There are clear differences in philosophy between Conservative and Labour. The way backbench MPs talk is the best indication this still exists. In hard times the differences between the main parties become less because there aren't many practical choices. However there is a danger we might become so cynical about this that we lose interest in politics altogether, or drift towards supporting more extreme parties with clearer differences.
Course it matters Labour wreck the finances of the country,
Given that Osborne/Cameron were pledged to match Labour spending plans £ for £ if elected do you think we'd have actually been in any different a position with a Tory Government in power?
Before you answer I will remind you that under Thatcher/Major spending peaked at 48% of GDP and borrowing at 9% of GDP.
We wont even go into the mess that Ted Heath left the country in.
Almost none. Seriously. Which confuses the hell out of people who are diehard labour or conservative supporters. Half of them still tell themselves the parties are chalk and cheese, but no, at this moment in time, they most certainly are not.
As others have said, nothing at all when you strip away the 'spin'. That's why I'm happy to criticise whichever party is in power and why I fail to see the logic in arguing about which 'team' someone supports. That sort of blind support is the reason we have no difference in the main parties and it's exactly what the parties rely on.
I don't think the OP is asking a serious question, more trying to tar Labour with a Tory brush.
Labour lost their way, just as the Conservatives have.
But it looks like Labour is going to become a more traditional Conservative party while the Conservative party has become a sort of rich-mans socialist party. Welfare for corporates.
Given that Osborne/Cameron were pledged to match Labour spending plans £ for £ if elected do you think we'd have actually been in any different a position with a Tory Government in power?
Yes - the Tories had fought 3 elections on a manifesto of spending less, so had they won (and kept to their manifesto) they would have kept to Keynesian theory and the structural deficit wouldn't have been so bad when the crisis hit.
But it looks like Labour is going to become a more traditional Conservative party while the Conservative party has become a sort of rich-mans socialist party. Welfare for corporates.
Hardly - it was Labour who decided to socialise the losses of failed private corporations. A decision that many in the Tory Party still disagree with to this day.
Apart from the usual rhetoric probably not a great deal but with the Conservatives in a coalition government with the Lib Dems it is hard to tell just what they would have done differently.
IMO Gordon Brown did care, more than Tony Blair did and more than Cameron and Clegg do now.
if gordon brown cared, he wouldn't have got rid of the the 10p tax rate.
as for the thread theme, well there is no difference anymore. both parties have moved to the 'centre ground', because both parties have taken their core voters for granted, and now they are chasing the swing voters (and have been since the mid 90's).
if gordon brown cared, he wouldn't have got rid of the the 10p tax rate.
as for the thread theme, well there is no difference anymore. both parties have moved to the 'centre ground', because both parties have taken their core voters for granted, and now they are chasing the swing voters (and have been since the mid 90's).
He did, about becoming PM and tractor production figures.
Okay you have your opinions I have mine.
IMO Clegg only cares about being in Government even though he doesn't know what to do now he's there and Cameron only cares about keeping the wealthy happy.
So what do you think Cameron and Clegg care about ?
IMO Clegg only cares about being in Government even though he doesn't know what to do now he's there and Cameron only cares about keeping the wealthy happy.
So what do you think Cameron and Clegg care about ?
if we all had the same opinions, conversations would be pretty boring.:D
cameron and clegg are millionaires, so they aren't in the jobs they are doing, for the money. personally, i think they suffer from delusions of superiority. they think they know whats best for us, even though they move in different circles to us, and don't know what the average persons daily life is like.
Hardly - it was Labour who decided to socialise the losses of failed private corporations. A decision that many in the Tory Party still disagree with to this day.
But not all, as the Coalition is as committed to corporate welfare as Nu-Labour.
If the former I would suggest that the difference is that Conservatives believe that change comes through the individual - Labour believes it can only come through the state.
But increasingly the differences between the way the coalition and Labour act is increasingly blurred - not sure if that is because it is a coalition, or because there is little difference.
Hardly - it was Labour who decided to socialise the losses of failed private corporations. A decision that many in the Tory Party still disagree with to this day.
What would "many in the Tory party" suggest instead? A bailout loan from the BoE with no security perhaps? Letting the affected banks collapse? The government would have had to compensate all private customers up to the guaranteed limit. Commercial customers would have faced severe problems if their bank collapsed.
The nationalisation of Northern Rock was a last resort after lengthy negotiations to sell it failed. The part nationalisation of LloydsTSB+HBOS and RBS are hardly socialisations. The UK took a stake in these companies as part of the loans offered to bail them out. There's been no attempt to run the banks as nationalised companies and the aim was always to sell them back when possible.
Labour adore immigrants because it gives them victims to support
Conservatives adore immigrants because it keeps wages down
Labour won't jail criminals because it gives them victims to support
Conservatives won't jail criminals because it costs too much money
Comments
IMO Gordon Brown did care, more than Tony Blair did and more than Cameron and Clegg do now.
this..:(
Given that Osborne/Cameron were pledged to match Labour spending plans £ for £ if elected do you think we'd have actually been in any different a position with a Tory Government in power?
Before you answer I will remind you that under Thatcher/Major spending peaked at 48% of GDP and borrowing at 9% of GDP.
We wont even go into the mess that Ted Heath left the country in.
Labour lost their way, just as the Conservatives have.
But it looks like Labour is going to become a more traditional Conservative party while the Conservative party has become a sort of rich-mans socialist party. Welfare for corporates.
Yes - the Tories had fought 3 elections on a manifesto of spending less, so had they won (and kept to their manifesto) they would have kept to Keynesian theory and the structural deficit wouldn't have been so bad when the crisis hit.
Hardly - it was Labour who decided to socialise the losses of failed private corporations. A decision that many in the Tory Party still disagree with to this day.
if gordon brown cared, he wouldn't have got rid of the the 10p tax rate.
as for the thread theme, well there is no difference anymore. both parties have moved to the 'centre ground', because both parties have taken their core voters for granted, and now they are chasing the swing voters (and have been since the mid 90's).
He did, about becoming PM and tractor production figures.
Okay you have your opinions I have mine.
IMO Clegg only cares about being in Government even though he doesn't know what to do now he's there and Cameron only cares about keeping the wealthy happy.
So what do you think Cameron and Clegg care about ?
if we all had the same opinions, conversations would be pretty boring.:D
cameron and clegg are millionaires, so they aren't in the jobs they are doing, for the money. personally, i think they suffer from delusions of superiority. they think they know whats best for us, even though they move in different circles to us, and don't know what the average persons daily life is like.
But not all, as the Coalition is as committed to corporate welfare as Nu-Labour.
If the former I would suggest that the difference is that Conservatives believe that change comes through the individual - Labour believes it can only come through the state.
But increasingly the differences between the way the coalition and Labour act is increasingly blurred - not sure if that is because it is a coalition, or because there is little difference.
True - that's the problem with not having a Tory Government
The nationalisation of Northern Rock was a last resort after lengthy negotiations to sell it failed. The part nationalisation of LloydsTSB+HBOS and RBS are hardly socialisations. The UK took a stake in these companies as part of the loans offered to bail them out. There's been no attempt to run the banks as nationalised companies and the aim was always to sell them back when possible.
They all do what the Murdoch's tell them to do anyway!
Personally I have given up voting. They are all just in it for themselves, it makes no difference anymore.
i cant think of any
Conservatives adore immigrants because it keeps wages down
Labour won't jail criminals because it gives them victims to support
Conservatives won't jail criminals because it costs too much money
The record of Tory governments says otherwise.