Should I vote Conservative

May has not given any guarantees about the triple lock. I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if it goes.

dd do post as those that moan the loudest are not necessarily the ones that will read them, and they need posting.

Jalima, here in GtrManchester we voted overwhelmingly against having a Mayor, we didn't need more bureaucracy. I voted against having a Mayor but once this was imposed, I voted for Andy. I always vote.

Anyone see Hunt on Marr? Blimey I'm surprised she let him "out" he's dead meat I reckon. I've never seen such a poor performance

I am against giving £100 to every pensioner, whether they need it or not. I think the money could be better directed to those in direst need. If there is room in the budget to give more pension all round, that is another issue. Wealthy pensioners do not need £100 and should not be given £100 especially as it is tax free.

I don't know what yardstick one can use to say whether the Coalition and Conservative governments performed well or badly after 2010; or indeed any period. What do you compare what actually happened with? Whoever was in power in the extended after-shock of 2008 would have found the going tough. We cannot say if Labour would have done better or worse under Gordon Brown - or even if it would have been Gordon Brown.

.....although he did ( reasonably point out that the poorest paid nurses earn almost £22,000 and much more in London,) to the question of nurses using food banks.I bet people earning less than that who don't use a food bank were shaking their heads in amazement.

The Uk has performed better in those years than some ither EU countries.

Wealthy pensioners do not need £100 and should not be given £100 especially as it is tax free.
I think there are all kinds of arguments for and against the £100 fuel allowance.
One is that it is given instead of an overall increase in the State Pension therefore not subject to any increases.
It was a clever way of making people think they were getting an increase in Pension but it could be taken away at any time whereas, if included in the State Pension, it could not be
People have 'paid into' the State Pension through their NI contributions - is the fuel allowance part of this or an added-on benefit?
People do not have to accept it or can give it away to charity or an elderly person in more need if they don't need it themselves (same with the State Pension of course)

Iam64 yes, we always try to vote.

Less than 30% turned out for the West of England Metro Mayoral election(Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire) ; there is already a Bristol Mayor elected last year and a ceremonial Lord Mayor!

The best rant ever about TM and her Strong and Stable government.
(Don't watch if the F word offends you)

youtu.be/0M91g4OlGEY

Very good. I don't understand how anyone can argue against this, unless having a Conservative government is in their own personal financial interest. The country's interests as a whole are not being served well at the moment.

If Labour is so interested in "putting the Country right" why choose a duff leader who is unelectable? You have to be in power to make changes.

It must be remembered that nobody can use a food bank without referral. So I suspect the nurses have families and large mortgage/rent etc 22K is a very limited budget and the recipients will undoubtedly be entitled to various benefits etc. (I am not up to speed on this). NO-ONE would use a food bank if they didn't have to, nor could they.

My DD earns less than that, is a single parent of two and has a mortgage to pay etc. She's never got to the stage of even contemplating using a food bank - she just budgets well!

(and I should add she gets no financial help from her former partner, who is never in work anyway!)

Presumably, Ana, she receives all the working tax and child tax credits? From my understanding, food banks are used mainly by those who have suddenly found themselves without their usual income and need some temporary help while their benefits come through. Unfortunately, this is taking longer as the process to apply is very unwieldy.

Yes, you're probably right - but giving the example of nurses earning upwards of £22,000 p.a. doesn't really give an accurate picture of who needs food banks, does it?

Scottie, you may be right about Labour's leadership, but it doesn't alter the facts about the Tory destruction of our public services, and their poor management of the economy, and their appeasement of the far right of their party through the EU referendum and the subsequent hard attitude to our leaving. So, Mr Corbyn might not be a strong, stable leader (although he hasn't changed his political views with the prevailing wind) but Labour's policies are kinder, and more reasonable, than Conservative ones to the vast majority of people.

Not all nurses work fulltime. The people who use that example are those who want to complain about nurses using foodbanks.

Except, Ana, that if they are earning above the national average and still have to use foodbanks when the benefits system leys them down, don't we have a major problem with salaries vs expenditure overall? The main reason foodbanks stew being used more is because there is a 6 week delay in the first payment of Universal Credit when it replaces other credits, which leads to people going into debt because their careful budgetary management is completely messed up.

Let's, not leys!

And are, not stew! Flipping heck, I'll get the hang of this eventually.

Is it possible to get the title of a thread changed? Obviously it was totally appropriate when it was started but the conservatives have, apparently changed their name to the Theresa May Party. It may even be the Theresa May for Brexit Party as that is all I hear the Cons talking about.

We could call it the "Mediocre May Party for Hard Brexit" and sub titled, (let's get rid of the NHS, and screw the poor party.)

whitewave
Theresa May on the other hand Theresa May Not- all depends on what's in it for the rich (and what she's been told to do!)