"as for the labour party... i don't like the look of any of them. they have my vote - but not my confidence. they're just better than the other lot."

Hmmm! I suspect that, for many years now, that attitude has been part of the problem. My perception is that, since Blair, they've been only slightly better than the other lot and their (often slavish and thoughtless) supporters have let them get away with it. I would like to advance the hypothesis that there are a lot of similarities between the Labour Party and the Catholic Church (I suspect that it's no coincidence that in Labour's northern strongholds there are often large Catholic populations). Voting Labour often seems to me to be a 'faith thing' rather than a rational decision. I wouldn't be surprised that if Labour politicians were found guilty of buggering choir boys, people would still vote for them!