As it currently stands, being well-off has put me on a down for starting Uni. People who come from families on low income are entitled to an extra £2k maintenance loan per year. Yet, I am not. Basically, the Government seems to think that people with wealthy families will have the family pay for them, mine won't.

Both of my parents moved out at 18, worked shit jobs, scraped by, didn't ask for any help from state, family, or friends, climbed the ladder, and are now in the highest tax bracket. They don't believe in living off assistance, £2k is roughly what I'd get if I work a part time job for a year whilst at Uni, and so £2k is only entitled to me if I get a job, I can't get it off my parents (hell, I won't even ask), people from lower income families get £2k in their pocket (at a inflation-rate loan) without having to work for it, I don't.

Personally, I agree with my parents' point-of-view... I just find it highly ironic that in the current system, I'm worse off because my family are of a higher income.

Funding for undergraduate education in the UK is just one of the most flawed things ever. Period. None of it makes any sense and most of the solutions politicians propose just seem to be geared to making it worse. Like raising tuition fees for better Universities (one idea which has been banded around by many people), surely it should be the other way round.

And the level of inequality is just staggering. Like you my parents tax bracket eliminated me from having any support, and they weren't going to pay for housing and living costs, etc. So I worked during the first year,and in the summers before second and third year I worked every hour I could and saved. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for support with education, but the system just seems set up to hinder certain people.

geez, im sticking to PS3 and fun threads, clearly the only political people on this site are rich tories, no thanks, im not gonna waste my time arguing with you people on here, I can do plenty of that IRL

That's okay, I will have enough to debate about tonight when I go to my Conservative party meeting.

In the same breath, you call us elitist and call 12 million people "reprehensible, dangerous and abhorrent" simply for rejecting the beliefs held by Labour, and at the same time lumping together all Conservative voters as stuck-up bourgeouise who despise poor people and think the government ought to legalise hunting and give all of the upperclass private estates.

From my experience, most people who vote Labour are simply naïve. But some people in this thread...wow. There's no naïveté in here. Just a deep resentment of the affluent, a mindless devotion to socialism and this idea stuck in people's head that it is possible to attain complete equality when humanity is involved. I'm not usually this right-wing. I have to act it in here, just to offset this level of radical leftism.

Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?

And with that, I leave this thread before it turns from a shitstorm into a shit hurricane.

I'm the only Tory in this thread, or was until Machina briefly popped out.

If you think I'm far right, you should see some of our American users. They make me look like Karl Marx.

Replacing Health care with Bibles as Tory tough love approach to the Public Health system. Tory scapegoat immigrants, Muslims and unemployed people or anyone who does not fit their view as a normal citiizen. Tories with their scaremongering and  divide and conquering. Fear = Discipline, power and control.

Public education system will be reduced down to help save costs and reduce the deficit. Higher education plans for a lot of young  people from lower socio-economic classes will have to be put on hold under a Tory government. Less educated people means more chances Tory government stay in power. Cutting education and reducing quality of public education by privatising more universities and colleges will increase Tory government strangle hold on government/political power. Increase voting age to 21 could increase their political power.Weaken the opposition by denying young people a future is the Tory way. 

Workers who are not in the middle to upper classes will be targeted by Tories who always implement economic austerity measures which target the lower and middle class. Higher taxes on low incomes and middle class workers. Aimed at targeting young workers. female workers and low skilled workers. Weak unions means the workers have less protection from job security and lower wages and poorer working conditions.

A strong leader of the Opposition is needed to hold the Government accountable regardless who is in government. Opposing policies and making a noise and trying to upset the government is what Opposition are all about. Attack dog politics are all the Opposition has when they are not in government. Make noise and protest against the government's controversial policies that will hurt the youngest and poorest people in the UK. 

Bipartisan does not help an Opposition get back into government. Opposing and fighting the government and highlighting the failings of the government need to be hammered home by the Opposition. 2015 may not be Labour's chance of winning its way back into  government unless the Tories stuff up. The Liberal Democrats will be gone, but Tories may pick up enough seats to govern in its own right in 2015. 2020 will be time for Labour to return to government in the UK. 

Excuse me? Are we talking about the same Tories here? I'm pretty sure you're describing hte Tory party of...well, the late 1800s.

Just for reference, my position on the Political Compass, which I don't personally agree with, but I suppose it knows me better than I do. Thatcher is near the top right. I can imagine Ed Miliband would be slightly above the line, and pretty far left of it.

The Political Compass

Economic Left/Right: 0.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.26

Actually, it was 10.7 million people who voted Tory at the last election. And yeah, If they all held the same views as you, I'd be calling them "reprehensible, dangerous and abhorrent"as well. I'm pretty sure I've never called you 'elitist', I just think you're very ignorant and not particularly intelligent, as your silly observations continually indicate.

Maybe I'm doing you a disservice, and it's just lack of maturity and life experience on your part. I have to admit though, that I know very few Tory voters amongst friends and family and acquaintances who hold views similar to yours. Likewise, your description of Labour voters doesn't chime with anyone i've met in the local party or elsewhere- the vast majority (including myself) are thoroughly middle-class. Far from harbouring any resentment towards the affluent, a lot of them are affluent. I can only assume you're making things up or you are profoundly deluded.

10.7 million, then. It's still quite a few people.

Now, about my views. What, exactly, have I said to give you this opinion of me? The only strong opinion which I feel I've expressed is a deep distrust of trade unions. You saw my position on the Political Compass - bang on centre.

To sum up my views in three points:

1) If you can work, you should.

2) You have the right to food, water, shelter, basic healthcare, education, fair treatment by the government (i.e. no arbitrary arrest) the opportunity to succeed in life, and the sweat of your brow. Nothing else. Nobody has the right to four pints at the pub every day. Nobody has the right to a Mercedes or a Sony 50" Full HD TV. Nobody has the right (here's where we get a little more controversial) to the best quality healthcare or education. These are things which are earned, not necessarily in money, but earned nonetheless.

3) If it doesn't hurt anybody else, go ahead and do it.

Really, everything else I brought up was just pointing out that Ed Miliband was a lurch to the left. I'm really not sure why he's trying to contradict this, because he is left of Brown, and is certainly left of the last elected Labour PM, Blair.

As for Labour and Tory supporters: That's what I was saying. From my experience, Labour supporters, as well as the ranks of trade unionist manual labourers, are middle class and fairly affluent. The former category, they will never lose. The latter category, however, they gain and lose over time. Michael Foot lost them with his ridiculous plans to leave the European Union and abolish private medical care, and Tony Blair won them back by admitting that Labour had been wrong, and shock of shocks, actually accepting that a party which had won four straight elections without any major change in policy had done something right!

As for Lib Dems, I don't think I've ever encountered one who isn't either a stoner or in love with Nick Clegg (or both). But in all seriousness, I have no idea who actually votes Lib Dem. Clegg probably knows less about how the country actually exists and runs than Cameron.