Genuine question for Tory voters

No change of mind here either.

thanks young. I really don't mean to be goady. I appreciate your points about Guardian bias and anecdotes

thanks red

@ffauxlivia But I'd like to hear positive reasons for a Tory vote rather than just 'because Labour/Corbyn/Abbott are so awful'.

I don't have a reason apart from that I believe they are the least worst realistic option for the country, for the medium term, while we slog through Brexit. There was no viable alternative. I voted with a heavy heart.

faux I don't vote for the good of the whole country any more than the average Labour voter. However, I believe that the Tory's fiscal policy is the best on offer and without a strong economy, we all sink (and the poorest sink fastest and furthest).

Your second question is obviously goady. What I will say is that the Guardian makes a similar contribution to balanced journalism as Pravda did in Soviet times. I also believe that reform of the welfare system is needed if it is to be sustainable in the long term. I could write an equally emotive piece about the appalling treatment I received from the NHS under Labour, when money was hosed at it (and most of it went on pay rises and stupid management vanity projects). However a collection of anecdotes proves nothing.

ffaux, I believe everyone votes in their own self-interest. I benefit personally from some Conservative policies, although would actually benefit more overall from Labour policies.

Generally my principles align closest currently with the Conservative party in the UK. My local MP has also done a hell of a lot of good for his constituents, so I vote for him and what he can do for our local area.

Of course the stories in that article are awful. I always try to read a number of different sources with different political leanings and biases to get an overall feel of what is happening in the UK, as well as in my local area.

thanks for your reply effic , I'm sure there is truth to what you say, and I know the left (myself included) do like to take the moral high ground and it can come across as patronising and sanctimonious for sure.
But I do think the fact that the Labour slogan is 'for the many and not the few' does mean that people do buy into that. Anecdotal I know but most Labour supporters I know are fairly high earners and are happy to pay more in taxes to prevent what's happening to people in the video I linked to.

Totally agree with you Effic. I don't think DH and I should pay any more tax, especially if it's just going to be pissed up the wall by Labour clowns. It's fine to vote Labour if you're poor though because it's morally superior.

Gah - sorry some typos! Predictive text is a bugger!

And please let's not pretend that most people vote for what's best for them, it's just Labour voters can cloak it in supposed principles. Of course there are some high earning lefties and some working class right wingers but basically the reason why the better off generally vote Torres and the lesser so vote Labour is that for both sections, one party does more for them. If you are on a lower income/on benefits then you want richer people to pay of their earnings in more taxes so you get more money in benefits be if working/disability or unemployment. You also want richer people to pay more into the systems (NHS/Education/transport etc) that you use more than them.
If you are a higher earner you don't want to pay more, especially as you probably know that the top 5% of the population which probably is you is already paying 49% of all taxes. You probably don't use services as much as others and so don't want to pay more. It's as simple as that and neither side should be allowed to claim some moral high ground for basically voting for what's best for them!

Whilst we're on the subject of asking genuine questions to Tory supporters in a non-goady way, I have a couple I would be interested in hearing replies to. I tried to start a specific thread on this but I'm clearly shite at starting threads as no-one replied ha!

But I'd like to hear positive reasons for a Tory vote rather than just 'because Labour/Corbyn/Abbott are so awful'. No-one is going to change my mind about voting Labour but I want to try and understand others' point of view.

Here are two questions for example:

Do you believe that a vote for the Conservatives genuinely helps the whole country (if so how?), and how do you respond to the left's accusation that Tory voters generally vote out of self-interest rather than for the many?

What is your personal reaction to pieces about how Tory cuts have affected vulnerable people like this one?

DianeAbbottsBeefyCurtains

Took - you chose those jobs. You chose to have a child. You chose those bills. Do you think others who made different choices should subsidise you?

Also - I chose those bills??

My voting decision is my own and private so I'm not answering this as a Tory voter as requested in the OP but anyone refusing to take part in these appalling 'debates' shows more courage, conviction and character than the any individual who thinks this is good democracy. Nothing is 'debated' - it's an appalling slanging match all about point scoring. You learn nothing from them other than who might have been biggest play ground bully or the most manipulative nasty character at school. Shame on them all and shame in us for importing this abomination of 'democracy'. It's the political version of Jeremy Kyle. What's next I wonder? General elections where the leaders go into the big brother house for a week first - yuk

Took I imagine that comment in context was specifically about land. In which case, she's right. Don't you want a NHS that runs efficiently and maximizes available resources? It's clear blue water between that and "selling off everything to their mates" FGS.

Personally, I would prefer a social insurance system of healthcare but that's too right wing for TM. Apparently, NHS will continue to limp along for the foreseeable future, so no need for histrionics.

DianeAbbottsBeefyCurtains

Took - you chose those jobs. You chose to have a child. You chose those bills. Do you think others who made different choices should subsidise you?

Can you tell me where I asked for subsidies? I have already stated I am not asking for any handouts.

YoungGirlGrowingOld

I must have missed that bit in their manifesto

*Theresa May has backed a plan that describes NHS resources as a “source of untapped value” and called on the health service to take “a more commercial approach” to selling off its assets.

The Prime Minister was accused of backing the sell-off of parts of the NHS after she said she would implement the so-called Naylor Review, a 42-page report commissioned by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.*

From the Independent.

Well I think we can agree that Boris is a bumbling fool, but he still has more brains than the monumentally stupid Abbott. And at least he has some charm!

I don't pretend that the Conservative party gets it right every time - TM is proving that now. But it's one thing to give the stories a bloody nose and quite another to have Corbyn (and potentially Abbott and McD) at the helm.

I don't know enough about Keir Starmer to comment but I suspect he will challenge for the leadership after Labour lose (and imo he should). He seems rather young and inexperienced to negotiate trade deals (especially this one). TM at least has plenty of experience at the HO which will undoubtedly help.

I'm not necessarily saying they shouldn't, btw. Just asking where you think that line should be drawn.

Took - you chose those jobs. You chose to have a child. You chose those bills. Do you think others who made different choices should subsidise you?

Has the story manifesto been costed yet?

Ditto Fontella.

DH and I are currently working towards building a life in the UK (he is a non EU national). If Corbyn gets in, we're off.

YoungGirlGrowingOld

How on earth can anyone want Diane Abbott in the Cabinet? It would be an international embarrassment.

I have two words for you Boris Johnson!

I am no fan of Diane Abbott believe me and Corbyn actually hinted the other day that she won't automatically become Home Secretary so there is that hope!

Also as I said previously, I do have confidence in our Brexit negotiating team of Keir Starmer and Barry Gardiner, I don't think they will take any nonsense.

The tories haven't exactly covered themselves in glory with their spending plans. Costing breakfasts for schoolchildren at 7p each?!

They want to privatise and sell off everything to people like them and keep the wealth.

I must have missed that bit in their manifesto

DH is also a NHS doctor (and a Tory) - it proves nothing. It's disappointing that someone with the intelligence to become a doctor can spout such ill-informed scaremongering claptrap. I suspect that - like many NHS employees - you favour a government that will keep the gravy train running without asking difficult questions about reform, pensions, affordability, the ageing population or any of the other questions that any responsible government should be asking.

Took I remember BR and BT well and sadly they gave me every indication that we are indeed incapable of running our own services well!

The Labour spending plan is naive and simplistic. Unfortunately, so are a disturbing number of voters. How on earth can anyone want Diane Abbott in the Cabinet? It would be an international embarrassment.