AIBU to not understand why "normal" people vote Tory?

[olddogsnewtricks]

OK, so I'll probably get flamed for this but am genuinely interested! All the people I know who vote Tory are pretty well off so use private schools and healthcare. As a family we need the NHS and we need a good education system - and I can't see them getting any better under the Tories. Are these just not priorities for Tory voters or do they really believe they will improve even with a Conservative government?

there ^^

I worked in a secondary school during the last Labour government. It really wasnt a 'holy grail' era for education, believe me

And yet again the counter Tory argument is to say what labour did or didn't do. Why not tell me what the Tories have done....?

Although you working in one secondary school is hardly enough to base a whole argument on.

I want all children from birth to have chances to succeed. I don't want governments to make things even worse.

It's now at the stage where the left can promise anything & they'll still be unelectable as no one believes them. The Blair/Brown years did irreversible damage to the country & people won't forget this. And KIV, Blair was the only electable PM they had in over 40 years.
I would love to be able to see Labour's arguement & support them however, they seem like a protest party & will whinge about anything, without providing outline alternatives.
And don't even get me started on our "prudent chancellor" who fucked the country over with our pensions, gold reserves....

"Our nursery and those in the area around us are starting it after this holidays according to a newsletter we got and a form we had to fill out if we wanted to use it...if its going to be changed there are going to be a hell of a lot of angry parents at my daughters school (and others)

I imagine there won't be any news about this until after the election though, as its a good vote winner among parents..."

It's supposed to be rolled out in September so sounds like you're in one of 4 new pilot areas. The other pilots have been going for some time.

It was originally a Labour pledge. They introduced the free 5 sessions of nursery education for all 3 and 4 year olds and it was properly funded. They were going to increase it to 10 sessions but had to postpone it when the banking crisis hit. Then they lost the election.

They again included it in their manifesto for the last election. Libdems also promised it, but increased the hours promised.
Then the Conservatives offered a last minute bribe of even more hours.
Unfortunately, they don't appear to have thought how they're going to fund it (Labour published their funding plans because it was their policy intention for many years).

The "free" 30 hours is now in trouble - as we all told them it would be. They have drastically underestimated the numbers eligible and won't fund it adequately.

There are already calls to scrap, delay or change the offer so I wouldn't be surprised at all if it is dropped from their manifesto.

I wonder what else they're planning to drop while everyone is distracted by Brexit. As has been said, TM doesn't need a GE for Brexit and had no intention of calling one.

What has changed?

believeitornot I quite clearly stated above that I don't agree with the Tory education policy. My point is just that it wasn't all roses then either in fact disadvantaged children were expected to make less progress than everyone else. Read some old OFSTED reports from the noughties if you want proof of this......

", Blair was the only electable PM they had in over 40 years. "

Blair's Government was elected in 1997. During the preceding 40 years, Harold Wilson won two General Elections.

The only other elected PMs during that time were Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher and John Major.

The rest, Labour and Conservative, did not win GEs but were promoted while in Government.

I have not read all the replies as of yet.

I do not understand why people get so offended by the question as I too wonder why people who will end up financially worse off choose to vote conservative.

As the conservatives in recently received more votes than any other party we can not say it is stupidity or pure ignorance.

OP - its a good job you only have to put a cross in a box as I doubt you would be able to write anything more intellectual than your OP.

The Labour Party introduced tuition fees, I was there in my first post as a very fresh faced member of staff. I have watched higher education crumble. Fresh face gone, got out a couple of years ago. My ex colleagues are all miserable as hell.

It really irritates me that people always forget this.

I think it's a difficult balance to make sure no one is disadvantaged, yet reward extra effort, sacrifice etc.

I get the feeling JC would remove anything from people he classes as having more (even if they had saved and started from the same place) to give to people that hadn't saved.

There have been studies into these things. One I found interesting is that those on the right have more active cerebral fear centres. New things scare them more. Too I think as we get older we become more guarded and fearful - and we have an ageing population.

I think though that a lot has to do with our self-perception...we like to think that if someone sees us they will be able to tell that we are the "right sort"....it pops up on these boards all the time.

But if we look at the philosophical foundations of the parties....there is a putrescent social Darwinism to the Conservative. The poor, the brown, the feminine......all are weak and thus lesser.

y point is just that it wasn't all roses then either in fact disadvantaged children were expected to make less progress than everyone else. Read some old OFSTED reports from the noughties if you want proof of this......

I was talking about the need for making interventions early - in the early years ie 0-5. If you don't intervene then, it is much much harder to make changes later on down the line.

Lol. The feminine are lesser. The Conservatives have had two female Prime Ministers, and the first female Lord Chancellor. Labour haven't even managed a permanent female leader.

