The main reason that I’m blogging is anxiety about the General Election. I have a tough decision to make today and the more I think about it the harder it seems to become.
I, like most of the people I know, watched the television debates (although I missed the Sky one as I don’t have satellite TV). Through these I found myself shouting at the candidates rather more than I’d like to admit and came to the absolute conclusion that I really detest David Cameron. There is something about him that just gives me the creeps every time I see him and, as a child of the eighties, who remembers the terrible Conservative years, I just can’t bring myself to even consider voting for them...although having said that, I don’t agree with their policies anyway and I certainly don’t agree with having my pay frozen as a public servant to pay for the debt Britain is currently in, when private sector businesses in general already receive much higher pay rises than a majority of public sector workers do. And if Simon Cowell believes they are the right choice for the country, then I know for sure that they are wrong.
Now if truth be told I’ve always been a bit of a Liberal. In fact, one of my earliest election memories was at Junior School, when I tried to convince my parents to vote Liberal. I have no idea whether they did, nor do I have any right to know how they voted – their choice is their own concern; but over the years a majority of the Lib Dems policies have seemed to me to make more sense than the so-called left and right wing parties.
Of course we have the problem of the voting system which means that, as is always touted at these times “a vote for the Lib Dems is a wasted vote”, but I can’t help thinking that a vote for the Lib Dems proves that people don’t want to be stuck choosing between two parties, both of whom are as bad as each other.
So I guess my affinity lies with the Lib Dems and all things being equal I should vote for them and take pride in my allegiance. But here is where my anxiety comes in. What if my, and others votes for the Lib Dems means that the Conservatives get a majority? Then we’ll be stuck once more in a society that cares only for the wealthy and makes the lower paid poorer, with little hope of the voting system ever being changed and giving the country the chance to elect a government it actually wants.
The other option of course is that it would give Labour a majority and that, in some ways would be almost as bad as the Conservatives getting into power.
The ideal choice, I guess, would be a hung parliament – and of course a vote for the Lib Dems would possibly help towards that. Although I can’t see what a hung parliament is going to achieve in terms of sorting out the economy and bringing the country’s debt back to reasonable levels.
But of course, although I may want to vote for Nick Clegg, with his everyman approach and his generally sensible policies (although I am a little disappointed that in the third debate when the talk centred on taxing the banks he didn’t mention the Robin Hood Tax, which would be the perfect scheme to generate money, and would fit in with all his apparent ideals), in reality I am voting for my local MP, not the Prime Minister.
And once again this gives me anxiety. This year has seen a large number of parties vying for my vote: Labour, Lib Dems, Conservatives, the UKIP, BNP, the English Democrats and the Green Party have all been kind enough to kill trees to produce highly interesting (not) leaflets, although not one has actually managed to make it to my doorstep to actually discuss with me what I want from my MP.
And this is where the problem lies.
Firstly I’d like to say that although I read their leaflets with interest, I at no time gave serious consideration to the UKIP, BNP, the English Democrats or the Green Party because they have nothing to say that I can get behind – although I have to give the BNP 10 out of 10 for comparing Nick Griffin to Winston Churchill (err, I don’t think so!)
The Conservative candidate is someone who I know, because she comes into the pub. I have had dealings with her in the past and she has always been pleasant and helpful. She involves herself directly in community projects and is always helping out with conservation etc. and she regularly sends newsletters keeping everyone up-to-date with what is going on in the area. But at the end of the day she is a Conservative and my inbred hatred of the party is enough to put me off her, for which I suppose I feel a little guilty (but not enough vote for her).
The Lib Dem candidate I have never heard of before, have never seen or heard anything about, nor have I received any other literature or news from the party other than the election blurb. In all honesty I would find it hard to vote for someone that I have no knowledge of, or understanding about what his personal feelings are with regards to the area that I live in (I’m not even sure he lives in the area). Having said that, he does, as Mrs H3 said, have the best name – but I’m not entirely sure that’s a good qualification for election as MP.
Finally, we have the Labour candidate, who has been our MP for the last five years at least. I know he lives in the area, because he mentions it in his leaflets and he does, very occasionally, send out a newsletter, although with nowhere near the frequency of the Conservatives. Whether he has worked hard for us or not is hard to prove, although it appears that our standard of life is no worse than anyone else’s, so he’s not made that much of a cock-up. As a (I suspect anti-Conservative) friend of mine said “Well, we’ve not had a problem with him, so no reason to change is there?” And he’s probably right. Except that when the government pushed through the widely reviled and highly criticised Digital Economy Bill (DEB), our MP wasn’t even at the House of Commons, let alone in a position to vote against it. As this was official MP business, what was he busy doing instead? More importantly, how many other important bills did he not sit in on or vote?
So you can see my quandary – vote for state, vote for local area? Vote for a party that are never going to win under the current rules, or run with a party I have no faith in because of fear of what happens if the others get in. And what if everyone else votes wrong? It’s all too much to think about.
