.

There is no alternative. There is only pantomime.

Demonstrations etc. do help because the government is flexible and can change some policies. They all say that they will adapt certain things and they can do that.

And as well as getting things right and wrong (which I agree with) you also have to pick a party that matches your own ideology

To do otherwise would be bonkers.

I found the election depressinga s there wasn;t anyone. Tried Greens- some good stuff there, like CL, but locally- a load of infighting picky so and so's.

Tried LD- nutters banging on my door at night to complain to me I had no right to pull out of helping when I had perfectly good personal reasons (I had just found I was pg, I ahve a history of hyperemesis).

I can't beleive in a Tory ideology. I get what there's is- I was lucky to have a very good sociology teacher who took teh time to do political philosophy woith us all- but it's not for me. Someone ahs to fight for big buiness and all that absolutely;

not me.

My role in life is to fight for the other ones. It's who I am.

Nobody represented that, I felt there was far of a movement toweards that in labour, so we joined and we are trying our hardest to vote in people that fit what we belive in, build something anew and fresh.

So why haven't they cut aid to India then?

It's Friday, claig; buried in there are people losing WTC when they are working, DLA, EMA.... and it was announced Wednesday.

If there are no questions in a fortnight I might be a little more inclined to agree but it does take time.

But in actuality this is p[art where the issue lies IMO

We ahve three main aprties all supporting something you and I, with very different political ideologies, can see is questionable.

Where's the alternative?

yes but if us two think it is wrong and some commenters on the Labour webpage are asking questions, then why can't Alan ask a question or two about it?

Watch 'This Week' it is worth it.

There is no my side and your side, there is just right and wrong. We have to choose the party that gets more things right than wrong.

There was something about it on R4 yesterday, too.