Who's going to write "None of the above" on their ballot paper tomorrow?

may be the football can cheer us up ?

Now you see I like your thinking so here is my thought why not try running or getting yourself set up.It is a lot of effort but dare i say it although he is marmite and I am no great fan Farage has worked as a disrupter and changed things

Agree on immigration but the annoying thing is is there other polices are sensible 20k no tax to pay Proportional Rep house of Lords Reform.No I would not vote fro them either but I think the political system needs changing as you think of this.We elect a local MP they are bound to the Party if you have an issue that effects you personally if it conflicts with their parties policy they do not help.Also they are fodder just waking through the lobbies to vote how they are told to there is no scrutiny of legislation apart from dare I say it the Lords

Agree but these public bodies need reform I find not the front end but the managers administrators have been very unkind to me.I would have an insurance system for health and the poor not to pay but this that can do and you get proper guaranteed appointments etc.Also my view is low taxes as we spend money more wisely than governments .I am afraid that until these public services are run properly money will do nothing 

Absolutely agree. I saw one of their rallies with the back flags and rhetoric and thought "how 1930's Germany". 

But a vote cast for them is a protest vote against what we have had for the last forty plus years which is definitely not working for the common person. 

Personally I'm still very much inclined not to vote at all, and have only voted twice since the late 1970's once becuase it was compulsory, and once because the balance of my mind was disturbed by being in love IIRC and doing uselss things for the fun of it as a couple was a thing.

I'm still mulling over my choices,

1. Register my discontent by defacing my vote, (at least I got up and did somethng) 

2. Register my discontent by voting for the party that offers the greatest chance of upsetting the plans of the people who REALLY set the pace of modern life. The "From hells heart I stab at thee"voting strategy. 

3. OR Ignore the sillyness althugether, and go waste my time in a different manner entirely, maybe see if I can actually get around to placing that ad to sell my surplus large diesel tank. (Barrells are more suitable for my purposes I have found).

But whatever I do I'm not voting for more of what we've had for the last forty years. Stuff that for a game of soldiers.

Some of you WILL be soldiers next year, if there isn't a 90 degree shift in current government foreign policy...  

Bah, I knew I shouldn't have taken an interest...

Reform are completely toxic in my humble opinion. They appeal to racists for a reason and I ouldnt touch them with a barge pole, 

Don't be childish.  Just get it over with and move on.

You don't say much Kate, but when you do it's good well thought out stuff.

I've just heard that our local area webgroup has polled itself and a huge majority are voting reform!

Here's some memes...

I agree that significant change isn’t likely to happen with the current system any time soon. And I also don’t think that the country isn’t genuinely being run for the benefit of the vast majority of people, and definitely it exploits people, and exploits the planet to make a minority very wealthy indeed. But we are where we are and I think that voting - even if we are only voting for ‘the least worst option’ is still worth doing. For healthcare alone the Tories cannot be trusted with the NHS. I respect that many on here will have very different politic leanings to myself - but I think we all can agree that we want our basic public services (such as healthcare, education, transport) to at least function efficiently. That’s not ideology - it’s just common sense, 

I think PR would be better too  - but I feel no fear about having a left wing government - my main concern with the current Labour Party is that they aren’t Left Wing enough! But I agree that PR would more accurately reflect the wishes of the electorate. I think one day we will have that change hopefully - especially now that a lot of people are moving their support to small parties. 

Number said:

I do.....actually.....and I exercise it too

Number said:

I'm off to vote.

Me too #

Now this is the issue first past the post means a lot of people vote to stop rather than voting positively that is why I so want PR then all parties would have to run  positive campaign and not thinking what to do in each seat

I agree you need independent minded people the party system is now broken all MPs do is follow the whip i have gone with constituency issues and the MP child not help.You sometimes get a gem like Frank Field who thinks outside his party unfortunately he was never much in cabinet I wonder why ?

Defo agree about Autism and the Tories but Labour will be as bad .I find when dealing with my council that is left wing they have disabilities that they like mainly physical yet Autism they feel we should be able to to be the same as no neurodivergent.

