2015 general election: “I will vote for……because……”

I thought it might be useful if we had a thread on which members can, if they wish, say who they will be voting for on 7 May and add some details as to why. There are obvious overlaps between some of the parties; for example, Labour and the Liberal Democrats want to bring in a mansion tax and keep us in the EU, while both the Green Party and the SNP want to scrap Trident. If you’re still not sure which party comes closest to representing your views, you can take a short ‘test’ here:-

https://cuttingedge2.forumotion.co.uk/t1029-which-political-party-do-you-side-with

I’ll start the ball rolling. I apologise for re-posting this message, but I do so at the request of one of the original members of this forum:-

“Although Ed Miliband did appear on a picket line with Doncaster care workers, I wish that Labour would be more supportive of legitimate strike action, especially by firemen, NHS staff and teachers who have had their conditions of employment and pension arrangements changed arbitrarily. I think the party is still traumatised by the damage done to it – 18 years out of office - by what were largely myths about the so-called ‘winter of discontent’ of 1978-9.

No, Labour doesn’t do many of the things I’d like it to do, but why should it? I’m just one of the ten million plus people it needs to support it if it is to form the next government. A party which has to appeal to 35-40% of the population must be a compromise, a coalition within itself. It needs to resonate with its core vote, but also to those who thought in 2010 that the Lib Dems were left of centre, and to those who have been tempted more recently into thinking that UKIP might somehow represent the working class.

I will vote Labour because, although it won’t rule for the benefit solely of Ivan White, it will abolish the bedroom tax and bring in a mansion tax, it will repeal the Health and Social Care Act and it will end uncertainty over our membership of the EU. I will vote Labour because I dislike everything this Tory-dominated government of ideologues and liars has done, which has included abusing the human rights of the disabled. I will vote Labour because on 8 May either Ed Miliband will become PM or we will have another five years of ‘Dodgy Dave’ and his asset-stripping corporate cronies, and that’s a no-brainer.”

I will be voting Labour because I do not like the Tory Ideology of only looking after those at the top of the money tree, the Tories are so corrupt they give the criminal a showing up.   I also know that the Labour party will do what is best for ALL of the UK not just the bloody elite of the UK like we are seeing at the moment.

There are a lot of people who have turned against Tony Blair but seem to forget the good he did during his term of office, when he came into office in 1997 the neglect by the Thatcher Tory gov't of our NHS and Education system was disgraceful.   The NHS was in such a state people waiting and dying waiting between 18 months to 2 years for their operations, this is when Tony brought in the private health sector so people would not have to die waiting for there operations.   The education system was in a dire state along with the buildings kids where supposed to learn in Tony put the money in so they had decent places to learn in.

I also know Tony did not get everything right after all he is a human being like the rest of us which means he is capable of making mistakes just like we are.

I'll vote for Labour because for me there is no other choice.

The Tories in power for another 5 years is a frighteningly horrific prospect. The way that they have duped the majority of the media into regurgitating their malicious spiteful bile against those not fortunate enough to have been born with a silver spoon makes my blood curdle and my skin crawl.

You can forget the LibDems. Nick who?

Whilst I have some admiration for the Greens and Caroline Lucas in particular, they always seem unrehearsed to me. It's as if they think they can state their policies and never expect an expert to ask them the difficult questions, the research.

I like Ed. I just do. He's put up with the cynical media portrayals of him with dignity and a steely determination to stick to what he believes in. He's stoic in the face of unrelenting personal attacks. He'll do for me.

I will be voting Labour because I have noticed, throughout my life, that when there's a Labour government in power, they tend to invest in things I consider important, like education, health care, public services, social housing - all those things that give ordinary people a chance to fulfil their potential - and that's what I want for my country.

Tony Blair seriously boobed taking us into Iraq and a lot of harm was done, but foreign policy is something most governments get a bit wrong in my opinion - just look at the feeble showing of Cameron and team.

In 2015, we need a Labour government as never before because the Tories have damaged and destroyed so much of our social infrastructure that urgent first aid measures are needed.

I'm hoping Miliband will be a Prime Minister out of the same mould as Clement Attlee - he seems to have some of the same attributes.

...when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, (Sherlock Holmes)
British mystery author & physician (1859 - 1930)

I think I might vote Labour.

I shall vote for any socialist who stands. In my case, here, that means Plaid Cymru.

Plaid Cymru main aim is the same as SNP here in Scotland Penderyn Independence for Wales the leader of PC has said so, sorry but if we go down this road the entire UK will be broken up in bits before much longer.

Redflag wrote:Plaid Cymru main aim is the same as SNP here in Scotland Penderyn Independence for Wales the leader of PC has said so, sorry but if we go down this road the entire UK will be broken up in bits before much longer.

