I can't tell you how much I hope the Conservatives win the election.

[AntoinetteOuradi]

Just had to get that off my chest.

Please come and join me if you feel the same, and then I can stop annoying myself (and others) by hijacking the anti-Tory threads.

Yes Stripeysocks - the Telegraph is unbiased isn't it?

Give me a break.

Why do Labour supporters think they are the 'caring' members of society who vote for the good of their fellows whereas Tory supporters are by definition selfish gits who only vote to get the best for themselves? There are plenty of posts on MN in support of Labour which also point out the belief they will be better off personally by voting that way. Are there Labour voters on MN who genuinely feel their own families will be WORSE off under Labour but will vote for them anyway purely for the good of their country?

Don't most people vote for the party they think will take best care of their personal values?

I have not voted Tory for a long time so don't mistake me for a Cameron fan. Still I think this attitude, typical of a large number of left-wingers, shows nothing but their own petty snobbery. I live in an area with strong Tory support, although it's not a safe seat and is currently Lib Dem. You can't avoid the constant fund-raising, volunteering and energetic involvement of the very trad Tory 'ladies who lunch' throwing all their spare time and much private cash into supporting local hospices, cancer charities, the arts, retired soldiers, terminally ill kids, hospital visiting, conservation, lifeboats etc etc. They choose where to lend their financial support, it is not guided by the state, but that doesn't mean they are greedy misers who keep it all for themselves.

Incidentally it is typical Tories like them, and typical socialists who do exactly the same kind of work for the groups/charities THEY care about which makes me feel the whole Cameron 'invitation to Get Involved' was a patronising mistake along the lines of his 'Broken Society' - what broken society has that many people, across all parties, always willing to give their time and available resources so generously?

Grow up the lot of you. Different views don't denote lack of common humanity.

'Don't most people vote for the party they think will take best care of their personal values?'

Yes, but not everyone votes according to what would be best for their own family alone...

I have yet to come across a party which cater for the needs of only one family. Possibly the monarchy but I don't believe they are standing for election.

caterS!

Actually for me it is not mostly about money.

What about the homophobia, the xenophobia, the narrow belief in what a British person should be (or anyone!)? The fact that they are only supportive of one kind of family unit and of one kind of relationship??

I want a progressive government......

Nobody has yet mentioned the pig's ear that Labour has made of NHS dentistry. I can't find an NHS dentist anywhere within 50 miles of where we live - so it costs me £90 for a checkup for the children and me. At least I can afford it, albeit with much wailing and gnashing of teeth. It is utterly disgusting that other people's children have teeth that will just rot because they can't pay £90 every six months.

and you think the Tories are going to extend the NHS?

LOL.

you really are deluded.

Again, coming from a place where big government is an anathema to most, you also appear incredibly socialist, not Conservative, supporting universal healthcare at all, much less dentistry.

Antoinette, I'm with you. Stick to your guns.

I have a small son so whoever wins this election will heavily influence his schooling.

Standards of education under Labour have plummetted. The number of kids leaving school who can't even read is a tragedy.

And they took over a healthy economy in 1997, came up with the phrase No More Boom or Bust (did they suddenly think they knew more than generations of economists?) and then wasted 12 years of healthy revenues, spent a billion quid on the Dome (wtf) sold the gold reserves, ripped of people's pensions and now when we need it, there's nothing in the coffers. Even the gap between rich and poor has widened. More children are in poverty.

It's going to take my son's whole lifetime to pay off the debt. I can't wait to be rid of them either, so we can start sorting out the mess.

better start saving for that private school and private health insurance . . .

I'm too scared to post this on a Labour thread...

I'm a bit sick of hearing how tax credits make it possible for women to work and have a career and a future because this policy does not apply to all women. The tax credit system actually forces some women/partners to stay home: if your combined salary is over the limit but you personally make less than the cost of your childcare.

I worked at a government job 22.5 hours a week and was losing money, around £25 a month, after childcare. Other mothers were only working 16 hours a week with the same amount of childcare and were getting 70-80% paid for by childcare tax credits. You could say that it's fair because my family do not need the help - but fair or not, someone should acknowledge that the system actually discriminates against a whole class of women.

