My dh and I were discussing the tory party. He really dislikes what they stand for.aibu to.ask .. .

[Chewchewaboogiw]

Ask if you.vote tory and would be planning to continue to do so.. why and what do you like about the party?in the circles we mix in no one votes tory that we know of so cant ask in real life.. but there must be many who vote this way.

I come from poor working class northern stock. I own my own home, have a decent job and a fairly good life. I've just got a leaflet through the door canvassing for the local conservative candidate. Nope, straight in the bin for me. I cannot and will not ever vote Tory. Not sure I'll vote Labour either but it definitely will never be Tory.

Labour encourages dependency
Conservatives encourage aspiration

It's that simple

They also believe work should pay and people should not be given more to stay home doing nothing than going out to work. They don't think living on benefits should be a lifestyle choice for those who could work, or no disability, but just choose not too.

Damn right

I said this on a thread last week but…. The issue of what is a woman has just become to overwhelming for me to ignore. I now know too many children with confused gender identities and dd1 tells me they want to medically transition as well as socially. Dd1 tells me I not allowed to mention to a friend of mine that her child is non binary and has a different name at school. Dd1 says she is an ally to lgbtq and I am a bigot for saying they can’t actually change sex. It makes me sick that because of government cuts there is no mental health support for these kids but I fear that if another government get it in a load of drugs, binders and mastectomies will be given to children who just need support.

They also believe work should pay and people should not be given more to stay home doing nothing than going out to work.

That went well with furlough, didn’t it?

@roarfeckingroarr my DH went from free school meals/1 in 4 to a single mum to being a higher rate taxpayer but he did grow up in London and lived at home while at university and at his first few jobs in tech/the city which also enabled him to buy his flat in London without family money. But do you think this can be easily replicated for young people living in areas with no public transport, no good jobs, no RG universities a 20 minute commute away.

Aspiration works for people who might be poor but already have some resources.

This is an interesting point. You always hear the left calling for ‘more support’, ‘higher benefits’ etc. You never hear from the left on creating a bigger economy. It’s the same when it comes to green policies, they will always advocate for people to go without stuff, to live on less than what they have become accustomed to. Never hear from them about engineered solutions to climate change. It’s always about making people poorer and less comfortable to please their socialist aims. Never about inventing or enterprising your way out of a problem. They seem to leave the ‘clever’ science and business parts for those on the centre right. Voters can see this in the main.

I'm lefty, but most of my friends are Tory. They are from comfortable middle-class backgrounds. They feel that they have worked and studied hard to achieve a comfortable lifestyle and I agree because I've seen them do it, but to me they have failed to realise that they started half-way up the ladder.

These people all have a social conscience, are not racist, do not look down on working-class people and are not Hyacinth Bucket social climbing types. They join local dog-walking groups and go to Premier League football matches rather than joining the local hunt and attending shooting parties.

There are lots of people like this in the UK. Some are even Asian or black! They aren't living in stately homes or working as hedge fund managers. And they vote Tory because they believe that is the party that represents their perfectly normal everyday ideals and aspirations.

They believe in lower taxes of individuals so people left with more of their hard earned money to spend themselves,
Why do they keep increasing taxes then?
Or is "believe" in the sense of Boris - i.e. "lie"

@daimbarsatemydogsbone no I’m not in Bolsover

I used to vote Tory because I thought they were better for the economy. I also used to do those detailed questionnaires you can find before elections which tells you at the end which policies most closely align with your views, and it came out Tory.

However, I was strongly Remain and after Brexit vowed never to vote for them again. Certainly not with a leader who has no morals. Now I vote tactically.

I know others who still vote Tory, mainly because they like Labour even less.

@sst1234 yet we had dismal economic growth in the 10 odd years the Tories have been in power...we have the highest debt we ever had. For people who claim to be good at the economy, they are bloody terrible.

yes good point

also pp on negativity spiral for left. I’m sure when Blair was elected with a landslide the overall feel was positive for U.K.. more opportunity and positivity generally.

Now it’s everything about the U.K. is terrible. If they can’t carve out a positive narrative for the U.K. it’s just more self loathing and no way through

plus plenty of dislike for WC seeps through, you see it on here a fair bit posters talk about ‘the thick’ who voted for Brexit etc

How do they imagine abstaining will help? The politicians won't care in the least- they'll still have the same overall percentage of those who do vote.

If you don't agree with the Tory government, neither abstaining or spoiling your ballot is the moral choice. Actively vote against them by choosing whichever party will do the most good for ordinary people, even if you don't number yourself among them. Not voting is just another 'fuck you' to the ever rising numbers of the poor.

