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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

How miserable are you that the Tories are in power?

813 replies

sundayrose10 · 08/07/2011 09:25

I feel tense and twitchy. I used to enjoy reading the politic section/ other political forums, but I fear if I keep on going there and reading more and more about Tory plans, I will give myself a heart attack.

I loath them but worst I fear them. I am anxious for this country and the ordinary man and woman.

Dave makes me feel insane with hatred.

I have a colleague who is in love with the Tories. I don't share biscuits with him any more.

Dave makes me itch. All over.

OP posts:
Cocoflower · 11/07/2011 13:06

Glitter Can I ask you something?

Do you not think if the fradulent claims were targetted and stopped it would be much fairer on those in REAL need who are ill, disabled or carers?

Personally I would like to see more money in the pot for people in crisis.

Money needs to be stopped for fraudsters needs to be redirected to those in NEED it.

Isn't the issue of fradulent claims something you should care about too?

bredes · 11/07/2011 13:06

I agree the Iraq war was the greatest foreign policy mistake since Suez, Central Government ringfences trample on localaism and local democracy and should be outlawed.

Carminagetsprimal · 11/07/2011 13:12

GK - I agree with you.
The disabled ( and their carers ) should be helped first and given more money imo. They are our most vulnerable group.
Stop throwing money at groups who are neither sick, disabled, or elderly, and can manage quite well on their own -labour wasted so much money trying to help everyone it just got ridiculous. ( do we really need 5 a day coordinators on £30k? I'll go into schools and tell kids to eat more fruit for nothing )
And as for foreign aid - charity begins at home.

latitude · 11/07/2011 13:15

'This country is a bond market confidence loss away from an economic catastrophe.'

Couldn't agree more and I do wonder if the people who complain about the cuts appreciate the dire fiscal position of the country.

Chen23 · 11/07/2011 13:16

"Do you not think if the fradulent claims were targetted and stopped it would be much fairer on those in REAL need who are ill, disabled or carers?"

Not sure if anyone was making the case for ignoring fraudulent claims.

mauricetinkler · 11/07/2011 13:16

Glitterknickaz - Why are you calling us right wing? In the old days, Labour would have supported the same kind of sentiment that we are expressing - ie encouraging the idle and feckless is a BAD THING. Suddenly, it's right wing to thing like that. Total bollocks I'm afraid.

mauricetinkler · 11/07/2011 13:18

latitude - "Couldn't agree more and I do wonder if the people who complain about the cuts appreciate the dire fiscal position of the country."
Trouble is, people complaining about the cuts are left wingers. And left wingers, as a general rule, are clueless when it comes to economics.

Chen23 · 11/07/2011 13:25

"Trouble is, people complaining about the cuts are left wingers. And left wingers, as a general rule, are clueless when it comes to economics."

And crass generalisations like that are really useful. HmmHmm

How many of the economic expert fuck knuckles who caused the credit crunch do you think were left wingers?

claig · 11/07/2011 13:37

'How many of the economic expert fuck knuckles who caused the credit crunch do you think were left wingers?'

I would hazard a guess, nearly every single one.

TheFalcon · 11/07/2011 13:37

How many of the people that caused the boom were left wingers?

mauricetinkler · 11/07/2011 13:38

Chen23 - the credit crunch was caused by millions of people acting like sheep, general market psychology. Galbraith's book The Great Crash 1929 is brilliant on this subject and is as relevant today was it was when it was written (1950s I think). To try pin the blame on individuals or sections of society is futile. Millions were culpable.

Glitterknickaz · 11/07/2011 13:40

Coco that would be great, if that's what was happening.
It's not.
People with disabilities and their carers ARE being targetted just as much as those who have never worked a day in their lives for no good reason.

claig · 11/07/2011 13:43

'How many of the people that caused the boom were left wingers?'

Very good question. Does anyone know the answer? I could hazard a guess.

Glitterknickaz · 11/07/2011 13:46

Capitalism has made the cost of living more than an average family can earn. They have to take top ups in the form of tax credits. Whichever political persuasion that is the responsibility of doesn't particularly matter, it's fact.

Energy companies enjoying enormous profits, supermarkets doing the same. Property prices......

