To wonder about the values of Tory/UKIP voters

[Campaspe]

Why would anyone vote for a party that promotes austerity rather than a progressive, liberal party (Labour, SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru)? I'm not saying for a minute that Tory voters don't care about poor or vulnerable people, so how do they square their political support with their conscience? Is it that these voters genuinely believe Labour caused the recession (most analysts now discredit this theory and point to Tory failure to manage the deficit, but maybe these voters aren't aware).

So, given the economic mismanagement stuff doesn't stick, why??? Dislike of Ed Miliband - in which case, why not another progressive party? How do such voters justify the bedroom tax, benefit sanctions, supporting tax evasion, failure to protect libraries, the growing divide between rich and poor etc etc. What are their reasons???

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YABU for lumping Tory and UKIP voters together!

I think I'm very left wing but I want austerity.

No party is right for me, then.

Progressive tends to be the right word for left wing: favouring social reform.

Conservatives (clue is in the name) by definition want minimal change from where we are now.

UKIP is a funny one that breaks some of the rules, however; they want 'reforms' back to how thing were 60 yrs ago. Sort of retro-reforms/conservative.

I know someone who votes UKIP... could explain their values a bit if OP really wanted to know.

Op could you explain why you have lumped Tory and UKIP voters together?

Or is it that you don't actually know much about the political parties apart from that the the Conservatives and UKIP are the 'bad people'

This is why the ping pong politics of the 2 party Westminster system doesn't suit the modern world and one of the reasons why Scotland wants out.

Thanks everyone, interesting things here. I've was really careful in my OP to stress that I know voters of all parties care for others. My questions are an attempt to understand why Tory/UKIP voters feel OK with policies which seem to me to be unfair and to be unhelpful to the vulnerable in this country. It's actually a genuine question!

I expected a lot of stuff about Labour management of the economy. The background reading and research I've done (admittedly limited, as all reading always is) suggests to me that cuts and austerity measures not only hurt the weakest, but don't actually help the economy. I really don't see signs of an economic recovery, and the worst cuts are still to come.

And if you absolutely refuse to accept this, how do you deal with the fact the deficit is getting bigger? And the divide between rich and poor getting bigger?

Some of them feel OK about policies targeting the vulnerable because the vulnerable have been demonised by the right wing media and made scapegoats who deserve austerity being forced upon them.

The cuts so far have hurt the weakest and not helped the economy at all.

ChristyMooreRocks - I realise there are some differences, but there are also large areas of policy overlap, and both parties are keen to dismantle the public sector and put private provision in its place.

Thanks Malice, I will watch that when I get a chance.

The deficit has been cut by half this parliament. The national debt is still growing but the rate at which we're adding to it is smaller.

Supporting people with disabilities is not "fluffy"

I have never voted Tory and would never vote ukip (as I understAnd it they seem to have captured a lot of ex labour so you would probably know more about their values)
13 yrs of labour and people think they helped the working classes? They didn't, they just spent, spent, spent borrowed money. The sheer hypocrisy of them is astounding, it mystifies me that people accept it.

I would love to vote green. I would also love to vote for a party that gave everyone in the country, free healthcare, free social care, free gas and electric, free housing and a lovely unicorn to keep in the garden (everyone would obviously have a garden).
Tragically I live on the real world, it's all very well promising people the moon on a stick but someone has to find the money for it.

Labour wasted so much money and encouraged a heavy reliance on the state. That's something that will take a long time to revere and will affect our children.

There's never going to be a party everyone agrees with so you pick the one that you believe will do the best job.

Those that live on benefits are very likely to vote Labour as they know they throw money at people whereas tax payers who don't claim are more likely to choose other parties.

Without the current government we could have ended up far worse like other countries did. The cuts may have taken place but I'm sure compared to many other countries our benefits are still highly generous.

Well tax breaks for the wealthy while proposing to tax DLA and remove many people's Carers Allowance are not the way to go either are they? People voting Tory will be voting for this. Thanks.

Malice , very funny . I'll keep hoping for that land of milk and honey! At least your husband votes, my partner is a staunch non-voter. I highly enjoy a good political debate, I can see a point from most parties. Talking politics to a non-voter is as fun as pulling teeth though.

You are right though..those that don't claim will vote Tory generally because many people don't care about cuts if they are affecting others. Which is sad state of affairs. Call me fluffy.

I vote Tory. I am worried about immigration but there is no way on this earth I would ever vote UKIP.

All labour do is spend spend spend. The problem is that Labour are are making promises to people that they think will directly affect them. But where will this money come from?

Tory are looking at the bigger picture by improving the economy and actually getting more people into work so they are starting from the top down.

With serious threats in the world relating to terrorism and upheaval in Eastern Europe, I will vote for experienced hands at steering and managing our country and our safety over the next five years. Setting aside all the social stuff and the economy that's why UKIP just doesn't figure for me and I'm not sure I'd trust Labour in these times either.

The idea that we don't have money in this country is simply not true. Living in the real world does not mean that we can't afford to pay for things like free health and social care; it means accepting that some people would have to pay more than they would like to fund these things. The poverty that we see in the UK is not caused by lack of resource but by (in my opinion) unfair distribution of resource. It is simply not the case that you can be nice or you can be efficient. Actually, you can be both.

Exactly.

they believe it is peoples own fault as they are lazy/don't work hard enough.

Neither want foreign people here as they think when there are a lot of immigrants it ruins the area.

Nice. Really nice.