Who did you vote for?

[Boeta]

i see that in one of the oxford areas there was an independent who stood called Honest Blair.

is this a joke?

[Titch]

 Labour, iraq aside, have done a pretty good job really!

Have they? I must have missed that then.

Taxes up, (council tax up by national average of 70%) billions spent on reforming public services for very little if any improvement from what i can see. Billions wasted on a new army of pointless civil servants to apease the trade unions.

Yeah the economy has been managed fairly well, but credit for that should go to brown rather than blair.

Don't get me wrong, in some areas they have made mistakes but they do appear to accept them most of the time and try something different.  

8 years is not a long time to turn a country around when it was left in the state the tories left it.  The main thing they have tried to achieve thus far is steadily increasing investment to counter the massive under-investment with the tories.  I believe that now more money is finally beginning to get through then reforms will begin to take place and we will see improvements, which we already are, in the ext few years.  In can not be done overnight!

[janaage]

Mate the country wasn't in that bad a state when they took over.  The tories were responsible for most of the up turn in the economy, Labour inherited an improving economy when they took over.  

I wonder when the council tax huge rises come in to play in 2 years if you'll be as happy with Mr Blair and his cronies.

[McLovin]

18 years of Tory rule fucked the country up. Was no way i was letting them back in.

I voted Labour. I don't care about war in Iraq one little bit, and quite honestly, no matter who was in charge of the country, they wounld not have stood up to Bush. And we did de-throne Hussein in the process, which was nice.

Liberal Democrats are pathetic, and their sums don't add up. Tories relied too heavily on the immigration thing.  I hate the influx of scroungers looking for an easy life, but you can't base a whole campaign on something bordering on Racism.

Brown has improved the economy no end, and to keep him in, a vote for Blair was essential.  Labour have been in power since i left college, and i haven't done too badly.

They were my reasons, really.

[Titch]

The economy may well have been improving but how long before it went bust again!  Plus they were still massively under-investing and using policies that were damaging.

If the council tax goes up again then so be it, as long as i still believe things are moving in the right direction then i will not mind.  Council tax is one area that needs major reform and it will be interesting to see what happens when the forthcoming report comes out.

If things go wrong i am more than happy to admit i was wrong but i genuinley belive we are better with Labour at this moment than the others.

[janaage]

18 years of tory rule fucked up the country......

What about Labour's rule in the seventies???  They did really well didn't they.  3 day working weeks, strikes, unions more powerful than the government...

[Piemonte]

I dont think the arguement that the tories would have fucked up the ecomony really holds any weight.

[Amir]

The economy may well have been improving but how long before it went bust again!  Plus they were still massively under-investing and using policies that were damaging.

And what did Labour do when they came in? carried on with tory spending plans.  Remember Thatcher praising Blair?

Don't get me wrong though, Labour aren't bad for Tories and I think the little kick they got this time will only serve to help.  After spending the first 18 years of my life under a Tory government, I'd rather buy a season ticket at the Kassam than vote for them.

[Piemonte]

18 years of tory rule fucked up the country......

What about Labour's rule in the seventies???  They did really well didn't they.  3 day working weeks, strikes, unions more powerful than the government...

Again, a very good point. The county was in a worse state in 1979 than it was in 1994. Historical cock ups of political parties count for very little.

[Titch]

Of course this thread only goes to prove the point of what is wrong with politics in this country and why people are still so turned off.  

The old arguments of "oh 30 years ago you did this", "ah yes, but 20 years ago you did this".  I know you have to look back and learn from your mistakes but would it not be refreshing if people looked forward!  I know i am being idealistic now and it will probably never happen but there is something fundermentally wrong when only 60% ish of the nation can be bothered to vote.  Personally i find that appaling!

I think there needs to be fundermental reforms of how politics and government is operated.  When i was doing a politics course we talked in great depth about this and almost everyone was in agreement, and indeed some MP's etc, agreed with this.  however, they all said it will not happen as there will never be enough strong people to action it.  

Quite sad really as we all really want roughly the same things at the end of the day!

[janaage]

True PM, I voting on the now, and the biggest issue for me is taking the country to war, for nothing.

[Piemonte]

For me the biggest issue was paying roughly £1000 a year more tax than when labour got in.

That's why I voted for the only mainstream party that pledged to put taxes down. That said, I still disagree with some of the conservative policies.

Which is why I will be launching a military coup in the near future. There will be only one candidate per constituancy and they will represent the Piemonte Party. Anyone who disagrees with me will be exterminated by my army of pet daleks. Swindon Town will become the offical football club of the state (a bit like Red Star Belgrade used to be?) and will go on to win the champions league for an unprecedented 10 seasons running.

VOTE PIEMONTE - You fucking knows it's right

[Kinky Tom]

18 years of tory rule fucked up the country......

What about Labour's rule in the seventies???  They did really well didn't they.  3 day working weeks, strikes, unions more powerful than the government...

Absolutely, the trouble is now though that the country is so much more appathetic to issues that actually concern them, because its not seen as cool to have an opinion other than whether Colleen off of the Rooneys is a chav or not.

I know its not the same but I helped a mate of mine with his campaign to be a Vice President of the union at uni last year.  It was unbelievable the number of people that were simply not willing to take 1 minute out of their day to bother to vote.  Then of coures they are the first to complian when someting at uni happens that they don't agree with.

He wasn't voted in by the way, not because his campain was rubbish, or his proposals were crap, but because his opposition was a bird with a short skirt on - she wasn't even fit!

I'm not affraid to admit that I have a real dislike for that smug, lying, irritating wanker that is Blair.

As for the comment (I can't remember who wrote it) about the fuel guzzling Tories, what about that twat Prescot using one of his Jags to drive 500 yards - the fat fuck!

[janaage]

How about the labour MP saying that anyone who hits someone should be sacked ie Bowyer/Dyer, even though a couple of years ago Prescott lumped someone and wasn't even charged by the police.

[Ben Wah Balls]

I thought that was fair enough when Prescott punched that guy, I'd have done exactly the same if it was me.