Why would you vote Conservative

[BigGrannyPants]

Just that really, I am utterly bemused why anyone would vote conservative knowing the lies they've told, the lives they've ruined and the fact they are only interested in looking after their rich friends. I appreciate the choice of parties aren't great, but surely Tories need to be at the bottom of the list? If you are planning to vote Conservative please enlighten me! This thread isn't intended to bash anyone so if you could try and avoid that if possible!

I've never voted for the Tories and I never will. I don't have a clue why people do.

I've always voted for Labour in the past, but I will be voting for the Lib Dems this time because of brexit.

I think it's pretty crazy to say Tory voters are either ill educated or the elite.

I studied PPE, followed by law, have worked in government, the European Parliament, the NHS and now private sector. I certainly do not feel like an elite, on my meagre salary in central London. But neither am I in any way politically ignorant.

Some of us just disagree that tax and spend, tax and spend, tax and borrow and spend some more is the right way forward.

Yes squishy I have read the thread it pops up a few times on this one and usually on other threads with a similar topic

All this 'I'll vote for the Tories to give Theresa May a strong negotiating position for Brexit' is weird. She has a referendum, a majority, and parliament voted overwhelmingly to trigger article 50.

What you'll actually be doing is handing Theresa May a strong position to continue destroying the NHS, the education system, to shaft the disabled and the poor and so on.

"I think it's pretty crazy to say Tory voters are either ill educated or the elite."

...Again, how many people are actually saying that? I have spotted one post on this thread which insults Tory voters. One out of over 100 posts.

Where rosie? I can see one comment on this thread that does this (and for the record, I disagree with it).
Being critical of Tory policies/politicians is not the same as slagging off Tory voters.

It was an early one and many after said that Tories are self serving and don't care about the poor/disabled, you have to be an elite etc. It's mind blowing how so many on the left / anti-Tories are willing to write off the majority of voters (in England, at least) as ignorant, heartless or elite.

Absolutely @ShotsFired

One post roarityroar. Out of over 100.
the other anti-Tory ones are directed at the Tory party and their policies. There are also plenty of posts criticising labour and their policies, for balance.

"destroying the NHS" the Conservatives have been in power for 28 of the past 50 years - thereabouts (Squishy please check, there's a dear). Can you tell me exactly when they're going to destroy the NHS? Seems a bit slow to me .

I would vote conservative if i had massive investment in overseas property companies, or believed that nasty low wage employers were positive.

Majority of voters voted anti tory

@misspriggy c'mon the NHS is on its knees. Most likely within the next few years there will be no NHS if things carry on.

By underfunding it at a time that it is under unprecedented pressure due to an aging population?
By exacerbating the problem by massively underfunding social care, which has a huge knock-on affect on hospitals?
These things tend to bubble away under the service, until everthing "suddenly" implodes; the problems aren't immediately obvious thanks to staff propping up the system in the short term by working tirelessly outwith their normal hours, etc. This is not sustainable in the long term, and things suddenly reach a crisis point (lets hope next winter is mild!) when suddenly the problems become impossible to ignore, by which time the damage has been done.

You can only cut so much fat from public spending before you start hacking into flesh and bone.

From the Telegraph so you can't claim a lefty bias:
www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/12/30/social-care-services-cracking-weight-nhs-funding-crisis-says/
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/nhs/11921381/NHS-faces-biggest-financial-crisis-in-a-generation.html

And btw, I don't think that all Tory politicians are opposed to the NHS - many of the moderate ones are generally supportive of it, I believe. But the moderates are not steering things at the moment. There is a fringe in the Tory party which is idealogically opposed to healthcare free at the point of delivery. And this fringe is empowered at the moment.

The NHS is a vote winner.

It is very genuinely on its knees. It isn't the government, but rather the fact that there is not enough money.

And who decides how much money the NHS gets Pink?

You miss my point, Exploded There just isn't the amount of money available for the NHS people want, regardless of who is in power. The NHS has in a sense become a victim of its own benevolence.

Generally speaking, the NHS is the one thing people will care about and vote for. With that in mind, are the conservatives going to dismantle it? Hardly.

Sometimes, in government, tough choices need to be made. The NHS is currently one of those very tough choices.

No I really don't miss your point. NICE determine what treatments will and won't be funded but the government have chosen to reduce funding for junior doctors, nursing bursaries, CAMHS, local government etc all of which affects care.
There may be people who want a bottomless pit for expensive drugs but most people want what's achievable. A GP appointment. An affordable dentist. A junior doctor who remembers what a pillow is.

That's the thing Exploded - I hate all of that. So do most people. It isn't a vote winner. So why are they doing it? Because they hate the NHS or want to get rid of it, or because there isn't enough money?

Ideology. Holdings in private health providers. A belief that they know better than HCPs. Different priorities. Something else?
I am one of those who would like the NHS removed from political control. To become a publicly funded, autonomous body run by HCPs and people with demonstrable commercial experience.
I don't believe that politicians will only ever act logically.

I can understand that!

But I do think the NHS has got too big, too expensive, too bureaucratic. It has gone past the point of affordability yet no one will concede that. Difficult situation, all round.

No I'm not prepared to concede that. It still represents one of the most efficient health care provisions anywhere. Cutting it further is madness. Wasting money on politically led restructures is madness. Letting Jeremy Hunt, the man who went to A&E because he wasn't able to get a same day GP appointment, anywhere near the NHS is madness.

because there isn't enough money?

And yet there's enough money from Brexit, grammar schools and Trident?