I'm voting Tory because of the deficit but part of me feels like I've been pushed that way by a Labour government who's consistently written off women like me. I've had to set up my own business and find part time contracts that I do not enjoy but pays far more in order to try to keep my career going. (And it's not entirely a selfish vote - financially we as a family would be best off with the Lib Dems).

Expat....Saving ! (hysterically)

I genuinely don't understand. The OP is complaining because other people can't find an NHS dentist?

The whole 'I-don't-get-much-in-return-for-my-tax' is such a consumer view and not the point.

Kathyjelly:

Expat, I have health insurance (of a kind - not full, but partial). It enabled me to spend slightly less than £1000 on seeing a consultant because the NHS waiting list was so long. Oh goody. I also grit my teeth and pay school fees because the schools are rubbish here. If DS didn't have a scholarship, I would have to home educate [horrified emoticon: he is a high-functioning Asperger boy, and I need a break from him during the day!]

As regards free higher/further ed, I don't think my position is a socialist one. It's actually an elitist one: the Labour government seems to believe that there's no difference between someone with four As studying medicine at Oxbridge and someone with two Ds studying Media at Mediocre Ex-Poly. The idea that fifty percent of 18-y-os are capable of getting a degree is laughable. It's more like 20 percent at best. And the sense of entitlement is astonishing. Students don't just feel entitled to go to university; they feel entitled to a minimun of an upper second once they get there. (I speak as a university insider here).

I think university should be for the minority who are clever enough to be there. I think a whole bundle of "universities" should be shut down and turned into vocational colleges which would cater for school leavers who aren't academically able but who need training in something.

I do think the Conservatives are misguided in this respect regarding grammar schools. I think we need more of them. The schools postcode lottery is a disgrace. For the vast majority of people, the choice is either an average/poor state school or paying for a private school. I'm lucky in that I can afford the latter. But I pity the parents of clever children whose local comps are in special measures (as ours is).

Labour seems intent on bringing everyone down to the same rubbish level. Their whole higher ed policy is based on this so-called fairness and egalitarianism. What it leads to is low standards across the board, and a university system that's in danger of becoming as much of a farce as the school system.

Well said Antoinette

"
Labour seems intent on bringing everyone down to the same rubbish level"

that sums up my feelings perfectly

"Labour seems intent on bringing everyone down to the same rubbish level. "

....except their own kids, of course, who if they don't go private will damn well go to the best possible state schools even if they have to travel across London to get there....
it's the hypocrisy that gets me.

Antoinette I couldn't agree with your stance on education more - when are just going to admit (frankly) that some people are just plain thick (that's old skool for academically challenged) and no amount of education/university in the world is going to change that. I love my boyfriend very much, but he's never going to be a rocket-scientist - and that's just the way it is - so fgs stop trying to tell us all that all children deserve a university education.

"....except their own kids, of course, who if they don't go private will damn well go to the best possible state schools even if they have to travel across London to get there....
it's the hypocrisy that gets me."

So, so true. Bog standard comps are only for the little people, not the Establishment.

does a cheerleading style dance

Goooooooo TORIES!
kicks legs and shakes pom-poms

Also, will use this place to also vent, SHUT UP ABOUT TAKING TAX CREDITS A BLOODY WAY. They're saying they'll take it away from people with incomes of OVER 31K, how is that going to harm the poorest families? I fit into that. It will be a LONG time coming before I'll be able to earn over that money, so it will support a single mother quite nicely.

So poo poo to bloody you.

With regard to the NHS

Where I live on the edge of London is not good for hospitals, we were half an hour away from all the a&es, however Labour in its infinite wisdom has decided to close our two closest a&es! The hospitals are impossible to get to by public transport anyway. we now have a limited hours accident department at a cottage hospital but that is only open to 8 in the evening and is very limited with what it will deal with.

Christ, have in fact realised that the 31K thing is just labour bollocks. It's actually incomes of over 50K?

Sorry, but if you've got that sort of money coming in, PLEASE feel free to come and bitch and whine about not getting tax credits to me.