Well, my desire to live under English tories is far from insatiable, but I don't think this is a very immediate problem.

With this lot of Tories there is not many that are enjoying there life under this shower of Vile creepy crawlies Penderyn

I will vote Labour on May 7th - another five years of Cameron, Osborne, IDS et al does not bear thinking about. Also in my constituency there is a particularly stark contrast between the sitting MP Henry Bellingham (Con, shareholder in one of the companies that stands to benefit from the carve up of the NHS) and Jo Rust (Lab, Unison Rep, strong NHS campaigner).

I am not able to vote as I'm currently hiding away in Norway for the year.

Were I able to vote, then I'd be voting Green, and because they most closely align with my views on economy, war, trident, and the environment.

It would also be a bit silly to be a member of a party that I didn't intend to vote for.

L

Can't you get a postal vote?

I too find myself largely in harmony with the Green agenda; however, I would not feel able to vote Green in the General Election because the party is still so small it would be unable to form a government - and every vote counts to get the Tories out I think - a vote for the Greens might well be the vote that lets the Tories back in.

Perhaps on local issues, I might be tempted to vote Green, or for an MEP - but I do feel for the General election, there can only be a choice of two - Labour or Conservative - and I really don't like what the Conservatives have been doing in government since 2010

I'm not resident in the UK, so I can't vote this time around, although I do have to pay UK tax, so I'm currently saving up for some tea bags to throw in the harbour.

On a serious note though that's the whole problem with FPP. If we all vote for the least bad government that we think we can achieve, then we never actually get the one that we want. What should be clear by now though is that if we want to find a better, more inclusive and more democratic way of running a country for the benefit of all not just the few at the top, then none of the business as usual parties are going to deliver that.

;-)

But we have to have a government ---

You do, sadly, but I don't subscribe to the view that it has to be run by either Labour or Conservative because that's the way that it's always been, or because right now they are the only two with a chance of forming a majority. Change doesn't just come of course though, it has to be built, but elsewhere the likes of Syriza and Podemos are showing that a new left narrative can emerge.

Indeed it can - but so far in England hasn't with enough followers to constitute a democratic government - which is why I still see the role of the smaller parties in local government or in Europe, building a following that may eventually give them the clout to gain either a majority or a serious minority in the national elections.

As to being unable to vote, I thought ex-pats could, using a postal vote?
Certainly it seems some UKIP and Tory supporters in Spain and the like are planning to vote in May

TriMonk3y wrote:You do, sadly, but I don't subscribe to the view that it has to be run by either Labour or Conservative because that's the way that it's always been, or because right now they are the only two with a chance of forming a majority. Change doesn't just come of course though, it has to be built, but elsewhere the likes of Syriza and Podemos are showing that a new left narrative can emerge.

(General admonition) Beware of people who appear to know what they are talking about. No good can come of it.

Happy to be admonished. UK has been heading in a progressively neoliberal direction for the last 40 years, and Labour are a part of that narrative, not an opponent, only a radical new direction will change that. Otherwise we are back to a debate about who's least bad. But that's a discussion for t'other thread.

Expat voting - you can only use a postal vote if you have an address in the UK at which you are registered to vote - we don't now.

Thanks for explaining - I should know these things, but am often very ignorant

Find out whether YOUR vote can influence YOUR choice:

http://www.voterpower.org.uk/

How the Tories hope the news agenda will help to determine your vote:-


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B_-xzcKWcAEOP6z.jpg

No contest - obviously having a second, or boring, kitchen makes Miliband just unfit to be PM - thank goodness the Daily Mail has put us in the picture!!!

If there were no criticism of Ed Miliband it would be because the Tories were confident of victory at the Election.

However there will continue to be such, because they're not at all confident.

Will the current component parts of the Coalition cling to each other for comfort? That would be an interesting indicator.

Having seen the seven- way 'Leaders' Debate' last night and the resultant polls casting verdicts on the respective performances, one might suggest that Ed Miliband starts to make a few plans to be very polite indeed to Nicola Sturgeon, who gave , in my worthless opinion, the best presentation to showcase her party's credentials.

While she has the advantage of not being tainted - yet - by as many past mistakes as many of the her opponents, she was also lucid, calm and very effective in dismissing each and every one of those around her. Essentially, I am sure she has the same left-of -centre convictions as Milly , but cannot be seen to cosy up just yet as she seeks to wipe out the Labour Party in Scotland - and by so doing, completely wreck the chances of an automatic Ed majority in Westminster.

This pre-supposes that Murdoch and the other equally nauseating media barons to do not succeed in getting their propaganda offensive to create a majority for Cameron - and that is far from being a lost cause as the polls start to show a slight lead over Labour and opinions polarise.

