Why do people say ‘all the parties are as bad as each other’ ?

[Diefrausagtnein]

‘I can’t choose between them’
’Lesser of two evils’
It’s just so flipping cynical and pessimistic. And also lets the current lot off the hook who really have been terrible. Ed Davey and Keir Starmer for example seem fairly sensible and above all honest. Current lot haven’t been. Brexit, Covid corruption, austerity. Really how can other parties that haven’t been in power for 14 years, or ever for that matter, be as bad.

My personal opinion was that Corbyn was unelectable... and as terrifying as it is, The Tories were marginally better in 2019. And that is absolutely terrifying.

Starmer is electable and people are completely fed up with Tories. He should win.

But I don't believe in either party. Or the Lib Dens or Greens, or Reform. I disagree with some Labour policies and agree with othets
I know people who do believe in their candidates and feel a bit jealous of them!

The only pause I've had this time round is the local Tory MP has been very proactive on local issues. There is a chance he may win here because of that.

Calling people thick just because they are disillusioned and fed up is unfair.

@Diefrausagtnein I agree completely. When you go down south they’ve still got amazing transport, the grass and weeds aren’t 5 feet high, they still have libraries, it’s like going back in time 15 years! The north is desperate for investment and no Conservative government will ever fund the north despite their ‘levelling up’ twaddle. New Labour were a breath of fresh air. We had great services and jobs and I’m praying that there will be similar investment this time.

we did vote for brexit
of course we did
that’s what a referendum is!

it has a lot to do with tories, sure. The far right dogs who hounded Cameron. But Cameron told us to vote remain. But we didn’t. It also has to do with labour. Corbyn could have stood on a platform with Cameron and both could have united and said vote remain. Corbyn kept his gob shut and thereby contributed heavily to the fucking we got.

of course starmer didn’t mean emergency care 🤣

I say it because I. have seen cycles of different parties coming into power and nothing much changing.

I'm an average person outside of London, £30k a year, £200k house, never really use libraries, leisure centres, average health, etc...and they really have made no perceptible difference to my life.

And politicians basically all come from the same place. I'd be more likely to vote if there were enough MPs who'd had a real job and life for say, 20 years before going into politics or taking on a role in a union.

If there were an MP standing in my area who'd say, been a nurse for 20 years full time, then started with union or politics stuff, I'd probably vote for them

Starmer isn’t remotely sensible. He said that he’d let a loved one suffer on a waiting list and not go private, despite having millions. That blind adherence to ideology is extreme and not sensible at all.

Can you imagine the accusations of hypocrisy if he’d said he would use private healthcare? Just like Dianne Abbott sending her son to private school.

To be fair neither Labour or the Conservatives are without issues and pretty much everyone will agree there, and that is where the negativity comes from, because people feel trapped between two options which are not ideal.

But I do agree that the amount of cynicism doesn't always help.

I definitely feel more optimistic about a future with Labour, even though I know there are problems.

You have to have hope in this world or you will just go mad.

My h has a degree in econ
he doesn’t know who to vote for

I think it's because Labour and the COnservatives tend to promise things, which sound great, then of course it doesn't happen because it just gets blocked/voted down, so they SAY they'll do xyz, but when does it ever actually come about? And in the meantime both sides just piss the money down the drain without ever actually acheiving anything/just make things worse.

Because it's always the same shite in a different colour?

It’s a lazy way to not engage with politics and as someone on this thread said, only seems to go one way.

Personally I don’t think it’s made any significant difference to my life whether it’s been under a labour, Tory or coalition government, don’t forget things like the closure of local a/e departments and centralised resources, often much further away, started under Labour and , while I understand the argument for them, it was, quite frankly a terribly decision which has helped contribute to the waits in a/e

He could easily have said that he was ideologically opposed to it, but that the NHS was in such a state that he’d pay to avoid his kid suffering.

Starmer isn't one to actually mean what he says, though, so I doubt he really would let a loved one suffer the NHS when he's wealthier than most of us.

Nonsense. Patronising piffle

It's said by those who see the good and bad in both, (I am only talking Con v Labour), wonder which one might actually follow through with their proposed policies and which ones outweigh the others.

It might seem a no-brainer to get the Conservatives out after what they've done (and not done) but I'm not convinced by Kier Starmer and I don't agree with some things and I don't trust them on others.

I am genuinely stuck and I've been able to vote since 1965

This! And because when they’re interviewed they never answer the question. They just dodge it and speak about whatever policy they are lying about.

What they're actually saying is not that the parties are literally the same, but that all politicians are the same - mostly lying, self-serving narcissists that make it very difficult to choose between them.

Only really hear it from people who want to vote Tory. They're honest enough to admit that the Tories have done some terrible things while in power, but want to justify why they continue to vote for them, so they like to pretend that the other parties are just as corrupt. The justification isn't really for us, it's for the Tory voters' own peace of mind.

If there were an MP standing in my area who'd say, been a nurse for 20 years full time, then started with union or politics stuff, I'd probably vote for them

We had one of those locally. She was awful.

I think sometimes people also say this because they just want a bland/ generic/ dismissive phrase to end the conversation. Not everybody wants to talk about their politics.

No, they aren’t. There are individual MPs in each party who work incredibly hard, really understand what needs to be done and genuinely do their best for the country. There are also individual MPs in each party who are ill-informed, arrogant and blinded by their own hobby horses and prejudices. And the overall calibre, particularly at the top of the parties (although that presumably reflects the pool lower down it’s drawn from) is embarrassingly poor. Across all parties.

Some of us lived through the last Labour Government and remember what they were like.

For me, it's because I don't agree with some policies from all parties and agree with others. I can't stand the jeering and mocking that goes on in the House of Commons, or the constant criticism of other parties in the campaigning rather than talking about their own policies and how they will work and benefit the country.

I will vote labour this year but I won't be celebrating any result, I will remain cynical and hope to be proved wrong.

@Naran tbf what did that question have to do with anything ? doesn’t exactly prove anything.
We already know Sunak is loaded and prepared to lie. We don’t suddenly think here’s a politician of integrity because he’s honest about using private healthcare. I mean he actually lied in the next few sentences.
People hated Cameron and Osbourne and Tory austerity. Brexit was a two fingers up at the establishment which right wing grifters like Farage and the ERG exploited.
You know that I’m sure.

Fascinated. What were they like ? Certainly not the same degree of blatant corruption.

It's not true though. I was so much better off during the Labour period than Tory. They didn't do everything right (Iraq war was horrific) but it was so much better than the bunch of corrupt narcissists we have. Even the old Tory party of 2010 were better than the rot we have now.