Who will you vote for at the next general election?

[Baldseagull]

You can see that, I can see that, why can't most of the electorate see that? Almost everything you hear about why people won't vote Lib Dem is because of the compromises they had to make as a result of going into coalition, and very little is about their policies. I'm especially surprised by the number of voters who have rejected Labour but have switched their alliance to the Green Party, as the Lib Dems are left of centre on a number of topics, especially taxation.

Two years into the recession in tax year 2010/11 Labour still had the Higher Rate tax threshold at £43,875, the Lib Dems come into and reduce it down to £41,450. So even though the Tories say we're back to pre-recession levels this is contradicted by the fact the Higher Rate threshold is still below 2010/11 level AND - according to the coalition Budget of last week - won't exceed the 2010/11 level until 2017/18.

There is no doubt in my mind that had the Lib Dems not been in government the Tories would have raised the Higher Rate to above £43,875 for 2015/16.

I think a lot of people would have seen Labour as the more aligned party to go into coalition with for the Lib Dems, including most Liberal party members, but given that Labour had less seats than the Cons, it would have been a less legitimate looking Government.
The biggest problem they have though is the tuition fees promise they made, they didn't just have it in the manifesto, they signed pledges and it was the policy they most trumpeted.
In reality, I think even if they had been the majority party in coalition, or had an outright government, this pledge was unaffordable and could not be kept, given the state of UK economy. Without this issue I think most people would be more sympathetic to them.
Clegg has to get an apology out there, not for going against what they said, but for making a promise that could not be kept. He should not try and tag on to it the fact that the loan scheme they devised is actually pretty good. But he will, and it will sound like a cop out to a lot of people.
Even then, I think they are too pro EU, and not good enough at explaining why, for many at the moment.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Cameron only gives the illusion of being "a PM" because he has had the title for the past five years. He's a completely hollow man who has no beliefs or principles whatever beyond saying what he thinks may get him another term. I was going to say "will get him re-elected" but as the Tories couldn't win an outright majority last time that wouldn't be quite accurate.

I don't agree with that, I've thought and said since Cameron was appointed their leader that he was a PM and him ending up in the role was no real surprise to me. I do agree it would be wrong to use the term re-elected, I'm still not happy about how the last election was decided and I'm not in favour of a party who came third getting to be King maker. Admittedly, I don't know the whole story or the ins and outs and I'm far from being a qualified political commentator, but I don't believe the Liberal Democrats had any right at all to determine the outcome of the last election. But they did.

 

[Soulman]

No............
The SNP would hold "the power" if a Labour government needed its votes to survive, Alex Salmond has insisted.
The former first minister said the party would demand the scrapping of Trident as the price of entering a "confidence and supply" agreement with Ed Miliband. But he said the "more likely" situation would be Labour and the SNP working together on a vote-by-vote basis - including detailed negotiations about Budget packages.
Salmond, who is standing to re-enter parliament in the Gordon constituency, told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show it would be "very good for Scotland" if there was a decisive number of SNP MPs after May 7. "If you hold the balance, then you hold the power," he said.
A new poll for Monday's Guardian suggested Labour is set to lose control of Scotland. The survey showed the SNP on 43% and Labour on just 27%. On a uniform swing this would see the SNP increase its number of MPs from six to 43 and Labour lose 29 of its 41.
Appearing alongside Salmond on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday morning, Conservative defence minister Anna Soubry branded the Salmond's strategy for a hung parliament as "terrifying".
"I have to say, I thought it was one of the scariest interviews I've heard for a very long time," she said. "The thought we are in a position where you could be actually controlling, in the way you have described, this United Kingdom fills me with absolute horror."

 

[Lincoln Imp]

I think a lot of people would have seen Labour as the more aligned party to go into coalition with for the Lib Dems, including most Liberal party members, but given that Labour had less seats than the Cons, it would have been a less legitimate looking Government.
The biggest problem they have though is the tuition fees promise they made, they didn't just have it in the manifesto, they signed pledges and it was the policy they most trumpeted.
In reality, I think even if they had been the majority party in coalition, or had an outright government, this pledge was unaffordable and could not be kept, given the state of UK economy. Without this issue I think most people would be more sympathetic to them.
Clegg has to get an apology out there, not for going against what they said, but for making a promise that could not be kept. He should not try and tag on to it the fact that the loan scheme they devised is actually pretty good. But he will, and it will sound like a cop out to a lot of people.
Even then, I think they are too pro EU, and not good enough at explaining why, for many at the moment.

