How many former Tory voters in Battersea or Merton will be voting differently this time? Post Reply

[Motherslittlehelper]

Who do you want to run the county for the next five years, May, Corbyn or the lib dems... I don't think there is much to think about as the last two I wouldn't trust to run Wandsworth council, never mind the country

[graceygirl]

I think in Battersea, looking at the past voting numbers, any vote for anyone other than Con or Lab is going to be wasted as numerically it won't do all too muc. Unless huge waves of people abandon these parties which I personally doubt will happen.

I will be voting Labour. Reasoning - Cons are pushing ' hard ' Brexit, have pushed the Prison Service to the brink and also their attitude towards refusing to offer EU migrants residency and 'trying to save it as a bargaining chip' is gross.

I am by no means pro Corbyn. I don't understand why we are looking at the election from an American 'personality politics' approach.

(Source- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battersea ... _the_2010s )

[headshrinker]

Lots of people expressing horror at the idea of Corbyn as PM but this is irrelevant. The conservatives will win nationally and by a mile. May will be PM and Corbyn will be trounced. You can therefore vote tactically (ie Labour) in Battersea without fear of electing a Labour government.

[Motherslittlehelper]

For all the labour voters out there, can I ask how bad the party would have to get for you not to vote for them and are you now far away from that point ? Are you voting for them as you want to, or because you don't like anyone else and feel you should vote ?

Just interested, as unlike 1997, I feel the labour opposition are not even close to being electable and We need to go through the next parliament united as a government for brexit - trust is needed in our politicians as Europe was to destroy us in negotiations otherwise. It's not a time for making an electoral point, the Brexit deal will affect us and our children and we need to have the best for us.

[Denwand]

I am by no means pro Corbyn. I don't understand why we are looking at the election from an American 'personality politics' approach.

i think the Corbyn supporters are using the "It's about policies not personalities" line because they know Corbyn is toxic to all but his acolytes.

But few are put off Corbyn because they "don't like his haircut" (as the ridiculous Emily Thornberry suggested) nor because they don't like his personality (most admit he's a decent man).

Also May's personality is hardly endearing as she can come over as dismissive with an unemotional - even Dalek-like with a prim governesses streak

No it's not his personality they don't like it's his competencies..they know he is an incompetent leader,organiser, manager or even supervisor of anything...The poor fellow hasn't a clue and would make first a pickle and then a hash of running this country as he has proved in his stewardship of the Labour party.

His policies are not unpopular but his incompetence certainly is!

[graceygirl]

''For all the labour voters out there, can I ask how bad the party would have to get for you not to vote for them and are you now far away from that point ? Are you voting for them as you want to, or because you don't like anyone else and feel you should vote ?''

The welfare cuts implemented by the Tories have been cruel and callous , they have also driven the Prison Service into the ground. They are reducing the funding to the NHS to drive it to the ground so they can privatise it too. Also in addition to this, I am a higher rate taxpayer, working in a corp job and not a lentil eating hippy with rose tinted glasses on.

I am against privatisation, I am against cruel cuts to welfare for people with terminal illnesses ( as has recently happened), I am also against the return of Grammar schools. To name but a few reasons.

The LD's are not electable so I would rather place my vote with another 'left' party...where are my other choices?! Also our voting system doesn't favour smaller parties.

[livegreen]

A vote for Labour, any vote, will encourage Corbyn and his supporters to some how believe they are on the right track.
Are they currently a potential government in waiting - no! Are they a credible opposition - no.

A year ago Corbyn and McDonnell said they would step down if they did badly in local elections May 2017......they could not have achieved less. Any victories were down to those in the party from the centre who disown Corbyn and union backers.

In 6 months time Labour can reunite and rebuild to be a credible centre left opposition. At moment they represent a left wing fringe protest party.

[Denwand]

A year ago Corbyn and McDonnell said they would step down if they did badly in local elections May 2017......they could not have achieved less. Any victories were down to those in the party from the centre who disown Corbyn and union backers.

In 6 months time Labour can reunite and rebuild to be a credible centre left opposition. At moment they represent a left wing fringe protest party.

I think you are spot on livegreen.

It obvious that even Corbyn (or more likely his handlers) know full well that Labour will loose the election by a huge margin so the plan is;

1) Only put effort into seats with a Labour majority and a Pro-Corbyn standing MP

2) After election resign only if it is clear that enough Pro-Corbyn Labour MPs are around to vote a Momentum-favoured MP on to the list for the next leaders vote.

3) The Momentum-heavy and far-left leaning Party members vote another Corbyn clone in.

4) Repeat above every election for 5 , 10, 15 years slowly losing more and more seats until a) they come to their senses and return to the centre or b) Labour disappears up it's own fundament.

Corbyn probably knew he would never be PM but it looks like he wants his legacy to be a Labour party on the far left with a far left leader setting its agenda and he doesn't mind sacrificing the British public who need a robust and powerful Labour party in power or,at least,a decent opposition.

Only my opinion of course but unless Seamus Milne, John McConnell and co. are total idiots it's the only way I can decipher their seemingly suicidal tactics.

