Tell me why you are voting conservative this time

IMO A'Level Maths, Chem and Physics are about the same standard as when I did my A'Levels

'I have had a look at some of the papers myself and I can see that children are more drilled and better prepared hence grade inflation.'

I am a GCSE examiner and the papers HAVE got easier, as the content has reduced.

"Labour have been leafletting cancer sufferers telling them that their lives could be at risk under a Conservative government"
sounds like the usual Labour scare tactics, it's always class war or the NHS. They never argue positively about what they will do, they only try to scare the public about what the Tories will do.

TDiddy, politics is theater for the masses. Don't believe everything they say. Sticking up for normal people against big business is part of the act, followed by shafting normal people for big business when they get in power.

"Primary education standards have improved"
Did you watch Channel 4 programme Dispatches "Why Our Kids Don't Count?" about the fact that 1 in 5 primary school children are below the acceptable standard for maths at age 11? New Labour's rising standards figures are like Big Brother's rising pig-iron production figures, bullshit. They are drawn up in the 'Ministry of Truth' known as Millbank. Labour are masters of Orwell's newspeak and double speak, with many of their policies being double Dutch.

Easy to say Labour is dumbing down. But what does that actually mean? Primary education standards have improved. Not true that results improvement is down purely to easier exams. I have had a look at some of the papers myself and I can see that children are more drilled and better prepared hence grade inflation.

Claig - I really don't see why/how you could be cynical about Obama who risked his entire presidency on sticking up for normal people against big business.

Anyway, closer to home, I think that the Tories would be better for me but when I vote will be thinking a bit more altruistically. But don't worry, DC will get his chance to show that he isn't running the country just for nice people who live in nice affluent areas. Let's see how he goes. let's see how he will achieve greater fairness.

TDiddy, we'll have to disagree on Obama. I think he rescued the banks and did whatever they suggested because he is hostage to them. They backed his election. Democratic voters come second when real power is involved.

I agree that both parties do exactly the same on the really big issues i.e. war, global warming, globalisation. On these issues they carry out the wishes of big business. They have flexibility on other issues such as tax increases, VAT, health spending etc. Yes DC is like Tony Blair, because they all follow the same agenda on important issues. We have seen that some of them are 'cabs for hire' at £5000 etc. That's not a lot for big business to get their agenda through.

It is on the smaller issues that you need to make a decision about which party will cause less harm for the normal individual. I think that Labour holds people back, dumbs down, is a fan of the lowest common denominator as seen by their championing of comprehensive schools. Labour don't promote business, they restrict it with unnecessary legislation, they don't care if you do well, they don't want you to succeed because you may then become a Tory. The Tories are no angels, but they don't care who you are or where you came from, they won't stop you succeeding. It was the Tories that had the first female prime minister and it will be the Tories who have the first non-white prime minister. John Major left school at 16 and became Prime Minister, unlike Labour's Brown and Blair. The Tories provide a ladder to succeed, they promote private enterprise to give people employment. The Tories are pro freedom, they don't want an overbearing state controlling everything like the Labour control freaks do. They won't be fining ordinary struggling families for wheelie bin crimes. They believe in getting the state off people's backs and setting people free.

Defence (and I always vote Tory because of that).

Labour has made mistakes and I find DC a very attractive and clever politician BUT on big mistakes like Iraq, the Tories would have done the same/voted in favour. And they were more laissez faire about regulation of Fin Services whatever they say now.

And then on important actions like stopping bank meltdown, they were saying that the govt shouldn't intervene.

And then I don't think that they would have improved health care and primary education as has happened in the last 15 years. personally, I would have paid less taxes and be better off. And given that I send mine to private schools and have private health cover, I probably would have done better under the Tories.

So whilst I think DC is a great guy and I don't mind him becoming PM I am trying to distinguish between substance and personality politics. Isn't DC just a light version of Tony Blair?

claig- many of the facts that you are stating are true but many of the conclusions seem quite wrong IMO. For example, equating saving the banking system to saving an unsustainable car manufacturers. I don't think Obama is a fan of Wall Street and wanted to save WS in priority to the helping the Democrat voting manufacturing unions from Detroit etc!!!! But he understood the risk contagion in a collapsed Finance system. I am sure that he is working with ex Goldman people for similar reasons to why he kept Robert Gates on as Secretary of State for Defence. He is doing what he needs to do to avoid disaster.

I wouldn't argue every point but in times of economic boom inequality will increase whichever party is in power. You need to have a govt to ensure that there is some measure of fairness. This leads to a discussion of absolute vs relative poverty. Equality (relative poverty) is an important measure but fairness and absolute poverty are at least as important [clearly, not the same thing].

