The highest

[newwave]

Youth unemployment ever, the previous record was when the Tories were last in power.

Unemployment since the last time the Tories were in power.

Add to that:

Rising hospital waiting lists due to Tory cutbacks.

Child poverty (predicted to increase by 400,000 due to Tory policies).

Rising homelessness and rough sleeping.

Fares and utility prices rising way in front of wages (unless your a banker or director of major company)

Out of control inflation and wages not keeping up.

Still the bankers are still getting their bonuses so not all bad.

Same old Tory filth, help the rich and screw everyone else but mostly screw the poor and needy.

The future's Green. Otherwise, there is no left wing.

You may indeed be correct.

'Same old Tory filth, help the rich and screw everyone else but mostly screw the poor and needy.'

How should Cogito refute points like this. She has politely ignored it, and tried to move the discussion on to more rational lines.

I am not surprised that Louise Mensch appears to have brought up the old 'nasty party' line. Whenever, I see her on Newsnight, she seems to have a dig at the venerable Daily Mail. Is she a conservative or is she a progressive?

The Guardian has a piece about her, with a title containing "we're not all ogres".

"I don't think it can be a coincidence that every politician Mensch praises is Labour ? Smith, Caroline Flint, Yvette Cooper, Alistair Darling ? or that she tells me, "I've got loads of mates who are Labour." In fact, she is so unlike most Tory politicians I have met that I'm not sure why she ever wanted to become an MP. Her answer is characteristically clear.'"

I will consider this interview a success if there are a few Guardian readers who think, wow, the Tories aren't all ogres.'

"During her selection, she had been asked if anything embarrassing could emerge from her past, and had owned up to briefly joining the Labour party in 1996"

www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/sep/30/louise-mensch-phone-hacking-politics

I am. Have you read the manifesto? I was so surprised when I read it - almost fits my views completely.

I now find myself a Green District Councillor. :)

"trust fund filth"

Wasn't it Gordon Brown who ensured that every child born since 2002 got their own trust fund? Creating a whole new generation that you can refer to as 'trust fund filth' in time....

Wasn't it Gordon Brown who ensured that every child born since 2002 got their own trust fund? Creating a whole new generation that you can refer to as 'trust fund filth' in time.... hmm

Nit picking, I take a pen or two home from work and I don?t compare that the Great Train robbery. I also so have a few ISSA's and don?t compare myself to Nokia or Gideon etc in the tax avoidance stakes.

The progressives probably give her lots of publicity and media attention, hoping that one day she becomes Tory leader. That way there will be "no more ogres", no more "nasty party". Sounds like progressive heaven.

I'm not nitpicking. Just pointing out the inherent silliness of some of your hackneyed tabloid-style cliches.

"Were there ever child friendly funds and investments????? "

There are plenty. In fact, they existed well before 2002 and still exist now that the CTF voucher scheme has ended. A trust fund with a few hundred in it is no different than one with several thousand. Intelligent way to put money away for children's futures in a tax-efficient manner... or at least GB obviously thought so. :)

I think it's beyond dispute that unemployment is rising ( ft article here ) but whether this would be any different if the Coalition weren't in power is debatable. The media were already reporting soaring unemployment before they were elected here and here. I suppose you would argue that their policies are prolonging the pain unnecessarily?

Whilst I don't think it is calamitous that only 90.8% of patients are receiving treatment within the 18 week guideline (compared to 92.9% in May 2010) I do agree that it is a worrying; i hope the fact that it has remained broadly stable for the past year means that this isn't a trend though.

It is a shame that the Universal Credit, expected to lift 450,000 children out of poverty, may be offset by other changes (according to one think tank afaik) but again I would hope that the back-to-work measures would have an additional downward pressure that they didn't factor.

Is homelessness increasing? I work with a homeless charity and we keep hearing that numbers are set to increase, but haven't seen this happening yet. Do you have any data?

Do the government have any control over fares and utility bills? Beyond rhetoric I mean?

The only significant measure to control inflation is to increase interest rates, which is down to the Bank of England.

'Same old Tory filth, help the rich and screw everyone else but mostly screw the poor and needy.' How should Cogito refute points like this. She has politely ignored it, and tried to move the discussion on to more rational lines.

Dear God, she, you or anyone else cannot refute it because it is the bloody truth. The Tories policies show it is the Truth. The Tories actions show that it is the truth. The Tories history points to it being the truth.

You would have the have the IQ of a scrubbing brush to think the Tories give a flying fuck about anyone but the rich, bankers and their city spiv mates.

The Tories are removing benefits for the poor, the disabled, parents; they are the reason sure start centres, youth clubs, luncheon clubs for the elderly and libraries are closing.

And yet the scum bankers are claiming their bonuses even as shares plummet and board room pay goes ever upwards.

It is fucking unbelievable that a few... how can I put it... ah yes FUCKING MORONS think the Tory fuckers are a good thing.

I despair sometimes.

Steady on, this can't be good for your blood pressure.

Have you thought about the fact that people see different solutions to the same problems?

And if they really are only interested in the top 1% then you can gain comfort from the fact that the other 99% will vote them out in 2015.