Argh - how to vote !

[rookiemere]

In scotsnet as this is a uniquely Scottish problem - apologies if there's a politics area somewhere that I should be in.

My postal vote has been sitting staring at me for days.

I know who I don't want to get in. As a non-scots British person with an English DH, I'll do everything I can to avoid another referendum.

Our local Labour MP actually does a lot for the local community and seems like a good egg. But the overall party is a disaster and SNP are talking about going jointly with Labour so they can push through another independence vote.

I cannot bring myself to vote Tory after what they've done - also every time they think up a remotely fair taxation idea i.e. making self employed pay same taxes as employed or making rich OAPs pay for care, even though Ruth Davidson seems very different from the conservatives in England, can't bear to watch the Westminster crowing when/if they get a huge victory.

My heart says Lib-Dems and in fact I've done some campaigning for them at local level, but pre voting questionnaires seem to suggest it's a 3 way race between Lab/Con/SNP so it would be a wasted vote.

Is anyone else really struggling to decide for this election?

I've met the Conservative candidate for Edinburgh North and Leith - as a person he's ok but he's a total Brexit Tory and I think he would be a rubbish MP. He's a perpetual paper candidate who may hit a lucky break this time though.

I am totally conflicted on whether to go Labour or SNP, I'm in Edinburgh North and Leith.

SNP prob have more chance of ousting Tories.

yes, the SNP are favourites, so that's the safer anti-tory vote if you believe the odds.

lastly: anybody know when the Edinburgh constituencies usually report their results? So I know exactly how much sleep to lose out on!

OOAOML, vote labour, you know you want to!!!

The others are right though if your priority is to keep the tories out then SNP are favourites. Just know that your vote will be taken as support for another indyref by the SNP.

And if there are any labour or lib dem staffers on here, I'd be only too happy to be paid for my posts on here.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/will-election-results-announced-area-hour-by-hour-timetable/

Enter your postcode for an estimate. Also tells you how marginal your seat is. I would say the bulk of results in the big cities will be around 2am to 4am, later for the more rural area or where there's a recount. High winds could stop ballot boxes getting on ferries to counts in Kirkwall, Lerwick or Stornaway.

Well, trixy I have just voted for JS so there is at least one vote in the bag. Fingers crossed that there are enough!
JN's comments that it was between him and the Tories seem to have been based on the council elections, I think.

DDog and I are waiting for the rain to stop. May have to abandon that hope shortly!

On way to vote Labour. Any pay offs gratefully received.

I think unionists voting Tory to avoid independence might backfire. My vote in the event of indyref hinges very much on the outcome of this GE. If the conservatives are back in government tomorrow I'll swing back to a yes. I'm far from alone from what I can see.

Genuine question - why are people so obsessed by Indyref2? Even if it does happen it'll most likely be No again!

On a personal level, because it was so horrific ladymarian. I ended up off work for a month as it made me ill. I literally had a migraine for a month as i found it so stressful.

It's also been really bad for Scotland. It cost millions and the uncertainty is having a detrimental effect on Scottish investment.

Look at the way education etc is suffering due to the SNP's obsession!!! They didn't have one single debate on education and have passed no bills this year.

wave back Leader

I am so downheartened by the messages from all parties about 'vote x to stop y' but this election does seem to be all about the negatives and tactical voting so I'll have to deal with that. Anyway, I shall console myself that I am only one vote.

Wappers that's interesting; DH said he saw a poll that said a UK Tory victory was likely to cause a big swing to Yes.

I do wonder where on earth politics is going though - we seem to be in an endless cycle of votes that don't actually solve anything. I would be fascinated to see how this will all be written up and presented as history in the future.

perhaps because the SNP want to have another indyref in the lifetime of this Westminster parliament so it's hardly irrelevant?

The Brexit referendum was far worse in my opinion. Having been a reluctant No voter I feel utterly betrayed. I don't trust the Tories to negotiate Brexit at all. Theresa May won't even have discussions with orher party leaders so how will she fare in Brussels?! She tells us she has a plan but won't tell us what it is except that it involves her being difficult and potentially walking away with no deal. Great. I'm utterly depressed at the thought of enduring another 5 years of Tory rule and even worse finding out that lots of Scots voted for it. Makes me want to weep!

Brexit was supposed to give a big swing to yes which hasn't materialised. There was a tory government at the time of the last indyref and it was a no. I can't see it having that much of an effect tbh.

i've become persuaded we need PR so we have more consensus government and people have to compromise - i'm not sure FPTP is getting us anywhere anymore (except more divided).

I would prob vote yes if Tories get in. Not if Labour do.

I was gutted by the brexit vote too, but I think it's not going to be anywhere as detrimental as independence would be. We are not as intertwined with Europe as we are with the UK. Our biggest market is the UK. We aren't dependent on a fiscal transfer from the UK.

Agree, i think we need PR of some kind

I think it was based on asking people if it would change their vote, but yes, people's reactions are not always what's expected or what the people themselves think.

I agree we should be looking at PR. We should also be looking at a proper constitutional convention to look at devolution - we have parliaments, assemblies, mayor etc but it all seems such a mish mash, there are people who genuinely don't know where different powers lie, and elections are being fought on issues that aren't relevant (for example the council elections being fought on Brexit/Independence, Scottish debates for the general election that focus on issues that are devolved). I imagine it suits politicians to keep it all vague, but it is just so frustrating. The Lib Dems in our council election had leaflets about the EU and Indyref2 - I'd be more interested in what their policies were on trams, what they were going to do about the state of the roads and whether they're going to build a new school.

Sorry, that should have read we aren't dependent on a fiscal transfer from the EU!!

i don't think you can blame politicians of all levels campaigning on independence because it will affect politics at all levels if we went independent.

A devolution commission would be a good idea, we're still in the relatively early days of devolution and the rush to shout independence when something isn't quite working seems wrong to me.

I don't blame them, I just have this quite hard to express sense that it is all such a mess - the lines are so blurred about what people are voting for, and so many actions now seem to be swung day by day on what the opinion polls are saying, what the social media reaction is, what the papers are saying.

We do really need a conversation about devolution UK wide. Whilst EVEL got loads of coverage, I didn't see any equivalent vote about whether London MPs should be excluded from certain votes for example. The areas that have recently got mayors, how much explanation has there been about what the powers are, for example? Personally, I think the UK parliament needs an overhaul to reflect the way devolution sits across the UK now, and maybe part of that is England-only sittings where relevant. But there's always something else attracting debate, and there doesn't seem any real appetite to do anything other than tinker at the edges.

What annoys me most is the SNP assumption on here that anyone who doesn't like them must be a horrible Tory. Even the jibes of "red Tory" at Labour supporters from the Nats are designed to present themselves as the left wing candidates so that voting Labour is also seen as a right wing vote.

Hopefully Corbin has done a lot to stop that particular kind of unpleasantness.