Its true that the Lib Dems policies probably most match my own these days however I'm still voting labour for these reasons: 1. Lib dems have no chance round here its between Labour and Tories/Plaid 2. The lib dems maybe be liberal but their policiies on the economy their income tax policy aside ect are more akin to those of the tories(reflecting the fact that they used to be part of the tory party) 3. Although Kennedy seems like a nice chap again he lacks something in terms of leadership in my opinion, hence my references to wishy washy.
The election is about Labour vs Tory at the end of the day these are the two parties that will form a government so the choice for me is between these two.
Also I don think Labour despite their flaws and the Iraq issue deserve to be kicked out yet at the end of the day they have done some good things although I wish they would go further and become more socialist in their policy making and I dont like the stench of spin around them.My hope is that in a few years maybe Gordon Brown will make a better PM than Blair.

Above all people PLEASE VOTE!

Um...

1) Their economic policy may be Tory-esque, but so is Labour's these days, in fact far more so. There's no doubt that the Lib Dems are the least economically right-wing of the three parties.

2) Where did you get the idea that they were part of the Tory party? The Lib Dems is the fusion of two parties: the Liberals, who have always been a party in their own right, and were indeed the only opposition to the Tories before Labour was founded; and the SDP (Social Democrats), who were a brekaway from Labour - not the Tories - in the early 80s.

Also, what's your seat? Because Lib Dems are serious challengers in Cardiff Central - it's one of their top target seats.

Ah I was misguided then I always though the Liberals were mostly culled from the tories and some labour. I'm not in Cardiff central im in North I think.
Hmm well I dont think the liberals are for the redestribution of wealth really I just feel like they put forward these left wing policies because its convieniant.Personally I'm voting Labour if its not labour it will be socalist labour.If there isnt enough people voting it just says to me that alot of people are either apathetic or not angry enough to kick the current government out.

I think anyone who has become an MP for the Liberals Liberals must surely believe in what they're doing, otherwise they'd have joined one of the other two parties! If you're looking for a quick route to power, joining the Liberals certainly isn't the way to do it!

Yeah but what I meant was its easier to put forward those kinds of policies when they have no chance currently of forming a government.I'm not having a go at the liberals im just saying I dont believe they are ideogically a redistrubuting party.Thats just my opinion the test would be if they ever got into government look at the way Labour claimed to be then dropped, alot of their socialists principals when power came knocking.Ill probably vote labour with again with a heavy heart as I believe they are the only genuine chance of some left wing policies in government especially if Brown takes over.

This is debatable I'd say. I think there is a wide ideological gulf between Labour and the Tories in terms of investment in public services, and improving the quality of life/working conditions of those less well-off. There are some ways in which Labour remains economically to the left of the Lib Dems, in that the Lib Dems want to scrap the New Deal, and there also remain on the Lib Dem front benches some very classical liberalists who have debated policies such as the privatisation of the post-office.

Because Labour has a long term progressive goal, and has, and will continue to do a lot of good public services and those less well off, I think its right to keep them in power and let them get on with it. Not only are the lib dems unpredicable, but they dont stand a chance, in the long term, of winning. The only possible effect they will have on this election would be the splitting of the Labour vote resulting in Micheal Howard as Prime minister on Friday morning.

If I'm going to be a real politics anorak then technically Bill is right, in that the Liberal party grew out of the conservative party in the 1840s and 50s. But yeah its completely different to the Tory party now, and has effectively the same policies as the old SDP.

I have a lot of respect for the Lib Dems, but if I had to make a protest vote I'd vote for the greens I reckon.

However, I also reckon that as soon as the is election is over, every single one of us from across the ideological divide should start a mass campaign for PR in westminster, its already something that Labour has considered and may consider again. This way all this talk of tactical voting and protest voting would fly out the window...

ahem.. christ another post in this thread from myself... I'd be impressed if anyone has the patience to have got this far with it

It's a fail safe plan, I tell you!

Why vote Tory Tim?Howard is clearly a crap leader and his party has an average age of 50-60 some of their imigration policies are boardering on racism.Their tax and spend policies dont add up.Plus well they had 18 years and look what they did.

Well my main reasons are twofold - I live in a Tory safe seat, and I want Labour out, with Conservatives being the most likely party to achieve that.

Basically I have underlying right wing tendencies though I'm largely a Liberal, it seems. I'm interested in the Crime and Education pollicies more than anything, immigration is to me a NOTHING issue which has simply been blown miles out of proportion by the baying press.
And I know things went bleak under Tory leadership, but they must have been doing something right for at least 13 years though, Bill.

Why do you want Labour out?

If you are tured off by the tories message on immigration, then what do you like about them? They have a pro-war stance, they want to cut fudning to public services and crime and dropped heavily under Labour... I'm a bit confused by your decision...

But the economy was much much weaker, unemployment was over three million (where as now its under one million), and public servies were criminally underfunded. The reason hospitals arnt clean at the moment is because the Tories privatised the cleaning service! The reason transport is doing so badly is because the tories privatised it, same goes with the civil service the gass company etc....

Well your speaking to someone who's first words where "Maggie Maggie Maggie out out out!" on a Labour march in the eighties. Yup we are Thatcher's grandchildren alot of the servieces were privatised behind our backs, the mines were closed, and the poll tax dont get me started on that, we headed into recession: the only reason they stayed in so long was they they put us into a boom bust situation which was good for their election prospects when we were in boom but when we went bust we were buggered.
I'm not Saying New Labour is brilliant they follow too many tory policies and appeal to middle england to much in my book however I think they have made small strides the minnium wage: lower unemployement: lower interest rates ect

Just to point one thing out, and it's no reflection of my political views, but you can't mine something that isn't there. People can kick or scream all they like but unless they can defy the laws of physics, then mining HAD to stop at some stage.

OK - this is just a fallacy. That 1 in 10 statistic is bollocks - even Campbell admitted it was "illustrative, not mathematical". In fact independent statisticians say that it would take 1 in 4 Labouur voters to switch to the Lib Dems (which is never going to happen) to get even a hung Parliament. And its actually impossible to any level of uniform swing from Labour to Lib Dems to lead to a Conservative victory, because after a certain point the swing gets so big that the Lib Dems start winning all the Tory-held seats. The only way it could happen would be if you only got Lab to Lib swing in Labour-held seats, but not Tory-held seats (and there's no reason that would happen), and that swing would still have to be massive - about 25%. In other words, it ain't gonna happen.

There is a very serious chance that a rise in the Tory vote, coupled with a rise in Lib dem votes in key marginals could result in a hung parliament where Micheal Howard emerges as a victor. There are countless marginal seats where the Tories and Labour are neck and neck, and people are flocking to the Lib dems.

I do however, agree that a swing to the lib dems alone wont do it, but it will result in a lot more tory seats. This will pose a massive threat to Labour from the right, and thus force Labour even more to the right.

The best thing to do is see that Labour is returned with another massive majority, (and perhaps a few seats lost to the Lib dems to force them to the left) and the Tories get the thrashing they deserve for running such a nasty campaign. After that, we should all join the campaign for proportional representation, so we never need to have the tactical voting conversation again.

Erm... I hope thats coherant enough... I have just downed 2 glasses of wine in about 10 minues...