Thread by @blondsteve

I realise by now you might be bored shitless by politics or think it's a foregone conclusion, but I believe that a Boris Johnson majority government will be a disaster for the UK and there is still time to stop it.

The Times front page headline today "Tory Lead Narrows Ahead of Final Election Rallies" so there is still hope.

YouGov yesterday warned that the margin of error could put the Tory seat total as low as 311, which would mean another hung parliament. So there's still time to stop a majority Johnson government. Here are my 5 reason why you should not vote Tory...

Five Reasons Not To Vote Tory:
1. The Cost of Brexit.

I get that people are fed up with Brexit and how getting "Brexit done" seems an appealing thought but the actual cost of Brexit seems to have dropped off the agenda.

How much will Boris's Brexit cost?
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research, UK's oldest independent economic research institute, say Brexit could cost the UK economy £70bn over the next decade compared with remaining in the EU (about £1,100 per person per year).

Another independent research group, UK in A Changing Europe, reports that the Tory manifesto will inflict a hit of up to £20 billion a year on government finances, rising as high as £28 billion if the UK crashes out of the EU without a trade deal agreement at the end of 2020.

The London School of Economics' analysis finds Brexit will mean a knock to the UK economy of up to £1,300 per person under a soft Brexit, and up to £2,500 per person under a hard Brexit.

Further, the LSE say "All areas in Britain are predicted to face some form of economic loss from Brexit, and recovery might be more difficult in areas that are poorer to begin with."

If you think that is a price worth paying, then vote for the Brexit Party to "get Brexit done" rather than Boris who voted twice in Parliament against getting Brexit done.

Five Reasons Not To Vote Tory: 2. Public Services will be Neglected

Look at how the Tories have treated the NHS:
- 4.42 million patients on hospital waiting lists, the highest number ever
- More than 200,000 nurses have quit the NHS since the Conservatives entered government

- The NHS in England has nearly 100,000 jobs unfilled at the moment.
- There are 17,000 fewer NHS England beds since 2010. About half of these are general hospital beds - there has also been a significant reduction in mental health beds. #ToriesOut

What about safety?
- Violent crime in England and Wales has risen by 19% in a year
- Homicide is up 14% in the last year
- An 8% increase in the number of offences involving knives or sharp instruments
- The chances of being a victim of crime is now at 1 in 5

It's not hard to see why crime has risen under the Tories:
- Between March 2010 and March 2018, police forces in England and Wales lost 21,732 officers
- Numbers of police community support officers (PCSOs), who patrol the streets, have fallen by nearly 40% during this period

- Across the probation service, there is a vacancy rate of 11% piling an intolerable workload on staff

- The IFS, the independent think tank, estimates that the Ministry of Justice, which runs courts and prisons, will have faced a 40 percent budget cut over the decade to 2020.

How about the Fire Brigade?
- In England, firefighter numbers have been cut by 21% since 2010
- Govt funding for the fire and rescue service between 2010 and 2015 was cut by 30%
- The Tories have cut fire-and-rescue services by more than £300m #ToriesOut

Given the Tories' record on public services, who would imagine the Tories are suddenly going to fix what they have actively neglected in the last nine years? #ToriesOut

Five Reasons Not To Vote Tory:
3. Lie After Lie

There used to be a joke how can you tell if a politician is lying? Their lips are moving.

But I can't remember the Tories blatantly telling lie after lie as frequently in previous elections.

Yesterday, it was reported 88% of the Conservative’s FB campaigning was misleading. But this can't be a surprise when Boris has a long track-record of lying.

- Sacked from The Times for fabricating a quote
- Sacked twice by Michael Howard for lying about an extramarital affair

- promised to eradicate rough sleeping by 2012, only for it to double during his Mayor tenure
- the infamous claim on the side of the bus that the UK was sending £350m a week to the EU
- promised to lay down before the bulldozers to stop a third runway at Heathrow

- lying to the Queen about proroguing Parliament
- 40 new hospitals (will only deliver six with 'seed funding' for others)
- "There’s no press here" at Whipps Cross Hospital while the cameras he had arranged clicked away
- 50,000 new nurses (19,000 already work for the NHS)

Is it so wrong to expect some integrity from the man who represents our nation? If these are the lies we know Boris Johnson has told, can you imagine how much we don't know? #ToriesOut

Five Reasons Not To Vote Tory:
4. They have no decency

This Tory government can barely hide their repugnant, indecent views. Here are just a few:

- Boris Johnson refuses to look at the pic of a 4-year old being treated in the floor of Leeds General

- Jacob Rees-Mogg says the Grenfell fire victims lacked common sense

- Tory candidate in Hastings and Rye says people with learning disabilities should be paid less than minimum wage as ‘they don’t understand money’.

#ToriesOut

- Tory candidate in Bassetlaw says food banks exist because giving free food away causes an increase in demand and that it's not true that "people can't afford to buy food on a regular basis"

- Tory candidate in Gower says people on tv show, Benefits Street, should be “put down”

I know Boris Johnson claims it's unfair to look in his articles but it does give a flavour of his thinking surely?

- UK's poorest communities = 'chavs,' 'burglars,' 'drug addicts,' and 'losers'

- Muslim women = 'letterboxes' and 'bank robbers'

- Gay men = 'tank-topped bumboys'

- African Commonwealth = 'flag-waving piccaninnies"

- African people = having 'watermelon smiles'

The Tories do not represent the generous spirited, caring Britain that I think most of us aspire to.

Five Reasons Not To Vote Tory:
5. The Gap Between Rich and Poor

There has always been the accusation that the Tories are for the rich and don't care about the working classes. Is this true?

Here's a shocking fact: the 6 richest people in the UK control as much wealth as the poorest 13 million!

Also: the poorest 10% of households had debts 3 times greater than their assets compared with the richest 10% who amassed a wealth pile 35 times larger than their total debts

This isn't just financial. It's health too. The British Medical Journal confirm life expectancy at birth of males living in England’s most deprived areas was 74.0 years in the years 2015 to 2017, whereas it was 83.3 years in the least deprived, a gap of 9.3 years. #inequality

In education, the gap widens too: under the new GCSE system, disadvantaged pupils were less likely to get a 9 grade (the top mark) - with 1% achieving this compared to 5% of wealthier children. #Inequality #Tories

If you are working class, before you vote, you should look at how the Tories have promoted inequalities that disadvantage you and your family and truly think will they suddenly do what's in your best interests?
Please #DontVoteTory