Some good news.

[Dave Blue]

The Christian element of the Tories are those that donate to, or volunteer at food banks, for those who can't afford to buy food, or those who facilitate warm hubs for those who cant afford to heat their own homes.

I seriously doubt it’s many of them. They are too busy voting for action that causes this problem. They only think of themselves.

[Gofer Blue]

I would rather you don't reply if you feel it might engage you in on line jousting

You can always pm me

OK, no problem, I'm no shrinking violet, so here we go.

Can I say upfront that unfortunately you tend to generalise about folk e.g. Christians are gullible and intellectually retarded people, Tories are greedy and rob the poor, whilst Socialists are all wonderful altruistic people. BTW I don't know why you describe me as a Conservative Christian!

I guess in general Jesus viewed wealth and poverty in a non-discriminatory manner. There are so many references about Jesus and his attitude to poverty and wealth – too many to list here. Try Google-ing the subject. Clearly he stood up for the poor and he was despised by the ruling class in his day because he mainly associated with them, so in that sense he was a socialist.

Basically he warns those who are wealthy that they have an important responsibility to give to the poor and that if they are not careful, their riches can lead them into evil ways (the love of money is the root of all evil etc – note: not money per se though). I'm sure there are rich Labour supporters as well as rich Tory supporters, so his words would apply to everybody.

All the Christians I know personally, are, as you say, kind and generous people. The majority of food banks are run by churches for example. I have no idea what proportion of church members are Tories or of any other political party, it's not something that I have thought about particularly. As far as I am concerned we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

Jesus said about true Christians: You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. (Matthew 7 v16) so their political allegiance should be irrelevant. The Christians I know do the things they do in support of others because of their love for Jesus and their desire to share the love that Jesus had for people, and not for scoring brownie points or public accolade. Of course giving money is often the easiest thing to do – giving of your time to help others is another thing all together. I guess this is where I fit. I am not wealthy by UK standards but a millionaire compared to the little boy we sponsor in Kenya. Hence a lot of my time is spent as a volunteer in various Christian-based activities. (I won't list them here as it will appear boastful but pm me if you are interested).

I don't know why your local churches appear to be “full of Tories”. I would have to ask how you know that? I would simply say look at the way they act and that should speak for itself. Maybe you should go along to one of the churches and see what sort of welcome you get there – that is the litmus test in my experience.

Having said all that we Christians are not perfect, far from it, and, most importantly we know it too! (For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Ref: Romans 3: 23-24).

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

OK, no problem, I'm no shrinking violet, so here we go.

Can I say upfront that unfortunately you tend to generalise about folk e.g. Christians are gullible and intellectually retarded people, Tories are greedy and rob the poor, whilst Socialists are all wonderful altruistic people. BTW I don't know why you describe me as a Conservative Christian!

I guess in general Jesus viewed wealth and poverty in a non-discriminatory manner. There are so many references about Jesus and his attitude to poverty and wealth – too many to list here. Try Google-ing the subject. Clearly he stood up for the poor and he was despised by the ruling class in his day because he mainly associated with them, so in that sense he was a socialist.

Basically he warns those who are wealthy that they have an important responsibility to give to the poor and that if they are not careful, their riches can lead them into evil ways (the love of money is the root of all evil etc – note: not money per se though). I'm sure there are rich Labour supporters as well as rich Tory supporters, so his words would apply to everybody.

All the Christians I know personally, are, as you say, kind and generous people. The majority of food banks are run by churches for example. I have no idea what proportion of church members are Tories or of any other political party, it's not something that I have thought about particularly. As far as I am concerned we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

Jesus said about true Christians: You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. (Matthew 7 v16) so their political allegiance should be irrelevant. The Christians I know do the things they do in support of others because of their love for Jesus and their desire to share the love that Jesus had for people, and not for scoring brownie points or public accolade. Of course giving money is often the easiest thing to do – giving of your time to help others is another thing all together. I guess this is where I fit. I am not wealthy by UK standards but a millionaire compared to the little boy we sponsor in Kenya. Hence a lot of my time is spent as a volunteer in various Christian-based activities. (I won't list them here as it will appear boastful but pm me if you are interested).

