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!

Keir Starmer is far from the best leader Labour have had. He does seem bumbling and boring and unsure. I would even agree that Risi Sumak is (slightly) more charismatic and likeable. But what about taking the long term view?

I don't know how anyone wants to accept another 5 years of this government! Have people forgotten what the Tories did in the last 14 years?
Nothing is perfect, you have to go the party who aligns with your overall beliefs, and stands for something better, than this awful shower we have now.
I can't believe after all this time there are still people who will happily vote conservative.
I'm 40 and I remember when public services worked well and we could get doctors appointments!

So your suggestion would be?!?!?

I’m getting mixed messages. So is Starmer a Tory in a red rosette, or a leftie in disguise, who’ll lurch to communism the minute he wins power? Or are people just coming out with any old shite?

But, all those things were failing under Labour too.

The NHS is not fit for purpose, it needs a radical overhaul. No matter how much money you pour in it simply will not work, the population is too old, too large and treatment options too good and expensive.

Schools are over subscribed because the population is too large. Too much time is spent on not teaching basics, schools seem to have more agendas than parliament.

Labour won’t improve any of it, they will spend 5 years blaming the Tories then leave with another note saying there’s no money left.

With all the uncertainty in the world we need a strong leader- Starmmer is not it.

He is probably whatever he currently thinks people want him to be. He is a msn of no conviction. If you want him to be far right or far left he would probably be either.

I just can't bring myself to vote for my Labour candidate, not under Starmer after today's performance.

True!

Nothing contradictory at all

Supporting something which hasany facets does not mean you have to agree with ALL of them.

I actually think people may vote LD because they don't care who's in Number 10 and their local LD Candidate is the best option. Voting Labour here would put the Tories back in. I think many ex-Tories will vote LD so I'd be backing your LD Candidate unless they truly don't have a hope.

Unless you are in a Lib Dem/Tory marginal, then bluntly, voting anything other than Labour is pretty indulgent and privileged in the current climate. If I was to vote for the party most aligned with me personally i would vote Lib Dem as I am a carer. However, I have the capacity to look beyond my own personal beliefs and ideals and vote for the bigger picture.
OF COURSE Labour will deliver! Remember 2000’s when you were guaranteed a GP appointment within 48 hours and a hospital one within 6 weeks? And when you could actively chose which NHS dentist you preferred? And Sure Start, which has proven to have been a huge success, minimum wage etc etc.
I am actually quite socialist and my choices reflect this but I will not be able to live with myself for enabling a Tory Government if I don’t vote Labour. Plus the smaller parties have no legacy and can therefore promise the earth as they will not be accountable.
Also, google how the Greens got on with managing Brighton Council, not well because they are largely built from ideals and not experience.
Polls can be wrong, do not risk it! Remember Brexit!

Why on earth would you 'hate the SNP'? We have free prescriptions, free tuition fees, no nHS strikes, the child payment. Starmer and Sarwar would do away with all these things. Starmer and his sidekick Wes Streeting want a public/private partnership for the NHS. That's enough for me not to vote for them. Lucky you, if you can afford private health care. Starter does not want back into the EU, although it's the only way to boost the economy. And young people want the freedom to be able to work and study abroad, The SNP is the only party wanting to undo Brexit. Even if the right wing press has persuaded you to 'hate the SNP'. the right thing to do is to vote for them. Once we get Independence we can vote for any party we like. But it will be a Socialist party. Scotland doesn't do 'right wing'.

Who is Sarwar?

I'm finding so many of the responses on here utterly depressing.
14 years of this shit, and the utter contempt with which the Tories treat the public, and people are really considering keeping them in?
Turkeys voting for Christmas.

But all those things were failing under Labour too...

They weren't. In 2010 the NHS was rated one of the best healthcare systems in the world. Schools are closing because they're undersubscribed in areas without significant immigration, due to falling birth rates.

In 2024 people are waiting days for A&E treatment. Terminally ill people are dying on the floor. People can't get a GP appointment. They can't the medication they need. That's the result of 14 years of Tory incompetence, lies and arrogance.

And don't even get me started on the state of policing and criminal justice.🙄 Have we ever had such court backlogs? Have we ever had to put violent criminals back on the streets simply because the prisons are too full?🤔

The Tories have failed. They've failed the UK. They've failed their voters. They've destroyed themselves.

Does anyone if long Covid has a greater impact on the memory of Tory voters than other people?

I completely agree. There is nothing that could make me vote for the corrupt morally bankrupt Tories who chose austerity- it really was a choice - and destroyed services and lives. It's not about personality for me it's about competence. So Labour has my vote

Don't be depressed. The reality is that most people in the UK want rid of the Tories and are voting tactically to get them out to fuck.

What you are seeing here is the last gasp of a dying party and their shills.

I’m sorry you feel that way.

I don’t find Starmer slippery. I think that description more aptly fits the dishonest, sleaze-ridden cash4mates4Torypartydonations merry go round of the current government.

I think we haven’t had grown up government since 2016, just arrogant game-playing which has resulted in everyone save the 1% being both poorer in both pocket and level of service. I’m certain there’d be nothing but more harm to the country with the Tories back again. Change is needed.

I think first past the post doesn’t fit the modern age and constricts choice, and we should move to a more advanced system.

I do think there are genuine issues with balancing women’s hard-earned rights and safety and the rights and safety of trans women and that requires the ability for sensible nuanced debate that the current catcalls to polarised politics prevents.

I will vote tactically to try to ensure change and hope for some restoration of sensible government where real things actually get done.

Yes that’s one of the reasons why I usually vote LD - excellent local LD candidate (in an ultra safe Con area). However this time we don’t have the same candidate and it really looks like labour could beat the tory in my constituency and getting the conservatives out is my priority over anything else at this point.

No, you’re wrong. I worked in the NHS from Thatcher’s time through to this Tory horror. Over time becoming a Clinical Manager (a practicing Clinician, with management responsibilities), with large budgets. The only periods during that time when NHS services were properly funded was under a Labour Government. The only period when Clinical staff were made redundant was under this Conservative Government. Whenever they have announced new money, what they haven’t told the public is that they have just clawed back a larger sum from another service. Their dismantling on the NHS has been deliberate. They could only make a private model of healthcare acceptable to the British public, if they could no longer get proper healthcare from the public version. They have made lots of progress in this, but misjudged it. I just hope it can be rescued.

We’ve not experienced the court breakdown to such an extent ever before.

But people dying on trolleys in A&E was a feature of the headlines before 1997. After 1997 there was re-generation of NHS and schools and transport with careful budgeting. The 2008 crash was made in sub-prime America. Osbourne even admits this now and laughs at how he and Cameron got away with blaming Labour for it. There’s dishonesty for you!

Our seat has been Tory ever since it existed way back when. It became Lib Dem in a by-election and it's close whether it will remain so. It was so Ultra-Tory we used to joke a chicken would get in as a candidate so it was a huge shock when they lost the seat. They are throwing huge amounts of money about to get it back here but I'm hoping they won't. Labour aren't even trying and local polls say they have 17% of the vote...

I am heartened that despite the division engineered by this Tory government, they have united the country to Get The Tories Out.

Exactly this. Starmer is a snake oil salesman. God help us if he gets in.

Don't vote Tory folks.💕