General Election to be called today?

welbeck

Urmstongran

I simply refuse to choose between them. I am a centre-right voter. Neither of the mainstream parties represent my views or deserve my vote. Would you like big state with high tax Madam? Or would you prefer high tax with big state?

If Reform field a candidate I’ll vote for him/her. Otherwise just spoil my ballot paper.

what about count binface or his associates?
there are numerous candidates to vote for apart from the big 2, why spoil your ballot paper.
that just makes extra work for the counters and scrutineers, to no productive end.
pick someone to vote for, or choose not to vote at all.
someone i knew, when being canvassed, always said, i vote for the best looking candidate.
this was when they were invariably men.
she was a woman.
each party would say, thank you very much and mark her down as supporting them.

I'd vote for Count Binface, the candidate for the Hamster Welfare Society (or whoever) rather than spoil my ballot paper.

Nobody has any idea or could care less why people spoil their papers. We all know that one of two main parties will win. However, a vote for a minority lobbying group (the NHS party, Fathers4 Justice party, The WASPI party) might show the strength of feeling for a specific issue.

Germanshepherdsmum

Indeed they can’t, and I accept that. But well done DiamondLily. I greatly respect people who have a work ethic and will graft in order to get on. Life is usually much easier for those born with a silver spoon in their mouth; I have met a good many of them and hard work is a stranger to most in my experience. When I got one as a trainee I refused to continue the spoon feeding and made them look up the answer rather than relying on me - we didn’t have a hugely expensive library of legal textbooks just to let it gather dust.

Well, life’s not always about the “easy road”, and although I’d love to have been born with a silver spoon, I wasn’t, so I had to jog on.

And I don’t think hard graft ever killed anyone, to be honest.

But, my parents and extended family were workers, and benefits weren’t an option.

And drugs weren’t around as they are now.

That was life.😉

Reform have zero experience of government. Who would fill all the great offices of State? Any ideas? 30p Lee for Chancellor? Urms, I cannot believe you are serious - but then you admit to admiring Trump don’t you?

DiamondLily

Germanshepherdsmum

Believe me I know about barriers. What I don’t accept from anyone is an excuse for not working hard. If I can sit and read law books on my own in order to pass exams, whilst working full time, anyone with the requisite amount of intelligence who is prepared to make the sacrifice can do the same - but I’m not asking them all to become lawyers, just to work hard to earn a living and not be reliant on benefits.

I’ve got to admit that you have got this right. My parents had a work ethic, but I came from a poor environment (the East End of London before it became gentrified). No privilege here.

I went to a bog standard grammar school, took 6 O levels, left school, and went to work.

I got married at 18, had two kids by the time I was 21, but wanted more. So I dug in, took more exams and built up a career.

Nothing as high flying as a lawyer, but a good career. And my kids have done the same. 🙄

If you have the determination, you can make life better - whatever your roots or background.

My ex was a manual worker (same sort of background). He made a good living, despite the lack of a “career”.

I’ve worked for the DWP and I’ve worked for Social Services. Some people will always find an excuse for not working.

Not everyone, of course. Some people genuinely cannot work.

Of course they will. My experience is different. Before I retired completely, I worked as a private tutor. I tutored some teenagers from extremely affluent backgrounds, who knew every excuse in the book for not working. In two cases, I had to tell their parents that the reason they weren't achieving was because they were lazy and I didn't feel that I could do anything for them, unless they changed their attitude (which they didn't).

It's not just the poor and "feckless" who don't work.

The fact is that from the moment of birth, people face very different life challenges.

Cossy

Urmstongran

Sunak calling for 6 tv debates is a master stroke .
I think we can all agree Starmer will come off second best in every single one.

Can we? Let’s wait and see shall we.

Sunak is terrible at things like that. He’s not a natural. Imo he’s called this election so he can get beat, resign and move to America.

Urmstongran

I simply refuse to choose between them. I am a centre-right voter. Neither of the mainstream parties represent my views or deserve my vote. Would you like big state with high tax Madam? Or would you prefer high tax with big state?

If Reform field a candidate I’ll vote for him/her. Otherwise just spoil my ballot paper.

what about count binface or his associates?
there are numerous candidates to vote for apart from the big 2, why spoil your ballot paper.
that just makes extra work for the counters and scrutineers, to no productive end.
pick someone to vote for, or choose not to vote at all.
someone i knew, when being canvassed, always said, i vote for the best looking candidate.
this was when they were invariably men.
she was a woman.
each party would say, thank you very much and mark her down as supporting them.

Urmstongran

LizzieDrip The Reform Party must not be considered ‘right wing’ - this would be wrong. They represent social conservatism and common sense. They represent the individual against the increasingly socialist state. They represent the disenfranchised swathe of our country which is seeing our values and way of life demolished.

