Is May about to call an election?

Have you any idea just how much tax we’ve contributed in our lives?

Have you an idea how much it costs to run NHS, schools, police, defence, transport, social care, housing, garden bridges etc?
Judging by the fact we have torn through all our gas and oil, sold off every utility and resource we could, borrowed way more than we could comfortably afford and *still* need to cut back hard, we spent a shed load more than your taxes.

Perhaps I’m missing the point here, but hitting the baby boomers will surely have a bigger impact on my children’s generation, rather than me.

So, if I eventually go into care and our savings and house value are used to pay for the care, where I can keep the £100,000.

In a lot of cases, the money for my care will be eaten up pretty quickly, the only people who will lose out on this will be my children.
The house will be sold, my children’s generation still won’t be able to afford it, and only the very wealthy will be able to buy it, and then rent it.

So, it would appear that it will be my children who will ultimately lose out financially, I’ll be scattered in the wind somewhere on the Afan trails.

Fallon getting a pasting on the lack of costing and wishy washy lack of detail in the Tory manifesto on newsnight right now

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-election-poll-ipsos-idUKKCN18E19S

Denis99 – Member

Perhaps I’m missing the point here, but hitting the baby boomers will surely have a bigger impact on my children’s generation, rather than me.

Yup, exactly. It’s pretty odd that this is depicted as being hardest on the person that can’t pass so much down to their kids, rather than being hardest on the kids who receive less (and who are less likely to own a place of their own).

@kimbers, quite right they are getting a pasting for it being un-costed with no obvious way to fund many of the pledges they have made.

So we can choose between un-costed to probably be covered by further borrowing and ‘costed’ with giant black hole that can only be covered by further borrowing.

Fallon getting a pasting

And Priti Patel, along with the dementia tax is being pasted by Angela Rayner and the audience on QT.

Fallon and Patel are both terrible tonight, most enjoyable

getting a pasting for it being un-costed with no obvious way to fund many of the pledges they have made.

I think they would get pasted in any case, ‘if the cap fits…’ etc

Politics seems strange at this moment in time, at least to me. We have turkeys voting for Christmas, in the shape of labour voters potentially going to Cons. Everybody loves the health service but the result of this election is likely to provide a mandate to change it forever (probably not in a good way).

Tonight the main parties don’t even bother to turn up. May because she know’s she has won and Corbyn because he is useless (potentially nice bloke and all).

Society seems to be the big loser here. I can see a way to make it work for me but I just can’t get enthusiastic about it.

Be fair. May is also useless

So we can choose between un-costed to probably be covered by further borrowing and ‘costed’ with giant black hole that can only be covered by further borrowing.

You choose based on what you want the government to do, what are it’s intentions. Forget about borrowing and made-up black holes of yours – all governments spend money, taxes are paid to create the money – but what do you want the money to be spent on

In today’s Grauniad:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/18/secret-plans-protect-le-pen-french-republic-emerge

Meanwhile Britain quietly ushers in its own despot without a whimper.

so pandering to the racists would cost us 6bn

brexit is turning out to be a bargain

Oh come on kimbers, you know they are not all racists. we’ve been told often enough. Some are just knuckle draggers.

So let’s ask the question we all want to – what percentage of Brexies are racist/xenophobic/overly nationalist?

TJ et al I’ll say this again. In France (far to the left of the UK politically) you have VAT on food, childrens shoes and clothes, full rate on utilities, much higher taxes generally includinga a wealth tax, when it comes time for social care the state means tests the elderly person and their children. oh and by the way they have much higher Inhertiance taxes too.

I don’t see any posts here critising the Tory manifesto from people who might vote Conservative. Its just the usual long stream of moaning from the anti-Tory brigade.

Same old same old

So let’s ask the question we all want to – what percentage of Brexies are racist/xenophobic/overly nationalist?

Diane says its 200%

Same old same old

Thankfully we have your posts, full of truth to shine a light.

There is nothing of any substance in the Tory manifesto to criticise. I’ll give them their due, they’re really brazening this one out – they don’t think they have to have any actual policies – the polls say they don’t, so they’re not.

Anyway, I thought you’d stopped following the election coverage…?

Diane says its 200%

Same old same old.

when it comes time for social care the state means tests the elderly person and their children.

