Politics, politics, politics. At the moment in the UK, whether you love it or loathe it, there’s simply no avoiding the politics. An Election looms large and for yours truly, this usually signals the start of online disputes & disagreements. I do like to comment and share my views, which aren’t always gratefully accepted. The Internet is a dangerous and powerful beast at times and social-media is currently awash with politics. People are proudly pinning their colours onto the web for all to see. I’ve done much the same in the past. I’ve been mightily refrained thus far, but fear not; my colours will be splashed very generously across this blog post. Fences will not be sat on…
The big problem i have with politics, is with people who stubbornly refuse to see any other side to an argument. People who flatly refuse to debate the issues. I’ve been “un-friended’ many times because I’ve had the audacity to question someone’s political views. Friend has their views, I have mine. I try to make friend accept my views are right. Friend is not my friend anymore!!! As debating goes; this doesn’t rank very highly. I’ll no doubt say things shortly that many readers will disagree with. So enraged, you may even feel compelled to leave a comment. I’ll probably say you’re wrong, but unless you’re telling me that UKIP is the best thing since sliced bread, I’m not about to banish you from my life altogether. Most of my family have radically different political views to me. I’m not about to fall out with family, we’ll simply beg to differ…
So, unlike most politicians I’ll get straight to the point. I vote Labour and apart from 2010 when I had a complete mental meltdown and stupidly voted Liberal (yes I know 🙄 ), I’ve always voted Labour. Ever since I was old enough to scribble an X into a box, Labour has been the obvious party to vote for. Sticking myself into a pigeonhole; I’m working class. Whether I like this or whether I’ve chosen to be this, it is what I am. I’ve been in this cosy little pigeonhole all my life and regardless of any wealth than may drop my way in the future, I will always consider myself a working class kinda guy. And that has to mean voting Labour. Policies and manifestos may vary from time to time, but generally Labour will benefit the working classes.
I do genuinely believe that the Labour heart is in the right place. Their delivery and implementation may get a little messy sometimes, but the Labour way, for me, is the right way. The Tories, for me, have no heart at all. For as long as I can remember, some of their policies have been down right brutal. The wealthy prosper, while the poorer suffer. I know politics is a lot more complex than those simple terms, but that’s how I see it. For me, morally, the Conservative ethos is so wrong. The distribution of wealth in this country (and globally) is so criminally wrong, it really is. Would I vote Tory if I had a big flash city job, with house & savings to match? I’d like to think that despite all of that I’d still be able to see how morally wrong a Tory vote would be. We have people in this country with more money that sense; bank managers, sports stars, celebrities, politicians, royalty, to name just a few. We also have many people in this country who struggle to find enough money to eat, to feed their families, to pay basic bills, to pay their rent/mortgage. And this is 2015!!!
A Labour vote won’t radically change the World into a better place, but it will help the people who need the most help. And surely that has to be morally the right vote to make? A common anti Labour cry from Tory voters is; ‘why should I pay more tax? Why should I lose more of my hard earned money? Why should I suffer?‘ My answer to this is simple…
- 1. You can afford it.
- 2. Many people lower down the financial ladder work equally as hard as you. Try aiming this argument at a few nurses and see what kind of response you get!!!
- 3. Are you really suffering? You may have less money in your bank accounts, but suffering??? I think not.
Many people simply have absolutely no concept of what it’s like to ‘suffer’ financially… ‘I’m doing ok, so it’s a lovely Tory vote for me.’ It sickens me…
As for other policies and other parties, I’ll be brief… Europe has to be embraced. We are part of Europe and it’s about time we acted like we were. For years we’ve loitered around like an uninvited guest at Europe’s party. Is the UK really so blinkered and scared of embracing Europe? The scaremongering that’s been plastered around lately, regarding Europe and those pesky immigrants, has been shocking, sickening and more than a little Dickensian in bad taste. All of which, brings me to UKIP. Do I really need to waste blog space on UKIP? I really hope I don’t. I know UKIP voters are out there. I know UKIP voters live worryingly close to yours truly… If you are one of these people, then do me a favour. Take a deep breath before you scrawl your cross into its box, have a long hard think (if you’re capable of that) about what you’re actually voting for. After all of that, if you’re still happy with your UKIP vote then please take your bigoted extreme views away from this blog. I don’t want them and don’t agree with them.
I’ve dipped my uncertain toe into the Liberal pool once before, as I already mentioned. It wasn’t wise, I wasn’t the only foolish voter in 2010 and I’ve more than paid my penance since. Voting Liberal will not be an option this time… In fact the only other alternative, for me, would be a Green vote. I did a pretty comprehensive survey recently that stated that I was more than 40% a Green voter, which deep down, I probably agree with. I like a lot of their policies, I like what the party stands for. I am your archetypal Green voter. Problem is; I want my precious vote to count for something on May 7th and the sad fact is, a Green vote will not prevent another Tory government. A Labour vote might, it just might, and that has to be better than the last 5 years we’ve just ‘suffered’.
