I’m a reluctant Labour voter

[Whenwillitgetwarm]

I despise the Tory’s. The last decent and patriotic Tory PM who tried to improve things (despite failing) and cared about the country rather than his own enrichment was John Major. Since Cameron it’s been a complete shitshow.

I thought Blair was amazing and achieved many things. I’ll be honest that although I feel for the people of Iraq, I don’t get the anger directed at him over it, as I feel whoever was in government at the time, would have followed America into war.

I’m a centrist and believe the current Tory administration is too far to the right and economically illiterate. Brexit, which I was vehemently against was a disaster.

And yet I’m worried about Labour and couldn’t articulate why. Then Rory Stewart said the following today and I totally agree:

‘They [Labour] think that the problem is that the Tories screwed up the country because they were nasty people who were out of touch. The fantasy seems to be that if they bring in nice, good-willed people from difficult backgrounds, everything’s going to be fine.
I don’t feel that they have yet taken on board just how difficult government is … So I’m very, very worried that this is going to be a very stale, inactive government that’s going to be using class warfare as a cover for inaction.’

I’m worried they will use people like me. Middle class, higher earning (PAYE) voters in the South as a convenient scapegoat. They have dipped their toes into the culture wars regarding class already. Will people like me who have never voted Tory/Brexit etc, and so are not to blame for our current troubles, going to be used as a cash cow/scapegoat when they can’t turn this shit show around quickly enough?

It feels as though both parties try to appeal to the base instincts of the mythical ‘Red Wall’ voter in different ways. The Tory’s use racism and fear. Labour uses inverted snobbery.

I will most likely vote for Labour this week as the country will not survive another 5 years of the current Tory’s. However, it will be a reluctant cross, in the hope my reservations are proved wrong.

This is the first time I’ve wobbled voting for Labour. Was only old enough to vote from Blair onwards.

I voted for Blair and I agree with everything you’ve said. Rory Stewart - absolutely spot on.
I won’t vote for labour for this very reason.
Labour, Tory, Labour, Tory. Time to shake it up a bit.
I’m holding my nose and voting Reform because I want a party who will bring in proportional representation and challenge the current model.
I’m really politically homeless, but refuse to reward either of the two main parties with my vote.
Labour are simply riding to victory on apathy and people hating the Tories.

If you are centre, why don’t you vote Lib Dem? I think many people may do it this time.

I love The Rest is Politics (don't know if what was on that where he said it) and Rory Stewart says some very interesting and thoughtful stuff on there. But honestly - what a pile of twaddle he's come out with here. So bloody patronising. I'm pretty sure Keir Starmer has a good idea of how difficult it will be - as if he'll struggle to live up to towering intellects like...Rishi Sunak, James Cleverly, Victoria Atkins...I'm sure they'll manage fine.

And Stewart also forgets that many on the Labour front benches have actually been in government before. If anything I think it's entitled twerps like Sunak Cameron, Johnson who thought they had a god-given right to govern and then turned out to be shit at it and didn't even have the grace to admit it and try and do better.

I see no evidence that Labour will wage a class war, none whatsoever. If anything, austerity was a class war - ideological cuts aimed at the most vulnerable in society and ruthlessly applied. People talk about the politics of envy but have you ever heard of a more spiteful, petty policy than the bedroom tax?

Stewart is a Tory at the end of the day. He defends austerity for all his criticisms of Brexit and Johnson etc. This is just his version of a meltdown as Labour approach power. He'll have to deal with it.

Anyone voting reform is supporting those elements of that party that are racist and leaning towards fascism. I don't think that's the way to go personally.

Labour are more centrist than the LDs at present.

I like Rory Stewart but I certainly don't take anything he days as gospel, particularly as it relates to the Labour Party. He seemed to recently concede on TRIP that Labour were the best option for the country but, as a Tory, he still can't bring himself to vote for them so he'll likely go Lib Dem.

Me too, but what are the options? 🤷‍♂️

Tory Rory Stewart is just another Old Etonian who is completely out of touch with the lives of ordinary people. Of course he dislikes Labour and accuses them of ‘class war’ because they are going to clobber people of his class by taxing the school fees which he & his mates pay.

It’s just self-interested whingeing by someone who thinks his sort are born & entitled to rule. Well fuck him, and fuck them. Vote Labour on Thursday.