I agree re the Blair years what I liked then is election night I was not worried I am afraid I am very concerned about our parliament becoming almost 100% left wing I like a balance that is why I want proportional representation asap the all our votes count and there would be compromise rather than winner takes all

Oh yes the elections My thoughts people should vote no matter what we think it is a privilege a lot of places have to have democratic elections.

I think the change I am afraid will be for the worse because you are going too get if the polls are correct a left wing parliament with little check and balance of views from the opposition.Also it looks like Labour will get around 70% of the seats when if you do the maths with turnout probably only 1 in 4 have voted for them.I would say this who ever got the advantage.

First past the post must go and we get proportional representation then parties would have to work together and accept they will not get all their manifesto.

I Sperg said:

(YEah I know we all think we have special independent little minds, but we dont'; actually!.

I do.....actually.....and I exercise it too.

I also very strongly suspect all sentience does too - whether they can (or do) choose to exercise that independent mind, is another matter altogether.

I Sperg said:

There is an entire, vast, hugely profitable industry out there whos sole function is to influence us en-masse, and they are good at what they do.

I agree......"and twas ever thus"......although these days, the pervasive reach and convert nature of it is DEEPLY concerning to me.

I'm off to vote.

I think that you put this very well, and I agree. You have actually experienced the tangible differences directly.

I first "noticed" politics when a bloke called Enoch Powell was getting the same sort of treatment reported in the newspapers as I was at the time recieivng in the playground. I decided "I didn't like politics" at that point, and like anything I take a dislike to, I kept a weather eye on it and learned about it over the years.

Changes, yes I have seen many of those, but improvements? Not so much. I've seen a steady decline in public standards, efficeincy, happiness, safety, wealth etc consistently in this country since I was first aware that these things mattered. I've just been told that there are an awful lot of people voting "REFORM" tomorrow and I'd be tempted, (because reform of our current values are defintely what's needed) but our values are not formed by government at all they are formed by the media and the people who hold the little known job title of "opinion formers"...  (YEah I know we all think we have special independent little minds, but we dont'; actually!.

There is an entire, vast, hugely profitable industry out there whos sole function is to influence us en-masse, and they are good at what they do.

I've come over a great deal of time to the conclusion that casting yrou vote, is just agrreing to be abused b one or another group of puppets who are actually in thrall to and influenced by factors, ideas and half baed palns to which we the public will never be privy except via rumours and whispers. 

We have elected to many incompetent and venial governments now for it to be simply "bad luck", there really is some complicating factor at work, which none of us (except perhaps some ignored genius in a basement who's puzzled it out) are bright enough to figure out and fix.   

I have already voted using a postal vote. I don’t know how old you are I Sperg - but I’m old enough to remember various governments and I think they have varied in many profound ways that absolutely HAS made a difference to people’s day to day lives. For example: when Blair/Labour got into power I was getting something like £6 a week in Family Tax Credits - and by the time they lost power it was much higher and that made a real difference to how much money we as a family had to spend on necessities like healthier food, or whether or not we could put the heating on. I remember as well that they made a payment of something like £35 a week to Sixth Form students, and the Tories axed that, and in some cases it made the difference as to whether some children could afford to stay  on to do A levels (and consequently didn’t go to Uni). These might seem like small differences but they really do have a serious impact on people’s lives and children’s futures. 
I would say to everyone on here: PLEASE VOTE! Have your say - because this is YOUR LIFE and you deserve a say in how things are run. You might not get the result you want (although you might!) but at least you will be standing up for your right to express your view and your priorities. Also it has to be said that the Tories have done NOTHING to improve the lives of autistic people and disabled people in general - so that’s something to consider. 

Sporadic Sparkly said:

Irrespective of whichever party wins, I truly believe that tough decisions will end up being made that won't be popular with the electorate, and that things will sadly just end up getting a whole lot worse for most folk.

Sadly, I agree, but hopefully things will get a lot better with whoever gets elected.