I won't be voting Labour because

[PanicMode]

next year they will be spending more on debt repayments than education, and that's just one example.

From a £6bn deficit in 1997 to £167 bn now....

Oh, and the only new idea (reduction of stamp duty) came from the Tories in the first place.

All those thinking of voting Labour, please read Squandered or The Rotten State of Britain before letting these financially illiterate numpties back in.

so what/who is the alternative?

ill be voting for the monster raving loony party i think,

i won't vote tory.

Lib dems wont say who theyll support in a hung parliament.

so whats left? and how did the conservative government do any better?

We are (or were) in a global recession, everyone is further in debt than they were in 1997. Not really a valid point.

Agree with Vicar. Haven't a clue who to vote for this time, because they all seem very similair.

...of what I just heard in the Budget.

Has anyone got the phone number for the IMF?

Whata the National Insurance increase - missed that bit. Bet it affects us as we are middle earners

Whats IMF?

ABetaDad - I think they'll be phoning us!!

LadaGoGoGo - we haven't been in a global recession for 13 years. This Government have spent way more than we've had coming in for years - when the economy nosedived in the global downturn, they had no rainy day savings....not exactly financial prudence. Oh, and of course GB sold our national gold reserve at a quarter of its true value very early on - genius.

I don't know what the alternative is yet because until the election is called and the parties publish their manifestos we won't know exactly what the opposition parties are suggesting. Every time the Tories have said what they'll do, the ideas ahve been stolen by the idea-bereft Govt.

I'll be shocked if the tories can find enough polices to fill a manifesto

International Monetary Fund

Looks like the budget will cost us in excess of £1500, so that's dh's payrise wiped out then.

'It means that a worker earning £50,000 a year will pay an extra £1,248 a year.' plus the income bands are frozen, so more people will get pulled into higher rate tax. I wish the bastards would be honest and just put the headline rate of tax up so we all know what we are paying.

IMF = International Monetary Fund. They come in to sort out countries when they go bankrupt.

Greece is on the verge of calling them in.

The UK had to call them in 1976 - as a result of the last disasterous Labour Govt.

I won't be voting Labour because they have destroyed this country, and fostered an entitled attitude. People expect everything to be handed to them on a plate.

Applauds Phrenology's succinct summation.

I'm a socialist

because they don't know the rules of polo, yah?

so is it safe to say this thread will be predominantly tory voters shouting and waving about what a terrible gvt this one is?

i have 2 words.

maggie thatcher. that put me off tories for life.

closed the pits
privatised all our major industry
sold all our social housing (council houses)
were generally greedy bastards so the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.

i have a very long memory.

Well I agree with that phrenology.

Although i think the tories will do little to change that attitude. Have the tories any polices on changing JSA etc? I would love to her if they have because that would be a vote winner as far as I'm concerned

PanicMode

out of interest. Who did you vote for last two times?

Yep, let's forget what she did to the working classes and the industy of this country. She was a woman so must be celebrated

Feminism gone bonkers

they've damaged education beyond belief by constant interference. I want Labour out in May because that gives three years for whoever gets in to restore education to some kind of order before my DS goes to school.

I'm gradually reaching the conclusion that I'll have to vote Tory. There's just no other way. UKIP & BNP are all barking mad, the Greens haven't got the breadth and the Lib Dems have one good man who isn't their leader.

If Cameron listens to Ken Clarke they might just get the debt under control and I think their education policies are more realistic.

seriously, is there still a monster raving loony party?

i dont want to vote for any one of the 3 main parties. im not just voting for the best of a bad lot. id rather not vote.