Why I'll be voting *insert your party*

With 6 days to go and while most would probably not even know there's an election for our next British overlord with all the terrorist and paris accord distractions going I figured I'd throw up a post so we can all say why we'll be voting for whoever we vote for. Anyone can participate really, you can throw in your virtual vote as if you were a UK citizen as well, providing you know what the manifesto's are for each party.

Which you can check here thanks to the BBC

So for me I'll be voting Green, not only because I hate Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem and UKIP is far too right wing for my liking but because they actually have the most policies out of all the parties that I agree with.

They want to phase in a four-day working week, I think this would be great, more life for people to enjoy and less slavery. They also want to move towards a system of a "universal basic income" which is something I have always thought would only be a benefit for all humans, if our basic needs are seen to without worry then it will make life easier, less stressful and generally make people happier and happy people generally don't do bad things!

They also want to ban arms sales to oppressive regimes which is something I'm sure we can all agree on as those arms usually go to the wrong hands, the only real "Green" policies I agree with is their aim to ban fracking and scrap plans for new nuclear power stations, we've seen from both Chernobyl and Fukushima that nuclear power while useful and better than fossil fuels when it works is an absolute clusterf#k when things go wrong and we all know the problems that come with fracking too so it's a good thing.

For healthcare I really can't fault their efforts, they want to roll back use of private providers in the NHS which will only be a good thing as we can move away from health care being treated like a business and instead about caring for patients, Provide an immediate cash injection to the NHS which is greatly needed and probably the most important is bringing mental health care into line with physical health care, so people who need it can get treated when they need treatment instead of usually waiting months to see somebody, it will also enable more jobs in that sector.

This will be a touchy subject for some and I know it only works in a perfect world but I like that they want to retain free movement of citizens between the UK and the EU, I believe a person should be free to move anywhere they want on this planet without borders and checks. I also understand why people feel the opposite about this because of how dangerous a world we live in thanks to certain individuals but my desire for more freedom far outweighs my wish for protection.

For Education they have some decent sensible policies

Scrap tuition fees and fund full student grants
Restore the Education Maintenance Allowance
Free early education and childcare for all children

As an ex student I believe education should be freely accessible to all so I'm in favour of them scrapping fees and wiping all loans clear, it's also worth noting that the majority of student loans will NEVER be paid back so wiping the debt clean makes no difference to the financial costs.

And finally they want to
Introduce proportional representation for parliamentary and local elections
Lower the voting age to 16
Replace the House of Lords with an elected second chamber

Proportional Representation is how it should be done, not based on constituencies, if 40% of the population vote for one party then that party should have 40% of the representation in Parliament. The current system is old and dated and is in no way democratic, it only serves to benefit the bigger parties while the smaller parties constantly get screwed.

Lowering the voting age to 16 is just sensible, if you're old enough to work, serve in the military and pay taxes, you're old enough to vote, it's that simple.

The House of Lords is another old and archaic system which offers little benefit within the political system, I'm not sure an elected second chamber is needed either though but if it gets rid of the Lords then I'm in favour!

Ironically however the grass isn't greener on the other side (pun intended) as there are certain policies I don't agree with like their desire to reintegrate with the EU, I voted to remain so this should be of benefit to me right ? No! I believe in the voting system and the majority voted to leave so that's what we should do, in reality I'm not fussed either way.

I also don't really agree with their climate change policies however, they have good intent to make the environment nicer so it's not such a bad thing if it brings back more scenery and moves away from the concrete jungles.

They want to scrap our nuclear deterrent which I don't agree with either, if all the other nuclear nations are keeping their nukes then we should too, IF however all nations agree to disarm then I'm happy to go along with it, but I don't think it's a good idea to remove one of your most potent political bargaining chips if the others aren't doing the same.

And finally Increasing the overseas aid budget from 0.7% to 1.0% of GDP I'm "meh" on this I don't really think we should be sending out a lot of the foreign aid we send as it doesn't get spent the way I'd like to see it get spent (we send money to India who have a freaking space program and nukes and to Pakistan who also have nukes), if the money was well spent I'd be behind it but I don't really see an extra 3p on every £10 in aid, that much of a deal.

I'm also curious how many of us Brits who are voting actually know the policies of all the parties and if after reading up on them has made you change your mind ?

I'm not from there, and I don't know the life or the options or the politics...

But I think that this thread would do well with an early answer on the expected voting population outcome- just in what percent of eligible voters show up to vote.

Then any speculation on how many were actually there vs dead/fake voters

a reply to: lordcomac

I think with the recent terror attacks, a lot of people will be out voting emotionally instead of rationally.

I also wouldn't put it past any terrorists to do something on voting day

I am not from their but I would vote "official monster raving loony party" they have a fun website...they have some decent ideas too
"All Europeans to pay to use the English Channel, and all Creme Anglais to be made in Britain."
"Germany will have to pay for all treatment of German Measles, and Spain ditto for Spanish Flu."
www.omrlp.com...

a reply to: Discotech

A 'Just Bloody Vote' sign has appeared in my neighborhood. My first thought was that it will encourage irrational, emotional voting.

a reply to: Discotech

. . . nuclear power . . . is an absolute clusterf#k when things go wrong . . .

