To all of you toryphobic but lovely mumsnetters...

[catus]

I found the tory-dating thread quite interesting. Clearly some people have very strong and deep-seated political views. I couldn't help but wonder: what would you do if your offsprings became conservatives? Would you be disappointed? Would you try to change their opinions at every opportunity? Would you buy them the complete Ken Loach collection? Would you dare admit it to your friends?
And what about their future partners, wouldn't you at least try to love them a little even if they were tories?
For me, I have right wing tendencies but it would probably be fun if DS ended up politically minded and on the left. At least it wouldn't be dull!

This thread is weird and OTT. I look forward to political debates with my children, it'll be interesting. I suppose it helps that I have an academic grounding in Left and Right theory and view them both as valid systems of government as a basis for discussion, morally sound at the centre and both sides with weaker cases the further out you get.

Presumably all those who have disowned their children for their 'lack of compassion' are aware that like the centre left parties, the centre right parties are seeking solutions to bring improvement to society as a whole. You might believe they're failing but that is the intention. So disowning your children would really just be bigotry and lacking in compassion, wouldn't it?

No you don't.

Good thread = my exDH is the product of committed Tory voters along with his sisters. Not one of them now votes Tory - my exH did until he moved out and went to London where he witnessed poverty for the forst time in his pampered life and just felt that the Conservatives did not have the right answers.
What answers to poverty do Labour have? Do you think Tories don't witness poverty too? Some of us live in fairly poor areas.

That would have worked much better if my post was under Kayano's, as intended.

I wouldn't disown them. I would be surprised and bewildered. I know lots of people who vote Tory, they are usually stinking rich, or Daily Mail/Sun readers or disillusioned ex Blairites who are now regretting it.

I suppose I'm an ex-Blairite as I voted Labour in 1997 (I was 20 at the time).

I would hope that they would be able to form their own opinions without being led by my or my DH's political beliefs and would show a darn sight more tolerance for the political views of others than has been shown by the 'alleged' grown up's on this thread
It really makes me when people say they couldn't be friends with someone because of their political views or generally slags off people who choose to vote for a certain party. It just smacks of immaturity and name calling under the guise of 'political views'.....

I would be surprised and a little disappointed ,historically we are a left wing family on both sides. Have a history of being politically active and have union reps etc on both sides. I would feel a little like the one who had let down the family.

However I suspect my children are the first generation some time not to have experienced poverty first hand and therefore their sense of social justice may nit be as raw as it is for me and those before me. This may lead them to make different voting choices.

We discuss politics over the table so they would know that I disgagree with them but if course I would never disown them - unless they voted UKIP.

Thing is Josephine most Tory voters or MPs tend to have a fairly rosy tinted view of life. Some have known real poverty themselves and through good fortune and sheer hard work have got themselves out of poverty and quite often form the opinion that anyone else can do the same - life is not like that though - for every person who got a lucky break or was in the right place at the right time are several others who did not.
Labour made mistakes but their committment to tackling health inequalities caused by poverty is, I believe their one legacy - shame that the coalition Govt are closing loads of Childrens Centres down or reducing the funding.

Did the Labour government actually reduce health inequality though?

I don't think we will know that for several years - the theory was sound and based upon tackling the causes of health inequalities - personally I think we need to wait 20 -25 years to see if the input made the difference it set out to.

I believed in it - others it has to be said did not but it was an improvement upon what was there previously (nothing).

Of course I'd love them! And I expect any political disagreement would be great for any tory DIL, so that she could complain on MN about her loony left MIL!

To put the thread in perspective, though: recently a footballer was convicted of raping an unconscious woman, while some friends of his filmed it. Some of his family are fully behind him, and think it's a miscarriage of justice. There's lots of stories like that, but I bet many families would have said that they would disown a son for that beforehand. So I'm inclined to doubt that many people would disown adult children for different political views. Some individual families, sure...

DH is a tory. DS has the middle name "Boris" after Boris Johnson.

I am very very far from a tory

DS will grow up confused I think

My dd is a lefty student ATM and thats fine by me , they wouldnt be a tory as we dont have it in our blood to be tory , IMO conservatives are born and not made

Me and DH dont discuss Politics tbh i dont know who he votes for , its a non issue for us , he may well be a tory in disguise EEEK

I would be much more disappointed if my DC was totally uninterested in poliitics - I find it shocking that so few people vote or even bother to find out their MP is. FWIW I was raised in a Tory household but joined the Labour Party on my 18th birthday and have remained loyal to them. I am 100% certain that my parents (Dad is still a Tory councillor in his 80s ) wouldn't dream of 'disowning' me because we have such different views - it makes for very lively arguments discussions !

usualsuspect - should I consider disowning my parents ? .

Also I disagree that you can always tell what someone votes from the way they lead their life - I do a lot of voluntary work and naively assumed that everyone else was like me - concerned about social justice, wanting to share wealth, give people better opportunities etc etc and therefore would have left wing views - this is clearly not the case. some of the 'nicest' people I work with vote conservative .

My disown them comment was tongue in cheek , I wouldn't disown them much

I might write them out of my will though , They can keep their hands of my Argos jewels

'I hope I've tried to explain compassion and that's pretty incompatible with being a tory.'

Well my Tory activist husband is certainly putting on a good show. Since he's been unemployed, a year now, he's spent pretty well all his waking time working for charities and on local projects. He works in the not-for-profit sector, too, or used to.

Clearly he's lying through his teeth and is secretly attending Neo-Nazi rallies How can you be so naive and simplistic in judging people? a

I would be very surprised if dd ended up voting tory - I would hope that she wouldn't think that way. I don't understand how people can look at the tory ideology and what they have done in the past and present and think 'yep, that's the party for me'.

Mind you, at least the tory's have an ideology, and have a grudging respect for them in that they know what their beliefs are, and they are the same raddled old whore of a party as they have been for years. Know thine enemy and all that. So if dd inexplicably ended up voting conservative we could have some rip-roaring rows.

If she ended up voting Lib Dem I would disown her and she would never darken my doors. Lib Dems manage to be a shocking combination if ineptitude and grasping spite. I think they are far worse than the torys tbh.

sorry for apostrophe crimes in that last post before you call me a thick socialist

Thick socialists are okay, I think. It's champagne socialists they hate! I don't actually understand why, but CiF posts harp on about champagne socialism. Whatever it is.