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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not give a damn if the Labour Party...

355 replies

slatternlymother · 31/01/2013 18:42

Give away free flat screen TV's and a £500 Next gift card to everyone claiming benefits.

I don't care if they say 'fuck it, free immigration to everyone, we'll let anyone in'

I don't care if they spend 4 jillion pounds on a statue of Ghandi.

Just as long as the Conservatives don't get in again. They are fucking evil, aren't they?

bastards. Fucking bastards

I don't want to live in a country like this anymore Sad

OP posts:
ShellyBoobs · 02/02/2013 08:54

PeppermintLatte - again I'll say your 'poll' of people you've encountered isn't representative of a broad cross-section of the population.

If Labour are running at 38% support and the Conservatives at 33%, it can't possibly to reasonable to say 99% of people you've spoken to want the Tories out and at the same time think that your sample is representative of the country.

lazybastard · 02/02/2013 09:00

Tories are really unpopular in my area, there wasn't even a Tory candidate at the last election.

CloudsAndTrees · 02/02/2013 11:05

Labour is unpopular in my area. We had a candidate, but they didn't bother dropping leaflets through the doors, or have representatives at the voting hall. There was lots of promotion of Conservatives, Lib Dems and UKIP though.

I don't think polls really mean very much this far away from the election.

Vev · 02/02/2013 11:31

Oh my giddy aunt there are some ignorant folk on here.

I do not know of anyone who is living on benefits would rather not be in work and earning a liveable wage. People are living hand to mouth, not knowing where their next penny is coming from and this government's policies are being hailed as being fair! Come April when UC kicks in many people will be totally destitute.

I am old enough to remember Thatcher and he is a worser version.

Folk on benefits don't get that much you know. We are all a couple of salaries away from being on the other end of the stick ourselves, don't sit too comfy in your righteousness.

ShellyBoobs · 02/02/2013 11:39

I don't think polls really mean very much this far away from the election.

Totally agree; they don't even mean that much around the time of an election.

What I do think though, is that a lot of MNers seem somewhat deluded with regard to how much/little support the Tories have. They are certainly not hated by 99% of the population.

Whether they should be hated by 99% is a different issue, though...

AmberSocks · 02/02/2013 11:40

from what i am seeing on here,it seems like people think only the working classes matter?

i dont like any of the parties but what exactly have conservative done that is so bad?

i know i sound ignorant-i am ignorant as i live my life i a way where most things dont affect me,but i would still like to know.it doesnt seem any better or worse to me.

Abra1d · 02/02/2013 11:48

It is a Coalition government, so presumably people won't be voting LibDem either?

And regardless of whom you vote for, the days of vast state spending on welfare and health are over for the foreseeable future: worldwide. Nobody can afford to spend so much on it as all we western democracies we have been doing. Very harsh times, indeed.

Vote Labour if you have to but don't expect that public spending would improve much.

CloudsAndTrees · 02/02/2013 11:55

I agree with that Amber, and have thought it many times while reading MN. It very much does come across as if people seem to think only the working class and poor people matter, and as if they believe that those are the only people who deserve consideration from their government.

allgoingtoshitnow · 02/02/2013 11:57

"Oh my giddy aunt there are some ignorant folk on here.

I do not know of anyone who is living on benefits would rather not be in work and earning a liveable wage."

I know loads. And they are mostly Labour supporters because they know where their next (free) meal is coming from. They arent stupid, just utterly selfish.

peeriebear · 02/02/2013 12:11

I will never vote Conservative, purely because they are ripping the arse out of the poorest and the disabled time and time again. The Atos fiasco is inhumane. People are committing suicide because they have literally no means of supporting themselves let alone their families.
My friend has just had his Atos claim rejected and read their report. The assessor had put
"He can touch his index finger and thumb on right hand"- He doesn't have an index finger on his right hand.
"He claims to be blind in one eye"- well the supporting evidence from the surgeon who removed his optic nerve supports the claim too!
Another friend has had any possible means of disability support denied because there MIGHT IN FUTURE be a treatment that alleviates her condition. Her doctor was amazed that she was at work (she collapsed at work)- but she has literally no choice. It's work in desperate pain or starve. She doesn't want the life of Riley 'at taxpayer's expense', she wants to not live a purgatory half-life of never ending struggle.

Vev · 02/02/2013 12:42

He has decided the bedroom tax is a good idea, but declined the mansion tax. Why is council tax the same for a 4/5 bedroom house the same as a mansion?

A rise in interest rates would bring in money. Why should renters subsidise people with mortgages?

Not exactly fare Cameron's policies.

dreamingofsun · 02/02/2013 13:03

vev - if mortgage rates were high you wouldn't expect renters to subsidise landlords. when we first started renting our house out the rates were high and we made a loss each month.

how would a rise in interest rates bring in money? Bring it into where?

Vev · 02/02/2013 13:34

No it wouldn't be nice if interest rates were high, but that will be the next move. Was being tongue in cheek.

