So...why do we hate the Conservatives so much?

[Chulita]

And why do we think Labour has anything left to offer after 13 years?

Just wondering...

Sorry, I was speaking out of turn. The income gap did widen under Labour but it had widened at an even greater rate under the Conservatives.

What is certain is that inequality has been rising for decades and Labour didn't reverse it and barely slowed it.

?It?s fair to say incomes have increased for most people, they?ve increased most at the top, and growth has been fairly meagre at the bottom,? is how Luke Sibieta, a senior research economist at respected independent number-crunchers Institute for Fiscal Studies, describes the equality picture under Labour.

there's a good Fact Check on it on the Channel 4 website.

[http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/2010/04/01/conservative-campaign-right-on-re-offenders-weal th-gap/ here]

I contend that higher education is not a right and any country on a budget should meet other needs first.

"36% of the people who voted yesterday don't hate the Tories."

and 74% of those who voted do!

sorry - 64%

I'd never be able to run the economy

And 71% hate Labour this time. Assuming that by voting for one party you automatically hate all the others, which the anti-Tory argument supposes.

I don't hate the Tories. I'm not too keen on some of their more extreme fringes but then again I'm not keen on the more extreme, lefty fringes of Labour either.

Regarding your 2nd question, I don't think Labour has much left to offer after 13 years in power. I don't think ANY government (Tory, Labour or otherwise) should be in power for more than 13 years. that's just not healthy. Governments in power for a lonnnnnnnng period get complacent and arrogant.

gaelicsheep no I know it's labour and I think lib dem want to reduce children centres coverage. So I was left with no choice!

I appreciate this is hard times and they have to make cuts and not everyone is gonna like them. I wouldn't like to be the one trying to
make the cuts!

I think there should be a definite term of office built into law. Exactly four years after the last general election.

And if one PM steps down, an election should be called within three months. No unelected leaders.

I hate the Conservatives because of the philosophy of being conservative itself. The idea of maintaining the status quo or, worse, harking back to a time when things were so much better than they are now.

It is all in the name for me - conservative, keeping things the way they are, batten down the hatches and sit tight and everything will be alright. Everything they did in the 80s seemed to reinforce social divides in this country and this has had a lasting impact on society even though vast numbers of people have become 'middle class' under Labour.

The Conservatives, by name and by nature are not progressive and that's why I don't agree with them.

re poverty widening under labour - theres lies damn lies and stats - as we all know. however that isn't to say its not true.

all i can speak from is personal experience. i buy things that are cheaper now than they were in 1993. prices were so high, people were getting their homes repossessed on a MASSIVE scale. interest rates were phenomenal. and rich people were very rich indeed.

so on personal experience alone, having been poor, having lived on a council estate under labour ( because of the conservatives) working with people who are considered poor or underclass - it strikes little resemblance to john major or maggie thatchers govt.

labout could have and should have done more - granted. but lets not forget what they have done. minimum wage, PCTs ( sure start etc) opportunities for higher education for the poor. things id bet my right arse cheek the tories dont give a shit about

this sums it uo for me,its exactly how I remember the last consevative government.

i agree with Custardo that Labour achieved many admirable things in their time of power. It's just a shame that they got something so important - fiscal responsibility - so wrong. Remember Gordon's golden rule that dropped by the wayside? oh la la.
I also agree with toopragmatic saying no party should be in power too long.

I think it's probably a good thing if the Tories get another go, not to build upon their disasters of the past, but to prove they can bring a fresh approach that will hopefully have some positive results.

I support the idea that lower taxes can help encourage investment and economic growth--not that the Tories are even promising much in the way of tax cuts any time soon.

I also think government has become too large. Our growth should not come from blindly throwing money at public services and creating jobs to boost employment figures.

Granted, those practices have their benefits, but the situation in Greece highlights the danger of creating too big a state, funded with thin air.

"So the Tories are seen as 'English' and anti-Scottish/Welsh/Irish?"

They are. And southern focused too.

In fact, they are focused on getting as much wealth into as small a number of people as is possible.

This is a fact. Not debatable.

Because the conservative party is currently run by a clique of people who either come from superprivileged backgrounds, or have spent their entire careers in or around politics, or both.

as is Labour ...

yes, but I know more about the conservative ones, and therefore they annoy me more

"tories royally fuck poor people up the arse

and tenderly lick the balls of the rich"

As above.

As for the markets - who is serving who? Money for the sake of making money? Markets as the new God of Greed.

Duellingfanjo and Custardo....I heart you both....agree with everything you have both said and have actually said the very same things over the past month myself.

'they don't want the right to return after maternity leave' what crap. I returned to work after maternity leave on a job share that my employer sorted out for me under the Tories in 1996.

I'm with Herbietea - I don't trust Labour and never have.

'however the principle stands that tories royally fuck poor people up the arse

and tenderly lick the balls of the rich'

I can honestly say, that is the funniest thing I have ever read on MN.

Still laughing knowingly here.

At least you know what you're getting with the Tories. Labour have been 'tenderly licking the balls of the rich' since they got in.... starting with Murdoch and working up to all those lovely people Lord Mandelson chummies about on yachts with. Did Labour increase the top rate of income tax and make their wealthy pals fork out some more? No. Did they thoughtlessly abolish the 10% tax rate so that hospital cleaners were (albeit temporarily) 'royally fucked up the arse'? Yes.

No-one should kid themselves that the Labour elite are all gritty working-class sons of the earth.

All the parties are subscribing to the same hypocritical cant, that they want ordinary people to become parliamentary candidates like teachers, policement, dentists, etc -
but what happens to the ordinary people? do they ever end up in positions of power or safe seats? do they fuck - while the party ends up in the hands of people like Cameron (privilege), Osborne (privilege), Gove (never worked outside politics/journalism), Vaisey (privilege) et al.