Posted!

J and I completed and posted our postal votes this afternoon. P had already sent his soon after they arrived. Before helping J to mark her cross (because she doesn't have independent hand function), I looked through all the leaflets with her, and we consulted some of the party websites. Unfortunately the BSL versions of manifestos are only just appearing, and they are complete manifestos, not five minute summaries, so it would take many hours to watch them in full - we are not that committed, sadly.  None of this changed our minds about our votes, and I was pleased, in a way, that for the first time J's choice was different to her parents'. She's always thought carefully about voting, and although we've talked about issues with her and encouraged her to think for herself, I've never been sure how far I influence her decisions.  Her reasoning about this election is probably shared with many other voters: she voted pragmatically for what she considers the best outcome available, while I stuck to my dogged principle of voting for the candidate who comes closest to representing the values I believe in and policies I would like to see. I'm not sure, though, if I've ever voted so despondently: although the polls suggest we can be fairly confident of a change of government next week, and I have no doubt the tone of the rhetoric and focus of the narratives will shift, I have no confidence that my sense of living in a country where key infrastructure and essential services are crumbling and close to collapse will improve any time soon.