Conservatives to eat the babies of 1m poor people

[OTheHugeManatee]

Not really.

But AIBU to be getting a bit fed up with the scaremongering threads about things the Conservative Party has not proposed to do? Like abolish child benefit or completely privatise the NHS?

It's silly. Stop it

Anyone laughing at the notion of Conservatives being the bogeymen clearly hasn't been shafted by any of their twisted policies yet.

Apologies for another sense of humour failure. I'm usually happy to mock any and all candidates.

But they've already cut child benefit, and there's clear suggestion that they want to do it some more.

You don't need to invent stuff about eating babies to be afraid of the Tories.

I didn't say you said child poverty didn't exist. I implied you think it's a reasonable subject for humour and lightheartedness.

Also the Conservatives plans to further cut child benefit were revealed by their former coalition partner. Not made up by wildly hysterical conspiracists out of nothing.

Conservatives plans to further cut child benefit

I would rather saw my arm off than vote Tory, and I have in my time voted for parties a long way to the left of any Labour manifesto (and I voted Labour in 1983, as a benchmark).

There are no plans to further cut child benefit, or at least, not the ones Alexander "leaked". Those were policy proposals from policy wonks, many of whom aren't even Tory. They don't become plans until someone actually accepts them and talks about doing it.

A common trope in ministries is that a politician says "we need to cut £Xbn" and the response from civil servants is "well, minister, you could do that, but it would involve disarming the British forces and giving them wooden rifles". That is not, in any way, a plan to disarm the British forces.

A ministry were asked for proposals on how to save money on benefits. Amongst the options are some politically palatable ones and some politically unpalatable ones. It is for ministers to decide which. Claiming that any proposal, which may be deliberately overstated by a ministry concerned about it own budgets, constitutes a "plan" is just scaremongering, and part of the reason why a lot of people don't listen to political commentary of any sort.

YANBU. It is silliness that only comes from people who are a bit thick.

Child poverty does exist. 1 million people visit food banks. NHS privatisation exists because the Conservatives are privatising it.

Is it funny? If you don't need food banks or the NHS, I suppose it must be quite a laugh.

Have a hangover today and the eating babies idea is making me feel sick.
No energy for political views at all.

NHS privatisation exists because the Conservatives are privatising it.

That argument is particularly hilarious when put forward by GPs, who are private owners or employees of private businesses which contract private services to the NHS. If GPs are so keen on a nationalised NHS, why aren't they employees of the NHS? Our GP neighbours campaign about how terrible is all is, while openly talking about how the sale of their shares of the practice will fund their retirement. A GP complaining about a private NHS is talking shite, because they refused to join the NHS in 1948 and have refused since. So quite why (say) a privately owned hospital contracting services to the NHS is any different is a complete mystery.

"A ministry were asked for proposals on how to save money on benefits. Amongst the options are some politically palatable ones and some politically unpalatable ones. It is for ministers to decide which. Claiming that any proposal, which may be deliberately overstated by a ministry concerned about it own budgets, constitutes a "plan" is just scaremongering, and part of the reason why a lot of people don't listen to political commentary of any sort."

Which is all well and good, but we know the Conservatives plan to cut £12bn from welfare, and we also know they've refused to explain were most of these cuts will fall, so it's not at all unreasonable to look at previous policy proposals as a rough guide to the type of cuts that are up for consideration.

We also know that Labour are promising cuts, and don't know what they're thinking of either.

And they have been the initiators of privatising services within NHS and also responsible for the costly PFI fiascos.

Not to be trusted.

Lies. The Tories will build more policy to ensure that the poor cannot have children in the first place.

This thread is tasteless beyond words. People are starving because of the Tories. People are dying because of the Tories. Disabled people have had their adapted cars taken off them because of the Tories. I'm so bloody glad you can joke about it.

I'm a disabled person. I'm shitting a brick about them getting back in on Thursday. They are already privatising the NHS, I won't be able to afford it. They are planning on means testing and taxing disability benefits. Defence spending is being slashed further which could mean both DS1 and DH out of a job. But you lot keep fucking laughing!

Labour not to be trusted? Made up statistics?
Have a read of this, it explains it quite simply: Huff post on why not to re-elect Tories

The policies are different. The NHA Party is primarily about the NHS, though obviously they are small and only have a handful of candidates.

On existing, recent evidence, it would be foolish and short-sighted to trust the Tories on anything to do with health or welfare. But go ahead, make fun.

John Major's government introduced PFI to the NHS, AuntieStella.

ESA, incapacity benefit and carers allowance are already taxable, and they were taxable under labour as well.

The Tories have raised the personal tax allowance though, so all of us can keep more of our own money, which IMO is a very good thing.

DLA, PIP and Attendance Allowance are not taxable or means tested. Never have been, not even when David Cameron claimed DLA for Ivan. Now he wants to take it away from more genuinely disabled people.

People are scared though. Because they've been open about 12 billion welfare cuts but not open about where they will come from. If they were honest and said what is going to be cut then there would be no need for rumours. 12 billion is a massive amount of money, whatever they do it is going to hurt. It's not a laughing matter.

The Tories have taken away child benefit for my family and disabled living allowance for my children. Guess what, they are still disabled and will be as adults as well, it hasn't vanished. So please don't patronise me with the increase in tax allowance.

I think all the parties are as bad each other over scaremongering. So you takes your choice I suppose. Whether the country will be bankrupt under big spender Ed or brought to its knees with cuts by heartless Dave or torn assunder by bossyboots Nicola. (Don't think Clegg will have much effect so no point in scaremongering about him) It's a difficult choice.

The Tory campaign has been incredibly effective. They have managed to keep their plans secret, you see on threads like these that no one really knows what they will cut to find 12 billion. We can't know because they haven't said, and won't say. Instead the campaign has been focussed on the SNP and deals after Election Day because that keeps focus away from their plans. It's very clever.

Not meaning to be patronising Margo, just pointing out a fact.

I glanced at the daily mail website this morning and had to rapidly back out.

Every other story seemed to be a very anti Labour scaremongering story. David Cameron only has X hours to save Great Britain, Ed Balls can't even pay his window cleaner, Ed Milliband would be the worst prime minister ever.........

Those backing the tories and laughing at this thread, do you this stories of disabled people losing their DLA after being 'cured' by the invention of PIP, and people dying after losing their ESA are hyperbole? Or do you actually not care?

I'm not laughing at this thread, and I don't disagree that some people have unfairly had benefits removed from them. But I don't disagree with reassessing people to see if they still need disability benefits. Obviously in some cases it will be a pointless excercise, but it is very much needed in some other cases, as things can change. I also don't believe every story of death that is attributed to the loss of benefits by left wing press really is only as a result of cuts. These things are never that simple, and there is usually more than one reason.