I might vote Tory but that doesn't make me a bad person

On another thread, Nick Robinson was accused of being a Tory Syansgran, I just thought he was being neutral!

I wondered if the left wing bias on the BBC irked as many people as it did me and actually pushed some of the silent majority to a definite vote. We are in a Labour stronghold and so are taken for granted and nothing is done for the people here. I think 44% voted for the resident piece of indifference and opposition was in total 42%. If only we could be marginal we might see more jobs appearing.

I think this thread of KittyLester's is completely justifiable, there is a hectoring, "we have the high moral ground" from a small hardcore of left wingers on GN - for example to one member from another, I quote verbatim "I expect you are a typical Tory voter, thinking no one is real but yourself and selfish big business" I personally would not wish to make that sort of assumption about an individual I don't know and what their motives might have been in voting for a particular party.

I wasn't just talking about vitriol on here and I have not personally been upset. It is the intolerance that some people exhibit that annoys and concerns me!

I think soutra has put my point well! And, most people are happy for people to have different views but there are those who are not!

gj, I am concerned about the same things you are and, like your DH, mine has given over 40 years to the NHS (albeit as a 'private' provider of NHS services) and continues to do so as he reaches 70 because, if he doesn't, there is no-one else! I doubt anyone who is treated by him is concerned that his bit of the NHS is 'privatised'.

I was that lady! and yes, it was a slight misquote hence the commas! and NO it was not quoted by me as an intended insult to anyone and I can't quite see why anyone would think it was?!!! I just quoted it to emphasise how I personally feel!! I thought I made that clear!

Mishap, I didn't mean you. Your posts are eloquent, thoughtful and not in any way inflammatory.

Ana - what is improper about the way I have expressed my concern? I have not attacked anyone or put anyone down; just said that it worries me.

Along with the endless links...

See, that's the sort of negative, inflammatory 'expression of concern' that is not helpful, IMO.

Excellent article here. 63% of the voters did not vote Tory.

theconversationuk.cmail2.com/t/r-l-azujtt-iudkikukhu-u/

Are you getting at me, jo1book? The lady who did not get the Clinton reference? Of course I got it. However, if it was "the economy, stupid," I was just pointing out that Ed Balls was known to be the best economist in parliament. It's just the Tory newspapers who do not believe it, and put Labour down for it all the time. It's because most of their proprietors are nondoms and support the Tories because they will be allowed to keep cheating the system.

Just because the socialists lost the election, it does not mean we have to become less socialist.
IDS now has another five years to punish the poor, and Jeremy Hunt can now sell off the NHS to all his rich friends.
I care about that, even if some of you do not.

No, they are not wrong to express genuine concern, far from it, as long as it's done in a proper manner.

Why can't people enjoy a good argument without taking it personally and feeling hurt? It's politics for goodness sake!

Is it wrong to express a genuine concern? The right-leaning members have expressed concern about how other parties might manage the economy - are they wrong to do that?

By the way - I have not only never voted Tory, but also never voted Labour either!

We've had months and months of left-leaning posters 'expressing concern' about Tory policies - I suppose it was only to be expected that the election result guarantees even more of it.

On your point about compassion Soutra I agree - I know many compassionate Tories. My concern is not about them as individuals as I am sure they think they are doing the right thing, but about the policies. As I said, they believe that they are doing right by the poor by waiting for the trickle down - but it is too long to wait for many who really would prefer not to be queuing at food banks while they wait.

Having said that there are politicians in all parties who could be said not to be compassionate but just after climbing the greasy pole and feathering their own nests.

I really don't think it's about moral high ground. I just think that some of us who have concerns about the implications of the Tory policies on the poorest have probably had some experience of this area, and are relating it to people we know or have known.

To express that concern is not about pouring vitriol at all; it is just what I said - expressing concern.

I am puzzled that those who take a different view somehow feel they are being "got at."

I am not getting at anyone; just saying that there is a real concern that needs addressing.

Well I for one don't think anything you refer to in your third paragraph is necessarily mutually exclusive with voting Tory.
Class sizes in my experience when I retired were less than when I started teaching in 1970, DH gets incredibly excellent service from the NHS at a major London hospital, so in every way I would maintain that we CARE but believe in a different political way of achieving a compassionate society. No one party has a monopoly of care and compassion.

I might have voted for the Green's, but our Conservative MP wants to improve the major road link between east and west by making it all dual carriageway. Insofar as he has instigated a feasibility study. I voted for him mainly because of this. I use the road nearly every day, and some of the driving and overtaking has to be seen to be believed. Plus he is a local man and has his family home in the next large town.

Why not roses?

I don't think that counts as personal insults or vitriol, just an alternative view about the economy written by an economist.

Genuinely

Kitty- I really have not seen the vitriol or anyone intimate that anyone who votes Tory is 'bad'?

We have many friends and relatives who vote Conservative, and Labour- and Lib Dem- and of course all sorts of other parties all over the world. With some we cant talk and discuss all sorts, and agree to disagree. With some it is not possible and we know which subjects to avoid (one of my favourite cousins in the USA is a real Tea Party type and believes Fox news is the only 'truth' out there - it's hard to take, but I love her so I button my lip and don't even try any longer, as it won't make any difference whatsoever apart from ruining our great relationship).

But it is not always easy if you and OH are passionate about free and excellent education for all and free and excellent health care for all- and a safety net for those who fall upon bad time (I've been castigated here though for saying that abuse of such should be severely dealth with)- and have dedicated our lives to trying to help with that. Is it not natural to worry about the privatisation of the health service and the development of 2 or multiple tiers of care? Or see the class sizes rising, non qualified cheap staff being brought in- the ridiculous amount of money spent on so-called 'academies', etc? And the undermining of the services to help those who truly need it?

Nobody would dream of pouring vitriol- but it is no surprise that some of us feel strongly about the above- without being judgemental or intolerant, and without picking on individuals or making personal comments/attacks.

Night owl...... Perhaps it might be better not to post links to articles entitled'why are Conservatives so incompetent' then on here, just a thought!

I think I've been on a different forum No insults or vitriol on here against those towards the left? I don't know what I've found quite upsetting then, and I don't think I'm over-sensitive.

I'll leave you to it now.

To-day we are getting posts from very upset people who think they have the moral high ground and have been robbed. It's all understandable. What did amuse me was the lady who didn't get the famous Clinton quote and thought it was a personal insult! Oh dear.
I love my Country and want it to live within it's means; surely that's not bad?

Exactly Ashtree!