Scanners. I feel you may have questioned my mum's integrity within your reply. I sincerely hope not. With-this-in-mind, this debate could easily descend to a nasty, accuasatory level. Please leave the dirty stuff to the politicians if you will.



Fact 1. My mum is probably the most honest person I know. She would never lie, fib or mislead anyone so far as I'm aware. (And even if she was, she did a pretty smart job in hiding the supposed wealth she had under the tories.)



Fact 2. I remember what life was like for our family from 1990'ish when I was just 5 to 1997 when I was 12. It was tough. Really tough. I also noticed the drastic change in our quality of life from '97 until now. It is significantly better.



Now, considering my mum's integrity, why is this? And why do I hear the same from countless other families in the same boat?





You strike me as a decent person who is passionate about their politics. I'd love to hear your opinion.









However, I don't believe either party has the answers to the current economic plight of the country. Such is the unsustainable nature of monetarism per se. (Different debate.)

Labour are hardly soley to blame for the current economic plight, especially as it's one that has gripped the entire globe. Things like David X. Li's forumla going slightly wrong and the liquidity shortfall in the US triggered a global financial meltdown. Methinks that would've happened regardless of who was in charge of this country.



As it is, the Tories have left a wondrous legacy which has meant chasing profits without giving a about your average Joe seems to be the order of the day. Take, for instance, the privatisation of British Rail. Services cut throughout the country and now we're faced with trains, overcrowding, late runnings, a service compared to the rest of the world but with constantly increasing ticket prices and profits for the rail companies. Wonderful.



Also, take a trip to somewhere like Goole or South Elmsall. Places where people had their jobs taken from them by Maggie with no real alternative provided. Places where society has broken down and where no one has much of a chance of getting out and making something of themselves - they're trapped in a vicious circle. Try telling them that the Tories left this country in a much better state than when they left. Yes, changes were needed, but not at the expense of the working classes.



I'm no fan of New Labour, who have drifted nearer to Tory policy of the years anyway and who, seemingly, have forgotten where they've come from and what they're about. But they're still far preferable than the Tories. There's nothing in their manifesto that I've seen that fills me with confidence that they'll make a better future for us.

What the Tories did for us

Sold off:-

Gas

Electric

Water

Introduced the Poll tax (My rates went from £550 to £1000 overnight)

British Rail

British Airways

British Petrolium

TSB

Used North Sea Oil to Fund Unemployment in the 80's to batter the unions

Closed the mines with 300 years of stocks left underground

Highest Unemployment in History (created own recession) nearly 4m

Inflation at 22%

Interest rates at 15% (mortgage up an extra £100 a month)

never won a World Cup

Shut down the ship yards by ordering battleships from abroad

Closed down the national Apprentice scheme creating a Skills Shortage

Cut the married mans tax allowance (party of the Family?)

Deregulated the Buses, now I have a private company in a monopoly in North West Manchester charging me twice as much as travellers in other parts of Manchester.

Introduced unregulated expenses scheme into Parliament

Part privatised the NHS

Took away free school milk

cut the Council housing stock with the right to buy scheme

Introduced Housing Benefit direct to landlords so that they got their money whoever they put in their houses result massive degeneration across many cities in England such as Salford House price collapse.

How much as it cost nationwide now to ensure landlords got their rent about £40b







Now should I vote Tory?

Not to mention dragging is into the European Union!



P.S. still waiting for an answer regarding Steffan Ratchford.

no Steffan is staying he is the future

I thought Garlic Bread was?

thats now the past





keep up

You missed off appeasement

wasn't garlic bread replaced by cheese cake



A CAKE OF CHEESE!



Are you sure we can't have Ratchford?

You can have Ratchford if you build Salford a new ground.

Scanners from your reply you don't actually know what the Tories did, I will take a few of your points, The utilities, now making massive profits due to overcharging, if still in government hands there could be an OAP rate instead of giving a cold weather payment which goes straight into the shareholders pockets. Two years ago Norway gifted British Gas 6 months supply free of charge because they couldn't store it, this saving was never past on, if there is a raise in the wholesale price of gas the raise comes in normally 3 months after because we are told thats how far in advance the gas is purchased, when there is a cut in WP the cuts can take upto a year to be given to the consumer again the gas people say they buy a year in advance.



Inflation 1982 under thatcher 22%



My Mortgage was affordable but I signed for it at 7.5%



The Buses I have First Bus weekly pass £15.50

Manchester East and South have a couple of companies weekly pass £8.00



I worked for the Employment Service under the Tories, the Back to work teams were introduced then, only they were actually the back to bed teams with hundreds of thousands of claimants moved off unemployment benefit to sickness and other benefits, and the Tories used the claimant count, Labour don't use that because it generally produces a figure about 30% less than actual unemployed, isn't the current scheme to move people of sickness/incapacity benefit?



Direct payment meant that the landlord did not have to go round to collect the rent a real hassle as I know to my cost, so if the money is paid direct to the landlord they don't care who they have in, remember all the housing adverts DHSS welcome because it meant the landlord got paid for little effort and once you get the problem family in the whole street starts to lose value, ask the people of Seedley and Langworthy about it, and the landlords can pick up other properties below market value and stick another family in, money for old rope. Labour have now introduced the Landlord Licence Scheme as well to ensure that properties are properly maintained.

I am now bored Scanners you vote Tory