General election - party’s manifestos published this week starting 10th june
first off I want to post the following as the original GE thread has disappeared and I imagine a few of us (probably me included) fell foul of the following:
a note/question to add to the moderators - one thing I’ve learnt about the disabled community is that we can be pretty impressionable and very easily scared making neutral opinions especially hard on as an important and heated a subject as a GE and harder to post personal opinions that don’t fall foul of ‘not allowing posts that are purely intended to influence votes. That would basically mean we wouldn’t be able to criticise party policy or language or discuss party policies that may be best for the community or worse.
can a mod please flag up my language if I say something wrong in the following:
To me too many people focus on the big picture of what party to vote for and ignore the small details of that picture - in which in the uk you vote for a candidate (a mp to represent and advocate for you) and not a party
To everyone who’s able I would recommend reading the profiles of all the mp candidates in your constituency and if you can email them questions (and if they knock on your door keep them chatting on your doorstep as the next month may be the last time in 5 years we are individually heard - esp as members of the disabled community that don’t have proportional representation in government and politics)
I know that many are already looking at tactical voting websites (at last count there is 6 of them) however I’ve noticed they only use data from the previous GE and sometimes the one before that.
A good source to use to find the names of all candidates in you constituency and finding more in depth past election results is the following wiki page:
(Scroll down to ‘candidates’ and click on your area of the country ‘main article: 2024 United Kingdom general election in the (eg East of England, East Midlands, London, etc…) candidates’.- once that new page has loaded find your specific constituency name to the far left of the table (which will tell you all the candidates in your constituency) and click on your constituency name (eg….birmingham ladywood just to name one of 650) to get a wiki page with all past mps in your area and vote breakdown of all previous ge results and who was runner up in the past quarter century (so for example if you clicked on Birmingham ladywood you would get the following page ) If the above isn’t clear or you don’t understand let me know and I’ll try reexplain in another post)
once you know the names of the candidates look them up on google and social media to learn more about them (for me what I want to know is if they are a disability ally or disability denier)
This is a very strange election (for the first time the ‘party in government’ and ‘part in opposition’ may not just be the tories and labour interchanging every few years - a very small chance mind but still possible in a way it never has before) and because of that people on this forum should take time doing their research and from that vote for what best for them as a individual rather then what others tell you (even ignoring the tactical websites if you aren’t comfortable with their suggestion
one last comment (which may be seen as me trying to influence others) - if I learnt anything from Boris Johnson’s tenure is that a large majority for any party (even the ‘sunshine and rainbow party’ if their was such a thing) is a dangerous thing as it’s a form of absolute power (which as you know ‘corrupts absolutely’) - I’d take a result of a 20 seat majority over a 100 seat+ any day of the week
That is less likely to happen if your vote is well thought out and researched rather than based on a fear reaction (frightened people often can’t think clearly till they’ve taken a step back and analysed the situation in full imo)
Comments
-
to kick us off - the Lib Dem full manifesto:
I’ll look through this the next day or so and post the disability related bits
0 -
-
no talk of benefits or pip pretty much- very disappointing:( tories we already know they are scrapping it’s just labour and seen as they haven’t really released any information pledges to gain votes or not - tit seems all party’s have it in mind to scrap pip!! ????
1 -
I can’t seem to edit my post- it * typo put tit lol sorry
0 -
no not that one
It was the one called ‘general election’ - I was going to post on that thread instead of starting a new one but it’s totally disappeared
I’m trying my best to be impartial on this thread (difficult as I have strong political opinions as some on this forum may know) - I don’t want to influence, bully or scare someone with voting a particular way but encourage others to step back, look at all the information available to them and make a well informed vote (and one they’ll hopefully feel okay with making)
This may be the most unique uk election in my life as one of the big 2 has never imploded like what has happened - depending on how the population vote, this election could trigger a huge shake up
I’m still in the process of highlighting the Lib Dem manifesto pages of most interest to the disabled community - I’ll post those later tonight
I just don’t think any party will put disability as a priority (or at least not in the way we all hope - in a panic inducing way wouldn’t surprise - but not in a ‘high five’ way either)
Realistically we are looking for small but meaningful change (not even change, but change in attitude or viewpoint), to not be looked at as societies burden.