Will Labour yet rue the fact that their boy just didn't effectively oppose when he had the clear chance to do so , by proclaiming loud and clear all those examples where the likes of Duncan Smith was tormenting the sick and disabled? The size of the targets missed were unbelievable.

The prayers of all those wedded to Labour must now be along the lines of hoping that Ms Sturgeon is a willing accomplice in compromise to keep the Tories out of power at almost any price, and that rubber-faced Farage takes a whole load of what might have been Tory votes - but not too many, however - in the right seats.

Anything less and it's another five years of Dave- and any possible successor along the way. Good luck everybody... !

Hello Phil,
I'm sick to death of the Tory Media/Press publishing the worst of polls results for Ed Milliband and the Labour Party. So unfair and so very pro Cameron. Cameron Cameron, photos on evey page and every word it's Cameron, talk about plugging it.
Ed I thought did a good job on Cameron at the so called "7 way debate". The polls differ so much with Ed neck and neck with Cameron, then Ed in front and then Cameron in front and yet the bastard Tory press Political editors put Ed way behind, which simply isn't true.
It reminds me of a useless referee giving a bad decision that gives the favoured team the points to win the cup/league. We may well end up with these Tory tyrants on board again by default. It is utterly undemocratic, unfair to the nth degree and possibly an election result which is brought about not by the Tories but by the bloody media/press, who should be made to be politically impartial by law IMO.
Feeling a tad better now having got that off my chest

Phil Hornby wrote:Having seen the seven- way 'Leaders' Debate' last night and the resultant polls casting verdicts on the respective performances, one might suggest that Ed Miliband starts to make a few plans to be very polite indeed to Nicola Sturgeon, who gave , in my worthless opinion, the best presentation to showcase her party's credentials....
....Anything less and it's another five years of Dave- and any possible successor along the way. Good luck everybody... !

It will be the voters' choice if SNP result in being the tail which wags the UK dog, but in such a case I predict an interesting power struggle to develop quickly between the present and previous leaders of that Party.

What larks!

We live in interesting times -and they could be about to get even more so...

In todays news it appears that Nicola Sturgeon has said she would prefer the Tories to win the election, just like Salmond did for Thatcher to bring down the Labour gov't. I can believe this because if the Tories get into power she knows she will get her wish of people saying yes to Independence because of the nasty cuts the Tories will bring in.

Was hoping you would post on this, Red.
I know the SNP has a history of helping out the Tories but not having lived in Scotland I wasn't sure about this - she presents as a reliable sort with good socialist credentials and I couldn't decide which would be more important to her - getting out of the union or backing an (at least slightly) left of centre government

Nothing but Tory propaganda brought to the people via a Tory supporting rag Daily Telegraph. The problem is so many lies and any kind of bad news for Ed is being published at every possible opportunity by the Tory rags. It is absolutely disgusting, unfair, non democratic. Those of the fickle public, of which there are many, will swallow it all hook line and sinker I'm sorry to say.
Prepare for another Tory term in some form or another. God help us all except the wealthy.

Redflag wrote:In todays news it appears that Nicola Sturgeon has said she would prefer the Tories to win the election, just like Salmond did for Thatcher to bring down the Labour gov't.     I can believe this because if the Tories get into power she knows she will get her wish  of people saying yes to Independence because of the nasty cuts the Tories will bring in.

We should always believe the Telegraph. God writes it, you know!

The only saving crace on reflection for Labour is that if the Scots think that Sturgeon has ideas of joining the Tories in a Coalition they may decide to give their votes to Labour at the end of the day.

The dirty tricks are all one sided in favour of Cameron and Ed is too nice a guy to resort to the same. Such a pity because if it could be cooked up that Cameron has been having an affair for example, even if not true like the nonsense against Ed, then the seeds of doubt would be sewn. All is fair in love and war and the same it seems for politics. After all the lies and propaganda posed against Ed, even though untrue and unjustified, they have taken their toll in the seeds of doubt.

Red wrote--- "In todays news it appears that Nicola Sturgeon has said she would prefer the Tories to win the election"

Red,the operative word here is "appears" and yet it will work for the Tories I fear if proven to be true or false, especially where she has supposed to have said "Ed is not PM material"

Mel wrote:The only saving crace on reflection for Labour is that if the Scots think that Sturgeon has ideas of joining the Tories in a Coalition they may decide to give their votes to Labour at the end of the day.