Do you have a citation for this? Ta

Diane says its 200%

a brexie singling out a female black labour MP to mock , you go smash those preconceived stereotypes we have of leavers 😉

Hammond more recently fluffed his figures

FWIW I think the tories idea of shaking up social care are long overdue, I posted as much a few pages back

The rest of their manifesto is just a huge uncosted wishlist though

no wonder when the chancellor is so poor with numbers!

I like the bit where the Tories want to abolish the Serious Fraud Office

good job they havent got a guy doing international trade with absolutely no scruples, regards armns sales, bribes, dodgy expenses, geniocidal regimes etc

https://www.channel4.com/news/liam-fox-sri-lanka-and-a-friend-called-werritty

shared values…

I think the Saudis are still pissed at us over al-yammaha, looks like May has fixed that problem

they don’t think they have to have any actual policies

Unfortunately for a large, brain dead percentage of the electorate (left, centre and right) that is quite true. It’s generally clear that if you ask people loads of questions about what they think is right and wrong and important policy wise they will be surprised to find the best political party match for them is not the one they usually vote for. But they will carry on voting the way they do – usually because it’s what their dad did.

Which is why people should be forced to do these sort of things;

isidewith

I don’t see any posts here critising the Tory manifesto from people who might vote Conservative. Its just the usual long stream of moaning from the anti-Tory brigade.

Look at mine again. Perhaps I was not clear but I’m not in favour of Tory health service policy at all. In addition, I’m not in favour of leaving EU.

She’s at a press conference in Edinburgh today but the press have been asked not to say where – and they’re OK with this…

jamba> Same old same old

Oh, the irony.

Just a thought? Are we still living in a democracy?

well she has ditched levesson so they owe her.

Any views on this Jamby as you were active in the hacked off campaign

Just a thought? Are we still living in a democracy?

Yes, until June 8th.

kerley – Member

Which is why people should be forced to do these sort of things;

isidewith

That Sir, is scary. Although I did not give a weighting to any of the questions it claims I should vote UKIP! I feel I ought to sue.

Which is why people should be forced to do these sort of things;

isidewith

I never enjoy these, they always claim I am a lib dem when I think I am green/ labour

Umm.. the point is that they tell you if who you think you want to vote for is who you should acutally vote for based on policy.

Dismissing them as wrong is surely the problem that they are trying to fix, no? People not voting rationally?

But I appreciate that it does not take tactical considerations into account.

isidewith

Remarkably close to my actual voting intentions.

The reason the policy based decision websites are useless is that the small parties who know they won’t win promise the moon on a stick with a raft of popular stuff because they know they’ll never have to impliment it.

The two main parties can’t make ludicrous wonderful promises because they know they might win and have to deliver. (Well, perhaps this time one can…)

Innit, as a left libertarian, it’s weird how them questionnaires tell me I’m closest aligned to The Greens…

With me it put the two parties I’d consider as 85% matches. Except for me one is a clear choice for tactical reasons.

labour at 83% Libs and greens at 79%
Apparently I am rather left wing and like multiculturalism and collective decisions…an absolute revelation to me 😉

With PR i would vote green currently with FPTP whoever is most likely to beat a Tory

With PR i would vote green currently with FPTP whoever is most likely to beat a Tory

Snap, though normally I’d always vote green, but for this time.
The stakes are too high for the damage the Tories will wreak on society

65-70% Green / Labour / Lib Dem

Bit wishy washy…..

47% UKIP

43% Tory

And to satisfy other’s questions – since University years I’ve been a swing LD-Tory voter; mainly LD but voted Tory last time because I thought they were managing the economy well post the banking crisis, and I’d have been very happy with another Tory LD coalition.

But things have changed…… considerably, both on policy but also a local level, in which the incumbent Tory refused to back the large contingent of remain constituents that elected her and instead followed the party line in the brexit debate and vote. So she failed to represent me on the issue that i feel matters most, I double dare her to come and ask me whether she can count on my support.

I must be the definition of a swing voter with my most probable being UKIP at 64%, with lab/con/lib roughly level pegging in the high 50’s and least probable SNP at 52%

I’d have been very happy with another Tory LD coalition

Me too, thought I was more or less alone in that department.