It's obvious that all election promises are made subject to the party making the promise forming a government. The Lib Dems did not 'form a government' - they are simply junior partners in a coalition. The charge made that the Lib Dems broke a promise (even a daft promise) is quite untrue.

 

[Wellesley]

I would vote to keep the coalition that we have, but as that isn't possible, this time I shall vote Conservative.

 

[Baldseagull]

It's obvious that all election promises are made subject to the party making the promise forming a government. The Lib Dems did not 'form a government' - they are simply junior partners in a coalition. The charge made that the Lib Dems broke a promise (even a daft promise) is quite untrue.

The NUS asked politicians of all parties to sign a pledge:
“I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer alternative.”
All 57 Lib Dem MPs signed this during the last election campaign. They took it on as a party policy and shouted it loud. Some Lib Dem MPs did not break the promise, and did as they pledged to do and voted against, some others went half way and abstained but 27, including Nick Clegg voted for the tuition fee increases.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I'm still not happy about how the last election was decided and I'm not in favour of a party who came third getting to be King maker. Admittedly, I don't know the whole story or the ins and outs and I'm far from being a qualified political commentator, but I don't believe the Liberal Democrats had any right at all to determine the outcome of the last election. But they did.

1. Both Tory and Labour knew that at a time of economic crisis a minority government was simply a non-starter.
2. Labour were reeling from losing the election, they did not get their act together, they did not offer enough concessions to the Lib Dems and - crucially - the two parties combined still wouldn't have had a parliamentary majority.
3. Tories were more willing to negotiate and compromise, AND they were the biggest single party. The two parties combined had a comfortable majority.

The Lib Dems didn't determine the outcome of the election, that was down to the electorate. It looks as though we could be heading for another hung parliament. Who will we blame this time - UKIP? The SNP?

 

[Captain Sensible]

It's funny how the Tories are in front in this poll. Considering Brighton has quite often been a Labour seat because of the poor wages in this town compared to the rest of the south east, bucking the trend in the region. Yet nowadays, I suppose most that live here don't work here. And perhaps NSC represents the Amex attendance quite well. Working class priced out of the game, middle class fill the East and West Stands. Sad or good? All I know is I'm hearing 'got any spare change mate' more than I have in 25years and with the mass cuts Mr Osborne plans, that will only get worse. Get the deficit down? Yes, but destroy your services and quality if life to do it in 5 years, when the UK has run a deficit for over 300 years is madness. Think the council is still gonna help and maintain your grass verge, streets, in town lighting, police, health centres. Community centres, waste collection, etc etc
If Mr Osborne is back in charge, we can all rub our hands at not having to pay a minute amount of tax on savings interest, all if 30p a month for most. Yet look forward to VAT rises and huge cuts in services. Nice that he gave with one hand and raised the tax free allowance and at the same time took away millions in tax credits for the poor as they were taken out of this threshold and left worse off, yet anyone well off enough not to get tax credits benefits.
When will this economy and those that lead it understand that you have to have decent wages for those at the bottom to feed the stream into the river or the river dries up. Osborne said today on Sky he wanted rid of European employment red tape, making it easier to higher and fire. That pushes wages down further, incomes at the bottom are suffering and it's getting worse. How long can the housing market resist collapse, if there is no one at the bottom paying in, because they can't afford to? Not long! But oh yeah it's foreign investment and immigration booming our housing market isn't it? So what happens when the Tories allow a Farage to push us all onto Beachyhead, ready to for this country to commit suicide? Not just housing market collapse but economic collapse. I'm not an exactly Ed Balls fan, but it is true that what he has been saying about deficit reduction, and echoing that strategy of Alistair Darling has been the route that Osbourne has more or less been made to follow. He takes credit for a plan which was the only way out of the financial mess but the cuts and figures he wants to cut by over the next Parliment are absolutely absurd and destructive. Half the deficit again in the next 5 years, and again after that. That's the way out.
The Tories are playing a game and it's your life, town, street, family they are playing it with.

