To be ashamed dh is voting conservative

[Jacobsmum1972]

I'm very left wing dh is centre right Aibu to not want friends or family finding this out.

"I don't know anyone who can argue that Tory policies are in any way kind or caring, so I don't know how the people who vote for them can be either? Luckily most people don't vote for them and hopefully more people will understand this in time for the next election."

Inorder to have caring policies we need a vibrant ecomony. We simply cannot spend money we have not got. Actually I think a lot of people do vote Tory because they know that the most vunerable will suffer if the country goes down the toilet any further ecomonically. There has to be a balance between having a business head and a compassionate head.

Yep YANBU. I would LTB

I'd be ashamed (well that's a bit strong, miffed probably) if my DP voted at all...

Bullshit Bubble.

You sound thick. And bigotted.

Sourdrawers - ooh, do tell!

But most people do vote conservative bubble. If we had proportional representation then we would have had far more conservative governments. With first past the post everything gets distorted and hence we could end up with a minority government, running the country even though most people voted for someone else.

"selfish right wing people " is a very blinkered way of looking at the world. You need to mix more not closet yourself away with yes-people imo!

ReallyTired

The vulnerable have been really suffering for the last 5 years, more than ever before. Clearly it hasn't worked so far. But this is the way the Conservatives are blackmailing people to vote for them.

I find it amusing the number of rich Tories threatening to leave the country if Labour get in, like it would be a terrible thing.

I think perhaps this is where I and a number of more lefty people divide. I simply don't think it's the job of government to be 'kind' or 'caring'. Alert to the different needs of different groups in society, yes - but touchy-feeling emotional stuff is utterly irrelevant to whether or not a government is going to do a good job of balancing those needs.

I would far rather have a pragmatic, hard-headed government that had the courage of its convictions and an ability to make tough choices to balance the needs of many competing groups than someone 'kind and caring' who stood around wringing their hands and/or spent a whole load of money we didn't have because they were afraid of making unpopular decisions. I don't contest that kindness is an important human virtue but IMO it's one for private life. Integrity, sure - that has a crucial place in politics. But kindness? Caring-ness? Pretty much guaranteed to be a recipe for weak, hypocritical and incoherent government.

Anyone who needs to be liked for their 'caringness' can't take tough decisions; needing to appear caring will force them to behave hypocritically; and incoherent because it's impossible to make policies without someone being negatively impacted. So your kind and caring policy will try and be all things to all people, which can't be done, and so will be all over the place like a madwoman's piss.

There are lots of virtues I would like to see more of in our politicians but kindness and caringness aren't high on the list.

I can understand why it's a sore point with your family, if your dad was a miner.

But I think you and your family should judge your DH by the way he lives his life and acts towards you and others, more than which political party he votes for.

I would never vote to the right, but I have realised that my friends/family who do don't think about it in the same way I had imagined they did. Many of them truly believe in the whole trickle-down thing, and are adamant that in times of financial crisis like now the only way for the country/world to get out of this situation is with harsh decisions re: public spending. That's not to say I agree with them, but I certainly don't believe they're monsters for thinking that way.

If they are out there slagging off people on benefits or acting with no generosity or compassion towards people less fortunate than themselves, I would judge them accordingly. But if there is no evidence of that I wouldn't assume they are like that at heart just because that is some of what I associate with right wing political parties.

" I find it amusing the number of rich Tories threatening to leave the country if Labour get in, like it would be a terrible thing."

well maybe it would be for them.
Quite honestly I have no time for these hand wringing 'lefties' who are the very types that voted Tony Blair in.

happybubblebrain

Look at how the vunerable are suffering in Greece. This is how children with learning difficulties are treated in a bankcrupt country.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30038753

In Greece people are leaving their children on the steps of orphanages because they cannot afford to feed them.

Read the story about four year old Anna and try not cry.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16472310

If we carry on spending money that we don't have then we would end up in exactly the same financial state as Greece. We would have a huge debt that we simply could not service as a nation. Our most vunerable would be the first to suffer.

Vote labour /SNP if you want the UK to end up like Greece, completely bankcrupt and unable to look after its most vunerable.

Actually it would be disastrous if lots of top rate tax payers left the country. We have little enough money as it is. To lose that tax revenue would be a massive blow. If you look at the proportion of tax revenue which comes from top rate tax payers it is a real eye opener. As a country we very much need them.

Nothing is as black and white as many like to portray. Lots of "buzz phrases" being used here to criticise conservative voters but not as much evidence of people really thinking though the consequences for the country if we just start to splash the cash.

I don't consider myself "right wing", our main parties in the UK aren't that far apart in terms of their political beliefs. For the most part they're now bunched up in the middle. On the whole we are one of the most liberal societies in the world both when the conservatives are in power and when labour are in power.

It's just that they, the 3 main ones, all represent basically the same interests Erudite Look, they even look the flippin same.

They won't be competing on the issues that I really care about. I don't want to spend untold billions on bloody pointless Trident missiles, yet none of them will commit to not doing that. They all support austerity budgets, benefit cuts, tuition fees, NHS privatisation, bank bail-outs, middle-east wars.

As Emma Goldman famously said: ‘If voting actually changed anything they’d make it illegal.’

forgot to attach pic', sorry! I repeat look they even all look the same!

No I didn't. How embarrassing. Gets coat!

I'm in a similar position, OP. I feel your pain.

Happy - you may chortle at the thought of all those rich people leaving. But the top 1% pay 27% of the entire tax take in the UK. Where is all that money for being 'caring' with going to come from if they all fuck off?

" our main parties in the UK aren't that far apart in terms of their political beliefs. For the most part they're now bunched up in the middle. "

yes that is true.

I think if all the rich Tories that are threatening to leave the country actually left, there would be a few nice big houses up for sale; we'd be paying less out in huge wages and bonuses, thus saving money. Many manage to escape paying the taxes they owe, so let's not worry about that too much.

Plus, it might be good for them to experience life as an immigrant and grow as people.

happybubblebrain - bubble brained indeed..........

Bubble, can we assume that you did not read Economics at university?

Yes, a few slightly less rich people might be able to afford big houses, that's nice. But what are you going to do about the £175bn drop in tax revenues?

Abolish the NHS, perhaps

sigh. that IS quite a bubble brained thing to say , bubblebrain.

Extremely good point, OTheHuge!

Managing the economy is a hugely tricky and delicate balancing act. I find the childish way some people express their political 'views' really disappointing. It is extremely easy to hurl abuse from the sidelines, but I suspect each and every one of us would struggle to find a magic formula.

This absurd, polarised view of Tories as 'nasty and heartless' and Labour as 'caring and fair' is just facile.

What I don't understand is why no one on the left seems to be trying to explain to the electorate why austerity economics don't (necessarily) work. Not why they are 'cruel' or 'hit the poor hardest', but why they don't even work in terms of solving the economic crisis. Maybe the view is that most people aren't up to understanding the arguments, but I think politicians should give us the benefit of the doubt. The reality is there are very powerful arguments that can be made to counter the 'we must balance the books at all cost' view - on that economic basis.

Oh, and btw - I am probably going to vote Conservative. Note I say probably. DH will definitely vote Labour as will many of my friends (yes Bubblebrain, friends). I am merely making the point that I appreciate the complexity of these issues and don't see them in black and white terms.