Perhaps I should just close my eyes and take a stab at the paper and see where the cross lands.
I, like most of the people I know, watched the television debates (although I missed the Sky one as I don’t have satellite TV). Through these I found myself shouting at the candidates rather more than I’d like to admit and came to the absolute conclusion that I really detest David Cameron. There is something about him that just gives me the creeps every time I see him and, as a child of the eighties, who remembers the terrible Conservative years, I just can’t bring myself to even consider voting for them...although having said that, I don’t agree with their policies anyway and I certainly don’t agree with having my pay frozen as a public servant to pay for the debt Britain is currently in, when private sector businesses in general already receive much higher pay rises than a majority of public sector workers do. And if Simon Cowell believes they are the right choice for the country, then I know for sure that they are wrong.
Now if truth be told I’ve always been a bit of a Liberal. In fact, one of my earliest election memories was at Junior School, when I tried to convince my parents to vote Liberal. I have no idea whether they did, nor do I have any right to know how they voted – their choice is their own concern; but over the years a majority of the Lib Dems policies have seemed to me to make more sense than the so-called left and right wing parties.
Of course we have the problem of the voting system which means that, as is always touted at these times “a vote for the Lib Dems is a wasted vote”, but I can’t help thinking that a vote for the Lib Dems proves that people don’t want to be stuck choosing between two parties, both of whom are as bad as each other.
So I guess my affinity lies with the Lib Dems and all things being equal I should vote for them and take pride in my allegiance. But here is where my anxiety comes in. What if my, and others votes for the Lib Dems means that the Conservatives get a majority? Then we’ll be stuck once more in a society that cares only for the wealthy and makes the lower paid poorer, with little hope of the voting system ever being changed and giving the country the chance to elect a government it actually wants.
The other option of course is that it would give Labour a majority and that, in some ways would be almost as bad as the Conservatives getting into power.
The ideal choice, I guess, would be a hung parliament – and of course a vote for the Lib Dems would possibly help towards that. Although I can’t see what a hung parliament is going to achieve in terms of sorting out the economy and bringing the country’s debt back to reasonable levels.
But of course, although I may want to vote for Nick Clegg, with his everyman approach and his generally sensible policies (although I am a little disappointed that in the third debate when the talk centred on taxing the banks he didn’t mention the Robin Hood Tax, which would be the perfect scheme to generate money, and would fit in with all his apparent ideals), in reality I am voting for my local MP, not the Prime Minister.
And once again this gives me anxiety. This year has seen a large number of parties vying for my vote: Labour, Lib Dems, Conservatives, the UKIP, BNP, the English Democrats and the Green Party have all been kind enough to kill trees to produce highly interesting (not) leaflets, although not one has actually managed to make it to my doorstep to actually discuss with me what I want from my MP.
And this is where the problem lies.
Firstly I’d like to say that although I read their leaflets with interest, I at no time gave serious consideration to the UKIP, BNP, the English Democrats or the Green Party because they have nothing to say that I can get behind – although I have to give the BNP 10 out of 10 for comparing Nick Griffin to Winston Churchill (err, I don’t think so!)
The Conservative candidate is someone who I know, because she comes into the pub. I have had dealings with her in the past and she has always been pleasant and helpful. She involves herself directly in community projects and is always helping out with conservation etc. and she regularly sends newsletters keeping everyone up-to-date with what is going on in the area. But at the end of the day she is a Conservative and my inbred hatred of the party is enough to put me off her, for which I suppose I feel a little guilty (but not enough vote for her).
The Lib Dem candidate I have never heard of before, have never seen or heard anything about, nor have I received any other literature or news from the party other than the election blurb. In all honesty I would find it hard to vote for someone that I have no knowledge of, or understanding about what his personal feelings are with regards to the area that I live in (I’m not even sure he lives in the area). Having said that, he does, as Mrs H3 said, have the best name – but I’m not entirely sure that’s a good qualification for election as MP.
Finally, we have the Labour candidate, who has been our MP for the last five years at least. I know he lives in the area, because he mentions it in his leaflets and he does, very occasionally, send out a newsletter, although with nowhere near the frequency of the Conservatives. Whether he has worked hard for us or not is hard to prove, although it appears that our standard of life is no worse than anyone else’s, so he’s not made that much of a cock-up. As a (I suspect anti-Conservative) friend of mine said “Well, we’ve not had a problem with him, so no reason to change is there?” And he’s probably right. Except that when the government pushed through the widely reviled and highly criticised Digital Economy Bill (DEB), our MP wasn’t even at the House of Commons, let alone in a position to vote against it. As this was official MP business, what was he busy doing instead? More importantly, how many other important bills did he not sit in on or vote?
So you can see my quandary – vote for state, vote for local area? Vote for a party that are never going to win under the current rules, or run with a party I have no faith in because of fear of what happens if the others get in. And what if everyone else votes wrong? It’s all too much to think about.
Perhaps I should just close my eyes and take a stab at the paper and see where the cross lands.
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