They believe in lower taxes of individuals so people left with more of their hard earned money to spend themselves,
Why do they keep increasing taxes then?
Or is "believe" in the sense of Boris - i.e. "lie"

They increase indirect taxation which disproportionately affects the poor/lower earners but don”t believe in increasing taxes of already wealthy individuals.

Some bizzare ideas on here on the fact that labour want us on some kind of welfare dependency. It was Blair and Brown who actually made work pay for the lower paid by bringing in quite good credits even for modestly ok paid. Keir Starmer certainly believes in aspiration but you have to have a safety net that is reasonable and the Tory's have made it that it's almost impossible to aspire to anything , unless you are prepared to live in a cheap area . Its very easy to talk about aspiration when you live in a very nice area and bought your nice house years ago or had a bit of an inheritance , or indeed live in a cheap area but have a high paying job-- this is not reality for vast swathes of the population these days . I'm certainly not pro large amounts of able bodied people sat around doing bugger all and happy to live off benefits, but the idea that labour think that way too is ludicrous. If anything I think the system as it is now encourages it. As someone who once worked for me told me, if she did more than 16 hours she was actually only £40 a month better off -

As others have said, basically worries about how well it would be run given previous nationalised efforts! Also linked to worries about Labour not making the UK a hospitable place for businesses (tied into increasing taxes)

Yes but these areas still need plumbers, electricians etc
that don’t need a university qualification
and still provide a financially comfortable life

It's not just that Labour doesn't seem to not know or care what a woman is, or that I do not think you can represent women in Parliament when you cannot point to one without descending into an existential crisis, it's also that they have created a culture where it's forbidden for voters, party members and mps to question their logic on the matter without being cast out and chastised for being a bigot.

For me, a lifetime labour voter, they have entirely eroded their trust capital. How do you have a democracy when you cannot question the party, you cannot speak without doing a merry dance with language, you are expected to give up reality, facts and truth and follow faith based movement into topsy turvy bullshit.

It's done. I'll take lying, amoral philanderers over religious zealots every day of the week.

I am a Tory and have seen nothing in my (quite long) life to make me change my mind. The PM was not my choice as party leader but that doesn't bother me much as all party leaders have a shelf life. I voted remain - mainly due to my loathing of the Farage creature but I wouldn't again due to what I have seen since. Since 2010 I have very much enjoyed watching tax tresholds rise, particularly at the lower end of the pay scale as this seems to be a good and balanced way to offer some help to the lower paid. I was delighted when the NI threshold was raised recently to match.
I remember with horror the nationalised industries and how grossly inefficient they were, in fact I remember the 70s with horror generally. Any yes, I do know that for a chunk of the 70s we had a Tory government, a weak and ineffectual one led by a tosser. I think inheritance tax is ridiculous though I accept it has to exist, I would streamline it. 10% on all estates over £50,000, no exceptions, no loopholes, no avoidance. That would probably bring in a lot more money. The current system penalises people with parents/other relatives who refuse to do anything about it.
I am heartily sick of being told I am de facto evil for voting Tory. I wish harm to nobody and would love to see more done for those struggling at the lower end of income levels but I am also aware that has to be paid for somehow and I genuinely believe that sensible choice is more likely to come from Tories than not.
I am sick of being lectured by a catbum faced urban elite that has no idea of anything outside their rarified bubble and thinks that they hold the moral highground. They do not. Patronising wankers on the whole. Politicians lie, they always have done and they always will, it is up to us, the voters, to work out which flavour of lie is the least awful and vote accordingly.

Saying you’re going to abstain from a vote for than 2 years away is… odd

@caringcarer the reality for those on benefits is rarely so simple. My SIL is on benefits. I have asked her numerous times to get a job, but she says she has a job, she writes online... And she would not listen to authority, she was kicked out of school and hasn't been able to get qualifications ever since. She possibly has undiagnosed mental disabilities but she is an adult and refuses treatment and believes she is normal. Do I hope the government cuts her benefits? No because that wouldn't make her get a job, it would just mean her poor mum has to support her (and DH and I have to support his mum). Maybe you can say this is our responsibility cos we are blood relatives. Well I am not going to hope I have the chance to spend more money!

I am sure there are many more complex situations.

Is it that easy to get an apprenticeship? I thought that's why tradesmen earn a lot. Cos there is a shortage!

I have entered ever voted for them so I appreciate I'm not who you want to answer. The relatives I have that vote tory do so be use they don't feel Labour can be trusted with finances. I am unable happy with labour and them not knowing what a woman is so I might spoil my ballot (I think the tory will win where I am anyway)