to think Government should say how it will save £12billion on welfare?

Alarmed to see the current budget for next few years (the one that is going to fall short by several £000,000,000s already assumes that 2-4% efficiency savings will be found. So likely it will fall short by more 000s )
When I worked in the NHS in the 1980s we were making efficiency savings. Been at it ever since. Achieving less than 1% a year at the moment.
Like most public services, most of the cost is salaries. I can't see how this can be done. (yes there is a lot spent on agency staff, but they are not doing this because they want to).
e.g. my neighbour was a consultant in obs/gyn. He was Romanian. He has gone to work in Australia where he will earn a lot more money. Local health trust struggling to recruit enough qualified obs/gyn doctors...

The public do not want the NHS to be cut.

www.pharmatimes.com/Article/15-04-06/UK_public_support_raising_taxes_to_fund_NHS.aspx

In fact most would not mind paying higher taxes to fund the NHS. So they'd better not give tax cuts to his friends, as it will not get them any votes.

Hope the Tories are not going to do more of this if they get in.

t.co/SoLJFRSrrt

Labour will repeal the bedroom tax.

Apparently the NHS is being talked about a lot in the papers today.
A good selection of letters about paying for the NHS from the Guardian today.

www.theguardian.com/society/2015/apr/06/finding-political-will-maintain-health-nhs

The one comparing the GNP of various nations is interesting.

Here's an interesting idea. Ask your candidates what they think of Rupert Murdoch.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/06/election-british-politicians-rupert-murdoch

I do not believe Ana was trying to be confrontational, just trying to put across her point.

Mt MP actually lives in the village, GrannyTwice, so we feel that we have some say.
However, if the Tory boundary changes had come in, the MP for this area would have had a constituency area nearly twice as large, and with half of it cut off by snow for six months a year.
Whoever was MP would probably have to have four offices in different parts of the county.

Years ago I preferred the FPP system because it nearly always gave us a government with a clear majority. Now I would really like some form of PR because as said upthread it makes people feel that their vote always counts and that must impact on the relationship that MPs have with their electorate. .

Back Off - to stop being involved in a situation, usually in order to allow other people to deal with it themselves.

If you want to interpret that as 'shut up' so be it, although I would never say that to anyone on here.

They are the same to me Ana.

Obviously something else I dont know about the english language in that case.

I do so agree about PR - as long as it is possible to have more people having voted against the "successful" candidate than for, there will never be true democracy.

I have never told or advised you to shut up, soontobe. I may have asked you to 'back off' on another thread, but that's not the same thing at all.

We can never feel that as voters we are in control, until we have a system of proportional representation in general and local elections. As usual, Scotland is, in that respect, ahead of the game.

Do you realise you are asking Iain Duncan Smith to have human attributes and feelings, Parcs?

Mamacaz What politicians are extremely good at is tels of lies so that people will vote for them then not doing any of the things they said they would

Having a vote may make you feel that you are in some kind of control, however the only very small control one has is to decide Which liar we can put up with.

This Government in particular has let us all down so badly and boldly originally refused to be asked any questions before election, he caved in eventually but what reason would he have not to want to be asked questions pre election??

I am sorry to say I have no faith in politicians and further more it seems to me that a conservative government dis like poor people eg welfare has been drastically cut by the conservatives to the extent that we have food banks popping up all over the place and child poverty has risen to an alarming rate. And benefit sanctions are the every day norm and claimants have actually lost their lives due to the sanctions On the news a claimant that was diabetic was sanctioned and due to not being able to buy food lost his life!! If I were the politician responsible for that ruling I would feel extremely responsible for that persons lost of life.

One last thing about Conservative politicians. What do the know about The Real World. They make decisions regarding poor people, something they know nothing about. It would be a bit like me walking into a Hospital and trying to cure cancer, I could not do it, simply because I know nothing about how the cancer grows etc.