I'm not saying a direct move to socialism would work, I don't think it would. But Capitalist greed is worsening a dire situation.

Chen23 · 11/07/2011 13:46

"How many of the people that caused the boom were left wingers?"

A boom built largely on unsustainable debt and ponzi scheme casino banking.

Now there's something worth taking the credit for.

"Chen23 - the credit crunch was caused by millions of people acting like sheep, general market psychology. Galbraith's book The Great Crash 1929 is brilliant on this subject and is as relevant today was it was when it was written (1950s I think). To try pin the blame on individuals or sections of society is futile. Millions were culpable."

Pretty sure I wasn't as culpable as the bankers who concocted those derivatives but thanks anyway.

claig · 11/07/2011 13:47

Agree with Glitterknickaz, key things like helping disabled peopel etc. should be ringfenced at a local level. The recycling etc. should be second priority. The planet can wait, people can't.

Glitterknickaz · 11/07/2011 13:47

Irresponsible lending just purely fuelled the greed of those making a mint from property.

Glitterknickaz · 11/07/2011 13:49

Bloody hell, claig agrees with me Shock
I am talking from one who is right in the middle of it here, the welfare reforms ARE targetting the wrong people. I'm not saying that reform doesn't have to happen, I'm saying it's being implemented unfairly.
I don't think you can say I'm unfairly targetting this govt either, I've got plenty to say about NuLab! Grin

claig · 11/07/2011 13:51

'I'm not saying a direct move to socialism would work, I don't think it would. But Capitalist greed is worsening a dire situation.'

Agree with that. Keep capitalism, but regulate it. A lot of the increase in energy prices is due to what they call the 'carbon footprint'.

Cocoflower · 11/07/2011 13:51

Glitter this is why I think people need to fight for distinction.

I noticed on a lot of the "benefit bashing" threads a lot of disabled people/ carers etc will post about not "bashing" AT All because of those who are disabled etc

However I think times need to change. Really the posts shoukd be "yes all undeserving should be made to feel ashamed so the money can be redirected to us that need it"

I would extend this beyond to disabled and carers too;

Emergency situations- i,e SAHM partner suddenly dies and she has no immediate income
Temporary issues-i.e- Those made redudant

claig · 11/07/2011 13:53

'I've got plenty to say about NuLab!'

please, go ahead and say it. Wink

SinisterBuggyMonth · 11/07/2011 13:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

niceguy2 · 11/07/2011 14:00

The banking crisis was merely the straw which broke the camels back. The root cause here as Greece and all the other western countries show is if you borrow money, one day you must pay it back.....with interest. That means you have less money to spend than you otherwise would have.

Now the problem is that many people bought into the notion that government's are somehow different. That they can continually borrow money as economic growth will somehow make it magically ok. That's the same as me continually borrowing money because I'll get a payrise soon....and when I do, i borrow more because hey.....i'll get a payrise soon.....

So yes, the banks made a mess but what about the governments whom were happily borrowing money like some bottomless bucket?

And it's not the banks fault we've allowed our welfare bill to exceed what we take from income tax. Now most rational people would look at this and think "Ooooh that's a problem" but the lefties amongst us will merely revert to "What about the poor!?! Tax the rich!!!"

Glitterknickaz · 11/07/2011 14:00

I've touched upon it, Claig.
Blair's warmongering and the inherent costs.
Public sector overspending.

Some of the cuts are in completely the wrong areas though.

You know it actually terrifies me that we'll be on the streets if they carry on with the reform to disability and carer benefits. The fraud and error rate is less than 1% yet they want to get 20% of people off these benefits, that means that 19% of applicants will be denied money they so desperately need... just to balance the books. They want to employ a company - ATOS (originally employed by NuLab) - who have been proven to have got it wrong in 60% of ESA cases to make decisions on which people with disabilities are most deserving rather than relying on specialist medical reports as they do now..... and then they want to remove the right to appeal.... terrifying.

Yet they can fire missiles at Gadaffi and spend money abroad but "have no money".

claig · 11/07/2011 14:09

'then they want to remove the right to appeal.... terrifying'

yes that sounds terrible.
Yes there is lots of waste - wars, 'carbon footprints', aid to countries with space programmes and more billionaires than us.