to ask you why you would vote Tory?

[Dromedary]

I have a nasty feeling that if an election were held now the Tories might get in again.
Lots of you out there support the Tories.
Some of the rest of us find that very hard to understand.
Can you explain your reasoning for us? I for one promise not to bash you for your views on this thread (but may do so on other threads).

Gordon Brown
Tony Blair
Ed Miliband

I can assure you that lots of us who vote Tory find it very hard to understand why anybody would ever support Labour.

^^ This

YANBU and I have not a single idea either so looking forward to reading some proper reasoned responses.

They're negative reasons. What are the positive reasons for supporting the Tories?

Because you were a selfish bastard who thinks the workhouse is too good for the poor?

Never have, never will but often do find it hard to argue with some of my tory voting friends. For me, it is more about ideology, for them it seems to be about financial policy, even though most of us are worse off under our current government.

I actually have a lot of respect for Gordon Brown but his face didn't fit and he was handed a very poisened chalice. I never had much faith in Blair and think he was probably the worse thing that has happened to the Labour party. Such a shame that John Smith died when he did, things could have been so different if he hadn't .

I wouldn't. But but but: I can't vote Labour after the war. I can't vote lib dem because they are principle-dumping lap-dogs. And I can't vote SNP (am in Scotland) because I'm not a Nat. So I'm really not sure what I'm going to do at the next election.

I might vote for them if they weren't the biggest scroungers and entitled wankers going. And if they didn't continually go on about people striving not skiving when their obscenely privileged existence is due to inherited wealth and historical tax-dodging

I've never voted Tory before for this reason.

1. They're not sanctimonious little bastards who resent anybody who dares to work hard and makes more money than they do.

Hang on, is that a negative reason? I'll try again...

1. They're not completely shit at running the economy and don't tend to bankrupt the country every time they get into power.

Is that a negative reason? Hmmm... not sure...

1. They tend not to try to buy the electorate with pointless, expensive bribes like EMA and Child Trust Funds.

Oh no, hang on, that's another negative reason, isn't it?

1. How about the fact that they at least pay lip service to the idea of personal responsibility, hard work, morals and the importance of family, and these things are important to those of us who were brought up with those values?

1. How about not wanting every aspect of our lives to be controlled by the State?

1. How about wanting to preserve our country's ancient traditions instead of seeing them torn apart in the name of 'progress'?

1. How about not being a gullible prat who falls for all the bollocks about the Tories being the "Nasty Party" and assuming that voting for a left-wing party will therefore automatically make us "Nice"?

Yes, YABU to ask because I would never dream of voting Tory. YANBU to wonder why anyone else would!

Well, Labour have all the answers, don't they?

I thought I was a dyed-in-the-wool leftie... Until the last election, when I couldn't bring useful to vote Labour again. Actually, that happened the election before as well so I voted Lib Dem. That seemed pointless this time around (and was!) so I voted Tory.

OP - do you think Labour was the best option at the last election? If so, care to elucidate why?

Because the Labour party always promises and spends money that isn't available - ie borrowed and the debt passed onto the next generation. This is what is coming home to roost.
This happened in the 1970's, when the Labour government went to the IMF because no-one else would lend to us and the alternative was complete social breakdown like what is happening in Greece. The country then was a disaster and there had been a policy of managed decline for 20 years (admittedly both Labour and Conservative).
I know this is unpopular, but the Thatcher government turned this country around and her policy of free market economics changed the game and was copied around the world.
Blair's government took a well functioning economy and, because of their 1997 election pledge, copied Conservative spending policies for 5 years and all was ok, then in 2001, they went mad and decided to deliberately make everyone a recipient of state benefits so they would never vote against them.
During the biggest boom in recent history, directly linked to cheap Chinese goods, they borrowed massively and beggared the country, with the result that some parts of the country have over 70% of the earnings from the public sector, which is more than the Russian communists managed.
The Labour party runs based on what they want to be the truth, ie people don't mind sharing wealth and everyone does their best for the country. The Conservatives govern as is, ie we are all reasonable selfish and will do what is best for us. Thus if you tax rich people too much, they will work less and earn less, so overall less tax (the laffer curve.
As Arnie said, Father Christmas is where your children ask for presents and make the parents pay, the deficit is where the parents ask the government for presents and make the children pay.

My vote is between me and the ballot box, seeing as we live in a democracy I don't have to justify my vote.

Because labour put Britain into this economic mess (it's a global recession but Britain is in more trouble than most) and I don't trust them to get us out of it in a sustainable way. The Tories inherited a pile of shit and are doing something to try to dig us out of it (they are not always getting it right but they are moving things in the right direction).

shear self interest,

As a middle class, SAHM with a DH who works for a large multi national, I'd be fucking stupid not to.

Itching to post.... . Startail I think I'm with you!

And euroshagmore

Youngermother, it's a long post think I'm there

To piss off all the lefty scum.