AIBU to join the Lib-Dems?

[GoLightlyHollie]

For as long as I have been able to vote, I've voted Tory. No matter which candidate they threw at me, crap or otherwise; at a high level, I believed in the party and never considered an alternative. Until now. I'm disillusioned after Brexit. Suddenly the whole party, many of whom were vociferously anti-Brexit, are getting behind Theresa May. I understand that there is an element of having to present a somewhat united front and toe the party line. But surely there is an element of being a voice for the people? My own borough voted Remain by a margin of 3:1 which was one of the highest margins in the Remain camp in the UK. Yet my Tory MP is suddenly hiding behind Theresa May's rhetoric and sprouting that we need to listen to "The People". Surely her "people" are her constituents of whom 75% voted to remain and she needs to be the voice of the majority of those constituents. If all tories roll over and concede defeat then the voice of the 48% doesn't really get heard in the negotiations.
Labour too is a shambles at the moment, they need to sort out their internal politics not to mention their disastrous leader (I think if David Milliband was leader, things might be looking very different in that camp, but that's a different thread) before they can begin to be a credible threat to the government.
Is it to be the Lib-Dems for a disillusioned Conservative voter?

Ah okay. I see what you mean now but it was still the tories proposal and they promised it. No one else did.

Can you use these to report tailgaters?

It was what I wanted in 2015 ...

Why don't you see what each Party offers before the next election before deciding? In the meantime, if you're unhappy, write to your MP about it.

YANBU. What's going on is bigger than party politics and moderates across the spectrum need to work together. At the moment the LibDems are the only party representing us in England.

Stripyhoglets either you're in Stoke or my constituency. Sigh.

DH has joined the Lib Dems as his field of work is likely to suffer as a result of Brexit and he is genuinely fearful of the fact the Tories and Labour seem to be marching us into Brexit with no plan. I am wavering as I have switched between them and Labour for several years now, but a vote for Lib Dem would be a vote for UKIP here and plus our Labour MP is rather good.

Cameron will go down in modern history as a genuinely dreadful PM; possibly even worse than Blair.

C'n'P fail

Stripy The Lib dem manifesto in 2010 had a promise of an EU referendum before more powers were transferred. All parties were aware of the people's desire to vote on this issue

Not unreasonable at all. For my sins I was once a Tory (more on the left, gentle Tory as the majority are), with all the rhetoric and nastiness over the last few years - I've run for the hills. The shut up and get on with it brigade , you lost nah nah nah - you say anything that isn't UKIP/TORY/TRUMP sanctioned then you are a leftie, snowflake and lots of not very nice insults have also moved me to go to the left. The right has moved further right and it's doesn't sit well, the more I saw, the more I travelled, the more I ran away from Tory land. I don't agree with everything the Labour Party says (but I'm more inline with them now ....never saw that coming). So I have now been a card carrying paid up member of Labour for the last six months. And no I've not been brainwashed by the liberal elite because I don't agree with blah blah blah. I just found a new political home, one that is more in tune with my way of thinking.

2017 No-one who supports Corbyn could ever have been a Tory - you either are deluded or were deluded.

carol and the insults begin! It has actually got to the point of being tedious. Sighs, but let's play along for a minute. Does that mean every Tory supports May? Or that no one is allowed to support an opposition to the Torys. No one is allowed to swap sides, if they do they must be deluded or have been deluded, or brainwashed, or out of their Tiny minds, how dare anyone not live up to tiny labels and sit in their tiny stackable boxes ....blah blah blah blah blah blah.

YANBU - All moderate remainers and even those in favour of a softer Brexit than current govt model should join Libdems. It doesn't matter if you used to be Labour or Conservative. The main thing is to stand up against extremist and protect our relationship with European friends and allies. There is no one representing the moderates except the Libdems.

You sound like me 2017

Except for the labour bit

Missing the point but are you in Wandsworth OP?

Fucking hell! I am impressed.

I'm in Edinburgh, btw. Can you tell what colour my socks are?

No YANBU - I too have joined the lib Dems.

Op, go for it.

I could never ever vote Tory and it's looking like I couldn't vote Labour again. At least for the foreseeable.

TM terrifies me. She's acting like she drunk on the power.

2017 Apologies if that came across as an insult, it was not meant to be. You are totally reasonable to support Corbyn or the Tories, but i cannot see any even vague overlap between the 2.
My point was that either in the past you deluded yourself about what the Tories represented or you are currently deluding yourself about what Corbyn represents.

Yabu to vote tory. The party that promotes selfishness.

I joined the Lib Dems a few months ago, after the referendum I decided I needed to put my money where my mouth is. I've never joined a political party before but I'm glad I did, wouldn't dream of voting Tory or Labour in 2020.

YANBU.

I might think of joining the LibDems too although their leader is very weak.

carol erm you apologise and then insult again! There are many spectrums within political parties, many sit on the left of conservatism but are still conservative. I know shock horror. stop putting people in boxes, stop insulting people, rah - realise that not everyone is in little boxes with convenient labels - and stop bloody insulting me. Your passive aggressive I don't mean to offend doesn't bloody wash. I am soooo bloody fed up with people saying you have to think one way, if you ever thought a different way you just have been deluded or brainwashed - the world is not one way or the other. We grow as human beings, we learn, we develop, and if we chose to change political persuasion then that is our choice - nothing deluded about it all. If you choose to insult people then that it is your choice. There is nothing justifiable about it.

I've thought about the libdems but Tim Farron is weak.

I'm hoping David Milliband will somehow (by magic) swoop in and save the Labour Party and rescue us ALL from May's horrible brexit.

Whether you are being unreasonable or not depends on your reasons for joining. If you're planning to get involved in organising, policy discussions, canvassing in elections possibly stand for council, and generally bringing whatever skills you have to the table, then YANBU. If you're just planning to pay an annual fee to get to vote in party elections then YABU.

The Lib Dems are much better than other parties at getting their rank and file involved. You don't have to swallow a catechism.

Two of my siblings joined the Labour Party to vote for Corbyn. They've done nothing active since. I don't think political parties benefit from that sort of stuff.

I think a good many posts on this thread see party membership as a "super-vote", or something like buying a football club season ticket, and it really shouldn't be- it should be a means to get involved in political process, debate and possibly governance.

This topic is probably more relevant now.
It's a shame Nick Clegg isn't in charge anymore. I'd never vote labour but could be persuaded to go LibDem if there was a more effective leader in place. Sadly both parties have already said ruled out a coalition. Which is a shame. A Tory/LibDem coalition would have meant a much softer brexit that the current reality we face.
I wonder, had there had been an election called prior to triggering a
Article 50, who would have won?

I joined last year and have enjoyed being part of my local party. It's a friendly group and there's a variety of meetings to attend, I've had many an interesting discussion at the pub socials. I'm not one for canvassing but I've delivered leaflets and helped with some admin. I have done some door to door but that was to collect signatures for a local social issue that was cross party.