Labour get bummed up the wrong un.

[davieG]

Nope, because public sector money is not spent effectively. There is no competition so no incentive to be efficient. Other than that there are the huge capital outlays on projects like the olympics and the dome.

And where there is so called competition there's no integrity or honesty and frankly efficiency is just another word for downsizing but not at board level.

[act smiley]

Everything is crap. Everything always was crap though, so I don't know why people have some magical view that its all just become really rubbish. The only real difference is that now more of the media is taking a tabloid approach. Watching most news programmes these days is just like watching The Day Today.

Would I vote for the government? Of course not, they're an incompetent band of ****wits who are more than happy to do whatever it takes to get a bit of positive PR, with policies that fail to serve any discernable purpose.

Would I vote for the tories? Of course not, they're an incompetent band of ****wits who are more than happy to do whatever it takes to get a bit of positive PR, with no solid policies to speak of and when they do decide to have an opinion on something its usually the opposite to mine.

Would I vote for the Lib Dems? Probably not. Some of their polices I don't agree with, and they're almost as much of a joke as the rest.

I choose the Comedy vote option.

[SOCCERROO FOX]

The BBQ'ers have been going backwards

"VOTE ONE THE BBQ'ERS WE WILL PUT THE PARTY BACK IN POLITICAL PARTY"

[Mort]

What got me about Crewe was how patronising the Labour campaign was… calling the Tory a 'toff' and having no other argument is pretty weak from the party that’s been in power for over a decade and is just plain insulting to ordinary, hard working people who this government has hit hardest and yet still expects to troop out to the polling stations to vote for it.

As ever it’s the economy that’s swinging it… when the economy was good Labour could claim the credit and skim taxes off the top, now things aren’t so good and we have to contend with the fact that Labour’s thrown good money after bad and so little of it has actually reached the Patients in the Hospitals, the Pupils in the Classrooms or the Police on the Streets.

In a nut-shell we’re suffering from a massive tax burden, that’s hitting the least well off hardest while prices are going through the roof and we’re seeing zero improvement in the public services for all the investment Brown is for ever boasting about… its this waste that makes me angry, its not as though it’s the government’s money it’s our money and I don’t think its unrealistic for the government to spend it wisely!

Disclaimer: I’m a Tory, in fact chances are if you live in the west of the city and you get a leaflet from the Tories it was probably me who posted it (sad I know!)… but I care about my city and I think we’ve been badly served by the current government and the current council. I wouldn’t pretend that a Tory government could fix everything wrong with the country (in fact I think people have had enough of politicians who make those kind of promises) but I think there are simple, positive things we can do to address some of the issues we’re facing locally and nationally.

[Webbo]

What Mort said.

[Flynny]

I consider myself pretty centrist but it seems fairly clear to me that we need a change of government, specifically the conservatives, for a number of reasons.

Firstly Labour's been going so long now that arguements and media scandal have robbed the front bench of all its political gravitas and talent. The Conservative front-bench looks like a group of people I'd be fairly pleased to have running the country, if I'm honest.

Secondly, because Labour excesses are naturally mopped up by "traditional" Tory policies which advocate reduced investment.

Thirdly, because I'm fairly suddenly very tired of the current Labour notion that there's a big government solution to everything. The reason "the system doesn't work" so often is because top-down, cloying, "nanny-state" policy making can't possibly take into account the needs of individuals. Increased local government is something I'm theoretically very in favour of but not knowledgeable enough about to properly advocate.

I think advocating a specific party for decades on end is tiresome and pointless. In terms of political position the Liberal Democrats would be my preferred party of government after their moderately recent shift in economic policy (i.e. the Orange Book) but they lack the personel to properly put forward their positions on issues, let alone run the country, so I'll make do with the conservatives. Parties change all the time, the Labour Party of today is nothing like that of old, and holding grudges for this long is really just silly.