I don't know why your local churches appear to be “full of Tories”. I would have to ask how you know that? I would simply say look at the way they act and that should speak for itself. Maybe you should go along to one of the churches and see what sort of welcome you get there – that is the litmus test in my experience.

Having said all that we Christians are not perfect, far from it, and, most importantly we know it too! (For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Ref: Romans 3: 23-24).

I know the people who used to go to the local protestant and Catholic churches , you would often see them on their way to mass on a Sunday morning and they were mostly well known local conservative types

Tories have always been very well represented in churches on a Sunday , the local food banks and charity shops have plenty of conservative voters working in them

I think it's pretty ironic that conservatives will vote for a party that really doesn't fund the welfare state adequately , screws the adult care system and has people in power that get praised for kicking the homeless in the teeth ......braverman saying the conservatives have always cared for genuinely homeless people is utterly outrageous ......so contribute to these problems .......and then go and work in food banks or go on charity fundraising events for mental health services .......the same services that have been decimated by the conservative government

I suppose God loves everyone but if I was God I would tell conservatives attending church to look in the mirror when they want to be good and help the poor .....and come back when they want to vote for the sort of society Jesus wanted

[Gofer Blue]

I know the people who used to go to the local protestant and Catholic churches , you would often see them on their way to mass on a Sunday morning and they were mostly well known local conservative types

Tories have always been very well represented in churches on a Sunday , the local food banks and charity shops have plenty of conservative voters working in them

I think it's pretty ironic that conservatives will vote for a party that really doesn't fund the welfare state adequately , screws the adult care system and has people in power that get praised for kicking the homeless in the teeth ......braverman saying the conservatives have always cared for genuinely homeless people is utterly outrageous ......so contribute to these problems .......and then go and work in food banks or go on charity fundraising events for mental health services .......the same services that have been decimated by the conservative government

I suppose God loves everyone but if I was God I would tell conservatives attending church to look in the mirror when they want to be good and help the poor .....and come back when they want to vote for the sort of society Jesus wanted

So do you think then that Tory-voting Christians volunteer in food banks just out of a sense of guilt for what their government does?

[Dave Blue]

So do you think then that Tory-voting Christians volunteer in food banks just out of a sense of guilt for what their government does?

They probably mean well but to me it’s a total contradiction to support a party that favours rich people over poor and tries to demonise the most vulnerable. It’s great to help in such ways but there’s obviously no mental connection between this and their political views as they are complete opposites.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

So do you think then that Tory-voting Christians volunteer in food banks just out of a sense of guilt for what their government does?

No I don't think most of them have a clue of the irony of the situation

I think most of them are bored and if they were told that voting conservative is leading to food banks they would be completely horrified or look at me as if I was speaking in tounges

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

They probably mean well but to me it’s a total contradiction to support a party that favours rich people over poor and tries to demonise the most vulnerable. It’s great to help in such ways but there’s obviously no mental connection between this and their political views as they are complete opposites.

I think there is either not a lot going on upstairs or they know the score and are just bored

One of my mothers friends was such a wet tory , nice enough , always out collecting for Christian Aid but either no idea or very aware but it was all a cover

[the other bob wilson]

Is this bloke right?

[jon1959]

sunak inflation.jpg

[Eric Cartman]

Is this bloke right?

I don't think it matters anymore. A year ago maybe sunak would have been able to gain political capital and a few points in the polls from spinning something like this as a personal success. It now just seems like every day people drop away, polls get worse and by not calling an election they are just poisoning the brand more and more.

I don't think there is long left to this now, consistent polling below or around the 20 mark is going to heap so much pressure. If they ended up there in a general election (usual caveats of shy Tories, campaign bounce etc.) it would make corbyn's loss look like a success.

I was thinking a may election looked likely when it was 8/1, it's now about 3/1. I can't see how a November election works, on the back of a summer of boat crossings and what are likely to be awful council elections in may. Might be wishful thinking though.