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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Voting labour for the first time. Anyone else?

571 replies

Lupina12 · 04/07/2024 06:31

Labour are far from perfect, but I like Keir Starmer and I think they are the best party to turn things around from the awful mess the incumbents have got us into.

He’s not glossy or witty or funny, but he seems decent - (he clearly has a wonderful wife and that only reflects well on him!)

Anyway, just curious - anyone else voting Labour for the first time? I’m 40 by the way and in the south east.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
9
Hummingbird75 · 04/07/2024 12:36

DontBiteTheCat · 04/07/2024 12:35

We’ve suffered the dire consequences of the Tories for 14 years.

It is shame you have no idea how much worse things will be.

Racheltension1 · 04/07/2024 12:41

Hummingbird75 · 04/07/2024 12:36

Or we could talk about the brink of bankruptcy during the last Labour government which was a mere 14 years ago.

Aww, who told you that? That nice Gideon Osborne was it? Just before all that 'austerity' they were duty bound to introduce?

Didimum · 04/07/2024 12:41

The fortune telling on this spread is absolutely hilarious. It also smacks of bitterness.

Livelovebehappy · 04/07/2024 12:42

DontBiteTheCat · 04/07/2024 12:35

We’ve suffered the dire consequences of the Tories for 14 years.

To be honest, if we’re basing Tory vs Labour rule on popularity, Boris wiped the floor with Labour in 2019, so you could say the Tories have only become unpopular in the last 5 years. Before 2019, presumably the majority of the UK were happy with the Tories. So harping on about ‘14 years’ is irrelevant.

DrRuthGalloway · 04/07/2024 12:42

Hummingbird75 · 04/07/2024 12:36

Or we could talk about the brink of bankruptcy during the last Labour government which was a mere 14 years ago.

National debt was 67 percent of GDP when Labour left office. It's now 96 percent.

You might say "yes but COVID", to which I would say "yes but global recession starting 2008".

I mean come on, Hummingbird. It's just a bit silly.

Namechangey23 · 04/07/2024 12:43

It's always been Labour. The Tories cannot remain in power they've fucked the whole country over multiple times. I was astounded the conservatives got in last time but there was the smear campaign against Corbyn and apparently no one liked him. Richy Rishi blatantly wants out so he can jet off on holiday asap, why deny him? Perhaps he'll visit Rwanda.

I don't think Keir is perfect but I've seen him step up to become a much more credible leader in the various debates. He's also held down a proper job in a public service and seen the damage of Tory austerity which surely is a positive. Not sure Rishi ever held a proper job before becoming PM, some hedge fund manager city bollocks no doubt (and I work in the city! So I know it's not a real job ). All the trans nonsense is never going to happen, it's just another Tory smear campaign, I refuse to let the Tories in on that basis, they don't give a rats arse about women's rights or even human rights in general as they have shown time and time again!

Scammersarescum · 04/07/2024 12:43

Of course I'm not going to vote for a coward who didn't have the courage to admit he full well knows what a woman is. He entirely centers men in his thinking about women's rights.

Labour used to be beholden to the Unions. Now they are beholden to the likes of Stonewall et al.

Starmer won't do what's best for the electorate, just like he won't do what's best for women. He will toe the line with his donors. All the work of women like JKR will be undone and women will suffer as a result because of his craven desire for power. He has put that above the truth.

Boris was cut from the same cloth. Get the top job no matter what. He was never a Euroskeptic.

Starmer lacks principles and backbone and doesn't seem like a very nice person at all in my opinion and certainly not a decent one.

Livelovebehappy · 04/07/2024 12:45

Namechangey23 · 04/07/2024 12:43

It's always been Labour. The Tories cannot remain in power they've fucked the whole country over multiple times. I was astounded the conservatives got in last time but there was the smear campaign against Corbyn and apparently no one liked him. Richy Rishi blatantly wants out so he can jet off on holiday asap, why deny him? Perhaps he'll visit Rwanda.

I don't think Keir is perfect but I've seen him step up to become a much more credible leader in the various debates. He's also held down a proper job in a public service and seen the damage of Tory austerity which surely is a positive. Not sure Rishi ever held a proper job before becoming PM, some hedge fund manager city bollocks no doubt (and I work in the city! So I know it's not a real job ). All the trans nonsense is never going to happen, it's just another Tory smear campaign, I refuse to let the Tories in on that basis, they don't give a rats arse about women's rights or even human rights in general as they have shown time and time again!

You were astounded Corbyn didn’t get in? Really? There was no smear campaign. Corbyn showed us time and again who he was. And we believed him. No smearing needed.

UrsulaBelle · 04/07/2024 12:45

I will vote Lib Dem for the first time. Tactically to keep the Tory out.

cavalier · 04/07/2024 12:46

Hummingbird75 · 04/07/2024 12:34

Don't you feel sad that we are all going to have to suffer the dire consequences

Terrified actually
Im 61 and I’ve never felt like this as an adult before

cavalier · 04/07/2024 12:47

Georgieporgypud · 04/07/2024 12:20

All of that has been happening and will continue to happen under the tories.

