Anyone else unsure who to vote for?

[swiggless]

Used to be a Labour supporter but they don't stand in my constituency (or when they do, they come 5th or 6th). It's between SNP, Lib Dem and Tories (in that order) here. I physically can't vote for the latter two, however I'm not enthusiastic to vote SNP, despite voting for them previously. Greens aren't standing either. I hate the idea of spoiling my ballot but I genuinely don't know what to do. Anyone else in the same situation (not necessarily stuck between the same parties)?

@forfucksakenett

Yes. It’s convenient for you to brush aside drug deaths, obesity and attainment levels 👍

The drugs deaths are appalling, obesity is a western problem not a Scottish one and attainment of what? If you're going to make claims at least be specific so we can check the accuracy.

65% of adults in Scotland are obese.

And which magic orifice did you produce that impressive number from? Overweight and obese are not the same thing. Overweight AND Obese is about 66% of total adult population. Obese around 29% of total adult population and that's pretty much the same for England too. Northern Ireland is slightly better at 27% So what does that prove? Voting Tory makes you fat?

@TheSandman overweight and obesity health related deaths are higher in Scotland than England though. For heart disease it's greater Scotland its 29% of all deaths compared to 27% in England.

Diabetes rate is also greater.

I’m just a middle class professional woman, so what would I know about anything 🤷🏻‍♀️

Me too WouldBeGood

@TheSandman overweight and obesity health related deaths are higher in Scotland than England though. For heart disease it's greater Scotland its 29% of all deaths compared to 27% in England.

Diabetes rate is also greater.

Our population is older though.

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/annualmidyearpopulationestimates/mid2019estimates#ageing

Heart disease and diabetes are age related diseases.

Sorry, just be clear - when I said 'our population' I meant Scotland's.

Sometimes I think the Scottish government just can’t see the bigger picture. They are obsessed with odd sex education and the trans issue; they like to appeal to voters with gestures such as free prescriptions or free school meals forgetting that many of us who can afford to would rather they means tested a lot of it and really helped narrow the austerity gap - it’s widening

I can see the kids in the very mixed town where I live. The high street is full of takeaways, the kids have fizzy juice for breakfast, funding has been pulled from so much stuff that would actually make a Difference like after school sports or music. You need parents with cash and the ability to take you to swimming classes or club sport or violin lessons or whatever it is to have the kind of life that means you can avoid the spiral of behaviour to poverty and isn’t hat I include chronic ill health and obesity.

The kids from these families are very often obese as are the mothers. Instead of food banks I would love money for a community kitchen where we could serve a decent hot meal to these families. Cooking classes at school and beyond. A pile of cash into sports or music opportunities

The Scottish government just wastes cash on so much nonsense, failed projects (hospitals) and pointless legislation

And yet people still vote for them so I can only conclude they like it

Heart disease and diabetes are age related diseases.

Ummm no they are related to poor diet, obesity and poor health.

Should say type 2 diebetes which is 90% of UK diebetics is linked to poor diet and obesity.
Type 1 is not apologies to any diebetics!

Age is also a clear factor in both type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Obesity is the most potent risk factor for Type 2 diabetes. It accounts for 80– 85 per cent of the overall risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and underlies the current global spread of the condition19.

From diebetes UK.......

Now the global problem of obesity is being blamed on the SNP? Ok then!

I thought Tories believed in individual responsibility?

Did you actually read what I wrote?

@felulageller so it seems! 🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

@Roonerspismed agreed, they throw money at everything without any real thought or substance behind it to actually tackle the issues!

We've had 14 years of SNP ruling, hopefully once the regional votes are taken into account, they don't have an outright majority and will at least be questioned and challenged on any new schemes and policies. I don't have the answers, but there must be other ways to tackle issues such as child poverty and the attainment gap that aren't just sweeping giveaways and hand outs. To me, these just seem like vote grabbing tactics... ☹️

The biggest factor in child poverty isn't food costs, it's housing costs, particularly in cities. Free breakfast sounds good but it's not tackling the difficult issues. After 14 years, when are the difficult issues being faced?

