A political blog post? Where the hell have the crappy film reviews gone and the twee little collage pictures? Fear not, normal service will be resumed soon. I just felt the need to vent a few thoughts on what’s been hogging the news in the UK recently.And don’t worry, I don’t really know too many of the facts to turn this into some kind of highbrow political essay…
Last Thursday the country went to the polls. For me this was the 6th time I’d been given the little pencil & ballot paper and right up until I actually put pencil to paper I was unsure where to put my cross. The five previous times I’d voted in an Election I’d proudly popped my cross next to the Labour candidate. I’m a working class guy, so it just seemed in my best interest to vote Labour. It was common sense. Why wouldn’t I? Well as I say, this time I had my doubts. Yellow or red? Some would argue that there actually isn’t a great deal of difference between the two parties, if you can be bothered to pick your way through their respective policies. I’ve not, but I do tend to side with the Lib Dems on a few issues… A fairer voting system, fairer taxes & free childcare. I’m also really not that concerned if the country ditches it’s nuclear weapons (I wish we all could) and I don’t really have a massive problem with the immigration issue… So maybe the yellow vote really is for me?
I guess the big difference with this particular Election was the fact that experts actually thought the Lib Dems stood a half decent chance of getting a few seats. They never have in all my years of voting, but this year could be differnet. So with this in mind my pencil briefly hovered over the Labour cadidate, before finally marking a cross next to the Lib Dems… And the rest is history as they say 😯
Over the last few days I’ve actually lost count of the number of times the pendulum has swung one way and then the other. We briefly had the very real prospect of a Labour/Lib Dem coalition, which for this undecided voter would’ve been ideal. I know the numbers didn’t really add up for this, but for me it was by far the most favorable outcome. My yellow vote could so easily have been red. Some kind of orange I’d be perfectly happy with.
Today however we got blue and for this working class individual that is wrong on oh so many levels 🙁 What makes today’s events even more sickening (if they actually can) is that our blue government will be mixed with yellow. It is the first time the Lib Dems have ever sided with the Tories and I’m still staggered that two parties that differ so much, can find a way to work together ❓
I won’t spout on about how grim the Tories are ( I haven’t got enough time!!!) because history & their extreme policies speak for themselves. I do pity all of the young 1st time voters though, who naively placed their cross into the blue box. You really have no idea what lies ahead 😯 The 80’s were dark dark times and I really fear the worst.
Five days ago I optimistically placed my cross onto the ballot paper. Today it sickens me to think about which box I put it into. Mr Clegg, you may have just lost yourself quite a few voters… If you’re bothered?
