| Well I'll put my hand up and say that I voted Labour, several times - basically because the Tories are a much bigger nightmare. Don't kid yourself that Labour sleaze is anything like the same scale as what the Tories got up to.
I'm not condoning what the Labour party have recently been exposed for, with their 'loans for peerages' scandal. because it's murky and underhand, but it's not illegal, and unlike the Tory party they haven't had anybody go to jail for their corrupt ways - Aitken and that buffoon Archer are both convicted Tory criminals.
To be fair, I wouldn't vote Labour again until Blair stands down - he's become a liability and labour are looking a mess.
I voted Tory once, when Thatcher first came to power but what a disaster that woman was. Arrogance personified. Why will I NEVER vote Tory again? Because people must have short memories if they've already forgotten their ludicrous economic strategies that plunged the country into the longest recession we've ever had. When all the big businesses stopped paying their bills and a third (yes a third) of small businesses in my local chamber of commerce went to the wall - including a couple of suicides from people who had previously been running successful businesses for 30 years.
Ahhh the Thatcher days...when unemployment was over 3 million, when mortgage rates were 15%, when hardworking families were plunged into negative equity, when home repossesions reached an all time high, when she doubled council tax bill overnight, when our police forces were sent on mounted baton charges against miners who were just worried about their futures. Happy days eh!!!
I hope people will know that I'm a fairly level headed bloke who doesn't bear much malice - but I hated Thatcher then and I still hate her now...oh and look at what her own son gets up too, he's done a few dodgy deals in his time hasn't he? Narrowly avoided extradition a few times and been up in court more than once - not for parking fines either, but for trying to overthrow elected foreign governments.
So, no...I won't vote Labour again but what are the alternatives.
Cameron? Hah....don't make me laugh. The guy is just an actor, did you hear anything but showboating in his reply to the budget? Did you hear any Tory alternatives? No, just a bunch of smart arsed ranting.
He tries to come across as all chummy, one of the people, at one with the concerns of the ordinary bloke in the street. But let's look at the reality.
Born into a wealthy stockbroking family, educated at Eton and at Brasenose College, Oxford where he was a member of the exclusive student dining society 'the Bullingdon Club' whose members are known for their extreme wealth and for being at the top of the 'Rar' pile*. He married Samantha Sheffield in 1996, who described herself as a Yorkshire girl (which gives a nice homely sensible down-to earth touch) - neatly omitting, that 'home' near York is Sutton Park and that her dad is Sir Reginald Sheffield, 8th Baronet who owns half of Yorkshire and that her maternal great-grandfather was a chairman of Reuters and that both her mother and maternal grandmother married into the Astor family.
Do you think they've got any idea at all what ordinary peoples concerns are? What do they have in common with any of us?
*The only thing he's got in common with me is Brasenose College, Oxford which is where my son went to University (but from a comprehensive school - not Eton). My son can tell you about the 'Rars' as they're called in Oxford (because of their 'rar, rar, rar, rar' braying laughter). The 'Rars' all went to public schools like Eton, Harrow and Radley College and all think that they have an absolute right to rule the world, treating their fellow students with utter disdain  |