Did lib dems actually mvoe to tories, or did lib dems stay at home, and normal tories that stay at home come out because '2010-2015 was actually quite good'?
I think in the south west, which has always traditionally been a Liberal stronghold, they moved to the Tories.
It's a strange one. Clegg is criticised for his stance on tuition fees, but these people voted for the party who want tuition fees to be uncapped and set by market forces. So either people didn't really care about tuition fees, or people are stupid.
Butts said:
With regard to Tuition Fees have you ever considered that should they be free as they are in Scotland this is effectively a Middle Class subsidy along with Free Prescriptions, Eye tests and Dental Check ups that we benefit from. Throw in free personal care for the elderly and this is one reason why higher rate taxpayers in Scotland should not be to miffed they will be paying out a bit more than the rest of the UK.
I'm not sure about whether tuition fees should be free to students- I don't disagree with the idea of tuition fees, truth be told- but yes, I'd agree that the middle classes benefit most from them. And so they should button it when tax rises to pay for it.
DynamicSpirit said:
Well aside from questioning how many UKIP supporters are racists, why shouldn't he be expected to reach out to those people? I want a Labour leader to be trying to convince anyone who's willing to listen that the Labour approach is best.
I think the UKIP support is a combination of the outright racists who previously voted for the BNP- there were plenty in northern towns- and people who are angry at their situation and misguidedly blame foreigners for it all.
It's a difficult balance to find. Calling racism a "reasonable economic fear" just legitimises it. We've seen that with the rise of race-related attacks in the last 12-24 months. But then again there are plenty who
do have a "reasonable economic fear" and labelling them racist just pushes them further away.
I don't know about UKIP supporters, but their poster boy Farage has recently said that he wants UKIP to be a "radical anti-immigrant party" and it is all the fault of Douglas Carswell that it isn't. Farage is many things but stupid he ain't: if he's claiming he wants UKIP to be a "radical anti-immigrant party" it'll be because he thinks his party's support is, well, radically anti-immigrant.