We should ask our selves whether inequality would have been worse if Labour hadn't come to office in 1997.

ClematisMontana, exactly, you can't spend what you don't earn, and it is the private sector that is the creator of wealth.

I'll be voting Conservative because I think they're the best party to stimulate growth of private sector jobs. Something we need in order to be restore health to our economy. Since 2001 our private sector jobs have decreased and public sector jobs increased. In spite of the poltico-economic climate being excellent for private sector job creation, Labour failed to incentivise small business and entrepreneurs.

Greece is currently struggling to service its debts and this is mainly because their private sector tax take is negligible. Most Greek government revenue comes from public sector jobs... so they pay Euros 100 in wages and get back Euros 40 in tax (for example). It's a debt spiral that is going to be v difficult for them to recover from. The UK will end up like Greece if Labour are re-elected.

The stronger the private sector tax take, the more public sector jobs can be afforded. It's so bleedin obvious really.

scarletlilybug, agree with you. Labour hate the middle class and are not friends of the working class, the only class they like is a dependent client class that is guaranteed to vote for them. That's why their policy is to hold the people down. They scrap grammar schools and ruin standards in schools, so that the working class can't escape and vote for the other side.

Frankly, I'm amazed that anyone (other than those who are part of Brown's enormous client state) would even consider voting Labour.

if you work in the City then you will know that Henry Paulson, the former US Treasury Secretary was a Goldman boy, ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs. Obama gave the banks whatever they wanted but wasn't prepared to do the same for Gemeral Motors. He had to plead with Paulson to help GM out.
business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/engineering/article5119805.ece

Then Treasury Secretary Geithner has close links with Goldman Sachs
finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/161374/Tim-Geithner-Too-Close-to-Goldman-Sachs-to-Be-Treasury- Secretary-Critic-Says?tickers=GS,C,BAC,XLF,MS,JPM,%5EDJI

and it was the Republicans who were holding up the bail out of the banks because they thought, like the majority of the public, that this was daylight robbery of the taxpayers. They were in favour, as was the public, of letting some of the banks fail, and rescuing General Motors, a company at the heart of America's economy.

The City did very well under Brown, carries on awarding itself bonuses, and will do just as well if not better under Cameron.

claig - don't want to digress from main thread but you are joking, aren't you? Obama rescued Wall Street because he was trying to avert the impending global meltdown. He is prepared to confront big business interest e.g. on Healthcare where it is right to do so. He hasn't spent much time pointing out the mess that he inherited eg. two wars and a depression but you should give him some credit for holding it all together and doing so well in just a year.

Brown working for big business is also very amusing but I will leave this one alone. I work in the City and I can tell you that DC will be best for us, no question; but I am trying to think wider than self interest.

TDiddy, Brown and Obama work for big business/Wall Street, they are puppets. Wall Street put Obama in power, look at his real funding. Obama did what he was told and handed over tax payers' money to Wall Street. The tax payers didn't notice because they have been taught that the socialists love them and care for them. Wall Street didn't want big bad Bush etc. to hand over the loot to Wall Street, because the public might have woken up since they see Bush as the opposite of Obama and the caring socialists.

The socialists want to keep the people down, dumb them down, in education and in all other spheres. You won't find Mandelson and the other champagne socialists visiting any crime-ridden sink estates where vulnerable people are tormented by gangs of thugs, you'll find Mandelson on a yacht off of Corfu back-slapping with his big business/Wall Street pals, quaffing their champagne, and listening carefully to what they want. You'll find them trying to curry favour with Murdoch, who uses them when he needs them and then cuts them loose, something they desperately try to prevent.

Goldman Sachs always comes up trumps, whoever is supposedly in charge.

...current Govt have made mistakes but Tory reflect reflex of low state intervention...

The thing is, there are so many differences between the parties. DC is a decent, likeable guy and GB a sincere public servant. Core values of the parties is one of the few things that distinguish them.

It is interesting to watch big business/wall street kick Brown and Obama now that they are feeling confident again after the economy has been bailed out by the "socialists" they don't want intervention! Defenders of Goldman Sachs bonuses point out that GS didn't take govt money. Leaves me wandering what would have happened to GS if a few more banks had failed! Short memories!

Current Govt have made mistakes but Tory reflect of low state intervention would not have averted the likely depression 18 mths ago.

PS Clearly remarks about Etonians and Scots are light hearted as neither has anything to do with ability to govern etc.?

I always vote Tory. I believe in low state intervention and more freedom of choice. I believe in aspiration and rewards for hard work.

The upcoming Balls vs Miliband Labour implosion is just one more reason to vote Conservative

FARK! Ed Balls as Leader..................falls off perch in the manner of a dead parrot!