May the fourth be with you; but the day after would be better for voting
So the worst kept secret in politics is now official, the General Election will be on 5th May.
A humble Tony Blair said "The election presents a big choice. The British people are the boss and they are the ones that will make it."
Nice of him to remember that after spending 8 years governing in an increasingly presidential manner, treating his own cabinet with contempt and putting his fingers in his ears while singing “La la la la la la la” if anyone questioned his way.
Also out today is the Foreign Office report The Foreign Policy Aspects of the War against Terrorism. This provides a timely reminder that Al Qaeda is still a dangerous threat (keep them scared), but more pertinently considering Bliar’s agenda over the last 3 years it states that Iraq has become a "dangerous training ground for terrorists". That must be a mistake surely? Wasn’t Iraq a terrorist threat to the west before we invaded, while that nasty Hussein chappy was in charge? I hope the Liberal Democrats bang on about Iraq as often as they can as it is the one gaping hole in Blair’s armour.
The fact remains that most people will consider their own situation when deciding for whom to vote, their own experiences with the NHS, the state of their children’s school, their tax bill – and that is how it should be. Personally I just will not be able to vote for that grinning, sanctimonious, insincere git. And there are many thousands like me, which should worry Tony. I’ve always been a ‘natural’ Labour voter. I have been a socialist as long as I’ve understood the meaning of the word. It wasn’t an intellectual decision made after reading the great political tracts of socialism, liberalism, conservatism etc (though I have read them), I just AM a socialist, I couldn’t change it anymore than I could change the colour of my eyes. I believe in fairness, I believe the people who can afford to contribute a greater share of their wealth to benefit the whole should do so and should be compelled to do so. I believe that the needs of the whole are greater than the needs of the individual, but I believe that what is good for the whole is also good for the individual. And vice-versa. I believe in society and the community. People will say communism failed, socialism failed, but they have never really existed. The Soviet bloc was a centralised tyranny, not a socialist utopia. Look at the world around you, can you tell me honestly, with your hand on your heart that capitalism is a great success? Or has it done nothing except concentrate an ever increasing proportion of wealth into the hands of an ever decreasing proportion of people. Has it ended hunger, poverty and social hardship or worsened them? No one questions capitalism yet the inequality it is creating and the selfish greed upon which it feeds is truly frightening to behold.
A humble Tony Blair said "The election presents a big choice. The British people are the boss and they are the ones that will make it."
Nice of him to remember that after spending 8 years governing in an increasingly presidential manner, treating his own cabinet with contempt and putting his fingers in his ears while singing “La la la la la la la” if anyone questioned his way.
Also out today is the Foreign Office report The Foreign Policy Aspects of the War against Terrorism. This provides a timely reminder that Al Qaeda is still a dangerous threat (keep them scared), but more pertinently considering Bliar’s agenda over the last 3 years it states that Iraq has become a "dangerous training ground for terrorists". That must be a mistake surely? Wasn’t Iraq a terrorist threat to the west before we invaded, while that nasty Hussein chappy was in charge? I hope the Liberal Democrats bang on about Iraq as often as they can as it is the one gaping hole in Blair’s armour.
The fact remains that most people will consider their own situation when deciding for whom to vote, their own experiences with the NHS, the state of their children’s school, their tax bill – and that is how it should be. Personally I just will not be able to vote for that grinning, sanctimonious, insincere git. And there are many thousands like me, which should worry Tony. I’ve always been a ‘natural’ Labour voter. I have been a socialist as long as I’ve understood the meaning of the word. It wasn’t an intellectual decision made after reading the great political tracts of socialism, liberalism, conservatism etc (though I have read them), I just AM a socialist, I couldn’t change it anymore than I could change the colour of my eyes. I believe in fairness, I believe the people who can afford to contribute a greater share of their wealth to benefit the whole should do so and should be compelled to do so. I believe that the needs of the whole are greater than the needs of the individual, but I believe that what is good for the whole is also good for the individual. And vice-versa. I believe in society and the community. People will say communism failed, socialism failed, but they have never really existed. The Soviet bloc was a centralised tyranny, not a socialist utopia. Look at the world around you, can you tell me honestly, with your hand on your heart that capitalism is a great success? Or has it done nothing except concentrate an ever increasing proportion of wealth into the hands of an ever decreasing proportion of people. Has it ended hunger, poverty and social hardship or worsened them? No one questions capitalism yet the inequality it is creating and the selfish greed upon which it feeds is truly frightening to behold.
But I digress. So when people like me start deserting the Labour party, MY party, alarm bells should start ringing. But all we are promised is more of the same.
Iraq and ideology aside there is another reason I will not be voting Labour this time and it is simply that I feel let down by Tony and the party. In 1997 he won a crushing victory over a corrupt, stagnant and morally bankrupt Conservative party. It was the moment the Labour movement had waited 18 years for. Tony could have been, should have been bold, creative, imaginative, radical - but he failed. He tinkered here, fiddled there, became a slave to ‘popular opinion’ which means nothing more than doing the will of the people with the loudest voices, such as the bigoted tabloid editors. The real good work he has done, the massive increase in NHS spending, the reduction in crime, the decrease in illegal immigration has been lost in the noise of petty squabbling and false perceptions. Instead of standing up for his record and shouting about his achievements, he has pandered to the agenda set by the ignorant and the ill informed.
All the while those of us who do bother to search out the truth and who do keep an open mind find ourselves in an increasingly marginalized group. Cynical? Certainly, but Blair needs to ask himself why.
Iraq and ideology aside there is another reason I will not be voting Labour this time and it is simply that I feel let down by Tony and the party. In 1997 he won a crushing victory over a corrupt, stagnant and morally bankrupt Conservative party. It was the moment the Labour movement had waited 18 years for. Tony could have been, should have been bold, creative, imaginative, radical - but he failed. He tinkered here, fiddled there, became a slave to ‘popular opinion’ which means nothing more than doing the will of the people with the loudest voices, such as the bigoted tabloid editors. The real good work he has done, the massive increase in NHS spending, the reduction in crime, the decrease in illegal immigration has been lost in the noise of petty squabbling and false perceptions. Instead of standing up for his record and shouting about his achievements, he has pandered to the agenda set by the ignorant and the ill informed.
All the while those of us who do bother to search out the truth and who do keep an open mind find ourselves in an increasingly marginalized group. Cynical? Certainly, but Blair needs to ask himself why.
18.05
Just noticed - 5th May 2005 or 5-5-5. Wouldn't it have been far more appropriate to have waited until the 6th June next year?
posted by phylos @ 13:05
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