To ask what stops you voting for the tories ?

[Icandothattoo]

For me
The unending shite that is brexit
Corruption and dishonesty, especially during the pandemic but not uniquely. And not just Johnson.
Making already deprived areas compete against each other for levelling up money whilst perfectly affluent tory voting areas are handed it on a plate (looking at Richmond N yorks Rishi ! ). Funny that 80% of constituencies getting levelling up funds are tory...
Whole culture war. Singling out certain minorities to attack for purely political gain. In the 80s single mums, 90s benefit claimants, 2000s refugees, immigrants. FWIW I'm fairly gender critical but disliked the way they toadied round Trump and his abhorrent opinions/followers who pretty much wrote the culture war playbook.
So what stops you from voting for them ?

Because they’re an elitist party only concerned with keeping the wealth with the already wealthy and preserving their old boys club. Because their policies actively harm the most vulnerable demographics in our society. Because they’ve managed to turn the entire country into a complete shit show. I could go on…

What stops me? Well, the fact I live in NI and don't have the choice to vote for them (not that I would anyway.) We vote for local NI parties, but still have to put up with whatever bunch of wankers the rest of the population decides to vote in. We may have devolution (sometimes) but ultimately we are governed by Westminster and can only watch in horror as the Tories are voted in again and again.

Except they're not unelectable. Millions of people will still vote for them in the next GE.

The problem is as a mass people are pretty dim. Few have twigged that if the unconditionally vote for a specific party, then that party has fuck all reason to do anything to work for that vote. (See also insurance companies). Which is why the Tories are quite confident they can shit on the ever-Tory voting middle classes in greater and greater amounts.

It usually takes the generation below that to see it and start to - horror of horrors - only vote for parties that offer something to them. Which goes some way to explaining the cyclical nature of power.

I don't know why supposedly intelligent people can't/won't/don't see that. It speaks as to the nature of "intelligence" (currently a hot topic.

Today in the much fabled "Bonfire of unnecessary red tape"

Your doctor can now be an unqualified 18 year old apprentice who just finished school:

(And no, they don't mean medical school.)

The Telegraph is never going to give you a straight version of a story if it can give you a twisted one. Although, so far as I can see/hear, what the Department of Health & Social Care is telling media outlets is not particularly straight.

They would not be working as doctors. They would be working as healthcare trainees while they undertook their medical education/training. Nobody can practise as a doctor unless they are registered with the General Medical Council, which currently doesn't happen until completion of first year of postgraduate training and from 2024-25 will require the doctor to have passed the medical licensing assessment. The suggestions I've heard are about employing new apprentices in jobs like phlebotomy, where they can be taught a basic skill fairly quickly and then work in that role while they complete the apprenticeship.

The word "could" is also doing a lot of heavy lifting in that story. At present there is one medical school (possibly two, although not both this year) willing to take a very small number of apprentices. The others are still awaiting details of how long the apprenticeship programme is supposed to last, how they will be paid for providing the university-level education, when & where they are supposed to teach the apprentices, etc. In principle, apprenticeships are a good idea but there is an awful lot of detail to be filled in.

Literally everything but the one thing they’ve been very clever in doing is making women think they are the only party that care about them. They don’t, at all.

My T-shirt.

What PurelyBelter said. They know what women are - people who should have fewer rights, get worse healthcare and get paid less.

I think that’s wearing a bit thin now, even with the voters who fell for it.

The Tories are what stop me voting for the Tories, HTH.

You'd have to be somewhat gullible to believe that just because some of them said a pre-prepared, focus grouped more or less meaningless six word slogan.

They say a lot of things.

It must be, surely?

Words are never more cheap and meaningless than when the current crop of Tories are saying them.

All of it. We are going to have to hold our noses and vote Labour.

I won’t be holding my nose.

@Blossomtoes you won't be voting Labour or you will do it willingly?

Some people need encouragement to vote Labour as it's not their natural place of being. Or don't see them as a viable alternative.

I’ll be running to the polling station to vote Labour just as I have done at every election since I was 18. Oh, except the last one when I spoilt my paper - Corbyn was too much even for me.

Ethics

@Mum2jenny "Agree, but I cannot vote for Labour or any of the others, so I either don’t vote, spoil the ballot paper or tick the Conservatives box…"

So you agree with all the negative points people have made- but you still might vote for them. I really don't understand that- could you say more?

The relentless incompetence, the blatant disregard for any ethical framework and their complete lack of any ability to learn from their mistakes

@Blossomtoes me too!

We are going to have to hold our noses and vote Labour

Tough week -
A Labour shadow minister has been reported to the police by a female party MP over an alleged sexual assault.
She alleges the incident took place after a summer party in 2021 and she told senior figures about it at the time.
However, according to Tortoise Media, she was discouraged from making an official complaint by his popularity in the party.
She has since spoken to the Metropolitan Police and party whips about his behaviour.

It comes as leader Sir Keir Starmer faces pressure in an unconnected case to sack a senior party aide who is alleged to have groped a woman 20 years his junior.

A number of Labour MPs have already expressed their anger at the party's handling of the case, with one saying she was 'ashamed' of the outcome.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12073569/Shadow-minister-accused-sexual-assault-Labour-MP-alleged-attack-summer-party.html

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/may/10/labour-defends-complaints-process-after-three-year-delay-in-harassment-case

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/11/female-labour-mp-accuses-shadow-minister-of-sexual-assault

All a bit vague, isn’t it @Clavinova? I’d give it more credence if a few facts were involved.

Update -
The Metropolitan Police says it will not now investigate an allegation of sexual assault, reported to be a Labour frontbench MP, "at the victim's request."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65563918