 

[Captain Sensible]

[MENTION=26105]Soulman[/MENTION] You actually believe Salmond? Don't be daft. I'd say you are only saying this stuff to push your agenda. Nobody really believes that the SNP or Ukip will be with a coalition. They will do worse in a GE than at the local elections or in the referendum vote. Same with a Ukip, they will struggle for a handful of seats. It will be the same as last time with the lLb dems forming a coalition. Would you say they have the Balance of power in this present government??
Labour could have gone with the muppet Clegg back in 2010 but chose not to. Salmond is just trying to up the SNP vote.

 

[withdeanwombat]

The contradiction between you complaining about the Lib Dems losing their 'principles' and you tactical voting has passed you by then ?

Sadly not. It was a decision I considered long and hard, and have to say that the LibDems seemed so vehemently opposed to the Tories that voting for them here would help to diminish the total of Tory seats. Reading the manifesto of the LibDems - and yes, I did, - I stupidly decided that a vote for them here and at that time could only lead to the outcome I wanted, viz less Tories, more anti-Tories.

And that's where it all went bossoms up, because before you could say swingometer the LibDems had been bought off, become pseudo- Tories and custard pied very, very many who had expected better.

Even so, my vote was principled enough on the face of it. A vote against Conservatism ruined by the LibDems morphing into a Tory lapdog.

So, as I've said, I won't be fooled again. (Oh, and the LibDem I voted for has decided to stand down this time, probably realising the inevitable defeat coming his way, As a QPR supporter you'd think he would have been used to disappointment).

 

[Camicus]

I ****ing hate Alex Salmond.

 

[jimbob5]

Lib Dem or UKIP. Labour say they are not going to increase VAT, whoopee!

 

[jimbob5]

I ****ing hate Alex Salmond.

Thanks. I know the BBC are always looking for intelligent audience participation for Any Questions and Question Time.

 

[GT49er]

Yes but votes for those parties are meaningless without a decent PR voting system.

No, not PR - that would just mean the party hacks got in, no option to vote out a bad MP, and not much link to the constituencies.

A better system (which I think is what the French have, but I'm not sure) would be to have a first ballot, like now, then a week later have a straight vote between the top two. That way, all votes would count for more - even if the protest vote you wanted didn't get in, you'd have a chance to put a spanner in the works of the one you REALLY don't want.

 

[Wrong-Direction]

It doesn't matter people, it really doesn't, wake up and smell the coffee

 

[Wrong-Direction]

Caroline Lucas is my MP and a politician who actually believes what she says which is unusual . So for Brighton and for the future - Caroline . Don' to confuse local and national politics because you re pissed off with the roads or the rubbish . This is a national issue and we need some Green MP s to balance the other ideoligies. We 've got one in Brighton so let's treasure her. Let's give her a massive show of approval and tell the rest of the country that we believe in being Green and down here we think
a bit differently and we re proud of it . Let's look after what we ve got .

You thoughts ?

What a load of bollocks! The greens have f****** Brighton!

 

[Leekbrookgull]

Well using Polling report and NSC this is what you may end up with ? http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/swing-calculator

 

[Jim D]

Well using Polling report and NSC this is what you may end up with ? http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/swing-calculator

With the percentages given in our poll it has Con 332 (+26) Lab 258 n/c LD 26 (-31) others 34 (+5). Con has 14 seat majority.

 

[Camicus]

Thanks. I know the BBC are always looking for intelligent audience participation for Any Questions and Question Time.

I would ask How can you portray yourself as a left wing progressive party when you have voted with the Tories 71% of the time in the last parliament and formed coalitions with them in Scotland?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Lib Dem or UKIP. Labour say they are not going to increase VAT, whoopee!

The Conservatives have said they had no plans to increase VAT before coming to power on no less than THREE occasions but once elected have put VAT up. In 1979 they denied they would double VAT and technically speaking they were correct as it only went up from 8% to 15%.