I think it's your excessive use of hyperbole that people find irritating.
"a lot of pain and suffering" is subjective. I don't think the Tories are planning to introduce physical torture any time soon.
and "a great many people" is equally subjective. How many is a great many? 50,000? 100,000? 100,000 people is around 0.1% of the population. Even if they are your mates, the government still has it's responsibilities towards the other 99.9% as well.