It really is time for Reform.

Plus … they are not Tory nor Labour. That’ll do for me .

They are right wing. Tice is constantly leading debates with how to stop the boats, and bring back “England” - whatever that is.

30p Lee Anderson represents them perfectly.😗

Indeed they can’t, and I accept that. But well done DiamondLily. I greatly respect people who have a work ethic and will graft in order to get on. Life is usually much easier for those born with a silver spoon in their mouth; I have met a good many of them and hard work is a stranger to most in my experience. When I got one as a trainee I refused to continue the spoon feeding and made them look up the answer rather than relying on me - we didn’t have a hugely expensive library of legal textbooks just to let it gather dust.

growstuff

If anybody can succeed, given the right attitude, why do some parents spend a fortune on sending their children to a private school?

Well, I imagine because private schools try to instill this attitude?

I can’t say, as my kids both went to state schools, although a friends children did, and it seemed they set the bar higher for the pupils,

Urmstongran

LizzieDrip The Reform Party must not be considered ‘right wing’ - this would be wrong. They represent social conservatism and common sense. They represent the individual against the increasingly socialist state. They represent the disenfranchised swathe of our country which is seeing our values and way of life demolished.

It really is time for Reform.

Plus … they are not Tory nor Labour. That’ll do for me .

They are right of right-wing! Have you also taken the time to read their (so-called) manifesto?

Urmstongran

Sunak calling for 6 tv debates is a master stroke .
I think we can all agree Starmer will come off second best in every single one.

Eh? How do you work that one out?

If anybody can succeed, given the right attitude, why do some parents spend a fortune on sending their children to a private school?

Urmstongran

Sunak calling for 6 tv debates is a master stroke .
I think we can all agree Starmer will come off second best in every single one.

Can we? Let’s wait and see shall we.

Germanshepherdsmum

Believe me I know about barriers. What I don’t accept from anyone is an excuse for not working hard. If I can sit and read law books on my own in order to pass exams, whilst working full time, anyone with the requisite amount of intelligence who is prepared to make the sacrifice can do the same - but I’m not asking them all to become lawyers, just to work hard to earn a living and not be reliant on benefits.

I’ve got to admit that you have got this right. My parents had a work ethic, but I came from a poor environment (the East End of London before it became gentrified). No privilege here.

I went to a bog standard grammar school, took 6 O levels, left school, and went to work.

I got married at 18, had two kids by the time I was 21, but wanted more. So I dug in, took more exams and built up a career.

Nothing as high flying as a lawyer, but a good career. And my kids have done the same. 🙄

If you have the determination, you can make life better - whatever your roots or background.

My ex was a manual worker (same sort of background). He made a good living, despite the lack of a “career”.

I’ve worked for the DWP and I’ve worked for Social Services. Some people will always find an excuse for not working.

Not everyone, of course. Some people genuinely cannot work.

There are very few political commentators on mainstream media that make me think, whether I agree with them or not. Some of those on long form podcasts are interesting, but not generally those churned out on BBC, etc.

LizzieDrip The Reform Party must not be considered ‘right wing’ - this would be wrong. They represent social conservatism and common sense. They represent the individual against the increasingly socialist state. They represent the disenfranchised swathe of our country which is seeing our values and way of life demolished.

It really is time for Reform.

Plus … they are not Tory nor Labour. That’ll do for me .

Sadly, Lizzie, none of the political commentators is without bias. If you listen to them regularly on various news channels you know exactly what their bias is. I still have enough functioning brain cells to be able to listen to what comes out of the horse’s mouth and make up my mind about what they say actually means.

Unfortunately I have yet to see anything other than a very badly written draft from Reform.

Such arrogance to think that we ‘can all agree’ with your assertion. Unless you can see into the future Urmstongran, we’ll just have to wait and see!

No, Casdon, not slavish following. Listening and thinking. I was never a follower of either Johnson or Truss.

Sunak calling for 6 tv debates is a master stroke .
I think we can all agree Starmer will come off second best in every single one.

Listening to the opinions of political commentators is tedious and a complete waste of time

And also demonstrates a closed mind GSM. One can often learn by listening to the opinions of others - whether they agree with your view or not.

Germanshepherdsmum

I’m not interested in anything except what the leaders say. Listening to the opinions of political commentators is tedious and a complete waste of time.

That’s why the Tory party is in the mess it is. Slavish following of terrible leaders - Johnson and Truss. A party and the plans it has are about so much more than the influence of the leader.

If Reform field a candidate I’ll vote for him/her

So Urmstongran what would the country look like under a Reform government? You’ve obviously given this lots of thought, and I am keen to hear how Reform would make things better.

Reform for us. We know the candidate for our area and he is excellent.