No .. it’s really not the same
Tories are far from perfect but this impending government are a nightmare scenario.

cavalier · 04/07/2024 12:48

Scammersarescum · 04/07/2024 12:43

Of course I'm not going to vote for a coward who didn't have the courage to admit he full well knows what a woman is. He entirely centers men in his thinking about women's rights.

Labour used to be beholden to the Unions. Now they are beholden to the likes of Stonewall et al.

Starmer won't do what's best for the electorate, just like he won't do what's best for women. He will toe the line with his donors. All the work of women like JKR will be undone and women will suffer as a result because of his craven desire for power. He has put that above the truth.

Boris was cut from the same cloth. Get the top job no matter what. He was never a Euroskeptic.

Starmer lacks principles and backbone and doesn't seem like a very nice person at all in my opinion and certainly not a decent one.

100%
👍

Namechangey23 · 04/07/2024 12:55

Livelovebehappy · 04/07/2024 12:45

You were astounded Corbyn didn’t get in? Really? There was no smear campaign. Corbyn showed us time and again who he was. And we believed him. No smearing needed.

Yes i was astounded the Tories got a second term because....well Brexit shit show and ...Boris.... Any Londoner will tell you what an incompetent dickhead he was as mayor, let alone PM?! The tories were already busy raiding the piggy bank for themselves even in the first term before Covid! I hope the greedy, philandering Tory party are annihilated from existence and we get new blood in to pick up the pieces and navigate a path to growth and improved services so my kids won't have to suffer as so many children currently suffering under the tories. It's bloody shocking and despicable that some of our own nurses need to use food banks now to feed their kids as they cant make ends meet whilst the greedy goblin Tory scum line their own and their mates pockets with gold. I despise the Tory party, I can't think of a single good one of them right now who hasn't had their fingers in the till or been part of some scandal or other.

XDownwiththissortofthingX · 04/07/2024 12:55

Livelovebehappy · 04/07/2024 12:34

But that’s rubbish. Thatcher was last in power 34 years ago. There have been both Labour and Tory governments since then, who have had the chance to change her ‘legacy’. Subsequent governments left things in place, because they realised she was right.

No, it's been left in place because it's utterly impossible to reset the narrative without being labelled a "Far Left" lunatic, vilified the way Corbyn was, for not much more than espousing a few reasonably mundane policies like taking certain services back into public ownership. The sort of thing that is commonplace in a lot of countries who haven't yet sold anything not nailed down for a quick injection of cash, to hell with the long-term consequences.

Thatcher sorted nothing, she just pushed the bills further down the road, and we've continued to do that through successive governments regardless of Tory or Labour. The problem is, someday those bills come due, and when that day arrives while you are trying to deal with the aftereffects of a pandemic that you were wholly unprepared for, in part due to your own fiscal intransigence and short-termism, and also against the backdrop of a global CoL crisis, you are rather up shit creek.

Have you not noticed that over the past 14 years, and despite swingeing cuts to spending, national debt has trebled, government borrowing is through the roof, and STILL the economy is absolutely flat-lining, wages are stagnant, and costs are STILL rising. Our national credit rating has tanked, because we simply aren't the "safe bet" for lending we used to be.

This is what Thatcher got the UK, a few more decades of living it up on money we simply didn't have, at the price of leaving the consequences to be dealt with by people who weren't even alive when she was elected. This country is absolutely fucked, completely and utterly, without an enormous change of approach in respect to how it fundamentally spends its money and goes about things, but it won't happen because of this idiotic ingrained idea in public heads that you can demand low taxes and quality public service, and there is somehow no contradiction there, or consequences for pandering to that.

Funnily enough, the only people this is actually working out for is the already mega-wealthy, who not only use and abuse their wealth and power to ensure that nothing upsets the apple cart, but will simply fuck off elsewhere when the wheels fall off completely. But most voters in the UK seem to not only be unbothered by this, but enthusiastically participate presumably because they are still buying into the complete myth of "trickle down" economics. When is some of that wealth going to actually start trickling down then? It's been 45 years.

RosaRoja · 04/07/2024 12:58

Hummingbird75 · 04/07/2024 12:36

It is shame you have no idea how much worse things will be.

Take a break. It’s can’t be good for you to work yourself up so much. Unless you’re doing it for shit & giggles somehow.

Clavinova · 04/07/2024 13:00

Namechangey23
Any Londoner will tell you what an incompetent ... he was as mayor

Johnson left office still popular with the people of London, with 52% of Londoners believing he did a "good job" as mayor while only 29% believing he did a "bad job".

Clavinova · 04/07/2024 13:04

Racheltension1 · 04/07/2024 12:41

Aww, who told you that? That nice Gideon Osborne was it? Just before all that 'austerity' they were duty bound to introduce?

