Burnley Constituency..will your vote change from 2015 ?

[aggi]

Off piste but relevent to the GE.

There is a common problem for all parties and that is the percentage of people in work supporting those who dont. The percentage is dropping year on year and the amount of tax coming in is getting less as the it drops.

Something has to give eventually. Certainly Corbyn's vision of spendng more money is unsustainable.

[ClaretPope]

I will not be voting for Lib Dems in Burnley. Gordon Birtwistle is still a District Councillor (which he didn't relinquish when an MP), he is standing for election as a County Councillor and is interested in becoming the elected Mayor of Burnley should the referendum decide that way.

[Lancasterclaret]

Very good point that Lancaster and that's just made my mind up for me.

Now you listen to me!

[SparkyClaret]

Can't really understand why people think May having a majority will strengthen her hand in Brexit negotiations, and further more that this is a reason to vote Tory. Whilst they will undoubtedly make the GE about a single issue, there's far more at stake.

I'm far more concerned at the state of council tax, energy bills, education and the NHS than I am the Brexit negotiations (since whoever wins will still have to do this as Article 50 has been triggered). In all of the above categories, I'm far more comfortable with Labour's policies than I am the Conservatives.

[Bacchus]

Off piste but relevent to the GE.

There is a common problem for all parties and that is the percentage of people in work supporting those who dont. The percentage is dropping year on year and the amount of tax coming in is getting less as the it drops.

Something has to give eventually. Certainly Corbyn's vision of spendng more money is unsustainable.

Well given that the Tories are forever banging on about record numbers of people being in work I assume you're referring to the fact that people are living longer. Of course, looking after retired folk costs money and increasing numbers of retired folk costs even more money. It is a problem that no party wants to admit to or face up to because the only real solution is to increase taxes and spend more money on pensions, social care and health care. Which party would you say is most likely to do that and which is least likely?

[Lowbankclaret]

Well given that the Tories are forever banging on about record numbers of people being in work I assume you're referring to the fact that people are living longer. Of course, looking after retired folk costs money and increasing numbers of retired folk costs even more money. It is a problem that no party wants to admit to or face up to because the only real solution is to increase taxes and spend more money on pensions, social care and health care. Which party would you say is most likely to do that and which is least likely?

No not just people living longer, the figures for unemployed have been manipulated so much I am not sure they meaningful for comparison.
I cannot find the figures today but it was som ething like 2.1 to 1 30 years ago and its now 1.8 to 1 and set to lower further.

Thats a massive problem for the goverment whoever that is.

[Bacchus]

No not just people living longer, the figures for unemployed have been manipulated so much I am not sure they meaningful for comparison

Are you telling me that the Tories' boasts of record low unemployment and record numbers of people in employment aren't entirely representative of the true picture? I'm sorry, you're going to have to give me a few minutes to fully absorb that and get over the shock...

[Imploding Turtle]

He was asked outright, is homosexuality a sin? And he failed to answer the question. Make of this what you will, but I cannot for the life of me understand why he wouldn't just say "no" if that's what he believed.

I don't give a **** what he believes his religion says, as long as his religion doesn't interfere with how he votes, and evidently it doesn't.

Why do you think what he believes is more important than how he votes? He probably thinks adultery is a sin too, but I'm sure he's not about to try and ban that.

[Clarets4me]

I will not be voting for Lib Dems in Burnley. Gordon Birtwistle is still a District Councillor (which he didn't relinquish when an MP), he is standing for election as a County Councillor and is interested in becoming the elected Mayor of Burnley should the referendum decide that way.

1) Some would argue that this keeps an MP in touch with his area...

2) To be fair, he wouldn't have known about the General Election at the time ..

3) It won't happen...

I have stood in Council elections, and am pro-Brexit... but I thought GB was a 1st rate Constituency MP, based on a family member's dealings with him and from what many others have told me, of all political stripes and none...

[Mala591]

Maybe Mr Birtwistle should consider joining a more pro-immigration control party e.g. the conservatives?

He might then be eligible to stand as their conservative candidate for Burnley.

And he might well get elected.

[SammyBoy]

1) Some would argue that this keeps an MP in touch with his area...

2) To be fair, he wouldn't have known about the General Election at the time ..

3) It won't happen...

I have stood in Council elections, and am pro-Brexit... but I thought GB was a 1st rate Constituency MP, based on a family member's dealings with him and from what many others have told me, of all political stripes and none...

My parents have also had dealings with Birtwistle in the past and have had nothing but good things to say about him (and they're die hard children of Thatcher Tories).

[taio]

Birtwistle wrote to hundreds of local businesses when he was last MP offering to meet with them. Met with him and seemed a decent fella with a determination to make a difference. If he's the next MP he's already said he'd relinquish some of his other commitments. I'd rather have him as the MP than Cooper.

[aggi]

No not just people living longer, the figures for unemployed have been manipulated so much I am not sure they meaningful for comparison.
I cannot find the figures today but it was som ething like 2.1 to 1 30 years ago and its now 1.8 to 1 and set to lower further.

Thats a massive problem for the goverment whoever that is.

Some useful info here from the ONS on where the welfare budget is spent. Typically it doesn't match people's expectations. Hardly surprising given the focus from politicians and the press.


http://visual.ons.gov.uk/welfare-spending/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dom]

Best thing for Burnley would be that we are represented by the party in power. So a Tory MP can only be good for Burnley as people will expect them to stand up for Burnley. The Tories aren't going to be dislodged in this parliament or the next so why not vote Tory.
I lived and voted in Pendle, voted Labour twice and Tory once.

I wouldn't vote for a party led by Corbyn, Farron or May, all weak. But a vote will need to be placed for someone. Lack of any credible leaders make it the weakest field of party leaders in memory.

[AndrewJB]

If the Conservatives are the 'party of the working person' why have the most recent benefit cuts fallen on working people? And why have they cut corporation tax, and raised the threshold of inheritance tax to £1 Million? Why is it schools and hospitals are in crisis through underfunding? What has she done to increase the number of houses? Theresa May might have given a good speech about an economy for all when she took over, but her actions have been the opposite.

As for Corbyn, so many bad things have been said about him some of them make no sense. Apparently he's a friend to terrorists while at the same time being a hippy peacenik. One thing the almost daily bad press illustrates is he's not at all weak. Nobody who is weak would withstand the shite thrown in his direction by the vast majority of the media, and also face down nearly his whole parliamentary party, and come through it all still in charge. So rather than just repeating things the Sun says about him, look up his policies for yourselves:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 85016.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Lancasterclaret]

Andrew, he's the 21st centurys Michael Foot.

He even thinks (like Foot) that talking to cheering masses of people who would vote for him if he did it with his cock out means he'll win an election.

If he can't win the North and the Midlands (ie places like Burnley) then he can't win.

[Spiral]

There was an interesting exchange on Sky between IDS, Adam Boulton and Barry Gardiner MP.

http://news.sky.com/video/adam-why-did- ... k-10843888" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Corbyn's PR skills and ability to control the narrative are poor even without a hostile press, even his biggest supporters must concede that point, but there are undeniably, from time to time, double standards that help make the un-electability narrative a self-fulfilling prophecy. I know that pointing this out won't win Labour any elections, I am aware of that and don't need to be told. I also fully appreciate there are plenty of things about him which disqualify him for some (many) people even without the opposition he's faced from within his party and the media but it's also wrong to pretend he isn't up against a hostile media oligarchy with enormous power to influence.