@Roonerspismed

Sometimes I think the Scottish government just can’t see the bigger picture. They are obsessed with odd sex education and the trans issue; they like to appeal to voters with gestures such as free prescriptions or free school meals forgetting that many of us who can afford to would rather they means tested a lot of it and really helped narrow the austerity gap - it’s widening

I can see the kids in the very mixed town where I live. The high street is full of takeaways, the kids have fizzy juice for breakfast, funding has been pulled from so much stuff that would actually make a Difference like after school sports or music. You need parents with cash and the ability to take you to swimming classes or club sport or violin lessons or whatever it is to have the kind of life that means you can avoid the spiral of behaviour to poverty and isn’t hat I include chronic ill health and obesity.

The kids from these families are very often obese as are the mothers. Instead of food banks I would love money for a community kitchen where we could serve a decent hot meal to these families. Cooking classes at school and beyond. A pile of cash into sports or music opportunities

The Scottish government just wastes cash on so much nonsense, failed projects (hospitals) and pointless legislation

And yet people still vote for them so I can only conclude they like it

Exactly this. They need to focus on equity of opportunity instead of this communist approach of “ give everyone the same “ and consequently squandering money all the time.

What about these daft baby boxes? None of my friends accepted them, but I’m sure a lot did. And the majority of people are won’t have needed them.

Free sanitary items? I mean they could have at least given menstrual cups which are better for the environment, but it’s all about optics. They know these gimmicky policies make them seem woke and cool and it will appeal to a certain demographic.

I can live in Scotland and pay more income tax, but I want that tax to go back into the community. Our High Streets are a state, every single one filled with poundlands and semi chems. Where is help for small businesses? Better quality products and a bustling High Street.

Then the SNP blame Westminster for not enough funding which breeds this anti - English sentiment. Any mistakes the SNP make are blamed on the Tories. Even our vaccine roll out is slower.

I just can’t understand why people would vote them

Actually we're slightly ahead in vaccines if you include first and second doses.

Another point is free university education means that Scottish students can’t get places because they need to take a certain amount of English/foreign students to afford to function.

This means those from disadvantaged backgrounds are not benefitting from this free education as they can’t compete with privately educated Amelia from London who also wants a place.

@Suffolkpunch345

Another point is free university education means that Scottish students can’t get places because they need to take a certain amount of English/foreign students to afford to function.

This means those from disadvantaged backgrounds are not benefitting from this free education as they can’t compete with privately educated Amelia from London who also wants a place.

This is incorrect. The percentage of home grown students who go to university is the same in Scotland and England ( despite wildly different costs for teaching).

Totally agree @Suffolkpunch345. If we are going to become independent and I do think that it’s only a matter of time, then we need to move away from tokenistic policies and start acting like a proper country. We need to encourage businesses to invest and wealth creators, not vilify the rich, we will need them and their taxes. Salmond was actually quite hot on encouraging business as he got the importance of them in an independent Scotland.

We need to have serious and grown up conversations about the fiscal impact of independence and rather than blame Westminster for all our woes start preparing for austerity and mitigating against the worst case scenario.

So basically in my opinion of SNP are serious about independence then they need to grow up and really put the whole of Scotland first.

Oh and stop with daft things like baby boxes, free prescriptions, free school meals for p1-3 for all and target funds to where it’s really needed. None of these things level the playing field and that’s what we need to do.

And yes I know that free prescriptions and school meals were not snp but they are in charge and in the position to make real difference to the poorest in our society.

@StarryEyeSurprise

Actually we're slightly ahead in vaccines if you include first and second doses.

It’s a U.K. vaccine programme, distributed by health authorities across the U.K.

It’s not a race.

@StarryEyeSurprise

But I why use England as comparison? We can lead and send more kids ( that want to go) to university.

The Scottish Government also doesn’t fund students that would like to go overseas to study. I studied overseas and funded it personally and it was a great experience, not everyone can do this. They should be afforded the opportunity. No baby boxes and free prescriptions!