2010
Curb your spending, Brussels tells Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown was dealt an embarrassing blow when Brussels gave warning that Britain must do more to curb its spiralling debt.

The European Commission wants Labour to outline further spending cuts and spell out where the axe will fall.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/curb-your-spending-brussels-tells-gordon-brown-3rkmql67hxs

DontBiteTheCat · 04/07/2024 13:10

Livelovebehappy · 04/07/2024 12:42

To be honest, if we’re basing Tory vs Labour rule on popularity, Boris wiped the floor with Labour in 2019, so you could say the Tories have only become unpopular in the last 5 years. Before 2019, presumably the majority of the UK were happy with the Tories. So harping on about ‘14 years’ is irrelevant.

You don’t speak for me.

I work in social care and have done for many years, just because some people didn’t see the damage until recently doesn’t mean that others didn’t see it much sooner.

Newposter180 · 04/07/2024 13:11

Hummingbird75 · 04/07/2024 12:05

You are talking about it like it is a football team, let them have a go?!
You do know Labour will bankrupt the country potentially for generations, it is not a party game where everyone gets their turn. It has deadly serious consequences for everyone.

Not clear why you think this when under the Conservative govt the vast majority of people are significantly worse off in real terms.

BurntBroccoli · 04/07/2024 13:24

@XDownwiththissortofthingX
Well said!!

AdultHumanEmail · 04/07/2024 13:25

So called "Sir" Keir Starmer doesn't know what a woman is. I shall be spoiling my ballot, and you all should too if you have any respect for women.

Georgieporgypud · 04/07/2024 13:26

AdultHumanEmail · 04/07/2024 13:25

So called "Sir" Keir Starmer doesn't know what a woman is. I shall be spoiling my ballot, and you all should too if you have any respect for women.

Edited

Except he does, if you looked at what he said and apply some critical thinking instead of throwing your toys out of the pram.

Hummingbird75 · 04/07/2024 13:27

XDownwiththissortofthingX · 04/07/2024 12:55

No, it's been left in place because it's utterly impossible to reset the narrative without being labelled a "Far Left" lunatic, vilified the way Corbyn was, for not much more than espousing a few reasonably mundane policies like taking certain services back into public ownership. The sort of thing that is commonplace in a lot of countries who haven't yet sold anything not nailed down for a quick injection of cash, to hell with the long-term consequences.

Thatcher sorted nothing, she just pushed the bills further down the road, and we've continued to do that through successive governments regardless of Tory or Labour. The problem is, someday those bills come due, and when that day arrives while you are trying to deal with the aftereffects of a pandemic that you were wholly unprepared for, in part due to your own fiscal intransigence and short-termism, and also against the backdrop of a global CoL crisis, you are rather up shit creek.

Have you not noticed that over the past 14 years, and despite swingeing cuts to spending, national debt has trebled, government borrowing is through the roof, and STILL the economy is absolutely flat-lining, wages are stagnant, and costs are STILL rising. Our national credit rating has tanked, because we simply aren't the "safe bet" for lending we used to be.

This is what Thatcher got the UK, a few more decades of living it up on money we simply didn't have, at the price of leaving the consequences to be dealt with by people who weren't even alive when she was elected. This country is absolutely fucked, completely and utterly, without an enormous change of approach in respect to how it fundamentally spends its money and goes about things, but it won't happen because of this idiotic ingrained idea in public heads that you can demand low taxes and quality public service, and there is somehow no contradiction there, or consequences for pandering to that.

Funnily enough, the only people this is actually working out for is the already mega-wealthy, who not only use and abuse their wealth and power to ensure that nothing upsets the apple cart, but will simply fuck off elsewhere when the wheels fall off completely. But most voters in the UK seem to not only be unbothered by this, but enthusiastically participate presumably because they are still buying into the complete myth of "trickle down" economics. When is some of that wealth going to actually start trickling down then? It's been 45 years.

The debt has increased because we had to pay for a pandemic or did you forget that part of our recent history conveniently?

This is why Labour's plan to create MORE debt, MORE taxes, MORE vanity projects is an impending disaster of the magnitude that seems entirely lost on here.

Labour have no plan for immigration, so the crisis in the NHS, housing and social care is going to explode.

But you keep telling yourselves that those not willing to get off their arses and actually work can look forward to some kind of trickle down economy - instead people should be securing the kind of work and professions that does not rely on spoon feeding in the first place.

HebburnPokemon · 04/07/2024 13:30

Labour, for the NHS and for the economy. Starmer's centrist Labour can and will deliver strength in both.

Hummingbird75 · 04/07/2024 13:30

It is also isn't obvious to me why anyone anywhere being taxed to an inch of their lives would

a) Carry on working at all
b) Relocate elsewhere with very low taxes

We are going to see a sharp downward trajectory of tax receipts that is almost guaranteed with the Labour policy. So how are they going to pay for anything? Recession and depression are looming. Another winter of discontent and some.

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