Skittish · 02/02/2013 18:00

peppermintlatte everyone I know votes Tory. I live in true middle England and a turd would get in before a Labour councillor.
Surely my experience is as valid as yours?
What I do know is welfare overhaul is long overdue and very much welcomed by the vast majority.

I did laugh at the poster who said benefit claimants would rather work than claim - I do so adore the naivety of the rose tinted spec wearing Left! Grin

Skittish · 02/02/2013 18:04

Also loving the idea that renters subsidise mortgages!

Tell me then, why do you rent rather than buy? Oh, because you can't actually afford to buy the house you rent , ergo, it is cheaper and easier for you to rent than to buy .

JakeBullet · 02/02/2013 18:04

Skittish....many benefit claimants would rather work but I agree a minority will be hard wired to just claiming.

I woud rather work but cannot...or at least not full time at the moment....I am lucky as I had a job for 30 years prior to this.

I was a HV and a midwife for 20 years and met many families affected by redundancy etc....most eventually got back into work but not all. Many also got temporary work which would end with no further work.

Even the young parents I met usually had someone doing something which brought in money. It's not being naive to say that many benefit claimants would rather not have to claim....I would rather not have to claim.

angeltulips · 02/02/2013 18:18

yawn - this coalition gvt is decidedly average, but most of the posters on this thread sound about 7 years old whinging about the meanie Tories.

Gvt spending has gone UP in real terms since this gvt came to power - not down.

And it is pretty much universally acknowledged that our taxation system is far to skewed towards taxing income per capital - but I seem to remember a thread where all these noble mumsnettets violently rejected the idea of using parents homes to pay for elderly care on the basis they wouldn't inherit. Not to mention QE - but of course removing that would be mean some of you would lose youre property wiindfalls that the rest of us are currently subsidising. Not so different from the "wealthy" you seem to despise when your inheritances might be at stake, are you?

I am no fan of this gvt, but the MN attitude to what the government should be providing is completely unrealistic, as is their view of who should be paying for it (short answer: people who earn more than me - whatever that amount of it is). .

angeltulips · 02/02/2013 18:19

*your

Apologies

Skittish · 02/02/2013 18:21

angeltulpis nail beautifully hit on head there.

The Rich Who Must Pay More are always those earning more than the person demanding they do so.

CelticPromise · 02/02/2013 19:19

Skittish rent is mainly higher than mortgage payments where I live. Rent on my sister's flat is higher than the mortgage on my 3 bed house. It's the deposit that's the problem, and if you don't earn enough to save any money you end up paying your landlord's mortgage.

CelticPromise · 02/02/2013 19:22

angel for what it's worth, I'm in favour of IHT and think the threshold should be lowered. And yes I probably will inherit a share of a house one day, and no I don't think I should get to keep it all.

Skittish · 02/02/2013 19:28

celtic whichever way you slice it, if you rent it's usually because you cannot afford to buy ergo , you are probably renting a better property than you would live in if you could buy.
And you are not paying your LL mortgage. You are paying for a home you can't afford to buy yourself.
I rented out a house that was live din by a family who could never, ever have bought such a house. We both benefitted from that relationship.

CelticPromise · 02/02/2013 19:38

It really depends on what the market is doing at the time. Once it was perfectly possible to buy a house on one average income. Now it is not. The increase in property values had benefited those who have it hugely, through them doing nothing, while those who don't have it are priced out unless they have help. Because of the competition for rental property prices go up while mortgage payments are low thanks to low interest rates.

lazybastard · 02/02/2013 19:46

Stupid and utterly selfish am I allgo. Yes of course I was made redundant just to loss you off. Losing my job, independence and future aren't punishment enough though are they? I need to be slagged off and kicked while I'm down. I'm sick of the whole fucking thing.

IfNotNowThenWhen · 02/02/2013 20:22

Don't worry lazybastard, not everyone thinks that.
Unfortunately there are too many people in this country who have unreasonable amounts of vitriol for people that they perceive to be having a "free ride" at their expense.
Of course, the reality is very different, but even if it wasn't I support the basic ideal of the welfare state, without which our country would be a much much worse place. I don't actually care too much if a tiny minority never work, and don't want to, because the fact is the system protects the majority who are trying hard.
I am happy to pay tax to live in a civilised place where the poor are treated with dignity and not like criminals who have to prove that they are worthy all the time.
The ones who are being viscous about the imaginary scroungers they read about in the mail seem to spend a lot of time worrying that someone, somewhere is having an easier life than them. Strangely they don't seem very bothered about the actual "free riders"-the big name entertainers making millions and avoiding all tax, the bankers still raking it in while their employers siphon off public money, the corporations declaring no income while making millions off the British people.
They remind me of the forelock tugging house servants of yore, thinking their masters can do no wrong, while actually their masters couldn't give the tiniest shite about them.
They should save their bile for the people who are actually screwing us over, and that's not you.

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