Currently intending to vote Conservative by age group: 18-24: 18% 25-49: 30% 50-64: 47% 65+: 65% YouGov 5-6 Dec #GE2019

Nine years of austerity measures that have directly affected friends and family of mine mean that I would never consider voting Tory. Seeing a friend with genuine disabilities having to audition for someone who gets a bonus for every person they get off benefits; seeing my wife going through stage 4 cancer this year and having doctors and nurses on the point of tears in exhaustion; returning to my home city and finding encampments of homeless people up and down the high street; seeing my brother-in-law lose his job because the Tories cut funding for back to work schemes; seeing a close friend spiral into depression due to cuts to the fire service, which included removing the only ladder in his area that could reach the top floor of the local tower blocks; hearing that our friend's autistic child is on the verge of having their special needs school closed due to cuts; my dad having to wait three months to see a specialist about a serious issue...

Seriously, I could go on. I genuinely don't understand how you can vote for a party who has done so much harm to the most vulnerable in society and over such a long period? After 9 years what do you think is going to change? I suppose Stewart Lee might have the answer [Link]

I am genuinely struggling to remain on civil terms with anybody who wants to ignore the result from June 23rd.

It was a perfectly legitimate political stance to believe the UK was better off remaining in the EU prior to June 23rd.

And once we have left, then a perfectly legitimate political stance to believe we should rejoin.

But to just want the result from June 23rd rendered null and void? That I struggle with on a level that goes beyond the norm. I was more than willing to accept the result and fully expected the same of others. To not be willing to do so makes me question a person's moral compass along with finding myself enraged that they think so little about the value of my right to vote and to have that vote matter.

A lot of forgiveness required which can only start to come about once we have left.

Agree and to simplify it, what we have been preached since the democratic result is ‘we know better!’

We are in a completely different economic position at the present time.

Very difficult decisions had to be made due to the dire financial position the Government was left with by Labour.Responsible Governments make difficult decisions but I am aware of the severe impact it had.Decisions were not taken out of spite but due to economic necessity.Labour with their madcap economic policies do not understand this.

With the significant increases in funding for the NHS,schools, public services etc etc etc announced by the Conservatives the bygone days of 'Cuts' are over.This is a new era.

Edited by Willo (11 Dec 2019 2.25pm)

It's funny how the old discipline crumbles around mid December.
I have got big meal occasions every weekend now through till the new year plus Christmas Eve, Day and Boxing day.
I'm trying to be good inbetween but I need to keep my strength up for the election all nighter.

Edited by Hrolf The Ganger (11 Dec 2019 3.09pm)

Might I kindly suggest a different strategy, nothing of note happens until about 4/5am in the morning. I go to bed normal time and wake up early by then they are predicting the result so I go back to sleep or sleeplessness depending on who won.

It's funny how the old discipline crumbles around mid December.
I have got big meal occasions every weekend now through till the new year plus Christmas Eve, Day and Boxing day.
I'm trying to be good inbetween but I need to keep my strength up for the election all nighter.

Edited by Hrolf The Ganger (11 Dec 2019 3.09pm)

The thing is though, there were other means they could have pursued to aid recovery but chose not to. Other countries in Europe such as Portugal chose to ditch austerity in favour of spending and saw its economy rebound faster than those pursuing austerity. The one thing f**king up usually strong economies such as Germany's is actually our fault too, with Brexit uncertainty impacting business confidence.

To put vulnerable people's lives at risk just to lower debt is immoral and I don't really see it any other way. The fact they also cut funding to those charities that supported the disabled and the vulnerable only compounded matters. Also, given the so-called injection of funding is actually not as true as promised (eg it is not 50,000 new nurses but actually 30,000) I have no faith we'll see anything but vanity projects and paying lip service, while Boris pays back all the promises he must have made to somehow become PM (from HIGNFY clown to leader of the UK!!!). It does not surprise me to see today that 88% of Conservative ads were deemed misleading in the run up to this election.

This also reminds of the Trump/Clinton election where despite the clear nasty undertones of Johnson he will win due to a carefully planned character assassination of Corbyn, rather than on any attractive policies (Get Brexit Done is not a policy).

I've voted Green by the way, as the MP in my last district was Caroline Lucas.