[parsleysong]

Guy, who started this thread are you the same Guy as the very nice fish box family? If so, I've bought fish from you but I am amazed that you are so pro-Brussels because our UK fishing industry has an appalling deal from Brussels, while other countries in Europe have vast rights to fish in UK seas. It's really unfair and the UK fishing industry has been complaining about this for years. Did you know about this Guy?

[GuyD73]

Hi Parsley song, thanks for your kind comment, yes, I am that Guy The situation around fishing rights in the UK is so incredibly complicated and nuanced that I can't pretend to understand much more than the basics. One thing I do know though is that one of the key tenets in the recent reform of the Common Fisheries Policy was that quota should be allocated according to who contributes most to the local economy (which is the little guy) and who fishes the most sustainably in environmental terms. Govt have persistently failed to deliver that by failing to give in-shore fishermen in small boats a bigger share of the quota. Greenpeace didn't like this, so took govt to high court and narrowly lost on the flimsiest of technicalities, which was a shame. here's the jist http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/media/pres ... e-20160118
A great irony is that this brought two normally adversarial parties (fishermen and environmental NGOs) onto the same side. There are additional issues where EU regs need reform but I feel that we would have been better been able to influence that reform as EU members.
On the wider point, I think, as someone rightly pointed out, that it's tory supporters who like to paint this as a 'it's May or Corbyn' as PM, so vote tory. No, May and her team are an embarrassment, they are now only fielding questions that have been pre-vetted from their favourite journos. WTF! That is, as this journo puts it, 'Antithetical to every notion of democratic accountability' as per here and I agree https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives ... tionaries/
So for the record, it's safe to vote tactically for Corbyn. Only the most deluded on the left think they can win, he can't. What I hope for is a hung parliament (which won't happen), or next best, alot more LD MPs and Labour MPs who will defy the labour whip like Rosena in Tooting (making her own decision, displaying integrity rather than toeing party line - what MPs are supposed to do). If Mayhem's majority is kept small, then when David Davis doesn't come back with a deal that represents the 'exact same benefits' - Kier starmer's words - then labour MPs can vote for 'no deal'. Dictator May will surely have to resign. Besides which, if by the time we know what the deal is, the country's view has changed, then we need another vote about facts not lies. I don't know about anyone else, but TM's refusal to debate, to answer proper questions from the press, is sinister and deeply worrying.

[Denwand]

but I feel that we would have been better been able to influence that reform as EU members.

Hmm.. I think UK fishermen would completely disagree with your statement and are almost unanimous in wanting to leave the EU.

Extract from FAPO report 14th June 2016

"To understand the extent to which skippers and boat owners favour leaving the EU, we conducted a survey in May and June 2016 using Fishermen’s Associations and Producer Organisations to contact their members across the UK in the run-up to the country’s referendum on membership of the EU.

With current polls showing that there is a fairly even split among the general population between those wishing to remain and leave, we found no such split among fishermen. As many as 92% intend to vote to leave the EU – a uniformity of opinion that is unmatched by any other economic or social group in the UK."

[MGMidget]

I have been fairly middle ground in my politics throughout my life so have voted labour at times (e.g. for the Blairite government) and Tory more recently. Generally I take a good look at the policies of the parties before deciding and I also gave plenty of thought before casting my vote during the Referendum vote last June. However, this time, for the first time in my life, I think the decision is a no-brainer. Short of some spectacular revelations happening to change my mind in the next few weeks I will be voting Tory because they are the only viable party at the moment and I definitely want them negotiating a Brexit deal rather than the Lib Dems or current Labour party set up. I don't believe in tactical or protest votes. Some people have suggested that Brexit was a protest vote that backfired. If that was true for some of the voters it is a good lesson in casting your vote for what you believe in rather than trying to play games!

[GuyD73]

I'm sure you're right Denwand, 9 out of ten is certainly born out by my chats with fishermen.
Unfortunately this is another case of something being blamed on the EU (lack of quota), when it was/is, in a large part the fault of the government, a situation which is mirrored in some of the other xenophobic campaigning from the leave side (Breaking point poster springs to mind).

Even sadder than that is that places like Cornwall who have benefited from EU support, won't get it from the next govt and will be the poorer for it.

[Denwand]

Short of some spectacular revelations happening to change my mind in the next few weeks I will be voting Tory because they are the only viable party at the moment and I definitely want them negotiating a Brexit deal rather than the Lib Dems or current Labour party set up. I don't believe in tactical or protest votes. Some people have suggested that Brexit was a protest vote that backfired. If that was true for some of the voters it is a good lesson in casting your vote for what you believe in rather than trying to play games!

My position exactly MGMidget.

The Brexit boat has sailed and but throwing rocks in the path of a viable negotiation we run the danger of having the worst of both worlds - Outside the EU and with a terrible disadvantageous deal that both the Lib Dems and certainly Labour would land us with.

[Denwand]

Even sadder than that is that places like Cornwall who have benefited from EU support, won't get it from the next govt and will be the poorer for it.

Taken from Business Insider December 31st 2016

As you should know the UK contributes far more to the EU than we receive in "support", Therefore Cornwall would have more "support" (ie funds) outside the EU than in.