No, we are at their mercy and in their in capable hands

Here's an interesting chart for you, soon, to see where your politics lie.

https://www.politicalcompass.org/uk2015

I agree, Mishap. But I cannot see the Libdems forming a coalition with Cameron again.
Soon, Ukip can in no way be considered middle of the road. They are to the right of the Tories, the Enoch Powells of politics.
Vote green if you do not want to spoil your vote. If as you say you have to vote because of your conscience, not with your conscience, the green vote will do the least harm.

I am not sure it is blowing with the prevailing wind, but recognising the political realities - they had little choice but to join with the Tories in the hope that they could temper their right wing excesses. The alternative was to have no political influence (which would have been counter to the voters' expressed wishes). I think they made the right decision. What went wrong was that they failed in that aim and allowed themselves to be browbeaten rather than holding the Tories to ransom as in some instances they should have done. I do not think that, in the event of a similar coalition being formed they would make the same mistake again.

You do not offend me [cant speak for anyone else]. I do think it may be back of the envelope stuff.
Not sure I like Farage. Not sure[I am aware I am sounding vague, as I feel vague about it].
But I do like the idea of new. But with new comes the element of danger which I dont like.

dj - lib dems are too liberal for my taste. I am not really a liberal sort of person.
I have always wondered about them. But once, may be just before the last election, a presenter was interviewing a labour, tory and liberal. And the liberal man said "well that is what we are, liberal". I think[could be wrong] that being liberal is not really just a party but a state of being as well.
In years gone by, I did think that they were in the middle. Perhaps they were. But now I think they are left field somewhere.
But then they went with the tories, so I suspect that they somewhat blow with the prevailing wind.

If you want a "protest" vote, the greens are a safer bet. First do no harm and all that.

At the risk of offending anyone, I cannot see how anyone can take UKIP seriously - they chop and change their policies every 5 minutes. The only two discernible policies are to stop immigration (but they do not know how or what the adverse effects might be- it is just pandering to xenophobia) and to get out of the EU (but no statement about how that might affect business etc.). It is just stuff from the back of an envelope.

Hopefully, Mishap, there are more like us who vote with their consciences than vote for a party because they think they are wrongly in the middle of the road.
The only middle of the road party, soon, is Lib Dem. I notice they do not get a mention. Why not? Nick Clegg said he was quite happy to veer left or right in the debate.
Farage might even lose the seat in the election, soon. At the last count he was coming third behind Labour and the Tories. So you shouldn't vote for a party because you like the man at the top. The reason you cannot find out what they stand for is because they keep changing their minds.

Sadly, in our constituency, rock-solid Tory, any other vote is wasted. But I will cast mine. Always left of centre, young Liberal; later - Labour voter, then found that the SDP was in tune with my opinions; founder member of Lib Dems and now, out of love with the party I served, I am politically homeless. One thing I shall never be - right wing. UKIP is scary, the Tories only slightly less so, with the emphasis on cutting 'welfare'.

I am a socialist , I didn't like some of Blairs policies but still voted labour, I will vote again for labour, quite simply because they will do far less harm to the most vulnerable in society. UKIP terrifies me, I could never trust the Libs , a vote for the greens is a wasted vote in my opinion, and I have no doubt at all the Tories will always put the wealthy first . I so wish we didn't have such a right wing press in this country , they got Thatcher in and are going all out to get Cammeron in . For me, my vote is not for self but for the vulnerable

I think that there are a lot like me Mishap.
I have found that when results are analyzed after elections, and especially if it is a bit of a surprise, that they will find that voters will say they voted fro a party or didnt vote for a party for the same reasons I was thinking.

Anniebach - no I dont think so?
I think they are a bit new really. Have some different ideas?
I really dont want same old same old.
Trouble is, I am not sure what you get with UKIP. As I have probably said before elsewhere, I think he is making it up somewhat as he goes along.
I also have some uneasiness that he is not very in control of his party?
But he does seem, at least to me, to be strict on those who go way too far.

I could go and spoil a paper, but not sure where that gets me. I need to think about that one.

I am getting away from the op. So I will take Ana's advice of shutting up!

I just feel frightened that there may be millions of other voters like soon who will give a degree of power to UKIP for no sound reasons other than not really being able to decide who to vote for - not good.