To feel like I'm not sure where I sit politically anymore, and to worry about it.

[Lookuptotheskies]

I've always been a staunch Labour voter. Always been pro refugees. Always given people the benefit of the doubt. Always felt okay that I've brought innocent kids into the world.

Labour are making cuts to disability benefits (and in turn, carer benefits). They are looking to slash sen support in schools.

My town is being overtaken with overt criminal activity. Illegal cigarettes, money laundering business, violent crime on the increase, known drug dealers, fly tipping, etc. Nothing is done. It's just a never ending thing, they bust one and another pops up.

I've always fought against the tide of racist idiots, using politics as an excuse for violent riots. I live in a multi-cutural town, chose a very multicultural school for my kids. But I can't continue to argue with the people pointing out the rise in crimes, drugs, exploitation etc which is very visibily linked to immigration. I feel so uneasy about acknowledging how I feel about this! Guilty and a bit embarrassed. I've always been live and let live, whereas now I feel more protective, more cynical, less tolerant.

I am also gender critical and very much in favour of single sex spaces, based on biological sex. This has been a slow thing too. I've witnessed the language around women changing (cervix owner, pregnant person, chest feeding etc). I've witnessed our spaces and groups being invaded by biological men (I don't want a man on the other side of the curtain to me in a women's hospital ward, or a bra changing cubicle, or a swimming changing room.

Does anyone else feel like they are completely re-evaluating what they accept/don't accept, and what they stand for politically?

I don't currently feel there is any one political party that aligns with my ideals.

I may or may not get completely flamed, but I'm curious on other's thoughts. I will check back intermittently but I don't live on my phone/mumsnet.

This is not a troll post. I've been a mn user for over 18 years.

Does anyone know that Keir was a human rights lawyer? Then he became the Head of CPS?
He took Blair's government to court to give illegal immigrants the right to claim benefits.

So how can he have a firm stance on immigration? What he fought to put in place he has to now try to dismantle?

Illegal Immigration in this country is the beast made between him and the European Human Rights Law.

Another reason, I believe he did not want an investigation ino the grooming gangs is not so much that he was appeasing a certain demographic but he was the one who got pdf Jimmy Saville off saying that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute which was unlikely. The fact is Jimmy (another Sir) Saville was already deceased.

He's an absolute hypocritic. This is why I believe he flip flops so much because his head is always battling with his conscience.

I'm sure he doesn't even know who is anymore. How can he? But more importantly how can we?

Never say never. We still have four more years of Labour

What is the incentive for well off people to commit crime? Or the type of crimes, should I say, that are affecting every day life for many communities. Of course poverty is the largest contributer to crime. Nobody says every poor person is a criminal.

Why do you think there are high levels of immigration? Think about it. What do you think might have happened in their countries that would result in people leaving their homes?

I think the political system is problematic. We probably need a radical overhaul but who is going to do that? Do we even understand how it really works now? Who influences our politicians?

Perhaps get involved in politics? Dunno what the answer is but I don't think another party is the answer.

I think there is an increasing trend of the police managing law abiding people and not the violent. You see it on womens rights events, the transrights activists are often aggressive and violent yet it is the women who will be policed. The grooming gangs thing, little girls ended up with convictions whilst the men abusing them walked free.

I think it’s easier for the police tbh and I think a lot of well meaning anti-racism has tipped into trying to avoid acknowledging bad behaviour on the part of minorities. Even the panicky denials that some people claiming asylum are economic migrants, it’s clearly ridiculous. I say this as a minority who also doesn’t like crime and wants to live in a nice place thats pleasant, clean and safe.

Labour do not prioritise it's own people. They take off the elderly who've paid into this country their whole lives, Starmer was also happy to take off disabled people but has no problem spending 8 MILLION POUNDS A DAY ON ILLEGALS.

The man cannot stop a rubber dingy let alone run a County. The man is a spineless cretin!!

Britain is no longer a safe country to live in. The streets are no longer safe for women and children.

Labour need to go and we need a leader with a backbone who isn't afraid to speak up and put their people first. We need change so for me, I will 100% be voting reform and I am not ashamed to say it.

Somebody described voting as like a bus ride. You pick the bus that gets you nearest to where you want to be- you can’t expect it to take you straight to the door. For me, that’s still Labour.

Since Tony Blair came into power the flood gates opened.

You should find out why that happened and then you will know why so many people come here.

They're mostly economic migrants who are able to claim benefits.

Legal and illegal.

Labour being in government has yet again showed up those with left wing tendencies to be incredibly naive.

People want everything without paying much for it. Lower/mid range earners think they are already taxed a lot when in fact the opposite is true when based on other western economies.

On top of this we’re now in a society where a relatively small number of people are funding everyone else. Based on government data, any individual earning under 70k is a drain on public finances. A single earner in a couple with no children needs to earn 115k for the couple to be net contributors.

