Non voter

I believe it’s important to vote for someone, even if it’s the least worst option, but I think the arguments for and against are not always clear cut in today’s world. I also believe it’s is important to offer financial protection and a living income to those who are unable to do any work through sickness or disability. It is sickening how society has demonised these people.

I look around at the candidates available to us, you've got to think of national interests as well as local ones, if we're lucky we might get a very good constituency MP, if we're unlucky we're get a good constituency MP who's a member of a party who's overall strategy is one that you can't find any common ground with, then what do you do?

I think society has always demonised the sick and disabled, at best we get some kind of patronising sympathy and patted on the head, at worst not believed and/or told we have some karmic issues.

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I do understand about all the people who fought and died so we could live in a democratic country, but I wonder what those people would say if they could see what that hard earned democracy has become? We seem to have swapped having aristocrats as MP's for lawyers and professional politicians, how many "ordinary" people are in parliament, how are different elements in society represented? I don't think those people just fought for the right to vote, but for everything that goes with it.  My parents generation were children during WW2, although all my Dad siblings saw actice service and both sets of grandparents, did thier part too, after the war they were promised a brave new world where they paid this new tax, NI, and they would be cared for, they have a pension, didn't have to worry about being sick, not only would the be able to access medical care free at the point of use, but sick pay to tide them over and long term sick pay if they didn't recover. A couple of years before he died, when we were at the heart of austerity and political choices were being made to punish the less well off and the council services they used, and the co-option of our war dead for dubious party political propaganda, he burst out with 'WE DIDN'T GO THROUGH ALL THAT FOR THIS!'.

I look around at the candidates available to us, you've got to think of national interests as well as local ones, if we're lucky we might get a very good constituency MP, if we're unlucky we're get a good constituency MP who's a member of a party who's overall strategy is one that you can't find any common ground with, then what do you do?

I think society has always demonised the sick and disabled, at best we get some kind of patronising sympathy and patted on the head, at worst not believed and/or told we have some karmic issues.

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I do understand about all the people who fought and died so we could live in a democratic country, but I wonder what those people would say if they could see what that hard earned democracy has become? We seem to have swapped having aristocrats as MP's for lawyers and professional politicians, how many "ordinary" people are in parliament, how are different elements in society represented? I don't think those people just fought for the right to vote, but for everything that goes with it.  My parents generation were children during WW2, although all my Dad siblings saw actice service and both sets of grandparents, did thier part too, after the war they were promised a brave new world where they paid this new tax, NI, and they would be cared for, they have a pension, didn't have to worry about being sick, not only would the be able to access medical care free at the point of use, but sick pay to tide them over and long term sick pay if they didn't recover. A couple of years before he died, when we were at the heart of austerity and political choices were being made to punish the less well off and the council services they used, and the co-option of our war dead for dubious party political propaganda, he burst out with 'WE DIDN'T GO THROUGH ALL THAT FOR THIS!'.

Your poor Mum. I can appreciate why she didn’t vote. I have been thinking if there would ever be a situation when I mightn’t vote. I think if all the political candidates stood for something similar that was going to cause harm, I wouldn’t vote. Otherwise, I think for now I will keep on voting, although it can be difficult to weigh up the positives and negatives of each candidate and make an informed choice, especially when some politicians do not know how to go about doing the thing they promised they would do or they lie about their intention to do something.

We have PR for the Senedd elections, but not for any others, they made all the devolved assemblies PR because they thought it would stop one party controlling things, well that worked out well, the SNP have been in control of the Scottish Parliament and Labout have been in charge of the Senedd for years. I don't like domination by one party, whoever they are.

I think we do need a shake up of how politics is done in Britain, I think what we have now is a mess with to many people feeling unrepresented, both nationally and locally. Many think that having more independents would help, I disagree, I didn't used too, but living with a council that seem to be nearly all independents, I've gone off the idea, there seems to be even less scrutiny and accountablility. They all send out one leaflet each and the rest is online, apparently, we are an elderly population, many people here don't use online stuff or social media, so how do they get to know who's who and what they stand for? I did talk to one bloke who put a leaflet through my door, it was the usual guff that you get from all politicians. When I asked him about things like Wylva 2 and the proposed destruction of Penrhos Country Park, he just started going on about jobs and practically had a fit when I said that I know nobody who wants the Park ripped up and that the jobs will be low paid, insecure and seasonal and asked how many local people are nuclear engineerig experts, let alone have the capacity to build and manage such a huge project? There are local vested interests being represented by so called local independent candidates.

Last election, for the first time, my 90 year old Mum didn't vote, she couldn't see one candidate who didn't have as many negatives as positives, let alone any who had more positives than negatives.

I too often imagine what my grandparents would make of society today. I am in Northern Ireland and we have PR because it is the only way that would give representation to a divided society. Sometimes, I would vote tactically to try to keep someone out. I think people in the UK, US, Europe and around the world have become more individualistic and can fail to consider the collective good and it is horrifying to think that some of our representatives might disregard society’s most vulnerable.