Lifelong Tory voter Anthony O’Toole went with his Labour-supporting sister to hear Jeremy Corbyn speak during his campaign visit to West Kirby in the north-west of England on Saturday afternoon.
He was so impressed that he went home and immediately joined the Labour Party.
The SKWAWKBOX has previously covered the phenomenon of older people with a long history of voting Conservative who are switching their vote to Labour as they see the impact of Tory policies since 2010 on their children, grandchildren and the NHS they rely on.
Those streams became a flood with the release of the Tory manifesto, which promises to remove free school meals for infant school pupils – and to hammer older people by making them pay for all their care out of their assets, down to the last £100,000. Although it has been dubbed the ‘dementia tax’, it is not limited to dementia sufferers but anyone who needs care at home – those in residential care have already suffered from broken Tory promises to cap what they pay for their care.
Theresa May has today announced a supposed U-turn on the ‘dementia tax’ policy – but it’s not really a U-turn. She still intends to make everyone pay – she’s just camouflaging the plan under cover of a promise to ‘consult’ on a cap, which is meaningless.
The SKWAWKBOX spoke to Anthony about his experience, his decision, the ‘dementia tax’ and his view of May’s supposed U-turn. Here’s what he said:
SKWAWKBOX: Anthony, thanks for making time to talk. Was this your first time hearing Corbyn speak and what did you expect?
AO: Yes, it was. I’m not sure what I expected – but it wasn’t what I found!
S: What struck you the most?
AO: Well, the crowd was huge and that was certainly impressive, but it was Corbyn himself who really struck me. It was almost like listening to the Sermon on the Mount – I thought, “Here’s a man who really cares about people and wants to do something about it”.
I’m not saying he’s the Messiah or anything like that, even if they do share initials! But if Jesus fed 5,000, Corbyn’s someone who’ll feed millions, make life better for them.
S: That’s quite a comparison! So you’ve voted Tory all your life?
AO: That’s right. I’m 58 years old and I’ve never voted anything else. I voted in Thatcher, Major, every election going I’ve voted Tory.
S: If you don’t mind us asking – why?
AO: I always thought I was a natural Conservative and I thought I had something to conserve, so they were my natural choice. I run my own landscaping business. I left school at sixteen, went straight into a job and I’ve always worked hard for what I’ve got.
S: But you went straight home on Saturday and joined the Labour Party? That’s quite a turn-around!
AO: That’s right. I feel like I’ve had my eyes opened to what the Tories are really about. They’re not interested in conserving anything for ordinary, hard-working people – just in helping the rich. It’s all a big con.
S: So what do you make of the ‘dementia tax’?
AO: I’m absolutely livid about it. Look, what always drove me was the idea that I could work hard, build something and have something to leave for my kids when I’m gone. Now I’ve got two sons at uni, a daughter about to go and they’re looking at leaving with massive debts – and then the government tells me I’m going to have to use my house to pay for care so I’ll have nothing to leave my children?
I’m not having that. If that went through and I got infirm, I’d walk out into a field somewhere and just lay down to die. In fact, I’d take a chainsaw to the floor beams and then set fire to the ****ing place before I’d let the Conservatives get their hands on it.
S: Your strength of feeling is certainly coming across! Now just today, Mrs May has announced a U-turn – but not really. She’s still saying she’ll make everyone pay out until all their estate is down to £100,000, but she’s promising a ‘consultation’ on a cap to costs. What do you make of all that?
AO: Doesn’t make a blind bit of difference. It’s out there now and we know what she wants to do. She still wants to take what we’ve built up and I wouldn’t trust a word that comes out of her mouth. ‘Strong and stable’?! You’re joking.
S: It sounds like you’ve had a dramatic change in your worldview!
AO: I have – and nobody’s more surprised than I am! I feel like everything looks different, like I’ve had my eyes opened and I’ll never see things the same way again.
S: So you’re happy to go on the record about it all?
AO: Too bloody right! You can tell Theresa May from me personally that her party’s had my vote all my life – but never again. She’s lost me and millions like me. Her true colours showed and there’s no taking that back.
S: Anthony, you’ve been brilliant. Thanks again for making the time to talk!
Theresa May’s decision to hammer both our young and our elderly people has backfired in a way that ‘spectacularly’ doesn’t even begin to cover – and if Anthony’s example is anything to go by, her dodgy ‘U-turn’ today hasn’t fooled anyone. Too little, too late – too weak, too wobbly.
If you’re a former Tory supporter who’s now behind Jeremy Corbyn and his vision for society, the SKWAWKBOX would be delighted to speak to you.
And if you’re not yet registered to vote, you still have until one minute before midnight today, 22 May 2017, to do so in time to vote in the General Election. Please take a few minutes to do so here – and don’t forget to vote Labour.
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Reblogged this on Sid's Blog and commented:
The U-turn that is all blamed on Corbyn!
I know a couple of life long hard core Tory supporters who just a few weeks ago said they wouldn’t vote for Jeremy ever, Calamity May has managed to turn them into Labour voters certainly in this election. They still don’t like Jeremy (Daily hate readers) but they want his policies so the policies win 😀
I am glad that my brother had the bottle to admit that he had always been a Tory voter. And has vowed never to vote for them again.
I had tried for years to change his views, to no avail. So glad I talked him into going to the West Kirby rally to listen to Jeremy Corbyn.
What people do not understand is that poverty is a deliberate economic policy, all money is printed out of thin air and issued by the Bank of England through the private banks as debt. Those banks make their profit from the interest charged on that debt, if they want to make more money they need borrowers, not savers. People with money in their pocket don’t need to borrow, the banks don’t like that, so the more people are in debt the more they will borrow, making more profit for the banks and the rest of the financial sector.
The Tories have asset stripped the state and passed it into private hands, the money they raised through that has been a one off opportunity for them, and we all remember Harold MacMillan rebuking Thatcher for selling off the state silver. Well their job is almost complete they have sold of most of the state , reduced taxation levels that benefit the mega rich, and so there is nowhere else to go but raid the assets and stored wealth of ordinary people.
In short, the Tories will promise you the earth and end up taking it all away from you.
The fundamental difference between Labour and all the other parties with the possible exception of the greens, is that they understand money creation, and the investment bank is vital for creating new jobs paying for research and the redistribution of wealth around the country in a structured form.
They also understand that the fastest way to regenerate the economy in a depression, which we are currently in, is to put money directly into peoples pockets, the £10 minimum wage will make an immediate impact and will be a life saver for millions of people.