Society works when everyone feels they are paying their fair share and receiving fair return whether that be through necessary financial support or through provision of excellent public services and a safe environment. That doesn’t happen at the moment and the balance is getting steadily worse.

We now have a situation where huge numbers take what they can and the net contributors typically pay to avoid the social issues. If you’ve ever been to places such as South Africa you’ll know exactly where things are headed.

As Margaret Thatcher said “there’s no such thing as society, there are only men and women and families”. I think there is a lot of truth in that.

Have yiu read anybody else's reply I wonder 🤔

I've always been left wing and still am but am more nuanced than when I was young.

I'm pro women's rights including women's sex based rights. In the UK, the fight back against trans demands has been led by left wing feminists. Just because many on the right agree that sex is immutable, doesn't mean that it's a right wing position.

As far as immigration is concerned, I think that overall it's a good thing and I believe that we should be welcoming to genuine refugees and asylum seekers.

But I don't believe in uncontrolled immigration, I think that the assessment process needs to be speeded up and I think that asylum seekers should be allowed to work (which most of them want to). I'm also concerned about some groups of immigrants who import all of their values and seem to want to live in segregated lives. That's not racist - groups like the Ugandan Asians who came over to the UK after being expelled by Idi Amin managed to keep their religion etc but also contribute very positively to UK society. Some more recent immigrants have attitudes which are more negative, particular towards women and girls.

There has been a huge rise in anti social behaviour over recent years and police do nothing about some crimes (the recent shoplifting thread was an eye-opener), possibly because there aren't enough of them. Some anti-social behaviour and crime is down to recent immigrants but much is also down to British people. Drugs and poverty (I know that poor people are disproportionately likely to be victims of crime and that a lot of crime is carried out by people who are far from poor, but it does play a part) are often involved and the political decision taken by Cameron to impose austerity and dismantle programmes like Sure Start all have a role to play in the rise of crime and anti-social behaviour.

There are plenty of wonderful places to live in the UK if you can afford them.

It is quite possible to exist with virtually no first hand experience of pretty much all of the societal issues that exist.

You shouldn’t have to do that but the grossly differing standard of areas means you have little choice if you want the best for your children.

Are you me Op? I feel exactly the same. Talking politics makes me so uneasy atm. Im
a carer and disability benifits keeps our family afloat so I do need to keep abreast of things.
if there were a GE tomorrow I would not know how to vote

That's the point. Most people can't afford it. The question is why?

Am I the only idiot that reads through the thread before replying? It's like we are talking in parallel universes on here.

Because most people don’t pay enough tax meaning there aren’t sufficient public funds to ensure that most areas are nice places to live in.

That's stating the bleeding obvious. What is the root cause of it?

Another immigrant here who has had the uncomfortable realisation that the UK is now experiencing immigration which appears to be a net drain. Both financially, socially and culturally.

A decade ago I would have argued immigration was only a benefit. But my own eyes aren't lying to me.

Ironically my own country is far more hostile to immigration and culturally protective. I love the UK, it has been a safe haven from a much crueller world. I felt proud to contribute.

I dread to think it won't exist as a culture in a few decades, because it's kindness is being taken advantage of. I can't see any wag to save it.

One reason people leave their own countries is because they are terribly corrupt. I lived in the far east years ago and I remember my cook crying because they didn't have an apple to give to their child to take to school to give to the teacher, If you didn't gift your teacher you were ignored in school.

I also lived in the UAE states years ago, women were jeered and whistled at if in the street - women should be covered and with a male if outside. Also north africa, very sexist, but it's the men coming here, as usual women are just left to struggle through life.

With the large numbers coming these attitudes won't disappear for a few generations imv.

I think it’s very interesting. The poor or lower class, however you like to describe people, have been mentioning the same thing for years and years, as it was them directly affected and they were called raciest and pathetic and uneducated scum. Now these matters have escalated so far they are now also having a direct impact on the working/middle class, so people are now noticing things that a few years ago they would call raciest themselves. It’s now got so bad people are now calling it general concerns.
When something directly affects them, they suddenly have a different perspective. It is interesting.

Politicians pandering to lower/mid range earners to the point where they feel entitled to everything yet pay very little for it.

We have an unfortunate situation where those on median salaries for example, feel they pay their way when they clearly don’t.

If we want to match other Western European economies which have better public services then we need to increase the basic rate of income tax to around 30% to match them. Can you imagine the uproar if any political party suggested that. As a result we are in a doom loop where the ratio or net contributors to non net contributors is getting ever more skewed and is pretty much unsustainable.

I was thinking exactly all of this yesterday and then woke up to see this thread. I have spent my whole career in social/environmental public service and have SEN children.

You're right.
Public services are dire but most people seem unwilling to pay the taxes needed for decent services. Fwiw, I earn £40k so not a high earner but well above the average wage and I think that I'm undertaxed.

That is a depressing thought. There’s still the narrative we must do this from many. You see it on here.