TORIES

I WON'T be voting for David Cameron and his posh friends. I'll be voting Labour as I have always done in general elections.

For a whole host of reasons I would rather walk on glass than vote Tory - ugh.....

Marriage tax benefits and IH tax benefits both put me off voting Tory.

Not a Labour supporter by any means but they seem a slightly less incompetent choice than the Conservatives.

Crikey what a depressing thought.

scaryteacher you're obviously very passionate about the Tories, are you on the payroll?

By checking and cross checking forms; ensuring there aren't multiple claims under different names at the same address. Greater liaison between central and local government. I know someone who got full housing benefit and council tax benefit, even though they had left the Armed Forces with a pension and a lump sum. I stood by a supervisors desk and pointed this out to both HB and CTB and got told it wasn't worth the hassle of pursuing, even though it was blatant fraud. I knew what he had done for a living as he worked with my Dad; I knew his rank, and could show what the pension tables were for the Forces.

It is the small try-ons as well. Someone once tried to claim they were the only person living at an address for Community Charge and that the owner was exempt as he was at sea. Unfortunately for them, it was my house they'd bought with a mortgage in joint names, so I knew they were both there. They got sharp shrift. It all adds up.

With a debt in the trillions, the country can't afford to lose that kind of money. £15 billion could do quite a lot.

The people with the greatest wealth have the best tax advice to allow them to use one of a number of legal loopholes to avoid paying tax.

How do you do that without negatively affecting the genuines ST?

Alternatively crack down on the false claimants; have a joined up system that flags up fraud. We lose £15 billion per annum in public sector fraud, and that includes benefit fraud.

The thing is ronshar nobody knows how to target the lazy shits without affecting the genuine hard timers do that?

if they did,its a wagon they'd all jump on pretty quickly.

The choices forwelfare are:acceptsomefalse /lazy claimsand go with protecting those most in need,or target it heavil at the risk of damaging those most in need.

It really is a straight choice, and of coourse yours to make- but it is that simple.

If they scrap tax credits, Surestart and stop the fantastic early years learn through play/Positive Discipline/child-lead learning stuff...then I would be very scared.

I would like to see anybody other than the Labour party in power.
I am fed up with being told how to live my life by hippocrites and liars.

Taxing rich people heavily is a self defeating policy.
Who will bother trying to get rich if they have to give all their money to the government, who in turn gives it to lazy lay abouts on benefits?
I dont mean people who have fallen on hard times, or single mums. I mean the lazy shits who have never done a days work in their lives because the state has enabled them to do nothing.

The above was at Manatee - the computer is on a go slow.

I don't think that is entirely true. We spend more on the welfare state than we receive in tax revenues. I think the figures for 2009/10 are £140.5 billion in gross income tax receipts. Social security benefits are projected to be £164.7 billion.

Whichever way you cut it, that is unsustainable.

Yes, I agree there has always been some form of surveillance on the populace; and in some cases it is entirely justified. However, it is beginning to get intrusive. I think Contactpoint is unnecessary; I see no reason why the data of anyone should be on there past 18, as it supposedly a database about children. The data on your children will be kept until they are 24. The use of Terrorism legislation to enable Local Authorities to spy on people is over the top. Enforcing completion of the census and some of the questions therein is also intrusive.

If you raise taxes to 90%, or much higher than they already are, many of the wealthiest will leave, along with their already huge tax bills, and the companies that employ them. The country was crippled in the seventies by this sort of disastrous policy. That sort of tax hammering provides no incentive to anyone to work hard and succeed. And public services will suffer enormously as a result, because the high earners are no longer around to pour tax pounds into them. And who is anyone to say who "deserves" the money they earn? Labour is quite deservedly in the poop because they have mismanaged the economy - we are in the worst economic position of the developed economies - and taken us into two wars we can justify neither morally nor economically.

Did I miss something? When was it my turn to dictate government spending? Was I out the day someone came to give me a stack of "government money" to spend as I liked?

Yes, but Quattro- who DID the overspending? We, the people!

Very true, Manatee. It's a cheap shot to suggest that it was Blair and Brown alone who trashed the economy!

Going back several pages, I'd suggest that many ex-industrial northern tows are STILL suffering the after effects of Thatcherism.

My main fear re the Tories is how so very few of them have any experience of real people living real lives; sorry, but Eton does NOT give you that!

I'd definitely vote Labour IF Labour would 'grass roots' more. I want to see the financial industry hauled in, I want to see tax breaks given to big companies whose wage discrepancy between the top 10% of earners is no more that !0 times that of the bottom 20% of the workers in that company.

