Anyone else wobbling about voting Labour?

[MaryMaryVeryContrary]

I desperately want to GTTO but the last few years have taught me that ‘any change’ isn’t always good and things can get worse, even if you think they can’t.

I’ve watched all the debates now and Starmer is so… wet. I don’t like him. The first thing he did when women’s rights were mentioned his first thought was men who ‘identify as women’ and how ‘marginalised’ they are. When asked about immigration he squirmed and squirmed before muttering about his role as DPP (who cares? We want to know what you plan to do NOW). When asked about his support for Corbyn he said ‘but I didn’t think we would actually win..’

There’s something about him which is making me very uncomfortable and I just have a bad feeling now about what would happen if he was leader.

Anyone else? If you’re not voting Tory or Labour, who are you voting for and why? I assumed I would vote Labour this time but my gut is suddenly screaming at me not to!

@orangepostbox if you don't know yet that Sunak is the leader of the Conservative party, then I really despair for intelligent political discussions.

3 interactions before you resort to insults.

Hey pot. This is the kettle. You are black me old mucker.

It's quite obvious she typed Sunak in error when writing about Starmer - as the rest of her post makes clear.

Single sex spaces are already permitted under the equalities act.

The Tories have been terrible for women - refuges closing, under funded VAWG services, UC affects on single mothers, wage stagnation, terrible healthcare, inc maternity care.

I'm lib dem rather than labour but anyone will be better. Vote tactically

@VanGoghsDog

The reasons you won't vote Labour must surely be the same reasons you won't vote Green or LibDem then? Their views on women are far more extreme.

Exactly. People are focussing on how Labour (apparently) has these anti women/we luv transgender folk attitude, and they say 'well I am gonna vote Green or LibDems instead!' They are forgetting that these parties are worse! Greens call women non-men for fuck's sake!

@Dorisbonson you haven't had cancer yet then, or anything major gone wrong that needed to be picked up by the NHS. Good.
And we pay about the average of our GDP see the King's Fund, much less than in the US where of course healthcare cost is the leading cause of bankruptcy. Several sources aver that our NHS is one of most cost effective, some say the cheapest, in the world. A shame that so many medics are leaving for Australia due to pay cuts...

True, but whatever happened to the notion that we should read our posts, before posting? TBH, I've been guilty of doing so.

I pretty much agree with this. ^

It is because they are anti Labour and just finding an excuse not to vote for them.

I'm worried too many people are thinking like this. This is what happened with the EU referendum: "the result is basically decided so no point in voting/ will protest"

Sometimes people will get a word wrong. It doesn't mean the end of all intelligent discussion. Everyone makes the odd error every now and again.

Thanks.

Why on earth does anyone thinking of voting tory assume Sunak will be PM after the election? - the hard right lunatic fringe are still holding the reins - sunak will be toast whatever happens in the election - then you get Mordaunt, Badenoch or even Truss again.

But how are Labour going to define single-sex?

The Equality Act should be clear, and indeed, when it was written, I don't imagine anyone thought it related to anything other than biological sex.

But, as the nurses from Darlington have recently found out (and there seems to be a case like this every week) - many many organisations, who are following Stonewall guidance, are interpreting it to mean any old man who calls himself a woman. They were told to "reeducate" themselves for goodness sake. We're living in 1984.

Yes, it was clear.

Yes. The EqA needs to be established as biological sex

So what have the conservatives done to change legislation in their 14 years? Nothing.

No, I'd disagree @orangepostbox . I like what I read about KS as a person and his journey, and I believe that he has what it takes to be an excellent PM. I also think that Sunak is hauling back the economy to low inflation and more moderate interest rates, and also deserves credit. I really don't like the fringe elements of either party, and that's what's making me reserve my judgement. I don't want the ERG, or Momentum in power.

I’m voting SNP; they wouldn’t have been my first choice ever before but I won’t vote for Keir Starmer’s Labour Party; and the Labour candidate for my constituency doesn’t even live in Scotland. Our SNP MP has been helpful in the past when I’ve contacted him so I’ve made my peace with voting for him on this occasion. It’s definitely been the most difficult vote I’ve cast though and was almost tempted to spoil my ballot (I’ve done a postal vote).

But how can you be 100% sure? With politicians it’s not always about what they say, but about what they don’t say. I just can’t bring myself to trust him. I’m nervous that he has Rayner as his right hand woman - she just comes across as incompetent and is too far to the left. Not sure, after listening to his recent debates, that he’s strong enough to manage all the different factions he has in the Labour Party. Labour aren’t getting in because they’re good, they’re getting in because the Tories are currently so bad.

@DogInATent

What have the Conservatives done that was so great for public finances or public services? Do you think that the PPE scandal, track and trace and various other public procurement fiascos overseen by the Conservative are evidence of a higher standard of public finance management?

You make less sense than someone that they don't like Starmer's hair.

This. ^ How breathtakingly ridiculous to say you're not a fan of Starmer, and use what his hair looks like to ridicule and bash him. I am worried that people who have the level of intelligence to judge someone on their hairstyle are able to vote! God help us all! 😬

And I assume Starmer understood what he was doing when he left out the world ‘biological’ when taking about protecting women. He was afterall DPP

I take issue with “Sunak controls inflation”. Politicians never take credit for inflation going up but are quick to assert it is their policies that have lead to a reduction. That is nonsense.

@Papyrophile you are being disingenuous. I am voting labour because Starmer is a centrist. He expelled many extreme left wing members and made Momentum an organisation members can not belong to. The extreme left wing hate Starmer with a passion.
As I have said many times, Starmer reminds me of Conservatives John Major. Intelligent, competent, hard working, but not good on TV. Both are centrists.
The conservative party is full of the loony right. It is how Liz Truss got elected by members and promptly crashed the economy. If Sunak goes, which I think he will whether elected or not, we would probably get a loony right Prime Minister.

Are you for real?? You know it is the Conservative MPs who wrote the legislation with support from legal aides. That was never Starmers role.