Economy only: which party policy works best and why?

lostinrates

Snooze wrote: »

Whilst your thread was well-intentioned it was also badly flawed due to

1. Everyone knows that their collective policy blurbs are nothing more than sound bites and won't ever see the light of the day, ie. they will do the exact opposite.
2. Everyone knows that the Tories will be coming in next year so discussion of whose economy policies are best is completely moot.

and

3. As mewbie & WHWD both say, people vote for the party which best suits them overall, not on one specific point, so this ultimately results in a thread of everyone saying why they'll be voting for x party instead of answering your (very) specific question.

:beer:

Rob

Well, just as well I'm not submitting it as a thesis then, lol. (your point 1) As I said: my question is not about one's vote, but about economic policies (your point three). I agree absolutely: these are hard to find (a point I covered in a thread I linked to here but should have put in this one too in a less oblique manner...and I think that that is partly because we don't demand they are in formulating our decision on vote, partly because we are in the main pretty ignorant. Thats really a fundamental part of this issue


I don't know tht the tories are definitly coming in...though I consider it very, very likely. Who knows what will happen. Lots of people round here seem to be saying its thiose Tories who fiddled their expences (I live in a Lib Dem re where the MP claimed £136k ish!) showing people aren't really correctly informed, just angry!

whathavewedone

The tories have made better tabloid headlines for those who can't be bothered to read all the detail (and who can blame them it's getting pretty boring now).

Also because Cameron has sacked the worst offenders I think many people come away with the idea that the tories are worse when in fact labour are far far worse - quite a few have actually broken the law - including the Chancellor Alistair Darling according to the Inland Revenue. The BBC just gloss over the labour mps transgressions but milk the tory ones for all they are worth. If Gordon Brown had got rid of his mps using the criteria that Cameron has used he'd have no cabinet left.

I suspect in the end people will forget about mps expenses and vote with whoever suits them best. I think in the end, whatever people say, most vote for the party that they think will suit them (and their pocket) the best.

DiggerUK

Me and Mrs.D are best thought of as Old Labour, in spite of our dislike of the title.
We campaigned for Bliar, our intent was to get the Tories out. We knew what new labour was and just let our party memberships lapse after the election.

If this thread is asking on what economic policy we are going to vote for, all that can be asked is "what economic policies are on offer"

We have had the same basic economic policy on offer by government for 30 years now. The crustaceans truly died in vain.

We are registered for postal ballots and return them spoilt, so that the results show our disdain of the parties on offer. We would urge you to do the same.

It will be seen as a wasted vote by some, but we see it as a positive way of registering our disgust, and a legitimate means of voting.

It seems that it matters not one jot if the people who run our lives are in Belfast, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Whitehall or Brussels. Our interests don't count.

wymondham

This is the problem, no single party has all the answers - you have some good and some terrible MP's/policies in all the parties.

I'm so disalusioned with the whole thing at the moment, that as Vince Cable can't become PM I'll just spoil my vote - he's the only one talking any sense. Fed up with corruption and weak policies.

tomterm8

whathavewedone wrote: »

If Gordon Brown had got rid of his mps using the criteria that Cameron has used he'd have no cabinet left.
.

That would be a shame, because the current Cabinet is doing a really superb job.

/sarcasm.

olly300

PasturesNew wrote: »

I never vote. I know that all parties take more money from me and never give anything back... so it'd be a choice between somebody who slaps you a lot and somebody who hits you instead.

No choice.

That's a silly reason not to vote.

OK it may be a good reason not to vote in the European elections as you don't know who one of your regional MEPs is and how they will influence the laws that affect UK economic policy, but MPs and councillors have other uses.

For example Councillors will help you with local issues - well normally one of the number elected in your ward will particularly if they are not in the controlling party.

There as MPs help with issues involving housing, immigration, utility companies and benefits, and the council particularly if they are of a different political persuasion.

Therefore in those elections is best to vote for the candidates who are most useful to you i.e. the MP who has a regular surgeries around the constituency rather than goes on holiday funded by the taxpayer, and the councillor who knows which council staff deal with what.

Personally I think they are all the main parties are as bad as each other on economic policy. Of the only two people with experience who can do the job of chancellor properly- one can't do it because his party will never win an election and the other seems to be considered too old by his party for it.

bluey890

I'm thinking I don't like any of the main parties. I would like to see more varied options than 'more of the same' labour or tories. So for me it's got to be liberal democrat. I want proportional representation so i can then vote for a new party at next election. Say an internet party, where everyone gets to vote on decisions (if they're interested), not just the MPs inheriting safe seats and fiddling expenses.

lostinrates

bluey890 wrote: »

I'm thinking I don't like any of the main parties. I would like to see more varied options than 'more of the same' labour or tories. So for me it's got to be liberal democrat. I want proportional representation so i can then vote for a new party at next election. Say an internet party, where everyone gets to vote on decisions (if they're interested), not just the MPs inheriting safe seats and fiddling expenses.

HAving experienced proportional representation: I'm not a fan.

A few years ago I might have agreed on the idea of internet voting: but, TBH, the way forums like this are abused in repsonding to serious questions makes me feel like rinning away screaming at the idea now!

I'm beginning to like the idea of the UK libertarian economic policy: not because its necessarily best for society but because it would seem to benefit my family. I've never voted on that basis before. And I don't think I have a lovcal representative to vote for, but its a very radical plan: would raise a few pulses, certainly.

bluey890

lostinrates wrote: »

HAving experienced proportional representation: I'm not a fan.

A few years ago I might have agreed on the idea of internet voting: but, TBH, the way forums like this are abused in repsonding to serious questions makes me feel like rinning away screaming at the idea now!

I'm beginning to like the idea of the UK libertarian economic policy: not because its necessarily best for society but because it would seem to benefit my family. I've never voted on that basis before. And I don't think I have a lovcal representative to vote for, but its a very radical plan: would raise a few pulses, certainly.

Italy isn't a good representation of PR. I would prefer something more akin to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_Member_Proportional but none of the main political parties are for it.

I'm not aware of the UK libertarian policy. In general I'm against libertarianism on grounds of exploitation (liberationists are usually against employment rights, e.g. maternity leave and pro child labour).

openside

Anyone but labour

Who have yet again taken us to the brink of national bankruptcy, it happened under Wilson with us having to put the begging bowl out to the IMF

It has now happened again under Brown where 10 years after being handed an economy that had been growing for 3 years has managed to borrow more money than all previous governments in history combined with a £200 billion a year budget deficit and unemployment heading towards 4 million incompetence on this scale cannot be forgiven

Tax and spend idiots