And don't even get me started on our "prudent chancellor" who fucked the country over with our pensions, gold reserves....

The gold reserves were but a drop in the ocean and date back to an old notion that gold can save the economy of a country. It cannot. The gold reserves were converted to currency reserves and when we had the banking crash they did nothing to cushion the blow. They never could have done!

Re pensions - that was stupid because it was based on the idea that pension surpluses could continue. However it wasn't the only thing which causes the demise - it was the final nail in the coffin i suspect. Why didn't the Tories reintroduce the tax break for pensions?
And what exactly do the Tories offer you if you're young, disabled, cannot work, cannot afford a home?

I don't disagree with you believeit. The current levels of funding across all age groups is . I assumed I would vote labour at the next election over this (once they had hopefully regrouped), but I can't really vote for a party I don't think are capable of leading the country.

Lol. The feminine are lesser

Theresa May and Margaret thatcher are/were hardly feminists.

Theresa May just laughs off the whole daily mail legs picture and Margery thatcher had voice coaching to change her voice to sound less feminine.

So that sends the message, which continues to reverberate, that you can do well as a woman but only if you either conform or change to become more acceptable to men.

How is that feminist?

Lol. The feminine are lesser

Theresa May and Margaret thatcher are/were hardly feminists.

Theresa May just laughs off the whole daily mail legs picture and Margery thatcher had voice coaching to change her voice to sound less feminine.

So that sends the message, which continues to reverberate, that you can do well as a woman but only if you either conform or change to become more acceptable to men.

How is that feminist?

I don't think you can judge someone's feminism on refusing to engage with daily mail twattishness. I think it's interesting that Nicola Sturgeon accused them of 'going back to the 1970s' and MT became prime minister in 1979. Whatever your opinion of her is/ was that was a pretty staggering feat really whether you want to define her as feminist or not.

Some people vote for stupid reasons like that's what their parents voted for. I'll never forget my friend who was working for Connexions voting Conservative and then almost losing her job - she apparently had no idea that Tories gun for public sector workers. She voted conservative because that's what her parents voted

Likewise my FIL once said 'I always vote Conservative.....couldn't tell you why'

My parents voted for Thatchers administration throughout the time she was in power. My dad because his dad was a business owner. My mum because she was copying my dad These days she can't stand them.

I've never voted Tory and I never will.

I have voted conservative in the past, but cannot bring myself to now after the demonisation of the less fortunate and brexit.

I'm campaigning for liberal democrats- like pissing in the wind as I live in Scotland, but I feel it's the party that best represents me as they believe in equal opportunity and a state safety blanket but not handouts for everyone all the time.

I believe they were reasonably successful at tempering the Tories if you look at how much worse they got when no more lib dem. And on tuition fees yes it was a turnaround but ultimately I'd rather tuition fees introduced than starving families reliant on food banks. Sadly we now appear to have both.

op yes YABU and I personally think a little single minded and unwilling to see other people simply have a different political outlook to yours.

IMO there is just as many who vote labor due to traditionally their family voted labor and really could not explain why. Just look at how many after says they voted for brexit because they thought the money would go towards the NHS.

The people I know who voted Tory are not all private schools and private health care many of them need the NHS and education system. However they do not agree with the way labor wish to do it. That is what it comes down to.

Personally I lean towards the Lib Dems. Interesting how often they get bypassed a bit like the green party I guess. Your suggestions of needing Better or Free education are right down their street but not many wish to vote that way.

make I think we also become more cynical as we age. And we do have things happen in our own lives that shape our feelings. We realise that not everyone does make the same sensible choices and therefore don't want to have to bail them out.

believe, the poster I was replying to wasn't talking about feminism but being feminine.

On your point, so being a female Prime Minister isn't feminism. But I suppose Harriet Harman wearing a tshirt saying 'This is what a feminist looks like' is I suppose? Despite the fact she's a member of a notoriously macho political party with a bad record for advancing females in its ranks?

Just because Teresa May isn't spouting slogans and indulging in internet tiffs about perceived slights on her womanhood (when she has a lot more important stuff on her plate) doesn't change the fact the Conservatives have a much better record on female leadership.

"I was talking about the need for making interventions early - in the early years ie 0-5. If you don't intervene then, it is much much harder to make changes later on down the line."

One of the Blair Government's achievements was in recognising this and introducing the Early Years initiatives.

They have now been decimated by the Conservatives: Surestart, Children Come First, Children's Centres, Early Education funding, Early Years departments - all either scrapped entirely or cut to the bone.

I vote Tory not because I necessarily agree with each and every Conservative policy, but because I see the family as the anchor of society. Not the government.

Sure, not every family is aspirational. Labour saw to this under its reign.