Not just when it goes wrong. The clean-up is a never-ending nightmare. I believe obsessing over fracking is encouraged to take attention away from the nuclear clean-up among other things. Not that I would support fracking in any way.

Deep geothermal is a myth here. Ground source heat pumps are disastrous in my personal experience. Wind turbines send vibrations through the ground causing stress in badgers and other ground dwellers, as proven by badger hair analysis.

Green technology is an oxymoron.

Rocket mass heaters are the closest to green technology I'm aware of. Big business can't get a finger in the pie so it's largely unadvertised.

I've met a lot of green scum. Salesmen jumping on the bandwagon.

I couldn't take a Green politician seriously unless they explained to me how they propose to decommission the turbine's, concrete bases and all. And why a wave power researcher in Cornwall said, "The trouble is, everything we build ends up smashed up on the beach."

Shanks pony is green transport.

Shanks's pony noun unpunctuated:

Shanks pony used to refer to one's own legs and the action of walking as a means of conveyance.

Walking as a means of conveyance. Why hasn't anyone thought of it before?

a reply to: Kester

I wonder how UKIP will do in this election, there's no time better in our political history for a far right party to attract voters.

a reply to: Discotech

Corbyn is backing the police.
www.ibtimes.co.uk...

"Theresa May was warned by the Police Federation but she accused them of crying wolf,"

But he's a child rape enabler spook tool specialising in covering up the sex entrapment scheme used to control many politicians.

No vote for him.

I'll be voting for the party that brings honesty back to politics. So I guess I'll be voting in an alternative universe.

a reply to: Discotech

I can't get over UKIP meaning You Sleep.

a reply to: Discotech

Just to clarify here I would also be voting Green if I thought they were truly Green.

Ill vote when farage comes back till than im gonna get shafted by either dog

a reply to: Kester

Are you not going to vote at all then as I get the idea you don't particularly like any party lol

If there was another option with policies like I listed I'd vote for that over Green but Green seems the only sensible choice and if it means I'm not voting for Labour, Conservative or Lib dem who I hate equally then so be it

I am voting Labour.

Now i would vote green however I think its a waisted vote.

Above all I want that hag may out.

Where i live its very close between SNP and Labour so I am voting tactically. Normally I would vote SNP however I know that every seat counts and the SNP really dont do much with their seats in Westminster so I would much rather my vote goes towards gaining Labour a extra seat in the hope that its enough to block May.

I think a lot of this election could come down to tactical voting.

I feel for parties like the greens because they mean so well and get a lot of votes but thanks to our voting system dont get fair representation.

A lot of people said prior to the US election that it was a choice between the two worst candidates that they had ever had the choice of. After thirty years of electoral franchise that is exactly how I feel. May is weak, Corbyn is ridiculous and any party that would have Dianne Abbot in its cabinet should euthanatise itself for the good of humanity, the Lib Dems always were and still are a f...ing joke.

Like you, for the first time in my life, I am going to vote Green. I don't particularly support the fundamentally socialist principals that underlie many of their policies, but I cannot bring myself to vote for any of the other #showers. In our 'First Past the Post' electoral voting system not voting is effectively a vote for the victor, and I just cannot countenance that in the face of the woeful, current crop of candidates.

'They are all a load of #' has never been so sadly true as it is today.

a reply to: CulturalResilience

I agree with you, normally I would refuse to vote but what if my vote made the difference to get even a slight change from the sh#t show we've had on offer for the last decade and a half.

It really is a case of voting for the lesser of all the evils and it's depressing to see how each election the choices just get worse, if politics in its current theme was a comedy it would be absolutely brilliant but unfortunately for us it's reality.

It is often said that a country gets the government it deserves. If that is true, we must be a truly terrible country. That depressing thought is heartbreaking for me.
a reply to: Discotech

a reply to: CulturalResilience

It's no better anywhere else though, look at Germany with Merkel, France where it was a 2 horse race between a glorified nazi party and a guy who's brand new to politics, America where it was a choice between a Hillary or Trump. The whole world of politics is just a mess and we're all to blame for allowing it to happen as we're the ones picking these clowns, it's basically a lottery of picking someone who's going to screw up the least

I'll be voting for Ivan lewis for Bury South. Apart from sending some dodgy texts about 10 years ago he's been relatively clean. Not much in the way of many scandals and within Bury South he's got some stuff done. The area has got better over the years and he does spend a lot of time with his constituents. I see him about the area alot in local business either eating drinking or buying goods from them. Iv also spoke to him on a good number of occasions, and he does seem to care about the local community.

Peole tend to forget that we vote for an MP in a constituency in the UK, not for the leader. Hence why Theresa May is prime minister - the tory party voted her into to power not the public.

Vote for the person most likely to benefit your area not on a leadership personality poll. They might not be in power a year down the line, but your MP will.

a reply to: Funem

The main party candidates in my area are load of rubbish as well. I have net my local Green Party member and he is an OK guy and he was the reason I decided to vote for the Greens for the first time in my life.

a reply to: Discotech

Voting for my conservative MP as I owe her a favour and she is. Nice helpful person, something thats a rarity in politics.