I am 33 and have never voted...don't know anything about the policies and manifestoes....so need some straight talking summaries please

[YouMightKnowMe]

So...I shall look further at the comparision on the BBC web site etc. but I figure an easy way to see what the policies mean to me the voter is to ask you lot. So I have two simple questions with a couple of simple rules.

1. a) Which party (in your opinion) should I be voting for tomorrow.

b) please give no more than 3 reasons why

1. Please give 2 reasons why I shouldn't vote for the other 2 main parties.

(P.S. I am counting the main parties as Labour, lib dem and conservative before anybody offers a sarcastic answer to this)

Ta

I too was interested in this thread when I saw it as I am too trying to decide. The thing Im most interested in is my family in regards to benefits such as tax credits, sure start centres, in regards to NHS as at some point no doubt I will need to use them and in regards to education as both my children will be attending school (obviously).

I assumed that people on here would also be looking at similar things (maybe some others as well) as I assume that most people on here have families. So I was also interested in a REAL people point of view.

So I cant see the problem with looking on here for advice on who to vote for. Yes there are some very one-sided (wasnt sure if that was what I want to say, but couldnt think of anything better) views esp when giving out reasons not to vote for a particular party, but there are plenty of posts telling me why I should not vote conservatives, some more telling me why I should not vote labour and again some more telling me why I should not vote Lib Dems. But I think all these are good, because they are really giving me some things to think about tonight.

I have had a look at various websites, I like the BBC one the best as it is easy to read. I wasnt impressed with pocket politics site as you look at one list, then the next and the next and so on. By the time I got to the third list I couldnt remember what the first list said. But each to their own.

Some websites will be biased though so will have to be carefull of those. Hope you decide who to vote for. Ive been thinking of this for a couple of weeks now and still dont know.

Which is why we need to maintain growth. You can blame Labour for the debt all you like but thank god they understood the danger of the situation and acted to get us out of meltdown and towards recovery. Ongoing recession is the biggest risk to paying back the debt. Don't be fooled.

Are you one of the floating voters who ends up not voting at all then?

I heard about these on the news today

See, I thought Labour had inherited a reasonably healthy economy, good pattern of growth, reasonable levels of employment, and then ....

spent and spent and spent and spent some more

Some of the stuff they spent on was good - inevitably. A lot of the stuff they spent on was not productive.

Quattro - spot on.

happikidz - the reason I am voting Tory tomorrow is my son. I don't want him to be still paying for all this debt when he's 30.

fartblossom, here is an interview detailing Lib Dem policies on childcare, tax credits etc. (have put it in a separate thread as well because it describes them better than the manifesto does).

Quattrocento,
true they inherited a fair economy but it had appalling infrastructure and crumbling public services, massive levels of crime and lots of child and pensioner poverty. Sure he spent, but most of it was sound investment in the people of this country. Maybe he should have stopped spending growth two years earlier (as IFS say) but we would still have pretty much the same debt as we do now because the debt wasn't big when we ran into the biggest financial shock for 70 years.

happikidz - the debt was big.

Look at the real figures, the ones that include PFI. That is what is coming to bite us all on the arse, all that private finance that is due to be paid back, on top of the public debt.

Alibabaan, Yes I've heard that the Tories have their own figures for debt, based on different accounting systems than those used by IMF and World Bank and everyone else. Why will private debt bite us on the arse exactly?

1. a) Depending where you live, Conservative or Lib Dem - whichever will keep Labour out.
   b) They are not Labour

2. You must not vote Labour because they have ruined the economy over the past 13 years and are now encouraging the whole electorate to remain in denial about the scale of the problem they created. And they have done nothing in this election campaign except lie about the policies of the other two parties.

Prinnie's summary of GB's economic mismanagement is spot on btw.

No, not 'their own' figures.

How do you think all these new schools and hospital buildings have been built? With PFI loans on top of 'normal' government borrowing.
That is now all due to start being paid pack.

It is not private debt, as in debt owed by you or I - it is governement debt and needs to be paid back by us, the taxpayer.

here is an article from the Guardian no less which covers it pretty well.

But isn't this what they all do? The government screw up - they spend, they raise taxes, they either cut thousands of jobs or send us to war, and end up being hated. So we switch parties, and the same thing happens all over again. Maybe the disaster is different, maybe the spending is a little more or a little less - but overall its the same result.

I could be utterly wrong. But that's how it comes across to me, getting ready to vote for the first time tomorrow.

Aliba, this was a hugely controversial issue within the labour party, with many seeing it as "privatisation," and attacking it. The Tories don't like it because it enabled the State to build hospitals and stuff.

What is your evidence we are having any difficulty paying back this debt?

The deficit is growing. That means that each year we are still borrowing more than we are paying back. That is my evidence.

SirBallotAlot, i do sort of agree with you but the small differences are important too, you know, like keeping the people safe

happikidz you've run away, I was so enjoying our chat.

Alibababa, forgive me, that is evidence the debt is growing, not that it is so big a problem that we must cut spending without regard to the economic and social impact.

happikidz where did I say we should cut spending without regard? I didn't.

Aliba, perhaps not but the Tories have. 1 in 100 is all they'll say. How will they know what is valuable and what isn#t?