The dirty tricks are all one sided in favour of Cameron and Ed is too nice a guy to resort to the same. Such a pity because if it could be cooked up that Cameron has been having an affair for example, even if not true like the nonsense against  Ed, then the seeds of doubt would be sewn. All is fair in love and war and the same it seems for politics. After all the lies and propaganda posed against Ed, even though untrue and unjustified, they have taken their toll in the seeds of doubt.

The biggest con, of course, is that Labour caused the capitalist crisis - by, presumably, seizing control of the American banks. The liars are being allowed to get away with murder!

It's time for the media/press to be regulated and independantly moderated. We all want the news, but lies and distortions of the truth
are unacceptable. Not of course for the Tories as 90% of it all isTory owned. Makes my blood boil Penderyn.

Mel wrote:It's time for the media/press to be regulated and independantly moderated. We all want the news, but lies and distortions of the truth are unacceptable.

I said the same thing last night on Twitter, Mel.

The newspapers/media's job is to report events in an impartial and neutral manner. They are in Switzerland. If they are unable to remain partisan, then they should at least declare any interest so the public has a choice over whether or not to consume their product but of course they don't that. Any outlet that is unable/unwilling to provide information in a neutral way should be forced to reconsider their position.

I am sick of the likes of the Sun and the Telegraph who constantly misinform the public and refuse to comment on the truth. They turn my stomach and make my flesh crawl. Report the news or find another career.

Phil Hornby wrote:-
While she has the advantage of not being tainted - yet - by as many past mistakes as many of the her opponents, she was also lucid, calm and very effective in dismissing each and every one of those around her.

I’ve never liked Alex Salmond, who comes across as a pompous bully, but Nicola Sturgeon is an impressive politician who clearly ‘won’ the debate on Thursday. As a result, within 24 hours the dirty tricks brigade swung into action to try and ‘taint’ her.

My take on the SNP is that it is a pro-EU, social democratic party which hates the Tories and should be Labour’s natural ally; they are much more obvious bedfellows than the Tories and the Lib Dems were in 2010. Of course, when you’re on the same side of the fence in politics you tend to have to compete for the same votes.

As always, there is the stench of Tory hypocrisy. Cameron and his cronies (and his not-so-impartial fifth cousin in Buck House) were desperate for the Scots to stay in the UK. Yet when they decided to do so, a major democratic and non-violent Scottish party is continually demonised when it looks likely to become the third largest party at Westminster. It’s just the same with EVEL; the Tories don’t want Scottish MPs voting on English issues, yet they were quite happy for Ulster Unionists to support Tory governments in the 1950s and 1960s, even though they had their own assembly at Stormont.

I can't help but think that independence will be Scotland's in the next decade.

For the time being it may be to Labour's advantage to not distance themselves too far from Ms Sturgeon as she - like it or not -will be able to boast a fair number of SNP MPs after May and Ed Miliband may need them on an 'as and when ' basis. Please tell me that Ed won't throw away this small opportunity to free us from Cameron by pontificating too much about how unwilling he is to contemplate a left-of-centre coalition, nor by suggesting that he believes the story circulating about Sturgeon's Prime Ministerial preferences. He should be supporting her call for an enquiry into what is probably a Tory-inspired desperate piece of propaganda.

Many of us don't especially like such coalition arrangements, but what was good for an opportunistic Cameron might justifiably deserve similar horse-trading by Milly on behalf of the long-suffering decent people of Britain...

Redflag wrote:-
In todays news it appears that Nicola Sturgeon has said she would prefer the Tories to win the election, just like Salmond did for Thatcher to bring down the Labour gov't.

As I’ve mentioned previously, Callaghan’s Labour government lost a confidence vote in 1979, then Thatcher won the subsequent general election. Alex Salmond didn’t become an MP until 1987.

I’m disappointed that so many people in the Labour Party should immediately choose to believe a story in a Tory newspaper from an anonymous source. We don’t like it when they tell lies about us, so let’s show some consistency, not jump on a bandwagon because it might (but probably doesn't) suit our agenda. The judicious thing for Labour members to have done when this story broke would have been to keep quiet and see what develops.

As the incumbent, Cameron has the right to squat in Downing Street unless and until someone else has enough support to form a government. In keeping with the characteristic Tory policy of ‘divide and rule’, it is in Cameron’s interests to drive the biggest possible wedge between Labour and any potential partners in a future government. The Lib Dems are unlikely to have enough MPs to be the second party in a coalition, and if they did they’d undoubtedly prefer the Tories again; you only have to listen to Clegg and Ashdown still trying to blame Labour for the global credit crunch to work that out.

This attack on Nicola Sturgeon might well have Lynton Crosby’s fingerprints all over it. The intention of it is to paint her as duplicitous and set the Labour Party against her, when it should be focusing its attack on the Tories. Sadly it looks like a trap into which too many Labour members have walked.