St Tony
I have voted for the British Labour Party in every election since I was 18. In every Council Election, Euro Election, General Election, London Mayoral Election and referendum, since I was 18, (we’re not short of democracy in Britain) I have voted for the same party.
On May the 5th we have the General Election, and I have a problem. The leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister, Tony Blair, is a man who I would like to punch in the face. Quite hard. His brand of faith-based self-belief carries with it a total contempt for cabinet government, constitution (“bugger, maybe we should have written it down”), international law and, err… truth.
I’m told there was a time when British politicians offered us an optimistic view of the future, loosely based around moderate left/right leanings. Now they compete to frighten us into voting for them. An uncritical mind would cower behind the sofa given the bellicose crap we’ve been served up so far. RUN FOR THE HILLS! Because: The bogus asylum seekers are swamping us, teenage hooligans are on the march, gypsies want to park their caravan in your back garden, there’s a murderous Islamic fundamentalist on every corner, go to hospital and the latest ‘superbug’ will get you, and don’t think you can stop working: There’s a black hole in the pension fund and you’ll be working until you drop dead.
This is all deeply depressing, but I’m voting Labour. Again.
Why? Because if you delve into the actual facts and concrete achievements of the British government, you uncover some moderate achievements. As I see them, they are:
1) The introduction of a minimum wage
2) Taking the lead in cancelling third world debt
3) Heavy investment in health and education
4) If I’m going to complain about a presidential style in our Prime Minister, it’s a contradiction if I then personalise my vote as ‘anti-Blair’
5) Rich people feel they are being over-taxed, so they must be doing something right (the words ‘re-distribution of wealth’ always bring me out in a smug grin).
So with a heavy heart, I’ll go in to the voting booth next month, and do exactly the same thing as I always do.
Vote Labour.
And I promise to write something more optimistic myself for my next post
Richard Leyland
3 comments:
Yeah, Tony Blair started out as decent enough guy and then he came into contact with dubya and became brain-washed. Tony Blair seems like the "red-headed step-child" of the Labour Party but I can see why you would still vote Labour Richard. You're voting for the party not the person and the party has had a long, wonderful past of taking care of the people.
I agree with you- the labour party has gone downhill but are still the best bet. One day however the Liberal Democrats are actually going to be electable-this is the closest we have come to a three way race I think.
1) I'll give you that one
2) This is saying very little indeed. They have hijacked debt-cancellation campaigns (especially Jubilee 2000 and now Make Poverty History) and expressed sober concern that debt is a problem that needs to be dealt with, but what has actually be done is such a minute fraction of what is not only possible but necessary that it pales in to insignificance when one looks at what is actually happening around the world. What's the point of cancelling a few million quids worth of debt if you're going to support global intellectual property laws that mean no one in Africa can afford drugs to treat malaria or HIV/AIDS?
3) They've spent plenty of money, but what have been the results? Creeping privatization undermining public services (this is especially clear with railways, for example).
4) I disagree. One good reason to oppose Blair personally is that, like Stalin, he has used his lackeys to take an enourmous amount of power in to his own hands. British government generally works better when power is a bit more spread out - not concentrated in one person's hands, presidential style. Anyway, Labour's policy and performance is the reason not to vote for them. If you have issues with Blair in particular, that's a matter to be solved within the party, not at a General election.
5. Rich people say they're being over-taxed no matter how low the government goes. Since 1980, the redistribution of wealth in this country has been FROM the poor TO the rich - ie the poor keep getting less wealthy and the rich keep getting more wealthy. Since 1997, this trend has been slowed, but not reversed. It sounds somewhat astonishing, but you can find it in any decent economics textbook.
Still havn't decided whether I'm going to vote at all, but I can't stomach voting for Labour, even though they are sure to win. A hung parliament (a distinct possibility, some pollsters say) could be interesting...
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