UK General Election 2015

[The Camel]

When the right wing's only tactic which stands them a chance of winning is to attack the Labour leader's personality you know the left has won all the arguments.

[George2Loose]

Rather have an ideology that tries to help everyone than one that tries to help those who are worried about the rate of stamp duty on their mansion

[BigAdz]

When the right wing's only tactic which stands them a chance of winning is to attack the Labour leader's personality you know the left has won all the arguments.

LOL.

Thats because it seems to be the only way to approach good old Joe Public.

They(Joe P) seem to be forgetting who ruined the economy(let us remember it wasn't a global recession so it WAS avoidable), and not acknowledging who got us out of it.

If the public need "Sun" type tactics to help make the right decision, seems reasonable to appeal to what they want.

FWIW, I can swear on my life, I did not vote Tory, so I am being objective(at least in my mind)!

[George2Loose]

I'm talking ideology here.

[TightEnd]

It is extraordinarily close as to who forms the next government

it has been reckoned that Con need to be 3% ahead to hacve most seats

However this assumes a uniform national swing, and all the polling has the swin Con to Lab 0.5-1% smaller in the marginals, so it's more like 1-2pts

current national polls have con 1% ahead with a small trend in their direction

John Curtice writes about this

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/general-election-2015-tories-pick-up-in-the-polls--but-they-still-need-to-make-progress-10219389.html

if Con get 290 and LD up to 30, Cameron is back, most probably.

Lab need 265+ so when you add 55 SNP they can lock the Con bloc out

290 is a key figure to watch for

will really all come down to 50 or so marginals.

going to be an exciting election night

[MANTIS01]

Yep ideology cos we can't afford it. Going and borrowing money from China to sustain public spending beyond our means is a recipe for financial ruin. And that's exactly what happened. The Tories are building a sustainable economy where we live within our means. Seems sensible.

The work they have done means they can freeze taxes and normal working people will keep more of the money they earn. Not sure what's hard to grasp about why that appeals to generally self interested people. Labour will take more out of your pay packet to pursuit ideology they simply cannot afford.

I am sorry to laugh at Ed but I just imagine him coming up against Putin at the negotiating table. Cameron has demonstrated he is prepared to fight for Britain in Europe and has promised a referendum on what will be a major issue in the next parliament. Ed won't let people decide. I think the Tories offer more scope for self determination and so really more freedom.

[TightEnd]

did you see the anti-labour SNP demo yesterday?

demonstrating against a party they want to put in power next week is all odd isn't it?

signs saying "red tories" calling them "quisling" "scum" etc

absolutely brutal stuff, yet in a week's time the leaders of the party they will vote for will likely support miliband as prime minister

most odd

[George2Loose]

Yep ideology cos we can't afford it. Going and borrowing money from China to sustain public spending beyond our means is a recipe for financial ruin. And that's exactly what happened. The Tories are building a sustainable economy where we live within our means. Seems sensible.

The work they have done means they can freeze taxes and normal working people will keep more of the money they earn. Not sure what's hard to grasp about why that appeals to generally self interested people. Labour will take more out of your pay packet to pursuit ideology they simply cannot afford.

I am sorry to laugh at Ed but I just imagine him coming up against Putin at the negotiating table. Cameron has demonstrated he is prepared to fight for Britain in Europe and has promised a referendum on what will be a major issue in the next parliament. Ed won't let people decide. I think the Tories offer more scope for self determination and so really more freedom.

Don't think Cameron has shown any fight at all. It's the reason why this campaign is so close. If there was one standout candidate (A Thatcher or a Blair) they'd abs piss this election.

[MintTrav]

they can freeze taxes and normal working people will keep more of the money they earn. Not sure what's hard to grasp about why that appeals to generally self interested people.

Totally agree with that. I think you have nailed the difference between those on the left, who tend to care about helping other people and those on the right, who tend to be interested in sustaining their own position.

[MintTrav]

the tories can't go away from the centre, labour can't go any more to the centre

Tories are in the centre?

They are planning to reduce unprotected government spending (ie not including Aid, NHS and Education) by one-sixth over the next four years. I'm not sure how a society is supposed to withstand such savage cuts. Hardly centrist.

[doubleup]

Yep ideology cos we can't afford it. Going and borrowing money from China to sustain public spending beyond our means is a recipe for financial ruin. And that's exactly what happened. The Tories are building a sustainable economy where we live within our means. Seems sensible.

The work they have done means they can freeze taxes and normal working people will keep more of the money they earn. Not sure what's hard to grasp about why that appeals to generally self interested people. Labour will take more out of your pay packet to pursuit ideology they simply cannot afford.

I am sorry to laugh at Ed but I just imagine him coming up against Putin at the negotiating table. Cameron has demonstrated he is prepared to fight for Britain in Europe and has promised a referendum on what will be a major issue in the next parliament. Ed won't let people decide. I think the Tories offer more scope for self determination and so really more freedom.

Don't think Cameron has shown any fight at all. It's the reason why this campaign is so close. If there was one standout candidate (A Thatcher or a Blair) they'd abs piss this election.

Absolutely this - the present Tory cabinet are simply 3rd rate/borderline incompetent. 

@Mantis You do realise that our deficit is higher than France and Spain?  You do realise that the governnent has doubled the national debt?  You do realise that productivity is lower than 2006?

[arbboy]

My personal view is there are far too many untalented women in both the cabinet and the shadow cabinet who are there as part of a numbers game for PR reasons and not because they are the best person for the job.  No one will admit this but i am pretty sure it is the case.

[Woodsey]

My personal view is there are far too many untalented women in both the cabinet and the shadow cabinet who are there as part of a numbers game for PR reasons and not because they are the best person for the job.  No one will admit this but i am pretty sure it is the case.

That's gonna get a few pages of attention 

[arbboy]

My personal view is there are far too many untalented women in both the cabinet and the shadow cabinet who are there as part of a numbers game for PR reasons and not because they are the best person for the job.  No one will admit this but i am pretty sure it is the case.

That's gonna get a few pages of attention  

Do you agree though woodsey?  i know it will ruffle feathers but that is not the intention.  It is my view and has been for a few years on both sides of the house.  It is well known i am Maggie's biggest fan so i can hardly be called sexist.

[SuuPRlim]

I personally think that a system that is driven by people's own best interests will always be the winner.