If there was a GE today who would you vote for?

[87SPD]

Bit cheeky but I’m curious to see if there are genuinely any Tory voters out there at all following another disastrous week for Rishi Sunak.

So who would get your vote?

I‘ll go first, I would vote Labour. As much as I would love to hear more on policy and a firm grittiness from them, I do understand that Keir Starmer is doing the best he can, in that he can’t alienate a large proportion of the electorate so needs to toe the line.

It’s between the Tories and Lib Dems here. The Tories are destroying public services and not doing enough to protect the environment or prevent climate change, so they need to go.

I’m not sure if I can bring myself to vote Lib Dem though. They seem to despise feminism. Also, according to my friend, our local candidate is a dodgy, unethical landlord.

I have to say @fridaynight1 that those are possibly the most vacuous reasons I have ever heard an actual grown-up admit to in writing. It really did make me laugh out loud. Which is a first for this thread!

Is this how we ended up with Boris as PM? He behaved badly, but he wasn’t dull. At least he was a laugh, LOL.

Oh he's great if you don't mind being the punchline. Joke is on us, isn't it?

I cannot believe people fell for his end of the pier act.

Two observations.

1. Starmer will be running against " the most dishonest prime minister in the history of the country" at the next General Election, so that Starmer is more honest is important.
2. Whilst we are on the subject of changing policies, are any of the current government's policies those which they ran on in their manifesto - like raising taxes to their highest ever levels, abandoning climate change, HS2 and so on?

As with much of inner London, our MP is Labour. I only see her when she wants my vote, and doesn't ever want to discuss the issues I'm interested in.

So if I was feeling rational I'd vote LD (Tories are nowhere here) even though I don't like their views on gender identity and women's rights. If I was feeling like I can't even give the LDs my vote without feeling icky, I'd vote a fringe party. Most likely, I'd spoil the ballot. In the last GE I wrote something rude across it. Because they are all a bunch of ___.

This is surely not a serious comment? I despair. This is why we have ended up with Brexit and the Tories.

when you have perspectives like this as an example, could politics be reformed based on multiple choice questions about different policies which then match to a party ?

🙄

@Cattenberg "Is this how we ended up with Boris as PM? He behaved badly, but he wasn’t dull. At least he was a laugh, LOL."

I blame HIGNFY.

Is quite like a dull prime minister

Liz Truss was dull, in the sense of lacking brightness...

Labour - despite being in the ‘high earning’ category I believe we should have decent health care for everyone, good education for everyone, social services for everyone and worry about climate change

Two headline stories :

A) Labour to introduce VAT on private school fees raising up to £1.7 billion

inews.co.uk/news/politics/labour-vat-plans-hit-private-schools-next-year-starmer-prepares-immediate-rollout-2640753

Firstly in the grand scheme of tax revenue £1.7 billion pa is bugger all.

Secondly out of 10 million pupils in all schools, 544k (or 5%) are in private education. So let's assume out of these 10% (or 55k) feel they can no longer afford the fees and switch to state.

At an average funding of £7,460 per state pupil this will cost £410 million, meaning the move only raises £1.3 billion.

So this is not about raising tax revenue but about being seen to punish the "rich". And I believe Labour are only proposing VAT in school fees because they believe (probably correctly) that it is a vote winner rather than a worthwhile tax generator.

B) Conservatives plan to abolish inheritance tax at a cost of £7 billion. Currently only 4% of estates pay inheritance tax - ie the richest 4%.

amp.theguardian.com/money/2023/sep/24/sunak-considering-inheritance-tax-cut

Far better to use the money to raise tax thresholds in line with inflation to stop this fiscal drag benefiting more income earners.

amp.theguardian.com/money/2023/mar/18/jeremy-hunt-income-tax-rise-basic-higher-rate-tax-cost

I believe the Conservatives are only proposing abolishing inheritance tax because they believe (probably correctly) that it is a vote winner rather than a good use of Gov money.

Thing is labour have recently sent a Councillor in Brighton and Hove for re-education because she like twaw posts. How can they possibly govern? Lisa nandy was nearly the leader and says rapists should be in women's prisons if they want.
Kier said out loud it is wrong to say only women have a cervix.
Even if you do think twaw, can you really see these sorts of authoritarian right think types being able to run a country if they are so scared of lobby groups they will not only deny reality but punish people who believe in reality?
If your female child is non conforming and wants to play with cars and get a short haircut will labour encourage their reception teacher to ask if they are a boy? This is already happening and labour and the greens and lib dems have been actively pushing this for nearly 20 years.
Labour even removed anyone gc from party membership so they can't have any say in leadership of the party.

‘Firstly in the grand scheme of tax revenue £1.7 billion pa is bugger all.’

no, it’s £1.7 billion which if channelled back into schools
could maybe, oh I dunno,
maybe help replaced unsafe crumbling buildings?

But even if they took the extra money and pissed it up the wall - private schools are businesses catering towards some not the most privileged people in the U.K. and beyond. Not charities. So shouldn’t be given tax breaks that are meant for genuine charities.

Also a bit tired of the lack of understanding ofleft wing and right wing.

The tories have shifted to the left not far right ffs. Hence the benefit burden and high tax rates.
Labour are central. With extremist tendencies which resemble fascism.

VAT and charitable status are two completely different things. Many private schools are not charities but they still don’t pay VAT because education is VAT exempt. That includes tutors, music lessons, swimming lessons, nursery fees, uni fees…is VAT going to be charged on all of these things as well?

Given as you say many private schools exist perfectly well not being charities, and it is probably difficult to distinguish those that aren't charities from those that are in terms of the contribution they make to the wider community, what exactly is the argument that some should maintain a competive advantage over the others?

It’s easy to distinguish if you look closely enough but most people don’t look. For example, the school my DS goes to sponsors a state primary but most people wouldn’t know that unless their children attended either of the schools. The charitable status only has a minimal tax benefit to the school and it has absolutely nothing to do with being VAT exempt. I specifically chose a charitable status school because the idea is that any money made is put back into the school, rather than going into the hands of investors. That seems like a much more sensible approach and ensures that funds aren’t taken out to the detriment of the school. In my opinion all private schools should be run as charities.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66919416

The tories have shifted to the left not far right ffs. Hence the benefit burden and high tax rates.

Taxing people who work for a living while they promise to abolish inheritance tax - yeah, SOOO left wing!

Labour are central. With extremist tendencies which resemble fascism.

I don't diagree, but it's not like they're the most fascist option. Compared to the ones who are criminalising peaceful protest and gerrymandering the electoral system, while stirring up social division to shore up support for it.

I understood Labour weren't going to outline their policies until closer to the GE. I believe starmer said he wants to understand the state the tories are left the country in before committing policies.

This is why Labour will not receive my vote... they've hidden behind excuse and hindsight, we need a party to step forward, place clear policies on the table, identify with all struggling earners, get the idle back to work, realign the NHS, stop putting victims rights as a last priority and for the love of God a party who understands that women want to feel safe. A party who understands why women carry their keys in their hands whilst walking home at night with one key gripped and protruding between their fingers!

A spoilt vote is on the cards for me

Tories shifted to the left? Are you kidding me? 😂

Why would Labour put forward their policies now? Everytime they've done that in the past the Conservatives steal them. It would be incredibly naive. They could be 12 months plus out from an election, a lot can happen in that time.

I dint get why people don't understand what the role of opposition is - it's scrutiny, not policy.