To me any party that doesn’t use deflammatory language towards the disabled (speeches/quotes that fill like threats) - a good example is the line “those who can work, will work” (as that could be interpreted as being forced into work and don’t answer who make get roped into that mantra)
Bonus points to any manifesto that doesn’t use that line
The Tory manifesto is being published tomorrow, and though I’ll post the link to it I’m not sure I’ll post highlighted manifesto pages like the other parties (on the one hand I’m not being impartial if I don’t, but after listening to the language used by the tories for the past years it may be kinder on the scope community not to post the specifics from the Tory manifesto)
I’m busy a lot of tomorrow so let me know if you want the Tory manifesto fine tooth combed too
0 -
sorry about the delay in posting (fell asleep on the sofa last night)
Lib Dem manifesto highlights (whole pages posted for context):
2 -
apple85
thank goodness for cut and paste!
0 -
To be honest the lib dems is a good manifesto, however I can't trust them since that incident with university fee's and going back on promises. I'm looking forward to Labours manifesto on thursday, I have signed up to email me as soon as its released.
- These views are solely my own and are not there to influence votes or change others personal opinions during the GE.
2 -
It really weird where I live - you wouldn’t even know there’s a general election in 4 weeks time. I’ve only had leaflets from the Lib Dem’s this time on no sightings of candidates in my local time. I’ve come to the following conclusions: 1)the tories think the area is already tied up in their favour or 2)the Lib Dem’s are been given a free run. Either way my vote is pretty straightforward and one I’m personally comfortable with - - but most areas of the country probably have more complex voting options than my constituency
(And honestly if anyone’s mp is currently a Tory and they’ve been a good and supportive mp to your area and you personally then a vote based on individual than party is totally understandable and the right vote for that person)
woodbine, I’m glad that you are obviously comfortable with how you will vote but you are a loyalist voter and I started this thread more with the floater voters or ppl who’s usual party vote has let them down and even those who have 99% made up their mind but don’t feel 100% comfortable with that vote.Discouraging others to vote any other way apart from the big 2 parties is doing them. It’s a horrible thought that there’s zero chance the status quo will ever change (it technically was shaken up with the 2010 ge with the coalition - with the tories imploding and reform going out strong for some of Tory voters it opens the door very very slightly to something crazy happening)
But it’s wrong to devalue the impact of a protest vote and suggesting it’s pointless voting for a party that has little chance of winning an election outright - there are many Tory areas that will never go red or labour areas that will never go blue and if you look into election results the past 20-30 years it’s actually one of the smaller parties that came runner up in the majority of those elections
A vote for a smaller party is still an important vote and a protest vote is still an important vote - and the way this election is playing out those votes could be hugely important
The reality is that for the smaller parties their manifestos are idealistic wish lists so they have more freedom in writing. However in the case of the big 2 parties a manifesto could be seem as written evidence of policies and promises (which is why u turns on policy gets so much media attention - it’s the politics version of breaking a promise) Also a manifesto is where all the small print is to companion alongside all of these daily press bites and photo opportunitiesSo to me a manifesto, esp from the big 2 is extremely important or at least should be to many in the disabled community
but I imagine some may appreciate this article from John crace published last night:0 -
I've had a leaflet from Lib dems and one from Labour yesterday, nothing from the other parties. I already know who I will be voting for so leaflets are not going to help me change my mind.
I do understand that a lot of people are still undecided though.
1 -
I can't read these longgg posts.. If I were undecided, they would not help me decide! Most people did not vote in the 2016 referendum because they were flooded with information (and untruths) and didn't know what to do.
Nothing could persuade me to vote Lib Dems EVER because they got into bed with the Tories and we've been lumped with Tory policies ever since! They simply cannot be trusted and can promise us the Moon knowing they won't have to deliver their manifesto pledges.
