Why are you dreading a Tory government?

[Swedes]

Social mobility under Labour has fallen to the levels experienced in the 1950s. That means if you are born poor, you remain poor and if you are born wealthy, you stay wealthy.

I heard this morning on R4 that the NHS is experiencing the worst funding crisis in its history.

I could go on but I'm sure you get my drift.
Labour have had over a decade to fulfill their promise that "things can only get better". It's time for a change.

Can you please give me a few good reasons why Labour should remain in office?

I stand corrected, following the recent shenanigans, it appears as though around a third of the Labour Cabinet were privately educated.

Do you know, it's not just about private education. It's about awareness, compassion and empathy.

We pay for school but I'm bringing my kids up to know that whilst they are lucky to have all those facilities in school it does not mean they are better that anyone else or cleverer than anyone else.

It's not the fact that they're privately educated it's the elitism that I can't stand.

If my kids grew up to vote Tory I'd support their right to do so but I'd genuinely feel as though I'd failed to instill in them a sense of social justice and liberalism.

I don't see why it should matter whether members of the cabinet or shadow cabinet are privately or state educated. Are they decent people? What do they believe in? etc etc My children are privately educated - I made that decision for them. I would hate to think they were going to come in for a life of prejudice because of decisions I'd made about their education.

And btw I do wish people would stop calling Tories fascists. Now we have a fascist presence in our legislature in Europe I think it's important that we unite to get rid of them.

On a personal level I have nothing to fear from the Tories. Private education for my kids, private health scheme for us all, both DH and I higher rate tax payers, provision made for retirement etc. And in many ways I'm drawn to the idea that government should take a step back out of my life
-I don't want the state to tell me how to run my family/my DCs education/my life. I am perfectly capable of all that thanks for asking.
And yet...however attractive the idea that everyone should pull themselves up by the bootstraps ( and both DH and I did )the fact of the matter is a lot of people would love to but can't. There has to be a safety net for those people. And frankly I jsut don't see the tories providing that safety net.

That said, I'm currently in despair about the Labour Party. It has tipped from being the nanny state to the prison guard state. At my local party meeting we can no longer speak our minds. We are constantly patronised. The parliamentary party is so sure that it is 'right' about everything that any discussion or descent is crushed from on high. Sigh.

Granted there's private schooling and there's private schooling. From the Guardian

"Seventeen members of Mr Cameron?s Shadow Cabinet were privately educated and 14 of his frontbench team went to Eton".

Now that's what I call elitist.

Cameron has had this pointed out to him and since the departure of Boris, has made a point of making it less elitist. There's him and Oliver Letwin left who both went to Eton, but there's still a lot from the more 'elitist' public schools. George Osborne went to St Paul's School, Jermy Hunt went to Charterhouse School, Francis Maude to Abdington (though I have a v.good friend who went there, on a clergyman's son scholarship) It's not the same as sending your children to independant schools is it? These are bastions of power and privilidge.

Leningrad, I'm not sure what mix my kids would get at the local state primary though which is very white and affluent and where catchment houses cost in excess of 500k. Families just as affluent but making different choices.

At least at our independent school it's racially mixed and when they reach secondary level the school offers many bursaries to kids from inner city areas. Again, a mix they just wouldn't get at our leafy comp jammed with 4x4s.

excited about possible repeal of hunting act

I look at whats been achieved under Labour and I dont see that any of these things would have happened under the Conservatives.

Minimum wage
Increased maternity leave
Paid paternty leave
Tax credits
Third world debt relief

They have had to mimic Labour's values to be in with a chance but they cant be all things to all men. They're the same old tories.

Buts doesn't all the evidence suggest that Sure Start has made v little difference to the most deprived? We have fab sure start facilities but they are colonised by the middle classes.

Swedes - I stand corrected on calling Tories fascists. Obviously the BNP are the real fascists and you're right that getting rid of them must be top priority.

From my point of view though, stopping the tories gaining power is not far behind. Like many of you, I guess, I grew up under a Tory government, and I can remember what it was like.

48-hour wait on a hospital trolley anyone?

some sure start facillitiesare colonised by the MC for certain (I worked in a sure start sponsored role, in a surestart buliding)

however it's a lot of hard to measure things that make a real difference- BF support groups, nuresry access, specialist HV's in addition to the GP based ones, support for victims of DV. We had a salt, early years teacher, beaviour specialist on oure team; as a HomeStart employee I was both funded by and included in that team..... and we made real differences

That works, aboslutely, but is the less visible and easily measured side.

Whilst ridding ourselves of the BNP is a priority, it shouldn't be achieved by asking people to vote Conservative or indeed for any party- it has to be achieved by education and publicising the abhorrent policies of the party.

We shouldn't be (As I beleive a voring Tory would) willing to sacrifice the poor and needy in order to rid ourselves of fascists: we should aim higher than that

Well said Peachy - but as the BNP got in because poeple who would normally vote for other parties just didn't vote (the BNP vote didn't go up that much), it is also about those parties reengaging with the electorate and in some cases previously loyal voters who decided voting wasn't worth doing this time.

This Labour govt is the most fascistic govt Britain has ever had !

With reference to the OP - the research in 2005 that concluded that social mobility had gone down since the 1950s referred directly to the increasing link between family income and educational opportunities of those born in the 1970s. Hmmm - now, who was in power when those born in the 1970s were going through primary and secondary education, and who introduced opt-out for schools and who froze higher education grants and introduced student loans? Ah, the tories.

Cammelia - explain, with direct reference to the dictionary definition of fascistic please

Look, I must be being dim here - I could raise standards everywhere if I borrowed loads of money and increased my debt to record levels. Everyone's coming on this thread and saying "Labour are great, they've spent on this and that" but they can't afford it. I don't understand how being in frightening amounts of debt as a country can possibly be a good thing?

In agreement with riven, slug and myredcardigan as well - I well remember the Tories under Thatcher when I was 12/13... - and it was all about sex scandals, elitism and not giving a shit about those who needed help... and IMO she and her cabinet helped create the 'Loadsamoney' generation...

Flashharriet, all governments go through periods of being in the red and being in the black. Just a few years ago the government was in surplus. The debt isn't because they're spending too much, it fluctuates wildly based on international economic conditions.

The current weight of government debt would only have been slightly less had the Tories been in power. The recession is global but is being felt hard in this country because of the banks. I'mnot suggesting the government is faultless just that we need to look at the bigger picture.

And do you know what? I'd rather the country carried a bit more debt in the short term and continued to fund public services and hand out winter fuel allowances so pensioners didn't freeze to death midwinter.

Meant to add that debt is at record level because the cost at which the government can borrow is at record levels.