[jambutty]

It’s none of your cotton pickin’ business who votes how Cyfr. You’ve got a flaming nerve asking especially as the results can be seen by anyone and that includes a visitor to this forum.

My initial instinct was not to vote but on second thoughts I did vote but not as I intend to vote come the next General Election. So your quest for information will be skewed.

Some contributions to this thread offered the opinion that Blair is a strong leader and his policies …………… That is the point – his policies, not necessarily Labour’s. He dictates the direction of Labour and woe betide anyone who disagrees with him. Anyone who does has absolutely no chance of getting a ministerial post. So some sycophantic MP’s suck up to Blair or Blair Mark II (Cameron) in the hope of getting a ministerial job and the high salary that goes with it and will agree to anything to achieve their aims. Fortunately there are many MP’s with a social conscience but they languish on the back benches and have little or no influence on government policies.

The level of Labour’s arrogance is reflected in the current machinations regarding the leadership when Blair steps down. It has been reported that some potential challengers to Brown have been persuaded not to stand against him on the promise of a cabinet post.

Thatcher’s one redeeming feature is that she stood up to Argentinean tyranny and made her own mind up, after cabinet consultation, to challenge the illegal occupation of the Falklands. Unlike Blair who prosecuted two wars at the behest of the yanks so that he could gain world Brownie points and appear to be an influential world leader. That man’s arrogant ego knows no bounds.

It makes no difference whether Labour is in office or the Tories they just shift the tax burden around to favour their own. Note I stated ‘office’ not as it is seen today as being in ‘power’. Any party that considers itself to be in ‘power’ signals their dictatorial intentions.

The government that is voted into office is supposed to cater for the needs of the country’s population and collect taxes to do it with. Both Tories and Labour collect taxes OK but fail to live up to their requirements. Instead we have a health service that is rapidly becoming private, an education system that fails a large proportion of the pupils, a criminal justice system that does exactly the same and social housing that is becoming a joke. The list is endless.

A person’s health includes their teeth and eyes yet after paying taxes and National Insurance contributions we end up having to pay for glasses and dental treatment if you cannot get an NHS dentist. And thousands cannot. Even if you can get onto the books of an HNS dentist you still have to pay something for some treatment unless age or dire personal circumstances dictate otherwise.

Both colours of government take our money and fritter the bulk of it away on projects that benefit the few instead of catering for all of the population’s needs. And then Blair has the nerve to suggest that the voluntary sector could do more. There would be no need for a voluntary sector if the government did what it was supposed to.