0 -
my personal opinion is that it was the Lib Dem’s first taste of any sort of real power and they didn’t handle it as well as they could of (aka they shouldn’t of rolled over to the tories and especially not as easy as they ended up doing)
To me both the tories and labour have made significantly bigger mistakes over the past 30 years but they almost get brushed to the side and both parties are given multiple chances to do the right thing
But so many are unwilling to give the Lib Dem’s a second chance after the tuition fee fiasco and for entering a coalition with the tories (and I repeat, political parties can’t do much unless they are a party in power and occasionally the main party in opposition - and the tories in the 2010 election had almost 50 more seats than labour…..if the Lib Dem’s had done a deal with labour it would of as good as going against democracy and that general election result)
Thirdly it’s been almost a decade since the end of the coalition and imo the disabled community doesn’t have the luxury to still be holding on to a grudge (that in the scheme of events the past 15 years is relatively small compared to what we’ve been through the past 5 years - and things could of got worse sooner if the coalition hadn’t existed, we’ll never know)
right now many of us have forgotten/are too young to remember Blair’s tenure - but if in the next general election in 5 years this community has had a equally bad 5 years under labour are you just going to forgive them, forgot the tories recent path and vote for them again or have a throw of the dice with one of the smaller parties?1 -
I know right
Thank goodness for the iPad highlight feature also
I think I’ve decided what I’m doing with the Tory manifesto in terms of screenshots
I’ll post the link today and do the screenshots/highlighting tomorrowBut I won’t post till labour’s manifesto comes out Thursday and I’ve screenshot/highlighted them
I’ll post both party manifesto highlights at the same time either Thursday or Friday to make comparisons easier
I’ll highlight the Tory manifesto screenshots using blue highlighter and the labour ones with a red highlighter
2 -
I'm not affiliated with any particular political party. With the beginning of my two week holiday, I finally have the chance to dive into political news, something I often don't have time for. However, thus far, what I'm hearing seems to be the same rhetoric we've all heard countless times before. It could just be me, but none of the candidates appear to possess the strong leadership qualities I'm looking for.
Manifestos hold little significance for me. Based on my experience over the years, the party that comes to power frequently fails to uphold the pledges outlined in their campaign manifestos. Therefore, my decision will likely depend on who I believe is capable of steering the country forward, rather than solely relying on their written promises.
0 -
we've been lumped with Tory policies ever since!
If you want to dilute Labour's majority in this GE then carry on!
The only tactical vote not wasted would be for the Greens.
0 -
so this threads not for you - that’s fine……not every member on this forum will be the intended audience
Condensing a 117 page manifesto is hard
True honestly and politics is a extremely rare mix (and if you read through my whole post you would of seen that smaller parties manifesto are kind of like fantasy football and the John crace article sums it up well)
You can’t blame the Lib Dem’s that the public voted for Cameron, may and Johnson instead of miliband and corbyn
Also how many pledges has starmer abandoned since the labour leadership contest 4 years back - I’m not saying this means he’ll u turn most of his manifesto pledges this election necessarily but he’s definitely not a mythical ‘honest’ politician either
0 -
Condensing a 117-page manifesto sounds like a daunting task indeed. It's true that finding true honesty in politics is rare, and smaller parties' manifestos can sometimes feel like fantasy football. Regarding the blame game, it's fair to say that the Lib Dems aren't solely responsible for the public's choice of leaders. As for Starmer, it's worth noting the pledges he's abandoned since the Labour leadership contest four years ago. While it doesn't necessarily mean he'll backtrack on most of his manifesto pledges this election, it does shed light on the complexity of political promises.
0 -
I blame the Lib Dems for driving their very successful then leader Charles Kennedy to an early death and getting into bed with the Tories. They had talent and wasted it. Their roots were the Labour Party.
I certainly don't blame voters for being fooled by the lies we are fed by the media or in manifestos available to anyone who wants to read them.
0 -
In 2019, Jo Swinson easily beat Ed Davey to become party leader after Vince Cable was bullied out of office so ED is not even the party's first choice! Tim Farron was compassionate, informed and authentic but he's also gone.
She lost her constituency seat by only 149 votes which is why every vote counts in this GE. The local candidates are who we need to assess and as others reported, I have zero knowledge of mine.
ED is thirsty for power after serving as a cabinet minister in the Tory government, of course he is! He was rewarded with a knighthood for his betrayal of the left.
0 -
What are the most important qualities and policies you believe the next prime minister should have?
0
Categories
- All Categories
- 14.3K Start here and say hello!
- 6.9K Coffee lounge
- 74 Games den
- 1.6K People power
- 107 Community noticeboard
- 22.2K Talk about life
- 5.1K Everyday life
- 79 Current affairs
- 2.3K Families and carers
- 833 Education and skills
- 1.8K Work
- 454 Money and bills
- 3.4K Housing and independent living
- 915 Transport and travel
- 664 Relationships
- 66 Sex and intimacy
- 1.4K Mental health and wellbeing
- 2.3K Talk about your impairment
- 849 Rare, invisible, and undiagnosed conditions
- 894 Neurological impairments and pain
- 2K Cerebral Palsy Network
- 1.2K Autism and neurodiversity
- 36.2K Talk about your benefits
- 5.6K Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- 18.6K PIP, DLA, ADP and AA
- 6.8K Universal Credit (UC)
- 5.2K Benefits and income