I love Mumsnet sometimes.

Tory usually suits me, but I can't vote for them this time. I'm middle England, semi rural, with a lot of friends in agriculture or small business owners. They all seem to be voting Reform. I'll probably vote Labour and go to the women's rights and Countryside Alliance marches. I don't feel Labour are for me as my dh and I work very long hours in our own businesses that we built ground up, but I can't see an alternative.

https://sdp.org.uk/

My vote

I'm a former Lib Dem voter who isn't voting Lib Dem because they've turned into a bunch of certified nutters and they have specifically advised anyone who doesn't believe women can have penises not to vote for them. I'm beyond livid about it, and regretting giving them my vote again in 2019 (I said I'd not vote for them again after the tuition fees fiasco).

Hardly any of the Labour front bench has been in government before.

Hilarious that the one SDP supporter keeps cropping up on these threads. Give it a rest, love, you’ve been gazumped by Farage.

Not normally a labour voter here, but will be quite happy to vote for them on Thursday. Might not next time, all depends really, but where I live it’s the best choice and I’ll be thrilled to have helped kick the self serving bullshitters in the Tory party out. Starmer will be competent and boring, and he’s too scared of the fragile base of voters he’s put together to do anything like ‘start a class war’ or raise taxes on working people. He’s not going to revolutionise things (more’s pity) but I think he’ll stop the rot that’s set in these past few governments.

I despair. Voting for a company that doesn't even practice democracy within its own party.

No hilarious is voting for someone who stated that it's wrong to say only women have a cervix.

I like Rory Stewart, regularly listen to his podcast and read his recent book. However, he’s not the Delphic Oracle and he doesn’t have a monopoly on wisdom.

We need calm, serious, sensible government. Things won’t change overnight because pretty much everything is screwed, but it seems to me that Labour have the right intentions and genuinely want to make the whole thing better.

My goodness do I hate their platform.

The idea of paying married people, and only married people, to have children is awful. It will coerce women to get married and stay married to avoid financial ruin.

I'm all for making it more affordable for people to start families but not at the price of women's happiness and safety.

I would never vote Reform. They are a more extreme version of what we’ve already got pretending to be a government. Farage pulled the Tories ever more rightward with his obsession with foreigners, and caused Brexit costing the country billions in lost pounds every year.

Have you considered Lib Dem as an option. I think they’ll take the seat locally to me. I wouldn’t vote Tory, I’d consider a tactical labour vote if that was my only hope.
Truth is, all parties will screw over the slightly higher average earners. The mega rich will always stay that way.

The Lib Dems have a lot of good stuff in their manifesto. Unfortunately they also have some stuff that is batshit crazy and/or dangerous. I'm not voting for self-id.

OP, not sure you’re recognizing the irony of using the words economically illiterate and then calling this government too far to the right.

Let’s see. Highest taxes since WW2, highest ever public spending, largest ever state sector, highest ever levels of welfare, highest ever immigration levels, largest ever public sector, highest inflation in 50 years.

This government is the most socialist government we have had in 50 years. Everything they have done, literally everything is hallmark of socialism. Which is why the country is broken. We might as well take this island and attach it to South America. We’ll fit right into the crackpot socialist systems there.

This government pretends to engage in right wing culture wars sometimes but even struggles to keep the mask on even then.

You are right about one thing. If you are a high earning on PAYE, you should be scared of labour. What is coming will be socialism on steroids. If it wasn’t bad enough already. Prepare to be poorer.

I can't think of anyone less likely to start a class war than kier starmer.

Conservative 14 years have wrecked lower classes with 5 week wait for universal credit and failure to supply really affordable housing. They have also undermined middle classes with parents paying student maintenance and young people student loans, polluting rivers for wild swimming, red tape for small businesses trading with EU.

Also undermined upper classes by Brexit reducing power of London stock exchange meaning our businesses vulnerable to foreign takeover

That’s funny. You should do stand up! The current government were Socialists? Selling off every state-owned asset was socialism? Austerity was socialism? Austerity is literally the antithesis of socialism! ‘Highest ever public spending’ is not socialism, unless that money is actually spent on the people. If it’s siphoned off to give your mates multi million pound contracts while the poor are using charity food banks, that is not socialism.

Current Tory administration is too far right? Haha tell me another joke.