to dread a Conservative govenment?

[tryingtobemarypoppins]

As a teacher and mother I feel I should dread Conservatives getting in.....

Manate - no, there's no Tory pledge to abolish tax credits at the moment. I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually moved benefits away from the tax system, but that doesn't mean there would be nothing to replace tax credits.

At present, to be honest, there's so very little cash left to spend that there will be cuts regardless of who wins the next election.

The one thing I would keep an eye on is the definition of a "cut". In the 2005 general election, Labour defined a "cut" as any proposed increase less than the proposed increase the government was planning.

Since they've now had to scale back those increases themselves, they're being called "increases". Which they are - sort of - but not under the 2005 definition. So you'll get interviewers saying something's a cut, and politicians saying it's not. And that's what's at the heart of that one.

My local council went form Labour to Tory a few years ago.

So far the Tories have cut funding for youth services, abolished the meals on wheels for pensioners, reduced the grants that it gives out to charity groups that do work in the community but at the same time, it has allowed property developers to build flats all over the place with no social housing for those who cannot afford to pay £200k for a 1 bed contemporary flat even though there is a long waiting list for social housing.

Before I had my twins, I was a high rate taxpayer, now I am basic because I work part-time. My DH is a high rate taxpayer and works in the city. We own our house outright and we both came from working class backgrounds, went to unviversity and got good professional jobs to get to where we are. I say this because I know some Tory eejit will come along and accuse me of spouting the politics of envy.

Our local council has just gone Tory after 28 years of being labour so it's very hard to imagine how different things could become.As i know far too little about the Torys I shall reserve judgement for later i do feel somewhat apprehensive though..

That is awful spokette.

'The cost to society is not just the benefits, not just the social housing cost, but also the policing, the 'youth centres' (which get vandalised as soon as they are built), the collateral damage to decent people in the area.
'

A lot of decent p[eople ive of benefits through no fault of their own- carers, recently redundant, disabled, etc

To imply they are all svcroungers is fuckwittery at its highest level

(and no, we don't live entirely off benfits- we get top ups mainly due to 3 of the above factors but we both get out of bed and do important things each day making ourlives productive if not high earning)

I think this was inevitable because people had such high expectations for labour. I worked hard towards the 97 victory and was at South Bank for the party, I genuinely (I was only 22) thought we were entering a new era of justice and compassion. I was always going to be let down. I suspect if the lib dems ever got in we would feel the same.

People don't really have expectations of the tories beyond cutting taxes and helping the well off and those who conform to their narrow expectations of what makes a good person. I may fear the tories but I will never feel let down by them. I suspect a lot of tory voters get what they want from voting tory so will also not feel let down.

I have lived entirely off benefits and still get some help because of my illness. I am not a fuckwit or a scrounger. I am actually a very very hardworking public sector employee. I think you get your money's worth from me.

Oh and I also come from a council house, have recently acquired a degree and hope to train as a social worker if (and sadly it's a big if) I can access childcare for a 9as defined by DLA) 'severely' disabled child (the other disbaled child has accessw through a local childminder)

Even when not working atm for caring reasons (and we have a young child- bor na year before DH's redundancy before you comment) I volunteer at the local school, and Dh and I both help with a children's group. He is working so hard P/T to get a business off the ground,a nd willa lso re-enter education in September as his old industry is pretty non-existent here now, for functionalr easons not related to government.

A cancellation of WTC would affect those famillies trying to do their best, and those where one aprent is working whilst another cannot earn- maybe childcare, sickness, disabilty, etc- or just those on ridiculously low incokes. Every woreking aprent with chilscare relies of low paid staff to enable their own income, after all. Do the most affluent really want an exodus from their area of all these people? It might not hurt as much if you live on the Tube line I guess, but many people do not.

labour arn't the party they were...the old socialists have been locked in the cellar...but they're still better than the conservatives who are back stabbing "im alright jack" arseholes.

I would say if you don't like Tesco then don't shop there.
They are forcing a lot of businesses out, yes definately all helped along by the local councils who cripple local high street shops.

Their latest plan to screw small shops is to charge for all street parking. So the choice I will be faced with is this: Do I pop to a local shop and pay to park, or pop to nearby Tescos and park for free in a vast carpark?

Tesco rail road councils into being able to build - the council is taken to court time and time angain to defend their position of stating NO to building - tesco have the money to keep taking the counil to court until the council run out of money. Then tesco can build the building that they want and the local population will suffer - as public services will have to be cut because the counil tax has been spent on taking tesco to court.

It has happened many times across the country, the tesco store is then built and local business suffer and go under. Even more cost to the tax payer.

So not only do they legally take money from tax - something the MP's have done, expenses are legal but the public don't like there money being spent willy nilly - tesco also legally take from the pot by using legal loop hole. It may be legal but that doesn't make it correct to take the piss

Cheating tax by finding loop wholes is wrong, it may keep accountants in business but it ripes the heart out of this country.

holes even!

I wasn't aware about the repeat court appearances and the subsequent cost. Near me they have dug through the countryside to build a new road direct to Tescos at great inconvenience to all local drivers. My kids were upset about the destruction of the wildlife but what can be done? They pushed the plans through anyway.

I'm only dreading much more of this Labour Government. Robert Peston's book "Who runs Britain" is extremely enlightening!

Don't be deceived. If Britain is to avoid bankruptcy, the country needs to look at a combination of:

(i) Raising taxes...by a lot...and from a lot of people. Increasing taxes for ony the very rich isn't going to do it!
(ii) Look at spending less.
(iii) Look at cost efficiencies.

Whoever gets in will have to make some unpopular decisions...or we'll go the same way as Iceland!

However, Labour have a remarkably dismal track record in the cost efficiency area (They don't seem to want to spend £10 when £20 will do 'cos they can swallow up the excess in top-heavy, burdensome administration costs).

So much as I'm not overenamoured with other parties, that's the reason I'm dreading Labour getting in again.

www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=planning+office+%2B+tesco+store+application&meta=&aq=f&oq=

They ride rough shot over councils - councils that we have voted for to represent us and spend our money on defending the situation

I used to do some work for a Tesco Pharmacy and they had very sharp business practices indeed. I remember ringing up a company to order a special drug needed for a very sick patient,only to be told that there was a stop on the account due to an unpaid invoice. I rang Tesco Head Office to be told that they had a policy not to pay invoices under £50!! Wonder what they would have said if I took the same line with my grocery shopping and walked out with £49 of food in my trolley without paying for it!

this man suffered due to tesco in 2005