I believe 'Broken Britain' would be fixed a lot quicker if real strides were made towards equality: It is frankly ridiculous that a family with a single wage earner working full time could STILL be in poverty. Tax income over say £50k pa at 50% rising to 90% for those on £250k. No one needs that sort of money. Few deserve it and taxing at this level might fund realistic minimum wages. I believe much of our societal problems are caused by poverty. Families break up as a result, the hopelessness it engenders increases the risks of domestic violence, abuse etc etc. Give the low paid workers back their dignity- like the workers in the industrial cities of the north used to have...

This isn't a condemnation of single mums here- but I think the pressures that break families apart would be lessened a lot if daily existence wasn't such a struggle for so many people.

Well I'm not sure about that. There was a global recession to be sure but the overspending made life an awful lot worse.

The Labour Party did not trash the economy, that is a global thing.

There's something wrong with our electoral system.

The Labour party gets in and trashes the economy. Then when it all looks as though the country is going bust, we panic and elect the Tories, who promptly slash and burn. Then when we've had enough slashing and burning and the economy is doing well, we elect the Labour party.

All too depressing.

Lowenergylightbulb- The surveillance state has been around far longer than Labour, from a Foucauldian perspective (I am subjective, I love Foucault!).

I am a single parent and was on benefits this time 3 years ago. University has not been financially punitive for me. I recieve maintainence loans, parents learning allowance, and access to Exeter bursary! It means university is possible, which is amazing and I am so glad it has been possible.

What a disgusting sweeping generalisation!!! The 'numbers' of 'Old Labour' voters going to UKIP, or BNP!? I think you will find that UKIP/BNP voters come from a mix of previous political backgrounds but all have a severe aversion/ fear of change involving the nation.

Why did you not just take your form into the office? I imagine that would be the Tory response - you have to look after yourself under the Tories. Oh hang on, no, you probably wouldn't even qualify for benefits under a Tory govt.

My mother despaired under Thatcher. I Don't blame her, it was pretty damned hideous.

The education system in this country is amazing, I do wonder what more people want from it really. And again, if you want more from state education do not vote Tory fgs, with their insane idea about cutting out a load of potentially fab teachers because of the class of their degree. (I actually wonder if full on academic minded types would make worse teachers? There is such a huge social act to teaching, and a lot of more academic minded people are crap at the social side of life, and would not manage a class well).

Why would the Tories motivate social workers? Why would Labour. SWs have a fucking grim job to do and I think they can only possibly do that job if they care enough to want to, and we should be grateful that they do.

Widening inequality is a Tory specialism? Yeah, cos 13 years of a labour government has really closed down the gap between the rich and the poor.

And making university financially punitive for all but the very well off was a blinding move on the part of the labour party.

And the labour party obviously isn't comprised of 'toffs' either.

Oh, and the stealth introduction of the surveillance state is just wonderful.

But bloody hell, they've given us tax credits and banned smoking in pubs...they're fecking fantastic.

"Call Me Dave wants to cut £200 million from SureStart's budget as well."

That's beyond awful. I don't know where I or any of the other families would be without our brilliant local surestart centre.

I received the same forms to fill in 5 times due to the Job Centre losing them. My benefits situation was eventually resolved by the personal intervention of my local MP (Tory). Have no experience of children under the Tories but know my mother despaired under Labour in the 70's. My children are at state primaries now but current government has farted about with schools no more or less than any other. General trend for a school much more to do with head teacher and staff than incumbent gov in my opinion. As for help with care for my mother (cancer and Alzheimer's) - absolutely appalling - to the point of being non-existent over 3 years. Social services in utter shocking disarray. Some decent individuals but none motivated to stay in their jobs long enough to give any continuity to my case. That was the deciding factor - no way will I vote for Labour in this election. My local MP now is Lib Dem - the only one in a very Tory county. I like what he does. But never know what the national policies are with any confidence.

What do you feel about the numbers of old school Labour voters now turning to UKip and BNP? I know a bloke - a miner from a mining/hill farming family - who was Labour but has been UKIP since he felt New Labour had turned its back. Saw him the other day and he now sports a BNP badge. He is a growing minority - I find his views abhorrent for the most part - but bringing back Labour will strengthen the resolve of people like him. Not sure where you live but a trip to Calderdale is scary.

Sallyjaygorse - you did not recieve CTC with children? Jobcentreplus help when redundent? The amazingly helpful benefits roll on if you find work again???
I have had children under Labour, been unemployed, got a job, got a place at Uni, and am about to graduate Uni all under Labour. I don't know about relatives needing care or being particularly ill, but I don't know how someone could have a vastly different experience.
The Labour govt offer so much support in what I believe are the right places (they have helped me get out of a rut and go to uni as a single parent). Tories will only ever help less, that is the whole ideology behind the Conservatives - you help yourself and the state stands back.

pepperpig - we can all hope that you are correct in your analitical obsevation thing is I don't trust the buggers - any of them

I will not vote for either labour or tory, but will place my limited trust elsewhere...